KOBE/PJ_ESPN writes

[bounty]

Lakers' Jackson implies refs influenced by Cuban
ESPN.com news services
Lakers coach Phil Jackson was in a foul mood after his team was called for four technical fouls and two flagrant fouls in a 102-87 loss at Dallas on Tuesday night.

And he implied that the referee's whistles might have indirectly been influenced by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

"It was a poorly refereed game," Jackson said. "I know there's a lot of pressure on the refs when they come here because Mark [Cuban] has them review the tapes and send them into the league. These guys are nervous Nellies when they come in to referee in this building. But they have to do a better job than they're doing. That's not acceptable."

Verbal volleys between Jackson and Cuban are nothing new. The Lakers coach and Mavericks owner have a long history of tweaking each other, whether it's Cuban criticizing how the Lakers put together their roster or Jackson knocking Dallas' style of play.

Kobe Bryant, who scored 24 points -- his lowest output since scoring 21 against Orlando on Dec. 23 -- also had a bad night with the referees.

Even when a foul was called on DeSagana Diop guarding him, Bryant got a technical for something he said to the official.

Pressed about the officiating after the game, Bryant was careful with his words, saying "Easy on my piggy bank."
____________________________________________________________

SPECIAL MIDWEEK EDITION Dozen matter: Mavs rising
By Marc Stein
ESPN.comDALLAS -- Five days before Christmas, Kobe Bryant had 62 points in three quarters for the Dallas Mavericks.

After Tuesday's night's rematch, Bryant had only advice for the Mavs.

"Screw 'em," Kobe said.

"If I'm Dirk or Avery," he continued, "I don't even listen to that stuff."

That stuff is the annual skepticism, derision and punking that specifically greeted these Mavs, this term, as soon as Bryant uncorked those 62 points on Dec. 20.

Yet when he isn't going for 62 or 81 or whatever his offensive ceiling is, Bryant is also a bit of an expert at tuning out the naysayers. So maybe that's why Kobe -- even though dissing Dallas is a virtual Laker tradition with Phil Jackson in charge -- felt compelled to offer a rare bit of encouragement to his conquerors after a gamelong Mavericks swarm forced the ball out of his hands, gradually sapped the energy from his legs and played an undeniable role in a 5-for-22 shooting struggle that left No. 8 with just 24 points in the Los Angeles Lakers' 102-87 defeat.

It turned out to be a pretty rich Tuesday for Mark Cuban and his Mavericks. They got off the floor with Bryant scoring four points fewer than Brian Cook, after first finding out during the halftime break that Detroit had dropped even closer to the NBA surface with its third loss in five games -- in Atlanta! -- to make that Power Rankings guy look pretty foolish.

Chances are there won't be a national rush of praise for the Mavericks even after they reasonably smothered Bryant and stretched the longest win streak in the league to 12, especially since the hosts blew an early 20-point lead and actually had to win the game twice. Yet Bryant's counsel is to ignore the reaction regardless. Negative or even positive.

"Who cares?" Kobe said. "This team, you can tell, makes a much more concerted effort to play defense, and I think that starts with [coach] Avery Johnson. It's clear they have a strategy that everybody's in tune with. That's the big difference from the [Dallas] teams in the past. Until the playoffs, they shouldn't be wasting time even thinking about [national perception]."

Truth is, they aren't. Even as the Mavericks rack up numbers this franchise has never seen -- holding all 12 foes during this unbeaten run under 100 points to establish a club record -- they're obsessed down here with doing these things in the playoffs for once. They don't want bouquets in February. Not even on Valentine's Day and not even from Bryant.

The Mavericks were obviously motivated here to respond to their December humiliation, but they won't dwell on it because Johnson won't let them. After every big win, he's the first to remind them that they've achieved nothing. Johnson also knows that, for all his commitment to defensive improvement on the practice court and in the film room, Dallas has actually been able to establish its own 65-win pace because of its offense.

Better shot selection and a higher shooting percentage have reduced the number of possessions opponents get. The Mavs, under Don Nelson, were instructed to take the first open shot they could find, leaving their defense on the field far too often (for those of you who like you American football analogies). These Mavs still score 100, but without opening themselves up for so much punishment. It also doesn't hurt that their best athletes (Josh Howard, Devin Harris and Marquis Daniels) have seized bigger roles to supplement some serious bench firepower (Jerry Stackhouse and Keith Van Horn) and the surprise newcomers (DeSagana Diop and Adrian Griffin) who provide dirty work and defensive quality.

These Mavericks also have a coach who mentions "hard fouls" so often in his media sessions that you'd think it was a separate category in the box score. You still don't know some nights if Johnson's players are prepared to dole them out -- like, say, five nights before Christmas -- but perhaps Bryant isn't only one in this league in the midst of a transformation.

Kobe's popularity has rebounded dramatically in the weeks since Sixty-Two and especially Eighty-One, to the point that even he admitted surprise during his Dallas stop with how high his All-Star vote totals were. But maybe it's time to look at the other side. The Mavericks, after all, haven't exactly folded since their Dec. 20 surrender.

"You can't change your reputation in the regular season," said Dirk Nowitzki, unmoved by Dallas' own gaudy numbers, as in 38-10.

"It just doesn't happen. We could win the next 40 games or whatever's left [in the regular season] and our reputation probably still wouldn't change. We know we have to do this in the playoffs."
_________________
Lakers Tickets