Lakers News: LeBron James Says He's His Biggest Critic; Walton Praises Lonzo

The Los Angeles Lakers have hit their stride with nine wins in their past 12 games, but LeBron James isn't satisfied with his performance.

Following the Lakers' 114-103 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, James highlighted a poor first quarter as being a problem.

"For me, I'm my own biggest critic, so I already knew what type of first quarter I had, and it resulted in us playing poor basketball in that first quarter," James said, per Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times. "Just hit that reset button. When I came out of the game with two fouls, I hit the reset button. I already knew that I would be much better when I went back in the game."

James had just two points and four turnovers as the Lakers trailed by as many as 12 in the first quarter. The four-time MVP looked like his usual self after that, finishing with 28 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Meanwhile, head coach Luke Walton had high praise for Lonzo Ball, especially defensively.

"When you come straight to the NBA when you're young, one year in college, defense is normally the last thing you do when you're a high draft pick," Walton said. "We saw his defensive instincts; he was way more advanced than we thought he would be on that side of the floor."

Ball's offense remains a work in progress—he had 10 points, four assists and five turnovers—but he had five of the Lakers' eight steals. The second-year guard put Los Angeles on top 61-60 in the third quarter with a dunk after swiping a pass from Harrison Barnes.

At 13-9, the Lakers have moved into sixth place in the Western Conference and trail the Los Angeles Clippers by 2.5 games for the No. 1 seed.