Through the first two games it was easy to explain away the Lakers losses. In Game 1, despite poor games by both Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant just missed the game-winning 3-pointer in the closing seconds. In Game 2, they missed their first 15 3-pointers and went 2 for 20 with the majority of those being open looks. If they poorly instead of horrifically poorly they could've won that game. But after the loss in Game 3, it's clear the Mavs are the far superior team.

The Lakers were able to execute their game plan in the beginning. They pounded the ball inside to great effectiveness. Lamar Odom was slashing to the rim and even Gasol got a few looks to go in in the first quarter. But the star was again Andrew Bynum. Tyson Chandler couldn't handle him and gave away great positioning. Bynum was able to catch and score on that little jump hook of his. He even did the best job guarding Dirk Nowitzki. Late in the first half he managed to deflect a pass to Dirk and took it the distance for the dunk.

The Lakers outscored the Mavs in the paint 18-2 in the first quarter and 34-12 in the half. And yet they only led by 4. How? How could they dominate the paint and do exactly what they wanted on offense and only lead by 4? It was what was going on on the other end of the court.

The Mavs have a bunch of great players but only one superstar. Under no circumstance should Dirk Nowitzki be allowed to get an uncontested shot. But somehow Nowitzki was left alone time and time again. Dirk had a great game but he wasn't nearly as good as he was in the first two games and yet his numbers were even better. In the first two games he had to work for his points and shot that patented fadeaway, off-balance jumper with precision. Last night it was often like warm-ups for Dirk.

He shot 11 for 19 for 32 points but 16 of those came on open looks including four 3-pointers. Four open 3-pointers? There was constant miscommunication on pick and rolls and the Lakers left the one man they could not afford to leave open. Maybe they thought guarding him one-on-one wasn't working so instead of trying to double him they'd see how he'd handle not being guarded at all. The Zenmaster plays some real mind games.

After Kobe missed that potential game-winner in the first game, many questioned his clutchness. It has been a topic of debate for years with people rolling out all sorts of statistics to prove that he is or isn't clutch. If there's one thing this series has proved it's that the Lakers as a team certainly aren't clutch. In Game 1 they led by 5 points with 3:30 remaining and lost by 2. Last night they led by 7 points with under 5 to play and lost by 6.

The 3 games have been decided by a total of 18 points. The Mavs have outscored the Lakers by 27 in the fourth quarters. The reason the Mavs have been able to pull away in the fourth is because the Lakers are aging and weren't able to get any sort of lift from their bench.

The Mavs were the more energetic team. They had Peja Stojakovic come off the bench to score 11 points in the fourth, Jason Terry carved up the defense all night along with J.J. Barea. The Mavs bench contributed with 42 points compared to 15 for the Lakers. But it was also on the defense end where they fought for loose balls and looked like a team ready to play another 30 minutes if needed. The Lakers looked like a team ready to take a nap. They weren't working hard enough to move the ball and get good shots and instead had to force up awful shots late in the clock.

Now they trail 3-0 and there is a better chance of Luke Walton outplaying Dirk Nowitzki next game than the Lakers winning this series. The Lakers will soon look towards the offseason - one much longer than they're used to.