One night after the Dallas Mavericks failed to overcome the depth of a short-handed team, they flexed their own roster depth in front of a packed home crowd. The expectations were high for an early January matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers entering the season.

A couple of Western Conference hopefuls right on top of each other in the standings meet up on Tuesday, Jan. 7 when the Dallas Mavericks host the Los Angeles Lakers at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

LeBron James delivered a message about having to move on quickly after the Lakers were defeated by the Mavericks.

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The Los Angeles Lakers came off a 119-115 loss to the Houston Rockets looking to restart the momentum they had been building, and it looked like they had gotten a gift. They faced the Dallas Mavericks, who were without Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, on Tuesday in Texas, and it seemed like it would be a likely win for them.

Los Angeles Lakers face Dallas Mavericks in a 2024/2025 NBA regular season game. Get all the details on when, where, and how to catch this must-watch game live in the USA.

So as far as the Golden State Warriors are concerned, Dallas is vulnerable. And after watching LeBron James' guys here? The Lakers are vulnerable, too.

Everything is bigger in Texas… including the disappointment. The Los Angeles Lakers kicked off their Texas road trip on Sunday with a heartbreaking loss to the Houston Rockets.

The Los Angeles Lakers faced a Dallas Mavericks team that was on a five-game losing streak, missing two starting guards and their backup center. They lost by 21 points.

LA went into a two-game Texas trip on a high note, before going 0-2 and confounding JJ Redick with its defensive lapses.