Game 3: LA Lakers at Dallas (May 6) Lamar Odom started in place of the suspended Ron Artest. The Lakers scored the first 4 points of the game before Dallas got on the board 90 seconds into the game. Consecutive buckets gave the Lakers a 12-7 lead with 7:05 remaining, but 5 points would be the largest lead of the quarter. A 3-point play (on which Kobe Bryant picked up his 2nd foul and then sat for the rest of the quarter) followed by a 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki gave Dallas their first lead at 16-14 with 5 minutes to go. The teams traded leads a couple of times as the game stayed close. A hook shot by Andrew Bynum gave the Lakers a 24-20 lead with 3 minutes left, but Dallas scored the next 9 points to go up 29-24 with 55 seconds to go as the Lakers missed 2 shots and had 2 turnovers. A 3-point play by Pau Gasol capped the quarter scoring. Dallas led 29-27 after 1. Dallas shot 10-19 FG while the Lakers shot 11-20 FG (and missed their only 3-point attempt). It was a game of outside and inside as Dallas shot 4-4 3-pointers and the Lakers countered with 18 points in the paint. Both teams shot 5-6 FT. Nowitzki had 11 points and Bynum had 10 points. Dallas' lead swung between 4 and 6 points over the first few minutes of the 2nd quarter. A 3-pointer by Shannon Brown pulled the Lakers within 38-39 with 8 minutes remaining. The teams traded 4 misses each before a layup by Nowitzki and 3-pointer by Jason Terry gave Dallas a 44-38 lead with 5:25 to go. Dallas led by 5 with 3:50 left and the Lakers made their end of quarter run by scoring the next 8 points to go up 48-45 with 1:25 left. The Mavs were lucky it wasn't worse and the Lakers led 51-47 at the half. The Lakers out-scored Dallas 24-18 in the 2nd quarter as they shot 10-20 FG and 2-3 FT while Dallas shot 7-18 FG and 3-5 FT. Dallas lost their hot shooting 3-pointers as the Mavs shot just 1-7 for 3s in the 2nd quarter. A layup by Pau Gasol and 3-pointer by Derek Fisher gave the Lakers a 58-51 lead with 8:30 left, but the Lakers missed their next 2 shots while Dallas knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to pull within 57-58 with 6:50 left and the game stayed close with the Lakers' largest lead only 3 points along with 2 ties over the next 5 minutes. A layup by Lamar Odom and jumper by Bryant gave the Lakers a 70-64 lead with 40 seconds remaining and they would hold a 72-66 lead after 3. The Lakers out-scored Dallas 21-19 in the 3rd quarter as the Lakers shot 10-20 FG while Dallas shot just 5-15 FG including 2-10 3-pointers - the Lakers also out-rebounded Dallas 12-6 including 4-1 offensive. Dallas stayed in the game thanks to the free throw line where Dallas shot 7-8 FT while the Lakers did not get to the line once. A 3-point play by Bynum and layup by Brown gave the Lakers their largest lead at 79-71 with 9:30 to go as the Mavs were driving me nuts with purely shooting outside jumpers (with a lot of misses). Both teams went scoreless over the next 2 minutes and then the teams traded jumpers. J.J. Barea drove (finally!) for a layup [unlike Game 2, Barea was not attacking the basket in this game] and a 3-pointer by Peja Stojakovic pulled Dallas within 78-81 with 6:15 remaining - Stojakovic played most of the 4th instead of Shawn Marion (due to Stojakovic getting hot and then his defense being solid). But the Lakers then converted on consecutive possessions to go up 85-78 with 5:10 left. Dallas' shots started falling and it was a wild finish (for Dallas, disaster for the Lakers). Nowitzki drained a 3-pointer and Bryant answered with a though shot to make it 87-81 for LA with 4;30 to go. Nowitzki was called for a charge and Gasol missed and Stojakovic nailed another 3-pointer with 3:50 left. Bryant drove and then decided to pass, but threw the ball off of Gasol's back for a turnover and then Bryant fouled Jason Kidd to put the Lakers into the penalty - Kidd hit both free throws to pull Dallas within 86-87 with 3:25 left. Bryant kept the ball the next time out, but was short on his jumper attempt. Nowitzki drove and stopped under the basket and Bynum jumped on one of Nowitzki's fakes and got called for the foul. Nowitzki hit both free throws to give Dallas the lead, but Fisher got a layup off a curl to put the Lakers up 89-88 with 2:30 remaining. Dallas got the ball to Nowitzki and the double-team came, so Dallas made some nice passes to find Terry in the far corner where he drained a 3-pointer. But Odom got a layup on the other end and it was a tie game at 91-91 with 1:40 left. Nowitzki drove and flipped the ball in from just to the left of the rim [the "hook shot" that was talked about after the game] to put Dallas back up top. Stojakovic played good defense on Odom and Odom missed a short shot with a minute to go and Stojakovic got the rebound. Stojakovic's baseliner with 41 seconds left was long, but Terry was able to swat the rebound outside and Dallas retained possession and got the ball to Terry, whom Fisher ran into for the obvious foul. Terry hit both free throws to put Dallas up 95-91 with 19 seconds to go. The Lakers called timeout and then Fisher threw a bad inbounds pass that went off of Odom's fingers and out of bounds, giving the ball to Dallas. Terry was intentionally fouled and he hit both to give Dallas a 6 point lead with just 17 seconds left. Kidd blocked Bryant's 3-point attempt with 15 seconds to go and then Bryant missed another 3-point attempt 3 seconds later, but Gasol got the rebound and he missed a layup and Gasol got the rebound again and he was fouled with 9 seconds left. He only hit 1-2 FT and Kidd was fouled and he also hit 1-2 FT. And a missed 3-point attempt by Bryant ended the game. Dallas won 98-92. Dallas leads the series 3-0. It was another 4th quarter comeback win for Dallas. And it was another game where both teams struggled at times and left the door open for the other team - but neither team closed that door until Dallas did with their made free throws in the last 20 seconds of the game. As much as Dallas deserves credit for their 4th quarter comeback, the Lakers deserves credit for letting Dallas back in to the game - the Lakers were up by 7 points with 5 minutes left and allowed Dallas to go on a 20-7 run to close the game. Dallas out-scored the Lakers 32-20 in the 4th quarter as Dallas shot 9-15 FG including 5-8 3-pointers and the Lakers shot just 8-22 FG including 0-6 3-pointers (though 3 of those misses came in the last 15 seconds of the game). The game was a close one throughout with the largest lead by either team just 8 points. The Lakers are now in a do-or-die situation and must take Game 4 to remain alive in the series while Dallas needs not to give the Lakers any hope and put them out of their misery. For the game, Dallas shot 46.3% (31-67) FG including 12-29 3-pointers [the Mavs were killing me with too many outside jumpers and not even trying to work the ball inside, but the jumpers finally started falling and a mixed of jumpers and inside shots got the Mavs the comeback win]. The Lakers shot 47.6% (39-82) FG including 3-13 3-pointers. As Dallas relied on the outside shooting, the Lakers were taking it inside - Dallas won despite the Lakers having 56 points in the paint while Dallas had just 20 points in the paint. I thought the officiating was poor in this game (even though the numbers favored Dallas) - they called some non-playoff fouls in the 1st quarter on the Lakers and then turned around in the 2nd quarter and let some hard contact on Nowitzki go without a whistle - consistency is what you want from the refs and in this game there was no telling what the refs would decide to call a foul and what they would let go. Dallas shot 24-29 FT (including 9-10 FT in the 4th quarter, but 4 of those were from intentional fouls) and the Lakers shot 11-14 FT. Dallas did out-rebound LA 39-37, but the Lakers held a 13-8 edge on offensive rebounds. Dallas had 14 turnovers and the Lakers had 11 turnovers - but in the 4th, the Lakers did not score on Dallas' 3 turnovers in the quarter while Dallas scored on both of the Lakers' turnovers. As usual, Dirk Nowitzki let the way for Dallas and had a stellar performance with 32 points including 12-19 FG and 4-5 3-pointers and (also a team high) 9 rebounds. Jason Terry was his sidekick in this game (both played the entire 4th quarter) and 7 of his 23 points came in the 4th quarter. Terry shot 7-10 FG and had 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in the game. Where as J.J. Barea was the key factor from Game 2, Peja Stojakovic was the unexpected catalyst for this game. Not only was Peja bombs away in the 4th, but he also played good defense (yes, "good defense" and Peja in the same sentence) on Lamar Odom. 11 of his 15 points came in the 4th as he shot 4-6 FG and 3-4 3-pointers in the quarter in playing all but 20 seconds of the 4th. Jason Kidd again struggled with his shot, but did reach double-digits scoring with 11 points. He shot 3-12 FG and 2-8 3-pointers. He did have a game high 9 assists, but also had 4 turnovers. Shawn Marion struggled in the game with just 2 points on 1-7 FG, but did have 8 rebounds including 3 offensive in 30 minutes. Tyson Chandler had 8 points on 1-1 FG and 6-7 FT and 5 rebounds and was limited some (but not like some of the Portland games) by foul trouble. Brendan Haywood didn't attempt a shot and had 7 rebounds including 3 offensive in 14 minutes. DeShawn Stevenson hit his only shot (a 3-pointer) and had 2 assists and 3 fouls for his only stats in 11 minutes. Barea's only bucket was a driving layup (he shot 1-5 FG and 2-4 FT for 4 points) and he had 5 assists and no turnovers in 14 minutes. Corey Brewer got in for a minute of court time and missed his only attempt for his only stat. Count me amongst those who were expecting a dominating performance (or at least trying to dominate) from Kobe Bryant. Didn't occur in this game (though picking up his 2nd foul midway through the 1st quarter probably didn't help). Bryant only shot the ball 16 times (8-16 FG) and had 17 points - just the 3rd most on his team. He did have 4 rebounds and 6 assists (and only picked up 1 more foul after the 1st quarter). Andrew Bynum had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes. Lamar Odom enjoyed his start and had 18 points and 6 rebounds in 42 minutes. Pau Gasol did struggle in this game and the camera caught his coach talking sharply to Gasol during the game. He had 12 points (5-13 FG) and 8 rebounds including 5 offensive in 40 minutes. Derek Fisher had 9 points and 5 assists, but his silly foul on Terry late in the game and inbound turnover really hurt his team. With Odom starting for the suspended Ron Artest, the Lakers (not surprisingly) didn't get much from their bench - just 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists from the 4 bench players. Shannon Brown had 10 points and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes. Steve Blake actually hit 2 shots in this game (was 0-6 in the previous 2) and had 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in 15 minutes. Matt Barnes remained a non-factor and missed a shot, had a rebound and 2 fouls in 11 minutes. Joe Smith got in for 3 1/2 minutes and a foul was his only stat. Quotes Rick Carlisle: "Dirk Nowitzki made it happen. Just about everything that happened down the stretch was a direct result of him either scoring the ball or making a play to get somebody a shot, or make a pass for an assist for a 3 or a 2 or whatever it was." Carlisle: "The key to the game, aside from Dirk being the guy who facilitated everything on offense, was that Peja did a great job on Lamar Odom the last 6 or 7 minutes. As great as Kobe Bryant is - and he is unguardable - Odom is right there with him as one of the most difficult matchups in all of basketball because of his versatility, his size, length, skill. We needed Peja's shooting out there, but the job he did defensively was equally important." Dirk Nowitzki: "I feel like we're not good enough to relax or take the pedal off the metal. They have the heart of a champion. You don't want to ever give a champion life, so hopefully we can have the same effort and the same crowd and a great game on Sunday." Nowitzki: "They have a lot of pride over there in that locker room. We've got to take it. They're not going to give it to us." Nowitzki: "We just didn't panic early when they were going inside all night. We said in the huddle that we would keep fighting, keep plugging away, and we finally got some stops and got some shots to fall on the offensive end, and that was big." Nowitzki: "It's great we just didn't panic early when they were going inside. We said in the huddle we got to keep fighting." Nowitzki: "Peja was huge in the 4th quarter. And JET, as always, was aggressive down the stretch." Jason Terry: "It tastes pretty good. The 3 wins we have were good ones. This next win is going to be the toughest. It's always tough to close a team out, but for us, why not let it all hang out? That is the approach we have to take." Tyson Chandler: "These 3 games have been tough, but they're the champions and we know they're going to fight until the end. But we've got a great opportunity - one game to close it out - and we've got to try to close it out. We've been fortunate to get this 3-0 lead. But until it's 4 [wins], I'm not going to count them out." Chandler: "I feel like that was a tough one. I feel like they gave us a lot, especially with starting Lamar Odom and most of those guys played 33-plus minutes. They gave us a good punch." Peja Stojakovic: "When they established their low post presence with that long lineup early in the game, they were getting everything in the paint, which opens up the outside shooting. And that's dangerous because they are very skilled in the paint. But in the 4th quarter, we did a pretty good job defensively and making them shoot over us and take tough shots and it worked." Stojakovic: "I just had to continue to be aggressive on the offensive end and I think that was the key tonight for all of us, because they were doubling Dirk from the beginning. So we had to relieve the pressure. When we make a few shots, that opens up everything for him." Stojakovic: "When you play the game, you try not to think about the missed shots. You're hoping that the next shot is the best shot. I just kept being aggressive." J.J. Barea on Nowitzki: "He's doing it all. He's talking. I've never seen him talk so much. He's playing defense. He's rebounding. He's a great passer when he gets trapped in the 4th. And I've never seen him do the lefty hook." Phil Jackson: "We're disappointed. We feel like Games 1 and 3 we controlled the pace of the games and just couldn't finish the game off. They were better at finishing the games than we were. So that's a big disappointment for us. But we still believe we're going to win the next game and we'll go from there." Jackson: "They finished better than we did. That was the difference in the game." Jackson: "They finished better than we did and deserved to win." Jackson: "We were disappointed in our ability to cover the [3-point] line. We double-teamed Nowitzki ineffectively and irrationally. ... We played too well to lose." Jackson: "Again, as in Game 1 they finished better than we did. That was the difference in the ball game. They got to the foul line in the 2nd half and we didn't, they made some 3s in the 4th quarter and we didn't. They deserved to win and we didn't." Jackson on Bryant: "He played very controlled. He hit some tough shots and tough opportunities toward the end of the game. He didn't get the ball in the right spot a few times. I'm disappointed about that. But I thought he carried us for 2 or 3 minutes down the stretch there and was an effective leader." Kobe Bryant: "We just made some of the dumbest defensive mistakes I've seen us make all year. I might be sick in the head or crazy or thrown off or something like that because I still think we're going to win this series. But I might be nuts." Bryant: "I might be sick in the head or crazy because I think we're still going to win the series. Win on Sunday, go back home, and see if they can win in LA" Bryant: "We did a good job all night long, but we blew coverages down the stretch. We had mental lapses that gave them wide open looks." Bryant: "We blew rotation after rotation. It was just [making mistakes] at the wrong time." Pau Gasol: "I'm upset I'm not performing as well as I should." Lamar Odom: "Sometimes it's hard for me to understand how we find ourselves in a game like that and we don't know how to use each other's strengths. We've been through it so many times, but we're so stubborn with each other, and it caught up to us." Odom: "A real man can admit defeat when you lose. Whatever we did, we did it wrong enough to wind up losing the game. We just can't find a way to pull one out." Andrew Bynum: "We're beating ourselves a little bit, not getting a decent shot in the last 5 minutes of the game." Bynum: "It's tough, man. The last 5 possessions were terrible." 2011 Playoffs - Second Round: Game 3 Dallas Mavericks 98, Los Angeles Lakers 92 at Dallas (May 6) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 29 18 19 32 - 98 .500 .414 .463 .828 LA Lakers 27 24 21 20 - 92 .522 .231 .476 .786 Halftime: LA Lakers 51-47 3rd Q: LA Lakers 72-66 Technicals: LA Lakers defensive 3 seconds 9:52 2nd, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 8:41 2nd Refs: Ed Malloy, Tom Washington, Derrick Stafford Attendance: 21,156 (sellout) Did not play: Ron Artest (suspended) 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 30 1-7 0-1 0-0 2 3-8 3 3 1 1 2 Dirk Nowitzki 42 12-19 4-5 4-4 32 0-9 1 4 2 0 1 Tyson Chandler 33 1-1 0-0 6-7 8 1-5 0 0 4 1 1 DeShawn Stevenson 11 1-1 1-1 0-0 3 0-0 2 0 3 0 0 Jason Kidd 35 3-12 2-8 3-4 11 0-4 9 4 1 0 1 Corey Brewer 1 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Brendan Haywood 14 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 3-7 0 1 4 0 0 Jason Terry 36 7-10 2-4 7-8 23 1-3 2 0 1 2 0 Peja Stojakovic 23 5-11 3-7 2-2 15 0-3 0 0 2 0 0 J.J. Barea 14 1-5 0-2 2-4 4 0-0 5 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 31-67 12-29 24-29 98 8-39 22 14 18 4 5 Los Angeles Lakers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Lamar Odom 42 8-16 0-1 2-3 18 1-6 3 1 3 1 1 Pau Gasol 40 5-13 0-0 2-3 12 5-8 2 2 4 0 0 Andrew Bynum 37 9-16 0-0 3-3 21 4-10 1 3 5 1 0 Kobe Bryant 38 8-16 0-3 1-1 17 1-4 6 2 3 1 0 Derek Fisher 35 3-8 1-2 2-2 9 0-2 5 1 4 2 0 Shannon Brown 19 4-8 1-4 1-2 10 2-3 0 1 3 0 0 Matt Barnes 11 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 2 0 0 Steve Blake 15 2-3 1-1 0-0 5 0-3 2 0 1 1 0 Joe Smith 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 39-82 3-13 11-14 92 13-37 19 11 26 6 1 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