Dallas Mavericks sting the Los Angeles Lakers again; Take a 2-0 lead in the series
Dirk Nowitzki was the star of the night once again as Dallas Mavericks stumped the inconsistent Los Angeles Lakers, 93-81 in game-2 of the Western Conference semi-final series on Wednesday night. With this win, the Mavericks are
now 2-0 up in the best-of seven series.
Lakers, the two-time defending champions, have now lost both the games on their home court and are in danger of being eliminated as they will play their next two games infront of a hostile Dallas crowd.
Nowitzki scored 24 points, clutched seven rebounds and wracked two assists on the night while his team-mate Shawn Marion chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds. Dallas increased their starters’ time in this game. Peja Stojakovic
and Brendan Haywood were the only two reserves that came off the bench for Mark Cuban’s side.
The Lakers made a quick start and raced to a 10-6 lead. The Mavs however did not let the Lakers off the hook and always stayed within a striking range. They finally snatched the lead midway through the first quarter when Jason
Kidd swished a 25-footer, which pushed the scores to 15-13. The Mavs continued to press on and finished the first quarter with a 26-20 advantage.
Both teams traded baskets early in the second, but the Mavericks held on to a seven point lead, with 7:18 left till the break. The Lakers made their move at this juncture though and outscored the Mavs with a 10-0 blitz to take
charge again. Kobe Bryant led the rally with three successive floaters.
However, Los Angeles failed to capitalize on the lead and lost it on Nowitzki’s two free throws, with 1:37 left in the break. Nowitzki then sealed the quarter for the Mavs as he canned a jumper to give Dallas a 51-49 lead, going
into the halftime. The third quarter was the lowest scoring period of the entire game, as both teams failed to cross the 20-point mark. The Mavs however were still the better side as they took the frame 17-13.
Trailing by six points, the Lakers still had a good opportunity to make a comeback. Their starters however failed to come to the party. The Mavs went on building the advantage and led by as many as 15 (84-69) on Jose Juan Barea’s
driving layup with 4:39 remaining. It was all one way traffic after that as the Mavs ended up winning the game by a 12 points margin.
Andrew Bynum led the Lakers with 18 points and 13 rebounds while Bryant made 23 points for Los Angeles.
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