Can the Lakers rise to the challenge? No.

Final score 122-86. The Lakers are swept out of the NBA playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks, and manage to look unclassy doing it. In the fourth quarter, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum were kicked out of the fame for flagrant fouls 45 seconds apart, "with [Phil] with Jackson sitting on the bench looking as if he'd already checked out," according to AP. As debris and boos rained down, Bynum pulled off his jersey and had to be escorted from the court by, yes, Ron Artest.

Dynasty very much over.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Twitter: "Bynum's flagrant fowl on Barea was a prime example of the frustration that the whole Laker team experienced. There is no joy in Laker land."

ESPN LA blogger Andy Kamenetzky: "Not much in the way of nuance, gray area or degrees. Plain and simple, this was an inexcusable performance by the two-time defending champions."

LAT Lakers blog: "It wasn’t that the Lakers played poorly -- although credit the Mavericks with an unbelievable three-point shooting game -- it was the total lack of class they showed down the stretch."