DALLAS — Before Sunday’s Easter Day matchup in Dallas, coach JJ Redick said their job is to extend the season so Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves can return.
“Both those guys are going to try to come back,” Redick said on the duo's regular-season-ending injuries.
In their first game without the NBA’s top-scoring duo, the Lakers' offense was deficient and the energy was stagnant in their absence, falling to the Mavericks 134-128 on the road at the American Airlines Center.
Rookie Cooper Flagg continued his sensational scoring run from Friday’s 51-point outing with a game-high 45 points against the Lakers.
"Cooper's been in a zone over the last couple of games but has been playing consistent basketball all year," LeBron James said. "It's great to see where he's at from early in the season to where he is today."
Flagg joined Allen Iverson as the first rookie to have back-to-back 40-point games since 1996-97.
James finished one rebound shy of a triple-double with 30 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds.
Because of their depleted backcourt, backup shooting guard Luke Kennard started at point guard in Dallas.
He finished notching his first career triple-double with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists in a team-high 41 minutes.
WHERE THEY STAND
The Lakers dropped to 50-28 but remain No. 3 in the Western Conference.
The Nuggets also share the same record, but the Lakers own a tiebreaker with Denver, leaving them at No. 4, for now.
With a Minnesota Timberwolves loss against the Hornets, the Lakers can now finish the season in a worst-case scenario, No. 5, with four games left.
THE GAME-CHANGER
The Lakers turned the ball over 12 times, which is below their season average (14.4), but the points they allowed from them were a game-changer in the Lakers' second straight loss.
In those dozen turnovers, the Lakers gave up 21 points, which is above their season average of 18 points a game.
The Mavericks capitalized perfectly on L.A.’s mistakes with 24 fast break points and 14 made 3s (43.8% shooting from deep).
"We didn't start the game the right way and played catch-up the rest of the game," Redick said.
The Lakers' slow start, which continued from Oklahoma City, left them at a 41-30 score disadvantage at the end of the opening quarter.
THE GAMEBREAKER
Flagg is the gamebreaker in the Lakers' 77th game of the season.
The 19-year-old exploded with 19 points in the first quarter, scoring at will against the Lakers' defense while looking like a seasoned veteran with multiple contested jumpers and buckets.
He showed why he was drafted No. 1 overall and the frontrunner for rookie of the year with eight rebounds and nine assists in his 39 minutes of action.
NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
The Lakers head back home for a Tuesday matchup against the Thunder on Tuesday.