The Los Angeles Lakers returned to action Tuesday night after winning the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament in Las Vegas. Lakers flew to Dallas for the game.

Despite controversial tag selections, Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis played for their teams. But Kyrie Irving and Jarred Vanderbilt were absent. Despite losing 127-125, the Mavericks won and the Lakers fell to 14-10.

In the first few minutes of the game, both sides made mistakes that led to turnovers, which was a poor beginning to the competition. Davis was able to collect a reverse with one second remaining in the game, bringing the score to six, after he had previously missed two layup tries.

Taurean Prince made the first three-point shot of the evening for the Los Angeles Lakers, which came after the Mavericks had already opened up with a five-point outburst. Davis, on the other hand, was shown his second foul, which resulted in him being substituted out prematurely and sent to the sidelines.

Unexpectedly, the offense of the Lakers struggled significantly when both James and Davis were sitting on the bench. The Los Angeles Lakers were trailing by a score of 34-26 at the end of the first quarter, despite the fact that Rui Hachimura, who came into the game off the bench, had scored five consecutive points.

Tim Hardaway Jr. was on fire for the Mavericks early on, and he continued that trend with a second triple in the second half. Austin Reaves responded with his own triple, which was just what the Mavericks needed. As a consequence of this, the Lakers implemented a defensive lockdown, which allowed them to progressively cut the lead while LeBron James carelessly fired the ball into the basket on the other end of the court.

However, Dallas continued its run after Los Angeles failed to prevent Doncic from reaching the free throw line. Seth Curry then made a deep 3-pointer, giving the Mavericks an unexpected 13-point lead.

The Mavericks were able to maintain their dominant performance from the three-point line because the Lakers were plagued by errors, which allowed them to take advantage of open looks. The Lakers went into the locker room in a losing position, despite the fact that they had scored six straight points in the last seconds of the game, which allowed them to keep their deficit at 71-61.

When the first half came to a close, Davis was hobbling around with what appeared to be a groin injury; yet, he came back out onto the field to start the third quarter. At the beginning of the third quarter, James was the driving force for Los Angeles on both sides of the court. After he completed a triple and then Davis completed a baby hook, the deficit was reduced to five, and Jason Kidd was forced to call a timeout.

By completing an additional run in the waning minutes of the third quarter, the Lakers were able to take the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the game. Davis was an important contributor, scoring five points in a row, including a game-winning three in the fourth quarter that increased his team’s advantage to 95-93. Davis’s performance was a crucial factor in the victory.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, James scored a basket to extend the lead to 10–0, and then Grant Williams and Dante Exum made three-point shots to bring the game to a close.

During the fourth quarter, when the score was tied at 108, Doncic, Hardaway, James, and Davis all continued to exchange baskets while maintaining their respective teams’ leads. On the other hand, Dallas scored five quick points after the Lakers committed two turnovers, and Exum continued to be a scorching shooter from beyond the arc.

In spite of the fact that Doncic lived up to the anticipation, it was the other players on the Mavericks, such as Hardaway, Exum, and Williams, who continued to cause the Lakers difficulties.

Prince’s performance for Dallas continued to be outstanding, as evidenced by the fact that his third three in the final two minutes pushed the Lakers to within four points. On the other hand, the Lakers once again placed Exum in a position where he could easily score a corner three-pointer, and he ended up punishing them.

The Lakers were subsequently unable to mount a comeback and ultimately succumbed to the defeat.