04/25/24
May 03, 2011
Mavericks Edge Lakers in Game 1: Dirk Nowitzki's go-ahead free throws with 19.5 seconds left and a Pau Gasol turnover led the Dallas Mavericks to a 96-94 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in game 1 of their playoff series. The Lakers, playing at home, blew a 16-point second half lead. Dallas had never beaten Los Angeles before in the playoffs in 10 tries. "This team can beat us, it's clear," Kobe Bryant said.
posted by rcade to basketball at 08:47 AM - 9 comments
The Lakers continue to turn their game on and off as they have for the last few years. New Orleans probably thought they had a chance too after game one of their series, of course that is just good TV drama. Now the ratings will be higher for the series as some believe the Mavricks actually have a chance, but my best guess is the Lakers will turn it on like they did in the first half of last nights game. The Lakers are very good at sandbagging. I know I will take heat (no pun intended for saying this) but I would not be surprised if Phil Jackson was sandbagging against the Heat during their regular season games. He is pretty savvy at not tipping his hand to the real competition.
posted by Atheist at 01:23 PM on May 03, 2011
Lakers are likely to still win series (they are favored to, aren't they?), but it is possible to "sandbag" without actually losing. I lean more to giving the Mavericks credit for winning last night's game than any idea that the Lakers might have intentionally lost.
posted by graymatters at 01:54 PM on May 03, 2011
Fans of teams that have been on top for a while fool themselves into thinking they can turn greatness on and off like a faucet. Phil Jackson would not have intentionally encouraged the Lakers to play inferior to the Heat or anybody else during the regular season.
posted by rcade at 02:15 PM on May 03, 2011
What would the Lakers or Jackson have to gain by playing like shit during game one, at home, versus Dallas? Other than the fact most of the team got added rest by not appearing to put forth much effort for four quarters.
posted by dyams at 02:22 PM on May 03, 2011
Dallas handled Kobe reasonably well offensively and put some wear on him on the defensive end. Don't expect that will change a whole lot in future games. They also won because their supporting players kicked the crap out of the Lakers.
Lakers should win this series but will need more effort from Bynum, Gasol, Artest and others.
Can you imagine how good Dallas would be with Caron Butler?
posted by cixelsyd at 04:07 PM on May 03, 2011
The Mavs can't count on quality minutes like that from Corey Brewer each game, but if they get them, then that's a huge bonus for them. He was a major factor in that third quarter rally. Of course, if JET hadn't fouled Lamar Odom 60 feet from the basket at the end of the first half (also meaning Dirk doesn't draw that Technical), they wouldn't have had near as big of a hill to climb.
I saw an interesting stat on Twitter that Kobe's closest shot attempt was 11 feet from the basket. I'm not sure if it's his injury, the Mavs' beefed up inside presence or some combination of the two, but that's a fairly significant portion of his game taken away.
I was also a bit surprised to see Kobe try to go for the game winner with the final shot. You're down two at home in the Playoffs. Why not take a higher-percentage shot and try to bury the game in OT?
Take these thoughts with a grain of salt as I was half-watching/half-cramming for a Physics II final.
posted by Ufez Jones at 04:25 PM on May 03, 2011
Phil Jackson's contribution to the loss.
posted by cixelsyd at 04:33 PM on May 03, 2011
One thing I never did figure out (though there are many things I cannot figure out) and never heard a full explanation of was Phil Jackson's overlong conversations with the refs, the timeout, and the substitution issues before the Dallas inbound leading to Gasol's foul of Dirk. Did he get caught in an illegal substitution or something?
posted by graymatters at 05:56 PM on May 03, 2011
Headline should read "Mavericks Edge Kobe Bryant in Game 1." The rest of the Lakers seemed to be taking up space. Yes, Kobe, they (the Mavs) can beat you because the rest of your team, if Game 1 is any indication, seem fairly worthless. Kobe's arms must have been tired after heaving up 29 shots.