On Tuesday night, the Dallas Mavericks delivered a decisive 118-97 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers at the American Airlines Center, marking the Lakers’ second consecutive loss of the 2024-25 NBA season. Following the game, LeBron James shared his candid thoughts on the team’s performance and the factors contributing to the unexpected result.
“It’s just another night for us where we’re not good offensively,” James remarked during a postgame interview in the locker room. “We didn’t shoot the ball well, and we missed a lot of shots at the rim, and they countered that,” the 40-year-old veteran added.
LeBron also commended the Mavericks for their effort, noting their ability to secure the win despite missing their two key stars, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. “They had a great game plan versus our defense and obviously they watched to see how we play,” James observed. “They had a great game plan, put us in a lot of pick-and-rolls, spread us out, a lot of times it was five-out when (Dereck) Lively wasn’t in the game.”
Breaking down Dallas’ strengths further, James explained: “They had multiple ball-handlers that broke us down and either got to the rim or sprayed it out and they played the drive-and-kick game and hit a lot of threes.” He added, “I felt like they put people in pick-and-roll, who they wanted in pick-and-rolls and they tried to exploit matchups. When we got to rotations, we didn’t make enough second efforts.”
James also pinpointed a key turning point in the game. “It started with the end of the second quarter,” he said. “We had a horrible finish to the second quarter after we were up 50-44. Let Klay (Thompson) hit three in a row and they ended up going into the half up five and extended it from there.”
LeBron’s effort falls short
LeBron’s individual statistics, along with those of most of his teammates, further highlight the team’s struggles, as their numbers fell below the season averages. James finished the game with 18 points and 8 assists in 35 minutes, making him the team’s second-leading scorer behind Anthony Davis, who led with 21 points.
Redick’s opinion
While LeBron James pointed to the Lakers’ offensive struggles as a primary factor in the loss to the Mavericks, head coach J.J. Redick emphasized the team’s defensive shortcomings. “They killed us with any iso stuff. We talked this morning just about not giving up iso threes, we gave two up in the first quarter,” Redick admitted during the postgame press conference.
The head coach went on to criticize the team’s overall defensive effort. “There was a bunch of times we didn’t contain the basketball well. And our basic, shell, day one just wasn’t good,” he said. “Low man wasn’t there. If he was there, the weakside rotation wasn’t there. We just couldn’t get stops on that.” Clearly dissatisfied with the team’s performance, Redick’s comments underscored the urgency for the Lakers to address their defensive lapses moving forward.