Dirk, Dallas Dump Lakers

Trading leads throughout the game, the Dallas Mavericks had just enough to hold off the Los Angeles Lakers, 101-96 at America Airlines Center. Unable to put any substantial scoring runs together, the Lakers allowed the Mavericks to stick around each time they managed to take the lead back. With over twenty lead changes in the contest, neither team could muster enough offense to put the game out of reach. But the Mavericks got hot when it counted most, down the stretch in the 4th quarter. Dirk Nowitzki (31 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) and Jason Terry (30 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal) scored 22 of Dallas’ final 23 points of the game. Kobe Bryant (20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) looked fatigued in his second game back. The lift in his legs was not there as it was against the Memphis Grizzlies, and he was caught numerous times in the air as he looked for open teammates. Normally, Kobe would simply have floated a few extra seconds before lofting a soft jumper through the nets. Tonight was the first time that I thought to myself, “Kobe’s finally beginning to show signs of aging.”

Lamar Odom (21 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals), Ron Artest (13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist) and Derek Fisher (12 points, 5 assists, 1 rebound) all contributed, but the Lakers got little out of their frontcourt. Andrew Bynum (10 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, 1 assist, 1 steal) started well with 8-points in the first period but quickly tailed off from there. Pau Gasol (11 points on 5-9, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) couldn’t get settled into an offensive rhythm and as a result, took very few shots. But through it all, the Lakers see-sawed back-and-forth with the Mavericks even though they were without newly the acquired Caron Butler. Butler was a late scratch after an adverse reaction to medication he was taking. But it was the old guys in Nowitzki and Terry that had picked up the slack for Dallas.

Jason Kidd (14 points, 13 assists, 7 rebounds, 1 steal) and Shawn Marion (10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal) provided their typical ballast, but the Mavs got an unexpected lift from Brendan Haywood (11 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 blocked shots). Although Bynum had his way early, it was Haywood who would settle into the role of defensive stopper for Dallas, swatting away or affecting shots taken in the paint. Gasol was clearly affected by Haywood’s presence late in the game when he took a great feed from Kobe, drove hard and lofted a relatively easy bank shot that clanged hard off the backboard. And with Terry and Nowitzki controlling the offense, there were no opportunities for late heroics this time around. With the Lakers trailing 97-94, Kobe’s long three fell a couple of inches short and the ensuing rebound caromed off of Gasol’s fingertips out of bounds. Dallas made their free throws as the Lakers failed to take advantage of idle Cleveland in the race for the best record and home court advantage throughout the playoffs.