The Los Angeles Lakers scored a gigantic win on Sunday when they defeated the Dallas Mavericks 111-108 on the road, and they did so the hard way.
In the fourth quarter, guard Austin Reaves got into a dust-up with Dallas wing Josh Green, and after the contest, Reaves downplayed the incident.
AUSTIN REAVES GOT THAT DOG IN HIM pic.twitter.com/GCMxIfq9CB
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) February 26, 2023
Austin Reaves with a smile on his altercation with Josh Green: "We were just playing basketball, competing. It's a fun part of the game."
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) February 26, 2023
The incident occurred right after Reaves forced Green into a turnover. Green shoved Reaves, and it appeared the Lakers’ reserve threw a couple of curse words in his direction.
For much of the first half, it looked like Los Angeles was on its way to an ugly defeat. It seemingly couldn’t buy a shot from outside the paint, while the Mavs seemingly couldn’t miss from the outside.
The Lakers fell behind by 27, but they started to peck away at that deficit late in the second quarter as they started to play their game — which meant getting stops, defensive rebounds and fast breaks in bunches.
They have come out flat in so many third quarters over the past couple of seasons, but this time, they took control of the contest in the third period and outscored Dallas 31-20 in that frame.
Forward Jarred Vanderbilt was a one-man wrecking crew during that stretch, as he threw his weight around and made a major impact defensively, on the boards and even on offense. He ended the game with 17 rebounds, 15 points and four steals in 27 minutes.
Reaves finished with nine points, three boards and three assists in 27 minutes, but his impact may have been greater than those numbers would suggest.
This victory was a giant step toward claiming a playoff spot for the Lakers. They now sit in 11th place in the Western Conference and gained a full game on the Mavs, who are in sixth place.
Los Angeles has made it clear that its goal is to finish in the top six in the conference.
