To set the opening day roster, Dallas placed Jon Stefansson (sprained left ankle) and Tariq Abdul-Wahad (left knee tendinitis) on IR. Dallas at LA Lakers (October 29) The season opener was came and the Mavs opened up looking like a team that had been together for just a week. The team came out sloppy, lost on offense, couldn't buy a bucket, and (as expected) a sieve on defense. How bad was it? Dallas' first points didn't come until 5 minutes into the 1st quarter. So much for Dallas' vaulted firepower as the team missed their first 6 shots. The Lakers took their first double-digit lead at 14-4 with 5:15 remaining and had their largest lead of the quarter at 26-10 with a minute left. The Lakers led 29-15 after 1. Dallas shot a mere 31.6% FG. The Lakers had balanced scoring and passing as 6 different Lakers scored and Gary Payton already had 5 assists while only Dirk Nowitzki showed up for Dallas as he had 11 of Dallas' 15 points. The Lakers went up 32-18 with 9 minutes to go and a 3-pointer by Antoine Walker and a layup and 3-pointer by Antawn Jamison pulled Dallas within 26-32 with 8 minutes remaining. The Lakers scored the next 4 points and their lead hovered around 10 points for the next few minutes. Another 3-pointer by Walker again pulled Dallas within 6 points with a minute to go, but the Lakers again scored the next 4 points. The Lakers led 55-45 at the half. Nowitzki was a rebounding machine in the quarter as he snagged 8 rebounds in his 9 minutes on the court (all but 1 defensive), but only scored 3 points on free throws and shot 0-3 FG in the quarter. Walker opened the 3rd quarter with a 3-pointer, but the Lakers then scored the next 12 points to take their largest lead at 67-48 with 8:50 remaining. Dallas then scored the next 10 points, capped by 2 more 3-pointers by Walker [the only thing going right for the Mavs] to pull within 58-67 with 6:45 left. The teams traded layups and the Lakers pushed their lead back into double-digits. 7 consecutive points by the Lakers again gave them a 19 point lead at 84-65 with a minute remaining. The Lakers led 86-67 after 3. The Lakers continued to lead in the teens in the 4th quarter. Dallas did pull within 84-96 with 6:15 left, but the Lakers scored the next 6 points. The Lakers won 109-93. It was an ugly way to open the season and Dallas never got it flowing offensively, plus they looked terrible on the defensive side. The mental curse of playing against the Lakers in LA continued as it was the 26th straight loss by the Mavs to the Lakers in LA (last win came in 1990). And pure and simple, shooting killed the Mavs in this game. Dallas shot a mere 37.6% (32-85) FG while the Lakers shot 50.6% (45-89) FG. The Mavs attempted 10 more free throws (making 15 more), the rebounds were even - Dallas had 4 more offensive boards (but there were a lot more offensive boards to be had), and the turnovers were even at a low 11. That was one of the few pieces of good news - the Mavs got over their early turnover problems (they already had 5 early into the 2nd quarter). It was a balanced attack by the Lakers with all 5 starters scoring over 15 points. Gary Payton ran the team well and attacked the basket as the Mavs were unable to contain him. He had a game high 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists. Shaquille O'Neal didn't have his usual monster game against the Mavs, but did have a steady game as the Mavs tried to use Danny Fortson, Antawn Walker, and a little bit of Eduardo Najera to defend him - and ran more players at him every time he got the ball. O'Neal had 16 points (but 0-4 FT), 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. Though it looked really strange seeing Karl Malone in yellow, he played well [and had one of his usual dirty knocks on Dirk Nowitzki's arm that gave him a stinger] and almost had a triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists. Devean George was deadeye with 16 points on 7-9 FG and 2-3 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Derek Fisher had 16 points and Bryon Russell chipped in 10 points off the bench. Kobe Bryant did not play due to a sore knee. For the Mavs, the new Ants played well. Antoine Walker had 19 points including 5-6 3-pointers and 7 rebounds (he didn't play in the 4th quarter) and Antawn Jamison had 17 points and 6 rebounds coming off the bench. Dirk Nowitzki struggled mightily with his shot, but kept shooting and did snag a number of rebounds, especially in the 2nd quarter. He finished with 19 points on 5-17 FG, 0-6 3-pointers, and 9-12 FT and had 13 rebounds in 33 minutes. He was sitting with ice on his arm for the entire 4th [don't know if he would have returned or not if the Mavs got close]. Both Steve Nash and Michael Finley had terrible games. Nash picked up 2 early fouls, but continued to play, but never got it going. He had just 8 points on 4-10 FG and 0-4 3-pointers, but did have 7 assists, but did have 4 uncharacteristic turnovers. Finley continued his preseason struggles [maybe he's getting his annual slump out of the way early this year] and had 12 points on 2-8 FG, 0-4 3-pointers, and 8-8 FT and 4 rebounds in 30 minutes. Danny Fortson started against O'Neal, but only played 14 minutes with most of those coming in the 1st quarter. He missed 2 free throws (his only shots of the game) and had 3 rebounds. Tony Delk also shot poorly with 2-9 FG and had 7 points and 6 rebounds in 27 minutes. Travis Best missed all 5 of his shots, but did have 4 assists and 2 steals in 16 minutes. Eduardo Najera had 2 points and 3 rebounds in 13 minutes. Josh Howard, Marquis Daniels, and Shawn Bradley got in for the last few minutes of garbage time. Also of note from the game: The Mavs wore their new "3rd" uniforms. These ugly things are a dark silver with dark blue numbers and letters that are hard to read. They are shiny and look like satin ladies night shirts. Hopefully with the loss, the Mavs will think the uni is jinxed and will throw them way back in the closet never to be seen again. [My fuzzy brain is trying to say that they tried a 3rd jersey a few years ago, but tossed them after they lost the games they played in them - but I'm not sure if that really happened or is a figment of my imagination.] The other new look is that Dirk Nowitzki chopped off all his hair and has a buzz cut (kept the chin hair). Quotes Phil Jackson: "I didn't really expect a game of that dimension, at least winning by that kind of a margin. It was great to see Karl and Gary pass the ball and step into that vacuum left by Kobe not playing tonight." Jackson on Payton: "I thought he was really a driving force. At one time he said, 'Do you want me to slow the ball down or you think these guys can run with me?' I said, 'Keep on making them run with you.'" Karl Malone: "That was exciting to see. Hopefully the fans loved it. We're going to get better and better as we get things down and our execution gets better. We're going to make a run at this thing." Malone: "You look around and think one guy's getting hot. But then you see 2 or 3 guys going. I hope the fans can sit back and enjoy it." Malone: "I won't lie to you, I was nervous the first game. I told Shaq, 'I'm not used to these fans cheering for me.' It took me a while. Shaq said, 'It's all right, you're with us now.'" Malone: "Early in the game, in the huddle Shaq says, 'Are you all right?' I said, 'I'm not used to them cheering me.' Shaq says, 'You with us now. Get out of the twilight zone.'" Don Nelson: "Well, they're awesome. Even without Kobe they have enough firepower to dominate the league. Malone does his thing, Payton does his thing, and Shaq does his thing. Those are 3 of the greatest players in the history of the game." Nelson: "We haven't played very well together yet, but this is a good lesson for us." Nelson: "We just haven't played very well yet. Our new guys were okay, but our other guys struggled. Dirk hasn't made his shots in the preseason and still hasn't found it. Steve was overpenetrating. And Finley has been struggling since his first practice. The important thing for us now is we have to get that game at Golden State." Dirk Nowitzki: "It seems like we never really found our rhythm offensively. If we wanted to win a game like that, we have to make shots." Nowitzki: "We had no flow offensively, and we didn't look that good on defense, either." Antoine Walker: "I think tonight they played off adrenaline and emotion. This was a big game for them with the controversy they had, so we'll see if they can keep it up through the season." Los Angeles Lakers 109, Dallas Mavericks 93 at Los Angeles (October 28) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% LA Lakers 29 26 31 23 - 109 .551 .350 .506 .600 Dallas 15 30 22 26 - 93 .417 .280 .376 .733 Halftime: LA Lakers 55-45 3rd Q: LA Lakers 86-67 Technicals: Antawn Jamison 6:23 4th Refs: Joey Crawford, Mark Wunderlich, Phil Robinson Attendance: 18,997 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Kobe Bryant (sore right knee) Los Angeles Lakers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Devean George 35 7-9 2-3 0-1 16 0-7 3 0 2 1 2 Karl Malone 29 5-11 0-0 5-5 15 3-10 9 1 4 1 1 Shaquille O'Neal 32 8-15 0-0 0-4 16 2-9 5 3 4 0 1 Derek Fisher 37 6-14 1-5 3-5 16 0-3 3 1 2 1 0 Gary Payton 36 10-20 1-4 0-0 21 1-7 9 1 3 2 1 Bryon Russell 21 3-7 1-5 3-3 10 0-0 0 1 4 2 0 Horace Grant 20 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 0-5 2 0 2 0 1 Luke Walton 7 2-3 1-1 0-0 5 1-2 0 0 3 0 0 Jannero Pargo 9 2-3 1-1 0-0 5 0-2 0 2 0 0 0 Kareem Rush 14 1-5 0-1 0-0 2 0-1 1 1 4 0 0 Totals 48 45-89 7-20 12-20 109 7-46 32 11 28 7 6 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antoine Walker 33 7-13 5-6 0-0 19 2-7 1 2 3 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 33 5-17 0-6 9-12 19 3-13 1 3 2 1 1 Danny Fortson 14 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0-3 0 0 1 0 0 Michael Finley 30 2-8 0-4 8-8 12 0-4 1 1 1 0 0 Steve Nash 28 4-10 0-4 0-0 8 0-0 7 4 4 0 0 Antawn Jamison 33 7-13 1-1 2-4 17 3-6 1 0 2 0 0 Travis Best 16 0-5 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 4 1 2 2 0 Tony Delk 27 2-9 1-3 2-2 7 1-6 1 0 3 0 0 Eduardo Najera 13 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-3 0 0 2 1 0 Josh Howard 5 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 0-3 1 0 0 0 0 Shawn Bradley 4 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 1-1 0 0 1 0 0 Marquis Daniels 4 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 32-85 7-25 22-30 93 11-46 17 11 21 4 1 patricia