Los Angeles  - Mark Cuban may legally own the Dallas Mavericks, but the Lakers own them in Los Angeles.

Kobe Bryant tossed in 28 points, Trevor Ariza had a career-high 26, and the Lakers regrouped after blowing a big lead to continue their home court mastery over the Mavericks with a 107-100 victory on Sunday.

"We match up well with them," said Bryant after the Lakers closed on an 18-5 run and improved to an astonishing 33-3 home mark over the Mavericks since 1991.

If the play-offs began today, the top-seeded Lakers and eighth- seeded Mavericks (40-27) would meet in the first round.

Spaniard Pau Gasol scored 25 points on 12-of-13 shooting for the Lakers (53-13), who are tied with Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland for the NBA's top mark

Jason Terry led Dallas with 29 points, including seven three- pointers. German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki finished with 20, but had just five in the second half.

"This was a great opportunity," Terry said. "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."

The Lakers led by 15 points midway through the third quarter, but were bothered when the Mavericks switched to a zone defence. With Terry hitting six triples during a 21-2 run, the Texans took a 95-89 advantage with 7:09 remaining.

After Bryant hit a three-pointer, Ariza, known for his disruptive defence, stepped up the other end. He had six straight points to put the Lakers back on top 98-95 with 4:20 left.

"On a team where we have the best scorer in the NBA," said Ariza, referring to Bryant, "defence is what I need to do to help this team win."

Bryant buried another triple to cap a 12-0 run, making it 101-95 with 3:37 left, and the Lakers pulled away.

"What threw us off was the zone, it broke our rhythm," Bryant said. "It was a matter of figuring out a way to cut up their zone, Once we got that, we got the game back under control."( dpa)