By Special to the Daily World
The Dallas Mavericks put on a 3-point shooting clinic against the back-to-back defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers on their way to a decisive 122-86 win on May 8 to sweep the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series, 4-0.
The Mavs tied a playoff record of 20 3-pointers, while shooing 63 percent from long range and 60 percent from the field overall. And the Lakers’ streak of winning nine straight series was snapped with a display of frustration and bad sportsmanship.
L.A. center Andrew Bynum was ejected for a flagrant foul with 8:21 left in the final period after throwing a flying elbow at Dallas guard J.J. Barea — a time in which the game was clearly out of reach during the Lakers’ 36-point loss. Teammate Lamar Odom had just been ejected a minute and a half earlier for slamming into Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki with a vicious pick.
On Dallas’ end, Jason Terry made 11-of-14 shots from the field for 32 points while teammate J.J. Barea had a career playoff-best 22 points. Peja Stojakovic also added 21 points to help the Mavericks move into the Western Conference finals. All three are reserve players. Starting center Nowitzki finished with 17 points.
In the second quarter alone Terry was 5-of-6 from beyond the arc and his team made 7-of-8 overall from the same mark.
L.A.’s Kobe Bryant finished with 17 points on 7-of-18, but received little help from his teammates. Center Pau Gasol managed only 10 points and eight rebounds.