Lakers-Mavericks Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Nov 24 2012 12:43AM

The Los Angeles Lakers' early struggles have been well-documented, and now they're on the verge of reaching another dubious mark.

They'll hope to avoid their worst road start in 19 years Saturday night against the Dallas Mavericks, who are looking to build off one of their more notable victories of the season.

The offseason acquisitions of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash couldn't help avoid Los Angeles' 1-4 start, especially with Nash missing the last 11 games with a bruised left shin.

That rough stretch cost former coach Mike Brown his job, but it appeared the Lakers had rebounded in winning five of their next six games, including a victory over Brooklyn on Tuesday in Mike D'Antoni's debut.

As it continues to adjust to D'Antoni's run-and-gun offense, though, Los Angeles fell 113-97 at woeful Sacramento the following night before a 106-98 defeat at Memphis on Friday.

Kobe Bryant shot only 7 of 23 but scored a game-high 30 points for the Lakers (6-7), who are trying to avoid their first 0-5 road start on the road since dropping their first six away from home in 1993.

"Offense is all about rhythm," D'Antoni said. "We had some sometimes, but we have got to maintain the rhythm of the game and we are not there yet."

Pau Gasol finished with six points and Howard attempted just seven shots and had seven points for the second straight game, hitting two field goals in each.

The Lakers are 0-5 when Gasol scores 10 or fewer points. He didn't play in the fourth quarter with D'Antoni looking to play with a quicker lineup.

"That's not my decision, my call. I'm a professional. When my number is called, I'm out there," Gasol said. "That is something that I don't think has happened to me."

The Mavericks figured they'd struggle without Dirk Nowitzki for the first part of the season, but offseason additions O.J. Mayo and Darren Collison have helped make up for his lost production.

Since getting off to a 4-1 start, Dallas (7-6) hasn't played its best ball with Nowitzki recovering from knee surgery. It knocked off New York 114-111 on Wednesday, though, behind 27 points from Mayo.

"Big confidence boost," Mayo said.

The Mavericks had lost two of three at home before Wednesday's win.

"It gives us confidence," reserve Dahntay Jones said. "We needed to get a good win at home to get our team at a high, so I think we're in a good spot to get a win on Saturday."

Vince Carter added 25 points off the bench and Collison finished with 19 and seven assists.

Mayo is averaging a team-best 22.2 points while Collison has been solid running the point, contributing 13.8 points and 6.5 assists per game.

"First and foremost, it was a collective effort," Carter said. "This was one of (Collison's) best games since the very beginning of the season. He's very hard on himself. He wants to win, and that's what I like about him."

Collison hit 8 of 12 shots and scored 17 points to lead six players in double figures in Dallas' 99-91 road victory over Los Angeles in both teams' season opener Oct. 30.

Gasol scored a game-high 23 points, Bryant had 22 and Howard finished with 19 in that contest, but Dallas ended a four-game skid in the series.

Lakers start hot, roll past Mavericks, 115-89

By SCHUYLER DIXON
Posted Nov 25 2012 12:18AM

DALLAS (AP) The Los Angeles Lakers have scoring beyond Kobe Bryant in Mike D'Antoni's offense. Not so much for the Dallas Mavericks when O.J. Mayo is a bit off, at least until Dirk Nowitzki gets back.

Metta World Peace hit three quick 3-pointers to spark a Los Angeles barrage from long range, and the Lakers scored 36 points before Bryant took his first shot in a 115-89 blowout of the Mavericks on Saturday night.

Once he started shooting, Bryant, the league's leading scorer, ended up joining World Peace among three Lakers with 19 points, and Los Angeles avoided its first 0-5 road start in nearly 20 years by scoring 100 points for the first time in four games under its hobbled coach.

"Metta played great. There was no reason not to," said D'Antoni, now 2-2 since joining the Los Angeles bench after knee replacement surgery. "The force that we had rolling, and the way the ball moves, he'll get it and he should get 10 3s a night."

Mayo didn't get any 3-pointers on this night, going 0 for 5 despite coming in as the league leader with 42 from long range. Harassed by tough defense from Bryant, he scored 13 points - nine below his average - and even missed the rim on a finger-roll layup attempt while starting 1 of 7 from the field.

"Oh man, terrific defense," Mayo said. "But a lot of them were missed open shots."

The Lakers don't expect their offense to find a high gear until Steve Nash returns from a leg injury, but they didn't need him against his old team, which will be missing his old running buddy, Nowitzki, for about another month at least.

Really, the Lakers didn't even need Bryant a night after he scored the final 14 Los Angeles points in a loss at Memphis. He hit his first shot early in the second quarter to put the Lakers up 41-23, and he made it a 20-point game on another bucket with 8:54 left in the half.

For good measure, Bryant hit a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in the second quarter to give Los Angeles a 65-38 halftime lead.

Antawn Jamison was the other Los Angeles player with 19 points, and he had 15 rebounds to help the Lakers finish 2-2 in a stretch of four games in five nights and answer a surprising season-opening loss to the Mavericks that triggered a 1-4 start and the firing of coach Mike Brown.

"We have a lot of weapons offensively," Jamison said. "We've got to utilize that, and we weren't before this. We moved the ball the way we needed to."

World Peace scored the first 10 Los Angeles points and finished the first quarter with 16, finally missing his first shot on a 3-pointer just before the buzzer. He was 6 of 7 from the floor, including 4 of 5 from long range. The first points from someone else came on an alley-oop dunk by Dwight Howard from Bryant.

World Peace didn't score again until another 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, but other Lakers got into the long-range act. They made 8 of 10 from 3-point range and shot 59 percent overall before halftime. Jodie Meeks hit a pair of 3-pointers, and Bryant and Jamison had the others as the Mavericks gave up a season high in points for a half and a game.

"I thought (World Peace) was the one who got them going," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "It put them in a really tough mode defensively, and we didn't execute well against them."

Howard, coming off consecutive seven-point games, scored 15 points. He had just two blocks, but altered several other shots from driving Dallas guards in helping hold the Mavericks to 38 percent shooting in the decisive first half. Dallas shot 37 percent for the game.

Brandan Wright was the leading scorer for the Mavericks until the 7:40 mark of the second quarter after playing just 22 minutes total the previous five games. He didn't play at all in two of those games. He scored six of the first eight Dallas points on a pair of jumpers and a follow-up dunk.

Vince Carter, appearing in his 1,000th game, led the Mavericks with seven at halftime, and finished with a team-high 16 after hitting three 3-pointers in a meaningless second half as the Mavericks fell back to .500 in their 14th game without Nowitzki.

"We know he's not going to be back for a while," Carlisle said. "When we were 4-1, it wasn't a problem. We've got enough here to win games provided that everyone is doing their job, and tonight we didn't do it."

A night after sitting the entire fourth quarter at Memphis, Pau Gasol had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers.

Rookie Jae Crowder scored 15 for Dallas, but 13 came with the outcome decided.

Notes: Carter has made 947 starts among the 1,000 games in his 15-year career. Dirk Nowitzki played his 1,000th game for Dallas last season. Carter has played 75 games in Dallas with 40 starts. Jamison played in his 999th game Saturday night. ... The 0-4 road start for the Lakers was their worst since 1995, when they finally won in the fifth game at Sacramento. They lost their first six on the road to start the 1993-94 season. ... The Mavericks gave up a season high in points. The previous high came in a 113-94 loss at Utah.

Notebook: Lakers 115, Mavericks 89

Dave Ivey, For NBA.com
Posted Sun Nov 25, 2012 12:03 AM - Updated Sun Nov 25, 2012 12:03 AM

THE FACTS: The Los Angeles Lakers had their first road victory of the season locked up early, leading by as many as 37 points en route to a 115-89 defeat of the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night at the American Airlines Center. Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace and Antawn Jamison each scored 19 points as the Lakers (7-7) improved to 2-2 under coach Mike D'Antoni.

Not looking anything like a team playing its fourth game in five nights, or one that was 0-4 away from home, the Lakers repeatedly blew past defenders for layups, shot 55 percent (12-for-22) from 3-point range and dominated Dallas (7-7) from start to finish. The Mavericks shot 37 percent from the field and got dominated on the glass, 61-39. Vince Carter led Dallas with 16 points off the bench.

QUOTABLE: "When we can get him at the four, it opens up his game. He's one of the best slashers and cutters. He's dangerous from 3. He's a player. I think he's hitting his stride now and he feels reborn a little bit, and we'll keep helping him."

-- Mike D'Antoni on Antawn Jamison, who added a game-high 15 rebounds

THE STAT: The Lakers' 65 points in the first half were the most against the Mavericks in any half this season, topping the 58 points allowed at Utah on Oct. 31. Los Angeles was 8-for-10 from 3-point range in the half.

TURNING POINT: Any chance the Mavericks had of making it a contest evaporated quickly in the second quarter. Dallas narrowed the gap to 49-34 on a 3-pointer by rookie Jae Crowder, but the Lakers answered with a 16-4 run to finish the half. Bryant scored 11 points during that stretch, including a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left before the break.

QUOTABLE II: "When we were 4-1 it wasn't a problem and we're not going to make it a problem."

--Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle on playing without Dirk Nowitzki

HOT: World Peace sank his first six shots, including four 3-pointers, and scored 16 points in the first quarter. He scored the Lakers' first 10 points of the game. His five 3-pointers in the game matched a career high.

NOT: Mavericks point guard Darren Collison was 1-for-10 from the field and finished with more turnovers (four) than points (two). Center Chris Kaman was 2-for-12 and finished with more fouls (six) than points (four).

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Jamison had a double-double by halftime with 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. ... Dwight Howard had 15 points, seven rebounds, a career high-tying five steals, two blocks and two assists. ... One night after being benched for the entire fourth quarter in a loss at Memphis, Pau Gasol contributed 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Including the postseason, this was the 500th consecutive sellout at the AAC, the longest active streak in the NBA.

ROOKIE WATCH: Crowder scored a season-high 15 points and had four rebounds, four steals and two assists. He was 3-for-7 from behind the arc.

NOTABLE: It was the 1,000th career game for Carter, the 104th player to reach that milestone. ... The Lakers have won the last four regular-season meetings in Dallas. ... The Mavericks are 7-0 this season when shooting at least 45 percent from the field and 0-7 when they don't. ... Lakers forward Devin Ebanks played for the first time since he was arrested on Nov. 9 for suspicion of misdemeanor DUI, scoring five points in five-plus minutes. ... O.J. Mayo scored 13 for Dallas, ending a streak of 11 straight games with 18-plus points. ... The Mavericks' only lead was 4-3.

UP NEXT: For the Mavericks, Tuesday @ Philadelphia, Wednesday @ Chicago, Saturday vs. Detroit. For the Lakers, Tuesday vs. Indiana, Friday vs. Denver, Dec. 2 vs. Orlando.

• Lakers: Blake, Nash
• Mavericks: Cunningham, Nowitzki

• Lakers: --
• Mavericks: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #16 David Guthrie, #74 Curtis Blair
• Attendance: 20423
• Duration: 2:13