Live from Dallas- Lakers at Mavericks

6:00- Ronny is providing some stout D down low.  Stack gets past Vlad but Turiaf contests the shot for his second straight block-- maybe Stack lost it on the way up.  Either way, he was there.  On the next trip, Fish finds a wide, and I mean WIDE, open Turiaf in the post.  Tic-tac pass back and forth from Ronny to Vlad back to Ronny, and it's an easy dunk. 

That might have been the easiest hoop they've had in a week.

5:13- Kobe rises on the pullup from 18 and buries a jumper over Howard.  He's 3-3.  Guess that extra gym time has paid off.

4:31- Ronny hits a jumper from the top of the key.  That's a massively important shot for him to be able to make.  Just like with Gasol, if the opposing center knows he has to honor that shot, he'll have to come out of the post, giving the Lakers much more space. 

4:00- Kobe hits a triple.  4-4.  Best of all the pas came from the interior, and he had all day to shoot.

3:20- Vlad Rad tip gives LA a 22-16 lead.  Good to see him down low, crashing the boards.  He is 6'10", you know.

TIMEOUT ON THE FLOOR

You have to like what the Lakers are doing right now.  No stress offensively.  They're taking what's there, whether it's a jumper from the outside, a drive to the hole, or a pass into the post.  They're not turning the ball over, either, which helps limit Kidd and Co.'s runout opps.  That's a huge deal for a team that's cranked up the speed level offensively.

2:20 - Walton's first shot is an airball.  Guess that extra time in the gym didn't really help. 

1:51- Lakers up 24-19.

1:12- Kobe burned by Brandon Bass going for the steal.  Kobe didn't get it and Bass had an open lane to the basket.  Walton fouls him and prevents the bucket.

Next trip down, Walton gets some redemption, sticking with his initial shot and drawing a foul for two FTs, then making a nice pass to Ronny in the post, holding the ball long enough for Ronny to gain position on Terry, who had to pick him up in transition. Two FTs for Turiaf, and the Lakers are up by seven. 

END OF THE FIRST- Lakers up 28-21. 

Can't complain about much in that quarter.  Offensively, they're a much better team than they were on Sunday (partially because Dallas isn't as good a defensive team as Houston, but I digress...).  They're forcing very little, and are actively finding space to operate within the Dallas D by getting the ball inside.  Penetration, penetrating passes, etc. All have worked so far.  But the ball movement has been really good.  Defensively, the Lakers aren't allowing Dallas to have a lot of clean, uncontested looks.  They're recovering well, and their rotations are crisper than they were in either game this weekend.  33% shooting for Dallas. 

SECOND QUARTER:

Great passing leads to a Ronny pass down low to Luke in the lane, where he draws a foul.  Makes both FTs, but again, it's excellent ball movement, and the Lakers not settling for jumpers.

10:30- Kobe, in the high post, hits a cutting Ronny on his way to the basket for an easy dunk.  Great play.  Kobe does an excellent job of seeing the double coming, but not waiting for it to get there.  Similarly great recognition by Turiaf to go to the hole.

FINALLY, AK IS IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To say the least, I've had something of a trying go since my arrival at the AAC.  Some issue techincal.  Some otherwise.  I'll get into everything during the postgame report, but let's just say... it's been interesting.  And Marc Cuban is still being ridiculous. 

Anyhoo...

7:42 - Josh Howard tags Sasha with a forearm to the face, tagging himself with an offensive foul.  The crowd seemed pretty surly about the call, until the play came up on the jumbtron.  The reaction slowly trickled from "boooo" to "Oooh, yeah, that's a foul."

5:40 - DJ Mbenga stuff former big man in crime Erick Dampier under the Laker hoop.  There are a decent chunk of Laker fans in the house, but I think even a few Mavs fan appreciated their man Didier making a good play.  After all, he's the one they called "Tac-os!!!"

4:46 - You would think that after guarding him for seven years in practice, Devean George would be invulnerable to every fake move Kobe has.  Apparently not.  Kobe  gets the ball from Vlad above the arc, pulls a few shake and bake moves, then buries the J from downtown over his old buddy's grill.

By the way, for those curious, AAC may very well have the most miked baskets in the NBA.  They're all rigged to let the crowd hear the makes and misses, but each time the ball comes near the rim or string, it's like a freakin' rock concert.  Some serious volume they got going here.

2:52 - An airball from LO (the Lakers' second of the night... yikes) lands in Kidd's mitts, as his been his case throughout his career so often. The PG takes it downcourt for a streak to the rack.  Ronny's got no choice but to foul.  Kidd will make both after the timeout. 

And speaking of J-Kidd, the jumbotron is showing footage during the timout of The Karate Kid with his head photoshopped over Ralph Macchio's.  Pretty amusing stuff, especially since they're playing "You're the best," which I looooooove.

51.6 - Turiaf gets the stuff, then corrals the ball and tries to hit Kobe downcourt Peyton Manning/Marvin Harrison style.  The pass is more than a little long, but Kobe tracks it down, adjusts himself, and manages to worm the reverse layup in past some Dallas defender traffic.

MVP chant for Kobe going as the final second and Laker possession tick down.  The rock ends up with Turiaf, who puts up a pressured mid-range jumper that's just a little long.  Lakers 59, Mavs 38.  Some nice D on display right now for the visitors.  The Lakers have held the Mavs to 33% over two periods and have forced 8 turnovers (as opposed to their own scant 4).  They're also killed Dallas on the glass 26-19 and have two players (Kobe-20, Ronny-10) in double figures.  I've had plenty to complain about up to here, but the Lakers aren't on the list.   Let's keep it that way.  See ya in the third.

THIRD QUARTER

11:00 - An offensive from Stack catches Fish in the chops, negating a two-point bucket.  Perhaps an omen for how things are gonna continue for Dallas, who just can't seem to get it together this game.

9:57 - Kobe starts out at the right side of the court, drifts with his dribble, takes off just at the corner of the left and puts it down smooth.  That's just pretty.  Clearly, Kobe is, as the kids like to say, "feeling it" this evening.

8:51 - Kobe finds Fish spotted up just inside the arc and hits him with a crosscourt pass on the run.  Fish is good and the Lakers are up by 23.  That shot, along with the last couple of Laker makes, have really taken the crowd out of this game.  The P.A. guy was trying to lead a "let's go Mavs" chant and received a halfhearted response at best.

6:49 - Great example of good defense leading to good offense.  Turiaf does a nice job of challenging Josh Howard under the rack, causing the miss and Kobe rebound.  Kobe drives the rock downcourt, then shoots the no look to Vladdy for the running layup.

5:44 - I've watched A LOT of basketball in my day, but I'm not sure I've ever seen the move Kobe just pulled.  Fish hit him on the running while cutting to the cup, and as Kobe met a defender, he pulled... and this is not a typo... a 360 layup.

Yes. 

A 360 layup. 

I'm actually sitting her flabbergasted. I just asked a few people around me if they've ever seen that before.  Everyone's shaking their heads.

3:58 - A steal by Brandon Bass on Kobe, then Walton's subsequent swipe off Bass, really demonstrates the "Hatfield-McCoy" vobe going in this here AAC.  There's a pretty sizable Laker contingent on hand tonight.

2:46 - Kobe picks up his fourth, putting him on the bench for at least the duration of the frame, I imagine. Kobe's also helped spot his team a 22-point cushion, so in theory, this shouldn't be all that big a deal.

2:27 - Jason Terry at the line to shoot a pair.  The P.A. guy lets the crowd know it's "Jet on the runway."   I can't decide if that's kinda cool or totally lame.

1:46 - Dirk got away with a couple things while blocking a streaking Turiaf.  1) Nowitzki got all hand with the block.  2) He actually used his left to give Ronny a little shove on the way out.  I wasn't surprised to see Ronny put a little extra mustard on it while fouling Dirk on the subsequent possession.  Or the next possession featuring a hard (but clean) foul by Dirk on Ronny.  Starting to get very physical between those two.

1:06 - Devean George shoots an sirball from the corner.  I feel like I'm back in L.A and it's anywhere from 1999-2006.

The third quarter winds down with LO hitting Luke with a dish in the corner.  The 22-footer clangs long and the ball goes in his fellow Wildcat J.Terry's paws.  Terry's got about 2-3 seconds on the clock, gets a little inside the halfcourt line before letting fly.  Sasha reacts kinda slow to close out.  The three ball is good, cutting this Laker to 12.  77-65 Lakers.  Remember that whole thing I said about Kobe going out and it shouldn't be that big a thing, since the Lakers were up 22?  I apparently had too much confidence.  Kobe's back in for the fourth.  As am I.

FOURTH QUARTER

10:35 - Ronny gets blocked under the hoop by Malik Allen.  Another fastbreak ensues for the Mavs, concluding with Terry finding Dirk crosscourt for a three ball.  The Mavs are back within 7 and the crowd is back in this in a big, bad way. 

9:18 - Vlad Rad's in for Walton and hits a VERY big three, putting the Lakers back up by 8.  But before I can even type that sentence, Ty Lue's got himself a layup.

8:12 - Another three ball from Vlad goes down.  As a subplot, it's starting to get chippy between Sasha and Lue.  The two were tussling a bit before Dallas inbounded and Lue made a point of telling the refs.

7:33 - Vlad's good from downtown again, now at the 10 point mark.  During one of the third quarter timeouts, Phil had been in Radmanovic's ear something aggressive and animated.  Whatever he told the Serbian Sharpshooter, it was effective.  Vlad's been very active since reentering the contest.

5:30 - The way he was floating through no man's land, with nobody really on him, it was hard to tell if LO, Kobe or Vlad lost track of Josh Howard.  All three were near enough to appear theoretically guilty.  In any event, J.Ho got the uncontested layup.

4:10 - The crowd wanted a travel on Kobe.  The refs apparently thought his flurry of footwoerks and fakes were all legal.  The ref's opinion eventually allows Kobe to take the ball strong to the rack for a 8 foot running hook and put the Lakers back up by 9.

2:19 - Kobe's looking a little gimpy after earning a trip to the stripe.  He keeps shaking out his right ankle, which may have gone up against Dallas bone while putting up the shot.  The first of attempts rattles in and out.  The second is good.  I'll be sure to ask Kobe what happened to him physically during the sequence leading up to the free throws.

41.3 - The second of two ginormous treys goes down for Dirk.  The Lakers actually catch a break on the latter, as there was some contact from Lamar as Nowitzki put it up.  The Lakers call timeout now only up by one point.

29.8 - The crowd hates it (as one would suspect), but I think the refs got it right with that over the back (Stack over LO).  It wasn't blatantly terrible, but enough that you could call it. After a lot of razzing and fussing (much of which courtesy of a courtside Mark Cuban), Lamar goes to the line and knocks down two crucial ones.  The Lakers are now up by a triple with just under 30 seconds to play.

14.1 - Out of the timeout, the ball swings around a lot for Dallas, eventually ending up  with Kidd and a shrinking shot clock.  Ason (as he used to be ribbed) tries to draw contact against Kobe, but gets no call... along with no bucket.  Sasha snags the loose ball and gets intentionally fouled.  First is good for the 83 percenter.  But the second clangs and Dirk snares it.  Timeout Dallas.  Some good D by LO and Sasha keeps Kidd and Terry on their heels, with Terry eventually putting up a prayer three over Lamar to beat the clock.  Prayer good.  The Lakers are now up by one.

Fish receieves the inbound and the intentional foul.  Surely the 88 percenter is money for a pair of makes, right???  Wrong.  The first is bad, the second good.  Dallas can now tie with 2, win with three.  The timeout concludes with Dirk attempting a fallback three over a harassing LO.  The ball hits nothing but nothing.  Lakers pull out the 102-100 win.  Not the easiest of wins, even though it sure seemed llike it would have been.  But hey, a win's a win's a win. More later.  Thanks for dropping by.

AK