10:10 - Good two man working between Vlad and Gasol.  Vlad begins the action at the top of the arc, dumps the ball inside to the Spaniard, then gets feed again while cutting to the rack.  Kidd was shadowing Vlad to no avail. 

9:29 - Fantastic pass from Kidd to Terry for a wide open triple.  The future HOF PG draws a few defenders as he works the ball paintward, then dishes off to a completely uncovered Jet.  No resistance draining the shot.

5:51 - Pau connects on a mid-range/outside jumper, at least the second or third he's hit tonight.  Definitely more lift on display with his shot tonight.  Wednesday, I thought he looked fairly active and fluid, all things considered.  But the rust was mostly apparent in his shot.  Tonight, not so much.

Another mid-ranger canned by Gasol, this time from 12 feet.  Like I was just saying.  haha

3:02 -  The second layup coming LO's way exploiting a one on one matchup against Dirk. First time, he blew past Dirk to the hole.  The recent saw Lamar glide past him to the rack.  That's a mano y' mano that'll work in Odom's favor approximately 9.3 times out of 10, in my humble estimation.  I'd implement it with great impunity as a form of strategery (heh, heh, heh).

1:18 - LO pays in flesh for the pair of freebies earned.  While going in for the layup, he takes a headful of full speed Notwitzki forearm.  A few seconds and a timeout are needed for Odom to gather himself. The results are a 1-2 clip at the stripe.

2.0 - Kobe's previous pair sunk at the stripe squares the game up at 31 all.  With 4 seconds previously remaining and a whistle to give, Luke fouls Kidd bringing the ball up court.  Smart play.  Not as smart?  Farmar fouling Ty Lue behind the half court line as he takes the inbound from Kidd.  With all due respect to Lue's shooting abilities, admitedly featuring some range from distance, what exactly did Jordan think the ex-Laker was gonna do on that part of the floor?  The Purple and Gold catch a break when Lue misses both freebies afforded.  Clearly, some more D is in order, as the Lakers can't possibly expect to win while allowing the Mavs a 60% clip from the field.  Doesn't matter if they're also shooting 60%.  Tough way to manufacture a win.  We'll see what happens.  BK is having trouble staying online, so for now, I've got the second. 

SECOND QUARTER

10:25 - Howard isolates Walton along the baseline and draws the "and one" foul, Luke's second infraction in about 15 seconds.  He's got three and hits the bench in favor of a reentering Vlad Rad.  Howard hits the freebie.  Mavs up by 1.

8:44 - A second chance at the rim allows Howard to make good on his quest to make ball and net.  On the previous possession, too much dribbling by Sasha creates a 24 shot clock avoiding miss by Farmar.  The errant rock is scooped by Dampier and eventually put down in two-point bucket form by Kidd.

8:09 - A flagrant is called against Gasol after coming down on Dampier.  So happy I'm getting the opportunity to see "The Joey Crawford Show."  Too often, I attend a basektball game and the referee doesn't shine nearly enough spotlight on himself.  Glad to see Crawford remedying that issue.

6:05 - LO was clearly peeved by a call against him under the Mavs goal by a ref quite a distance off (I'll let y'all guess which).  But rather than pout, he makes up for it by

5:16 - Back to back 21-foot buckets with Dirk going on one against Gasol and beating the Spaniard's attempts to thwart progess. 

4:38 - This time LO's on Dirk. The shot is nine feet closer this time around, but result is identical.  Phil calls a timeout as the Mavs are now up by 14.

Time out ends.  The Laker possession kicks off with Gasol missing an 11-footer, but ends after no Mav bothers to box out Kobe.  The Mamba grabs the board and throws down.

3:00 - Good things tend to happen when LO begins a possession with the ball at the top of the arc and looks to drive in the paint's direction.  Like this time, where he gets to the bucket in a few stretched out strides and draws the "and one" foul off some seriously "ole" reaching by Eddie Jones.  That's 16 points already for Lamar, who's off to a very strong game.  The sequence also puts the Lakers back within 10.

Not that it has anything to do with the game, but these two women with cartoonishly fake chests keep getting up from their courtside seats, walking about halfway around the court, then head back to their seats again.  To say these ladies are seeking out attention and making foolish spectacles of themselves (not to mention giving the female population a bad name) would be a raging understatement.

1:19 - Nice sequence for the Lakers.  Coming off a Fisher three ball, the Lakers play some D under their own goal (highlighted by swats credited to Gasol and Vlad), then Fish gets fouled by Terry while putting up a jumper just inside the downtown city limits.  A three ball from Kidd, however, deflates a bit of wind from those suddenly flapping sails. 

12.4 - Gasol's at the line to cut the Dallas lead back to 10 with a pair going down.  And LO's got two fouls, so to risk a cheapie in the closing seconds...

Ira Newble sighting!!!

The half wraps up with a 64-54 Dallas lead.  The Mavs are maintaining a solid shooting percentage, both from the field (58%) and behind the arc (50%).  They're also getting beat on the glass 22-17.  Not much doing from either small forward donning a Laker uni (Vlad and Luke are a combined 2-8).  A lot needs to pick for the game to turn around.  We shall see.  BK with the third (unless his net conks out).

THIRD QUARTER

Still AK at the wheel. 

11:12 - Another from distance for Vlad, but LO is there to work the offensive glass and score the putback. 

9:33 - Some very good D by LO forces JT into a seriously tough attempt to beat a 24 second violation.  The ball hits more air than iron, bouncing right and landing in Gasol's care.  End result of the new Laker possession? A Kobe layup and a Dallas lead now down to 8.

9:01 - Not sure if LO got a piece of Devean George's launch from distance or just really bothered it, but in any event, some great D leads to an airball for the threepeat member.   Lamar gets rewarded for his efforts by getting set up for a layup courtesy of his buddy Pau.

7:17 - Back to back possessions with Kobe good on his attempts.  Those four points cut the Dallas lead to the same deficit.  The Lakers have outscored the Mavs 12-8 since the frame kicked off.

6:48 - Make that 13-8, after Kobe's good on one of a pair at the line.             

6:32 - It's one thing to get beat by your man.  It's another to lose your man in transition or traffic.  But it's entirely another to be facing the opposite way as your guy runs behind you for an uncontested dunk, as Howard just did to Vlad.   

4:21 - LO works Dirk down low, then wraps the pass around to Gasol for the uncontested dunk.  He ends up getting his own meds, however, when the reigning MVP fakes him right, spins left and uses the right English to sink the offbalance layup.

2:33 - Lue makes optimal use of the wide body screen, getting plenty of distance between him and Farmar while behind the arc.  Easy shot for Lue to tee up and drain.

1:21 - Four point play coming for Sasha as he comes up net on a triple while drawing the contact from Terry.

38.2 - The majority of Dallas' possession sees the Lakers playing some stellar D (in particular by Ronny Turiaf, who ends up holding his own covering Lue in a switch, then gets back to the basket to bother Howard's layup attempt).  But the seconds winding down, Ty leaves Farmar with a pair of broken ankles of a crossover, then draws the foul from Turiaf in prevention of the easy deuce.

The third frame ends with an 87-80 score.  The Laker D has improved a bit, with the enemy going 0-3 from distance and the overall FG% down to 56 (it's all relative).  But they're still doing enough to make life rough on Dirk and getting key stops to build on any mo.  They've only got a quarter to figure out the formula.  We shall see.  I'm here for the home stretch.

FOURTH QUARTER

We're in the Ira Newble business, people!  I don't blame Phil for making the move.  They've gotten jack out of Vlad on either side of the ball and Luke's two minutes of play were hardly inspiring.  Plus, they need some stops to sustain any momentum.  Even while playing catch up, worth taking a flyer on a D-minded fella.

10:33 - Sasha drains a three one minute, eight seconds after being inspired to follow suit by Farmar.  The MAvs lead is in chipping form.

9:03 - A running layup for Luke Walton set up by a steal from LO.  Clearly, the tide is feeling rather gravitational in the Laker direction. 

8:27 - Beautiful dump off pass in the paint from Farmar to a cutting LO.  The Dallas advantage is now down to three. 

7:39 - More of LO working in the post.  More of LO scoring from close range.  That's a quarter-century tally for Lamar and a Laker deficit now down to a scant point.

Incidentally, I was a little surprised Newble was lifted so quickly.  Not that I think it's even a mistake by Phil.  The Dallas lead has continually dropped since Newble sat and truth be told, the guy didn't do a ton while he was in there.  I just expected him to get a few more minutes of run, even if Jackson was just trying to make a point with his insertion.  About five minutes or so, as opposed to around two, especially with Walton and Vlad providing so little tonight.  And like I said, the Lakers were having trouble getting consistent stops to match baskets, so I thought the idea of putting him in even just to help sustain was a move that made sense.  Again, I don't consider it awful strategy, but more curious.  I'll try to ask Phil about it after the game. 

6:15 - LO gets fouled by Dampier at the rack, the contact preventing him converting on a gorgeous wrap around from Kobe.  One of two fall.  The Mavs are up by a pair of points.

4:09 - Will a loss of composure cost the Mavs?  Howard throws his headband after LO earns a trip to the stripe, drawing them "T" hands Joey Crawford lives to make.  Technical freebie goes down for Kobe.  LO sinks one of two.  If the Mavs lose by 1, Howard should go to bed feeling a little guilty.

3:45: - Kobe's sixth and seventh freebie attempts of the night go off without a hitch.  That's a 101 knot we're looking at now. 

1:44 - Kobe needs to be careful.  I understand why he thought a foul should have come on that missed layup, but he can't react with even a little bit of the waving arms and yelling.  Especially not in a game with Crawford reffing.  Crawford strikes me as the kinds dude who'd live to award Kkobe with his 16th, suspendable T. 

1:14 - Dirk is still trying to figure out which way the rock went after sick fake from LO heading to the rack for a layup.  Great set up by Kobe after facing the double.

40.8 - Pau converts his and one layup opportunity after some back and forth passing between him and LO as they move within bucket proximity.  Lakers now up by 2.

3.7 - Huge play by Farmar, blocking Terry's attempt from distance.  The ball goes back to the Mavs, but only with them having seriously little time to work with.  Dirk draws a bit of contact from Pau during his desperation heave from downtown, but not enough to draw the potential four point play.  Of course, that odds of a four pointer coming are seriously lowered after the shot doesn't even connect. 

Lakers win a PLAYOFF CLINCHING 112-108 win over the Mavs.  Big night from the Laker "Big Three."  25/4/7 from Gasol.  25/10/6 for Kobe.  And for (in my humble opinion) the player of the game, Lamar Odom racked a 31/10/5/2 block effort.  That, as Larry the Cable Guy would say, is getting 'er done.  More to come later.  Thanks for dropping by.