LOS ANGELES – Two nights after a cathartic release against Golden State, the Dallas Mavericks were left with questions.

Was the win over the Warriors the start of something big, as Josh Howard speculated afterwards? Or was it an aberration rather than a turning point?

“This road trip will show what that game really did for us,’’ Jason Terry said before the Mavericks took the court Friday night against the LA Lakers.

The jury is still out.

The Mavericks played with the same passion and aggression they displayed against the Warriors. But as they have done time and time again since the All-Star break, they were unable to hold a lead against an elite team in the stretch.

The Lakers overcame a seven-point deficit in the final period to beat the Mavericks, 112-108, at the Staples Center.

“We were right there again,’’ said point guard Jason Kidd, who finished with 10 points and didn’t take a shot in the second half. “We did everything right, even coming down the stretch. We had great looks. They just didn’t go in for us, and they made their free throws. That’s how it goes sometimes.’’

These weren’t the Mavericks that spent a large part of the season shooting jump shots. The team took its share from the outside but attacked the basket throughout.

Howard, Terry and Kidd were forced to become more assertive on the offensive end during Dirk Nowitzki’s absence. Even though the Mavericks' leading scorer is back, coach Avery Johnson has told his players to act as if the All-Star forward isn’t there.

“Sometimes we get into this Dirk watching, where we just throw the ball to Dirk and we forget to cut, we forget to swing the ball and move it,’’ Johnson said before the game. “Kidd and Josh and Jet were much more aggressive looking to score when he was out. We want them to try to continue the same aggressiveness.’’

They did.

Terry scored five points in the game’s first three minutes and finished with 25 points. Howard, the primary option in the Mavericks' attack as Nowitzki plays his way back into form, had 21 points entering the final period.

He finished with 23. Howard took only two shots in the final period and was hit with a technical foul at a critical juncture.

“We just didn’t execute down the stretch,’’ Howard said. “We’re still a confident team, no matter what. We just lost our concentration in the fourth quarter.’’

This had not been an impressive home stand for the Lakers. It opened with losses to Charlotte and Memphis. The team was forced to go to overtime to beat Washington then followed that with a win over Portland.

This night didn’t look much better as the Mavericks hit the Lakers with a 16-2 run to start the second quarter. When it was over, the Mavericks held a 64-54 halftime lead and placed four starters in double-figures.

Center Erick Dampier, the one who didn’t, had nine points and nine rebounds.

The Lakers overcame a seven-point deficit in the final period to tie the score at 101 with 3:45 left. They took a 108-106 lead with 40.8 seconds left when Pau Gasol hit the basket, was fouled and converted the free throw to complete the three-point play.

The Mavericks ran a play for Nowitzki to tie the score, but he was unable to hold onto the ball and turned it over.

“I mean, we just have to execute a little better down the stretch,’’ said Nowitzki, who finished with 27 points and was 13-of-19 from the field. “We’ve got to run the plays. We lost our composure a little bit in the fourth, and the Lakers used that to their advantage.’’

Sound familiar? The Lakers outscored the Mavericks 32-21 in the final period.

“When they turned up their defense a little bit, we turned it over,’’ Johnson said. “We can’t do that. We’ve got to have better set ups, be a little stronger with the ball and keep our composure.’’

The next chance to do that comes against Phoenix on Sunday afternoon.

“We’ve been right there the last three or four weeks,’’ Nowitzki said. “It’s been tough. I haven’t been a part of this in awhile. But we’ve got to fight through it. This is no time to give up now."