A 51-point quarter has powered the Dallas Mavericks to a stunning comeback 124-115 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday morning.
It was the LeBron James show early for the Lakers, who took a 54-43 lead into halftime after a fast start from the 37-year-old, who had 18 points on 9-of-15 shooting with three assists.
The Lakers were plus-25 in James’ 19 minutes on the court in the first half and minus-14 in the six minutes where he sat on the bench.
L.A. had done well to hold the Mavericks to under 40 per cent shooting, suffocating Luka Doncic with double teams to restrict the Dallas superstar to only 10 points in the half.
That all flipped in the third quarter though, with the Mavs outscoring the Lakers 51-21
as Doncic put on a show to inspire a staggering fightback.
The Slovenian superstar had 13 points, six assists, two rebounds and one steal in the third quarter alone.
James had a handy six points and two assists in the period and picked up where he left off in the fourth with a string of free throws but the damage had already been done.
By that point it was a lost cause for the Lakers, with the Mavericks’ 51-point burst marking a new record for the most points scored in a quarter in Christmas history.
James finished the game with 38 points, six rebounds and five assists from 34 minutes with none of the Lakers’ other four starters hitting double figures.
In contrast, Luka Doncic led the way for the Mavs with 32 points, nine rebounds and nine assists but had plenty of help from Christian Wood (30 points), Tim Hardaway Jr. (26 points) and Reggie Bullock (14 points).
INJURY MYSTERY AS KNICKS FALL APART, HARDEN RESPONDS TO RUMOURS
The Knicks have dropped three straight after a fourth-quarter collapse in a 119-112 loss to the 76ers at the Garden on Monday morning [AEDT].
The Knicks (18-16) could not cool the red-hot 76ers, who have won eight in a row. The Knicks looked like the better team for much of the game, but Joel Embiid kept the 76ers afloat and kept several Knicks defenders on the bench in foul trouble.
The Knicks ran out of defenders to bother Embiid, who was limited early (3 of his first 9 from the field) but excelled once he got Mitchell Robinson into foul trouble late in the second quarter. Embiid finished with 35 points on 12 of 22 shooting.
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The 76ers never led until Georges Niang followed a James Harden 3-pointer with a triple of his own at 10:37 in the fourth, gifting the 76ers a 101-98 edge that they would not gift back. Philadelphia opened the fourth period with a 13-4 run, when the 76ers simply hit their open looks and the Knicks missed theirs.
Once the 76ers had the lead, they had control. They outscored the Knicks 24-16 in the fourth, when the Knicks shot 7 of 23 from the floor. The Knicks, who had led by 14 points in the first quarter, were down 14 after Embiid tipped in a miss at 4:48 in the fourth, which prompted a Thibodeau timeout.
The Knicks outrebounded the 76ers (46-32), out-assisted them (30-22) and had 13 more second-chance points. But Philadelphia had Embiid and had the touch from deep, shooting 18 of 39 from beyond the arc. The Knicks shot just 12 of 32 from deep.
The Knicks wasted an excellent offensive performance from Julius Randle (35 points), who could brute in the paint for his points or rack them up from behind the arc. Jalen Brunson added 23 points and 11 assists.
Brunson went to the locker room with a hip injury and was not made available to media post-game.
Elsewhere, Harden addressed pre-game reports that he would consider returning to the Rockets in free agency this summer.
“I’m here,” he told reporters post-game.
“We’re playing very well and I don’t know where that report came from, but I’m excited to be here and we’re playing very well. We’re continuing to get better.”
This article first appeared on The New York Postand was reproduced with permission.
