DALLAS, Texas, May 9, (AFP): The Dallas Mavericks ended the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA reign on Sunday, sweeping the two-time defending champions out of the playoffs with a 122-86 Western Conference second-round victory.
Jason Terry tied an NBA postseason record with nine three-pointers and the Mavericks equalled another playoff mark with with 20 three-pointers as they wrapped up the best-of-seven series in the minimum four games.
The Mavericks, who have endured a series of early playoff exits since falling in the NBA finals in 2006, ended the Lakers’ quest for a three-peat, and ended the Phil Jackson era in Los Angeles.
The pursuit of a three-peat prompted Jackson to put retirement on hold and return for another season, and the defeat almost certainly marked his last game at the helm of an NBA team.
“All my hopes and aspirations are that this is the final game I’ll coach,” said Jackson, who guided Michael Jordan’s Bulls to six titles in the 1990s and who had taken the Lakers to a total of five championships.
It was clear early on that he wouldn’t go out a winner as the Mavericks used their long-range barrage to put this one out of reach.
They had 11 three-pointers in the first half, and Terry himself out-scored Los Angeles 20-16 in the second quarter.
In the final period the Lakers’ disappointment and frustration boiled over and Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum were ejected for cheap fouls in the space of a minute.
Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant sat out the waning stages as the Lakers turned the game over to their reserves.
Jackson was swept for the first time in 21 postseasons as a coach. The Lakers hadn’t been swept in a playoff series since 1999.
The Mavericks have won six straight playoff games, since they squandered a 23-pont lead in the fourth game of their first-round series against Portland.
Terry, however, said it was no time to get complacent.
“The job is not finished,” he said. Despite his team’s status as the two-time defending champs, Jackson said he wasn’t surprised by the Mavericks.
“I think I told you guys all along that Dallas is a very good team,” he said. “We had the same record they had in the regular season, and they played better as a team than we did.”
He noted Dallas’ depth, and the Mavericks got solid contributions from their bench on Sunday including Terry’s 32 points, 22 from J.J. Barea and 21 from Peja Stojakovic.
Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki’s 17 points was his lowest output in these playoffs, but it didn’t matter.
“We’ve been doing it by committee all year long,” Nowitzki said. “There are a lot of guys who can make plays and make shots when it counts.”
Nowitzki played into the fourth quarter, when he was blindsided by Odom in the hit that saw the Lakers player ejected.
Less than a minute later, Bynum threw a fierce elbow to Barea’s chest as the Dallas player was in the air for a layup.
Barea hit the floor hard and officials moved quickly to keep players separated, and Barea eventually rose and was able to return to the game.
“We were disappointed in the way we finished,” Jackson admitted, pointing to those two incidents.
“We ran into a buzz-saw today. Sometimes you can’t get a win — you’d like to have an opportunity to challenge, but we didn’t.”
In Atlanta, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Chicago Bulls 100-88 on Sunday to even their NBA Eastern Conference second-round playoff series at two games apiece.
Atlanta’s Josh Smith scored 23 points with 16 rebounds and eight assists and back-up Jeff Teague delivered down the stretch as the Hawks held off the Bulls and their NBA Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose.
The Hawks’ second-round playoff victory on their home floor was a long time coming. They had lost nine second-round home contests since a victory over Orlando at the same stage in May 1996. The series shifts back to Chicago for game five on Tuesday.
The Hawks have shown they can win in the Bulls’ arena, however, having stunned the Bulls in the series opener.
Chicago had regained their home-court advantage with a 99-82 triumph in game three in Atlanta.
Rose was not as effective in this one, scoring 34 points on 12-of-32 shooting in the face of the Hawks’ aggressive defensive double-teams.
Rose had 10 assists but he also had two turnovers and missed two shots in the final four minutes as the Bulls stalled.
“I put this game on me,” Rose said. “Two turnovers at the end... it was a tough game, but it’s a series, first to four. And we know that.”
Hawks coach Larry Drew had vowed to be more physical in defending Rose, but the Bulls star said he thought he would be able to adapt in game five.
“I think next game I should be all right,” he said. “They were double-teaming a little bit more. But we’re going to go over everything and make sure everything is OK. High releases when they double-team... just go over some plays and prepare for the next game.”
Carlos Boozer had 18 points for Chicago, and Luol Deng added 13. Kyle Korver had a difficult night, going 1-for-8 from the field and missing all five of his three-point attempts.
Hawks star Joe Johnson said attitude was the biggest adjustment Atlanta made.
“We changed a few coverages,” Hawks star Joe Johnson said. “More than anything, it was just our effort.”
Smith, whose inconsistency has sometimes provoked the ire of Hawks’ fans, thrilled them with his dominant drives and his playmaking.
“There are people who don’t understand the game, who don’t know the game. That doesn’t faze me,” Smith said of his critics. “My team-mates matter more than anybody else. They believe in me. They have confidence in my game.
“When I was in my rut, they told me to stay positive, to stay in the game, just do what I’d been doing all season long. I stayed with it and had the game I had tonight.”
Teague, standing in for injured Kirk Hinrich, scored 12 points and handed out four assists and finished off a 10-scoring run that the Hawks used to forge ahead in a game that had been nip-and-tuck.