Lakers 119, Mavericks 109
DALLAS — While Shaquille O'Neal and Don Nelson have different opinions about basketball strategy, they share a love for a good joke.
So there they were, mugging for the cameras, sharing a hug and playing with an 89-cent foam nose.
Nelson put it on first to remind everyone that O'Neal called him "a clown" the last time their teams met. Then O'Neal took it off and put it on to show that he didn't hold a grudge.
Then the game began. And O'Neal was the one laughing at the end, sinking 11 of 15 free throws to defuse Nelson's beloved Hack-a-Shaq strategy in leading the Los Angeles Lakers past the Dallas Mavericks 119-109 Tuesday night.
Nelson's antics deflected the attention from the fact this was his first game back after missing 21 while fighting prostate cancer. He spent several weeks being treated at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City.
Doctors believe they removed all the disease. Nelson is awaiting one final test result next week to be sure he's recovering as smoothly as he thinks he is.
O'Neal was among the thousands of well-wishers who called or wrote Nelson to wish him a speedy recovery.
"The reality of the situation is that I'm glad he's back from his cancer," O'Neal said.
Nelson's return gave his team a boost as the Mavericks — who went 13-8 without him — took an early 10-point lead.
Then O'Neal and Kobe Bryant got going, and the Lakers rolled to their 22nd victory over Dallas in 23 tries. The lead peaked at 18 in the third quarter as Los Angeles improved to 3-2 on a six-game road trip that ends Wednesday night in San Antonio.
O'Neal still had to endure a fair share of abuse from the Mavericks.
He was fouled 59 seconds into the first quarter, 54 seconds into the second quarter and 11 seconds into the fourth quarter. He even had to do a cartwheel to save himself from injury following one foul by Christian Laettner in the fourth quarter.
But the big guy had the last laugh by making five straight foul shots in the second quarter and going 6-of-8 in the second half.
"When Shaq makes his free throws like that, then the Hack-a-Shaq goes right out the window," Nelson said.
In their last meeting, Dallas sent O'Neal to the line 20 times, usually by guys put in specifically to foul him. That's what angered him so much that he came up with the clown line.
"I knew he wouldn't forget my comments," said O'Neal, who was presented one of the noses in the locker room.
Bryant finished with 19 points but injured his right ankle in a collision with O'Neal in the final minutes. Although he continued to play on it, he was unavailable for comment after the game while getting treatment and X-rays.
Bryant's first point was Los Angeles' 40th, and he didn't make a field goal until midway through the second quarter. The Lakers survived, though, because Rick Fox tied his season-high with 22 points and Isaiah Rider had 20.
Steve Nash led the Mavericks with a career-high 31 points and had seven assists, but it wasn't enough to continue a five-game home winning streak.
"We came awfully close to beating the Lakers the first two times we played them," Nash said. "Tonight, we weren't as close. Shaq hit his free throws, and that was a big part of the game."
KINGS 94, HAWKS 80: Jason Williams had 22 points and seven assists as host Sacramento ended a 10-game losing streak against Atlanta.
The Kings last beat the Hawks on Nov. 12, 1994.
Peja Stojakovic scored 19 points for Sacramento, which won for the third time in eight games. Vlade Divac had 13 points and 19 rebounds, and Scot Pollard added 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Jason Terry led the Hawks with 16 points. Lorenzen Wright had 15 points and 13 rebounds and Dikembe Mutombo added 11 points, 15 rebounds and nine blocks.
TRAIL BLAZERS 104, NUGGETS 94: Rasheed Wallace scored a career-high 42 points as Portland dealt Denver its ninth loss in 11 games.
Detlef Schrempf and Bonzi Wells each scored 13 points for the Trail Blazers.
Antonio McDyess scored 30 for the visiting Nuggets.
SUNS 110, MAGIC 104: Shawn Marion scored 28 points as Phoenix snapped Orlando's nine-game winning streak.
Jason Kidd added 15 points and 15 assists for the visiting Suns, who have beaten the Magic six straight times. Tony Delk scored 22 points.
Tracy McGrady had a career-high 44 points for the Magic.
KNICKS 76, HEAT 74: Latrell Sprewell scored 17 points and Larry Johnson added 14 as host New York prevailed in a typical Heat-Knicks matchup dominated by defense.
Marcus Camby had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who moved back into second place in the Atlantic Division, just a few percentage points ahead of the Heat.
Anthony Mason had 17 points for Miami, which squandered two chances to win the game when Tim Hardaway threw up an airball and an off-target 3-pointer on Miami's final two possessions.
ROCKETS 101, CELTICS 84: Maurice Taylor scored 23 points and Steve Francis had 19 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for Houston.
Cuttino Mobley had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Hakeem Olajuwon added 13 points as the Rockets won for the sixth time in seven games.
Paul Pierce scored 31 points and Antoine Walker 19 as the Celtics lost their fourth straight in Houston.
BUCKS 101, BULLS 92: Ray Allen scored 17 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter as Milwaukee rallied to win at Chicago.
The game was marred by an ugly scuffle between Milwaukee's Glenn Robinson and Bulls forward Ron Artest in the third quarter. Both players were ejected, and Artest also received a flagrant foul.
Sam Cassell added 20 points for the Bucks. Jason Caffey had 14 points and 11 rebounds against his former team.
Elton Brand's 22 points and career-high 21 rebounds led four Bulls in double figures.
RAPTORS 113, WARRIORS 102: In Toronto, Vince Carter scored 33 points and Mark Jackson moved past Isiah Thomas into fourth place on the NBA career assist list.
Jackson had 12 assists, raising his career total to 9,065.
John Stockton is the NBA's career assist leader with 14,255. Magic Johnson is second at 10,141, and Oscar Robertson is third with 9,887.
Antawn Jamison had 31 points for the Warriors, who have lost five straight and 10 of 11.
Golden State's Mookie Blaylock had four steals, raising his career total to 2001. Only seven other players have 2000 steals in NBA history.
GRIZZLIES 116, WIZARDS 104: Michael Dickerson scored nine of his 23 points during a decisive third-quarter run as visiting Vancouver extended its franchise-record winning streak to five games and won its third straight road game.
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Shareef Abdur-Rahim each scored 19 points for the Grizzlies.
Juwan Howard led Washington with 27 points.