Pau Gasol puts up valiant effort; Los Angeles Lakers lose to Dallas Mavericks in season opener – NBA Recap
The Los Angeles Lakers opened their regular season in front of a packed Staples Center that had come to witness Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard dominate a newly constructed Dallas Mavericks team. But on the night, the Lakers failed to deliver the goods as they seemed lost on the court and the Mavericks got some great contributions from almost every player which helped them pick up the shocking 99-91 victory to start their regular season with a win. Darren Collison led six Dallas players in double digit points with 17 points and 4 assists for the night. Pau Gasol led the Lakers in scoring with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists while Kobe Bryant also added 22 points, but the Lakers did not get any help from their bench and ultimately lost the game.
The Lakers got off to a good start and seemed to be connecting well as a team, with Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol handling the front court well. The Lakers ended the first period on a 9-4 run and took a 29-25 lead into the second quarter. The Lakers then went on to score the first four points of the second period to extend their lead to 33-25, but the Mavericks turned the game around from there on. Dallas went on a 12-2 run which was capped off by a driving lay-up by Rodrigue Beaubois, which helped them take a 37-35 lead with 7:18 left in the period. The Lakers re-took the lead with a reverse layup by Kobe Bryant, but the Mavericks scored the final four points of the period to take a 48-46 lead going into the halftime break.
The Lakers seemed lost on offence in the third period and only managed to score 7 points in the first five minutes, 6 of which came from the hands of Bryant. Dallas scored 12 points in the same time frame and extended their lead to 60-53 with a little over seven minutes left in the period. Dallas led 74-66 at the end of the third period after the Lakers were unable to find any momentum throughout the twelve minutes and managed only 20 points in the period. Three quick points by Antawn Jamison had the Lakers trailing 69-74 in the opening minutes of the final period, but the Mavericks went on an 11-4 run from there onwards to extend their lead to 85-73. Three quick points by Brandan Wright later in the period gave Dallas a 93-77 lead, and they held on to win 99-91 in the end.
Wright finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds for Dallas, while O.J. Mayo had 12 points but went 4 of 13 from the field. Shawn Marion added 11 points and 9 rebounds, Elton Brand finished with 8 points and 11 rebounds and Vince Carter also added `11 points off the bench. Dwight Howard finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds in his first official game as a Laker, while Kobe Bryant had 22 points on the night. Steve Nash managed only 7 points and 4 assists while Metta World Peace had 3 points and 8 rebounds. The Lakers shot 3 of 13 from three point range and went 12 of 31 from the foul line.
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