Mavs overcome deficit, Bryant to shock Lakers

The losing side's coach feels they 'gave the game away' more than Dallas outplaying them.

LOS ANGELES // Dallas rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to shock the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers 96-94 in game one of their NBA Western Conference second-round play-off series.

The Mavericks' German star Dirk Nowitzki scored 28 points — including two free throws that gave Dallas the lead with less than 20 seconds remaining.

That was followed by a Lakers turnover with five seconds remaining, when superstar Kobe Bryant fell as he tried to get the ball from teammate Pau Gasol.

After Dallas' Jason Kidd made one of two free throws, Bryant missed a last-gasp three-point attempt.

"Well, we went in the locker room and felt like we gave the game away," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

"I'm not so sure Dallas didn't outplay us, but the players felt like they gave it away. A couple of missed plays at the offensive end and that foul at the end to put them on the line kind of makes it difficult to win these kind of games."

Bryant finished with 36 points, 21 of them in the second half. It was the 81st 30-point play-off game of his career, but it wasn't enough to hold off the determined Mavericks in the first post-season meeting between the two teams in 23 years.

Nowitzki, who grabbed 14 rebounds, scored to close the gap to 94-93 with 40 seconds remaining.

After Jason Terry stole the ball from Bryant, Gasol fouled Nowitzki as the Mavericks inbounded the ball, and Nowitzki made his foul shots to give Dallas the lead for the first time in the second half.

After struggling early in the paint the frustrated Mavericks lost their poise at the end of the first half, when Terry inexplicably fouled Lamar Odom as he attempted a half-court shot and Nowitzki earned a technical to help the Lakers score four points in less than a second to take a 53-44 half-time lead.

The Mavericks then turned the ball over on their first three possessions of the second half as they fell behind 60-44. They gave themselves the chance to win it, however, with a 20-6 scoring run.

Five Mavericks scored in double figures. Terry scored 15, Tyson Chandler added 11 points and nine rebounds and Shawn Marion and Peja Stojakvoic chipped in 10 points apiece.

The Lakers host game two on Wednesday before the series shifts to Dallas for games three and four on Friday and Sunday.

The winner of the series will take on either Memphis or Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals for a chance to take on a team from the East for the NBA title.

Memphis defeated Oklahoma City 114-101 in their series opener on Sunday.

RESULTS (home team in CAPS):

OAKLAND 5 Texas 4 (10 innings)
NY Yankees 5 DETROIT 3
WASHINGTON 2 San Francisco 0
BOSTON 9 LA Angels 5
ATLANTA 6 Milwaukee 2
CINCINNATI Houston (postponed)
CHICAGO WHITE SOX 6 Baltimore 2
Florida 6 ST. LOUIS 5
Pittsburgh 4 SAN DIEGO 3
LA DODGERS 5 Chicago Cubs 2