Editing Dallas Mavericks (section)

===Los Angeles Lakers===
The rivalry between the Lakers and Mavericks began in the 1980s during the Lakers' [[Showtime (basketball)|Showtime era]]. In the [[1984 NBA playoffs]], the Lakers won over the Mavericks in the Western Conference Semi-finals with the series 4–1. In 1986, they met again in the semi-finals and the Lakers won the series 4–2. In the [[1988 NBA playoffs]], the Lakers, who were the defending champions, defeated the Mavericks in a seven-game series in the Western Conference finals and eventually became the back-to-back champions after winning the [[1988 NBA Finals|NBA Finals]]. In 2011, the Mavericks met the two-time defending champions Lakers in the semi-finals and rejected their three-peat by sweeping them in four games and eventually won the [[2011 NBA Finals|NBA Finals]]. In Game 2 of the [[2011 NBA playoffs]], [[Metta World Peace|Ron Artest]] was ejected for hitting [[J. J. Barea]] and suspended for Game 3. In Game 4, [[Lamar Odom]] was ejected for pushing [[Dirk Nowitzki]] and then [[Andrew Bynum]] was ejected for elbowing [[J. J. Barea]]. Both players received flagrant foul 2. After the [[2011 NBA lockout]], Lamar Odom was sent to the Mavericks after he requested to leave the Lakers due to the vetoed Chris Paul trade. Andrew Bynum made a formal apology for what he did to Barea before the start of the following season.