Mavericks seek revenge and an antidote for Bryant's bite tonight
01:45 AM CST on Tuesday, February 7, 2006
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
On the ego-bruise meter, the needle flickered off the chart.
There is no question that when Kobe Bryant outscored the entire Mavericks team, 62-61, through three quarters of the Los Angeles Lakers' eventual 112-90 win in LA on Dec. 20, it was a monumental embarrassment.
However, in terms of medicinal value, it was exactly what the Mavericks needed. Galvanizing moments are important to really good teams. And if getting your throat stepped on by Bryant's 62-point outburst doesn't make you mad and pull you together, something's wrong.
It's no coincidence that the Mavericks are 19-3 since that fiasco. Clearly, they have taken frustrations out on other teams.
Tonight, the Mavericks can vent a little against the source of all this angst. They will see Bryant for the first time since his outrageous game, and holding the Lakers' guard to something reasonable – anything under 40 points, perhaps – is the priority.
"We got to find a way to stop Kobe at least once this year," Dirk Nowitzki said. "If he's in a zone – and he always is against us for some reason – you can't really stop him."
So what do the Mavs do to bottle Bryant?
"I don't know," he said. "So far, we haven't. But as long as we win, he can score 80."
Beating the Lakers is something they haven't done so far this season. They try to avoid the three-game sweep tonight. As for 80 points, Bryant has already been there and done that. He drilled the Toronto Raptors for 81 points Jan. 22. Since then, teams have been quick to double-team Bryant, and the Lakers are 2-4 since. He's averaged a more-human 34.2 points in those six games. He has had 14 turnovers in the last two games when opponents often double-teamed him as soon as he crossed midcourt.
Bryant, the league leader at 35.7 points per game, said Monday there's no big secret to why he's averaged 52.5 points in the first two meetings with Dallas, both LA wins. He's simply been on a roll.
But he hinted that his 62-point game might have ended up bigger than his 81-point night had he not sat the entire fourth quarter.
"That's a tough call, man," he said. "When we played Dallas, I had one of those feelings. The basket was a little bigger than normal."
Even Bryant shrugged off suggestions that there's a 100-point game in his future.
"It's crazy," he said. "People who believe that probably believe in UFOs, too."
You'd think the job of containing Bryant would fall to Adrian Griffin and Josh Howard tonight. But Avery Johnson said that won't be the case.
"Five on one," Johnson said. "And that hasn't always worked, either.
"We were embarrassed by that game. But how deep does that embarrassment sink? It's not about us against a guy. It's about team defense and team offense. We're not going to be so emotional that we lose who we are. You got to be physical and smart. And I don't think we've been either in the first two games we've played them."
Griffin summed up the players' feelings on memories of Bryant's 62 points.
"Obviously, I haven't forgotten," he said. "The whole team hasn't forgotten. You don't forget games like that. He's going to score. He comes close to a one-man team, but he's not. We can't give up 62 points.
"That was embarrassing. It made us kind of open our eyes a little bit."
Bryant isn't sure what to expect out of the Mavericks tonight. But he figures if they have watched the last two turnover-filled games, he knows what the Mavs will do.
"In the past, if I got hot, [teams have] just let me get hot, saying one man's not going to win this game," Bryant said. "That philosophy has kind of changed. When I get on a roll, they just send everybody over."
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esefko@dallasnews.com
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