Lakers Gameday | 5/02/11 | Mavericks
GAMEDAY LINKS: | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
Box Score |
Dallas Mavericks | 25 | 19 | 27 | 25 | 96 |
Play by Play |
Los Angeles Lakers | 23 | 30 | 25 | 16 | 94 |
Mavs rally to stun Lakers in Game 1 By GREG BEACHAMLOS ANGELES (AP) Dirk Nowitzki scored 28 points and hit two go-ahead free throws with 19.5 seconds left before Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant made a crucial turnover, and the Dallas Mavericks rallied for a 96-94 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series. Nowitzki had 14 rebounds for the Mavericks, who dramatically came back from a 16-point deficit in the second half of the perennial playoff teams' first postseason meeting in 23 years. Bryant scored 21 of his 36 points in the second half for the Lakers, but he fell down while trying to get the ball from Gasol with 5 seconds to play. After one free throw by Jason Kidd, Bryant missed a 3-pointer just before the buzzer. Game 2 is Wednesday night at Staples Center. Gasol had 15 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the second-seeded Lakers, who lost their second straight series opener. Their loss to New Orleans two weeks ago was much more surprising than this loss to the playoff-tested Mavs, but the Lakers' lack of poise down the stretch should be scary to anybody anticipating a threepeat. The Mavericks trailed 92-87 with 3:32 to play, but finished on a 9-2 run - showing all the late-game poise that's expected of Bryant and the two-time defending champions. Lamar Odom scored 15 points for Los Angeles, which nursed a small lead throughout the second half until Nowitzki scored in the lane with 40 seconds left to trim the deficit to 94-93. After Jason Terry swiped the ball from Bryant, Gasol fouled Nowitzki on the Mavericks' inbounds play, allowing the 7-footer to give Dallas its first lead since the second quarter. Terry added 15 points for Dallas, which struggled on the boards and in the paint before the comeback. The Mavericks too often settled for jumpers early on, and they lost their cool with 90 seconds left in the first half after offsetting technical fouls for Gasol and Tyson Chandler, who jawed all the way down the court after jockeying for rebounding position. The Lakers leaped to a 53-44 halftime lead with four points in the final 0.7 seconds, thanks to an ill-advised foul by Terry and a technical foul on Nowitzki. Dallas made a 20-6 run shortly after falling behind 60-44 in the third quarter, but Bryant singlehandedly kept the Lakers ahead with 12 consecutive points. Both teams finished the regular season with 57 victories apiece, but Los Angeles won two of three in their series, including a blowout victory March 31 that was marred by several ejections. Matt Barnes was suspended for getting involved in a confrontation between Steve Blake and Terry, who appeared to shove Blake to the court after a foul. After a brief Twitter battle between Terry and Barnes, whose sportswear company made up T-shirts commemorating the clash, both teams put aside the ugliness of their last meeting while preparing for the franchises' first postseason meeting since the 1988 Western Conference finals. Even Lakers coach Phil Jackson and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban declined to rekindle their history of mutual sniping in the media, instead praising each other in recent days. Jackson even said Cuban would be an excellent prospective owner for the troubled Los Angeles Dodgers, although Cuban declined to comment on the much-rumored prospect before Game 1. Both clubs finished off their first-round series in six games after splitting the first four. The Lakers blew their opener against the Hornets before finally taking control despite an unimpressive series from Gasol, while the Mavericks bounced back admirably after blowing a 23-point lead in a Game 4 loss to Portland. Terry scored 13 points in the first half while hitting five of his first six shots, but the Lakers took a 53-44 halftime lead with a 14-2 run - including that productive final second. Terry got too close to Odom's last-ditch heave from halfcourt right before the buzzer, and Odom made three free throws. Nowitzki then got a technical foul for throwing an aggressive elbow under the hoop while scrapping with Ron Artest, and Bryant hit a final free throw. NOTES: Bryant had the 81st 30-point game of his playoff career, trailing only Michael Jordan (109) in NBA history. Bryant has scored in double figures in 156 straight postseason games. ... Fans near courtside included Jack Nicholson, Eddie Murphy, Justin Timberlake, David Beckham (on his 36th birthday), Gordon Ramsay, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, January Jones, Jennifer Carpenter, singer Seal, Mekhi Phifer, Anthony Kiedis, New York Jets TE Dustin Keller and Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis. Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited |
![]() ![]()
|
POSTGAME QUOTES
Lakers coach Phil Jackson on if he thinks his team played "Dallas' game" by shooting a lot from the perimeter: Lakers coach Phil Jackson on how Dallas won the game tonight: Lakers coach Phil Jackson on the Mavericks defense against Andrew Bynum:
Lakers' Kobe Bryant on if the Mavericks did anything different offensively tonight: Lakers' Kobe Bryant on how worried he is that the Lakers gave the Mavs hope: Lakers' Kobe Bryant on how to neutralize Dirk's shot-making in Game 2: Lakers' Kobe Bryant on if losing Game 1 has helped the Lakers recently: Lakers' Kobe Bryant on if things got too easy in the third quarter: Lakers' Kobe Bryant on his level of concern:
Lakers' Pau Gasol on what prevented the Lakers from winning the game tonight: Lakers' Pau Gasol on if there is a concern losing tonight:
Lakers' Andrew Bynum on their 16 points in the 4th quarter: Lakers' Andrew Bynum on what he needs to do for himself to get going: Lakers' Andrew Bynum on what he got out of their game plan offensively:
Lakers' Lamar Odom on if he is concerned about the "big picture" at all:
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle on his team coming back from 16 points down: Dallas coach Rick Carlisle on the defense Jason Kidd played at the end of the game: Dallas coach Rick Carlisle on the sequence involving a foul and a technical called on his team with :00.7 seconds left: Dallas coach Rick Carlisle on his team's offensive success tonight:
Dirk Nowitzki on winning game one of the series here in Los Angeles: Dirk Nowitzki on if this season is the most comfortable he's felt in his basketball career: Dirk Nowitzki on how they kept Artest and Bynum to a combined 10 points:
Mavericks' guard Jason Terry on the Mavericks bench play: Mavericks' guard Jason Terry on what was learned from tonight's game:
Mavericks' center Tyson Chandler on the Mavericks' team defense: Mavericks' center Tyson Chandler on the Mavericks' chances and the Lakers size: Mavericks' center Tyson Chandler on sticking to the teams game plan: Mavericks' center Tyson Chandler on Kobe Bryant:
Mavericks' forward Shawn Marion on the final moments:
Mavericks' guard Jason Kidd on overcoming a 16 point deficit: Mavericks' guard Jason Kidd on the magnitude of tonight's win: |
LAKERS VS. MAVERICKS GAME 1 PREVIEW By GREG BEACHAMEL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) The Los Angeles Lakers will have to pick on somebody their own size to make it to another Western Conference finals. For all of Kobe Bryant's brilliance, the Lakers' back-to-back title runs were built on the defensive dominance and offensive mismatches created by their two 7-footers, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Few teams can match Los Angeles' sheer size when 6-10 Lamar Odom is in the mix, and even fewer can overcome it in the paint. But their second-round opponent is the Dallas Mavericks, whose roster is stacked with three talented 7-footers: Tyson Chandler, Brendan Haywood and superstar Dirk Nowitzki. Although the Mavs do different things with their size, Gasol knows the Lakers probably won't push anybody around in the next two weeks. Gasol is facing a long series keeping up with Nowitzki - and hopefully forcing Dirk to keep up with him. "We always have an advantage inside, as far as our size and our skills, (but) we just have to work to make it work," Gasol said Saturday after the Lakers' extra-long practice at their training complex. "I expect a physical series, because that's what it's going to take. I don't know about the chippiness, but I'm sure there's going to be physical plays." Lakers coach Phil Jackson emphasized what his club should expect from the series by tucking a photograph of a huge longhorn steer inside his players' game plans. Indeed, beef will be a key when the Lakers attempt to play from the inside out in this meeting of two perennial playoff teams that somehow haven't run into each other in the postseason since 1988. Nowitzki and Gasol have a healthy mutual respect after several years of regular meetings, including two games won by the Lakers in the last six weeks of the regular season. Gasol praises Nowitzki as a unique player with his famed mix of size and delicate shooting touch, while Nowitzki is impressed by Gasol's offensive versatility and passing skills. "They've got a bunch of guys that can score," Nowitzki said. "That's why they're one of the deepest teams, especially the front line. Gasol is long. He's been working on his mid-range shot. He can (shoot with) both hands, and he's a great scorer on the block. So yeah, I've got to play both ends of the floor in this series. I've got to be ready." Game 1 at Staples Center is Monday night, giving both teams an extra day to recover from draining six-game victories in the first round. The Lakers bounced back from a series-opening loss to New Orleans, while Dallas won two straight after blowing a 23-point lead in Game 4 against Portland. "We improved," Bryant said. "We had a couple of setbacks, but that was more due to Chris Paul." Bryant also sprained his left ankle in Game 4, but came back with two strong efforts on his remarkably tenacious joints. Bryant shrugged off any worries about his ankle Saturday, but Jackson said the injury "still affects him a lot." "This is not going to go away any time soon," Jackson added. "He'll have a limited amount of practice, so we have to put him in the best positions to help." The Mavericks paid close attention to Paul's success on pick-and-roll plays for the Hornets. The play is a standard approach for most Los Angeles opponents, although the Lakers' defense on the play improved during the first-round series. "You've got to be able to move that front line, I think," Nowitzki said. "That's not a secret. If you just pound it on the strong side, they're very good, they're very long. (Ron) Artest is very long, Kobe, for (a shooting guard), is very long, and, obviously, that front line. So we've got to be able to move them some, and then penetrate them. That's not a secret." Gasol doesn't possess Nowitzki's outside shooting skills, but he's a remarkably resourceful scorer who can shoot with either hand. Nowitzki sometimes struggles on offense when he's forced to work extra hard on defense, and the Lakers are counting on Gasol and Odom to keep Nowitzki busy. "Both of them are highly skilled, both of them are All-Stars, and both of them are at the top of their games, so it's a great matchup," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "We'll have other guys guarding Gasol as well. It's not just going to be Dirk." Carlisle wants his inside defenders to keep the ball away from Gasol and Bynum in the low post. Bynum was particularly effective down low against the Hornets, helping to get Emeka Okafor into near-constant foul trouble, and Carlisle realizes the Mavs can't afford the same problems for Chandler. "We had success in the last series because we were able to guard our positions," Carlisle said. "We did little, if any, double-teaming. This series might be a little different because of the magnitude of some of their star players, but as much as possible, we have to guard our position and take that challenge. That's a big key to success in playoff basketball." Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited |
![]()
|
GAME NOTES
SEASON& SERIES NOTES; CONNECTIONS JACKSON-LED TEAMS A TOUGH OUT WHEN PLAYING FROM AHEAD BRYANT CONTINUES DOUBLE-FIGURE PLAYOFF SCORING STREAK BRYANT AVERAGES 20+ POINTS FOR FRANCHISE RECORD 29th STRAIGHT PLAYOFF SERIES STAPLES CENTER ADVANTAGE JACKSON'S SPARKLING PLAYOFF RESUME BRYANT'S 80 30+ POINT GAMES TRAIL ONLY MICHAEL JORDAN IN NBA PLAYOFF HISTORY FISHER AND BRYANT WIN ANOTHER SERIES ARTEST WINS J. WALTER KENNEDY CITIZENSHIP AWARD ODOM NAMED SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR Odom, a two-time NBA Champion and member of the gold medal winning 2010 USA Basketball Men's World Championship team, appeared in all 82 games for the Lakers this season, averaging 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 32.2 minutes. Ranked 15th among league leaders in rebounds and 11th (.530) in field goal percentage, Odom recorded 28 double-doubles on the season while scoring 20-plus points 14 times. Earlier this season, he became the 23rd player in NBA history to reach 12,000 career points, 7,000 career rebounds and 3,000 career assists as well as the 9th fastest ever to do so in terms of games (821). |
Pick n Roll
Play the Lakers Pick n Roll game for your chance to win tickets to a Lakers game. Just make your picks of which Lakers will lead the team and watch the game to see how you do. Be sure to play the Lakers Pick n Roll game every game home and away as a part of our season long contest. Login to Lakers Courtside Connection to make your picks |