Behind a remarkable performance from Arthur Kaluma, the Lakers earned their second win in as many nights at the Las Vegas Summer League, knocking off the Mavericks, 91-70.
Kaluma poured in 34 points, helping the Lakers pull away in the fourth quarter. LA remains undefeated in Vegas and has won four straight games this summer after dropping its opener.
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The Lakers had a rough start, going down by five. Tobi Lawal and Ryan Nembhard scored all of Dallas’ points. Adou Thiero scored the first points for LA, converting on a three-point play.
Jon Elmore provided a spark off the Lakers’ bench, scoring six points. Peter Suder also had productive minutes off the bench for Los Angeles with four points. Zhaire Smith converted on a fadeaway jumper to put the purple and gold up by two at the end of the first.
Mavs rookie Morez Johnson had a solid start to the second period for Dallas, scoring six points. Arthur Kaluma was the only Laker to score early on a layup. Both teams were shooting 47% from the field.
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Dallas was up by two when Los Angeles called a timeout.
Out of the break, Thiero was fouled and converted to tie the game. Kaluma continued to shine, pushing his point total to 12, the first Laker in double figures. LA’s shooting took a slight dip to 45% while Dallas was shooting 50%.
The half ended with the teams exchanging triples. Kaluma’s impressive half got even better as he now had 18 points and was shooting 75% from the field. At halftime, the Lakers were up by three.
Both teams missed seven shots combined to start the third period. Tobi Lawal was the first player from either team to score, converting on one free throw for two points. William Hickey got the Lakers on the board with a layup. Kaluma drained his third 3-pointer of the game.
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At the 5:46 mark, LA was up by four.
Chris Mañon was another spark for Los Angeles with his six points. The rest of the quarter belonged to the Lakers as they built a lead of 10 going into the fourth period. The purple and gold beat Dallas by seven in the third.
After a jumper from Johnson started the final frame, LA responded with a 7-0 scoring run. Kaluma knocked two more triples, giving him 34 points for the game.
The rest of the fourth happened.
Key Player Stats
Kaluma finished with 34 points and five rebounds. Thiero ended with 15 points, going 4-12 from the field. Mañon had 10 points with eight rebounds.
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Peter Suder scored 14 points in 17 minutes. Smith logged six points with three assists and two steals. Elmore pitched in with six points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The next Lakers Summer League game will be against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday at 7:00 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
