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.