LOS ANGELES – In case there was any doubt, the Los Angeles Lakers showed they aren’t going to be knocked around during their quest for a third straight NBA championship.
When push comes to shove, they can be physical with the best of them. Just ask the Dallas Mavericks.
Kobe Bryant scored 28 points, Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and the Lakers defeated the Mavericks 110-82 Thursday night in a testy affair in which five players were ejected.
In what was a possible preview of a second round play-off match-up, this one had a post-season flair to it. Early in the fourth quarter, the Lakers’ Matt Barnes and Steve Blake and the Mavericks’ Jason Terry and Brendan Haywood were thrown out following a shoving match under the basket.
Los Angeles’ Shannon Brown was later ejected in a separate incident.
“This is a family here,” Barnes said. “So if someone comes and hits your brother, pushes your brother, then you definitely have their back. And that’s the case here.”
The late skirmish didn’t take away from the Lakers’ eighth straight win and 16th in 17 games since the All-Star break, helping them pull within 2 1/2 games of slumping San Antonio for the NBA’s top overall record. Los Angeles (54-20) also tied Chicago for the second-best mark in the league.
“We don’t want games to end like that, but you want to see players competing and caring about the game at the level which brings that kind of intensity,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “It’s just a build-up, a build-up for what we can see down the road.”
Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks, whose five-game winning streak ended.
“I think it’s becoming a big rivalry,” Mavericks forward Shawn Marion said. “It’s fun. That’s part of basketball.” (AP)
