Los Angeles Lakers Swept by Dallas Mavericks in Blowout

The end of Phil Jackson's run with the Los Angeles Lakers happened in strange fashion. It was the first time that he a team he coached has ever been swept in the playoffs and the Lakers seemed to lose all of the composure Jacksons's teams are known for. The Dallas Mavericks thoroughly destroyed the Lakers during the game with record shooting and some of the players tried to get payback by becoming physical. Two players were ejected in the last quarter of the game. The final score of the game was 122-86 in favor of the Mavericks.

With the Mavericks leading the series three games to none Sunday's game was do or die for the defending champions. By halftime it was apparent that the game was not going to go their way. The Mavericks were up by 24 points at the break and didn't look back. Jason Terry set a playoff record by making nine 3-point shots in the contest. The team as a whole matched postseason records for 3-pointers with 11 in the first half alone and 20 for the game on only 32 shots.

JJ Barea continued playing well in the series scoring his personal best 22 points while Peja Stojakovic added another 21 as the Mavericks bench scored enough points, 86, to match the entire Lakers team. Star Dirk Nowitzki scored a playoff low 17 points but in the end it didn't matter.

As frustration set in for the Lakers the fourth quarter quickly got physical. Lamar Odom was ejected for throwing a hard elbow into Nowitzki as he came around a screen. Less than a minute later Andrew Bynum was also ejected as he knocked JJ Barea to the ground after he released a layup with a hard elbow to the chest. Bynum was escorted off the court by Ron Artest, who himself was suspended earlier in the series for a hard foul on Barea.

The Mavericks will go on to face either the Memphis Grizzlies or the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals and put themselves closer to forgetting about their past playoff disappointments.

Jackson retires as one of the all time greatest NBA coaches. He won 11 Championships in all, six with Michael Jordan and the Bulls, three with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant and two with Bryant alone.