Lakers Further Prove the Season is Over Against Mavericks
Tonight, your Los Angeles Lakers played the Dallas Mavericks in their first game without their two stars. There was hope that if the Lakers could find a way to win a first-round series, they’d have a chance. A win in the first round would allow Dončić and Reaves to come back, but after tonight, it’s clear that’s not happening.
Dallas controlled the game from the jump, and the Lakers looked awful. They looked like a team that had never played before because basically, this lineup hasn’t played together before. Let’s talk about it.
The Lakers lose to the Mavs in their first game without Luka and Austin 🥲 pic.twitter.com/luA4dHyQ18
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) April 6, 2026
Few Bright Spots
In a game the Lakers lost and trailed by 22 early, there wasn’t much to be happy with. The defense was abysmal, allowing Cooper Flagg to go for 45 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists. The offense outside of certain performances looked disjointed without their two engines.
The good tonight was three individual performances. LeBron was forced to turn back the clock, recording 30 points, 15 assists, and 9 rebounds. Hachimura and Kennard were also individually good, with Rui recording 21 points and Kennard putting up his first career triple-double with 15 points, 16 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Lakers Can’t Beat Mavericks, They Certainly Can’t Win a Playoff Game
Tonight’s game was a solid test for this Lakers team. A test to see if they had what it takes to dump water out of the sinking ship to remain afloat long enough for Dončić and Reaves to return. If they could still look good against a bad team like Dallas, they’d maybe have a chance.
The problem is that they didn’t look good. They looked awful.
As good as LeBron was tonight, this is not the same LeBron of years ago. The trio of Dončić, Reaves, and James was enough to carry this incomplete roster, but for James alone at 41, it’s simply too much.
Pretty wild that over the course of one game and the 24 hours that followed, the Lakers’ entire season and incredible month of March got flushed completely down the toilet.
Time to look to next season and pray that Rob Pelinka can figure out how to do his job and build out a competent roster for the first time since the summer of 2019.
