LOS ANGELES — The familiar faces on the court at Crypto.com Arena, and what will be a long-lasting connection between the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks, didn’t take away from the spirit of competition.
Because even with Anthony Davis playing his first road game against his former team since the trade that sent him to Dallas and brought Luka Doncic to Los Angeles, with the fans cheering for Davis as he was introduced during the Mavericks’ starting lineup introductions, it didn’t take the Lakers’ eyes off of the prize for what was at stake on Friday night.
And with their 129-119 victory over the Mavericks, the Lakers secured home-court advantage for their NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup after finishing 4-0 atop West Group B.
They will host the San Antonio Spurs in the knockout round on Dec. 10 with top-seeded Oklahoma City to face Phoenix in the other Western Conference game.
“Really pleased that we were able to go undefeated in our group,” Coach JJ Redick said. “More importantly we’ve got a back-to-back coming up and a really hard road trip. We’ve gotta take care of business in the next two games, and then we’ve gotta go be great on the road like we’ve been for most of the year outside of two games. And the Cup is in some ways, a distant memory for the next 12 days or whatever it is. “
The Lakers (14-4) also extended their winning streak to six games, their season-best mark after topping their five-game win streak that ran from Oct. 29-Nov. 5.
“We’re just happy we continue to win ball games and win them the way the game plan is supposed to be executed,” LeBron James said. “That’s what’s most important for us right now.”
Austin Reaves (38 points, eight rebounds and three assists) and Luka Doncic (35 points, 11 assists and five rebounds) led the Lakers on Friday night, balancing each other’s strong offensive quarters to help their team secure the victory.
James added 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds in a game in which all five Lakers starters scored in double figures.
Deandre Ayton finished with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go with eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Rui Hachimura had 14 points and four rebounds, knocking down four second-half 3-pointers.
Reaves shot 12 of 15 from the field, including 6 of 8 on 3-pointers, during a game the Lakers shot a season-high 51.4% (18 of 35) from beyond the 3-point arc.
“I finally made the threes, so that was nice,” Reaves said. “Luka draws so much attention. Bron’s obviously Bron, and they are gonna get the majority of attention. I kind of run around out there and find open spots and make shots, hopefully big shots, and sort of done [that].”
Friday was Reaves’ fifth game scoring at least 30 points this season. Fourteen of Reaves’ 18 games scoring at least 30 points have come in 2025.
“Nothing,” James responded when asked about impressed him about Reaves. “I told y’all. How long ago did I tell you all, AR can [expletive] play ball? When was this? When was he a rookie? I don’t even remember. I’ve been told you all, he can ball. It’s nothing [new]. AR, he’s great.”
Doncic shot 10-of-18 from the field (4 of 9 on 3s) in his third regular-season game against his former team.
“I would say it’s a little bit easier now,” he said. “Games against Dallas [will] always have some special meaning to me. I still have a lot of friends there. It’ll always be special for me.”
Davis finished with 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots in 28 minutes against his former team.
PJ Washington had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead the Mavericks. Ryan Nembhard scored 17 for Dallas, while Max Christie added 13 points against his former team.
Rookie Cooper Flagg, who was the No. 1 pick in June’s draft, l had 13 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, but the Mavericks lost for the fifth time in six games.
“He’s a good player,” Doncic said of Flagg. “Obviously, there’s a lot of pressure that comes with the first pick. So he has a lot on his [shoulders], but I think he will be a great player.”
Doncic was rolling early, scoring 10 first-quarter points, while Reaves had 14 second-quarter points, with Reaves having 19 points and five rebounds at halftime, while Doncic had 18 points and four assists.
But the Mavericks led 62-60 at halftime because of 12 second-chance points in the first half and their advantage in the possession battle. The Lakers also had 10 first-half turnovers for 15 Dallas points.
“The game, although it may have felt different as a viewer, but the game to me was like a very simple game in that the guys who don’t normally make 3s for them made some threes,” Redick said. “We had too many turnovers in the first half. And then the second half we stopped turning the ball over. Their guys kept making threes until the very end, basically. And we were able to get enough stops.”
The Lakers outscored the Mavericks 69-57 in the second half, with the starters combining for all but two of those points in the final two quarters.
Dallas had a narrow lead with less than eight minutes to play, but the Lakers held the Mavs without a field goal for nearly four minutes while making a 13-1 run that included big baskets from Reaves and Ayton.
“There are so many games we play and we know the type of attraction [Doncic, Reaves and James] have on court when they have the ball,” Ayton said. “With Bron and Luka post-ups, I’m right there under the rim when they throw the double, and it’s not really hard scoring spoon-fed buckets, man. It’s pretty fun.”
Reaves and Doncic both received “M-V-P!” chants from fans during separate trips to the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
