In the NBA perhaps more than any other professional league, big leads can be fickle.
With 1:18 left in the third quarter of L.A.’s Sunday afternoon game against Dallas, the Lakers led by a comfortable 87-74 margin, a scoreboard reward for generally controlling the Mavs for the entire game.
In the next six minutes, however, the Lakers were reminded what happens when a team takes its collective foot off the gas pedal in the league, as Dallas went on a 21-2 run to take a five-point lead with 7:48 to play in the fourth. Jason Terry got hot from three, and Dallas put in a zone defense that took L.A. out of its offensive comfort zone and put a scowl on Jack Nicholson’s face.
As it turned out, any STAPLES Center unrest was quickly rebuked, thanks to an explosive 12-0 run started and closed with Kobe Bryant threes, with a whole lot of Trevor Ariza in between. Two layups in traffic capped a banner day for Ariza, who finished with a career high 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-5 three pointers. Yet it all started with his D.
“Yes it’s important to score points and Trevor had a good night tonight in the first half particularly, but his defense and his ability to change things up made the difference,” said Phil Jackson. “That’s what he did late in the ball game that gave us a chance to get the lead back and continue. That was really important.”
Of course, L.A. couldn’t do it without Kobe - it was the MVP who scored seven of his team’s last nine points when buckets were most needed, capping a 28-point performance on 11-of-20 shooting with eight rebounds and five assists. He nailed the game’s two biggest shots, the initial three to cut Dallas’ lead in half with 6:50 remaining, and a 19-foot jumper with 1:15 remaining that buried the Mavs.
In the first half, it was Pau Gasol who toyed with Dallas, making 10-of-10 shots for 20 points with five boards (he’d finish with 25 and eight). As a team, L.A. shot 61.4 percent in the half to take a 66-54 lead into the locker room. For the game, Lamar Odom pulled in 14 boards to complement his 10 points and four blocked shots, though L.A.’s bench managed to contribute just 12 points.
Among the defensive keys for L.A. was contesting Dirk Nowitzki’s looks and not giving the German anything easy … Well, Gasol and Odom did exactly that, combining to hold Dirk to just 6-of-20 shooting (30 percent).
With the win, L.A. improved to 53-13 on the season, winning all three games against Dallas with Philadelphia coming to town on Tuesday.
46
Points in the paint for the Lakers, who conceded just 24 to the jump-shooting Mavericks.
29
Jason Terry’s point total to lead all scorers. Terry canned seven triples, but took 16 of them to get there.
26
Career high points for Trevor Ariza, who made 9-of-13 shots including 3-of-5 threes, plus all five of his free throws. He added three steals, three boards and two assists.
14
Field goals missed by Dirk Nowitzki, who had quite a bit of trouble with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. The All-Star forward made just 6-of-20 shots (30 percent), struggling for the third straight time against L.A.’s length.
12
Bench points for L.A. on 4-of-17 shooting, including 1-of-7 from three-point range.
1
Point by which the STAPLES crowd missed Jack In The Box free tacos.
