After surviving a late scare against the Atlanta Hawks, the Lakers look to get back over the .500 mark as they begin a three game road trip in Dallas against the Mavericks. These two teams have done battle numerous times over the years and will undoubtedly be in the mix for those last couple of playoff spots, making this game that much more important for both teams.
First Quarter
Game is under way as teams trade a couple of misses before Shawn Marion gets the scoring started with a wide open three. Steve Blake gets the Lakers on the board with a three pointer. Jose Calderon and Shawne Williams trade threes and the Mavs lead 8-6. Gasol misses a short hook and Monta Ellis comes down, draws a foul and hits both free throws. Blake with a beautiful pass to Henry for a layup. Henry with a step back jumper to cut the Mavs lead to four early. Kaman is the first sub in the game. Dalembert with an easy put back and Dallas is up by eight. Nash and Gasol run a beautiful pick and roll for the Gasol dunk. Bench mob in the game as Young, Johnson, and Farmar join Kaman and Blake. Kaman denies Ellis at the rim and hits a midrange jumper. Lakers getting killed on the boards early as Marion with another offensive rebound tip in. Johnson with his own great tip in but the Mavs still lead by eight. Vince Carter with a three to push the Mavs lead to double digits. Kaman with another jumper but Dejuan Blair scores right back and the lead is still 11. Breakdown defensively for a Crowder layup and another easy layup for Crowder on the fast break gives Dallas a 15 point lead. Young knocks down the midrange jumper to but the Lakers foul Blair on a dunk right before the quarter ends. Blair misses both free throws but the Mavs still lead 35-22 at the end of the first.
Second Quarter
Jordan Hill replaces Kaman to start the second. More terrible defense to start the quarter and Blair with a wide open dunk. Farmar with a runner and the foul to cut the lead to 12 as the Lakers hope to get something going in the second. Vince Carter blows a dunk and Meeks with a tough layup off the impressive pass from Pau. Lakers give up another offensive rebound and Gal Mekel hits a jumper, but Meeks follows with a three. Blair continues to destroy the Lakers and the rotations are a step late on defense leading to wide open layups after double teams for the Mavs. Meeks hits one of two free throws and the lead is 12 but an Ellis layup pushes it back to 14.Young hits another step back but the Lakers can’t cut the lead to single digits. Nash and Blake back in the game with Young, Hill and Gasol.
Calderon hits a three and the lead is 15 halfway through the second quarter. Young with the baseline drive and slam as he looks much better coming off the bench. Another Carter three stops the Laker momentum and pushes the Mavs lead back to 16. Carter blows by Henry, and Marion drops in a floater and the Mavs lead is 20 as the Lakers look lifeless on the floor. Pau goes right to the block and drops in a jump hook out of the timeout but Dirk gets an easy dunk as he records his first basket of the game. Kaman layup and a Blake three gets the lead down to 15 and a Kaman offensive rebound and layup forces Carlisle to call a timeout. Kaman with another great offensive rebound and put back as he has 10 and five off the bench. Dirk with a turnaround jumper and Ellis knocks down two free throws to end the half as the Mavs lead 67-48 at the half.
Third Quarter
Jordan Hill starts the second half in place of Shawne Williams as D’Antoni hopes to instill some energy in the lineup. Ellis hits a three to get the scoring started in the second half. Jordan Hill immediately makes his presence known with an offensive rebound and layup, but a Dalembert jumper and Dirk three puts Dallas up 24 early in the third. Laker turnover, Ellis to Dirk for the layup and the Mavs start the quarter on a 9-2 run. Nash finally gets on the board with a layup after the Henry steal. Nash follows up with a three but the Lakers still trail by 23 before an Ellis drive and layup pushes it to 25. Calderon with a wide open three pointer and the lead is back up to 28 halfway through the quarter as this game is starting to get out of hand. Good ball movement leads to a Jordan Hill dunk. The Lakers continue to leave Calderon wide open and he knocks down another three as the Mavs lead by 30. Back to back baskets by Johnson and Young gives the Lakers a little life. Great ball movement leads to a Hill dunk and the lead is 23. Steal and a foul by Young cuts the lead to 22. Meeks with a wide open three and suddenly the Lakers have cut the lead to a much less daunting 17 to end the quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Young hits the jumper to start the quarter and its a 15 point lead. Johnson had a layup but its blocked by Blair. Mavs respond with a three and a fast break layup and the lead is right back to 20. Lakers are trying to make a comeback, but their defense continues to fail them as they can’t cover all of the shooters and continue to give up open looks. Jae Crowder with a deep three which is matched by Farmar. Another Laker turnover and Crowder with a fast break dunk and the Mavs have the lead back to 25 with six and a half minutes left and this one is a foregone conclusion as the Lakers continue their road struggles. The Mavericks closed out the game with a 123-104 lead.
