<div align="center"> Los Angeles Lakers: 16-13 Dallas Mavericks: 20-10 Date: Wednesday, January 5th Time: 5:30 PM TV: KCAL, NBALP Previous Games: Lakers @ Spurs 100-83 (LOSS) Bucks @ Mavs 123-104 (WIN) <font color="purple"><font size="1">(Coach Rudy Tomjanovich)</font></font> C - <font color="Purple">Chris Mihm</font> (10.5 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 0.5 APG) PF - <font color="Purple">Lamar Odom</font> (14.4 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 2.6 APG) SF - <font color="Purple">Caron Butler</font> (13.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.3 APG) SG - <font color="Purple">Kobe Bryant</font> (28.5 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 6.8 APG) PG - <font color="Purple">Chucky Atkins</font> (11.0 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 3.7 APG) <font size="4">VS</font> <font color="royalblue"><font size="1">(Coach Don Nelson)</font></font> C - <font color="royalblue">Erick Dampier</font> (8.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 0.9 APG) PF - <font color="royalblue">Dirk Nowitzki</font> (26.7 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 2.8 APG) SF - <font color="royalblue">Josh Howard</font> (12.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.5 APG) SG - <font color="royalblue">Michael Finley</font> (17.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.8 APG) PG - <font color="royalblue">Jason Terry</font> (9.5 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 4.2 APG) LAKERS - <font color="purple">Jumaine Jones</font> Predicted Stats: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist MAVS - <font color="royalblue">Jerry Stackhouse</font> Predicted Stats: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists LAKERS - <font color="purple">Kobe Bryant</font> Predicted Stats: 30 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists MAVS - <font color="royalblue">Dirk Nowitzki</font> Predicted Stats: 34 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists</div> After the terrible beating we took against the San Antonio Spurs, playing the next day is going to be tough...in fact, not tough...incredibly tough. I'm sure the Lakers would be satisfied to play the Hawks or the Hornets (no offense, guys), but the Mavericks? Give us a break. Not only do we have less than 24 hours to rest up, but we also have to play yet another MVP-caliber player in Dirk Nowitzki, and his loaded roster, in Dallas. Talk about stacking the odds against us. Dampier and Nowitzki are going to destroy us on the boards...no doubt about that. If the rebounding doesn't get us, the inside scoring will...and that includes everyone driving in for layups and dunks, not just Dirk dropping 30+ on us. Terry, Howard, Finley, Nowitzki, Stackhouse, Daniels...all of these guys can score at will...and we all know how great our defense is (sarcasm mode ON). Dallas will score 100 points...and I wouldn't be shocked if they added another 100 to it. Guys on the bench...everyone is tired in Lakerland...so we could see more of our bench again. Jumaine Jones could be our spark late in the game, but who knows. His defense could help out alot against Howard and Stackhouse...and hopefully, Jones can come out firing and hitting shots, which can help us out extremely well when we find ourselves down by a big margin against the Mavs. One last thing that the Lakers need to stress: teamwork. The Mavs will show their ability to play as a team tonight...so the purple and gold need to focus on passing and setting good screens, instead of making this a one-on-five game. Two assists total in the first half...count them, two...against the Spurs last night. R-I-D-iculous. The Lakers are battered and beaten from the Spurs, and may not have enough time to recover for this game against the Mavs. Dirk will be on fire, and Kobe's efforts will fall short again. The Mavs will win in Dallas, 112-102.
Nice Preview Glad you have them Losing, You remember what happened last time you had them loosing. Oops i jinxed it lol. I hope we win. I tihnk we can pull this one off. GO LAKERS!!
I don't like this texas trip and I think Dallas will win it, but well GO LAKERS!... my prediction for Kobe: 41 pts, 4 rbds, 3 assists.
Nice Preview, I hope we going on the rught wat to win If caron play right in the defense - and stup the germany we can win
This game will be though as said before. Its not gonna be easy. Somehow i think the Mavs will have a "off night" and we will come out with a win. 105-104 with a triple double for Kobe.
The Lakers got worked last night, and now they have to face off against another top 4 Western Conference team. The Mavs have won 3 straight and I don't see them having a let down against the Lakers tonight. The Mavs have a lot of depth at the point guard position, and almost every team with a deep backcourt has burnt the Lakers this season. I'm just hoping the Lakers come out loose for this game and make it competitive. The Lakers need to defend the 3 ball tonight, because the Mavs do not have much of an inside game. Hopefully Brian Grant can be a factor off the bench and give the Lakers a lot of second chance opportunities with the second unit. The Lakers are in jeopardy of dropping out of final 8 spots and there is a good chance with Houston and Minny right around the corner.
We can just go ahead and tack on another loss for this Laker team. After getting our asses handed to us by what looks like will be the Western Conference representative in the NBA Finals, we face the second portion of the dreaded Texas Triangle and once again another top Western Conference foe, and any other team outside of the Sacramento Kings in which we just annililated, we don't step up to the challenge. Here's a quick tidbit: 0-11 when we allow 100 points or more. Dallas is one of the best offensive teams in the league outside of Phoenix, and I hope we don't trail by more than 14 points tonight. Mavericks 115 Lakers 99
We aren't doing well at all. We can still win this game though, but it'll be difficult. Score is 55-71... Yes Kobe is shooting bad. You would to if you had the three best NBA players, well the Maverick players guarding you like their life depended on it. You have no idea what good defense can do to any shooter. I'm surprised he's already made eight shots, to be honest. They're all over him. Brian Cook is shooting good... I say we give him more three point shots until he misses.
Kobe isn't shooting that bad, he's 8-19, it's not great, but it's 42%, okay, and it's over his season average, so I don't see how he's shooting bad. Also on the other side Dirk is 4-13, so s'all good.
Right, he's shooting 8-19 now... so it's gotten a lot better. He was shooting like 6-16 or something earlier. True, but Kobe is better than Dirk. We're getting close here now... down by twelve. I know that sounds like a lot, but in the NBA that's nothing. That's six shots. If we get on fire we could win this... you never know. What if Kobe gets hot and makes three 3-pointers in a row or something? Or Lamar Odom desides to take over? You never know. I'm just gonna cross my fingers.
It's the end of third quarter now... 83-93. We're only down by ten now. Kobe is known for his 20+ fourth quarters. If Kobe explodes for 25 points or something, and Cook nails a 3-pointer or two and we got Lamar Odom and Caron Butler making most of their shots... this game is ours. Man i'm still crossing my fingers. We can win this game. Remember that amazing.. oh hell I can't remember what it was anymore... 33 points or something like that comeback that we had? We can do this. Go Lakers!
Gah, fahgettaboutit. This game is a perfect example of how bad our defense is. <font size="4">BOBBITT</font>
Dirk played horrible. Hey Laker Fans, you guys were on a sort of a high but how do you like this Texas sized... Reality Check
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting samoan-maverick:</div><div class="quote_post">Dirk played horrible. Hey Laker Fans, you guys were on a sort of a high but how do you like this Texas sized... Reality Check</div> Honestly, if we didn't play San Antonio last night, we could've beaten you guys tonight.
Its tough enough to play the texas triangle..Playing back to back only makes things worse. The lakers interior defense looked worse than the mavs last season! Lakers really need a point guard and interior presence.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Real Deal:</div><div class="quote_post">Honestly, if we didn't play San Antonio last night, we could've beaten you guys tonight.</div> Well if Dirk made half of his shots in the first half the game would of been over in the first half, and we would of won by 20+ like San Antonio did. Also if Kobe had wings he could go between his legs twice and dunk, WHO CARES .
Eventhough I've never been one to care for what Jack Haley has said throughout the years he's been on our local TV, I've got to agree with him that Rudy hasn't been doing a good job of coaching thus far. I've been disappointed with his decision making and lack of drawing up plays, along with them seeming to have no defensive structure what so ever. I knew when he was coming in that he was more of a "player's coach" and doesn't run many plays, but it's been rediculous. Once in a while I would see a play ran, but it's either that the Lakers are the worst team at executing plays ever, or that Rudy isn't drawing up plays. We don't have Shaq anymore, we can't just freestyle plays and hope they come out right. I've never been a big fan of organized bastketball, but I do know that if we don't do something about it soon, unless we don't want to make the playoffs.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting samoan-maverick:</div><div class="quote_post">Well if Dirk made half of his shots in the first half the game would of been over in the first half, and we would of won by 20+ like San Antonio did. Also if Kobe had wings he could go between his legs twice and dunk, WHO CARES .</div>
