The race for the top spot in the Western Conference has turned into a four-team horse race between the Mavericks, Sacramento, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers. Only 2 1/ 2 games separate the four teams, with each one jockeying for the best position heading into next month's playoffs.

The Mavericks appear to have the toughest remaining schedule because they play nine of their final 15 games on the road. That includes playing four sets of back-to-back games and going against 11 teams whose won-lost record is above .500.

"We went through our easy period about a week and a half ago, so now we're in one of our toughest positions of the year," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. "San Antonio just went through an easy stretch, and now they're getting that tough schedule just like we are."

With Tim Duncan supplying 25 points, Bruce Bowen pressuring Kobe Bryant and nearly everyone else in a silver-and-black uniform playing solid team defense, Robinson helped hold down O'Neal as the Spurs routed the Lakers 108-90 in front of 30,775 at the Alamodome.

In ending their six-game losing streak to the Lakers, the Spurs also won for the 10th consecutive game to match their longest winning streak of the season.

"It feels good to end the six-game losing streak in grand fashion," Rose said. "But it doesn't mean anything. It's just like (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) said, 'It's one more win and one less loss.' But it does feel good ? until about 1 in the morning, and then I'm going to let it go."

Kobe Stopper? Bruce Bowen doesn't want to hear it.

Bowen has a hard enough time shedding labels, and as flattering as that one sounds, it's also not the most accurate.

The NBA, as last season's Finals attest to, has yet to invent a Kobe Stopper. If Ruben Patterson wants to anoint himself as such ? which he did two seasons ago in Seattle ? that's fine. Just excuse Bowen if he doesn't also want to wear the title.

"That's not smart," Bowen said. "All that does is fuel his fire."

Jodie Valade of the Dallas Morning News reports that, in their fourth attempt, the Mavericks finally found a gameplan that worked against the Lakers, resulting in a 114-98 victory at home.  This time, they concentrated on defense against Kobe Bryant and on rebounding and won despite shooting a lower percentage from the field.

Much was made of Dallas' inability to beat the Lakers before this game.  But, the victory was downplayed by the Mavs once it was secured, says Dwain Price of the Star Telegram.

"I don't want you to make too much out of this game, just like we shouldn't have made too much out of that game down there," Don Nelson said. "It was a well-played game by us, a lot of emotion, the crowd was great and we treated it like a playoff game.

Lessons learned by the Mavericks in their first clashing of the week against the LA Lakers:

1. Coming close still isn't a win, but if there is a mental block to overcome, it is shrinking even as their frustration is growing. And,

2. The outshoot-them theory has enough merit that the Mavericks want to give it a try again ... but not quite so far away from the basket, this time.

Game 2 in the short home-and-home series against the LA Lakers comes Tuesday at American Airlines Center, giving the Mavericks one final chance to topple the champion they simply cannot budge. They will try it one more time with a slight adjustment in strategy and a belief that they are closer than ever to beating the Lakers.

Progress is being made, even if victories aren't.

In the opening salvo of a much-anticipated back-to-back test against the Lakers, the Mavs put on an NBA textbook road performance Sunday night at the Staples Center.

Hang tough and hang around for 48 minutes, then be in a position to steal a victory at the end.

And there he was, Mike Finley jacking a 3-pointer at the final buzzer, his shot right on line. Except it came up a tad short, and LA escaped 105-103.

That made it 23 consecutive road losses to the Lakers, dating back to 1990. But outside of maybe the law of averages, when over that span were the Mavericks ever expected to win in LA? They were a seven-point underdog Sunday night, which is a lot for two teams with basically the same elite overall records.

Imagine Jim Cleamons coaching the Lakers against the Mavericks.

It almost certainly can't happen before Don Nelson retreats to the front office, to arch the eyebrows even higher, but it's not the long-shot scenario you might suspect. Phil Jackson has three seasons left on his contract, only two rings to go to pass Red Auerbach for the all-time lead among coaches and an aching hip, back and knee.

Jackson, 56, also admits he'd enjoy seeing Cleamons as his successor.
"If he'd like to," Jackson said. "I don't know if he wants this or not ... but, yes, there's an opportunity that sits out there at some level."

LOS ANGELES - Another Mavericks-Lakers game in Los Angeles presented yet another opportunity for the visitors to leave town with that same old empty feeling.

Robert Horry drilled a game-winning 3-pointer with 45.8 seconds left as the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers eked out a 105-103 triumph over the Mavericks on Sunday night. The Lakers (47-18) tied Sacramento for the best record in the NBA and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the Mavericks.

The Lakers and Mavs square off again Tuesday in Dallas, and the Mavericks are saying they won't settle for anything less than a win.

For all the enthusiasm their current nine-game winning streak has generated, and all the talk about achieving their "short-term goal" of catching Dallas for the Midwest Division title, the Spurs still figure, at some point, they will have to get around to beating the only Western Conference team they haven't beaten all season. If they can do it Wednesday or 11 days later in Los Angeles, or both ? anything to avoid running into the two-time defending champions in the playoffs on the wrong end of an eight-game losing streak ? all the better.

"We really need to get a win against these guys," Rose said. "They've beaten us pretty bad the last few times. I think you're going to see a different Spurs team come out on Wednesday."

If nothing else, the Lakers should get their first look at Bruce Bowen in a Spurs uniform. While Bowen, whose broken finger prevented him from playing in the previous two meetings, will be available to help guard Kobe Bryant, Steve Smith may have to sit out his second straight game.

Not picking up the fourth year option on the rookie contract of Devean George may be a move which comes back to bite the Lakers, reports Tim Brown of the Los Angeles Times.  The Lakers, a team that is close to the luxury tax threshold, could have as many as seven free agents this offseason.  

GM Mitch Kupchak has been told to stay under the tax threshold, just like a lot of owners have told their managers, which was a major reason why Kupchak didn't pick up the $1.5M option on George's contract.  Only five months later George is looking like a different player entirely, and for him to remain a Laker L.A. may need to pony up a lot more.

"There's no way of telling what would have happened had we picked up [the option]," Kupchak said. "There may be some kind of a tie-in to us not picking it up. You know, 'Hey, it's real now. This is serious. Wake up.' ... It may have no connection to that, either. It may be just the process young players go through. Looking back on things, we're comfortable with the decision and the bottom line is, for whatever the reason, he's really come on and played well. And that helps us today."

"I was very disappointed," George said about not having his option picked up. "They basically said, 'We don't have any plans for you.' So, now I'm out there trying to be seen."