The 2021 NBA season is going to be about survival as much as anything else for the defending champion Lakers. With only 10 weeks off between raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy and tipoff against the Clippers earlier this week, how Frank Vogel manages his largely veteran squad will be a source of intrigue all season long. Games like Friday’s will make his life much easier, as the Lakers dispatched the Mavericks 138–115 in a Christmas blowout.
The Lakers can’t ask for a better win than this one. Why? It doesn’t matter that Luka Doncic’s 27 points were largely inconsequential.