The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 108-104. The Lakers currently are 42-18, and lead the Pacific Division; this convinced many that the Lakers could compete for the championship.
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored 52 points, and grabbed 11 rebounds. Mavericks coach Avery Johnson couldn’t stop Bryant, and said he tried multi-times during the game.
“We gave him a single look, then we double-teamed him, then we gave him a triple-team and he split the triple-team and scored,” Johnson said. “We tried to zone him, we tried to funnel him in the trap for a zone and he went the other way. He didn’t cooperate on any of our defenses. Obviously he milked the free throw line on us and he just had it all going. He’s a great player. He has these (games). Lots of these.”
Bryant scored 50 points or more, twenty-two times in his career. It’s Bryant’s first time this season, but scoring 52 points gave him 20,989 career points and he moves past Walt Bellamy for 25th on the NBA’s all-time list.
Bryant had four assist, but suffered with five turnovers. He played 55 minutes, and only shot 2-3 from three point range. Bryant wasn’t happy during the first half because he struggled with his free throws. “I was really upset with myself at halftime,” Bryant told reporters.“Just relax and go knock them down.”
He was satisfied with his teams performance, and was happy with their defense. “All in all, we didn’t give them any good looks, and I think eventually that wears a team down,” Bryant said. “We really got it done on the defensive end. It was a physical game. It was back and forth. We didn’t play extremely well, but it felt good to get this one done.”
Lakers center Paul Gasol finished with 17 points, and lead with 14 rebounds. Guard Derek Fisher had 11 points, but was 3-11 from field goals. Forward Luke Walton had 6 points, but added 11 rebounds.
“You know fatigue has an effect on the ball game, but you don’t use it as an excuse,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. “You know you are going to lose (eventually), but you hope to not have a slippage of fundamentals, or things like that.”
The Mavericks are fourth in the Southwest division, and is 39-21 on the season. Johnson believes the players are still learning each other. “We are six or seven games into this thing and we are finding out more and more about how he works well,” Johnson said. “He and (Erick) Dampier have played real well together. Damp had a double-double and they had some good reads together. So we are finding out more about our team as we go forward.”
Jason Kidd had 15 points, 6 rebounds and lead with 11 assist. Kidd wasn’t happy about this free throw efforts, and believes he could have done better. Kidd said his confidence was good, but couldn’t follow through.
“I felt confident at the free throw line, but I just left it short,” Mavericks guard Kidd said. “To tie the game, I have to be able to step up and make that free throw.” He’s comfortable about his teams effort, but still isn’t happy with the ending. “It was great for the players and the fans; both teams had leads, both teams fought to come back,” Kidd said.
Improvement is needed according to Kidd, but says their heading the right direction. As greatest improves, Kidd feels trustful around his new teammates. He believes the Mavericks played descent since he’s arrived, but making adjustments won’t be easy.
“I think anytime you’re on the run trying to make adjustments it’s hard in this league,” Kidd said. “In this league, everybody is a professional and they’re not going to wait around until you get it. We’ve been together for six games and we’re doing a pretty good job.”
Kidd’s happy with the Mavericks, and feels confident about winning a championship. With competitive players such as Nowitzki; Kidd feels closer to destiny. “So I think as a whole there still are some areas that we have to tighten up, but I think we’re going in the right direction. We’re building and each time we go out on the floor we believe in one another and I think that’s a big thing. I’ve always said if you believe in one another you can have success.”
Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki lead with 30 points, and had 13 rebounds. He shot 3-7 from three point range, and 10-26 from field goals. Nowitzki supports Kidd’s effort towards the team, and feels useful with him. He likes Kidd’s post performance, but said he’ll need to improve. “It was fun to watch Kidd all over the court,” said Nowitzki . “He scored points in the post like we need him to do. He needs to become a scorer.”
Guard Jason Terry had 18 points, and forward Josh Howard finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Howard shot 3-14 from field goals, and Terry suffered shooting 5-13. Center Erik Dampier had 16 points, and lead with 17 rebounds.
Original post by Kenrick Thomas
Kenrick
It’s at times like this when Bryant is unstoppable and there’s nothing that any of the teams in the NBA can do about it. That’s what probably makes him the best player in the game today bar none. And with all due respect to LeBron but until he’s actually won something then he’ll still be judged as the guy we just think of as being prodigious and not really much more than that.
tophat …….