MAVS -at- LAKERS - 3/31 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Attack of Killer B's!!!... You might recall some comments Kobe made this summer about both of the Lakers new acquisitions, Steve Blake and Matt Barnes. The two play hard-nosed ball. They never backed down from Kobe as opponents and that earned his respect.

"They're not going to come into our house and throw us around," Barnes said tonight after getting tossed.

"He pushed me," Blake said. "I don't like to be pushed."

Shortly later, Shannon Brown would join them in the locker room after mixing it up after another foul. When the Mavs shoved, the Lakers shoved back. The Killer B's, all three ejected in tonight's 110-82 blowout of the Dallas Mavericks.

The game had playoff implications and playoff intensity.

The Mavs got clocked.

The Lakers held them to just 31 points in the second half. Dallas didn't score a point for the final 6:10 of the game. When Kobe and Pau weren't doing their thing, it was Andrew Bynum destroying the Mav's interior, Lamar Odom killing them from the perimeter, and the Laker defense applying a choke hold.

"This was a team we could potentially see in the post season, so it was important to come out and send some kind of message," Kobe said. A 28-point blowout and three ejections was some kind of message.

"This was a throwback type of game," Kobe said. "If this was the 80s I'm not sure you would have that many ejections. You'd probably just take the ball out and keep on playing."

Afterwards, the ripples of the smackdown had folks buzzing.

"They gained an edge in the psychological tonight," Rick Fox said.

"Foaming at the mouth," Chris Webber described the Lakers.

The Lakers have won 8 straight, 16 of the last 17. Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs have lost five straight. Things are about to get real interesting.


Kobe -- -- When he came in after the ejections in the fourth, he clanked a couple of perimeter jumpers and the Mavs went on a small run. But within moments, Kobe switched things up and manufactured some points from the line. That killed the rally and helped take whatever fight was left in the Mavs game. The team just applied the pressure, ground out some points from the line behind Kobe and that was that. Kobe struggled from the FT line a little tonight, despite getting there 15 times, but those fourth quarter trips were key to preventing any kind of Mav rally when emotions were high. The Mavs threw a combination of Beaubois, Kidd and Marion at Kobe. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 8-21 shooting (1-5 from three, 11-15 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He missed a long three off a kickout to start the game. He posted up the smaller man, Beaubois, and hit the turnaround. He missed a baseline turnaround. He curled into the lane and hit a pull-up jumper. He was called for a carry (kind of a cheap one). He kicked out to Artest for a three. He probed, missed, Bynum tapped it to him and he hit the baseline jumper. He drew FTs in the paint and made one. He faked a shot, jump passing to Bynum for a layup. He had 7 point son 3-6 shooting and 3 assists after the first. He blew around Barea and a zone (I think) to score a layup. He choked a layup off a great passing sequence (rare he does that). He missed a long wing jumper, hustled back, deflected a pass and then tapped it to Fish while going into the stands to get a save. He then stripped Dirk on iso D on the next possession. He drained a wing three off the high pinch post with Bynum. He pulled up in transition next time down and missed the three (knew that was coming). He missed a tough fade over Terry (need to get a better look than that). He was stripped passing up an open three attempt. Not close on a three at the end of the half. He had 12 points on 5-13 shooting. Second Half: He made a tech FT. Tough kickout to Artest over a defender, but right to him for the three. He was tapped on a short baseline jumper. He was undercut on a jumper and drew FTs, he made just one. He drew more FTs on a jumper again on Beaubois, he made both. Great jump pass to Bynum who had low position, Drew missed, but the collapsed D led to Pau tipping it in. He stuck a wing jumper over Kidd. He missed a three with the shotclock low. He lost the handle on a drive and wanted the foul. He attacked left, pulled up, was hacked and still swished the tough baseline And-1 on Kidd, he made the FT. He missed a tough runner past Marion and into the D, taking contact with no call. He had 9 points on 2-5 shooting in the third. He missed a chuck from the wing after entering the game, not great shot selection. He missed another jumper on the next possession. He swung through on Kidd to manufacture a couple much-needed FTs, he made both. He split a double team, ball-faked, pulled up and swished the 15-foot And-1, he missed the FT. He was shoved from behind by Dirk on a break and drew FTs, he made both. He probed and drew FTs, he made one.

Gasol -- -- The three Laker bigmen took it to the Mavs. They combined for 54 points on 19-33 shooting to go with 31 boards. They got out-rebounded in the first half, but turned the tables on the Mavs in the second half. Pau killed on the offensive glass. He had just one defensive board, but Dirk will pull him far from the hoop. Defensively, he and Lamar did a respectable job on Dirk. They generally make him work on iso, getting an occasional blindside double. They did a much better job with some of those low block rub screen sequences that the Mavs ran against us last time. Dirk cleaned up on those, often forcing the Lakers to switch. They cleaned that up considerably tonight and the Mavs offense ground to a halt as the game went along. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-14 shooting (6-7 from the line) to go with 7 boards (6 offensive), 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He sank a face-up wing jumper to start the Laker scoring. He swished a turnaround jumper from the post. A rebound came right to him so he hit the wing jumper. He crashed the glass and tipped in the missed drive from Blake. He missed a jumphook on the right block. He blocked a shot by Dirk in the paint. He had 8 points on 4-5 shooting in the first. He missed a wing jumper. He hit Barnes cutting for a layup. He was blocked in the paint, got it back and missed the jumper. He scored a layup off the interior feed from Lamar. He was blocked on a layup. We got it back in transition and Pau scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He had 13 points on 6-10 shooting and 2 boards. Second Half: He drew FTs on a putback attempt, he made both. He choked a breakway layup off a leakout. He crashed the glass to tip in a Bynum miss in the low post. He missed an elbow face-up jumper. He was stripped taking contact on the post move and then called for his fourth foul on a reach (FTs for Marion). He had 4 points on 1-3 shooting and 3 boards in the third. He was hammered on a jumphook with low position, he made one FT. He was fouled hard on a putback attempt, knocked to the floor, he made both FTs (Shannon got ejected mixing it up a little after this sequence).

Bynum -- -- Too big. Too strong. Too much for the Mavs to handle. He imposed himself on the offensive end -- bullied, beasted and banged. There were some Shaq-like skills on display: power dropsteps into slams, jumphooks off the glass from the right block, players flying off him from contact. The Mavs may have added bigmen to their lineup, but Mandrew treated them like boys. The Lakers did a very good job tonight of mixing up their offensive attack and looking to exploit their various mismatches. Bynum was very efficient with his touches. Defensively, he stepped it up in the second half, where he pulled down 11 of his boards. His challenges and general anchoring were also better. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 6-9 shooting (6-9 from the line) to go with 13 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists, 2 blocks and no fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +18. The Action: He missed a jumphook in the middle of the lane. He tapped a miss to Kobe for a score. Good position and he hit a jumphook off the glass from the right block. He gathered a Kobe jump pass, pivoted in a crowd of defenders and powered up a layup. He hit an easy jumphook in the middle of the paint. He grabbed an offensive board, made a power pivot around Dirk and screamed on the throwdown (the Beast!). He drew FTs on a lob from Barnes, he made one. He muscled his way to a couple FTs in the post, he made both. He had 11 points on 4-5 shooting but just 2 boards. Second Half: After a nice challenge on Dirk on the perimeter, he got low position in transition on him, collapsed the D and missed the short one, but Pau tipped it in. Nice challenge on Terry's jumper to get a miss. He missed a lefty jumphook on the other end. He tipped in a missed Kobe three, too big. He bulldozed Chandler on a screen-roll but got a lucky call for FTs, he made one. Up high to pull down a defensive board and he drew FTs on the Chandler foul from behind, he made both this time. He blocked Marion's floater in the paint. He had 5 points on 1-3 shooting and 7 boards in the third. He forced Barea into a brick on a reverse. He tipped in a missed Artest layup.

Artest -- -- The Mavs want to get their best defenders on Kobe. Unfortunately, they have to respect Ron's size. The Lakers made sure they consistently looked to exploit mismatches. When Kidd tried to handle him, Ron went to the post. Peja? Forget it. Additionally, if they had to collapse the D, Ron was a consistent threat from behind the arc. Very complimentary game from Ron. Defensively, Shawn Marion has had a couple of good games against the Lakers and Ron. He was quiet tonight. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting (2-4 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a +20. The Action: He missed a fading corner jumper (lucky the Mavs didn't score on the counterstrike). He drained a corner three, squaring up better on the Kobe kickout. He had 5 assists in the first quarter. He hit a jumper in the paint against the zone. He sank a wing jumper on the break. He missed a sideline three. He swiped a ball back in transition and it led to a Pau And-1. He had 7 points on 3-5 shooting at the half. Second Half: He was blocked, showing the ball to Marion on a drive. He drained a corner three off a kickout from Kobe. He missed a forced three, not getting set in early offense. He was held by Peja in the post (actually, Ron may have had hold of Peja with one hand), still he grabbed the post entry with one-hand and scored the And-1 layup all in one motion (then kissed the guns), he made the FT. He shed Kidd in the post, drew the D and missed a challenged layup, but Drew tipped it in.

Fisher -- -- He was the recipient of some of the cheaper foul calls of the game. As a result, he picked up a tech while heading to the bench. Sometimes the refs throw a little fuel on the flames with those quick techs. They gave the Mavs a couple and Fish one. It was certainly a playoff atmosphere, but the techs seemed to crank things up a little. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He drained a wing jumper behind the screens. He missed a jumper from the elbow and wanted the foul. He faked his man and attacked against the zone for a layup. He missed a wing jumper. Barea got a flop call against Fish with a flail in transition (seemed obvious). Second Half: He was called for a tough blocking foul on the break, not sure about that one, Fish looked there. He then picked up his fourth going over a screen, not sure what that was about, but he had to sit and picked up a tech. He hit a short pull-up in the lane.

Lamar -- -- Lamar scored 11 straight points between the third and fourth quarters, including three consecutive back-breaking threes. Man on fire! He followed those with a coast-to-coast drive for a layup. If votes are being considered for the Sixth Man of the Year award, Lamar Odom decisively won the night over Jason Terry. He clocked the Mavs. His team-high +24 came in just 26 minutes. He picked up a couple quick fouls in the first quarter, which forced Phil to stagger his rotations slightly, but Lamar didn't pick up another one all night. Teams want nothing to do with this Lamar. They've got to deal with Bynum beasting and Pau's versatility, then Lamar comes in and throttles them like this. Ouch. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-10 shooting (3-4 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +24. The Action: He missed a step-back jumper on his first touch. He swished a jumper over Haywood. He grabbed an offensive board and fed Pau for the layup. Second Half: He sank a tricky step-back fade across the lane. He swished a sideline three off the inbounds play. He sank a long wing three to start the fourth. Next time down, he drained a sideline three, cold blooded with his third straight. He missed a long jumper out of the subsequent timeout. He grabbed a defensive board on the other end, pushed out the dribble and scored a layup past Dirk at high speed. He missed a drive to his right. He was fouled on a layup attempt, he made one FT. He stripped Barea on screen-roll D and ignited the break.

Blake -- -- He took exception to a push from Terry after being fouled on a drive. He bounced up off the floor and went at him. Terry was talking crap and Blake won't back down from any of that. I love that Blake is always working on defense...always working. Terry struggled all game, was frustrated with missing shots and the Blake was still battling hard. That's the hard-nosed ball. You may be frustrated, but Blake is still coming at you. Like we mentioned above, that's something Kobe respected about Blake. Phil makes sure these two match up. Terry scored just 5 points on 2-9 shooting. Offensively, Blake didn't score, but you could see the importance in this game of him just staying aggressive and attacking. He'd miss a shot, but the D would be scrambled, a Laker big would crash the glass and good things usually resulted. He needs to keep that up. It makes the offense more dynamic. With Fisher picking up some foul trouble tonight, Blake was put into the mix a little more often in this one...until that fourth quarter ejection. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-5 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He attacked off the pinch post and missed a drive, Pau tipped it in. He hit the floor to tie up Barea for a jumpball which Blake won. He attacked, collapsed the D and missed a runner (but Bynum was fouled on the rebound to save a putback). Flat on a three from the wing and he came up short. He missed a fade in the lane on the attack (need our rebounders in there to clean those up). He was 0-4 in the half, but his penetration usually resulted in something positive. Second Half: Some nice defensive sequences on the Terry/Dirk two-man game. He forced Terry to lose a dribble on a spin move for a turnover. Nice jump in the passing lane to force Kidd to throw it backcourt. He was blocked out of bounds on a drive. He attacked, took contact and was shoved to the floor by Terry, flagrant-2.

Barnes -- -- Old School. At some point this season, you knew this would happen -- Matt Barnes ejected for mixing things up. He just plays with that kind of intensity and will occasionally cross the line. When Blake and Terry were being separated, Barnes flew in and gave Terry a shove. As he tried to leave the court, a Mavs assistant tried to hold him. Barnes ripped his hands off him and the coach fell into the first row. Barnes was also in on a hard, legit, foul on Barea earlier in the game that Barea didn't like. Old school foul. Nothing dirty, just hard. Yes, he's got teammates' backs. Yes, Matt Barnes will kill you. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting (0-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal and 1 foul in 14 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He swatted Terry from behind. He cut baseline on the Shannon drive, took the pass and slammed. He missed an open wing jumper. Hard foul on Barea's drive and Barea got a tech for getting ticked (great foul). He cut to the ball, took the pass from Pau, went after contact on Dirk and scored the And-1 with his left, he missed the FT. He set up Drew for FTs on a lob. Second Half: He knocked a missed FT off a Mav to regain possession.

Brown -- -- Late in the game, Pau took a hard foul and Shannon kind of got into the middle of a couple of Mavs. They slapped a hand away, he took exception to it and pushed back. He was ejected. It was probably only worth a tech, but the previous chaos with Barnes and Blake got him the quick toss. Prior to that, Shannon had some ups and downs in the game. He played a smart first half, letting the offense flow. In the second half, he then tried to get more aggressive. The result looked like he was swimming against the current and some poor possessions resulted. Got to play to the team's strengths, Shannon. It may not always get you the points, but we get better possessions. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-5 shooting (0-2 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He missed a wing three. He worked the two-man game, attacked and hit a cutting Barnes for a dunk. He swiped a Dirk pass. He made a tech FT. Second Half: He swished an early offense wing jumper (not great shot selection). He missed a wing three. He dribbled the ball off his foot trying to create (run the offense, please). He drew FTs on a breakaway when Lamar and Shannon trapped Barea off a screen to force a turnover, he made both. He missed a fade from 15 feet trying to create.

Ratliff -- -- The signal that Ratliff was ready to come back was the Lakers sending Caracter to the NBDL to get some run. Ratliff was actually thrown in the mix when the Mavs selected him to shoot two freethrows for Blake who got the ejection. Welcome back, hit some freethrows. He missed both. He then got a legit sub in with 1:44 left when we took a foul to get Pau onto the bench. If the Lakers bigmen get into foul trouble in the playoffs, Phil seems like he will either go with Artest at PF or probably Ratliff at the C spot. They need to get him back in the mix because those will be some critical minutes whenever that happens. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 shooting from the line in 2 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed both FTs off the flagrant-2 Blake drew.

Walton -- -- He came in for Artest with the Lakers up 23. While Phil was starting to run out of options with three players ejected, he also needed to rest Artest for tomorrow ... and keep a potential loose cannon off the floor with all the chaos going on. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting to go with 1 board and 1 foul in 5 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper.

Smith -- -- Some serviceable minutes late in the game. He grabbed boards and missed his only attempt from the perimeter. The Lakers need to get him a few minutes where they can. Although, I'm guessing Ratliff will be the go to third string big in the playoffs. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting to go with 4 boards and no fouls in 4 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a wing turnaround.

Phil -- -- A fast pace to start the game, the Mavs leading 18-17 midway through the quarter when the first stoppage came. Phil sat Pau for Lamar... Tied 20-20 Phil brought in Blake to cover Terry... Up 24-20 with 2:30 left, Phil went with the Pau, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... The Lakers had a 28-26 lead after the first. They shot 54 percent (13-24). Only 2 fouls, but both on Lamar... Phil started a Bynum, Pau, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit with Lamar in foul trouble... A Bynum dunk forced a timeout with the Lakers up 6... Phil sat Blake and Brown for Kobe and Fisher with 6:50 left... An 8-1 Mavs run. Phil called a timeout a couple minutes later down by 2... Phil went with a Pau, Lamar, Artest, Kobe, Fisher unit... This unit got the crowd into it with some steals and scores, forcing a timeout by the Mavs. A 6-point lead for the Lakers... He sat Fish with 30 seconds left for Blake to save fouls... The Lakers led 54-51 at the half. They shot 48 percent (23-48, 2-8 from three, 6-9 from the line). The Mavs shot 45 percent (19-42, 4-11 from three, 9-10 from the line). The Lakers had 13 points off 8 Mav turnovers. The Mavs had 3 points off just 3 Lakers turnovers. The Mavs had a 25-18 advantage on the glass... Fish had to sit after picking up a couple of dubious fouls... The Lakers extended to a 10-point lead, forcing a Mav timeout... Phil sat Pau for Lamar midway through the quarter... They had a 74-64 lead as Phil went to the Pau, Lamar, Barnes, Kobe, Blake lineup. Pau picked up his fourth and Bynum was back in (not sure the Mavs were too excited about that)... Phil sat Kobe with 2:24 for Shannon up by 8. The second unit extended the lead... The Lakers led 82-70 heading into the fourth quarter. They out-rebounded the Mavs 17-8 in the third quarter... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... Back-to-back threes from Lamar to open the quarter and the Lakers extended to an 18-point lead... Blake and Barnes got ejected. Lakers up by 17. The lead was briefly trimmed... Phil brought in Kobe and Ratliff (who had to come in for Blake to shoot FTs). He then went to a Bynum, Lamar, Kobe, Brown, Fisher unit... The Lakers extended the lead again. Up 23, Phil sat Kobe and Drew... Then Joe Smith for Lamar... Phil brought in Lamar to run at point basically with a couple minutes left when Shannon got ejected... A lot was made about Pau still being in the game late, but Phil had a sub waiting. They should have taken a foul to get him out. But Phil certainly wasn't trying to rub anything in the Mavs. Eventually, they took the foul, but not after Pau took a hard foul... The Mavs scored just 12 in the fourth quarter and shot 36 percent for the game. Another team held in the low 80s...

[10scott10]

Great game. Glad to see everyone out there tonight

[TheCherokeeKid]

aw well second!

[Arbitrary]

Thanks DB! Wild night!

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

FISTS!!

Ooop I meant FIFTH!!!

[All Net]

Great stuff

LO and Drew were mega.

[MedRomLaker]

Was waiting for this DB, what a great game, now I can call it a night, thanks chief!
_________________
11/9/12 the day the brown was flushed down!!!!!!

4/30/14 the day the ant left the building!!!!!!

[Arbitrary]

[Arbitrary]

[DancingBarry]

Took a long time to write up. Late game start with TNT. Killer B's ejections slowing things down further.

[E=MC²]

After this destruction, Cuban can just "contraction" his team out of the NBA. Now lets wrap up March with a 16 game win streak.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

I noticed Blake was really attacking tonight. He was 0 for 5 but that diving towards the basket led to a dunkfest by the big fellas.

[busym]

Another great writeup DB. A great game. A game that showed the Lakers are locked and loaded for the playoffs.. The team started slow but shortly figured out the Mavericks and took over the game. I sure hope we meet the Mavericks in the second round. However it doesn't matter who the Lakers meet. This team is ready.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

I also like how Drew literally pushed LO to the sidelines to inbound the ball to him so he could set Lamar right back up for an easy look. Result was 2 points to end the quarter.

[Bynum4MVP]

[Texas_Pete]

[A Mad Chinaman]

Enjoyable to see a game played at a high level!

[DancingBarry]

[mhan00]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[Defender]

Blake actually attempted 2 layups. That's about as aggressive I have seen from him. Although unsuccessful, that's still better than being a chicken.

[Defender]

[heatseeker08]

Thanks DB! LO has just locked up the Sixth Man of the Year award tonight.
_________________
Ron Artest: "SAY QUEENSBRIDGE"

[limchrc]

thanks

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB. good to see the Lakers in playoff mode and in the Mavs heads.
_________________
"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."