LOS ANGELES – It's a little early in the season for a reality check, but the Mavericks went through one before Game 2 Friday night.

They knew after losing by 11 points at home to Washington on Tuesday that they shortchanged themselves, the franchise and the fans.

Either that, or this team has way overestimated itself.

They'll go with the former, not the latter.

"After that game, everybody felt it and everybody's ready to gear it up a notch," Shawn Marion said Friday before playing the Lakers at Staples Center. "It means playing more consistent, harder and leaving it on the floor. Once you leave it on the floor, good things happen. You start getting consistency. And that's what we need right now."

It's called playing with passion and the Mavericks didn't do it in the opener.

But getting the edge back is something that can happen quickly when a team realizes it underachieved, even if for just one game.

"The reality is if you don't guard well, you're going to struggle to win," coach Rick Carlisle said. "We needed to be better defensively. When shots aren't going down, your defense has to hold you in. And we were unable to do that. It's disappointing, but you have to move forward."

Carlisle added that he saw a positive sign out of his team by the way they practiced for two days between games.

"They were looking forward to playing after Tuesday," he said. "It's tough because you're going out on the road and playing the world champs."

Not only that, the Mavericks on Friday started a set of four games in six days with two back-to-back situations.

"We got to get going, baby," Marion said. "I look at it one game at a time, but you got to look at the big picture, too."

In that regard, it's never too early to show some backbone.

Remembering 62-61: The Mavericks who were on that team still remember when Kobe Bryant dropped 62 points on them in three quarters before sitting out the final period of a blowout.

The Mavericks had 61 points after three quarters and went on to lose the game 112-90 in December, 2005.

"It's in the past," Erick Dampier said. "You go out and play the game and not let him score 62 again."

Still simmering: The fun between Mark Cuban and Ron Artest will not stop.

Before Friday's game, Cuban, who has speculated that Artest could be bad for the Lakers' chemistry, said he was amused when Artest said that Cuban has to say those sorts of things to keep fans interested, among other things.

"He's probably mad because I heard he went out with Khloe before L.O. did."

That would be Lamar Odom, who is married to Khloe Kardashian.

That quote should be enough to keep the situation properly stirred.