Fisher's late three lifts Lakers

LOS ANGELES (AP):

Derek Fisher spent the last year wearing more suits than sweats while negotiating the union's labour deal and he realises his peak playing days are probably past.

But Kobe Bryant borrows a term from former coach Phil Jackson to describe anybody who doubts what the Lakers' veteran point guard can do in the clutch.

"That's inherently idiotic," he said.

Fisher hit a tiebreaking three-pointer with 3.1 seconds to play and Los Angeles emerged from a dismal offensive game by both teams with a 73-70 victory over the Mavericks on Monday night, snapping Dallas' five-game winning streak.

Vince Carter missed a three-pointer at the buzzer for the defending champion Mavericks, who swept Los Angeles out of the second round of the post-season last spring, ending the Lakers' bid for a three-peat.

Exciting finish

Neither team looked much like a championship contender in their first meeting since, with 3¹/² miserable offensive quarters before the exciting finish keyed by Fisher, who added another line to an overflowing list of late-game heroics.

"This is what I do," Fisher said. "When opportunities like that present themselves, I'm confident in my ability to step up and make the right play. I've been fortunate in my career to come up with some of those big plays."

Fisher scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, leading a 10-0 run midway through the period before the Mavericks rallied to tie it on Jason Terry's running jumper at the top of the key with 9.9 seconds left.

Bryant, whose streak of four straight 40-point games ended with just 14 against the Mavs, drew the Dallas defence before passing to Fisher. The veteran point guard calmly drilled a long three-pointer from the wing.

"We made the decision to get the ball out of Bryant's hands and we just didn't get to (Fisher) in time," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "Our full intention was to rotate to him, but he got the shot off quick and he shot it high, so we couldn't get to it. But he made a great shot. In that situation, you've got to live with that decision. And it's tough."

Far off

Carter's desperation try was far off and the Lakers celebrated their ninth consecutive home victory since Christmas.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points for the Mavericks, but committed a crucial travelling violation with 38 seconds left in their first loss since January 5. Lamar Odom scored 10 points in his return to Staples Center, where he won two championships before the Lakers abruptly traded him to Dallas last month.

Andrew Bynum had 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who have won six of seven overall despite barely scoring 70 points - the franchise low in the shot-clock era, set in November 2002.

Bryant had scored at least 40 points in each of his past four games, but the NBA's leading scorer didn't even score until midway through the second quarter.

"I like the fact that if we don't score, we can still win games," said Mike Brown, the Lakers' defence-minded new coach. "Hopefully, our guys understand that we can win ugly games, we can win pretty games, we can win high-tempo games. However you want to bring it, we can get down that way."

In other games, Chicago Bulls 86 went down to Memphis Grizzlies 102, Orlando Magic 102 topped New York Knicks 93, Milwaukee Bucks 82 lost to Philadelphia 76ers 94, Cleveland Cavalier 102 beat Charlotte Hornets 94, Houston Rockets 114 stopped Washington Wizards 106, Portland Trailblazers 84 shut down New Orleans 77, New Jersey Nets 91 went down to LA Clippers 101, Toronto Raptors 84 were beaten by Atlanta Hawks 93, Oklahoma City Thunder 97 outlasted Boston Celtics 88, and Sacramento Kings 86 fell at home to Minnesota Timberwolves 99.