DAL-LA Dallas Destroys Defending Champs Get First Win 94-80

The Los Angeles Lakers could not over come a sloppy, sluggish start and the Dallas Mavericks took full advantage downing the defending champion Lakers 94-80 before a stunned silent Staples Center crowd.

Wow. Who knew the Mavericks could play defense?

Early foul trouble for both Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest forced Lakers head coach Phil Jackson to make abnormal substitutions and the Lakers were not able to find their stroke after a spirited first quarter that ended with Dallas nursing a slim three point lead.

Soon after the start of the second quarter, Dallas began to click on the defensive and offensive glass, building on the three point first quarter lead, taking a seven point lead into the half. Ball handling miscues caused in part by mental lapses and a stifling Dallas zone helped contribute to the Lakers' demise in the first half.

After the break, the real Lakers must have been kidnapped by early-bird trick-or-treaters because the team that showed up to play the second stanza of the game were not the champions of last season and they surely did not play like a team that will win anywhere near 72 plus games this season. Dallas' slim seven point lead would be short-lived, eventually exploding into double digits, thanks in part to poor Lakers shooting from the 3-pt arc (7-23, 30.4%) and a pedestrian free-throw shooting performance (9-14, 64.3%).

Read more on Bleacher Report.