Who: La Lakers @ Dallas Mavericks When: Thursday, December 4th, 2003 Venue: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Tx Time: 9:30 CST TV: TNT Teams at a Glance LA Lakers (15-3 First, Pacific .883) Dallas Mavericks(12 - 16 First, Midwest .667) Standings LA Lakers(10-0 Home, 5-3 Road) Dallas Mavericks (10-0 Home, 5-3 Road) Probable Starters PG - vs Gary Payton/Steve Nash SG - vs Kobe Bryant/Michael Finley SF - vs Devean George/Antawn Jamison PF - vs Karl Malone/Antoine Walker C - vs Shaquille O'neal/Danny Fortson Key Matchup vs Shaq O'Neal/Danny Fortson (had thier ways of words earlier this season) Injuries Dallas: Tariq Abdul-Wahead - IL Jon Steffason-IL Dirk Nowitzki- Day to Day Los Angeles: Rick Fox - IL Jamal Sampson Brian Cook Keys for Dallas - Keep the running game on, the only one who can run is Payton and Kobe(IMO). Feed the ball in the post to Walker, and dont let the Lakers run, they also have a running game, you have to try to play solid Transistion D, as you did with the Wizards. Try to Rebound as much as you can and get to the free throw line as much as possiable, as free throws can be the key to the game. Keys for Los Angeles - Dallas doesnt have its leading scorer as other teams tried to do, TAKE ADVANTAGE. Bang in the post and Shaq should take his size advantage over Fortson. Keep your running game going as Dallas doesnt have too many fast runners theirselves. Feed Shaq and Kobe the ball, and get the ball to Malone on the inside. My Prediction - Dallas Wins 110 -117 (Say what you want, Im biased and always go for the Underdogs!)
This game will be a very close game, much like San Antonio's game last night. But with the way the Lakers are rolling this year, I'm going for the Lakers to win this one. Just like what Gary Payton said last night, they are sending a statement to this league that this team will be very tough to beat. I'm looking for the same gameplan like I expect every night. For Shaq to get the ball in the low post and dominate Fortson. In the first meeting in the season opener, Shaq had his way around Fortson, and he was tough to defend. (Who can defend Shaq?) I'm also expecting Kobe to have a decent game. Michael Finley is a ok defender, but Kobe can take on anybody, and still can score 25 a night. Also, I look for Gary Payton to jumpstart this offense, run the fastbreak, and make things happen on every Laker possession. Karl Malone, he'll get the ball in the post, look around for cutting teammates, or just fall back and hit his fadeaway jumper, or shoot his 18 footer. This Laker defense will have to shut down the perimeter because Dallas lives and dies off that. With all these things that I've said, the Lakers should win by 5 pts.
