Fisher's late 3 pushes Lakers past Mavericks 73-70

By GREG BEACHAM

LOS ANGELES (AP) Derek Fisher hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds to play and the Los Angeles Lakers survived a dismal offensive game by both teams for a 73-70 victory over the Mavericks on Monday night, snapping Dallas' five-game winning streak.

Vince Carter missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the defending champion Mavericks, who swept Los Angeles out of the second round of the postseason last spring, ending the Lakers' bid for a three-peat.

Neither team looked much like a championship contender in their first meeting since, with 3 1/2 miserable offensive quarters before the exciting finish.

Fisher scored 13 points and led a 10-0 run midway through the fourth quarter, but the Mavericks rallied to tie it on Jason Terry's running jumper at the top of the key with 9.9 seconds left.

Kobe Bryant, whose streak of four straight 40-point games ended with just 14 against the Mavs, drew the Dallas defense before passing to Fisher. The veteran point guard calmly drilled a long 3-pointer from the wing.

Carter's desperation try was far off, and the Lakers celebrated their ninth consecutive home victory since Christmas.

Andrew Bynum had 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who have won six of seven overall despite barely scoring 70 points - the franchise low in the shot-clock era, set in November 2002.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points for the Mavericks, but committed a crucial traveling violation with 38 seconds left in their first loss since Jan. 5. Lamar Odom scored 10 points in his return to Staples Center, where he won two championships before the Lakers abruptly traded him to Dallas last month.

Two elite NBA franchises might have showed the strain of the NBA's compacted schedule, or the excitement of the playoff rematch - or maybe they both just stunk.

Airballs, turnovers and missed assignments dominated play, which included a seven-point third quarter by the Lakers and 35 percent shooting by the Mavericks, who extended their string of exceptional defensive performances.

Pau Gasol, whose struggles in last year's playoff series played a huge role in the Lakers' losses, had just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting, while Dallas' Jason Kidd went 0 for 8 on 3-pointers and Terry was 2 for 9 from the field until his tying basket.

Bryant had scored at least 40 points in each of his past four games, but the NBA's leading scorer even didn't score until midway through the second quarter.

At least the Lakers have their first chance to recover from the lockout-compacted NBA schedule: After matching the league high with 15 games in 23 days, Los Angeles has consecutive days off for the first time this season before Thursday's game at Miami.

Odom demanded the trade when his feelings were hurt after a deal fell apart to send him to New Orleans for Chris Paul, but the reigning Sixth Man of the Year is still struggling to fit in Dallas.

Odom's return added another layer of intrigue to the Lakers' first matchup with the Mavericks since Dallas' 36-point win in the playoff clincher. That game ended with thuggish behavior by Bynum, who earned a four-game suspension for his harsh fouls in coach Phil Jackson's final game with Los Angeles.

Odom said it was "surreal" to be in the visitors' locker room at Staples Center, his home for the past seven seasons. The Staples Center crowd greeted Odom with a lengthy standing ovation when he entered the game midway through the first quarter, and the Lakers played a video tribute on the scoreboard at the ensuing timeout.

NOTES: Odom's wife, reality TV star Khloe Kardashian, watched the game from Lakers executive Jeanie Buss' second-row seats, cheering loudly for the Mavericks. ... Fans near courtside included Chris Tucker, Don Cheadle and boxing trainer Freddie Roach.

POSTGAME QUOTES



Mike Brown:

On the Lakers defense impacting the Mavericks offense:

“Obviously the Mavericks are a good defensive team and I think we’re heading in that direction, in terms of being a good defensive team. They missed some shots. They had some open looks. You look at a Dallas team that shoots 39% and scores 70 points; you have to be doing a little something right defensively. They’re great shooters and I know they probably missed some by I applaud my guys for trying to defend the right way.”

“I like the fact that if we don’t score we can still win games because eventually we are going to score. So for me that’s exciting and hopefully our guys understand that we can win ugly games, we can win pretty games, we can win high tempo games, however you want to bring it we can get down that way.”

“He’s a professional obviously and he always keeps himself ready. It was a little tough for him this summer because of all the stuff he was doing with the labor stuff but he’s slowly getting back in shape and starting to understand what we want on both ends of the floor. It’s hard work as of late and it really paid off today.”

“For me, and for a lot of guys on our team, it’s just an opportunity thing in terms of letting the game unfold. You know, I’m not a volume shooter, I’m not going to get a lot of shots, but I’ve just got to stay ready and be there to help my team. With Steve [Blake] out I’m getting more minutes in the fourth quarter, and I’m just glad I was able to help the team win tonight.”

“It’s what I do. When opportunities like that present themselves, you know, I’m confident in my abilities to just step up and make the right play, whether it’s making the shot or making the read that creates something for someone else.”

“Some nights it’s like that. I think us and the Mavericks have played the most games in the league to start the season, but we’re two of the most experienced teams. So to have our fourteenth and fifteenth game in 20-21 days, you probably can’t be too surprised that it was a little bit sloppy and a little bit ugly. These are games that as we’re trying to improve and make progress and get comfortable with what Coach wants from us, you have to figure out how to win…”

“It was just like practice.”

“It depends on who’s on the floor and it depends on the rhythm of the game. A lot of it depends on who’s on the floor.”

“Oh man, he was great, especially down the stretch. He got one steal against Kidd and then he hit the three, and he got a bucket before he got on the opposite side of the court. He came up big tonight.”

“He definitely is able to make big shots, it’s something that he’s always done throughout his career. He’s on the same quest level as Kobe and he’s always able to lock down big shots.”

“We made the decision to get the ball out of Bryant’s hands and we just didn’t get to him (Fisher) in time. We had the full intention of rotating over to him, but he got the shot off quick and he shot it high so we couldn’t get to it. He made a great shot.”

“It’s different. They’re a different team and we’re a different team so there’s not a whole lot there. They’re playing a different style of defense pick and roll wise which is a big adjustment. They’re personnel is different. They’ve got three or four guys in the rotation that weren’t there last year. They’ve got a new coach, and of course they still have some of the same great players. For me this wasn’t like a rematch from the playoffs.”

“Both teams, it was just an ugly game. Shots didn’t fall. I think where we lost it was the beginning of the fourth where we stopped them five, six, seven times straight and that’s where we should have gotten some separation. We should have gone up 10 [points] but we just couldn’t get anything to drop.”

“We knew we wanted to run at Kobe. We were kind of hoping they put him on the wing, so we could rotate, rotate, rotate. But they put him at top, so [Jason Terry] ran at him and I rotated a little harder knowing that Fisher made a lot of big shots in his career. I didn’t want to overrun him and give something easier up, but you have to give him credit. It was a heck of a heck of a shot by him, and that’s what he does --- he makes game-winning shots.”

“Anytime, especially if it’s against your guys --- guys you went to battle with. Anytime you lose a close game it hurts.”

“I mean it happens and it happened. I don’t want to take anything away from my time here, but in order for me to succeed, I have to move on. I plan on succeeding in this next chapter in my life, so you have to move on no matter what.”

“It was just an ugly game, but you want to win those ugly games. We just couldn’t make a shot and they made the big shot at the end.”

“We couldn’t make a shot in the fourth. We couldn’t make a shot pretty much the whole night. I thought defensively we were competing. Sometimes you have to make shots too in this league and we just couldn’t do it tonight.”

Mavericks-Lakers Preview

By MATT BECKER

After starting their NBA title defense in brutal fashion, the Dallas Mavericks are playing superb defensively and are once again looking like championship contenders. Their turnaround, however, has largely come against struggling teams without elite scorers.

That's about to change.

In a rematch of last season's Western Conference semifinals, the Mavericks go for a sixth straight win Monday night against the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant, who is in the midst of a remarkable scoring binge.

Dallas (8-5) opens a four-game road trip after a record-setting performance in Saturday's 99-60 victory over Sacramento. The Mavericks jumped out to a 52-23 halftime lead and ended up allowing the fewest points in franchise history while limiting the Kings to 25.6 percent shooting.

"It's all dictated on our defense," said Jason Terry, second on the team in scoring at 14.9 points per game. "We want to play great defense and get stops."

The Mavericks have been doing a lot of that lately, allowing an average of 77.6 points on 37.7 percent shooting during their five-game winning streak.

Dallas has come a long way since allowing an average of 108.0 points in opening the season with losses to Miami, Denver and Oklahoma City. Part of this stems from its offseason additions - including Lamar Odom, Vince Carter and Delonte West - growing into their new roles, while some of the turnaround can be attributed to weak competition The Mavericks' last five games have come against New Orleans, Detroit, Boston, Milwaukee and Sacramento - teams with a combined record of 18-42. They've won the last two with such ease that Dirk Nowitzki and his fellow starters have had the luxury of resting for the fourth quarter.

They'll likely face a much bigger challenge against the Lakers (9-5), although they didn't have much trouble with them in last season's playoffs. Dallas, which dropped two of three to Los Angeles in the regular season, swept the Lakers, finishing them off with a 122-86 demolition that saw both Odom - then a Laker - and Andrew Bynum earn ejections.

Nowitzki averaged 25.3 points on 57.4 percent shooting and 9.3 rebounds in the four playoff games, while Bryant averaged 23.3 points and got little help from Pau Gasol, who averaged 12.5 points.

Although Bryant didn't have much success against the Mavericks last May, he's been having no trouble lately.

The 13-time All-Star has notched four consecutive games of 40 or more points. It's the first time an NBA player hit the 40-point mark in four straight since Bryant did it five times from March 16-25, 2007.

Despite Bryant's scoring exploits, the Lakers suffered a 102-94 loss to the Clippers on Saturday, snapping a five-game winning streak. Bryant finished with 42 points on 14 of 28 shooting and made 12 of 14 free throws.

He felt the game was lost, however, by the Lakers' inability to control the glass. The Lakers, second in the league in rebounding at 45.7 per game, were edged 50-42 by the NBA's third-worst rebounding team.

"That's the area that really killed us," Bryant said.

Los Angeles could again have some trouble on the boards against Dallas, which is averaging 45.9 rebounds in its last seven games, fourth-best in the NBA. Odom, a proficient rebounder during his time with the Lakers, hasn't had much to do with the Mavericks' success on the boards.

After spending the last seven seasons in Los Angeles, Odom requested a trade in December after learning the Lakers wanted to include him in a trade for New Orleans superstar Chris Paul. A day later, Los Angeles shipped him to Dallas for a first-round draft pick and an $8.9 million trade exception.

Odom was instrumental to the Lakers' championships in 2009 and '10 and was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year last season, averaging 14.4 points and 8.7 rebounds.

He is struggling mightily in his first season in Dallas, however, averaging 6.8 points on 31.2 percent shooting and 5.0 rebounds.

SEASON & SERIES NOTES; CONNECTIONS
The Lakers took last season’s series from Dallas 2-1 after splitting the ‘09-10 series 2-2 and sweeping the ‘08-09 season series with the Mavericks 3-0. 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). Overall, the Lakers are 7-3 against the Mavericks in their last 10 games. In Dallas, the Lakers have gone 4-6 in their last 10 games at American Airlines Center. The Lakers are 18-4 all-time against the Mavericks at STAPLES Center and 8-2 in their last 10 home games overall. In their first meeting of the 2009-10 season (10/30/09), the Lakers lost for just the 11th time at home against the Mavericks in the regular season, ending a 6-game win streak against Dallas as well as a 4- game home win streak against the Mavs. Also that season, 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 their first meeting of the 2008-09 season, Jason Kidd posted his 101st career triple-double and his fourth ever against the Lakers. 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. Mavericks forward Lamar Odom was traded to the Mavericks earlier this season on December 11th. In 519 games (382 starts) with the Lakers over seven seasons (2004-2011), Odom posted career averages of 13.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists while earning the 2010-11 Sixth Man of the Year Award and helping the Lakers to two NBA Championships. 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.

FIRST TO FORTY
On Tuesday, January 10th, Kobe Bryant scored an NBA season-high 48 points the help the Lakers to a 99-83 victory over the Phoenix Suns at STAPLES Center. Entering that night’s schedule, 131 NBA games had been played on the season, and not one player had reached the 40-point mark in a game, marking the farthest into a season in the shot-clock era, in terms of games played, before the first player scored 40 points in a game. Prior to this season, the latest “first player to 40” came in the 2004-05 season, when Dirk Nowitzki scored 41 points on 11/11/04. Prior to that day, there had been 68 NBA games played that season.*

The NBA season-high 48 points scored by Bryant, who was 33 years, 140 days old on January 10th, is the most by a player that old in a regulation-length game since Michael Jordan posted 51 points at the age of 38 as a member of the Washington Wizards 12/29/01 vs. the Charlotte Hornets. Bryant, who is currently in his 16th NBA season, became the first NBA player to score 48 or more points in his 15th season or later; Michael Jordan held the previous record, scoring 48 or more points in his 14th NBA season. Bryant’s 48 points (18-31 FG, 12-13 FT), marks his highest scoring output since registering 49 points 3/1/09 at Phoenix, and is the most he has scored in any game in which he did not make a three-point field goal.*

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK 40 POINT GAMES
On Friday, January 13th, Kobe Bryant scored 42 points to help defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers, giving him three straight games with 40+ points. Earlier in the week, he scored 40 points in an overtime victory at Utah just one night after posting an NBA season-high 48 points in a victory over Phoenix. Bryant last recorded three or more consecutive 40-point games back in March of 2007 when he posted five straight 40+ point games including four straight 50+ point efforts. That streak was one of the most historic scoring runs in NBA history, with Bryant becoming just the second player in NBA history to score 50+ points in four consecutive games (65 points 3/16/07 vs. POR, 50 points 3/18/07 vs. MIN, 60 points 3/22/07 at MEM, 50 points 3/23/07 at NOK). Bryant’s 225 points (56.3 ppg) during that run of four games is only surpassed in league history by Wilt Chamberlain, who topped 225 several times during the 1961-62 and 1962-63 seasons.

Additionally, in scoring 42 points vs. Cleveland, Bryant, at the age of 33, is the oldest player in NBA history to score at least 40 points in three consecutive games. The only other players to do so after turning 30 were Wilt Chamberlain in December of 1967 at age 31 and Bob Love in February of 1973 at age 30. Bryant also continues to hold the top spot in league-wide scoring average, with his 31.2 points per game ranking as the second-highest of his career through the first 13 games of a season. Bryant averaged 33.5 points per game at that juncture in 2005-06, finishing the season with a career-high 35.4 ppg average.

KOBE BRYANT LEADS WESTERN CONFERENCE AFTER FIRST ROUND OF ALL-STAR BALLOTING
On January 12th, the NBA announced its FIRST returns of 2012 NBA All-Star balloting with Kobe Bryant (690,613) LEADING all Western Conference players in All-Star voting while ranking second league-wide behind Dwight Howard (754,737). Pau Gasol (185,428), who made his fourth All-Star team last season as a reserve, ranks 4th among forwards in the West behind Kevin Durant (633,538), Blake Griffin (394,264) and Dirk Nowitzki (231,832). Andrew Bynum (496,597) leads all West centers, with DeAndre Jordan (134,961) and Marc Gasol (102,116) ranked second and third respectively. Chris Paul (540,173) ranks 2nd among West guards behind Bryant. In the East, LeBron James (640,789) and Carmelo Anthony (496,351) lead all forwards in voting, Derrick Rose (640,476) and Dwyane Wade (637,912) are the top two votegetters at guard and Howard leads all centers in balloting.

In each of the last four seasons, Bryant has led the Western Conference in all-star balloting. Last season, Bryant, who was the youngest All-Star in NBA history in 1998, received 2,380,016 votes to lead all players in balloting, the second time in his career he has done so (2003). In 2009-10, Bryant received 2,456,224 votes, finishing second overall to Cleveland’s LeBron James (2,549,693). In 2008-09, he accumulated 2,805,397 votes, finishing third in overall balloting behind Dwight Howard (3,150,181) and James (2,940,823). In 2007-08, Bryant garnered 2,004,940 votes to finish fourth in overall voting behind Kevin Garnett (2,399,148), James (2,108,831) and Howard (2,066,991). In 2006-07, when he earned his second All-Star MVP, Bryant finished third overall in balloting behind James and Yao Ming. A four-time All-Star MVP (2002 Philadelphia, 2007 Las Vegas, 2009 Phoenix, 2011 Los Angeles), Bryant is a 13-time All-Star and had started 11 consecutive All-Star games before missing the 2009-10 contest due to a sprained left ankle. Gasol has made four All-Star appearances (2006, 2009-11) and in 2009, became the 27th Laker in franchise history to be named to an All-Star team. Bynum has yet to make an All-Star Team, finishing 2nd among West centers (974,546) a year ago behind Yao Ming (1,146,426).

BRYANT NEARING SHAQUILLE O’NEAL FOR 5th ON NBA’S ALL-TIME SCORING LIST
Last season, Kobe Bryant moved past Hall-of-Famers Moses Malone (27,409) 3/8/11 at Atlanta, Elvin Hayes (27,313) 2/27/11 at Oklahoma City, Hakeem Olajuwon (26,946) 1/28/11 vs. Sacramento, Oscar Robertson (26,710) 1/7/11 vs. New Orleans, Dominique Wilkins (26,668) 1/4/11 vs. Detroit and John Havlicek (26,395) 12/10/10 at Chicago on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Next on the all-time list ahead of Bryant (28,144) are Shaquille O’Neal (5th/28,596), Wilt Chamberlain (4th/31,419), Michael Jordan (3rd/32,292), Karl Malone (2nd/36,928) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1st/38,387). Among the top six scorers in NBA history, five have worn the Lakers uniform.

Bryant has been steadily moving up the list over the past few years. In 2009-10, he passed Alex English (25,613), Reggie Miller (25,279), Jerry West (25,192), Patrick Ewing (24,815) and Allen Iverson (24,368). In passing West with a slam dunk at the 4:14 mark of the third quarter February 1, 2010 at Memphis, finishing the game with 44 points (West’s retired number), Bryant became the leading scorer in Lakers franchise history. In 2008-09, Bryant passed Gary Payton (21,813) and Hall-of-Famers Charles Barkley (23,757), Robert Parish (23,334), Adrian Dantley (23,177), Elgin Baylor (23,149), Clyde Drexler (22,195) and Larry Bird (21,791).

*Statistical research assistance provided by the Elias Sports Bureau