Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Los Angeles (43-14) at Dallas Mavericks (36-21)
Championships are won in the playoffs, but statements are made in the regular season.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
With that being said, the Dallas Mavericks try to send a resounding message to the rest of the NBA when they welcome the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers to the American Airlines Center.
Riding a four-game winning streak, the Mavs will be out to even the season series with the Lakers. L.A. leads the series 2-1, after the Lakers captured a 100-95 win in Dallas on Jan. 13. It is a game the Mavericks haven't forgotten.
"For us to get a win against the Lakers would be big, for us to have 2-2 against them," point guard Jason Kidd said. "To beat them at their place, and then to come here and protect home would be huge, in that sense. But it's another game for us to try to get a W."
"We're trying to win every game we possibly can, obviously. They're the World Champs, so it's a big deal when they come in," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle added.
The game has added importance, as the Pacific and Southwest Division leaders fight for playoff positioning. L.A. sits at the top of the Western Conference standings, while Dallas is at the four spot and rising.
The Mavs know that they will see a Lakers squad at full strength. After missing five games with a sprained left ankle and strained tendon in his left leg, Kobe Bryant returned to the L.A. starting lineup in a big way.The perennial All-Star posted 32 points (11 in the fourth quarter) and swished home the game-winning three with 4.3 seconds left to down the Memphis Grizzlies 99-98 on the road Tuesday night. Dallas expects to see Bryant at his best once again.
"When you take that amount of time off, you're going to be fresh," Carlisle said. "It's pretty clear that (Bryant's) been working out, and I know that he's been practicing. So, no surprise that he put that kind of game together. We're going to have to be ready for him tonight."
"(Bryant) is going to bring it. I saw Kobe come out there and compete when his back was hurt, finger was injured, ankle, everything, and still was able to come in and hit a clutch shot against these guys to send the Lakers home with a W. So, I know he's going to bring it Wednesday and we've got to be prepared for that challenge," Caron Butler said.
Butler knows Bryant's game about as well as anyone. The two former teammates will see each other a lot on Wednesday night, matching up at the shooting guard position.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks will have their hands full with Andrew Bynum in the paint. Bynum has dominated the Mavs' frontline in the three previous matchups, but the addition of Brendan Haywood will be vital to Dallas' success in the interior.
"It's tough matching up with big Drew (Bynum) down there, because he's talented, he's skilled, he's athletic and he's a load down there when they really give him the ball," Haywood said.
But with center Erick Dampier still out indefinitely with a dislocated right middle finger, Haywood is the Mavericks' only big body that is available to impose a force against the Lakers' athletic bigs. The Mavs' 7-footer is well aware that he must stay out of foul trouble against Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.
"I have to be smart but I can't play scared," Haywood said. "I can't take a silly foul early on, because they're too big for our backups. But at the same time, I can't just give up layups and inside position, because that will hit us as well."
"The key is (Haywood) has got to be aggressive, on the one hand. But he's got to have the right amount of discretion, and make sure that he's playing defense with his feet and his body and keeping his hands out of it, so we're not picking up any ticky-tack fouls that can lead to him leaving the game early. That's something that we can't have," the coach added.
Still, sixth man Jason Terry says the key to the game is for the Mavericks to simply play "Mavs basketball."
"More importantly than (worrying about individual matchups) is going in with the mind state that we're going to play our style of basketball," Terry said. "They've got to beat us. I think that's the approach we got to have."
The Mavericks play host to the defending champion Lakers on Wednesday night, with the game airing nationally on ESPN and locally on KTXA 21 and KTXA HD at 8 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.
For up to the minute news on the Dallas Mavericks, visit Mavs.com. Follow Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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