Kobe Bryant scored 15 of his 32 points in the third quarter, helping the Los Angeles Lakers cruise past the Dallas Mavericks 114-103 Thursday for their eighth straight victory.

The last four have been especially impressive. In addition to beating the Midwest Division-leading Mavericks, the Lakers beat Eastern Conference-leading Indiana by 22 and reigning champion San Antonio twice by a total of 20 points.

The Lakers' 46th win in their last 51 games against the Mavs gave Dallas its first loss at home, ending a 10-0 start. Los Angeles and Sacramento, both 10-0, are the last teams unbeaten at home.

Shaquille O'Neal had 25 points and 19 rebounds, and Gary Payton had 17 points and eight assists. Karl Malone, who came an assist shy of a triple-double last time against Dallas, had 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Playing without Dirk Nowitzki (sprained ankle) for a fourth straight game, the Mavericks started by taking the first jumper they could every time down court. They missed 10 of the first 11 shots and quickly found themselves down 14-2.

The Lakers stretched it to 25-8 late in the first quarter and were hardly tested again.

Steve Nash scored 12 of his season-high 30 points during a second-quarter rally that got Dallas within five, but Los Angeles was back in control by halftime. Bryant took over from there, nailing a 3-pointer then putting in a reverse layup after catching a teammate's blocked shot.

Mavs coach Don Nelson was ejected midway through the third after picking up his second technical and didn't miss much. Bryant made that foul shot, then a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and the Lakers quickly got the lead up to 18. The closest Dallas got after that was 104-96 with 2:03 left.

Michael Finley overcame an 0-for-9 start to finish with 19 points for Dallas, while Antoine Walker had 24 points and 12 rebounds. Antawn Jamison had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and rookie Josh Howard had nine points and 14 rebounds.

Despite trading for Walker and Jamison, the Mavericks still can't bridge the gap with the Lakers. Los Angeles won 105-93 in the first meeting, which was the season opener. They'll meet again next Friday at the Staples Center. Nowitzki could be back by then.

Next up for Los Angeles is a home game against Utah, which likely will be an emotional game for Malone as he faces his former team for the first time.

The only emotion for the Lakers this night was laughter.

In the first quarter, O'Neal sent a layup by Walker flying into the seats. Finley got so flustered trying to get a shot around O'Neal that the ball went over the top of the backboard. Howard shot the ball out of bounds when he found himself one-on-one with O'Neal.

Nash single-handedly got Dallas back into the game in the second, going 4-of-6 from the field. His teammates went 1-of-16 in the quarter.

Nelson tried all sorts of lineups, using all 11 healthy players before halftime.

In his search for a spark, he once countered the addition of O'Neal and Malone with Shawn Bradley and undrafted rookie Marquise Daniels. It floundered as Bradley fouled O'Neal the two times they matched up and Daniels missed three shots, two in the paint.

Nelson also worked the refs, finally getting his first technical in the final minute of the half.

The humor returned in the final minutes when a cartoon played during a timeout lampooned O'Neal as "Shaq Albert." The big guy couldn't stop laughing at it.

Notes:@ Dallas started 12-0 at home last season. ... Payton has 7,714 assists, moving ahead of Orlando's Rod Strickland for seventh on the all-time list. ... Lakers coach Phil Jackson got a technical arguing a backcourt foul by Malone on Nash. The play left Nash with a cut lower lip that required two stitches.

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