ESPN NBA

• The defense was suspect, the offense was creaky, and no Maverick looked particularly fiery.
• By the end of the first half, with the home team down nearly twenty, the stadium was filled first with boos from Dallas fans, and then a rousing chorus of "MVP, MVP, MVP" from Laker fans supporting their own Kobe Bryant.
• Amazing. Road fans taking over the cheering in the first half? Against in elite Western team?
• Dirk Nowitzki is five for nine from the floor, with three blocks. That's not bad, I guess. The only other Maverick with more than one field goal is Josh Howard, and it took him eight tries to get two.
• Kobe Bryant already has 20 points and four assists.
• Credit Jason Kidd with playing tough defense when he was matched up one-on-one with Bryant. He makes him work.
• Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson are sitting on the baseline.
• At one point Ronny Turiaf caught a ball at the top of the key with plenty of time left on the clock, and after looking to pass, just hoisted, and drained, the long two-pointer. Afterwards he looked at the Laker bench and gave that palms up shrug, as if to say "I don't know what happened, it just went in!"
• There was a little comedy video with Jason Kidd's head pasted on a chunk of the Karate Kid movie. He did a lot of beating people up. I mean not to be a ninny about that kind of stuff, but for a guy who once pled guilty to domestic abuse, it felt strange being asked to laugh at the sight of him hitting people.

Second half:

• More MVP chants for Bryant in the third quarter.
• Kobe Bryant put the Lakers up 76-51 with the most ridiculous tilt-a-whirl layup that somehow bounced home. If you didn't see it, don't worry, it'll be all over SportsCenter. It's the kind of shot you don't attempt without a double-digit lead.
• With every single teammate ice cold, and Nowitzki reasonably hot, you'd think it might be on the German to get this party started for Dallas. But here we get to that same old "lack of alpha dog mentality" criticism that people always level at him. His team was down 25, and he got the ball with single coverage in the post. This is what the Mavericks want, right? Isn't he essentially unstoppable from there? He gave it up, but wisely got it right back. Clock ticking down he gave it up again, too late for a teammate to get a shot off. I think every Maverick fan in the world wanted him to create a shot for himself somewhere in there. I salute him for being unselfish. Really do. But sometimes it's time to be the seven-foot guy who can hit shots from anywhere.
• TrueHoop reader Michael emails to point out that Houston is pulling away from Boston with a lineup of Bobby Jackson, Luther Head, Shane Battier, Mike Harris, and Chuck Hayes. Awesome. They are up seven at last check.
• And somehow, the Mavericks are kind of back. A Jason Terrythree brought them within a dozen to finish the third quarter. And at that moment we were all reminded that there were actually Dallas fans in the building. They can even be loud. Some stops, some buckets, and suddenly it's anybody's game.
• Nothing like empty stands to make a team love bloggers. Consider the experience of Tom from Indy Cornrows. The Pacers reached out to him to offer a press pass, and he went last night. "Obviously the situation is different in Indy since I'm a small fish in an empty pond," he emails, "but I'm glad the team recognizes that more exposure through blogs helps and does not hinder."
• If the Lakers win this game, credit Vladimir Radmanovic's three-point shooting. Boy did he get hot at the right time. Sucked the air right out of this place when it was starting to get a little loud and crazy.
• Doesn't seem like Ronny Turiaf dances as much as he used to. But he did give a nice little jig a few minutes ago. He's still got it.
• When Dirk Nowitzki fakes a three, and begins the process of hauling his big, slow self into the lane, I find myself thinking: probably should have shot that three.
• WHOA! Two Nowitzki threes, and big Nowitzki rebound, and now Dallas fans are chanting MVP. One point game. Loud arena. Told you it's better when he shoots it instead of faking it. That's an 11-3 Dallas run.
• Jason Kidd double-clutch three. I know he has been hitting threes like crazy lately. But I'm telling you. I live in New Jersey. I have seen this many times before. As soon as I saw that he was shooting that shot I uttered an involuntary "oh no!" I mean, no chance. That shot had no chance, and I knew on the release.
• With short clock, if I were the Mavericks, I'd like Jason Terry to have the ball. He's the one with the combination of shooting ability, handle, and athleticism to capitalize on a D mistake.
• There you go, ball game. Dirk lost the handle and only barely got off a prayer trying to win at the buzzer. In the end, not a bad game, despite how it started. Final score: Lakers 102, Mavericks 100.