Lakers start hot, roll past Mavericks, 115-89

By SCHUYLER DIXON

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

Bryant, the league's leading scorer, finished with 19 once he did start shooting as the Lakers hit the century mark for the first time in four games under hobbled coach Mike D'Antoni.

The Lakers won for the first time in five road games and avoided their worst start away from home in nearly 20 years.

O.J. Mayo, who led the league in 3-pointers going in, was 0 of 5 from long range and finished with 13 points. Vince Carter led Dallas with 16.

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.

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.

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 Antawn Jamison had the others as the Mavericks gave up a season high in points for a half and a game.

Jamison, World Peace and Bryant each scored 19 to lead the Lakers. Jamison also had 15 rebounds.

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.

Mayo wasn't even the first Dallas scorer to pass Wright. Not only was he cold from long distance, he completely missed the rim on a finger-roll layup attempt while starting 1 of 7 from the field. He finished 5 of 15.

At halftime, Carter was the leading scorer for Dallas with seven.

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

Notes: Carter played his 1,000th career game. He's made 947 starts in a 15-year career. Dirk Nowitzki played his 1,000th game for Dallas last season. Carter has played 75 games in Dallas with 40 starts. ... 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.

POSTGAME QUOTES



Mike D'Antoni:

What were you impressed with tonight?
“That start tonight helped out defense, and that’s what defense is all about. We talked about certain things and they came out and did it. They were very focused with a lot of energy and this was the fourth game in five nights, and they had it. So we should expect this every night. I think they will. I think once they feel comfortable with things, I think we’ll have this kind of effort every time.”

On Atawn Jamison’s performance:
“I think when we can get him at the four some it opens up his game. He’s one of the best slashers and cutters. He’s dangerous from three. 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.”

On Gasol and Howard tonight:
“They played great. The thing is, they can dominate getting three shots, they can dominate getting 30 shots. Everybody’s putting energy out there and a team will guard you the way they guard you, and something’s going to be open. They did a grat job, both of them.”

On Metta World Peace tonight:
“Metta played great. There was no reason not to. He’s a great spot up shooter. The force that we had rolling, and the way the ball moves, he’ll get it and he should get 10 threes a night. He’ll make four or five of them every night, and that’s his game. And he can drive the basketball, but his defense set the tone early. He gets on you and he’s tough. Metta’s Metta, and he’s good.”

“I’ll be scoring a lot more when Nash gets back. I won’t have to facilitate as much and it will allow me to do what I do best and that’s put the ball in the hole. I can help direct the offense and make plays for the rest of my teammates.”

“We just need to adjust some things when we play up tempo teams and that will come with time.”

“Mike keeps the offense pretty simple for us. If you’re open shoot it and if you have a lane drive it. He just keeps it pretty simple.”

“I’ve been facilitating all year, especially when Steve went down and scoring comes pretty easy for me. I’ve been doing this my whole career and some nights my teammates hit more shots and that adds up to more assists for me. The games which we win are when the whole team is making shots. Now if our shots aren’t going in then I have to take more of the offensive load and that makes it a lot tougher to win games.”

“We came out with a lot of energy tonight on both ends. Everybody was active and we really ran the floor well tonight. We played great defense and were able to score. We need to continue to do that and not let teams change our game plan.”

“We got to play defense if we want to win a championship. We really need to keep this up and get better every day. Our offense is still coming and until then we just have to play defense. That’s the most important part.”

On the loss:
“It started on the defensive end. They had a lot of blow bys at the beginning of the game…Being able to set their defense, they were really locked into that. They played a great game and we were really poor. I credit them, we all own this one…They are physically stronger than us.”

On starting Brendan Wright:
“I wanted to get Wright involved, I like the way he played out there (L.A) and I didn’t want Kaman guarding Howard to start the game. The starting lineup is down the list of issues in this game.”

On Metta World Peace:
“I thought Artest was the one that got them going. He blew by us twice for layups, he hit two or three three’s in the first quarter. It got them going and it got them in a really tough mode defensively and we didn’t execute well against it.”

On the team's frame of mind:
"The frame of mind is just get back to what we were doing the other game and that's playing consistently, starting the game off right, defending, rebounding, not turning the ball over and we'll be okay."

On the play of the defense:
"The defense was disappointing, but that's something that we have to put behind us and get back to the principles that gave us a good outing against the Knicks."

On letting the game get away early:
"We have to address the issues and then move on. We can't just sweep it under the rug. But we will take care of business tomorrow, get down to work and then get ready for our big road trip coming up."

On frustrations with the team defense:
"It's up and down. You play a team and you play them pretty well and we feel good about ourselves. Tonight, it was disgusting. It's disappointing for our fans with the kind of game that was. We know how bad they wanted this game, we should have wanted it as bad as they wanted it and we didn't come with it tonight."

On hearing "Let's Go Lakers" chants at home:
"It was embarrassing before the 'Let's Go Lakers' chants. It was embarrassing before that. We were down 30 points to a team we beat with Steve Nash playing and this is a different coach. I thought it was embarrassing well before that. Hopefully that's etched in our memory and we will be able to play them harder next time."

LAKERS-MAVERICKS PREVIEW

By JEFF BARTL

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.

SEASON & SERIES NOTES; CONNECTIONS
The Lakers trail their season series with the Mavericks 0-1 after sweeping last season’s series with Dallas 4-0. The Lakers last lost a season series to Dallas in 2006-07 (1-3), their first series loss to the Mavericks since the 1986-87 season and only the third ever (1983-84). The Lakers are 7-3 against the Mavericks in their last 10 regular season games and have won six of the last seven overall. In Dallas, the Lakers have gone 6-4 in their last 10 games at American Airlines Center. The Lakers are 20-5 all-time against the Mavericks during the regular season at STAPLES Center and 8-2 in their last 10 home games overall. In recent series history, when the Lakers and Mavericks met for the first time last season, the Lakers won in spite of recording the franchise’s second lowest scoring quarter in the NBA’s shot clock era (7 points, third quarter) as their defense limited Dallas to their lowest scoring game in series history (previous low was 80 points 4/6/97 in a game that included the Mavericks posting an NBA record-low two point quarter). Two seasons ago, on 1/3/10 at STAPLES Center, the Lakers established a new series record for margin of victory over Dallas, defeating the Mavericks by 35 (131-96), surpassing the old 33-point margin of victory established 12/1/93 (124-91). In December of 2005, Kobe Bryant established a new series record with 62 points against the Mavericks in a 112-90 victory at STAPLES Center. In that contest, Bryant single-handedly outscored the Mavericks 62-61 through three quarters. In 2007-08, Bryant again went over the 50-point mark against the Mavericks, scoring 52 points in the Lakers 108-104 overtime victory March 2 at STAPLES Center. In the postseason, the Lakers and Mavericks have met in the playoffs four times (1984 WC Semifinals (4-1), 1986 WC Semifinals (4-2), 1988 WC Finals (4-3), 2011 WC Semifinals (0- 4)) with the Lakers advancing on three occasions. Lakers guard Steve Nash played six seasons with Dallas from 1998-2004, earning All-Star and Third Team All-NBA honors with the Mavericks in 2002 and 2003. With Dallas, Nash averaged 14.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 32.7 minutes over 408 games. Mavericks’ forward Elton Brand played alongside Metta World Peace on the same AAU team as a teenagers. Dallas’ O.J. Mayo (USC) and Darren Collison (UCLA) both played collegiately in Los Angeles with Collison also playing his prep basketball locally at Etiwanda HS in Rancho Cucamonga,CA. Antawn Jamison and the Mavericks’ Vince Carter were college teammates at North Carolina and were traded for each other on draft night in 1998 (Jamison (4th pick) from Toronto to Golden State for Carter (5th pick)). Jamison also played for Dallas in 2003-04 and was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year (14.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg).

LAST REGULAR SEASON MEETING
Trailing by two at the half after leading by as many as eight in the early going, the Lakers were outscored 26-20 in the third, fell behind by 16 points in the fourth and dropped their season opener to the Dallas Mavericks 91-99 at STAPLES Center. Pau Gasol posted game-highs in points (23), rebounds (13), assists (6) and blocks (3), Kobe Bryant scored 22 points on 11-of-14 shooting and Dwight Howard finished with 19 points (8-12 FG) and 10 rebounds in his Lakers debut. Steve Nash recorded seven points and four assists in his first game in a Lakers uniform, while Jordan Hill led the Lakers bench with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting. Los Angeles struggled from the free throw line, connecting on just 12-of-31 attempts (.387). The Mavericks had six players finish in double-figures, led by Darren Collison’s 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Brandon Wright scored 14 points on a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, while O.J. Mayo (12 points), Shawn Marion (11 points, 9 rebounds), Vince Carter (11 points) and Rodrigue Beaubois (11 points) rounded out the Mavericks in double-figures.