"In a series opener that was beyond crucial, the Mavericks had to dodge a bullet from the NBA's best gunslinger.

Kobe Bryant with the ball in his hands and the clock ticking down is as scary a situation as there is.

"To be honest with you, you don't want to see that,'' Tyson Chandler said.

This time, the Mavericks stared down the barrel and survived, in part because the Mavericks had a rusty, old silencer named Jason Kidd that they could put on Bryant.

Kidd in essence asked for the opportunity to guard Bryant at the end of the game and responded with a steal and forcing tough shots as the Mavericks overcame a 16-point third-quarter deficit for a 96-94 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals series.

How important was stealing home-court advantage away in the opener?

The Lakers have a fabulous history in the playoffs when winning Game 1 (49-2). But coach Phil Jackson's even better. Going back to his Chicago days, his teams are 48-0 when they go up 1-0 in a playoff series.

Those are steep odds to buck. And the Mavericks won't have to after winning a playoff game in LA for the first time in franchise history (0-10).

The final defensive play was the sort of stand that can give a team a ton of momentum heading forward. The Mavericks got two free throws from Dirk Nowitzki and one from Kidd to move ahead 96-94, the first time they had the lead since the second quarter.

Then, with 3 seconds left, the Lakers inbounded to Bryant.

"We knew he was coming off to get a 3,'' Kidd said. "I did everything I could to not let him catch it, but he's a great player. When he shot it, I didn't look. I was going to listen to the crowd.''

Kidd's play came after DeShawn Stevenson, Shawn Marion and Corey Brewer all had taken turns on Bryant, who had 36 points, but was only 3-of-7 from the field in the fourth quarter.

"All I know is I said, 'I'll guard him,' " Kidd said. "And I wanted to make it tough. That last play, I think they wanted to put 'Trix (Shawn Marion) on him, but I just said, 'You might as well let me stay on him and just hope that he misses the shot?'

"I'm a competitor. And maybe being old, too, maybe I'm hard-headed and naïve enough to think I can slow him down."

Consider it done. The Mavericks survived a horrible finish to the first half and an equally poor start to the third quarter."