Kobe Saves His Best for Last, Beats Mavs

Banged and beat-up the past few games, the Los Angeles Lakers dug deep into their reserve tank and defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 100-95 at American Airlines Center. Dallas, holders of the second best mark in the competitive Western Conference had revenge on their minds after the drubbing they endured at Staples Center just over a week ago. Kobe Bryant (10 points on 5-11, 2 rebounds, 1 assist in 35 minutes) played decoy for most of the game, but he hit the go-ahead basket to give the Lakers their 3,000 franchise win. Dirk Nowitzki (30 points, 16 rebounds) amassed his 20,000-point of his career, but tonight the game belonged to the Lakers frontcourt.

Andrew Bynum (22 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists), Lamar Odom (18 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists) and Ron Artest (16 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist) were the difference-makers against the Mavs. “Ron and I talked this morning, how we’ve got to go, no letting the game come to us,” Odom said. “We were more aggressive tonight, especially on defense. This was one we had to take. When we play good defense, we can beat good teams.” And with Bynum thoroughly outplaying anyone Dallas threw at him, the Lakers were able to halt their 4-game road losing streak.

Kobe suffered most of the first half as his stiff back prevented him from doing any more than simply being the fifth player out on the court. He did not play the entire second quarter but the Lakers were able to extend their slim halftime lead to 49-45 as Artest sank three consecutive free throws after being fouled by Nowitzki as time ran out on the clock. Kobe lay prone on his back for most of the 2nd period, trying to keep it from stiffening up. But the Lakers didn’t need their leading scorer as Odom and Artest went to work.

Jordan Farmar (12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) and the rest of the Bench Mob outscored Dallas, 33-21. Luke Walton (4 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound in 14 minutes) continues to look good in his second game back after missing almost 8-weeks due to a pinched nerve in his back. Even DJ Mbenga (4 points, 2 rebounds in 11 minutes) got into the action as the Lakers second unit continues to make positive strides after a somewhat rocky beginning to the season. Josh Howard (18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) and Jason Kidd (11 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds) were not enough to combat the dominant inside play of the Lakers. Shawn Marion (10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) failed to take advantage of the ailing Bryant and was primarily a non-factor.

Center Erick Dampier had an opportunity to tie the game after Kobe’s shot, but his two free throws were well off the mark. Dallas was forced to foul and the Lakers were able to make enough down the stretch to pull out the much needed road victory. The Lakers can gain some amount of revenge against the Clippers on Friday, when this time, they’ll be the home team.