Dallas Mavericks rally to beat Los Angeles Lakers 96-94 in series opener – Part 1 – NBA Play-offs
The Dallas Mavericks secured a surprise come from behind win over the Los Angeles Lakers 96-94 at the Staples Centre on May 2.
The Mavericks had trailed for most of the second half but went ahead in the final stretch and walked away with a victory that could be all important in their Western Conference semi-final series against the Lakers.
The last gasp loss was un-characteristic of the Lakers as they squandered a 16 point lead in the third quarter and failed to perform in the clutch period. Their coach was not impressed by the effort.
"We felt like we gave the game away," Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson said. "I'm not so sure Dallas didn't outplay us, but the players felt like we gave it away. ... The game was won in the third quarter when we got the lead and stopped playing defence and stopped
playing offense. It took a lot of energy out of us and gave a lot of energy to them."
Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 36 points on the night. Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom were the two other players to cross the 10 point mark for the Lakers. They both had 15 points each, as they pulled down 11 and 12 rebounds respectively.
For Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki was again the top performer with a team high 28 points and game high 14 boards. Jason Terry came off the bench to add 15 as five Dallas players got into double figures. Jason Kidd impressed with a vintage performance as he rolled
back the years to produce a solid defence, especially on Kobe down the stretch.
This was the first play-off matchup between these two sides since 1988, a remarkable fact considering that both regularly make the post-season in the west. The sell-out crowd that came to watch the long awaited series start included celebrities such as David
Beckham, Justin Timberlake and of course, resident Lakers’ cheerleader and acting legend, Jack Nicholson.
The game started off with Kobe looking to dominate early on. He scored the Lakers first seven points as Los Angeles took the lead at the start and made a turnaround shot to stretch the lead to a first quarter high of six points.
The Mavericks hit back when Jason Terry and Peja Stojakovic entered the game and combined for 10 valuable points that pinned back the Lakers. They took their first lead of the game with a three from Terry, who was set up by Kidd with three minutes left and
ended the quarter leading 25-23.
The second quarter was fairly even up until the mid-way mark when two Nowitzki free throws gave Dallas a 38-33 lead. However with 5:49 remaining the Lakers went on a 16-to-4 run to leave Dallas seven points behind. They ended the quarter with a nine point
lead at 53-44 after Terry had fouled Odom on a three attempt from mid-court. Odom converted all three from the line and Kobe knocked down another after Nowitzki was called on a technical.
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