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Mavs visit Lakers in Game 1 of West semis

May 2, 2011 - 2:47 PM (Sports Network) - The two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks finished with identical 57-25 records in the regular season and each needed six games to navigate through their first round matchup.

There are a lot of similarities between these two clubs but the biggest difference could be the season series in which the Lakers won 2-1, giving the champs homecourt advantage as the teams get ready to clash in the Western Conference semifinals.

The Lakers had a few harrowing moments in their first round set with New Orleans but buckled down and eliminated the Hornets with a 98-80 Game 6 rout in the Big Easy on Thursday.

"We're good at making adjustments and learning," said Kobe Bryant, who did not show signs of an ankle injury suffered in Game 4. "The more a series goes on, the more we learn ... so we're able to pick teams apart later in the series."

That has certainly been LA's modus operandi the past couple of seasons, give a lesser team hope and then pull out their collective hearts with a few spectacular performances.

In the case of New Orleans, it was Chris Paul that gave the Lakers trouble. The All-Star point guard scored at least 20 points in each of the first five games in the series but was held to 10 in the clincher.

"They used their length to their advantage," Paul said. "It's a disappointing loss for us, but we continued to fight. We just didn't close it out the way we wanted to."

As for the Mavericks, their series with Portland held to form with each club holding serve on its home floor before Dallas broke through in Rip City to win Game 6, also on Thursday.

Dirk Nowitzki posted 33 points and 11 rebounds in the clincher as the Mavs halted an eight-game road playoff losing streak. Jason Terry contributed 22 points and eight assists, and Shawn Marion scored 16 for Dallas, which had lost in the first round of the playoffs three of the previous four years.

"This is the loudest place I've ever been. For our guys to hang in and win in this environment is huge for us," Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said. "Nowitzki, Kidd and Terry were not going to let us lose this game."

Things could get chippy quickly between the Lakers and Mavs. In LA's 110-82 victory over Dallas on March 31, Terry shoved the Lakers' Steve Blake to the ground after fouling him in the fourth quarter, Matt Barnes stepped in and pushed Terry and shoved aside Dallas assistant Terry Stotts, resulting in a one-game suspension.

Terry called Barnes "as soft as Charmin toilet paper" after the incident Barnes responded by playfully reminded Terry of his role in Golden State's first-round upset against Dallas as an eighth seed in 2007.

"We're not worried about anything that happened in the past," Barnes told a Los Angeles area newspaper. "I'm not trying to get into trouble or technical fouls or hurt my team in any way. We're going out there to try to win, play hard. That's the only chance any team has to beat us, to play harder."

The Mavs are one of the few teams that can match the Lakers' impressive length with three-seven footers but there is more to it than matching size. LA's trio of Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum sports impressive skill with that length. "Big D" has Nowitzki but Tyson Chandler is more of a defensive presence and Brendan Haywood is a plodding role player these days.

"They're the best team money can buy, really," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of Dallas, perhaps prodding free spending owner Mark Cuban, who once called the LA coach the "boy toy" of Lakers executive vice president Jeanie Buss.

The Mavs, however, don't have the type of quick point guard that can expose Derek Fisher's deficiencies on the defensive end or a perimeter defender that can check Bryant.

"[Marion] will be on [Bryant] at times," Carlisle said. "Shawn is experienced. He's played him a lot. [DeShawn] Stevenson has played him a lot. We'll have other guys ready. We'll have the kitchen sink ready. He's a great player and all that, but we're focused on our own game."

Dallas and LA have met three times previously in the playoffs with the Lakers taking all three sets, a 4-1 series win back in 1983-84 West semifinals, a 4-2 triumph in the '85-86 West semis, and a seven-game triumph in the '87-88 West finals.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks have traditionally struggled in Hollywood, compiling a miserable 11-53 all-time regular season record there.

If Dallas hopes to win the set, it's probably a good idea to play frontrunner as the Lakers have won 33 of their last 34 series when having an opportunity to close things out at any point.

Game 2 of the set will be Wednesday in LA.