Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Dallas Mavericks 96 at Los Angeles Lakers 131
The Los Angeles Lakers are the standard in the Western Conference.
But after a 94-80 win in L.A. on Oct. 30, the Dallas Mavericks served notice to the Lakers that Dallas may be ready to contend with the defending champions for the crown. Sporting the two best records in the West, the Mavs and Lakers hooked up at the Staples Center for a second time Sunday night. But this time it was the Lakers leaving their home floor smiling, after making a convincing statement of their own by handing the Mavericks a 131-96 blowout defeat.
(Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
"Lose by one, lose by forty, either way it counts as one loss, so I guess that is the only positive thing we can take away from tonight," forward Dirk Nowitzki said of the loss.
"We wanted to come out and try and establish ourselves just like we did earlier in the year," reserve forward Tim Thomas said. "I am pretty sure they remembered that game and they wanted to get back."
The 131-point output by L.A. was a season-high for a Dallas opponent.
"Just an embarrassing effort," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "We all own it, so I don't know how else to put it. They played great and we played terrible. You know, it was atypical of the year we've had so far, but it's very disappointing.
"It's the first time all year we really didn't put up the kind of fight we really needed to. That's disappointing...It's on all of us, coaches, players, everybody. It's very disappointing."
After Pau Gasol missed the first matchup between the two squads with a hamstring injury, the Mavericks suffered a similar fate when they lost a 7-footer for the second game in the season series. Center Erick Dampier's status changed to inactive shortly after the pregame warm-ups, sidelined with a left knee injury. Still the Mavericks tried to battle without their starting five, playing on the second night of a back-to-back in the conclusion of a three-game road trip.
But the Mavericks aren't using the loss of Dampier or the schedule as an excuse for their play on Sunday night.
"It's just not an excuse for how we played...No excuses," Carlisle said.
(Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
With Dampier out, big man Drew Gooden stepped into the starting lineup next to Jason Kidd, J.J. Barea, Shawn Marion and Nowitzki. The task for the starters was simple by words, but difficult to put into action: Stop the league's leading-scorer, Kobe Bryant. But early in the first quarter, Bryant deferred to Gasol as the Spaniard dueled with Nowitzki. With Bryant acting as a facilitator first and scorer second, the Lakers' role players set the tone early to take a 30-13 advantage after one. Dallas shot just 16 percent in the opening quarter, as L.A. looked for retribution from their October loss to the Mavs.
"I'm sure that they wanted to come out and play and win the game," Carlisle said.
During a span that ran from the 5:37-mark of the first quarter to 9:51 left in the second, the Mavericks missed on 13 consecutive field goal attempts. Falling behind by as much as 28, the Mavs found themselves down 64-39 at the half.
"Offensively, we just could not get anything going tonight, combined with not getting the stops, that's a rough combination," Nowitzki said. "Some nights you don't have it offensively, but you at least have to get some stops to stay in the game."
Bryant led all scorers at the half with 15 points while dishing out five assists. Nowitzki continued to give the Mavericks hope with 13 points after the first 24 minutes of play, but L.A. out-shot Dallas 59 percent to 28 percent. With a 26-20 rebounding edge, the Lakers held a 32-12 advantage in points in the paint.
"I do not know if it was so much their defense...We had great looks early on and we just didn't make our shots," Kidd said. "If we had, this might have been a different game, but the name of the game is to put the ball in the basket and we just didn't do that this evening."
It was good news for Dallas when the Lakers announced that Gasol would not return in the second half after straining his left hamstring. But the Lakers' supporting cast didn't let up in the third quarter.
With Gasol out, Andrew Bynum took over the scoring responsibilities in the paint and Bryant once again became a willing passer, going scoreless in the period to remain tied with Patrick Ewing for 15th on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Meanwhile the Lakers' lead ballooned to 103-63 headed into the fourth.
"They had whatever they wanted. Bynum was on the inside, the shooters were on, Kobe was making shots everywhere. On offense we just couldn't do anything right," Nowitzki said. "Instead of playing the game better, we started forcing shots and everyone started to try and do it single-handedly instead of playing together and playing the way we always do. So we got ourselves in an even deeper hole and it was just a tough outing for us."
In the final period, both teams emptied their benches as the final 12 minutes played out.
Dallas surrendered 63 percent shooting to the Lakers, while the Mavericks hit just 38 percent at the other end. L.A. dominated the interior, outscoring Dallas 52-36 in the paint and out-rebounding the Mavs 44-40. The 3-point line told the story as well, as the Lakers nailed 14-of-24 from behind the arch while the Mavericks connected on just 5-of-21 from deep.
Nowitzki's team-best 22 points came in a losing effort, while Thomas (12), Jason Terry (10) and Barea (10) all scored in double figures. Led by Jordan Farmar's game-high 24 points off the L.A. bench, seven Lakers scored in double figures.
"(The Lakers' bench) played well tonight," Bryant said. "Offensively, they did a good job."
The final two games between the Mavericks and Lakers are home games for Dallas. The Mavericks will look for a bit of revenge themselves when they host the Lakers on Jan. 13 in the third of four meetings. The Mavs' coach hopes his team remembers the feeling after Sunday night's loss when their next meeting with the Lakers comes around.
"I hope we don't forget about it," Carlisle said.
Dallas returns to the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night to host the Detroit Pistons. That game will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.
The Mavericks and the NBA have introduced the official NBA All-Star game ballot, featuring Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. For more on how to vote for your favorite Mavs for the All-Star game, to be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, visit Mavs.com.
Follow Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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