DALLAS — LeBron James drove for easy layups or quick passes to open shooters at the 3-point line early in another meeting with Dallas phenom Luka Doncic.
The 20-year-old Mavericks star played the last few minutes of the first half with a jersey he ripped into a V-neck look on a frustrating night against the player he admired growing up.
James had 35 points and 16 rebounds, Kyle Kuzma scored a season-high 26 points starting in place of injured star Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers went up big early in a 129-114 victory over the Mavericks on Friday night.
The four-time MVP scored or assisted on seven of the first nine LA baskets to help build a 22-point lead in the first half, while Doncic missed five free throws while ending up a team-worst minus-24 in scoring margin before halftime.
Hence, the torn jersey.
“I played really bad,” said Doncic, the 2019 Rookie of the Year. “I felt like I don’t know how to play basketball. It wasn’t me. I gotta get better. A lot.”
James was 14 of 25 from the field to help the Lakers shoot 53 percent, and his 16 rebounds were a season high in LA’s seventh consecutive win.
“It’s not about how many you can win in a row,” James said. “It’s just how you continue to get better every individual game and I thought we did that here.”
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle was as flummoxed as his young star, getting ejected after his second technical early in the fourth quarter when he exploded over the Lakers getting to challenge an out-of-bounds call after he thought the Mavericks had thrown the ball in.
Doncic, who had played James just about even while the Lakers took two of first three in the season series, had 25 points and 10 rebounds. But Dallas trailed by double digits for all but the first five-plus minutes.
“Those are emotions and feelings that are about winning and losing,” Carlisle said. “I get it. He’s going through a lot this year. He’s going through a lot of different situations.”