Dallas Mavericks Dominate the Los Angeles Lakers 93-81

A stingy defense by Dallas, poor shooting by Los Angeles, and clutch shooting from Dirk Nowitzki led the Dallas Mavericks to a 93-81 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals late Wednesday for 2-0 series lead.

Nowitzki's 24 points led the Mavericks in scoring while Kobe Bryant has 23 points for the Lakers who didn't make a 3 point attempt until the game was already in hand by the Mavericks.

The Lakers are down 2-0 for the first time since the 2008 Finals, which is coincidentally the last time they lost a playoff series. Only three NBA teams have come back to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first two at home.

Game 3 is Friday night in Dallas.