Injury-riddled Lakers can't overcome Cooper Flagg's 45 points in loss to Mavericks

Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times on Apr 5, 2026

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DALLAS — The Los Angeles Lakers are as shorthanded as they can be, their dynamic starting backcourt of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves out with injuries at a pivotal time of the season.

They’re the offensive engines for a Lakers team battling for the No. 3 playoff seeding in a competitive Western Conference.

The 41-year-old LeBron James is now driving the Lakers, and despite falling just a rebound shy of a triple-double, he couldn’t save the Lakers from a 134-128 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday at American Airlines Center.

James had 30 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds. Luke Kennard delivered his first career triple-double with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.

Dallas rookie Cooper Flagg, coming off a 51-point performance against Orlando on Friday, finished with 45 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. He scored 19 points in the first quarter.

Docic was diagnosed with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and will be out the remainder of the regular season — maybe even longer.

Reaves was diagnosed with a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury and will be out for the rest of the regular season, and likely into the playoffs. The timeframe for Reaves’ return is more like four-to-six weeks, according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak on the matter.

Even Marcus Smart, known for his competitiveness and defensive tenacity, missed his seventh straight game with right ankle soreness.

With Doncic and Reaves out, the Lakers lose a combined 56.8 points per game and 11.2 assists per game. Doncic is fourth in the NBA in assists, with 8.3 per game, and he’s second on the Lakers in rebounding, at 7.7 per game.

“We knew that Austin was likely going to be out for a little bit of time,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Obviously, disappointed and devastated for him to have his regular season finish this way. ... Both those guys are going to try to come back and it’s our job to extend the season so that they can come back.”

The Lakers have four regular-season games left, starting with Oklahoma City Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena. They play at Golden State on Thursday before facing the Phoenix Suns in L.A. on Friday.

The Lakers are tied with the Denver Nuggets for third in the West at 50-28, although the Lakers own the tiebreaker. The NBA playoff starts the weekend of April 18.

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