Thursday, March 31, 2011

5 Players Ejected After a Rough 109-82 Mavs' Loss to the Lakers

The Dallas Mavericks stepped foot in the Staples Center for the second time in less than 24 hours to face whom might be a potential second-round playoff matchup, the LA Lakers. Still, both teams battling for the second seed, this game ended up to be more of a battle than anyone expected. Thing became heated and Dallas wound up with their worst loss of the season, 109-82, and ended their five-game winning streak.

The Mavericks started the game off strong, ending their streak of first quarter struggles. After watching the first quarter, the game wasn't predicted to end at all how it did. Bryant and Gasol outscored the duo of Dirk and Kidd, racking up a combined 15 points in the first. However, the Mavs worked hard on the defensive end and stayed in the game, trailing just 28-26 at the end of the first quarter.

Nevertheless, in the second quarter, Bynum started doing what he does best, dominating the Mavs' inside. During this time, emotions were flying all around for the Mavs' as a hard foul was commited by Matt Barnes on Barea, leading to a Dallas' technical after the two argued. Despite the argument, Barea kept battling for the lead as Peja continued his best perimeter shooting and put the Mavs up 40-38 halfway through the second. Despite their effort, the Mavs' committed three straight turnovers which eventually led to a 7-0 Laker run. Dallas went down by seven but cut it to three at the end of the second, heading to the locker room down just 54-51.

In the first half, the trio of Bryant, Gasol and Bynum were unstoppable as they combined to score 36 points. At this point, Dirk was the only Mav in double-figures with 14 points. Dallas had 8 turnovers which turned into 11 Laker points, were out-rebounded 25-18, and outshot 47.9% to 45.2%. Although the score was close, the Mavs' were definitely not playing their best out there.

This showed in the start of the second half as Dirk received a technical foul for arguing with officials. Roddy made way to the basket, trying to keep the Mavs in the game but was unable to do it by himself as Dallas soon trailed by double-digits. The Lakers ended the third quarter with the 82-70 lead.

Odom hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter as the Mavs trailed by 20 points. Soon after, Terry pushed Steve Blake to the floor, receiving a flagrant-2 call, starting a tiff between both teams that would eventually lead to Terry, Blake, Barnes, and Haywood all getting ejected. However, the Mavs kept their heads up and instantaneously cut their deficit to 11, but couldn't make the full comeback. The Lakers were up by as much as 28 points when Shannon Brown also got ejected after pushing Cardinal. The Lakers obviously held onto the large lead and won it 110-82, ending the Mavs' five-game win streak and sweeping Dallas 2-1.

The Lakers outshot the Mavs 44.7% to 36.1% and out-rebounded the Mavs 52-47.

Dirk led the Mavs' with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Peja added 13 points while Barea racked up 10 being the only other Mavs' in double-figures.

Bryant had a game-high 28 points, while Gasol added 20 points and Bynum had another double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Odom also had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Mavs' five-game win streak finally came to an end while they went down in the series vs the Lakers 2-1.

Next, the Mavs will move on to face the Golden State Warriors.

Artest and Marion battle for the rebound
Bynum getting through Mavs' defense
Chandler and Bynum waiting for the rebound
Gasol shoots a jumper over Dirk
Kobe shoots a jumper over Roddy

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home

MyDallasMavs: 5 Players Ejected After a Rough 109-82 Mavs' Loss to the Lakers

This page has moved to a new address.

5 Players Ejected After a Rough 109-82 Mavs' Loss to the Lakers