Game 2: Dallas at LA Lakers (May 4) As expected, the Lakers came to play to open the game and scored on their first 5 possessions, but Dallas was able to hang around and the Lakers led 10-6 with 9:15 left. The teams then struggled over the next 3 minutes with just 3 points by each team and the Lakers led 13-9 with 6:20 remaining. A 3-pointer by DeShawn Stevenson and a 3 by Jason Kidd gave Dallas their first lead at 15-13 with 5:25 to go. But the game stayed close with Dallas' lead switching between 1 and 3 points over the next 4 minutes. Dirk Nowitzki nailed a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left for the only points during the last minute of the quarter and Dallas led 26-20 after 1. Dallas shot 11-23 FG including 4-7 3-pointers and the Lakers shot 7-19 FG including 0-4 3-pointers. Dallas didn't get to the line once while the Lakers shot 6-9 FT. Neither team scored in the first minute of the 2nd quarter and a layup by Peja Stojakovic gave Dallas a 28-20 lead with 10:40 to go. Dallas led 37-30 with 7:10 remaining and the Lakers made a run by scoring the next 10 points, including 6 straight points by Kobe Bryant, to give the Lakers a 40-37 lead with 4:35 remaining. But the game stayed close and 3 points was the largest lead by either team over the rest of the quarter. A jumper by Nowitzki gave Dallas 51-49 lead at the half. The Lakers out-scored Dallas 29-25 in the 2nd quarter as they shot 14-25 FG while Dallas shot 9-17 FG (and both teams shot 0-3 3-pointers). Dallas had a rebounding problem in the 2nd quarter in giving up too many offensive rebounds as the Lakers had 6 in the quarter and they scored 8 points on those offensive boards. Dallas stayed in the game at the line where they shot 7-9 FT while the Lakers shot 1-3 FT. The offensive woos got worse for both teams in the 3rd quarter, but Dallas got their rebounding problems under control. A 3-pointer by Stevenson gave Dallas a 56-50 lead with 10:20 left and both teams went scoreless over the next 1 1/2 minutes before a dunk by Pau Gasol gave the Lakers their first field goal of the quarter with 8:55 remaining. The Lakers were able to pull within 1 point on a layup by Derek Fisher to make it 56-57 with 7 minutes left, but Dallas would continue to hang on to a small lead. Dallas scored 6 straight points (over a 3 minute span) to go up 68-60 with 40 seconds to go and a short shot by Andrew Bynum capped the quarter scoring. Dallas led 68-62 after 3. It was a low scoring quarter for both teams as Dallas out-scored the Lakers 17-13 in the 3rd quarter as both teams shot poorly. Dallas shot 7-23 FG (but did make 2 3-pointers in shooting 2-10 3s) and LA shot 6-19 FG (and continued to shot blanks behind the arc as they missed 4 more attempts to up their total for the game to 0-11). The whistles were fairly quiet as both teams shot 1-2 FT. The Mavs got their rebound problems under control as they out-rebounded the Lakers 13-11 in the 3rd quarter including 5-2 offensive. 2 free throws by J.J. Barea (who was tearing the Lakers apart with his drives) gave Dallas their first double-digit lead at 75-65 with 9:45 left. After Lamar Odom hit a hook shot with 9:30 to go, neither team scored over the next 2 1/2 minutes as Dallas missed 4 shots and committed 2 turnovers but the Lakers were unable to take advantage of Dallas' miscues as they missed 2 shots and had 2 turnovers. A layup by Fisher ended the scoring drought with 7:10 remaining, but Dallas then rattled off the next 9 points to take a 84-69 lead with 4:40 left. I kept waiting for the Lakers rally to occur, but it never came and Dallas' lead stayed in double-digits the rest of the game (the Lakers did cut Dallas' lead down to 11 points 3 times, but they could get no closer). Ron Artest showed his psycho side and hit Barea across the head after the whistle blew with just 24 seconds left in the game and Artest was ejected and today the league announced that Artest was suspended for Game 3 because of that act. Dallas won 93-81. Dallas leads the series 2-0. Wow. Neither team played well, but the Lakers played worse. I really kept waiting for a Lakers rally in the 4th (with the way Dallas was playing, the door was definitely still open), but it never came. The Lakers only scored 32 points in the 2nd half (after scoring 49 in the 1st half). The Lakers shot just 33% FG in the 2nd half - Dallas was also poor in shooting 34% FG, but Dallas shot 10-12 FT and the Lakers shot 4-8 FT in the 2nd half. And J.J. Barea just killed the Lakers with his drive - it is always surprising (and shouldn't happen in the playoffs with the time teams have to prepare) when Barea gets to the basket so many times so easily as he does like to drive (despite his short size) and is probably the best driver on the team. The win puts Dallas firmly in control and the Mavs need to take care of their home games and not give the Lakers any breathing room to get back in to the series. For the game, Dallas shot 42% (34-81) FG and 8-25 3-pointers and the Lakers shot 41% (34-83) FG including 2-20 3-pointers - they didn't make their first 3-pointer until 2:45 left in the game (and shot 2-5 3-pointers over the last 2:45). Free throws also hurt the Lakers as they shot just 11-20 FT while Dallas only had 4 misses in shooting 17-21 FT. Dallas had 20 assists and 11 turnovers and the Lakers had 18 assists and 10 turnovers. The Lakers did out-rebound Dallas 44-39 including 13-11 offensive, but Dallas had a rebounding edge of 26-23 including 8-5 offensive in the 2nd half. No Mav had a stellar game - just grind-it-out good performances. The defensive performances (which usually don't show in the stats) were the keys to the win. If there was an offensive hero for this game, it would have to be J.J. Barea with his attacking game (and, again, part of that credit has to go to the poor Lakers defense - Barea will usually get one or two layups in a game, but an opponent can prepare for him and, with focus, stop his attacking game). 8 of Barea's 12 points and 2 of his 4 assists came in the 4th quarter. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 24 points including 9-16 FG and 7 rebounds. Shawn Marion had 14 points and 9 rebounds including 4 offensive. Tyson Chandler picked up a couple more fouls (as Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum were more active in the game with the Lakers looking to go to them early). Chandler had 6 points on 3-4 FG and 7 rebounds in 31 minutes. Brendan Haywood was active and had 5 points, 8 rebounds including 4 offensive, and 3 blocks in 17 minutes. Jason Kidd struggled with his shot in shooting 3-10 FG including 2-8 3-pointers and played defense on Kobe Bryant more in this game than in Game 1 (taking him when Kidd and Barea or Jason Terry were on the court at the same time). Kidd had 10 points and 6 assists and also had 4 turnovers (a couple of them sloppy). Terry also struggled with his shot in shooting just 3-12 FG, but he did dish out 5 assists and didn't have a turnover. Terry had 9 points. Peja Stojakovic also struggled in this game with just 4 points on 2-9 FG and missed all 5 3-pointers he attempted. DeShawn Stevenson had a nice impact on the game, especially early, and actually hit some shots (he had shot 1-9 FG and 1-6 3-pointers over the pervious 3 games). He had 9 points on 3-6 3-pointers (his only attempts), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block in 13 minutes. It was a short 9-man rotation for Dallas (and the Lakers also went just 9-men deep). Kobe Bryant again was the high man for the Lakers with 23 points. He did have 3 assists in this game after having none in Game 1, but had no rebounds in this game. Bryant also had 5 steals. The Lakers looked to get Andrew Bynum involved early and he was active with 18 points including 8-11 FG and 13 rebounds including 7 offensive. Pau Gasol didn't play great, but did have a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds - I was surprised that the Laker fans were booing him during some of his struggles as he wasn't terrible. Ron Artest had a better outing than in Game 1 until his bonehead play at the end of the game that's going to cost him Game 3. Artest had 11 points,, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks (2 of them on Stojakovic attempting 3-pointers late in the shot clock). Derek Fisher struggled with his shot in shooting 2-7 FG and had 4 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals in 32 minutes. The Lakers got just 12 points from their bench as Lamar Odom had 6 points and Shannon Brown had 6 points. Odom shot just 3-12 FG, but did have 9 rebounds. Steve Blake had a miserable outing in missing all 5 of his shots (and all were 3-point attempts). He had just 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 2 turnovers in 20 minutes. Matt Barnes was a non-factor with 2 missed shots, 2 rebounds, and 2 fouls in 10 minutes. Quotes Rick Carlisle: "It's one of 16 [wins] that we need and right now we have 10 more wins to get to our goal. That's what we're focusing on. I thought our focus and concentration was terrific tonight, but much better than Game 1 - and it had to be. They made some runs, we answered. We turned it over, we didn't lose our composure. Those kinds of things are the kinds of things you have to do to win." Carlisle: "We were able to get a lot of stops and that helps us get our offense going. Defensive rebounding is always going to help your offense. We were getting beat pretty good on the boards in the 1st half, that was a concern. I thought we did better in the 2nd half. You know, when we get up the floor and get moving it, we're tough to guard." Carlisle on Bryant: "He's missing some shots he normally makes. I'm not going to jump up and say something stupid like we've figured out how to stop him because that's not what playing this team is about. He's still getting shots. He had one stretch where he made 5 or 6 in a row. It's brutal playing against him. It is. When he gets on a string like that, you can't get discouraged. And our guys didn't." Carlisle: "We came here to win 2 games." Dirk Nowitzki: "It was definitely another big win." Nowitzki: "We definitely wanted to go for it tonight. I think we did a decent job early in the game kind of taking that blow. We knew they were going to come out on fire and Kobe was playing well and trying to establish Bynum and Gasol. And we kept plugging there. And I thought DeSteve [Stevenson] did a good job for us setting the tone, made some 3s. And we just kept taking the hits, but we were still right there. And that was big. And not really ever look back and always played from up front, and that was big." Nowitzki on defense: "We gave up 32 points in the 2nd half, I think that's obviously the key. I think we weren't really practically on fire - we only shot 42%. Especially in the 3rd quarter, I had a lot of good looks. We just couldn't make a lot of shots, but yet defensively we battled. Tried to make it tough on Kobe. Tried to keep a tight paint. Obviously they weren't shooting well either." Nowitzki: "If you would have told me before that were going to win both games, that would have been hard to believe. But I think we earned it." Jason Terry on Dallas' bench: "We're just very opportunistic. There's certain things that we like to do as a bench when we get the opportunity, and I think that we've been able to do that thus far. The key for us is can we maintain it?" Jason Kidd on the Lakers run at the end of the 2nd quarter: "They're a team that closes quarters well, and they were doing it again. We didn't lose our composure, so that was a big thing." Tyson Chandler on Barea: "He made the game. He took over the game with his penetration, and I think he set the tone for all the rest of the guards." Shawn Marion: "We came to compete and we came to make something happen here. We made our presence felt on both ends of the floor tonight. We did a good job of handling their pressure and just going out there and doing what we've been doing all postseason, just playing good defense and just playing our style of play." Marion on Dallas' defense: "We were just being active in there. I think it helped open up the game for us. I think we were able to limit them. In the 1st half, we gave up a few offensive rebounds normally that we don't give up. At the same time, though, we were able to capitalize on things they did wrong, too." J.J. Barea: "I came out with a lot of energy that I knew we needed and we were up. We did a great job defensively all game. I think a little spark by me worked out in the win." Phil Jackson: "Really poor 2nd half on our part tonight. I thought we played good the 1st half. They were able to take the lead at the half and just a really rugged 3rd quarter for our team, had a hard time getting it going - both teams, 17-13 was the 3rd quarter score. But the 4th quarter we got really dispirited. Couldn't cover some of the screen-rolls that we have to cover. We have to go back and do a better job." Jackson: "We're not really that concerned offensively we feel we're okay. We're concerned about our defensive end. We believe defense was our problem out there tonight." Jackson if the team is tired: "I saw guys tired out there. ... Energize-wise, it looked like Dallas had more energy out there on the floor than we did, and that's concerning." Jackson on Gasol being booed: "I was kind of surprised about that, but it's tough out there. He missed some foul shots - we missed foul shots as a team. He missed open shots, he missed a layup that was blocked at the rim because he didn't dunk it. There are some things that obviously didn't look good out there for Pau. But he worked. He worked. He was one of the kids that looked tired tonight." Jackson on Gasol: "Pau did not have a good game inside like we anticipate him to have." Jackson on Gasol: "There were some weird things in Pau's game tonight. Kobe missing a layup on a breakaway and Pau running behind, not being able to capture the ball. They were just kind of gremlins out there that kind of changed the course of the game." Jackson: "We ended up scoring as many field goals as Dallas, but obviously we didn't shot free throws or 3-point shots very well, so that changes the game a lot." Kobe Bryant on Bynum's comments about trust issues on the team: "I think the trust that he's referring to is being able to help each other on the defensive end of the floor. You saw a lot of layups. He gets frustrated when he supports a guard coming off the screen-and-roll and nobody supports him." Bryant: "Desperate? That's a strong word. I think when you play desperate, you don't play your best basketball. What we need to do is relax, focus on what we're doing wrong and the mistakes that we're making, and we have plenty to review and lock in on that." Pau Gasol: "I wish I could have been more productive. I wish I could have been more effective." Gasol: "I had some good looks. I had some plays that I should have finished better. But I tried. I tried my best." Andrew Bynum on LA's frustrations: "It's deeply rooted at this point. It's obvious that we have trust issues, individually. All 13 of our guys have trust issues right now. I think it's quite obvious to anyone watching the game - hesitation on passes and defensively we're not being a good teammate because he wasn't there for you before - little things. And unless we come out and discuss them, nothing is going to change." Bynum: "A lot of the 3s that came when we were down by 10, we gave a little bit too early I thought, we just started chucking up shots." Bynum: "I was surprised we lost the first game. But this game, they just beat us." Lamar Odom: "We lost. We lost our rhythm offensively. Defensively, we didn't have a rhythm as well. Offensively not rebounding, not taking what they're giving us." Odom on Nowitzki: "There was a span in that game where he didn't shoot the ball as much. I think toward the end of the 3rd and start of the 4th, and that was probably our chance to close in on the gap, and we weren't able to." Steve Blake: "Forget about tonight. Pretty much that's all I've got to do and get back to playing the way I know that I can. I just got to go in [Thursday], work hard, and get ready to go." 2011 Playoffs - Second Round: Game 2 Dallas Mavericks 93, Los Angeles Lakers 81 at LA (May 4) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 26 25 17 25 - 93 .464 .320 .420 .810 LA Lakers 20 29 13 19 - 81 .508 .100 .410 .550 Halftime: Dallas 51-49 3rd Q: Dallas 68-62 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 0:53 1st, Ron Artest (LAL) 3:32 2nd, Ron Artest (LAL, ejected) 0:24 4th Refs: Monty McCutchen, Bennett Salvatore, Bill Spooner Attendance: 18,997 (sellout) IL: Dallas - Caron Butler, Dominique Jones, Rodrigue Beaubois LA Lakers - Derrick Caracter, Devin Ebanks, Theo Ratliff Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shawn Marion 34 5-10 0-0 4-5 14 4-9 1 2 1 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 38 9-16 2-3 4-5 24 1-7 2 1 2 0 0 Tyson Chandler 31 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 2-7 0 0 3 0 0 DeShawn Stevenson 13 3-6 3-6 0-0 9 0-2 1 0 2 1 1 Jason Kidd 34 3-10 2-8 2-3 10 0-2 6 4 4 1 0 Peja Stojakovic 24 2-9 0-5 0-0 4 0-1 0 0 2 0 0 Jason Terry 32 3-12 1-1 2-2 9 0-2 5 0 0 2 0 Brendan Haywood 17 2-5 0-0 1-2 5 4-8 1 2 2 0 3 J.J. Barea 17 4-9 0-2 4-4 12 0-1 4 2 0 0 0 Totals 48 34-81 8-25 17-21 93 11-39 20 11 16 4 4 Los Angeles Lakers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Ron Artest 31 4-10 1-4 2-4 11 2-6 2 0 4 0 3 Pau Gasol 33 5-12 0-0 3-6 13 2-10 1 1 5 1 1 Andrew Bynum 37 8-11 0-0 2-2 18 7-13 1 1 2 0 1 Kobe Bryant 38 9-20 1-5 4-5 23 0-0 3 1 1 5 0 Derek Fisher 32 2-7 0-2 0-0 4 0-3 5 1 2 2 0 Lamar Odom 26 3-12 0-2 0-1 6 2-9 3 1 2 0 0 Steve Blake 20 0-5 0-5 0-0 0 0-1 1 2 0 0 0 Shannon Brown 13 3-4 0-1 0-2 6 0-0 1 2 2 0 0 Matt Barnes 10 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-2 1 1 2 0 0 Totals 48 34-83 2-20 11-20 81 13-44 18 10 20 8 5 Go Mavs! patricia ---- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For Trianglons puzzles: http://www.trianglons.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html