{"id":419016,"date":"2011-05-07T05:24:31","date_gmt":"2011-05-07T05:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/07\/mavs-rally-to-take-3-0-lead-on-lakers-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-05-07T05:24:31","modified_gmt":"2011-05-07T05:24:31","slug":"mavs-rally-to-take-3-0-lead-on-lakers-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/07\/mavs-rally-to-take-3-0-lead-on-lakers-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"Mavs rally to take 3-0 lead on Lakers (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

DALLAS (AP)\u2014Just when they were about to make things interesting, Kobe Bryant<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> blew it.<\/p>\n

Unable to stop Dirk Nowitzki<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> all night, and their big lineup too slow to cover the outside shooting of Peja Stojakovic<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Jason Terry<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> down the stretch, the Lakers lost 98-92 to the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> on Friday to fall in a 3-0 hole in their second-round series.<\/p>\n

All 98 teams in NBA history that have trailed by that margin have wound up losing the series. Thus, the Lakers\u2019 two-year reign as NBA champions and their three-year grip on the Western Conference crown, plus the unprecedented coaching career of Phil Jackson, are all on the brink of going kaput\u2014maybe even with the humiliation of a sweep.<\/p>\n

Of all the reasons they\u2019re in this predicament, the most stunning is that this pedigreed team has fallen apart when it matters most. They wasted a 16-point lead in Game 1, losing at the buzzer when a 3-pointer by Bryant went in and out, and they failed to hold a seven-point lead with 5:05 left in this game. Dallas rallied with an 18-6 run jump-started by 3s by Nowitzki and Stojakovic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re disappointed,\u201d said Jackson, who has never been down 3-0 in a series, much less been swept, in 20 years as an NBA coach. \u201cWe feel like Games 1 and 3 we controlled the pace of the games. They were better at finishing the games than we were. But we still believe we\u2019re going to win the next game and we\u2019ll go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Missing the suspended Ron Artest<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> Jackson gambled with a starting lineup featuring 6-foot-10 Lamar Odom<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> at small forward, alongside 7-footers Andrew Bynum<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Pau Gasol<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span> The Lakers logically pounded the ball inside, and controlled the game nearly the entire second half.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Artest\u2019s absence caught up to them at the end. Jackson acknowledged \u201cthere was some fatigue factor in there.\u201d He also admitted that his super-sized lineup was much better protecting the paint than defending the 3-point line.<\/p>\n

And there was that Nowitzki fellow.<\/p>\n

Dallas\u2019 superstar scored 32 points, making 12 of 19 shots. With the Lakers\u2019 big guys crowding the lane, he went back to his roots and got comfortable behind the 3-point line, burying 4 of 5. He only took four free throws, but made them all.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust 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,\u201d Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.<\/p>\n

Terry scored 23, including some of the points that helped ice the victory in the closing minutes. Stojakovic scored 11 of his 15 in the final quarter. Jason Kidd<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> added 11 points and nine assists.<\/p>\n

A record Dallas crowd of 21,156\u2014most wearing royal-blue giveaway T-shirts that read, \u201cThe Time Is Now,\u201d with the Mavs logo in place of the basketball on top of the championship trophy\u2014went through the usual chants of \u201cDe-fense!\u201d and \u201cBeat LA!\u201d without much impact through the first three quarters. With the game on the line, they got to their feet and helped the home team sustain its final push.<\/p>\n

Now the third-seeded Mavericks\u2014the perennial underachievers, the club still trying to overcome blowing a 2-0 lead in the 2006 NBA finals\u2014can end this series on its home court Sunday. The Mavs would be the home team in the conference finals, regardless of whether Oklahoma City or Memphis advances.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not good enough to relax or take the pedal off the metal,\u201d Nowitzki said. \u201cYou don\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bynum had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Odom scored 18 and Bryant scored 17. He had only four points in the final quarter.<\/p>\n

Gasol had 12 points and Shannon Brown<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> provided a spark off the bench with 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re beating ourselves a little bit, not getting a decent shot in the last five minutes of the game,\u201d Bynum said.<\/p>\n

Brown said the Mavericks are merely benefiting from the Lakers\u2019 sloppiness.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to give \u2018em credit for capitalizing and making shots, but it\u2019s the simple fact that we\u2019re not doin\u2019 what we\u2019re supposed to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles\u2019 meltdown included a play where Bryant threw a pass to Gasol, but Gasol expected him to shoot and was looking at the rim. The ball hit him in the back, creating a turnover plucked by Dallas. On the Lakers\u2019 next possession, Bryant came up short on a long jumper to beat the shot clock, leading to a pair of free throws by Nowitzki that put the Mavericks ahead for the first time since the final minutes of the first half.<\/p>\n

A quick basket by Derek Fisher<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> put Los Angeles back ahead 89-88, then the Mavericks worked the ball to Terry in the corner for a go-ahead 3-pointer. Odom answered with a flick shot over Stojakovic to tie it at 91 with 1:39 left, but that would be it for the Lakers.<\/p>\n

Nowitzki made a tough, left-handed hook shot over two defenders, then ran back up the court snarling and with the lead. Odom missed another flick shot over Stojakovic, with defensive help from Tyson Chandler<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> and Dallas got an extended possession when Chandler reached between two Lakers to knock a rebound to Terry in the corner. The Lakers resorted to fouls and wild shots to try coming back, an ugly way for a team that\u2019s been so good for so long to go out\u2014 or, at least, get really close to starting its summer vacation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a lot of pride over there in that locker room,\u201d Nowitzki said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to take it. They\u2019re not going to give it to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

NOTES: Dallas is 4-0 at home this postseason. \u2026 The trio of Odom, Gasol and Bynum had only been on the court together a total of 2 minutes, 19 seconds all season. \u2026 A 3-pointer by Steve Blake<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> early in the second quarter was the first by the Lakers\u2019 bench all series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

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