Dallas at LA Lakers (April 17) Dallas was in LA for the Lakers' last home game of the season. The game stayed close with both teams holding small leads midway through the 1st quarter. Dallas scored 6 straight points to go up 27-18 with 4:15 to go. The Lakers then scored the next 8 points to pull within 26-27 with 1:35 remaining. Dallas scored the last 5 points of the quarter to go up 34-29 after 1. Michael Finley had 10 points. The Lakers scored the first 6 points of the 2nd quarter to go up 35-34 with 9:40 left. Dallas finally got on the board with a jumper by Marquis Daniels with 9:15 remaining and the Lakers joined Dallas in shooting blanks as only 2 points were scored over the next 2 minutes. The game was tied at 40-40 with 5:40 to go and Dallas went on a 16-4 run to go up 56-44 with 2:30 left. But Dallas wouldn't score the rest of the quarter and Kobe Bryant scored 5 points in the last 35 seconds of the quarter. Dallas led 56-49 at the half. Dallas shot 46.7% FG and the Lakers shot 39% FG in the half. Chucky Atkins opened the 3rd quarter with a 3-pointer and Dallas held a single-digit lead over the next 8 minutes. A 3-pointer by Bryant pulled the Lakers within 66-68 with 5:35 to go, but Dallas then went on a 15-2 run, capped by a slam dunk by Jerry Stackhouse, to go up 83-68 with 1:05 left. Dallas led 85-70 after 3. The Lakers opened the 4th quarter with a 10-3 run (during which Vlade Divac decked Shawn Bradley with an intentional elbow to the chin with no call) to pull within 80-88 with 9:05 to go, but Dallas then scored the next 7 points to take a 15-point lead with 7 minutes remaining. Dallas took their largest lead at 100-84 with 5:30 left. Dallas led 103-89 with 4:25 to go and Bryant kicked-started the comeback with an incredible turn-around 3-pointer in the corner shooting with the wrong hand that went in at the shot clock buzzer. After Dallas missed, Bryant then hit a quick 3-pointer to pull the Lakers within 95-103 with 3:40 left. Jason Terry did answer with a 3-pointer, but momentum had swung and Dallas started committing stupid turnovers. A layup and 2 free throws by Bryant pulled the Lakers within 102-108 with 1:05 remaining. Dallas turned the ball over, the Lakers turned the ball over, and Dallas turned the ball over. Bryant missed a long 3-pointer and Jumaine Jones missed the putback and Nowitzki grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Nowitzki swung his body and elbow [and could have been ejected for doing so] to try to clear out after grabbing the rebound and Jones took exception and the 2 were quickly separated and both received a technical foul. Going to the line for the foul, Nowitzki missed the 1st free throw and hit the 2nd to make it a 7-point game with 36 seconds to go. Luke Walton drove for the quick 2 and Finley was immediately fouled and made both free throws. The Lakers used their last timeout and Sasha Vujacic then missed a long 3-pointer and Jerry Stackhouse was fouled. He hit both free throws to put Dallas up 113-104 with 19 seconds left. Game over, right? Wrong. Vujacic hit a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and Darrell Armstrong was fouled [Armstrong was in the game as Dallas was struggling to inbound the ball against the Lakers' press]. Armstrong missed both free throws and Devean George nailed a 3-pointer and Stackhouse was fouled with a little over 2 seconds left. He missed the first and hit the 2nd to make it a 4-point game. The Lakers made the long inbound pass to Bryant and Nowitzki was right up on him and Nowitzki was called for the foul as Bryant turned and shot (missed). So Bryant went to the line for 3 free throws with a seconds remaining. He hit the first 2 and intentionally missed the 3rd, but the Lakers were unable to control the rebound and Chris Mihm last touched the ball as it went out of bounds with .4 seconds left. Dallas was able to inbound the ball and the game finally ended. Dallas won 114-112. I don't know what it is about playing the Lakers in LA, but Dallas always struggles no matter the talent of (or lack of) the Mavs or Lakers. Dallas controlled the whole game until collapsing midway through the 4th quarter. And it was a disgusting 4th quarter collapse. It would have been one thing if it was just the Lakers hitting 3s, but it was the stupid turnovers that drove me nuts. Dallas struggled mightily in simply inbounding the ball as the Lakers pressed and instead of being patient and making the smart pass or even calling a timeout, they would make a dumb pass that would result in a turnover (granted, the Lakers did foul some in forcing the turnovers without calls, but they were still passes into trouble). There were many mistakes in the 4th not indicative of a strong playoff team. Hopefully Avery Johnson gave the team the reaming they deserved during today's practice. Dallas had 6 turnovers in the last 4 minutes of the game and the Lakers scored 23 points during that span. The Mavs were lucky in the that Lakers shot 1-4 3-pointers off of consecutive drive-and-kick's by Kobe Bryant that resulted in wide open 3-point attempts for the Lakers after Bryant had made his consecutive 3-pointers. It's not one to be proud of, but it does still go down as a win, even though it is a frustrating one. For the game, Dallas shot 49.4% (38-77) FG including 7-16 3-pointers. The Lakers shot 44.2% (38-86) FG including 14-29 3-pointers, with 8 made in the 4th quarter. Dallas shot 31-41 FT (including 5-8 on intentional fouls in the last 25 seconds) and the Lakers shot 22-27 FT. The Lakers out-rebounded Dallas 41-37 including 17-9 offensive. With the win, Dallas did set the team record for most road wins in a season at 28 (had 27 in 02-03 and 01-02). Dallas currently on a 7 game winning streak. Dallas has 2 games left in the regular season - a home-and-road back-to-back vs Seattle and at Memphis Tuesday and Wednesday. Dallas did have 6 players in double-digits. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 24 points including 12-14 FT. He also had 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. It will be interesting to see if he gets fined for punting the ball after the final buzzer sounded - Lamar Odom caught the ball and shot it, so it didn't go into the stands. Michael Finley had 20 points including 4-6 3-pointers, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists. Jason Terry had a double-double with 17 points and 10 assists, but also had 6 turnovers. Jerry Stackhouse made his living at the line as he had 15 points on 2-6 FG and 11-14 FT. He was a thief as he had 5 steals, mostly off of anticipation of lazy Laker passes. Josh Howard had 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals. Erick Dampier had 13 points including 6-7 FG and 5 rebounds. Keith Van Horn only had 6 points including 2-7 FG and 1 rebound in 19 minutes. Shawn Bradley did not return after getting decked by an blatant elbow by Vlade Divac - Divac should be suspended for the dirty play. Alan Henderson had 6 rebounds including 3 offensive in just 5 minutes. 14 of Kobe Bryant's game high 33 points came in the 4th quarter - and all 14 came in the last 5 minutes of the game. He shot 9-15 FG, 5-9 3-pointers, and 10-11 FT and had 7 rebounds and 9 assists. He also had 8 turnovers. Jumaine Jones had 14 points and 9 rebounds including 4 offensive. Chris Mihm had 13 points. Luke Walton had 12 points on 5-7 FG and 2-3 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 4 turnovers. Chucky Atkins had 10 points including 3-9 FG and 6 rebounds. Caron Butler had 10 points including 4-12 FG and 6 rebounds. Devean George had 10 points. Quotes Avery Johnson: "The defense was good up until the 4th quarter in the game that I was watching. We got off to a bad start a little bit, but from the middle of the 1st quarter to the middle of the 4th quarter we thought our defense was pretty good. They made a lot of big time 3s at the end of the game, which we didn't guard very well." Johnson: "You've got to give our guys some credit because there was a lot of adversity out there. It's the Lakers' last home game. They're not making the playoffs. They want to give their fans something to leave on a good note. We battled through all of that." Johnson: "I don't like where we are after this 4th quarter. We can't have this kind of 4th quarter in the playoffs. If you had talked to me before the 4th quarter, I would have said we're doing okay. But after this 4th quarter, our press offense wasn't very good. We missed free throws, we didn't execute. So we've got some stuff to work on." Johnson: "We're making plays when we have to. We've got some guys making some big time plays down in the stretch, in some very adverse situations. In the 4th quarter this was like a playoff game and we were still able to pull it out." Johnson on Bryant's left-handed 3-pointer: "If my left-hand shot was that good, I'd still be playing." Johnson on Dallas' road record: "It'll mean something at the end of the season if you leave after the last game with a victory." Dirk Nowitzki on his minor scuffle with Jumaine Jones with 36 seconds left: "I thought I had to protect the ball. They were hacking me on the rebound situation and I hit him. It's a play that happens every other game, so we shouldn't even be talking about it." Michael Finley on the 4th quarter collapse: "We're up 12, and mentally, we're on the plane thinking about tomorrow's practice. We forgot we were playing an NBA team." Jerry Stackhouse: "We are playing well and we are able to deal with adversity like we did today. Their team was playing with a lot of motivation to win their last home game. They played with all they had and we were still able to hold on and get a win. That is a sign of a team that is about to get over the hump and we feel like we are there." Stackhouse: "All we are doing is trying to keep winning. We've got 2 more games until the playoffs. We've been looking for a winning streak like this all year. We haven't been able to put one together, but we feel the good teams always put together a 7 or 8 game winning streak, and we finally got ours." Stackhouse: "No one person feels like they have to carry the load. We see all the talent here and when we share the ball and help each other defensively we are really good. We have just as good a chance as anyone else to win it all." Jason Terry: "The Lakers weren't going to throw the towel in by any means in their last home game of the season. They follow the example of their leader, Kobe. He is not going to ever give up. That left-handed 3-pointer that he hit was a sign. They continued to knock down shots and we continued to turn the ball over. We defiantly need to handle the pressure a lot better than we did." Terry: "I take a lot of responsibility myself - 6 turnovers is not acceptable. I'll be looking at the film." Terry on the playoffs: "The vision is that there is a championship at the end of the road. We feel that we are a team capable of winning it all. If we play within our system and we play consistent defense then we feel that we are going to be there at the end of the season." Erick Dampier: "We had them down by 18 or so and we should have kept those guys down. We had some careless turnovers which got them right back in the game. When we have teams down like that, we need to keep them down." Josh Howard: "It is the end of the year and we are playing great ball. Guys can step up any night. They showed that they had a chance. Time ran out. I think if they would have had 2 more seconds, they may have won. It was a great game for people to watch on this Sunday afternoon." Shawn Bradley on the elbow Divac gave him: "I haven't taken one like that in a while. It definitely should be reviewed [by the league]." Frank Hamblen: "Next year we're going to petition to see if we could have 50 minute games and 2 or 3 more timeouts." Hamblen: "We turned the ball over - we had 20 turnovers giving them 32 points. We had a bad run in the 2nd quarter and didn't close the quarter out right again. We haven't been very good at that, especially as of late. But we out-rebounded them." Hamblen on the 4th quarter: "I was proud the way our guys came back. They didn't quit. They just kept coming back. I thought the crowd was great. I wish we could have won the final here at home for them." Hamblen on Bryant's left-handed 3-pointer: "He's had the problem at home [with his wife's health] that's been tough on him. He missed a game and a couple shoot arounds, so I was happy to see him. His game rhythm wasn't there to start with, but he did fine. It was a heck of a shot. I'd hate to follow him in a horse game and have to duplicate that shot." Kobe Bryant: "I was extremely happy for Sasha [Vujacic]. I thought he played pretty well. It's important for him to get his rhythm. Luke has been playing extremely well. Last game he was near a triple double. Any time you can get out there and play it's a valuable experience." Bryant on this season: "It's character building. When you go through times when you're kind of at a low point, I feel like it can build strong character. You learn how to persevere, you learn how to deal with adversity, you learn how to fight back and crawl out of that hole." Bryant on next season: "Be a better defensive team. We will work out, get conditioned, get healthy, and be ready for a better season next year. We have to be able to hold teams down and have consistency all year long, which was tough this year with such a roller-coaster season." Bryant on his wife's health: "She's doing much better. Thank you all for your support and we really appreciate it. Her spirits are good. It's been a tough time, it's in God's hands, and God takes care of everybody." Devean George: "We found a way to crawl back into the game. When we're not playing with each other and we're not winning, it's hard to be out there. But once we were playing together, making runs, and having fun, it's easier to play." George: "That's been our story, to crawl back and not have enough left in the tank to push through it." George on losing: "A lot of us really aren't used to this. This is something new to all of us. We need to get on the same page. The whole season we stayed unbalanced. Whether it was coaching, lineups, chemistry of players, what offense we were running; we never really got into a groove." Chris Mihm: "We had a lot of excitement and enthusiasm at the beginning of the season. Things got thrown at this team, which didn't make for as smooth of a season as we would have liked - switching coaches, not having Vlade and Devean, Kobe going down, and now Lamar - but it's all part of the NBA season and we just have to fight through. We'll keep fighting, finish the season out, and come back strong next season." Mihm: "I've experienced this in Cleveland. Nobody likes to lose. It's pretty disparaging especially at this time of the year. We were hoping to be peaking at this time of the year instead of the way it's going. But those are the cards that have been thrown at us this year. We'll learn from it and come back strong next year." Dallas Mavericks 114, Los Angeles Lakers 112 at Los Angeles (April 17) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 34 22 29 29 - 114 .508 .438 .494 .756 LA Lakers 29 20 21 42 - 112 .421 .483 .442 .815 Halftime: Dallas 56-49 3rd Q: Dallas 85-70 Technicals: Kobe Bryant 4:51 3rd, Dirk Nowitzki 0:36 4th, Jumaine Jones 0:36 4th Refs: Danny Crawford, Kevin Fehr, Bennie Adams Attendance: 18,237 (cap 18,997) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jason Terry 38 8-13 1-3 0-0 17 0-4 10 6 3 1 0 Michael Finley 37 7-16 4-6 2-2 20 0-2 4 1 2 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 38 6-13 0-2 12-14 24 2-8 3 3 4 4 2 Josh Howard 27 5-9 0-1 3-4 13 1-4 1 1 3 3 0 Erick Dampier 27 6-7 0-0 1-1 13 2-5 1 0 3 0 1 Jerry Stackhouse 23 2-6 0-1 11-14 15 0-4 2 2 4 5 0 Keith Van_Horn 19 2-7 1-2 1-2 6 1-1 0 0 1 0 0 Devin Harris 10 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 3 1 0 2 0 Shawn Bradley 8 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-1 0 0 3 0 2 Marquis Daniels 7 2-4 1-1 0-0 5 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Alan Henderson 5 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 3-6 0 0 0 0 0 Darrell Armstrong 1 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-77 7-16 31-41 114 9-37 25 17 23 15 5 Los Angeles Lakers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Kobe Bryant 35 9-15 5-9 10-11 33 4-7 9 8 2 2 0 Chucky Atkins 33 3-9 2-5 2-2 10 1-3 6 3 1 1 0 Jumaine Jones 43 5-13 2-5 2-4 14 4-9 3 3 5 1 0 Caron Butler 29 4-12 0-0 2-2 10 3-6 2 0 3 2 0 Chris Mihm 25 6-12 0-0 1-2 13 1-3 0 0 4 0 1 Luke Walton 21 5-7 2-3 0-1 12 2-5 2 4 5 1 0 Sasha Vujacic 20 2-9 1-4 2-2 7 0-0 4 1 1 2 0 Devean George 19 3-6 2-3 2-2 10 0-3 1 0 3 0 0 Vlade Divac 8 1-2 0-0 1-1 3 2-5 3 1 0 1 0 Brian Grant 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 38-86 14-29 22-27 112 17-41 30 20 26 10 1 patricia