# GT: Dallas Mavericks @ Los Angeles Lakers



## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

*Dallas Mavericks [39-20] @ Los Angeles Lakers [41-18]*
 | Sunday, March 02 2008 | Los Angeles, California | Staples Center | 3:30 pm ET | 
| *TV*: ABC | *Radio*: KESN-FM 103.3


*Game Notes*

The Los Angeles Lakers’ acquisition of Pau Gasol set off a flurry of moves by Western Conference contenders before last month’s trade deadline. The Dallas Mavericks’ trade for Jason Kidd was one of the follow-ups.

Gasol and the Lakers host Kidd and the Mavericks on Sunday in a matchup between West powers hoping their new-look lineups can carry them to an NBA title.

Three weeks before the Feb. 21 trade deadline, Los Angeles pulled off a deal that sent Kwame Brown’s expiring contract, rookie point guard Javaris Crittenton and two first-round draft picks to Memphis for Gasol, a former All-Star and one of the most talented big men in the league.

The deal prompted a series of responses from the Lakers’ fellow contenders in the West. Phoenix acquired Shaquille O’Neal from Miami and San Antonio traded for Kurt Thomas for help with interior defense and rebounding.

While Dallas didn’t make a similar move to get tougher inside, it did make some of the biggest headlines by sending rising star Devin Harris and four other players to New Jersey for Kidd, who played the first two-plus seasons of his career with the Mavericks from 1994-1996.

The Lakers (41-18) are 11-2 since Gasol’s debut with the team Feb. 5, while the Mavericks (39-20) have won four of six since acquiring Kidd.

“I think anytime you’re on the run trying to make adjustments it’s hard in this league,” Kidd said after Dallas beat Sacramento 115-106 on Friday night. “In this league, everybody is a professional and they’re not going to wait around until you get it. We’ve been together for six games and we’re doing a pretty good job.

“So I think as a whole there still are some areas that we have to tighten up, but I think we’re going in the right direction. We’re building and each time we go out on the floor we believe in one another and I think that’s a big thing. I’ve always said if you believe in one another you can have success.”

Kidd, whom the Lakers tried to acquire before last season’s trade deadline, had a season-high 21 points in Friday’s win and added 11 rebounds and nine assists, falling one assist shy of his 100th career triple-double and first with Dallas this season.

The Mavericks have told Kidd he should look to shoot more, even though he is making a career-worst 37.8 percent from the field this season.

“It was fun to watch Kidd all over the court,” said Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, who had 34 points and 10 rebounds Friday. “He scored points in the post like we need him to do. He needs to become a scorer.”

Los Angeles had its season-high 10-game win streak snapped with a 119-111 loss at Portland on Friday night. Kobe Bryant had 33 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but the Lakers went 5-for-27 from 3-point range and allowed the Blazers to shoot 52.9 percent from the field - the highest mark by a Los Angeles opponent this season.

“You know fatigue has an effect on the ball game, but you don’t use it as an excuse,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, whose team won at home the previous night. “You know you are going to lose (eventually), but you hope to not have a slippage of fundamentals, or things like that.”

Bryant had 40 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in Los Angeles’ first meeting with Dallas on Jan. 25, but the Mavericks got 26 points and 10 rebounds from both Nowitzki and Josh Howard in their 112-105 home win. It was Dallas’ fifth victory in the last six games in the series.

Bryant is averaging 35.0 points in his last 12 games against the Mavs. In that stretch, he has four games with at least 40 points, including a 62-point performance on Dec. 20, 2005.



*Starting Lineups*





































*Derek Fisher - Kobe Bryant - Luke Walton - Lamar Odom - Pau Gasol*

*vs.*





































*Jason Kidd - Jason Terry - Josh Howard - Dirk Nowitzki - Erick Dampier*


*Injuries*
*Lakers:* Trevor Ariza (right foot), Chris Mihm (right ankle) and Andrew Bynum (left knee) are out.
*Mavs:* None.









​


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Good luck.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Basel57 said:


> Good luck.


Thanks, but the jinx isn't working on this board.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Josh needs to pass the ball more, still the same story.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Wild first quarter, our offense sucked without Kidd. The team still looks like they will need some time to adjust to each other, some very bad possessions.


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

only down 6, Bass cuts it to 4


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Bass :yay:

He is playing a great game so far, making a lot happen, be it points, rebounds or hustle.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Josh needs to sit out a couple of games to let the injury heal, he just doesn't look like himself.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Not a bad first half, a lot to like, but also a lot that needs to be improved.


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## Block (Apr 22, 2007)

How is kidd shooting so well. I'm the biggest kidd homer ever and even I can say nowhere is he this good a shooter


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Block said:


> How is kidd shooting so well. I'm the biggest kidd homer ever and even I can say nowhere is he this good a shooter


I was hoping that he would shoot a higher percentage with the Mavs, so far he does.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Wow, Damp is a beast.


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## thecatcher (Aug 31, 2007)

wow, the mavs are shooting under 40% and still leading, kobe shooting 30% for ft's


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## thecatcher (Aug 31, 2007)

Damp's the mvp of the game so far


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Dirk and Josh have arguably been the two worst Mavs today and yet we are leading, I still think we are going to lose this one though.


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## Pnack (Aug 23, 2005)

If I didn't know better I would say this is a playoff game, incredible intensity on the defensive end at both ends of the floor.


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## Stinger (Jun 10, 2003)

Oh my god they just put Juwan Howard's picture next to Josh Howard during a replay.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Violet Palmer is reffing: one of these teams is going to be pissed for sure with the calls


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Can we got a stop or good offensive possession puhleez :curse:


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

I just don't understand why we can't double team Kobe, is it against Avery's pride to do it ? The Spurs even triple teamed Lebron in the Finals and it worked, they didn't care if it's a boring strategy or not.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

This team drives me nuts.


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## [Myst.] (Feb 27, 2008)

Wow, what a shot by Dirk!


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Another three or it's over ...


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

.............

This feels like a playoff loss, I'm bummed right now.


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

Wow Avery.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Wow that was a crazy game. Dallas just kept on making ridiculous clutch play after clutch play...Dirk was insane in the 4th quarter and overtime.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

We killed the Lakers on the boards in the first half, this changed totally midway through the third quarter. That and the inability to double and contain Kobe was the difference. I liked a lot of things though, the energy was high throughout the game, we overcame the struggles of Dirk and Josh, they looked like a savvy veteran team. Minus some bonehead plays down the stretch I would still say that this was a step in the right direction, but let's not get carried away.


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## Dragnsmke1 (Jul 29, 2002)

I never put much stock into basketball coaching before this but Avery starting to prove me wrong by being out coached routinely.We really need Howard and Stack to play better.


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## Jet (Jul 1, 2005)

Sooo.... pretty much, Kobe was amazing. When Kobe has 30 points in the fourth and OT, I'm pretty sure that's a loss no matter what. Also, shooting 27 FTs help them a whole lot too... Dirk did a good job in the fourth and OT, I only saw the last 7 minutes of the fourth and the OT, so can't compare the beginning of the game to the end of it.

Oh, and I've pretty much decided that Brandon Bass is going to be my lover whether he likes it or not, he didn't play great today, but I'm still in awe over that San Antonio game.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Dragnsmke1 said:


> I never put much stock into basketball coaching before this but Avery starting to prove me wrong by being out coached routinely.We really need Howard and Stack to play better.


It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you need to double or triple Kobe, this is really puzzling.


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## Kunlun (Jun 22, 2003)

What the **** is Stackhouse' problem? Why couldn't he just lay it in or pass it to Dirk?

Why can't Jason Kidd make a ****ing free throw?

Why is Avery Johnson such a **** coach?

Mavericks are chokers for life.


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## Dragnsmke1 (Jul 29, 2002)

Stack and Damp are over passers...


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## Aurelino (Jul 25, 2003)

and what's up with George and Stack missing dunks??


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## Jet (Jul 1, 2005)

Aurelino said:


> and what's up with George and Stack missing dunks??


They're old. That's my excuse for them. They shouldn't be dunking in the first place, it's bad for their knees. :tongue:


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## Dragnsmke1 (Jul 29, 2002)

is it me or does Stack seem to play with a bit of resentment towards Kidd? He rarely takes the shot when he receives it from him...I worry about players rushing shots to try and "help" Kidd but Stack wont give him the rock on fast breaks or nothing!


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

I don't see it.

Overall, Josh and Stackhouse could've played better, we need more movement by our wings, we did rebound pretty well. Dirk didn't heat up until late, but his performance down the stretch makes up for his weak play earlier. 

But like everyone's mentioned, we should've double teamed Kobe in the clutch. The one time we did it they were forced to into a bad shot that became a foul. Avery doesn't make the best substitutions or adjustments all the time, but he's still a young coach.


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

No team can play a perfect game, we had our share of mistakes. But like Dre just mentioned, not doubling Kobe in the clutch was the main reason why we lost the game.


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

Dre™ said:


> Avery doesn't make the best substitutions or adjustments all the time, *but he's still a young coach.*


But we are not a young team anymore, we are in a win now situation and cannot afford mistakes like that.


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## KillWill (Jul 1, 2003)

seriously, the mavs almost pulled off the w on the road against a top team in a playoff environment. odom played dirk, well, but he still played a nearly perfect 4th. they will be tough in the post-season. no shame whatsoever.


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

t1no said:


> But we are not a young team anymore, we are in a win now situation and cannot afford mistakes like that.


That's true, but I'm acknowledging that it isn't uncharacteristic for a young coach to make bad decisions.


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

t1no said:


> But like Dre just mentioned, not doubling Kobe in the clutch was the main reason why we lost the game.


May I nominate too many jump shots for the main reason? One look at the free throw disparity tells the story in my book. (50 - 25) :azdaja:


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## VeN (May 10, 2005)

xray said:


> May I nominate too many jump shots for the main reason? One look at the free throw disparity tells the story in my book. (50 - 25) :azdaja:


nothin new for the mavs


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

Dre™ said:


> That's true, but I'm acknowledging that it isn't uncharacteristic for a young coach to make bad decisions.


Ahh ok but i really don't think Avery being a young coach is the reason why we didn't double Kobe in the clutch.


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## SoCalfan21 (Jul 19, 2004)

Pioneer10 said:


> Violet Palmer is reffing: one of these teams is going to be pissed for sure with the calls


Violet Palmer and Dick Bevetta (sp?)...thats the duo you dont want to see on the court when your game is being officiated...they are both terrible.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

SoCalfan21 said:


> Violet Palmer and Dick Bevetta (sp?)...thats the duo you dont want to see on the court when your game is being officiated...they are both terrible.


I don't like them either, but all of Kobe's free throws were the right calls, nobody on the Mavs could stay in front of him, it was too easy to get to the line.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

The first half reminded me of the 05-06 season when we were one of the best rebounding teams, hopefully the new found energy will give us back that edge.


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

Probably the toughest stretch of the season, and they're losing them.

Bad time for a trade? :thinking2:


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

How many of us REALLY thought DAL would win the LAL game? I think most of us, myself included, HOPED Dallas could pull out a win, and at the end of the day I was elated that it wasn't a blow-out, especially considering Kobe schooled DAL on a consistent basis.

Couple thoughts:

Remember when Kobe was disgruntled and LAL put Kobe on the trading block? Imagine if Kobe and Dirk were on the same team right now....

Changing out a guard is different from changing out a big man. PHX and LAL have had to figure out how to feed their big men, but DAL has to figure out how to RUN their plays. That adjustment naturally takes longer with the the ironing out of timing wrinkles. I don't expect DAL to play the "best ball" for another 10 games or so, and, after that, DAL would be sitting in that 8th spot clinging on to a playoff spot for dear life....

This hasn't been mentioned much, but Damp's been a freaking beast out there since Kidd joined. I loved those hard fouls he delivered time and time again.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Dampier has played like a man possessed, makes you wonder who really is the animal after all. :whistling:


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

croco said:


> Dampier has played like a man possessed, makes you wonder who really is the animal after all. :whistling:


Kidd's got Damp in the game, and his numbers reflect it.


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## Dragnsmke1 (Jul 29, 2002)

http://www.fireavery.com/

He didn't cooperate with any of our defenses: Avery Johnson on Kobe scoring 50:rofl2:


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

Dragnsmke1 said:


> http://www.fireavery.com/


I voted to fire him after the season, fyi.


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