DALLAS — The 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.

“Obviously, Cooper is in a zone over the last couple of games,” James said. “But [he] also has been playing consistent basketball all year so it’s great to see him from early in the season to where he is today.”

For the Lakers, finding ways to win without two of their best players will be their challenge over the final week of the season.

“We’ve got to have the commitment to do it on both ends and that’s the reason that we’ve put ourselves in the position to be in the playoffs,” Redick said, “because we became a really good offensive team and a really good defensive team.”

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

Doncic’s agent, Bill Duffy of WME Sports, confirmed to The Times that his client will seek specialized treatment for his injury in Europe with the hopes of speeding up his recovery.

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 time frame 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.

“I took my nap after practice and I woke up with that news and it was like another shot to the [head],” James said about Reaves’ diagnosis. “It was a shot to the heart, obviously, and to the chest and to the mainframe with Luka, understanding that.”

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 13.8 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,” 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 on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena. They play at Golden State on Thursday before facing the Phoenix Suns in L.A. on Friday.

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

With that in mind, Redick was asked if he had an optimistic view of Doncic being back for the playoffs.

“I just know that he’s gonna do everything he can to try to be back,” Redick said. “I talked to him Friday. I talked to him again yesterday. I talked to him again this morning. He’s going to go through all the necessary things to be back at some point, and it’s our job again to extend the season so both those guys can get back.”

The Chainsmokers, the electronic music duo, performed in between Final Four games on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, marking the first-ever Final Four concert for the NCAA Tournament.

However, some fans, including prominent figures in sports, were not happy with the NCAA’s decision to have the performance happen in the first place.

Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy, ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt and others took their frustrations to social media, as they saw The Chainsmokers take the stage following UConn’s victory over Illinois in the first Final Four matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“This Chainsmokers concert in between games is playing off like somebody lost a bet,” Portnoy tweeted on Saturday night. “I like the Chainsmokers but nothing has ever made less sense than this.”

One of the main reasons fans had an issue with the concert was the starting time for Michigan-Arizona, which was written as 8:49 p.m. ET. However, tipoff didn’t come until around 9:20 p.m., which was an hour after UConn-Illinois finished.

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Portnoy is a well-known Michigan fan, so he was very glad to see the delay didn’t hurt his Wolverines in the end. But Van Pelt was also shocked to see the performance take place.

“Who asked for this?” he wrote on social media. A fan followed up in the comments, asking what he had against the Chainsmokers.

“Not one thing. Just an odd spot,” Van Pelt replied.

Michigan handled Arizona easily in its 91-73 win, leading by 30 points at one moment in the contest. They will take on UConn in the national championship game on Monday night at Lucas Oil.

Wolverines senior star Yaxel Lendeborg was injured in the victory, though he’s battling through a sprained MCL and an ankle injury. He was asked if there was any chance he would miss the national title game, to which he replied, “Absolutely not,” per Yahoo Sports.

Lendeborg played only 14 minutes, scoring 11 points with three rebounds and one assist.

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It was Aday Mara leading the charge for the Wolverines on the offensive end, as he drilled 11 of his 16 shots for 26 points with nine rebounds and three assists. Trey McKenney also added 16 points off the bench for Dusty May’s squad, including four made three-pointers.

Michigan makes a return to the national championship game for the first time since 2018, which they lost to Villanova, 79-62.

PHOENIX — Here are three keys for UCLA to beat South Carolina and cut down the nets on Sunday:

Establish an offensive rhythm

The Bruins struggled to put points on the board in their Final Four matchup against Texas, hanging just 51 points and shooting 41% in a defensive battle. South Carolina figures to be another tough defensive matchup.

The Gamecocks held the previously 38-0 Connecticut Huskies to 48 points Friday, handing coach Geno Auriemma’s squad its first loss of the season. Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year Raven Johnson limited national player of the year Sarah Strong to 12 points on four-for-16 shooting. Standing only 5 feet 8, Johnson has established herself as a defensive menace, guarding both forwards and guards. Strong, standing six inches taller than Johnson at 6-2, was held to her lowest point total of the NCAA tournament.

UCLA needs a better offensive performance than it posted Friday night if it wants to claim its first NCAA championship.

Attack the glass and stay aggressive

Sunday will mark the third meeting between UCLA and South Carolina in the last five years.

The Bruins snapped the Gamecocks’ 43-game winning streak on Nov. 24, 2024 during a 77-62 victory at Pauley Pavilion.

South Carolina downed UCLA 73-64 two years earlier.

UCLA coach Cori Close reflected on their two most recent matchups on Saturday.

“What I remember is the team that rebounds the best and defends the best down the stretch won both those games,” Close said. “I’ve been on both sides of that. I don’t think it’s probably going to be that different. I think it’s going to be a possession game.

“Now, that wasn’t the case against Texas. But that’s how good our defense was, because they still got 21 more shots on the goal than we did. I don’t think that we’ll be able to do that against South Carolina. If they get that many more shots on the goal either because of rebounds or the turnover battle, I doubt that we’ll be able to do that.

“In both situations, the way I remember it is the team that was able to dictate with their defense, get enough stops, win the rebounding battle, came out on top.”

Help Betts deliver an elite game

Two-time All-American Lauren Betts will lace up her sneakers one last time for UCLA on Sunday. The Bruins must help her deliver a final signature performance.

She tallied 35 points, nine rebounds and five assists on 15-for-19 shooting in the second round of the NCAA tournament against Oklahoma State.

She had 16 in a lower-scoring performance against Texas on Friday, but her imposing defense and ability to move as fluidly as a guard make her a matchup headache for any opponent.

UCLA is at its best when the offense runs through Betts, but not solely with passes into the low post. When she sets screens on the perimeter and rolls to the basket or passes from a variety of spots on the court, it overloads defenses and opens up potent offensive options for the Bruins.