May 2, 2011

Lakers Crack Under Extreme Pressure

By Anthony CinQue Carter

HGSTAR1NEWS

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers once again help a playoff opponent under 100 points. They have done that in six of seven playoff games. However, this time the Lakers surrendered two points more to the Dallas Mavericks than they themselves could score.

Los Angeles fell short, 96-94, on Monday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference semis at Staples Center before 18,997.

"I'm highly concerned," Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said. "This team can beat us. It's clear. We just have to come in ready to play Game 2."

The Mavericks bench was definitely ready to play, outscoring the Lakers bench 40-25. Jason Terry led the Dallas reserves with 15 points. Lamar Odom paced the Lakers bench with 15 and 12 rebounds as Los Angeles was +3 with him in the game, but Matt Barnes, Steve Blake, and Shannon Brown combined for the other 10 points and a total of seven rebounds. Additionally, they were -3, -1 and -8 respectively.

“We’re not happy right now,” said Terry. “We’re not satisfied. We didn’t play our best basketball.”

For the Lakers, Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest did not play their best basketball either, combining for 10 points, five assists and eight rebounds. And while Artest did manage a +1 for the night, Bynum was an abysmal -16.

“I felt I wasn’t aggressive at all, getting in low-post position, nothing,” said Bynum. “I kept letting them hit me first.”

Bryant (+6) scored 36 for the home team, with forward Pau Gasol (+9) having a stellar all-around game with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. Derek Fisher (-1), the fifth starter for the Lakers, finished with eight points, six assists and zero turnovers matching Jason Kidd’s seven points, 11 assists, five rebounds, and five turnovers for a -4 clip.

"It's definitely a great win for us, but if you look at their last series, they lost Game 1 and came right back and won the next two and had the series back in control," Nowitzki said. "We'd love to go for it in Game 2."

Game Notes

Game 2 is Wednesday at 7:30 at Staples Center.