Right there in the front row Wednesday night were the ultimate beautiful people, the husband-and-wife combo of Jay-Z and Beyonce.

Hard to believe they weren't the hottest team in the joint.

Rarely have the Mavericks been as good looking as they were in a riveting 101-96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center.

They're still the wannabes. And the Lakers are still the champions. But at least the Mavericks let it be known that they will not be intimidated - if indeed they ever were - by Kobe Bryant and Co.

Their fifth consecutive victory - the longest current streak in the NBA - was full of playoff-worthy drama, effort and grit by both teams. There were 24 lead changes and eight ties. But none of them came after Jason Kidd nailed a 3-pointer to end the third quarter, which put the Mavericks up, 74-72.

The Mavericks showed a little pit-bull toughness, answering every LA run with a score or defensive stop.

"It reinforces what we're doing and reinforces the idea of hard play and commitment to defense," coach Rick Carlisle said. "It's a great win. Too much will be made of it, probably. But we just continue to build on things."

The Mavericks had the lead throughout the fourth quarter, when they held the Lakers to 41-percent shooting and were up, 97-94, when Bryant missed a 3-pointer. Jason Terry, who had 30 points, hit two free throws with 15.9 to play, clinching the win.

"Nobody wanted to lose tonight," said Kidd, who had a terrific floor game with 14 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and a steal. "We wanted to come out and play our 'A' game."

What may have saved the Mavericks from a tough loss was the end to the second and third quarters.

They went on a 10-2 blitz to close out the second quarter, which erased most of a nine-point Laker lead.

"That was danger time for us," Carlisle said. "But we never dropped our head."

In the third quarter, Dirk Nowitzki, who had a team-best 31 points, caught fire and Kidd hit his momentum-changing 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Down the stretch, the Mavericks ratcheted up the defense and stopped the Lakers three times in a row when the score was 90-86.

But it wasn't until Bryant's miss and Terry's free throws that the deal was sealed.