All-star Lakers stunned

"Defensively we didn't give the multiple effort that we needed to give," Lakers coach Mike Brown told reporters after the game had ended in front of a subdued,near-silent crowd at the Staples Center."

The heavily anticipated new era of Los Angeles Lakers basketball began with a whimper as their much vaunted team bristling with All-Stars were beaten 99-91 by an under-strength Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday. Five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant had given the Lakers a late boost when he pronounced himself fit enough to play in the regular season opener shortly before the game,having struggled with a foot injury for more than a week.

Though Bryant scored 22 points on 11-of-14 shooting and Spanish forward Pau Gasol weighed in with a game-high 23,the Lakers paid the penalty for a dismal free-throw display,making only 12-of-31. Dwight Howard made only three-of-14.The Mavericks were without 11-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki,who is recovering from knee surgery,and injured center Chris Kaman but in their absence,six Dallas players scored at least 10 points with guard Darren Collison leading the way with 17.Brandan Wright contributed 14 and fellow forward Shawn Marion 11 as the Mavericks stunned the 16-time NBA champion Lakers despite being out-shot from the field by 49.4 percent to 47.1.

8220;Defensively we didn8217;t give the multiple effort that we needed to give,8221; Lakers coach Mike Brown told reporters after the game had ended in front of a subdued,near-silent crowd at the Staples Center.8221;We8217;re going to have to defend with multiple effort until our defense catches up with our offense. Obviously we8217;re going to have free throws down. ,38 percent free-throw shooting is tough.8221;Gasol,who also contributed 13 rebounds and six assists in a solid,all-round display,felt the Lakers8217; new-look starting five needed more time to gel.8221;It8217;s not the way we wanted it to go,8221; said the seven-foot Spaniard. 8220;We know it8217;s not going to happen right away,but we8217;ve just got to stick with it.8221;

With Bryant,Howard and Gasol all getting into the paint early on,the Lakers made an encouraging start and led by eight points after an Antawn Jamison layup less than a minute into the second period. However,a rash of missed free throws and turnovers cost the Lakers dearly. They trailed 48-46 at halftime and were never able to close the gap after that as the faster Mavericks steadily increased their lead.