Hope no one looks in this topic anymore. Like always, I edit my previews and forgot to start a new thread, and accidently hit Save Changes.
I'm going with the Lakers tonight. Even though the Lakers haven't played on a consistent level on the road, I feel they'll get things rolling tonight. I think the backcourt will have to do a better job on setting the stage early. To get Dallas on their toes. Which means Gary Payton will have to come off his 7/13 effort with 24 points and have a much better game tonight. Possibly a triple-double if he can also box out people and grab loose balls. We already know that Kareem Rush is a scorer once he receives a significant amount of touches. He'll have to find ways to create his own shot, and to not make stupid decisions with the basketball. He always has a habit on doing that. Now for our frontcourt, it's clear that Devean George's mind is somewhere else. Like he's mentally out of it. So I don't know if Phil will shuffle the lineup tonight, but I want to see Russell start. Like I mentioned in my last post, he's capable of scoring 15 on any given night, and he's been a starter for most of his career, so why not give him a chance? With the amazing results Brian Cook is putting up as a rookie with extended minutes, and his first career double-double last night at Memphis, and with Slava's proven inside attack and his contributions of rebounds, the Laker frontcourt should be able to have a slight edge on all the rebound categories. My prediction? I say Lakers by 3 tonight.
I'm also going to take the Lakers tonight. I was impressed with the way they held together last night and I think the confidence will carry over to a vulnerable Mavs team. I agree, Devean George needs to come off the bench for a few games and regain his energy and aggressiveness he normally plays with. PJ might even want to experiment with a lineup of Slava, Walton, and Cook starting tonight. They scrimmage together in practice and have a better feel and flow when they are in the game. We can count on Payton to do his part tonight, and Russell has been shooting well from outside. The Lakers need to challenge the Mavs from 3pt range and not let them heat up from behind the arc. If Dirk, Nash, Walker, and/or Finley locks in from 3pt land, it's going to be lights out for us. The Lakers usually bring their best against the Mavs and I expect a hard fought game and a steal on the road for them to end this 8 game losing streak.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Blinger0723:</div><div class="quote_post">Lakers will get blown out. Mavs by 15+</div> Totally agree, Lakers try hard though and have some decency. Maybe not by that much, I'm just glad about how Cook and Rush have been playing. Hopefully the Lakers'll be back on their feet real soon. Mavs by 11 at most.
I just don't see the Lakers winning this won. They will put up a fight, but if the Mavs get hot and hit their threes early in the game, it will be hard for the Lakers to battle back. Maybe at home they'd have a chance, but on the road, I'm not feelin LA tonight. We will put up a fight, but IMO towards the end of the game Mavs will pull away and beat the Lakers by 10+ at least.
Similar the Sacremento and Arco, you don't go into Dallas with less than half a tank and expect to win. Dallas plays terrific at the America Airlines arena, and always has. I'm looking for Walker to have a triple double and Nowitski to have a double double in a 22 point Maverick win.
As much as I would like to see the Lakers steal a much needed W tonight, I also doubt it will happen. Dallas has been surging lately and is nearly impossible to defeat at home. Sadly, I have to go with the Mavs by 10.
I would love to see a Laker win. However, I don't see that happening. Hopefully the Lakeshow will shock the world playing on the road!
I dig the way the Mavs have been playing and since they're at home and play great ball when they are, I'm going with the Mavericks by 14.
I just turned on the T.V. so I can't really comment too much so far but..... 46-35 Dallas, with 5:00 left in the half
Lakers making a run to open the 3rd quarter 65-65 , 8 minutes left in the 3rd UPDATE: Ouch, its now 87-69 Dallas, with 41 secs left in the 3rd quarter...
Too many weapons for the Mavs. The Lakers made a nice run, but they couldn't hold off the Mavs run and find themselves down by 17 with about 3 minutes left. Play of the Game was a Devean George put back dunk over Shawn Bradley. Prior to the play they were in a shoving match, so hopefully this gets Devean out of his funk and back to playing above the rim. 9 straight road defeats is now a franchise record, and to think this squad was being debated as one of the greatest ever. Injuries are the worst!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kosarkas:</div><div class="quote_post">Damn, what is going on. We had a tie game in 3rd quarter and then dallas just pulled off </div> Why is this a surprise? Dallas were expected to blowout the Lakers.How can you seriously think otherwise? Surprised L.A only lost by 19.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">Why is this a surprise? Dallas were expected to blowout the Lakers.How can you seriously think otherwise? Surprised L.A only lost by 19.</div> When did he say it was a suprise? He basically simply said it was a close game, but Lakers weren't able to execute and and the Mavs pulled away. Though I pretty much could figure out this is how it was going to be. Lakers seemed like they were hanging with them at one point, but the Lakers lineup right now could never out do the Mavericks with all the weapons they have for a whole game. Like I expected, George, Rush, and Medevedenko all provided nice scoring, but also as a team, were very lazy on defense, and let the Mavs get in easy scores to lock up the game. Also, I was highly dissapointed that Cook got his first NBA start last night, recorded a double double, and then tonight Walton gets the call, and Cook only plays 19 minutes.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Purple N Gold:</div><div class="quote_post">When did he say it was a suprise? He basically simply said it was a close game, but Lakers weren't able to execute and and the Mavs pulled away</div> From the tone of his post he seemed surprise that Dallas would easily pull away.
Purple N Gold just said it best, The Mavericks were just too much for us last night. The Lakers were out of it early in the first half. We couldn't rebound, we couldn't set an offensive rhythm early in the ballgame, and our transition game just sucked both offensively and defensively. I did like how they rallied in the second half. It seemed to me that they were going to make the close in the final quarters, but Dallas soon got it together again. I won't criticize on Devean much because I know he scored 24 points, the leading scorer on the team, but he did make some stupid mistakes in the ballgame. I was happy that Russell and Walton got some playing time, but Russell didn't do a damn thing when he was in there. His line drive 3 pointers just clanked off the rim. I can't really blame Walton for his performance. He's always used to having 10 minutes a night. Kareem Rush had a decent game, but he made some mental mistakes that just had me pissed. Gary Payton tried, but one man can't lead a team to victory. It takes all five guys to get it done. This should be some good news for Laker fans. Kobe Bryant is expected to return tomorrow just in time for the Utah game. And Shaq should be back by next Wednesday, so maybe it's about time we breathe a sigh of relier. WHEW!!
