Strength in Numbers

By Mo Diaby
With the holiday hangover done, the Mavs looked to regain the intensity they had going into the break. A break which allowed the team, mostly comprised of veterans, a 5-day break from action as well as time off with their families.

The Mavs head coach, Rick Carlisle, didn't make the trip to Oklahoma after having Arthroscopic sugery on his knee. Another Mavs player missing was Brian Cardinal, who was out with an illness.

With that said, the Mavs started this out slow, but went on a big run immediately after that. Dirk, jumped out with a 11 points  performance with a little over 9 minutes left in the 2nd Quarter. However, in a very scary moments for the Mavs, Dirk came down awkwardly after being fouled by Serge Ibaka. After shooting his free throws, the Mavs superstar was led to the locker room to examine his injury, which was thought to be a knee injury.

As they have shown all season, the Mavs saddled up their defense and looked at Caron Butler, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry to lead their offense. As the Coaches and players have preached all season long, their bench proved to be more than enough to supplement the scoring output, they lost with Nowitzki out.

Six players scored in double figures, led by 21 point from Caron Butler and 20 from Shawn Marion. As has been the case recently, with the game tight during the 4th Quarter, Mr. 4th quarter himself, Jason Terry, closed the game out by pouring in 11 points in the 4th to close the game out.

Notable Contributions:
Alexis Ajinca - stepped in briefly at the PF position and made a contested 3pt shot to keep the Mavs in the game(79-80) during the 3rd Quarter.

Tyson Chandler - had a quiet 7pts and 10rebs but altered many shots including a late attack at the basket attempt by Russell westbrook which sent the young PG out of the game. (He was alright after the game)

Tweets after game:

Caron Butler:  "That was a huge win for us coming off the break let's keep it going 2marr... Another challenge"

Shawn Marion: "great team win get that knee right @swish41 (Dirk)that's whats up"


Dirk: "Thx for askin everybody. I will be ok. Got an mri 2mor mornin. Great win. guys came through bigtime and defense down the stretch was sick"

Great note from Eddie sefko from DMN about Dirk's evening after he took off for the locker room found here

Jameer tries to Ice the DirkMan

Click on Image to enlarge
By Mo Diaby
It's Tuesday night and with 24.1 seconds to go in the game, after a Jason Richardson clutch 3pt shot, Dirk is fouled and is on his way to the line. But on his way there something funny happens. Jameer Nelson reaches and touches Dirks' arm to get his attention (as seen on photo on the left). Dirk doesn't look his way; So Jameer follows Dirk closely and whispers something to him (seen on the photo on the right). What does he whisper you ask? Two words: Miss It...

Needless to say, Dirk proceeds to knock both Free Throws down. But interesting tactic by Jameer.

Referee Oop-sie of the week

Click on Image to Enlarge
By Mo Diaby
In this shot we see Tyson Chandler taking a forearm to the head on a dunk after being fed in the post by Jason Terry. Dwight Howard, who had almost no chance at stopping the dunk, swiped with his forearm, delivering a blow to Chandlers' forehead. It is amazing that both refs missed the call, specifically (#28 Tommy Nunez Jr.) standing just a few feet away, and looking directly at the play.

Bit of a comedic moment as Hedo Turkoglu is blocked by the rim last night

Break out your Brooms, It's a sweep

By Mo Diaby
Since the formation of the Superfriends (Wade, Lebron, and Bosh), the trip to Florida has been much more terrifying for western teams. The trip has undoubtedly always involved, a matchup against 2 of the leagues' better talents (Wade and Dwight Howard). However both teams in Florida have gone through significant roster upgrades this season. (At least on paper, they have).

Heading into the week, The Mavs knew they were going to see a different effort from both teams on what figured to be one of the more challenging back to back games on their annual calendar. After all, the Heat came in on monday, riding a 12 game winning streak that had them convinced their previous woes were long behind them.

The team the Mavs defeated nearly a month ago, sending them into a 45 minutes player-only meeting, had transformed into a fast pace juggernaut on offense and a stifling defensive team, that won 12 straight games with a point differential of +9.6 points.

The game was a game of runs and it was clear after the first half, that the victor of the game would be the team that was able to impose their defensive will on the other. While the game stayed close, Jason Terry caught fire in the 4th scoring all 19 of his points and putting the Superfriends to rest.

The Mavs however, had little time to pat each other on the backs, as they followed that win with a matchup versus the New Look Magic; Who over the weekend, had executed a blockbuster trade sending out: Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus, Rashard Lewis and Marcin Gortat for an  incoming: Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu, Gilbert Arenas and Earl Clark.

Dirk entered the night needing just 10 points to tie Larry Legend himself, Larry Bird, for 25th Most points scored all time in the NBA. The big German wasted little time starting the game hot, and as usual the Mavs took an early lead.

A mini run by the Magic, brought the game closer, but the Mavs kept a steady dose of balanced attack by Caron Butler and Deshawn Stevenson, both of whom combined for 12 made 3pt-shots.

Jason Kidd and Tyson Chandler also contributed to the scoring; Jason Kidd finished the game with his 3rd double-double of the season, and Tyson Chandler consistently rocked the rim with two handed jams.

Much through the night, the buzz was about Dirk closing in on Larry Birds' record. However, it wasn't until the 4th quarter that Dirk hit a 3pt-shot to settle the record breaking watch.

With that settled, the Mavs extended their lead late into the 4th. However, they weren't home-free yet, as the Hot 3pt shooting Magic team had one last run in them. A clutch 3pt shot, with 24.6 seconds to go, brought the game margin to within 2. But as has been the case lately, the Mavs stepped to the Free throw line and iced the game away, and completing the FLA sweep.

Classy move of the Night: Coach Carlisle on Larry Bird reaching out to him:
"I just got a text message from Larry right as the game ended saying to congratulate Dirk and that he's always been a huge fan," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "They've had a chance to spend some time together. I'm sure he's going to text Dirk and I'm sure that will be very meaningful for Dirk."

Privileged to watch

By Mo Diaby
Often, great players are not seen for their brilliance, until long after they have retired. With the rivalry that comes with each of us, having a bias towards our own teams, it's easy to forget that the other teams' superstar may just be as great as ours.

Through the foggy glasses of a fan, we tend to view opposing superstars through their weaknesses, rather than just appreciate that we are privileged to watch one of the greatest basketball specimen in history.

It's far too easy to say: Tim Duncan is a whiner, Manu Ginobli is a flopper, Paul Pierce fakes injuries, Kevin Garnett is (well not a nice guy) to put it mildly, Rajon Rondo can't shoot, D-wade flops (see 2006 finals), Kobe never won a ring with such and such, Dwight Howard has no post moves, Dirk Nowitzki doesn't play defense.

Is it possible that those things might be part of the characteristics of each of those players? Yes, but do they take away from the fact that these guys possess supreme talent and players like each of them might never be seen again in our lifetimes? Not one bit.

Tim Duncan is as technically sound as any power forward in NBA history, Manu Ginobli is one of the most competitive athletes ever, Paul Pierce never shies away from the big shot, KG is the guy to lead your defense because he is so intense on the court, Rajon Rondo is as if not more important as the Big 3, Dwayne Wade is athletically gifted as any 2 guard, Kobe is Kobe, Dwight Howard is so gifted, and Dirk Nowitzki is making history every time he steps on the court and plays as unorthodox as he does.

It's far too often that we hear the blame placed on Dirk for the Mavs misfortunes, or complains about him being soft, and the rest of the propaganda that is widely spread by people who may watch 6 Mavs games all year.

The Fact is, Dirk has seen every double team, played against every kind of defender there is in the NBA and thrives through them all at a superstar level every time.

Asked about Dirks' performance after a Celtics lost to Dallas recently, Kevin Garnett had this to say:
“The vet’s crafty, man,’’ KG said “He’s played against everything - short guys, quicker guys, thicker guys, stronger guys, longer guys. Good offensive players, they have an arsenal of moves.’’

This ability to amaze only continued wednesday night as Dirk continued his bid for MVP this season and put up another "We ain't losing this" performance during the 4th quarter of a tight home game against the visiting Blazers. With the game tied at 91 all, Dirk went to work. In the final 2:24, Nowitzki hit four consecutive shots scoring 8 of the Mavs last 10 points. He had a nice reverse layup. He scored inside on a step back jumper. He then scored over Brandon Roys' tight defense and then to cap it off, made another shot with Lamarcus aldridge draped all over him. And he did it all while shooting 50% percent from the field.


Performances like these aren't going to last forever so it would behoove us all, to just watch and enjoy the performances these guys put on rather than criticize them for their short-comings.

Mess with the Buck, you get the Horns

By Mo Diaby

That Breakfast Club inspired line, played so much on the events that took place at the AAC, as the Mavs watched their 12 game winning streak come to a halt against a team that had as many losses, as the Mavs had wins coming into Monday night.

The Mavs started this one of with a great defensive intensity that saw them holding the Bucks FG shooting percentage to 33% after the first quarter and a 25 to 10 advantage.

This disparity in talent and perhaps swagger, saw the lead increase to as much as 20 points in the second quarter. The Mavs impressive showing might have led you to think this one was over before the half, but as this team has shown in the past few contests, they have a tendency to get complacent and allow teams to crawl back in the game.  They allowed a Nets team to come back from double digits, and saw a 25 point lead on the Jazz disappear.

This tendency to let teams crawl back into games, has been discussed before by Coach Carlisle and was addressed recently by Owner, Mark Cuban who stated that his concerns about this team, was that they tried to “Win games rather than just execute for 48 minutes”.

The Mavs went into the half with a 52-43 lead, but minutes into the third quarter saw that lead diminish into a one possession game, with the Bucks coming out aggressive. Behind the play of Brandon Jennings, Kenyon Dooling and Andrew Bogut, the Bucks outscored the Mavs 32-22 in the 3^rd Quarter and took a 1 point lead into the fourth.

An interesting strategy applied by Scott Skiles, coach of the Bucks was the Hack-a-Haywood who is now 9-38 from the Ft line, this season. This strategy paid off as Brendan clanked 4 straight free throws at the line.

Dirk again with some late game heroics drained 2 shots from the 3pt line to keep the Mavs in the game. The Defensive intensity seemed to come to life with 3:32 to go and the Mavs down by 9. Kidd swished in a 3pt shot that made the game 99-93 with 2:49 to go. Another 3 by Jason Terry made it a 99-96 game to go.

But behind the stylish play of Brandon Jennings, the Bucks drained a stepback long 2 point shot that made it a 101-96 game with 1:06 to go. Another trip to the line by Dirk made it a 101-99 game with a few ticks and the Mavs needing a stop, which they got by a miss from Jennings.

With all signs pointing to late game heroics, Nowitzki missed a short runner to tie the game, and with that, the Mavs streak came to a halt.

The good: The Mavs know the type of team that they have. They have a core group of veterans that know they are capable of beating any squad in the league on any given night. When they come out with intensity and all cylinders clicking, they are capable of blowing anyone out as we have seen time and time again, including their first quarter against the Jazz, and tonight.

The Bad: The Mavs know the type of team that they have. And this can be a bad thing, because they seem to go into coast mode after taking a huge lead and seem to just be doing barely enough to sustain that lead, rather than go for the kill.

Conclusion: Though much will be made about this loss and the Winning streak coming to an end against a team of such caliber, the Mavs were still just one or two shots from coming back into this game after seeing themselves down 9 with 3:32 to go.

About the streak: A streak must end for another to start

Familiar face of the night: The Mavs faced former Mav Drew Gooden

Interesting fact: Since joining the Starting lineup, tonight was the first night that Deshawn Stevenson didn’t attempt a 3pt shot.

Odd Stats of the night: Three of the five starters for the Bucks combined for 5 points for the night. Mbah a Moute (0 points), Sanders (0 points), Salmons (5 points).