With an opportunity to put the two-time defending NBA champions on their heels, the Mavericks seized the moment in a very big way with a convincing 93-81 victory at Staples Center. The win enabled Dallas to take a surprising 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series after it stunningly won both games in LA.
In fact, now that the Mavs will host Games 3 and 4 Friday and Sunday at American Airlines Center, they actually could sweep and win this series without having to come back to the West Coast.
And who would have imagined that happening before this series started?
"We're a great road team because we're resilient," center Brendan Haywood said. "We're a family - everybody roots for each other.
"And we have a lot of different guys that can hit big shots. So on the road usually when we're down, we never feel that we're out of it."
The Mavs led the majority of the game, using poise and solid defense to carry a 68-62 lead into the fourth quarter. The lead swelled to 75-65 with 9:46 remaining after Haywood converted an offensive rebound, Jason Terry buried a 3-pointer and J.J. Barea coaxed in a pair of free throws.
The Lakers closed to six, but Barea struck again. This time the pint-sized playmaker hit a floater, then fed Haywood for a thundering dunk and a 79-69 lead with 6:05 remaining.
A three-point basket by Jason Kidd and a driving layup by Barea padded the Mavs' advantage to 84-69 with 4:39 left. From there, the Lakers were pressured unlike they have been at any point during these playoffs.
LA's biggest problem was its long-range shooting. It was 0 for 15 from 3-point range until Kobe Bryant hit one late in the fourth quarter, and wound up 2 for 20. The Mavs were 8 of 25.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 of his 24 points through the first three quarters, and things got so bad for the Lakers that their fans booed them on a couple of occasions.
Shawn Marion added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Mavericks, Barea scored 12 with four assists and Kidd added 10 points and six assists.
DeShawn Stevenson also played a major role for the Mavs at both ends of the floor. The scrappy guard converted three 3-pointers through the first three periods - the last one a bank shot that pushed Dallas ahead 56-50 early in the third period.
Kobe Bryant led LA with 23 points on 9-of-20 shooting. Andrew Bynum scored 18 and grabbed 13 rebounds, Pau Gasol contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Ron Artest scored 11 before he was ejected with under a minute left for clobbering Barea in the face.
Not many so-called basketball experts gave the Mavs a chance in this series. Still, despite having the NBA kingpins on the ropes, Haywood and his teammates aren't about to celebrate too soon.
"When you're playing against this Lakers team you can never relax," Haywood said. "2-0, that's good.
"But we will never relax until we see we have Game 4 wrapped up."
"The challenge is to be consistent in our attack," said Terry, who had nine points and five assists. "Defensively, continue to play the way we play.
"Offensively, continue to be aggressive and stay with the flow."
It was that "flow" which put the Mavs in position to shock the world.
