Blindsided 131-96

Dirk Nowitzki was about the only player who showed up for the Mavericks as they completely laid an egg in L.A. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)

The Mavericks allowed the most points in a game this season, and the Lakers had a season high for most points in what was a complete shock to Mavs' fans. The Lakers also set season-highs in field goal percentage (63 percent) and three-point percentage (80 percent).

It didn't start well for the Dallas Mavericks (23-11) as they shot only 16 percent in the first quarter and 28 percent for the first half. The Los Angeles Lakers (27-6) led by as many as 43 points (108-65) in the second half as they cruised to victory.

"They're the champs. They came out and played from the beginning and we didn't," said Jason Kidd, who was 0-6 from the field with zero points in 26 minutes- but did have five assists. "We just didn't make shots, and when we tend not to make shots, we usually stop playing defense."

No Damp, No Interior D

With Erick Dampier in street clothes for the ninth time this season, Dallas thoroughly missed his 1.8 blocks per game and paint defense.

Drew Gooden, Dirk Nowitzki, Kris Humphries and the rest of the Mavericks interior defenders made Andrew Bynum and his post moves look like Hakeem Olajawon. Bynum was perfect from the floor (8-8) and used an array of post moves that no Mavs' defender could stop. He finished with 18 points and five boards and the Lakers had 52 points in the paint for the game.

Dirk + ...?

Dirk Nowitzki came to play. He didn't shoot all the great from the field (7-18), but Nowitzki consistently drove to the basket trying to make something happen for Dallas.

While everyone else was content shooting jumpers (Dallas was 5-21 from behind the arc), Nowitzki kept driving as he went to the line 10 times, making eight.

Nowitzki finished with 22 points and eight boards.

"On offense, we just couldn't do anything right," said Nowitzki.

Weird Night In The NBA

So, not only did Dallas get completely pounded by the Lakers, many other NBA teams found themselves losing to lesser opponents.

The Cleveland Cavaliers (27-9) lost at home to the Charlotte Bobcats (14-18) 91-88.

The San Antonio Spurs (20-12) lost to the Toronto Raptors (17-18) 91-86.

And the Denver Nuggets (21-13) at home to the Philadelphia 76ers (10-23) 108-105.

See its not so bad!

Whats Next

Dallas just has to forget about this one. Absolutely nothing went right for the Mavs in this game and almost everything went right for L.A. (really Jordan Farmer? 24 points, 6-7 from deep?). After three games in four nights and four straight on the road, the Mavericks are coming home for a few days.

"But it's just one game," said Kidd. "Now we go back home and play on Tuesday, so we'll get back going in the right direction."

The Mavericks take on as struggling Detroit Pistons team who has lost their last nine games and are 3-13 on the road.

Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, and can be seen locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)