Bryant, Gasol lead Lakers over Mavericks

By CHRIS DUNCAN

DALLAS (AP) Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, Pau Gasol added 27 points and nine rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers stopped the Dallas Mavericks' four-game winning streak with a 109-93 victory on Wednesday night.

Ramon Sessions contributed 17 points and nine assists in his fourth game for the Lakers since he was acquired in a trade with Cleveland on March 15.

Dirk Nowitzki had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Jason Terry scored 23 points for the defending NBA champion Mavericks, 0-3 against the Lakers this season.

The Lakers ended a two-game skid and have won six of eight overall. They were on the second leg of a back-to-back following Tuesday night's 107-104 loss at Houston.

The Lakers broke open the game with a 24-6 spurt in the second quarter, capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Matt Barnes and Sessions for a 51-38 advantage.

Barnes and Bryant added 3-pointers during the decisive run, with the Lakers building a 57-44 halftime edge.

Los Angeles shot 57 percent (25 for 44) from the floor in the first half, led by Gasol's 6 for 7 and Sessions' 5 for 6. Gasol finished 13 of 16.

Bryant pulled off a spectacular three-point play midway through the third quarter, first spinning in a no-look reverse layup after Gasol's alley-oop pass. He was fouled on the attempt by Jason Kidd, and Bryant added a free throw that put his team in front, 69-55.

Dallas finished the third quarter with a 12-6 run to narrow the deficit to 80-72.

But the Lakers took control by opening the final quarter with a 10-4 spurt, capped by Gasol's 3-pointer with 8:04 left for a 90-76 lead.

Mavericks starters Shawn Marion (sore left knee) and Brendan Haywood (sprained right knee) each missed their third straight game. Dallas is also minus a third starter, Delonte West, who sat out his 18th straight game with a fractured right ring finger.

NOTES: Los Angeles has taken 13 of the last 16 regular-season meetings with Dallas, but the Mavs swept a four-game playoff series from the Lakers last season. ... The Lakers held a 30-15 advantage in the second quarter, hitting 13 of 24 field goal attempts while Dallas was going 5 for 20. Los Angeles owned a 17-6 rebounding edge in the second quarter. ... Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's take on Oklahoma City's signing of ex-Laker G Derek Fisher: "I hope he disrupts their locker room...but I hope there's disruption in every locker room but us." ... Lakers coach Mike Brown wished Fisher well, saying, "That's great. I'm happy for him and his family. He's a winner. He'll be able to help them out."

POSTGAME QUOTES



Mike Brown:

(On the game)
“Obviously offensively we had a big night against a very good defensive team. We had a lot of production from a lot of guys. I thought Pau was very aggressive going 13 for 16 from the floor with 27 points and nine rebounds. Obviously Kobe was Kobe. He was very efficient for us tonight especially in the 35 minutes he played. We got a lot of bench production. I thought Matt Barnes shot the ball well. Not only did he shoot the ball well but he rebounded and defended. Our bench scoring 36 points was fun to watch. The kid, Sessions, made the game easy for everybody. He had a very good all around game. You can see how his speed can help us, and his ability to play pick and roll and turn the corner and get in the teeth of the defense, and set guys up for easy what I call HORSE shots. That’s where they’ve got their feet set and its like when you’re in seventh grade and you’re playing HORSE with somebody and nobody shoots shots off the dribble, they just stood there and waited until they got the ball in their hands and you shoot it in a comfortable environment. He did a great job with 17 points and nine assists, and the five rebounds too, he stuck his nose in there and got after it. Again, 109 points and 58% from the field against this team is really good in their building. The one thing I wanted to say last is that I felt our guys did a good job defensively. We talked about it that we felt we didn’t do a good job defensively the last two games, and I felt they locked in.

(On Pau tonight)
“He was efficient last night, but the way he’s been shooting the ball with his aggressiveness, you could just feel the confidence. He’s got to keep playing like that. I don’t know if it’s anything special, I think obviously the ball movement we’ve had and us finding him, with guys like Sessions, he’s getting a lot of HORSE shots around the elbow area or along the baseline area of from guys driving the basketball.”

(On Ramon Sessions)
“His savvy is really the most impressive thing. A lot of players have speed, but he understands how to change directions and sees the floor extremely well. That’s the thing that makes his speed extremely valuable, is that he can change gears.”

(On Sessions changing Bryant’s role)
“I’ve been extremely impressed. He takes a lot of pressure off of me. I can be a legitimate two-guard now. He can playmake for others, before, I had to score and playmake for others as well. I don’t have to do that, I can be on the receiving end of those plays.”

(On tonight’s second quarter performance)
“We had breakdowns defensively. We had shot-making droughts and they were able to retake the lead and get a cushion. It was probably the difference in the game, but there were other breakdowns too, and we simply just did not play well enough.”

(On only having two double-digit scorers)
“We proved the last two games we’re very capable of having balance and playing a great all-around game of basketball – we just didn’t do it tonight. There were a lot of factors, a lot of reasons. The way they played had a lot to do with it, so you’ve got to give them a lot of credit. We just weren’t good enough.”

(On the play of Ramon Sessions)
“He played great. He gave them a lot of juice, hit outside shots. We were making a conservative effort to keep him out of the paint, and he made shots behind screens – which is something that we wanted to live with, but he hurt us a lot.

If he’s going to go 7-for-8 and hit 3-of-4 threes, then it’s going to change their team a lot. I’m a big [Derek] Fisher fan, believe me. I’ve seen him have a lot of great games and hit a lot of big shots. Sessions is going to help them in a different kind of way. It’s pretty clear.”

(On Shawn Marion wanting to play tonight and his potential return)
“We miss him a lot. He had not been on the court for five or six days. In looking at his situation, how fair is it to just throw him out there against Kobe Bryant? Earlier in the year, we took Dirk out for eight days and we gave it a block of time. We said we’re going to stay the course and make sure this guy is right, and that’s basically what we’re doing with Shawn. He did want to play, but this was a decision that was the trainer and myself. We knew coming into the game – win or lose – there was going to be discussion about it. We care about Shawn. We know that it’s one of those things, we throw him back out there with no court time, it could be just as dangerous. He got a lot of work in before the game. He’s going to get some work in tomorrow, and then the plan is to have him ready for Friday.”

(You guys seemed under manned tonight and they were hitting a lot of shots)
“Our defense wasn’t good enough and their offense beat our defense. We gave up way too many wide open shots and they had five or six guys that were really into it offensively and we have to do a better job.”

(Emotions any different this team playing the Lakers?)
“Of course I had a lot of fun with those guys, but I’m here now and I have to focus on winning games and finding out how to fit my game to help this team down the stretch.”

(Is that a challenge with the inconsistencies with all the different lineups and players injured?)
“I’m not going to blame it on anything; it’s just something that I have to figure out.”

(What’s it going to take for this team to be playing its best basketball down the stretch rather than health?)
“Well we’ve got to be more consistent on the defensive end and making a secondary effort by getting defensive rebounds. We have enough firepower on offense to play with any team in the NBA.”

(Coach Carlisle talks a lot about scrambling? What does he mean?)
“You know it on defense when you’re not giving up any open looks and tonight we didn’t do a good job of scrambling, we gave up way too many wide open looks and they got whatever they wanted.”

Lakers - Mavs Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO

With their three-week slump behind them, the Dallas Mavericks are playing well enough that they might finally be able to beat the Los Angeles Lakers this season.

The Mavericks look for a fifth consecutive victory while trying to snap a four-game regular season skid against the struggling Lakers on Wednesday night at the American Airlines Center.

Dallas (27-20) had the fourth-best record in the Western Conference before enduring a stretch where it lost nine of 12 while averaging 92.7 points on 42.1 percent shooting. Since then, the defending champions have averaged 106.5 points and shot 49.1 percent during a four-game winning streak that has them sitting fifth in the West.

“Right now, it is about getting wins and moving ourselves up the ladder,” veteran guard Vince Carter said.

Dirk Nowitzki had 33 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as the Mavericks shot 53.6 percent and allowed 17 fourth-quarter points in a 112-95 win at Denver on Monday.

“It was one of the smartest played games I’ve seen in the league all year long,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “Very disciplined, aggressive, but not frantic and we moved the ball the way we had to.”

Nowitzki has averaged 28.5 points on 54.8 percent shooting (40 of 73), including 10 of 19 from 3-point range, in the last four games. He’s scored 46 points despite making 43.6 percent of his shots versus Los Angeles this season.

With Nowitzki currently shooting the ball well and the Mavericks playing at a high level, they seem to be in good position to finally achieve some regular-season success versus Los Angeles. Though Dallas swept the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs last season, Los Angeles has won the last four regular season meetings, including the last two at the American Airlines Center by matching 96-91 scores.

The Lakers (28-18) have won both meetings this season by a combined eight points.

“We got swept last year, and (it’s) on our minds,” said All-Star Lakers center Andrew Bynum, who has recorded 36 points and 29 rebounds against the Mavericks this season.

Averaging an NBA-leading 28.7 points, Kobe Bryant has totaled 29 on 11-of-37 shooting (29.7 percent) versus Dallas in 2011-12. He’s gone 13 of 47 (27.7 percent) from the field while the Lakers have dropped their last two following a five-game winning streak.

After being held to 15 points on 3-of-20 shooting in a 103-99 home loss to Utah on Sunday, Bryant scored 29 in Tuesday’s 107-104 defeat at Houston. Bryant also shed the protective mask he had been wearing since Dwyane Wade broke his nose in the All-Star game, and does not expect to wear it again.

“I might donate it, see if anybody’s dumb enough to buy that sweaty mask,” Bryant said.

Los Angeles, which dropped three straight Jan. 19-22, shot 50.6 percent against the Rockets but could not prevent Goran Dragic from hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer with 28 seconds remaining. The Lakers also committed 15 turnovers and were outrebounded 40-31 en route to having their season-high three-game road winning streak end.

Though Los Angeles has won five of eight, it’s allowed an average of 102.0 points during that span.

“I’m concerned,” Bryant said, “but I’m confident we’ll get it (the defense) fixed. We’ve responded to challenges all year, and in a way, it’s good to go through something like this.”

SEASON & SERIES NOTES; CONNECTIONS
The Lakers lead the season series with the Mavericks 2-0 after taking last season’s series from Dallas 2-1. 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 5-5 in their last 10 games at American Airlines Center. The Lakers are 19-4 all-time against the Mavericks at STAPLES Center and 8-2 in their last 10 home games overall. In their first meeting this season, Derek Fisher connected on a game-winning three-pointer with 3.1 seconds remaining to give the Lakers a 73-70 victory on 1/16/12 at STAPLES Center. 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). 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.

ANDREW BYNUM NAMED WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On March 19, the NBA announced that Andrew Bynum had earned Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, March 12 through Sunday, March 18, giving him the SECOND WC Player of the Week award of his career. Bynum led the Lakers to a 3-1 week, including back-to-back road wins against Memphis and New Orleans and a home victory against Minnesota. Averaging 27.5 points and 14.8 rebounds, while shooting 66.5% from the field, Bynum led the Western Conference in rebounding, placed second in the conference in scoring and finished fourth in the West in field-goal percentage on the week. Bynum collected point-rebound doubledoubles in all four of the Lakers games, including 37 points (15-18 FG) and 16 rebounds 3/13 @ Memphis, 25 points and 19 rebounds 3/14 @ New Orleans and 33 points (12-14 FG) and 11 rebounds 3/18 vs. Utah. Bynum’s first career WC Player of the Week award was earned back on January 26, 2009, when Bynum averaged 23.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.25 blocks in helping lead the Lakers to a 4-0 week from 1/19/09 to 1/25/09.

BYNUM ON A ROLL
With 33 points (12-of-14 FG (85.7 percent), 9-of-12 FT) against the Utah Jazz on March 18th, Andrew Bynum recorded his fourth career 30+ point game, but third in his last eight contests. Scoring 37 points in the Lakers double overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on March 13th, going 15-of-18 from the field (83.3 percent), Bynum’s night marked just the fourth time in Lakers history that a player has scored at least 37 points on better than 83 percent shooting. The last Laker to accomplish this was Shaquille O’Neal, who did so back on November 19, 1999 in a victory over the Bulls. Bynum’s first 30+ point game of the month came on March 6th in Detroit, when he scored 30 points on 13-of-18 shooting.

WIRE-TO-WIRE
With their 97-92 victory over Minnesota on March 16th, the Lakers recorded their SECOND wire-to-wire victory of the 2011-12 season. Their other wire-to-wire victory (game in which they never trailed) also came against the Timberwolves (104-85 (2/29)). Last year, the Lakers led the NBA with 10 wire-to-wire victories, all coming during the regular season. During the team’s two most recent championship runs, they recorded nine wire-to-wire victories in 2009-10 (seven during the regular season and two during the 2010 Playoffs (4/18 & 4/27 vs. Oklahoma City)) and 11 wire-to-wire victories in 2008-09 (nine during the regular season and two during the 2009 Playoffs (4/29 vs. Utah & 5/17 vs. Houston)). The Lakers have also lost one game this season in wire-to-wire fashion, falling to the Clippers 102-94 on January 14th. Last year, the Lakers lost two such games: (98-107 1/8/10 at POR & 75-91 3/26/10 at OKC).

LAKERS MAKE IT 19 STRAIGHT AGAINST THE TIMBERWOLVES
Leading by nine at the half and by as many as 16 points in the third, the Lakers allowed Minnesota back to within as few as five but held on down the stretch to record their 19th consecutive victory over the Timberwolves 97-92 on March 16th at STAPLES Center. The streak, which is the longest active win streak by one NBA team against another, equals the second longest streak in Lakers franchise history when Los Angeles defeated the Dallas Mavericks 19 straight times from 1995-99. The longest regular season streak against a single opponent in Lakers franchise history is 24 consecutive victories over the Kings from 1983-88.

BRYANT WORKING OVERTIME
Kobe Bryant played 48:38 in the Lakers' overtime win at New Orleans on March 14th after playing 51:47 in their double-overtime victory at Memphis on March 13th. Bryant is the third NBA player in the last nine seasons to log more than 48 minutes in each of two games played on consecutive days. The only other players to do so over that span (2003-04 to date) were Charlotte teammates Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace (Jan. 11-12, 2008). Bryant is the first Lakers player to do so since Wilt Chamberlain (Feb. 1-2, 1969).*

BACK-TO-BACK OVERTIMES
With their overtime victory 3/14 at New Orleans, which followed a double-overtime victory 3/13 at Memphis, the Lakers posted overtime road victories on consecutive days for just the 3rd time in franchise history. The previous occurrences were November 13-14, 1997 (at SA and HOU) and November 3-4, 2009 (at OKC and HOU).*

BRYANT APPROACHING JORDAN FOR 2ND ON NBA FRANCHISE CAREER POINTS LIST
During the 2009-10 season, with his 29th point on February 1, 2010 at Memphis, Kobe Bryant surpassed Jerry West as the Lakers all-time leading scorer. In the history of the NBA, only two players have scored more points with a single franchise than Bryant (29,143): Karl Malone (1st/36,374) and Michael Jordan (2nd/29,277). Last season, Bryant moved past Hakeem Olajuwon (26,511) 12/19/10 at Toronto and John Havlicek (26,395) 12/10/10 at Chicago into third on this list.

GETTING YOUNGER
In acquiring Ramon Sessions (25) and Christian Eyenga (22) from Cleveland for Luke Walton (32) and Jason Kapono (31) and Jordan Hill (24) from Houston for Derek Fisher (37) prior to the March 15 trade deadline, the Lakers average team age saw two years shaved off of it, going from 29 years, 149 days to 27 years, 133 days.

BYNUM ON A ROLL
With 37 points in the Lakers double overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on March 13th, Andrew Bynum recorded his third career 30+ point game but second in his last five contests. Additionally, by going 15-of-18 from the field (83.3 percent), Bynum’s night marked just the fourth time in Lakers history that a player has scored at least 37 points on better than 83 percent shooting. The last Laker to accomplish this was Shaquille O’Neal, who did so back on November 19, 1999 in a victory over the Bulls.