THE FACTS: With their teams fighting to get into the playoff picture, superstars Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki staged a classic duel Sunday afternoon at the American Airlines Center. Bryant scored 14 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter to carry his Los Angeles Lakers to a 103-99 victory against the Dallas Mavericks, who were led by Nowitzki's season-high 30 points.
Bryant was 5-for-5 in the fourth and 13-for-21 for the game. He scored his 31,000th career point and added 12 rebounds and seven assists. Steve Nash scored a season-high 20 points for the Lakers (28-29), who have won five straight in Dallas and eight of the last nine regular-season meetings against the Mavericks.
Nowitzki was 11-for-19 and grabbed 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season, but he was the only Dallas starter to score in double figures. Vince Carter had 15 points and Elton Brand added 14 off the bench for the Mavericks (25-30), who had their three-game winning streak snapped in a tight battle that featured 10 ties and 20 lead changes. Neither team led by more than six points throughout.
QUOTABLE: "All he needs is the ball. Just throw it over to him and that's how he likes to operate."
--Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni on Kobe Bryant.
THE STAT: With a 3-pointer at the 4:50 mark of the second quarter, Bryant became the youngest member of the 31,000-point club at the age of 34 years and 185 days. He surpassed Wilt Chamberlain (36-164), Karl Malone (36-267), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (36-323) and Michael Jordan (39-296). He finished with 31,027 points.
TURNING POINT: After a fast-break dunk by Nowitzki gave Dallas a 90-87 lead with 6:41 to play, the Mavericks didn't score again until Carter's 10-footer with 2:50 left. Aided by technical fouls called against both Nowitzki and O.J. Mayo, the Lakers took the lead for good during that span with seven unanswered points at the free-throw line.
QUOTABLE II: "It's difficult. It's obviously difficult. He hit some very difficult shots. We ran at him a few times. One time we ran at him and [Steve] Nash hit a 3. It's tough when he has it going like that."
-- Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle on guarding Bryant, a job that fell to Shawn Marion, O.J. Mayo and rookie Jae Crowder at various times Sunday.
QUOTABLE III: "It's just what I'm supposed to do. It's about that time. I'm kind of going through a process of facilitating and things like that, but now it's time to put the whole thing together."
-- Bryant on carrying the team in recent games.
HOT: After going 2-for-37 from 3-point range in his previous 16 games, Bryant broke out of his slump with a 4-for-5 effort from downtown. The Lakers shot 52 percent (13-for-25) from deep.
NOT: The Mavs' starting backcourt of Mayo and Darren Collison were held to a combined 15 points on 5-for-20 shooting. Down by three with 4.9 seconds left, Mayo's 3-point attempt from the corner bounced off the rim. ... Metta World Peace managed just two rebounds, one assist and one point in nearly 37 minutes, missing all six of his field-goal attempts.
BAD MOVE: Bryant was whistled for his 13th technical foul at the 9:16 mark of the first quarter for arguing a non-call. If he reaches 16 technicals, he would have to serve a one-game suspension.
NOTABLE: Mavericks guard Rodrigue Beaubois celebrated his 25th birthday Sunday... Mavericks center Chris Kaman returned to action after missing 10 games due to a concussion. ... The Lakers are 21-3 when leading after three quarters. ... Los Angeles came in with an 0-6 record on the front end of back-to-backs. ... The Mavericks had a 44-24 scoring edge in the paint and a 16-1 advantage in second-chance points. ... Dallas had 19 assists, snapping a streak of 21 consecutive games with 20 or more. ... After blocking a franchise-record 17 shots in Friday's win at New Orleans, the Mavericks only had one block against the Lakers.
UP NEXT: For the Mavericks, Tuesday vs. Milwaukee, Wednesday @ Memphis, Friday @ Brooklyn. For the Lakers, Monday @ Denver, Thursday vs. Minnesota, Sunday vs. Atlanta.