Lakers Blow By Mavericks

May 4, 1999 / 2:57 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Glen Rice finally felt needed in the Lakers' offense after all but disappearing in recent games.

Rice broke out of a scoring slump with 22 points and Los Angeles defeated Dallas 115-102 Monday night, snapping the Mavericks' four-game winning streak.

He had publicly complained last week about his role and questioned whether he wanted to be with the Lakers next season. His points were the most since he had 25 against Minnesota nearly a month ago.

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"I was definitely into the flow, a little more active and guys were looking to get screens for me and getting me the ball," Rice said. "It definitely felt a lot better."

Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers with 26 points and 11 rebounds as four of their five starters scored in double figures. Kobe Bryant added 17 points and a career-high 10 assists.

"We just came out in the second half and played better defense, boxed out a little better and played hard," O'Neal said. "Then they started to miss shots and our guys got a little hotter."

The Lakers moved the ball and had 31 assists, their second-highest season total.

"It's going to be a plus for us when we can get everyone involved," Rice said. "When you just rely on the two people (O'Neal and Bryant) to take you to that finish line every time, sometimes you're going to come up short."

Michael Finley led the Mavs with 24 points, but was held to just seven in the second half despite playing all but six minutes in the game.

"That was my fault a little bit," Dallas coach Don Nelson said. "We were going with more of a motion passing game and I didn't call his number quite as much, and I probably should have. But even the times that we did try to get the ball to him, we turned it over."

Los Angeles' magic number for clinching home-court advantage against idle Houstn in the first round is one. The Lakers need to beat Portland on Wednesday or have the Rockets lose one of their two remaining games to open the best-of-5 series at the Forum.

"We're definitely on a roll," Rice said of the Lakers' three-game winning streak. "We want to go into the playoffs with the momentum that we have right now. Things are going right for us, everyone is feeling confident, and that's what it's going to take."

Rice had a season-low five points on 2-of-10 shooting at Seattle on Sunday, and had averaged seven points over the last two games. But he turned things around in the third quarter, helping the Lakers build a 20-point lead after they trailed by two to start the period.

"We got more aggressive in the second half with our defense," Rice said. "Once again, the defense ignited everything."

Rice scored 10 points in a 28-6 spurt that put the Lakers ahead 83-63 with 2:50 remaining. The Mavs scored nine of the final 11 points in the quarter to trail 85-72 going into the fourth.

"We absolutely gave ourselves no chance with the third quarter that we played," Nelson said. "We needed to continue to play like we did in the first half, but we just turned the ball over too much."

Dallas, which led by nine in the second quarter, cut its deficit to 10 points early in the fourth on a basket by Erick Strickland. But the Lakers got hot from long-range, with Rick Fox and Derek Harper combining for three 3-pointers in 1 1/2 minutes to push their lead back to 20 points with 5:57 left.

Notes: Lakers guard Derek Fisher had 10 points and his eight assists tied a season high. ... Lakers rookie Tyronn Lue turned 22 Monday and celebrated by getting in the game in the final two minutes and hitting a 17-foot jumper. He finished with four points. ... The Mavs, who won't be in the playoffs, end their season Tuesday at Seattle. ... Los Angeles won the season series 3-0, sweeping Dallas for the second straight year. ... Dallas starting forward Gary Trent missed the game with a pulled left hamstring. He was replaced by Strickland. ... A.C. Green, who played eight seasons with the Lakers, was cheered loudly when he entered the game.