The Lakers had their season ended on Sunday at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, a 122-86 drubbing that was a painful way to end the three-peat dreams. Dallas took advantage of the Lakers on defense throughout the series, and it culminated in a signature blowout in Game 4. Here are some takeaways from Sunday's final game of the NBA Western Conference semifinals:
Bench Play: The Mavericks dominated bench production during the series, outscoring the Lakers by an average of 23.3 points per game in the first three games. However, in Sunday's finale, the bench went into overdrive. The Dallas reserves score a whopping 86 points, matching the production for the entire Lakers' team. Jason Terry led Dallas with 32 points, while J.J. Barea added 22 points and Peja Stojakovic scored 21. The Mavs' bench made 30 of 39 field goals, 76.9% from the field.
Turning The Peja: Nine years after a dreadful performance against the Lakers in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals while with Sacramento, Stojakovic got a small measure of revenge against L.A. on Sunday. Back in Game 7 in 2002, Stojakovic was 3-for-12 including missing all six three-pointers in a home overtime loss. However on Sunday, Stojakovic, now 33, didn't miss against the Lakers. He made all seven field goal attempts, including six from distance, scoring 21 points. Amazingly though, the 89.5% career free-throw shooter did manage to miss one from the charity stripe.
Crashing The Boards: Derek Fisher had seven rebounds in Game 4, the most he had in any game all season. Fisher had one more rebound than Andrew Bynum, and five more than Lamar Odom.
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