On Fri, Nov 28, the Los Angeles Lakers played their final game of group play in the 2025 NBA Cup against the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers had already clinched Group B in the Western Conference and this game was simply to determine whether they would be playing a home game or road game in the quarterfinals of the tournament. This was undoubtedly a dramatic matchup because it was the first time the Lakers would face off against Cooper Flagg, the rookie sensation drafted with the number one overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft. Dallas was lucky to get that number one pick after finishing in the lottery due to their bad record after making the “Trade of the Century” in shipping off Luka Doncic to L.A. Since that trade, the Mavericks have not been received so warmly by their own fans, who finally got their wish in making the “Fire Nico” chant true. On Tue, Nov 4 the organization finally relieved Nico Harrison of his duties as general manager and president of basketball operations in Dallas. Making matters worse, Anthony Davis suffered another injury that kept him out a month and the Mavs’ record only worsened. But some good news occurred as Davis was back from his injury to play his first game against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena since that fateful trade some ten months ago. The only major player missing for Dallas is Kyrie Irving, who has yet to return from the devastating ACL tear that he suffered in March.

For the Purple & Gold, they got some good news as DeAndre Ayton was back from his left knee contusion that kept him out of a 135-118 victory over the Clippers earlier this week that secured a group-clinching spot. But Marcus Smart was out with some back spasms, so that would affect the Lakers’ rotation for this game. This was an interesting reunion game for Davis as he was shipped to Dallas along with guard Max Christie, who is a good bench player for the Mavericks. The game started with an epic three-pointer made by Austin Reaves, who would have himself a good night shooting behind the arc. Luka had an epic alley-oop to LeBron James, who turned back the clock in looking like his younger self. The first quarter was close and tight as Dallas got some good production from their bench players, including point guard Brandon Williams and former Splash Bro Klay Thompson. Doncic received a technical foul after letting out some of his frustration verbally towards his former teammates and after that incident, Flagg made his first basket of the night. The period ended on a good note as Luka made a three-pointer to push the lead to six points for the Lakers. In the second quarter, the Mavericks chipped away at the deficit and eventually held the lead for a short time. Flagg made some good shots while Doncic kept his poise as he drew some fouls and made some valuable free throws. The first half closed out with a bucket each from Davis and Christie, who gave their squad the lead at halftime. Dallas definitely came out with some spirited play and the Purple & Gold would have to embrace that mentality coming out of the locker room for the second half.

To start out the third quarter, the Lakers started making threes nonstop as Doncic, Reaves and Rui Hachimura nailed some big shots from deep to help swing the lead back in favor of the team who decided that it was better to play on their normal home court rather than the “oily, slippery” surface of the NBA Cup court. Doncic and Hachimura stated their disapproval of the alternate court’s surface, with them being concerned that it could lead to a massive injury or two. In conjunction with the league, the Lakers would have that alternate court sidelined while it was being worked on for a potential home game in the knockout round. Back to the action in this game, LeBron started making a few shots as six of the first eight baskets for Los Angeles in the second half were three balls. The Lakers kept pushing their lead up on Dallas, which was struggling to keep up. But to close out the quarter, the Mavericks went on a good 14-point run that had them down by only four points heading into the fourth. In the final quarter, Reaves took over as he made a good amount of shots and free throws to keep the lead in favor of the Purple & Gold. But Dallas kept pushing hard and they took the lead on a jumper made by Davis, who was in double-digits in his return to L.A. But the Lakers went on an 8-0 run to retake the lead for good as they pushed it to above ten points and did not give the Mavericks any chance to overcome it. LeBron made a three-pointer with two minutes left that basically served as a dagger in this game as the Lakers won 129-119 to remain undefeated in NBA Cup play so far.

Reaves led the way in scoring with 38 points along with eight rebounds and six made three-pointers. Doncic had another solid performance against his old team as he put down 35 points, 11 assists and five rebounds. All of the other starters were in double-digits as Ayton scored 17 points, Hachimura knotted down 14 points and James scored 13. Gabe Vincent and Jaxson Hayes were the only bench players that scored for Los Angeles, but those 12 points by them made a huge difference in this one. The Lakers shot over 50% from the field and from three-point land, as Reaves, Doncic and Hachimura combined to make 14 of the 18 three-point baskets. As for Dallas, they had eight players score in double-digits, including P.J Washington with 22 points, Max Christie(who started this game) and Cooper Flagg with 13 each and Anthony Davis with a modest 12 point-5 rebound-5 assist line.

The Lakers have now won six straight games in having not lost since being embarrassed on the road against the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who advanced to the knockout round of this NBA Cup tournament with a win over the Phoenix Suns, who clinched the Western Conference’s Wild Card spot. The Lakers will play host to the San Antonio Spurs, who defeated the Denver Nuggets by three points, in their quarterfinal game on Wed, Dec 10. It will be an extra opportunity to see Luka face off against Victor Wembanyama, who put on a show earlier in November in Los Angeles. If the Purple & Gold win that game, they will advance to the “Final Four” of the tournament to be played exclusively in Las Vegas, Nev., at the T-Mobile Arena on the Strip. The teams who made it to the knockout round on the Eastern Conference side are the Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks and Miami Heat. So, with eight teams left standing, the 2025 NBA Cup will certainly have a thrilling ending to it. Until that knockout round home game, the Lakers will play two home games on a back-to-back set against the New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns. Then, they will have a brief three-game road trip against Eastern Conference teams, with a back-to-back against the Raptors and Boston Celtics and a Sunday night game at the Philadelphia 76ers happening. The Purple & Gold look to keep their winning ways going early on in this 2025-26 NBA season with a strong roster built around two amazing superstar players.