After losing to the Los Angeles Clippers, 112-104, on Thursday night, the Los Angeles Lakers will look to bounce back when they travel to Dallas to take on the Mavericks on Saturday night.
It will be the second game of the season between the two teams as the Lakers bested the Mavericks, 129-119, in an NBA Cup Group Stage game back in late November.
LeBron James will play vs. Mavericks on Saturday night
LeBron James tallied 13 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds in that game, and he’ll have an opportunity to best those numbers as Saturday night, as he will be available for the game. James isn’t listed on the official injury report, indicating that he’ll be good to go.
It will be the ninth consecutive game played by James after he missed 16 of L.A.’s first 22 games of the season. In total, he’s appeared in 26 games on the season and posted averages of 22.5 points, 6.9 assists and 6.0 rebounds per performance.
The Lakers enter the matchup with Dallas fifth in the Western Conference standings at 26-17, while the Mavs are 11th at 19-26.
The highlight of the game for fans will be the opportunity to get to watch James go head-to-head with Mavs star rookie Cooper Flagg, who was the top pick in the draft last year, for a second time. It's not often that you get to see No. 1 overall picks from 22 years apart play against each other.
In addition to the matchup on Saturday night, L.A. And Dallas will meet twice more this season. The Lakers will host the Mavs in February, and then the Mavs will host the Lakers again in April.
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