Game Preview: Lakers vs Mavericks

It’s the second night of the back-to-back for the Lakers, who are taking on the Dallas Mavericks tonight in Los Angeles. The Lakers are coming off a blowout win over the Utah Jazz last night that saw LeBron James and Anthony Davis able to rest in the fourth quarter. They will be short-handed heading into tonight, with Cam Reddish, Gabe Vincent, and Jared Vanderbilt all out. LeBron James is questionable. Jalen Hood-Schifino and Anthony Davis are both probable.

Attack the Inside

The Mavericks are a very skilled team (especially around the perimeter), but one weakness they have is a lack of rim protection. They looked to address that need in the off-season when they drafted Derek Lively, a center out of duke. Lively has made a big impact for the Mavs on the boards and at the rim, but outside of him the issue of rim protection remains. LA should attack the rookie early and look to get him in foul trouble, which would force the Mavericks to go deeper into their big man rotation and give the Lakers a further advantage in the paint .

Taurean Prince

Many fans were happy this off-season when the Lakers were able to acquire Taurean Prince. A two-way wing, Prince has struggled shooting the ball this season with averages of just 26% from three and only 17% from the beyond the arc in the last 10 games. That said, he has been a valuable perimeter defender for the Lakers thus far, and hopefully his shooting comes along soon. When it does it will be clear why Prince was such a good acquisition by the Lakers front office.