FoxPerez
04-01-2011, 01:08 PM
From PlaymakerOnline.com (http://www.playmakeronline.com/)
To see the original page, click here: http://bit.ly/hwrlxy (http://bit.ly/hwrlxy)
It can really be frustrating playing the Lakers, especially when they execute the perfect game plan to beat your team. That’s how the Dallas Mavericks felt when they hung with the two-time defending champs for three quarters before LA pulled away as soon as the 4th quarter began and then kept Dallas from gaining any momentum in the final frame.
How do you beat Dallas? Attack them in the paint: the Lakers have the best set of quality big men in the league. Stop Jason Terry: LA has played exceptional defense since the all star break. Only seven times in that stretch has LA allowed an opponent to score more than 90 points.
And Jason Terry didn’t respond well to a frustrating night with an inexcusable play after the whistle in the 4th quarter of last night’s game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNiXW0RyOQA&feature=player_embedded
When you consider how poorly Dallas shot from the field in the game and how badly they were beaten on the boards, it was quite impressive how long they were able to hang with LA. But Terry’s actions made things worse. Exhibiting his frustrations on the court and getting ejected from the game gave the Lakers an even bigger mental edge than LA had just by winning the game the way they did. Sure Matt Barnes and Steve Blake are likely to serve suspensions and maybe their absence could keep Dallas alive to go after that 2nd seed in the Western Conference playoff race, but it’s unlikely.
And now Dallas will have more than a loss hanging over their heads if they should face LA in the 2nd round of the playoffs.
While Kobe scored 28 points, he took a lot of shots to get there (21). This win was a total team effort, which shows that Dallas would have to play at the top of their game for four games to beat this team in a seven game series. Five Lakers were in double figures and it was the big men that were most impressive. Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom combined for 54 points and 31 rebounds as each put up a double-double.
While Dallas did get some points in the paint, every time they attempted to score over LA’s wall of defenders, it looked like it took a monumental effort. And the jumpers just weren’t falling, as exhibited by Terry’s frustration. Dallas was so worn down that they only scored 31 points in the 2nd half, including a miniscule 12 points in the 4th quarter.
With the loss, the Mavs fall two games back in the loss column of the Lakers who hold the conference tiebreaker. LA would likely have to lose four games for Dallas to grab that 2nd seed in the playoffs. The last time the Lakers lost four out of eight games was before the all star break, and this is clearly a different team.
The Mavs need to concentrate on going back to playing good basketball, which is what they were doing before this game in LA. It was the 2nd game of a back-to-back set. They’ve got seven games left to continue their run of solid play that got them out of that funk that plagued them through most of March. When Terry comes back from his inevitable suspension, they’ll fall back into rhythm and can concentrate on their first round opponent. They’re capable of playing good enough basketball to beat any team in this league. We’ve seen it all season. They need to keep the big picture in mind though as they move forward from what luckily only counts as one loss in the record books.
For more NBA coverage, check out PlaymakerOnline.com (http://www.playmakeronline.com/)
Playmaker Magazine: The Source for Sports in Texas
To see the original page, click here: http://bit.ly/hwrlxy (http://bit.ly/hwrlxy)
It can really be frustrating playing the Lakers, especially when they execute the perfect game plan to beat your team. That’s how the Dallas Mavericks felt when they hung with the two-time defending champs for three quarters before LA pulled away as soon as the 4th quarter began and then kept Dallas from gaining any momentum in the final frame.
How do you beat Dallas? Attack them in the paint: the Lakers have the best set of quality big men in the league. Stop Jason Terry: LA has played exceptional defense since the all star break. Only seven times in that stretch has LA allowed an opponent to score more than 90 points.
And Jason Terry didn’t respond well to a frustrating night with an inexcusable play after the whistle in the 4th quarter of last night’s game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNiXW0RyOQA&feature=player_embedded
When you consider how poorly Dallas shot from the field in the game and how badly they were beaten on the boards, it was quite impressive how long they were able to hang with LA. But Terry’s actions made things worse. Exhibiting his frustrations on the court and getting ejected from the game gave the Lakers an even bigger mental edge than LA had just by winning the game the way they did. Sure Matt Barnes and Steve Blake are likely to serve suspensions and maybe their absence could keep Dallas alive to go after that 2nd seed in the Western Conference playoff race, but it’s unlikely.
And now Dallas will have more than a loss hanging over their heads if they should face LA in the 2nd round of the playoffs.
While Kobe scored 28 points, he took a lot of shots to get there (21). This win was a total team effort, which shows that Dallas would have to play at the top of their game for four games to beat this team in a seven game series. Five Lakers were in double figures and it was the big men that were most impressive. Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom combined for 54 points and 31 rebounds as each put up a double-double.
While Dallas did get some points in the paint, every time they attempted to score over LA’s wall of defenders, it looked like it took a monumental effort. And the jumpers just weren’t falling, as exhibited by Terry’s frustration. Dallas was so worn down that they only scored 31 points in the 2nd half, including a miniscule 12 points in the 4th quarter.
With the loss, the Mavs fall two games back in the loss column of the Lakers who hold the conference tiebreaker. LA would likely have to lose four games for Dallas to grab that 2nd seed in the playoffs. The last time the Lakers lost four out of eight games was before the all star break, and this is clearly a different team.
The Mavs need to concentrate on going back to playing good basketball, which is what they were doing before this game in LA. It was the 2nd game of a back-to-back set. They’ve got seven games left to continue their run of solid play that got them out of that funk that plagued them through most of March. When Terry comes back from his inevitable suspension, they’ll fall back into rhythm and can concentrate on their first round opponent. They’re capable of playing good enough basketball to beat any team in this league. We’ve seen it all season. They need to keep the big picture in mind though as they move forward from what luckily only counts as one loss in the record books.
For more NBA coverage, check out PlaymakerOnline.com (http://www.playmakeronline.com/)
Playmaker Magazine: The Source for Sports in Texas