Los Angeles Lakers crash out of the playoffs; get swept by the rampant Dallas Mavericks - Part 2
After being pummelled by 36 points in the second quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers strived to mount some sort of a comeback in the third.
Ron Artest tried to get his team back in the game as he mustered a 7-2 run right at the start of the second half. However, Jason Terry was simply not in a mood to let the Lakers have any joy. He brought the Lakers’ chasing stint to an end with two back to back 3’s.
Terry hit his third of the quarter near the end and Peja Stojakovic added another as Dallas Mavericks stopped the Lakers from gaining any sort of momentum. The quarter ended with a 24 point lead for Dallas at 62 – 86.
Dallas pilled on the misery for the Lakers in the last period with another 36 points. They kept it raining from downtown as well, hitting 5-of-8. The Lakers could do nothing about it and frustration got the better of them as they had two players ejected.
Lamar Odom viciously slammed into Dirk Nowitzki with a 9:06 remaining in the game. He was ejected right away. However, this did not affect Andrew Bynum, who earned a toss just after 45 seconds. Bynum elbowed Jose Barea while the latter was in the air attempting a layup. The officials intervened to prevent a brawl from breaking out in the court.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson singled out his players for criticism over the unsavoury scenes after the game, although he added that frustration can sometimes cloud their judgement,
"I wasn't happy with the way our players exited the game, on Lamar and Andrew's part," Jackson said. "It was unnecessary, but I know they were frustrated."
The Mavericks however continued their romp and ended the game, fittingly, with a three. The final score of 122- 86 also gave Dallas their largest lead of whopping 36 points.
The win for Dallas came because of a team effort. Their bench was simply unstoppable on the night. The reserves provided 86 points for the Mavs, the same number that the whole of the Lakers managed to put up. Dirk Nowitzki appreciated the effort from his team after the game and said it was not a surprise that the bench had stepped up in a such a big way,
"We've been doing it by committee all year long," said Nowitzki. "There are a lot of guys who can make plays and make shots when it counts."
The collapse of the Lakers was signified the most by Kobe Bryant. Kobe had 13 points in the first quarter as he looked set for a big game. However, he was completely anonymous afterwards, managing just four more in the next 3 quarters. He also went the whole of the second half without scoring a single field goal.
The Lakers never looked up for the game, and perhaps the series. The loss brought Phil Jacksons astonishing career to a disappointing end. Jackson is the most decorated coach in NBA history with 11 NBA championships. He won 6 with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and five at Los Angeles. He admitted after the game that a historic 4th three-peat was always going to be tough, especially with a team that had gone to the finals for three consecutive seasons before this one,
"(That) puts a lot of strain on the basketball club from all angles: personalities, spiritually, physically, emotionally, and getting charged up for game after game and assault after assault when you go in and play a team," Jackson said. "It was a challenge bigger than we could beat this year."
Dallas Mavericks have always underperformed in the playoffs, however the win against the Lakers has given the team great belief that they can win the first NBA Championship in the history if their franchise.
Tags: