LOS ANGELES — At least we know what separates the Mavericks from the Los Angeles Lakers this season.

A touchdown.

For the third time, the Mavericks played gallantly against the Western Conference's top team and came up with another seven-point loss. They were outscored, 18-5, in the final seven minutes as the Lakers ended the Mavericks' once-promising road trip with a 107-100 defeat at Staples Center.

You can add Kobe Bryant to the chasm between the two teams, too. And the unlikely Trevor Ariza.

The two made all the big plays in the final minutes after the Mavericks had put together one of their best stretches of the season to take a 95-89 lead.

"This was a great opportunity," said Jason Terry, whose career-best seven 3-pointers and 29 points were a big reason why the Mavericks turned a 15-point deficit into a six-point lead. "We dug ourselves a hole and we had a chance to pull it out. But that's why he's Kobe Bryant. He does things in the fourth quarter that only a few players can do.

"Knowing that, we like our chances. We match up pretty well with that team. If it's a team we've got to face down the line, we're confident it will be a knock-out series. We're the underdog. You've got nothing to lose anyway."

If the season ended today, the Mavericks would be the No. 8 seed and play the top-seeded Lakers. But the Mavericks have 15 more games and nine of them are at home. Sunday's meeting with the Lakers ended a 2-2 road trip that started out 2-0.

"We battled and we couldn't get it," Brandon Bass said. "To go 2-2 on the trip, that's OK. But we know we could have done great. We could have gotten all four or at least three."

The Mavericks showed they can make the Lakers sweat. But what they left on the proving ground all season was showing they can beat them. Back in November, the Lakers twice beat the Mavericks — 106-99 in Dallas and 114-107 in Los Angeles .

Apparently, not much has changed since then.

The scary part is that it wasn't even Bryant that broke their hearts. Or at least, not Bryant by himself. Ariza had 26 points, including six in a row that put the Lakers up, 98-95, with less than four minutes to go. The Mavericks used a 21-2 surge that started late in the third quarter to put the heat on the Lakers.

But after that, as Terry said: "Our offense melted down."

They had trouble getting shots until late in the 24-second clock as the Lakers regained the lead. Then Bryant reared up from well behind the 3-point arc and delivered a knockout with 3:57 to go, putting the Lakers up, 101-95, and completing a 12-0 run.

The Mavericks got no closer than four the rest of the way. Their last chance ended when, after Dirk Nowitzki stole the ball from Pau Gasol, Nowitzki's 3-point attempt with 45 seconds left was off the mark, preserving the Lakers' 105-100 lead.

The Lakers did a solid job on Nowitzki, forcing him into 6-for-20 shooting. The Mavericks got a good showing from James Singleton, but Pau Gasol shot 12-of-13, and Bryant ended with 28 points on an ordinary day by his standards.

Hoping for another chance:

D.J. Mbenga has been to the NBA Finals twice and has no championship to show for it. The former Maverick doesn't want this trend to become a habit.

"To miss in the Finals twice was hard," Mbenga said Sunday. "I want that ring."

The 7-footer has caught on as a backup center for the Lakers. He played just four minutes Sunday.

Mbenga was with the Mavericks when they lost to Miami in the NBA Finals in 2006. He was signed by the Lakers last season when they lost to Boston in the Finals and re-signed as a free agent last summer. Briefly:

The Mavericks were down to 11 healthy players who dressed for the game. ... Terry had a highlight-reel finish to the third quarter. He hit a 3-pointer with 44 seconds to play. After a Lakers miss, he bricked a 3-pointer with five seconds left, but he pilfered the outlet pass by Luke Walton and hit a 32-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer. That stretch triggered the Mavericks' 21-2 blitz. ... The Mavericks were hammered on the boards for the second game in a row, losing the rebounding battle, 49-40.