Even with Caron Butler in street clothes (reaction to medication), Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks proved they are not to be taken lightly against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)In front of a packed arena that included the likes of Tony Dorsett, Jay-Z and Beyonce, these Dallas Mavericks (37-21) showed what they are made of.
After many ties and lead-changes through three quarters, Jason Kidd put Dallas up for good 74-72 with a three-pointer to beat the buzzer at the end of the third quarter. The Los Angeles Lakers (43-15) stayed close in the fourth, keeping themselves within a basket up to around the 8:00 mark of the fourth.
The Mavericks then took over led by Dirk Nowitzki's 13, of his game-high 31 points, in the fourth quarter as he led a 15-9 run that put Dallas up eight (97-89) with 1:40 left. Nowitzki and Jason Terry combined to score 22 of the Mavs final 23 points, and no other Maverick made a basket in the fourth quarter. Terry finished with 30 points on 10-20 shooting and was the game's second-leading scorer behind Dirk. JET picked the perfect time to have one of his best game's of the season, with Butler out and the Lakers coming to town.
"This is our type of ballgame," said Terry, who has finished with 30+ points three times this season. "Any time in the fourth quarter and the game is close, it's going to be up to myself, [Jason Kidd] or Dirk to get the win. I think we welcome that challenge and we don't need to change it right now."
The Lakers did have a chance late as Kobe Bryant, who missed his first five shots from the field, had a good-look on a game-tying three with :25 seconds left and L.A. down 97-94. But the shot was long and off the back-rim. Then JET and Dirk hit their free throws (4-4), sealing the victory for the Mavericks.
Bryant was guarded mostly by the trio of DeShawn Stevenson (early), Jason Kidd (occasionally) and Shawn Marion (late) and made only nine of his 23 shot attempts. Kobe finished the game with 20 points and five boards, but scored only four points in the fourth on 2-6 shooting.
Lamar Odom led six Lakers in double-figures with 21 points off the bench, while also chipping in seven rebounds and five assists. Ron Artest scored 13 and Pau Gasol had only 11, six points less than his 17 point per game average.
"This was a big win," said Nowitzki, who has scored 30 or more points 12 times this season. "They had everybody [healthy] this time. They really embarrassed us that one time out there and then stole one here. It was big for us to tie it up at 2-2."
Strong Dallas Defense Becoming a Regularity
Six games since the trade and six straight games of under 100 point games for Mavs' opponents. Did I mention Dallas is 5-1 during the span?
Brendan Haywood led the charge (again) with five blocks, while also scoring 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds - only one board off three consecutive double-doubles. Haywood has had at least nine rebounds in a game in the last five contests.
Every Mavericks player that played in the game had at least one steal, led by Rodrigue Beaubois with two in five minutes played. The Lakers had 17 turnovers overall, thanks to the Mavs suffocating D, with Dallas scoring 25 points off of them. Dallas also out-rebounded the Lakers 41-36 and 13-7 on the offensive glass.
The six straight keeping opponents under 100 points streak is the longest such stand this season. The previous high was four consecutive between Dec. 11 and Dec. 16.
What's Next
The Mavericks travel to Atlanta, Friday night, to take on the Hawks.
Atlanta won in Dallas earlier this season, 80-75 , thanks to 31 points for Joe Johnson and some suffocating defense.
The Hawks are 36-20 this season, fourth in the Eastern Conference, and 22-6 at home which is the third-best home record in the East. They average 101.4 points (9th in the NBA) and allow only 96.9 per (11th).
Tip-off is at 6:00 p.m. and can be seen nationally on ESPN.
News and Notes:
- With Oklahoma City's loss last night to the Spurs, Dallas now has the longest current win streak in the NBA at five.
- This was the first time all season that Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry both had 30 or more points in a game. It happened only once last season, Mar. 7 2009, against the Washington Wizards. Dallas won 119-103.
- Jason Kidd had 14 points and 13 assists for his third double-double since the All-Star break.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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