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Mavs Snap 26-Game Skid Against Lakers

Posted on: Saturday, 13 December 2003, 06:00 CST

The Dallas Mavericks built a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, then went into Hack-a-Shaq mode to snap a 26-game losing streak on the Los Angeles Lakers' home court.

The tried and true tactic worked. Shaquille O'Neal missed seven of 10 free throws in the final 12 minutes and the Mavericks beat the Lakers 110-93 on Friday night, exactly 13 years to the date since the road losing streak began.

"We stuck together. We played aggressive and we were mentally strong," said Dallas guard Steve Nash, who had 23 points. "It was important for us to end the streak against the Lakers, so in many ways, it was a big win."

Dirk Nowitzki and Antoine Walker scored 27 points each for the Mavericks, who also stopped their road losing skid at four games - their longest since 1999-00.

"Hopefully, we can keep this game in our minds as the season goes on," Walker said. "We've lost games on the road because we always get down on ourselves when shots are not falling and we don't keep playing.

"That's a team you've got to go through to win a championship, and this is obviously a good start in the right direction."

In other games, Boston downed Toronto 114-111, Sacramento topped Utah 100-93, Miami edged Memphis 91-88, Indiana defeated Atlanta 103-92, New Orleans bested Golden State 96-85, Denver beat Philadelphia 86-77, Minnesota downed Washington 110-91, New Jersey topped Orlando 99-95, Seattle defeated Detroit 93-72 and Milwaukee beat Chicago 109-95.

Dallas' Josh Howard had 17 points and 13 rebounds starting in place of Michael Finley, who sprained his right big toe in a one-point loss to the Clippers on Wednesday night.

Nowitzki added 12 rebounds and Walker had 10.

"This was the last arena I haven't won in, or the last team I hadn't beaten since I bought the team," said Mark Cuban, who took over nearly four years ago.

The defeat was the Lakers' first at Staples Center this season after 12 victories and snapped their regular-season home winning streak at 27 games.

"Forgot what it felt like," Karl Malone said. "We've been flirting with one of these the last two or three games. They wanted it more than we did. We've been kind of sleepwalking."

O'Neal had 25 points and 14 rebounds, Kobe Bryant had 15 points and Malone added 14 points. Gary Payton was ejected in the first quarter, and his backup, Derek Fisher, shot 0-for-10.

The Lakers won their first two games against Dallas this season, leading all the way both times. But it was completely different Friday.

Dallas started quickly and had the Lakers down 33-19 after a wild first quarter.

The Lakers had four technical fouls in the period, including two that resulted in Payton's ejection.

"At the start of the game, they came out and made a couple of shots and the technicals really got us out of sync. From that point on, it was an uphill battle," Bryant said.

While bringing the ball upcourt, Payton was called for a technical foul. Referee Steve Javie asked for the ball and Payton responded by tossing it past him, earning a second technical and automatic ejection.

"Maybe we thought about it instead of playing," Malone said. "Any time you lose a guy, we have to step up as a team and continue to play and I don't think we did that."

Barely a minute later, Malone received a technical from Javie. Earlier in the period, O'Neal was called for committing a flagrant foul against Nowitzki.

"We stayed focused and that was the main thing," Dallas center Danny Fortson said. "We wanted to win this game no matter what, and we did."

The Mavericks used a 17-8 run to close the third quarter ahead 88-73. Howard had seven points and Nash hit six straight free throws in the spurt.

The animosity continued in the fourth, when the Lakers fell behind 97-77. O'Neal dunked and pushed Walker, then jawed in Walker's face coming upcourt. Each received technicals.

Celtics 114, Raptors 111

At Boston, Paul Pierce had 33 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Celtics to their fourth straight win and snapping Toronto's five-game winning streak.

Vince Carter, who scored 35, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied it. The loss was the Raptors' first since their six-player trade with Chicago. Toronto surrendered 100 points for the first time in 23 games.

Kings 100, Jazz 93

At Salt Lake City, Mike Bibby scored 25 points, Peja Stojakovic added 24 and Sacramento won for the eighth straight time in Utah.

Raja Bell led the Jazz with 17 points off the bench, including six in a 1:37 span of the fourth quarter to give the Jazz an 87-86 lead with 2:56 remaining. The Jazz managed only two baskets the rest of the way, both in the final 25 seconds.

Heat 91, Grizzlies 88

At Miami, Lamar Odom scored a season-high 29 points and the Heat snapped the Grizzlies' winning streak at six, one short of their franchise record.

Odom also had 14 rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored 14 and Brian Grant had 11 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which has won six of eight home games.

Pacers 103, Hawks 92

At Indianapolis, Fred Jones took over after Al Harrington left with an injury by scoring a career-high 18 points.

The Hawks rallied in the third quarter behind Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who scored 10 of his 19 points in the quarter, but Jones had 13 points in the fourth.

Hornets 96, Warriors 85

At Oakland, Calif., Baron Davis had 27 points and 12 assists and David Wesley added 23 points in the Hornets' fourth straight win.

The Hornets have won the first two games of their four-game West Coast road trip. Golden State lost at home to an Eastern Conference team for the first time in six games this season.

Nuggets 86, 76ers 77

At Philadelphia, Andre Miller had 23 points and Marcus Camby had 16 points and 17 rebounds. Each of Denver's starters scored in double figures as the vastly improved Nuggets snapped a two-game losing skid.

Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, back after missing one game with a knee injury, missed 16 of 22 shots.

Timberwolves 110, 76ers 91

At Washington, Sam Cassell scored 25 points, Kevin Garnett had 23 points and 16 rebounds and Minnesota made 17 of its first 22 shots. It was the fourth straight road victory for Minnesota.

Nets 99, Magic 95

At Orlando, Fla., Kerry Kittles snapped out of a slump to score 22 points, including three 3-pointers in the final four minutes for New Jersey.

Jason Kidd scored eight points on season-worst 1-for-10 shooting, but had a season-high 15 assists and eight rebounds.

SuperSonics 93, Pistons 72

At Auburn Hills, Mich., Rashard Lewis scored 33 points to lead Seattle over the slumping Pistons, whose only consolation was Darko Milicic scoring his first NBA points.

Bucks 109, Bulls 95

At Milwaukee, Michael Redd scored 30 points and Damon Jones added a season-high 22 to help Milwaukee send Chicago to its fourth consecutive loss. The Bucks matched their season high in points.

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