Mavs Take Lakers In First Of Two In LA LA Land - Game Preview

[CRYSTAL]

By Crystal Carroll

Streaks Well Ready To Be Broken - The Mavs take to the road for their first of two in a back to back in LA tonight. Last season they dropped 0-3 against the Lakers and have lost the last 4 on the road overall to the LA team. The Mavs have lost the last 6 in the series so it is well time to put the ball in the winning court for Dallas.

Hitting The Hundreds - Over the last 7 games the Mavs are averaging 103 PPG against LA with their highest scoring game last season being 107. The tempo of the game tonight looks to mimic that of previous seasons so the Mavs will have to step up defensively against the multiple threats of Kobe and company.

An Eye On The Past - A lot of connections and parallels can be made between these two teams. Ron Artest, the newest LA pick up was coached by Rick Carlisle for three seasons in Indiana. Knowing Artest's strengths could benefit the Mavs tonight. Also Mavs fans might remember DJ Mbenga from his days in the Mavs blue and white. His rough and tumble play down low hasn't evolved a lot over the last couple seasons with the Lakers but the fact that he now has a championship is still blowing the minds of many who have watched him play.

Where Mavs Hope To Streamline Their Game - Following their season opener loss, the Mavs had a lot to take back with them into practice this week. They needed to control passes and work on honing in on that new strength of defense. Dallas was outshot 46.4% to 39.5% after settling for a lot of outside jumpers. Improving those aspects and taking it too the hoop will be the fastest way for the Mavs to pull in more points as they take on the first of two LA teams.

Champions Come In All Shapes And Sizes - Both LA and Dallas have been amongst the elite when it comes to the NBA for consecutive 50+ win seasons. The Mavs have had 9 seasons while LA has had 12.

Leader Of The Pack - In 39 minutes against the Wizards Dirk Nowitzki put down a game high 34 points proving he was the leader on the court for the Mavs. Adding 9 rebounds and 2 blocks he was all over the court making big plays. Shawn Marion was a defensive high note with a game high 3 blocks along with his 16 points in his first regular season start as a Mav.

Who's In Our Five - Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Erick Dampier, Quinton Ross and Jason Kidd will headline the Mavs out of the starting line up. The big story of the opener happened to be Kidd who following an averaged 2.5 turnover a game over the 6 games of the preseason cleaned up his game and did not commit a single turnover in the tough home loss. Also Dampier put down 8 from the paint, last season he had 24 games where he put down 8 or more.

And Oh Yeah Those Guys - Lakers will be headed by Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Andrew Bynum, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom. Kobe put down 33 points and 8 rebounds in their season opener against the cross town rivals the Clippers in the 99-92 win. Luke Walton is probably to return against the Mavs while Pau Gasol will be out for the game due to a right hamstring strain.

[Robert J. Gregory]

i hope we stomp the lakers they are probably my least favorite nba team just cause their bandwagon of fans is so obnoxious LETS GO MAVS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rustin]

Time to break the trend.... Lets give sports center something to talk about tonight! GO MAVS!!

[Kellie]

I could care less about Sports Center let's give Mavs fans a HUGE jolt of energy! And bragging rights =D and proof that we've been right alllll along! MAVS!!!

[rahlp ryan]

we are leading!!! yahoo!!

[Mark]

Man I love beating laker scum especially in their home in front of all those fake california types they call fans