Lakers Home-Schooled

Thirteen years to the night later, at the end of 26 consecutive losses to the Lakers in Los Angeles and countless other hardwood indignities here, the Dallas Mavericks won a basketball game against the Lakers at Staples Center.

An era ended Friday night with a game Karl Malone said the Lakers had been “flirting with” for too long. They lost by 110-93, too casual on defense and too light on motivation.

“Give them credit,” Malone insisted. “They wanted it more than we did.”

In the final quarter, with all but the score decided, Shaquille O’Neal pushed Antoine Walker after a dunk, and Walker chased O’Neal most of the floor, and when he arrived O’Neal shouted in his face, “You ain’t going to do a ... thing! You ain’t going to do a ... thing!”

Walker rethought his mission, and later slinked up to O’Neal with an apologetic posture. But by then, the Mavericks had proven they would not be forgotten in the Western Conference regular season, not yet.

In a series -- Kobe Bryant said last week there was no rivalry -- that has turned chippy and unpredictable, Don Nelson employed his Hack-a-Shaq from 15 points ahead, the Nelson family measured O’Neal’s alleged free-throw line violations with everything but surveying gear, and Jack Nicholson gestured maniacally at referee Steve Javie, to the delight of a brooding crowd.

“I wanted to win this game in the worst way,” Nelson said, and so the Mavericks played with something approaching that. “I wasn’t here for all the losses, but enough of them.”

It was Javie who called four first-quarter technical fouls against the Lakers, two of which ejected guard Gary Payton 7 minutes 10 seconds into the game.

“It happened, it happened,” Payton said afterward, hoping to avoid the subject altogether. “We knew it was coming.... They did what they wanted us to do. They wanted us to lose. We lost. So ...”

Payton sighed and said, “We’re going to play hard [tonight in Portland], get a win and be straight.”

In all, the Lakers were called for five technicals and a flagrant foul. The Mavericks received one technical, Walker’s, but were called for seven more personal fouls than the Lakers.

Before the game, the overhead monitor put to music the Malone elbow that downed Nash last week, and the crowd cheered when Nash hit the floor, probably no way to win over a referee.

“Every guy, Nash, got [mad] at that,” Maverick owner Mark Cuban said.

Still, as the players gathered at center court for the opening tip, Malone held out his hand and Nash slapped it. Malone then thumped Nash in the chest. Lightly. Nash has taken to playing with a wire supporting his teeth, along with a mouthpiece, all a result of Malone’s elbow, which cost Malone a one-game suspension.

Phil Jackson rued Javie’s “hot whistle.”

“He obviously was keyed up for the game,” Jackson said and, in light of what happened last week in Dallas, added, “The referees were probably forewarned by the league.”

As the final seconds of the loss fell away, so too did the Lakers’ 10-game winning streak and their 27-game home regular-season winning streak. In their 13th game at Staples, the Lakers became the last NBA team to lose a home game. Dirk Nowitzki and Walker each scored 27 points and Nash scored 23. O’Neal, despite free-throw issues -- he missed 13 of 24 attempts, validating Nelson’s strategy -- had 25 points, and 14 rebounds. Bryant was four for 18 from the field and scored 15 points.

“I thought we were out of sorts tonight,” Jackson said. “Not all of us, but a lot of us were.”

Derek Fisher was 0 for 9 from the field. Bryon Russell had 11 points, nine in the second quarter, and Kareem Rush had 12 points, all in the second quarter.

With Arnold Schwarzenegger watching from a suite and Maverick guard Michael Finley (toe injury) watching from the locker room, the Lakers lost Payton and then their defensive legs. They allowed 100 points for the second time in 11 games, the Mavericks reaching 100 on a Walker three-pointer with more than seven minutes remaining.

Then the Nelsons went for the Laker weakness -- O’Neal’s free-throw shooting. With about five minutes remaining, Laker possessions typically ended with O’Neal being fouled away from the ball.

The Laker strategy: As Maverick defenders lined up O’Neal, Bryant, bringing the ball up the floor, would hoist a three. If the shot had fallen, it would have counted, and O’Neal would shoot one free throw for a chance at a four-point play.

O’Neal obliged Coach Don and assistant Donnie by missing seven of 10 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter. O’Neal left the arena without speaking to reporters.

“I didn’t think his free throws looked that good,” the elder Nelson said.