{"id":419473,"date":"2011-05-07T22:31:21","date_gmt":"2011-05-07T22:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/07\/lakers-looking-to-avoid-sweep-to-mavs-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-05-07T22:31:21","modified_gmt":"2011-05-07T22:31:21","slug":"lakers-looking-to-avoid-sweep-to-mavs-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/07\/lakers-looking-to-avoid-sweep-to-mavs-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers looking to avoid sweep to Mavs (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

DALLAS (AP)\u2014So this is how it could end for Phil Jackson, the guy who turned Michael Jordan into a champion, Kobe Bryant<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Shaquille O\u2019Neal<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> into champions, and Bryant into a winner without O\u2019Neal.<\/p>\n

With a sweep.<\/p>\n

To the Dallas Mavericks<\/a>, no less, a team with a postseason reputation that is, well, pretty much the opposite of what folks associate with Jackson, Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The two-time defending champions trail Dirk Nowitzki<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and the Mavs 3-0 going into Game 4 of their second-round series on Sunday. Dallas hasn\u2019t dominated the series, but has been the better team in every fourth quarter, wiping out deficits in Games 1 and 3.<\/p>\n

Bryant considers the final minutes his time to shine, yet he hasn\u2019t done it this series, missing a potential winner in the opener and missing 4 of 6 down the stretch on Friday night. Pau Gasol<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> has been so bad the entire postseason that Jackson finally snapped during the last game, uncharacteristically berating his big man on the sideline.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no reason to hold back now, not with time running out on Jackson\u2019s career and on Los Angeles\u2019 reign. At this point, it seems more like a question of when, not if, as all 98 NBA teams to go down 0-3 have eventually been eliminated; 59 were swept.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told them not to think about that,\u201d Jackson said Saturday. \u201cYou\u2019re thinking about winning tomorrow\u2019s game, forcing another game in L.A. on Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

His five kids, however, aren\u2019t taking any chances.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey think they have to hustle in just in case this is the last game that I coach,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cThat\u2019s a drag that I don\u2019t need to have happen, but they\u2019re coming anyway because they\u2019re insisting upon it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson is too into the Zen approach of living in the moment to be distracted by sentiment, or to think about how humiliating a sweep might be. Then again, he wouldn\u2019t know. The winner of an unprecedented 11 titles, he\u2019s lost only nine series in his previous 20 postseasons. He\u2019s never even been down 0-3.<\/p>\n

Bryant has been swept from the playoffs twice in his career, but it hasn\u2019t happened since 1999, the year before Jackson took over. Bryant enthusiastically said after Game 3 that he believed his team was tough enough to still win the series.<\/p>\n

At the start of practice Saturday, he already had his game face on. He said Jackson\u2019s possible farewell and the chance of being swept are not on his mind, and that teammates \u201cdon\u2019t have a choice\u201d but to believe they can still win the series. He said the Mavericks aren\u2019t doing anything to stop him, he\u2019s \u201cjust not getting (the ball) where I should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryant also said Gasol is playing OK, just \u201cnot playing at the high level that we\u2019re accustomed to seeing him playing.\u201d The numbers bear it out. Gasol\u2019s average of 13.4 points is easily the worst of his playoff career and his 7.8 rebounds are the worst of his four postseasons with the Lakers.<\/p>\n

Jackson said Gasol is getting shoved out of the paint by a knee-to-the-rear tactic that\u2019s supposed to be against the rules. He said the Hornets got away with it in the first round, so the Mavs have done it, too.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more to Gasol\u2019s struggles. He\u2019s missing shots he normally makes and is taking some bad ones. Nowitzki has outplayed him on both ends of the court\u2014again. The German is 7-0 against the Spaniard in postseason matchups.<\/p>\n

During a timeout following a Nowitzki 3-pointer on Friday night, Jackson smacked Gasol in the chest and got in his face. Jackson said he does it about once a year, and Gasol said \u201cit wasn\u2019t shocking to me or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to see what point he was trying to make,\u201d Gasol said.<\/p>\n

The Lakers will have small forward Ron Artest<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> back in the lineup for Game 4. He was suspended from the last game, which meant a new rotation and added minutes for Gasol and fill-in starter Lamar Odom<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span> Jackson said he wants to try giving all of his key players more rest early in the game so they will be fresher at the end.<\/p>\n

As for the Mavericks, they have all sorts of incentive to close out the series Sunday.<\/p>\n

Avoiding a return trip to Los Angeles would mean more rest for Nowitzki, 38-year-old Jason Kidd<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and the rest of the 30-something guys who make up most of Dallas\u2019 rotation. It also would remove any talk of a collapse.<\/p>\n

If any team could claw back from 0-3, Jackson, Bryant and the three-peat-seeking Lakers might fit the prototype. And the Mavericks have a history of finding ways to lose in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Dallas blew a 2-0 lead in the 2006 NBA finals, and came as close as anyone to blowing a 3-0 lead, needing seven games to get past Portland in 2003. Earlier this postseason, the Mavs let a 23-point lead slip away over the final 14 minutes against those same Trail Blazers.<\/p>\n

They haven\u2019t lost since, winning five straight. They\u2019ve played tight defense (blowing apart another of their stereotypes), Nowitzki has been terrific and he\u2019s had a different teammate or two step up each game. On Friday night, it was Jason Terry<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Peja Stojakovic<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to stay on task and be resourceful and opportunistic,\u201d Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Read more here:
\nLakers looking to avoid sweep to Mavs (AP)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DALLAS (AP)\u2014So this is how it could end for Phil Jackson, the guy who turned Michael Jordan into a champion, Kobe Bryant (notes) and Shaquille O\u2019Neal (notes) into champions, and Bryant into a winner without O\u2019Neal. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-419473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"yoast_head":"\nLakers looking to avoid sweep to Mavs (AP) - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/07\/lakers-looking-to-avoid-sweep-to-mavs-ap\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Lakers looking to avoid sweep to Mavs (AP) - 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