Kobe Bryant and Lakers Should Give Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks Due Credit

Right now, every Lakers fan is trying to lay blame.

Who's fault is it that the Lakers were swept 4-0 in the second-round by the Dallas Mavericks?

Is Gasol to blame? Kobe? Phil Jackson?

Perhaps what fans are failing to acknowledge, is that through the four-game stretch, the Mavericks were simply brilliant.

Much like the Heat through December.

Statistically, the Lakers weren't awful. Rebounding and assist figures were only marginally down on the regular season. Field goal percentage was only two percent down on the playoffs average. And the Lakers were more efficient from the line than in the regular-season series.

Scoring was down. But that's to be expected in the playoffs.

The main discrepancy lay in the three-point shooting. The Lakers were 15 percent down on their regular season mark while the Mavs shot a crazy 46 percent through the series.

In fact, the Mavericks were out-rebounded and went to the line no more frequently than the Lakers.

The Mavericks would have beaten just about anyone through this second-round series. They were almost even-money from the field and up 10 percent on their regular-season perimeter shooting.

Dirk Nowitzki was unstoppable through the first three games. He, Jason Terry and Peja Stojakovic were 63 percent from downtown in the series. That's ridiculous. You can't defend that.

Not that the Mavericks weren't good in the paint either. Brendan Haywood pulled down 18 rebounds per-48 minutes and Tyson Chandler shot 65 percent from the field.

The only Mavericks player significantly below par was Jason Kidd, who struggled from the field, going just nine of 32. He still finished with 33 dimes for the series.

I hope the Mavericks get their due credit for this series and analysts don't spend all their time focusing on the Lakers' pitfalls.

Sure, when the going got tough, the Mavericks got going.

But I'm not sure any team in the league could have withstood the barrage of offensive and defensive supremacy that the Mavs produced over these four games.

I'm certain heads will roll.

The Lakers are too proud of a franchise to accept a 4-0 series drubbing.

But before deciding who's head goes on the chopping block, let's pay the Mavericks their dues.