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 The Mavericks (21-10) not only took advantage of the Lakers
playing on the second night of the back-to-back, but the visitors
were without superstar guard Kobe Bryant. Dallas has won five
straight against Los Angeles.
Did Lakers coach Byron Scott second guess not playing Bryant?
"Obviously we need help, no doubt about that," he said. "I don't
think about that though. I decided to rest him, the other guys are
playing, they are professional. They still have the chance to win
the game."
Mavericks guard Rajon Rondo scored 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds
and dished out seven assists, as Dallas improved to 2-2 since the
blockbuster trade landed the four-time All-Star from Boston.
"I was able to get to the paint," Rondo said. "Coach talked all week
about getting to the paint, being aggressive and taking my shots.
It's about making reads and I feel like I fit right in."
 All five Dallas starters scored in double figures, with center Tyson
Chandler finishing with a double-double of 15 points and 12
rebounds. Nowitzki added 14 points and eight boards. Shooting guard
Monta Ellis, who like Nowitzki was questionable before the game,
scored 15 and had seven assists. Veteran forward Charlie Villanueva
was key in the fourth quarter and had 15 points off the bench.
"I got to give a lot of credit to my teammates who kept finding me
for the open shots," Villanueva said. "I have spent a lot of hours
in the gym with practice and repetition getting my game sharp and
working on my craft. We are working things out now and all the guys
need to step up."
The Lakers (9-21) remained competitive despite being without the
NBA's third-leading scorer all-time for the third consecutive game.
Veteran power forward Carlos Boozer had 18 points and eight rebounds
in a reserve role.
Los Angeles dominated the offensive boards but couldn't overcome
poor shooting. Starting small forward Wesley Johnson missed 11 of 14
shots, typifying the Lakers' 36.4-percent shooting.
Nowitzki made his latest climb up the all-time scoring list with a
jumper to open the second half, moving past Elvin Hayes for eighth
on the all-time list. Bryant stood up to join in the ovation for
Nowitzki.
"It's hard to describe what we're seeing in real time," Mavericks
coach Rick Carlisle said. "He's making it look sort of easy. The
amount of work that's gone into him getting to this point in his
career is something that none of us will ever really be able to
fathom.
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"It's not an accident. A lot of blood, a lot of sweat, a lot of guts
go into a career like this. Kobe Bryant's the same kind of guy.
These guys are once-a-generation type players. We're just very
fortunate we've even had a chance to watch it for an extended period
of time."
The Mavericks raced from the gates early to take control of the
Bryant-less Lakers. Dallas opened the game with a 10-0 lead, with a
pair of buckets coming off lobs to Chandler at the rim for dunks.
"They are a better basketball team," Scott said. "That's the bottom
line. We had our chances, I thought the first quarter we came out
very lackadaisical, we just didn't play well, didn't seem very
interested in the first quarter."
The Lakers gradually worked their way back into the game and tied
the game at 30-all with a 9-0 run. Boozer was a catalyst in the
surge and had 10 points at the break for Los Angeles.
Dallas did regroup and went go into halftime up 48-42 thanks in
solid offensive showings from Rondo, forward Chandler Parsons and
Chandler, and 57-percent shooting. Nowitzki only had four points at
halftime.
The Mavericks opened up some breathing room to start the third
quarter and kept Los Angeles at arm's length for the remainder of
the game. Lakers forward Nick Young (15 points) tried to rally his
team late, but Dallas held on.
NOTES: Dallas starters F Dirk Nowitzki and G Monta Ellis were both
ill and missed the morning shootaround but were active. Nowitzki
came into the game six points shy of passing Elvin Hayes for eighth
on the NBA career scoring list. ... Lakers G Kobe Bryant missed his
third straight game to rest a myriad of aches and pains. Bryant,
third in the league in scoring, has listed his knees, feet, back and
Achilles' as sore.
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