LOS ANGELES — The Mavericks couldn't do anything right. The Lakers could do no wrong.
Jordan Farmar led seven players in
double figures with a career high-tying 24 points, and Los Angeles
trounced the Western Conference's second-best team in a 131-96 victory
over Dallas on Sunday night.
"Payback for what the Cowboys did to my Eagles," said Kobe Bryant, whose hometown Philadelphia football team lost 24-0 in Texas.
Andrew Bynum had 19 points on 8-of-8
shooting, five rebounds and four assists, Lamar Odom had 15 points and
15 rebounds, Bryant 15 points and eight assists, Sasha Vujacic and
Shannon Brown 11 points each and Derek Fisher 10 for the defending NBA
champions, who improved to a league-best 27-6.
"It's a lot easier to play against
teams like Dallas because you know the focus is going to be there,"
Bryant said. "We had a great performance against one of the best teams
in the league."
For the first time in six games, the
Lakers didn't go down to the wire to win or end up losing. Instead,
they asserted their dominance in the West with their largest victory of
the season. They shot season bests from the field (63 percent) and
3-point range (81 percent) and had a season high in points.
"Yes, you can expect this every night," Lakers coach Phil Jackson deadpanned.
It was the biggest margin of victory in the series between the rivals, topping the Lakers' 33-point win on Dec. 1, 1993.
Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and eight
rebounds for the Mavs, who never led and shot poorly the entire game.
Jason Kidd was scoreless in 27 minutes on the second night of a
back-to-back.
"Some nights you don't have it
offensively, but you at least have to get some stops to stay in the
game," Nowitzki said. "They had whatever they wanted. Bynum was on the
inside, Kobe was making shots everywhere. On offense, we just couldn't
do anything right."
With Bryant distributing the ball,
Odom took over rebounding and Bynum did a little of everything after
Pau Gasol strained his left hamstring seven minutes into the first
quarter. He didn't return after scoring six points and was expected to
have an ultrasound Monday. He walked out gingerly without talking to
reporters.
The Spanish forward sat out the first 11 games this season with a strained right hamstring.
"Anytime Pau has an injury, we're
very concerned," Jackson said. "He complained before the game started
he was feeling some tightness."
The Lakers romped to a 40-point lead
after three quarters, letting Jackson go deep into his bench in the
fourth. All 11 available Lakers scored. They outscored Dallas 52-36 in
the paint while controlling the boards 44-40 and piling up 33 assists.
"They're the champs. They came out
and played from the beginning and we didn't," Kidd said. "We just
didn't make shots, and when we tend not to make shots, we usually stop
playing defense. That's what we kind of reverted to. But it's just one
game. Now we go back home and play on Tuesday, so we'll get back going
in the right direction."
Nowitzki was the only Dallas player
in double figures by halftime with 16, while the rest of the starting
lineup combined for 11 points. Drew Gooden also was scoreless.
The Mavs shot a measly 16 percent in
the first quarter, making just four baskets and missing all six of
their 3-point attempts. They made eight field goals in the second and
trailed 64-39 at halftime.
Notes
Forward Ron Artest could rejoin the
Lakers as soon as Tuesday after missing five games following a fall at
his home on Christmas night. He's been cleared to practice fully Monday
and if there's no problems, Artest could play Tuesday at home against
his former team Houston. … Bryant's 15 points tied him with Patrick
Ewing for 15th on the NBA's career scoring list with 24,815 points.
Last season, Bryant passed seven players while moving up the list. Next
up is former Lakers GM Jerry West (25,192), a mentor for Bryant. …
Mavs starting C Erick Dampier didn't play because of a knee problem.