Lakers-Mavericks Preview

By BRETT HUSTON
Posted Feb 21 2012 3:06PM

For a team that's sitting just outside the top four in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers certainly seem to have a lot of issues.

Their lackluster play on the road is perhaps the biggest.

Beating anyone - particularly quality opponents - away from Staples Center has been a challenge for the Lakers, who will have two prime chances to rectify that with a difficult back-to-back that begins Wednesday night against the surging Dallas Mavericks.

Los Angeles beat Dallas 73-70 at Staples last month, hardly revenge for the Mavs sweeping them out of the West semifinals but a win that seemed to have the Lakers moving in the right direction.

That was their 10th victory in 13 games, but a month later, it's unclear exactly how together the Lakers are. An unhappy Lamar Odom was shipped to Dallas before the season after a proposed three-way trade to land Chris Paul fell through, and now it appears Los Angeles (19-13) may have to do the same with the other key component of that deal.

Kobe Bryant ripped Lakers management after a 102-90 loss at Phoenix on Sunday for allowing Pau Gasol to dangle as additional trade rumors have surfaced. The team seemed to respond a night later against Portland, opening on a 37-7 run en route to a 103-92 victory.

That was followed by a brief players-only meeting to clear the air ahead of the back-to-back in Dallas (21-12) and Oklahoma City.

"I can tell when (Gasol) is down, and when enough is enough," Bryant said Monday. "He went through the first phase and kind of played through that and came out of that, and then he gets hit with another one. You can tell he's down, and it's a little hard to overcome. We've got two big games coming up ... and I don't want him thinking about it."

The win over the Trail Blazers was the Lakers' 14th in 16 games at home, but they've done little to sustain that momentum on the road. After going a conference-best 27-14 away from home last season, they're 5-11.

That includes 1-6 against teams at or above .500 - bad news considering the Mavs and Thunder are a combined 46-19.

"I think we just have to go (on the road) and play with confidence and get rest," center Andrew Bynum said. "We get rest, we're good."

The Lakers could use a big effort from Bynum, who had 17 points and 15 boards to lead Los Angeles past Dallas last month. That performance could be tougher to repeat at the American Airlines Center, where Bynum will certainly get a rough reception after being ejected from the Game 4 loss last season for clotheslining J.J. Barea.

This is the Mavericks' final game before the All-Star break, and they're heading in with momentum. Dallas has won seven of eight after beating Boston 89-73 on Monday, as Dirk Nowitzki moved into the top 20 on the all-time scoring list with a game-high 26.

The Mavs have held opponents to 85.8 points per game and 38.9 percent shooting while winning four in a row at home.

"Our identity this year is that we're a defensive team," coach Rick Carlisle told Dallas' official website. "You look at our stats and you look at our record, you look at when we've struggled and when we play well. Our defense and rebounding is defining who we are."

The loss to the Lakers is Dallas' only one in the 14 games in which it's held opponents to 90 or fewer points.

Jason Terry has averaged 24.0 points - hitting 20 of 33 3-pointers - in the Mavs' last five home games against Los Angeles. Bryant has averaged 18.2 points in that stretch, missing all 16 attempts from beyond the arc.

Lakers hit midway mark with 96-91 win over Dallas

By STEPHEN HAWKINS
Posted Feb 23 2012 2:23AM

DALLAS (AP) Andrew Bynum had a huge smile on his face after he grabbed a rebound of his own miss and got fouled on an attempted putback.

Not long after making both those free throws that put the Los Angeles Lakers ahead to stay, Bynum was running after teammate Derek Fisher to give him a big hug following a 3-pointer.

Bynum had 19 points and 14 rebounds, including several big plays in the final 5 1/2 minutes, as the Lakers hit the halfway point of their season with a 96-91 victory over the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.

"Andrew was great," coach Mike Brown said.

The free throws by Bynum broke an 82-all tie with 5:29 left and put the Lakers (20-13) ahead to stay after 13 ties and 10 lead changes.

After the Mavericks failed to take advantage of a turnover by Kobe Bryant when Jason Terry gave it right back, Bynum was underneath the basket with the ball. But he instead passed it to Fisher in the left corner for a 3-pointer. Bynum was smiling broadly when he chased down and hugged Fisher when Dallas called timeout.

Fisher, whose driving short jumper with 3:41 left ended a 9-0 run and made it 89-82, had given Bynum a pep talk before the game. They were also thinking about the playoffs against Dallas last season.

"We got swept last year, and it was on our minds," Bynum said.

There was also Bynum's alley-oop dunk from Bryant with 1:05 left that stretched the lead to 93-86. The Lakers then held on despite missing six consecutive free throws after that.

Bryant missed two free throws with 37 seconds left. After Dirk Nowitzki's tip-in got Dallas within 93-91, Pau Gasol was fouled and missed both of his free throws with 20 seconds left.

"I'm a little overweight, I'm too young to have a heart attack," Brown said after watching all those misses.

But Matt Barnes grabbed the rebound after Gasol's second miss and was quickly fouled himself. He ended the Lakers' charity-line slump with two free throws.

"That was big," Fisher said. "The way last season ended, this game was big for a lot of us."

Gasol had 24 points for the Lakers, while Bryant and Fisher each had 15. Bryant shot 4 of 15 while being held 14 below his NBA-leading scoring average, and was scoreless until two free throws with 10 seconds left in the first quarter.

Nowitzki had 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Mavericks (21-13), who played their final game before the All-Star break after winning seven of their previous eight games. Vince Carter had 20.

"I'm disappointing tonight, I'm not dismayed," coach Rick Carlisle said. "Our effort was there, we just didn't make enough plays at both ends. ... The break's coming at a good time."

The Lakers have one more game before the All-Star break. They play Thursday night at Oklahoma City.

Lamar Odom missed the game for the Mavericks against his former team. Odom was the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year for the Lakers last season and won three NBA championship rings in seven years in Los Angeles.

Carlisle said Odom was excused from the game to attend to a family matter and will rejoin the team after the All-Star break.

The Lakers had their biggest lead when Steve Blake had a steal and passed ahead to Gasol for a running one-handed slam that made it 42-28 with 6:21 left in the first half. That ended 12 consecutive points and a 17-2 Los Angeles run.

"I was aggressive in the beginning. I was able to knock down some shots and make plays," Gasol said. "(This win) shows we're on the same page and we've got a lot of character."

But the Mavericks finished the half with a 20-6 run over the final 5:33 to tie the game at 48-all by the break.

Nowitzki scored the last six Dallas points, two free throws with 1:23 left and then a pair of jumpers in the final 42 seconds. He made a 15-foot floater and after grabbing a long rebound of a miss by Gasol, Nowitzki made a tying jumper.

"It just seemed like we'd get a little momentum and then we had trouble sustaining," Carlisle said. "Tough game, but you've got to give them credit."

Notes: All the Mavericks except Nowitzki, who will make his 11th consecutive All-Star appearance, have the next four days off. They play nine games in 12 days, starting with Tuesday's home game against New Jersey. ... Texas Rangers designated hitter/first baseman Michael Young was shown on the overhead video board before the start of the fourth quarter. Young is a big Lakers fan. Rangers position players don't have to report to training camp in Arizona until Saturday. .... The Lakers jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the first 4 minutes, and Carlisle used two timeouts in that span.

Notebook: Lakers 96, Mavericks 91

Posted Thursday February 23, 2012 1:19AM

By Dave Ivey, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Pau Gasol scored 24 points and Andrew Bynum added 19 points and 14 rebounds on Wednesday, offsetting an off night by Kobe Bryant and off-target free-throw shooting by the Lakers in the final minute of a 96-91 victory against the Mavericks in Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and 12 boards and Vince Carter scored 20 for the Mavs in a hard-fought, back-and-forth battle that featured 11 ties and eight lead changes in the second half.

QUOTABLE: "The ball was moved very well. I thought we got the ball from one side of the floor to the other, made their defense move a little bit, and made some plays at the right time."
-- Lakers head coach Mike Brown.

THE STAT: The Lakers improved to 6-11 on the road, with all six of those victories coming by five or fewer points.

TURNING POINT: Derek Fisher (15 points) buried a 3-pointer and a short jumper on back-to-back possessions, capping a 9-0 run that gave L.A. the lead for good at 89-82 with 3:43 to play.

QUOTABLE II: "I'm disappointed tonight, but I'm not dismayed. I thought our effort was there, we just didn't make enough plays at both ends. Sometimes that happens, but the break's coming at a good time. I told the guys to enjoy the break and come back ready because we've got a very busy schedule coming back."
-- Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle on reaching the All-Star break at 21-13.

HOT: Carter scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half. Nowitzki (10) and Jason Terry (nine) accounted for all of the Mavericks' points during the fourth quarter.

NOT: The Mavericks were 1-for-11 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter and 8-for-32 overall.

GOOD MOVE: Shawn Marion played exceptional defense against Bryant, who scored 15 points -- 14 below his league-leading average -- and was just 4-for-15 from the field with seven turnovers. Bryant's first three field goals were against other defenders, with his only bucket against Marion not coming until midway through the fourth quarter.

BAD MOVE: The Mavericks missed four straight free throws in the fourth quarter, only to be outdone by the Lakers. Matt Barnes bricked two with 49.1 seconds left, Bryant missed two more with 37.4 seconds left and Gasol got in on the act with two more misses with 20 ticks remaining and L.A. clinging to a 93-91 lead. Fortunately for Los Angeles, Barnes grabbed the offensive rebound after Gasol's second misfire and made both shots after he was fouled by Jason Kidd.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Marion filled the stat sheet with nine rebounds, eight points, five assists and three steals and Haywood had 11 rebounds. Barnes had nine points and nine boards off the bench.

ROOKIE WATCH: Lakers guard Andrew Goudelock sank both of his 3-point attempts in the second quarter and finished with six points and three fouls in 10:03.

NOTABLE: Dallas forward Lamar Odom did not play against his former teammates. He was excused from the team for a family matter and will rejoin the Mavericks on Monday. ... This was the first meeting in Dallas since the Mavericks completed a sweep in last year's Western Conference semifinals. ... The Lakers have won four straight regular-season meetings. ... Dallas is 1-7 when trailing after the first quarter (0-4 at home). ... The Mavs scored 25 points off 17 turnovers and scored a season-high 21 second-chance points.

UP NEXT: For the Mavericks, Tuesday vs. New Jersey, Wednesday @ Memphis, March 2 @ New Orleans. For the Lakers, Thursday @ Oklahoma City, Wednesday vs. Minnesota, March 2 vs. Sacramento.

• Lakers: Ebanks
• Mavericks: West, Williams

• Lakers: --
• Mavericks: --

• Lead Changes: 10
• Times Tied: 13

• Arena: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #30 John Goble, #60 James Williams
• Attendance: 20577
• Duration: 2:37