Dallas Mavericks 99, Boston Celtics 90

Posted by Rob Mahoney on January 19, 2010 under Recaps | View Comments

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Shot Chart — GameFlow

“The unpredictability inherent in human affairs is due largely to the fact that the by-products of a human process are more fateful than the product.“
-Eric Hoffer

It’s getting to the point where the Maverick offense is almost impossible to predict. The Mavs were unable to get the ball in the basket for long stretches against the Toronto Raptors, who despite their improved play of late, are dead last in the league in defensive efficiency. In the first half last night, the Mavs were scoring relatively well, but were turning the ball over at an uncharacteristically high rate.

Then in the second half? A deluge. 58 points (which is notable considering the there were only 90 total possessions) dropped on the head of one of the league’s top defenses (currently ranked 3rd). The less surprising part was that Dirk Nowitzki (34 points, 14-22 FG, seven rebounds, three assists) was the primary bread-winner, scoring 22 of his 37 points in the second half on 9-15 shooting. He was 6 of 7 in the third quarter, when the Mavs scored 34 points on an insane 16 of 20.

Dirk was mismatched against the likes of Glen Davis and Brian Scalabrine, but he abused any defender Doc Rivers assigned to him. But honestly, as brilliant as Dirk was in getting open off of picks and the like, Boston’s defense had a complete breakdown. I’d imagine that Nowitzki takes up a pretty substantial part of the scouting report, and yet he was frequently wide open for mid-range jumpers. He is the undisputed best player in a Maverick uniform, and yet the Celtics were leaving him open to double in the post or sending two defenders to rotate due to miscommunication. Even great defensive teams are due for some mental errors once in awhile, but the second half (and the third quarter, in particular) was just mistake after mistake after mistake.

What’s scary is how good the Mavs could have been offensively if Jason Terry (eight points, 3-12 FG) and Josh Howard (three points, 1-5 FG, three rebounds, four assists) had been in any kind of rhythm. JET didn’t score a single point within 15 feet of the basket (0-4 from that range), as he was denied at the rim and forced into tough jumpers after prematurely killing his dribble. Terry caught the ball looking to score, but simply failed to convert. But he kept his turnovers down, played some decent defense, and deferred at the appropriate moments. Josh, to his credit, kept his shot attempts down. But his play continues to frustrate. His recent play should already have him on thin ice, and every missed layup and long, contested jumpshot is another step closer to the freezing water beneath his feet.

But Dirk wasn’t carrying the offense alone. Erick Dampier (11 points, seven rebounds, four turnovers, two blocks), Drew Gooden (10 points, four rebounds, two steals, two blocks), Jason Kidd (13 points, 5-7 FG, 3-3 3FG, 17 assists, three turnovers), and Shawn Marion (16 points, 7-9 FG, eight rebounds, two blocks) provided ample scoring support. Damp’s performance was especially notable for just how explosive of a scorer he was; all 11 of Damp’s points came in the third frame, where he also grabbed five rebounds and went a perfect 5-5 from the field. He was also surprisingly versatile, dropping a free throw line jumper and what I only know to describe as a runner (maybe a walker?) along with a few layups and some post work. That’s the closest thing you’ll ever see to an Erick Dampier offensive clinic, and it was against a pretty solid defender in Kendrick Perkins.

Gooden had a similar role in the first half, but in my mind Drew’s offensive contributions are far eclipsed by those on the defensive end. I’ll be blunt: Drew Gooden is not a strong defender. The rhetoric that he often “floats” on that end of the court is certainly true, and his concept of defensive spacing is certainly not in line with Coach Carlisle’s. But last night was a pleasant surprise, as Gooden combined excellent anticipation, great hands, and a high activity level to put together one of his best defensive performances of the season.

The shocking thing about Kidd and Marion’s performances was that there was really nothing spectacular about them. Kidd simply made the right plays, again and again, and his teammates finished inside. He displayed that incredible efficiency from the three-point line, which has become a staple of his time in Dallas. He played tough defense (even when switched onto bigger threats like Paul Pierce), pressured shooters, and initiated the offense. His numbers are absolutely stellar, but Jason Kidd only did what Jason Kidd does.

Shawn Marion’s outing was similar, with one notable exception: he finished. Marion’s time in Dallas has already seen him miss plenty of layups and several dunks, but Shawn maximized his opportunities last night. He was excellent in transition, but even more impressive with what he was able to do in half-court sets. Plus, his defense on Paul Pierce was admirable, even though it wasn’t totally effective. That happens when your primary objective on the court is to contain the league’s best players night in and night out. And though Pierce still scored 24 points while shooting over 50% from the field, Marion is putting in the effort to deny, bump, and challenge, and on the whole it’s working.

It was certainly an impressive win for the Mavs, but they hardly turned a corner. We’ve seen this team put up the occasional dominant offensive outing, and in truth, this was only half of one. It came against a quality opponent and a quality defense, but don’t misconstrue the Mavs’ third quarter brilliance for some sort of grand revelation. This team still only goes as far as Dirk can take them, and until Josh Howard and Jason Terry become more efficient and effective parts of the offense, Dallas will continue to struggle on that end of the court.

Closing thoughts:

• Rajon Rondo (seven points, 12 assists, two steals) is tremendously improved as a shooter. He was 3 of 5 from 16-23 feet last night, and he’s managed to virtually eliminate one of the holes in his game. That shot doesn’t need to be his bread-and-butter, but being able to hit from that range consistently can really complicate things for the defense.
• Oh, and Rondo’s okay at passing, too. A lot of the Mavs’ defensive trobles came from collapsing too hard on Rondo’s lane penetration, which gave players like Kendrick Perkins (14 points, 12 rebounds, three turnovers, two blocks) all kinds of easy buckets. Not that Perk wasn’t a beast in his own right. The Celtics routinely sent him to work on the low block, and his array of turnaround jumpers was a clear homage to teammate Kevin Garnett.

GOLD STAR OF THE NIGHT: The Gold Star of the Night goes to Dirk Nowitzki. He scored 37 points on 22 shots…isn’t that good enough for you?

All shot distribution data courtesy of HoopData.com. Efficiency rankings courtesy of ESPN.com.

Good Will Towards Men

Posted by Rob Mahoney on January 18, 2010 under News | View Comments

There should be no ill will towards Jerry Stackhouse. After all, his contract ended up scoring Shawn Marion in a sign-and-trade. That’s good enough for me, even if Stack’s shot-happy and poor-defending ways made him incredibly mortal. He was a bench scorer with the confidence of a starter, and you can take that in just about any direction you wish. And though his time with the Mavs didn’t end on the best of terms, he still had four good, productive years in Dallas, and was a part of some truly special teams.

Stack and the Mavs could end up crossing paths pretty soon, as he has apparently agreed to play for the Milwaukee Bucks for the rest of the season. From Marc Stein:

Sources told ESPN.com that Stackhouse is expected to formally sign with the Bucks on Monday or possibly Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

The former All-Star guard has been looking for a new team since the summer and was targeted by the Bucks — who began play Sunday two games out of the final playoff spot in the East — after Michael Redd suffered a season-ending knee injury this past Sunday in Los Angeles against the Lakers.

Foot and knee problems limited Stackhouse to just 10 games last season with Dallas, but the 35-year-old has insisted for months that he is healthy and ready to return to the league.

After an audition for the New York Knicks in August, Stackhouse rejected an invitation to Houston Rockets training camp in October to replace the injured Rashad McCants when the Rockets told Stackhouse he’d have to win a roster spot in camp to stick.

The Mavs play the Bucks in Dallas on January 26th, and provided Stack remains healthy, we should see him suiting up for the bad guys for the first time since 2004.

Dallas Mavericks 99, Oklahoma City Thunder 98

Posted by Rob Mahoney on January 16, 2010 under Recaps | View Comments

Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Shot Chart — GameFlow

“Endure.”
-Alfred, as played by Michael Cain

The Mavs have yet to present their magnum opus of home wins, but the formula for their nail-biting win over the Thunder as scribed a bit differently than their other near-letdowns. The effort level was not only consistent, but sufficient, and though the Mavs scored just 19 points in the first quarter while allowing the Thunder a nine-point lead, it was not for lack of trying. The level of execution was clearly sub-par, but in such instances, the Mavs must continue to run. They must continue to rotate. They must continue to drive, and help, and slash, and box-out. Too many teams have been discouraged by the ball refusing to go through the hoop, when effort level should exist in a vacuum.

On some nights, the Mavs would give in. The picks would be weaker, the moves less decisive, and the help defense a step slow. But to their credit, Dallas never ceded the competitive edge. This team knows that it can beat the Thunder, and just as importantly, knows that it can stop Kevin Durant.

Shawn Marion is the man for that unenviable task, and he clearly knows something that the rest of the world does not. How else do you explain KD’s 22.2% shooting against Marion and the Mavs this season, and his 6-18 performance last night? How else do you explain Durant’s seven turnovers, three above his season average? Durant was put on this planet to score the ball, but something in Shawn Marion’s defense has made that objective incredibly difficult. Yes, Durant still put up 30 points, thanks to his 16 attempts from the line. But I’m not sure that anyone in the NBA today is a better man-up defender of the Durantula than the Mavs’ own Shawn Marion, and considering KD’s ridiculous season thus far, that’s quite the compliment. If you’re having trouble with kids sneaking into your garage to steal a trinket or two, you might want to call Shawn. If you’re having trouble convincing a jury of your innocence, you might want to call Shawn. And if you need to close off and defend your borders from an incoming army of up-and-coming All-Star small forwards, you should really, really call Shawn.

Oddly enough, despite of the truly admirable job that Marion did on the defensive end, he probably wasn’t the Mavs’ defensive MVP for the night. That honor goes to Jason Kidd, who played the scouting report on Russell Westbrook to perfection in the first half…only to see Westbrook nail mid-range jumper after mid-range jumper. Naturally, Rick Carlisle and Jason Kidd adjusted, and in the second half, Kidd made defensive play after defensive play. Westbrook was six of nine from the field at halftime, to the tune of 12 points. By game’s end, he was eight of nineteen (that makes two of ten in the second half, for those not in the number-crunching mood) with just 18 points. Kidd’s two blocks tied Erick Dampier for a game-high, and his four steals put him in a class of his own. When the Mavs needed stops, it was Kidd that created possessions out of thin air. When Kevin Durant had a chance to tie the game with 30 seconds left, it was Kidd who challenged his shot, negating Durant’s height advantage with superior effort and technique. Oh, and in between the stops and deflections, Kidd managed to drop 11 points on 50% shooting while totaling 11 assists to just one turnover.

Then there was Dirk Nowitzki, who looked more or less unstoppable against single coverage. 32 points on 18 shots is a tad impressive. Though five rebounds and four turnovers isn’t what you’d like to see out of a star power forward, you take what you get with a guy who can score like hell and hit what was essentially the game-winning shot. Dirk had the Mavs’ final six points, icing the Thunder and putting up just enough to to eek out a victory.

Jason Terry was kind enough to join Dirk in the scoring column, as JET did went to work in the second half en route to a 21-point night on 9 of 17 shooting. It’s no surprise that the Mavs operate at a completely different level offensively when Terry’s shot is falling, and this win belongs to him as much as it does to Marion, Kidd, or Dirk. His looks ranged from obscenely open to closely contested, but JET is a shooter, and once his aim is properly calibrated for the basket’s sweet spot, he’s tough to deter.

Closing thoughts:

• Josh Howard had a horrible offensive night. He was not only shooting blanks but shooting plenty of them (2-14 FG), as the Mavs looked to him often in the absence of Dirk and JET. In theory, that approach is sound; Howard is the most natural wing scorer the Mavs have aside from Terry, and his ability to create his own shot trumps the rest of the rotation easily. But the Thunder were practically daring Josh to pull the trigger from mid-range, and though he was happy to oblige, the Mavs can’t be happy with the result. Howard’s shot selection remains his biggest flaw, and on a night where he simply can’t find the net, he’s not in a position where he can shoot himself into a rhythm. Those are shots that should be going to more efficient scorers, and while I’d very much like to see Josh scoring big in the flow of the offense, I’d rather he not make it his personal mission to chuck up jumper after jumper.
• Rodrigue Beaubois and Byron (the artist formerly known as B.J.) Mullens, who were swapped for each other on draft night, logged a combined zero minutes. It’s a fun time to be a rookie.
• Eddie Najera was suited up for the game, but did not play.
• James Singleton logged seven minutes of action, grabbing two rebounds and…well, not much else. But he appears to be stepping into Kris Humphries’ role as a reserve power forward. I’d expect that to continue, particularly on nights where Shawn Marion is locked in to the three on defensive duties, as he was tonight against Kevin Durant.
• Though Josh had a tough night, he did have a hand in saving the game. Jason Terry missed two free throws with four seconds remaining, leaving the door open for the Thunder to get one final shot. They had no timeouts remaining, and thus Nenad Krstic had to get the ball into the hands of a playmaker in a timely manner. Westbrook was ready and waiting, but when Krstic attempted the outlet, Josh Howard tipped the pass, wasting crucial seconds off the clock. It wasn’t an outright steal, but it was still a tremendous play at a crucial time.
• J.J. Barea has definite value off the bench, and though that role prevents him from applying consistent offensive pressure over long stretchers, it may be his best with the team. He can step in, catch defenses off guard, and create some confusion for half-court defenses.
• Dirk was able to get to the line at will, and his 15 attempts were a huge reason why the Mavs posted an absurd .557 free throws per field goal. That’s a nice parade to the free throw line for a team that sparingly, and oh, every single one of those free throws means a hell of a lot.

GOLD STAR OF THE NIGHT: The Gold Star of the Night goes to…I don’t know, man. Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, and Shawn Marion are all great candidates, with Jason Terry as a possible dark horse. You guys can decide this one; sound off in the comments with your choice for the Gold Star of the Night, with an explanation if you’d like.

It Never Ends

Posted by Rob Mahoney on January 15, 2010 under Commentary | View Comments

So I put together some thoughts on the latest longform Dirk-centric piece. Then I compiled a link list of some relevant Maverick material for your consumption.

And after all of that terribly, terribly hard work, Kelly Dwyer has the nerve to launch into Dirk retrospective mode at Ball Don’t Lie. People these days, eh?

KD has an incredible appreciation and dedication to the NBA, and it really shines through in pieces like this. There’s no mention of one Cristal Taylor. There are no foolhardy claims of ’softness’ or ‘choking.’ Just tribute to one of the most effective and brutally efficient players in the game today for doing what he does best:

It truly is hard to find a point in Dirk Nowitzki’s career that didn’t see him absolutely owning things. There have been plenty of disappointments, to be sure. The dismantling of the Big Three Maverick setup with Steve Nash and Michael Finley, or the failure to grab a ring in promising seasons from 2005-07, but by and large this has been a masterful career.

Dirk passed 20,000 career points this week, becoming the first European player to do so. And while I usually ignore statistical milestones like this (I couldn’t, in any reasonable way, tell you if Dirk was 10th on the all-time scoring list or 150th), we should take a timeout to point toward an innovator like Dirk.

Sure, other 7-footers took it outside. Bob McAdoo launched from the perimeter and won an MVP. Wispy centers for years stuck to the top of the key and fired jumpers. Bill Laimbeer even took it past the 3-point line, and Kevin Garnett worked the crossover, hesitation and pull-up like he was a 6-6 guard.

Dirk went all out. If he was open, it was going up. And it usually was going in. He’d put the work in, so why not?

Be sure to follow along to BDL to read Dwyer’s piece in its entirety.

Heard It Through the Grapevine

Posted by Rob Mahoney on under The Grapevine | View Comments

• For those of you that weren’t up late watching Cavs-Jazz, you missed out. You really, really missed out.
• It was touch and go there for awhile, but Shawne Williams’ NBA career has officially flat-lined.
• Kurt from Forum Blue and Gold chimes in on the chances the Western Conference quasi-contenders have of challenging the Lakers. Here’s his take on Dallas: “They see themselves as close — they do have the second best record in the West — but serious questions remain if they could get out of the second round of the playoffs, let alone their match up issues with the Lakers. Last night was just another piece of evidence that the Lakers have their number.”
• Rick Carlisle on the new starting lineup, featuring Josh Howard in his rightful place as the starting 2 (via Eddie Sefko): “Offensively, we’ve looked at a different lineup and that’s going to come…We did a lot more good things offensively than our final numbers indicate…That group hasn’t played together that much. During Josh’s second comeback period, he was playing a lot with the second group. This is another period we’re going to have to work through.”
• Two great finds, courtesy of DOH. The first is of SLAM Online ace Lang Whitaker, who took a turn as an A Season on the Brink/Seven Seconds or Less-style embedded writer with the Atlanta Hawks. Very, very cool, and especially relevant because the Hawks happened to be playing the Dallas Mavericks during Whitaker’s time with the team. Get a glimpse of some behind-the-scenes prep work against the Mavs, just how highly other teams thought of Rodrigue Beaubois earlier in the season, and some assorted thoughts on the game itself.
• The second is a piece from NBA.com’s Fran Blinebury. Kobe Bryant was asked to reflect a bit on Dirk Nowitzki in light of Dirk’s 20,000 career points, and he had plenty to say (forgive me for the lengthy quote, but it’s good stuff): “But who sees and understands more than an opposite number in a different color jersey, the player most often regarded as the fiercest competitor in the game today? ‘He’s tough,’ said the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant. ‘That’s what I like about him. He’s not a punk. A lot of superstar players don’t like to get touched. They’re kind of finicky about how they go about things. Dirk’s nasty and that’s what I like about him. He’ll take the gloves off and go at it.’ That’s a far cry from the early days of a career that had him labeled as “soft” and had Nowitzki known as Irk — no D. Over the course of his career, Nowitzki has developed into a solid team defender, become the Mavs’ unquestioned team leader and has staked his claim as the best international player to jump straight to the pro ranks in the NBA. Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon spent three years learning the ropes at the University of Houston before stepping into the NBA and Argentine Manu Ginobili honed his game for two years in the Italian League before joining the San Antonio Spurs…’It’s tough to argue that he’s not the best international player ever,’ said Bryant. ‘We’re gonna try to make a case when it’s all said and done for [Spaniard] Pau Gasol years from now. But Dirk is phenomenal right now…If you look at some of the games that he’s had against great players, it’s amazing. I think his coming out party years ago was against [Kevin] Garnett. Garnett is a phenomenal player and Dirk was putting up 35 and 20 rebounds. That’s ridiculous. I’m looking at that like, ‘Whoa, Garnett’s one of the best defensive players ever and [Dirk] torched him.’ ‘…’Dirk’s not gonna back down. I like that,’ Bryant said. ‘He’s not soft. Oh, no.’…Though he grew up trying to emulate the all-around skills of Scottie Pippen, because he’s blond and tall and white and can shoot with either hand, from the time he entered the league Nowitzki has always drawn the comparisons to the legendary Larry Bird. ‘They’re very different actually,’ Bryant said. ‘The similarity is that they’re big guys that can shoot. But I think that’s where it ends. Bird with the Celtics, they ran a lot of things through him to facilitate things for others. In Dallas they use Dirk more as a striker…Hopefully the fans in Dallas can appreciate what they watch — a 7-footer that can put the ball on the floor, can shoot it from the outside, can post. Dirk’s a rare breed, man. A rare breed.’”
• Josh Howard on the Mavs’ defense of late (via Eddie Sefko): “We’ve been slipping…It’s a matter of us willing it on ourselves and not just depending on the coaching staff to get us going. It’s all about us doing it.”

Reflections

Posted by Rob Mahoney on under Commentary | View Comments

Photo by Ethan Levitas for ESPN the Magazine.

Nowitzki prefers to stay hidden, keep everyone focused on his game. Off the court, he takes the brilliant tack of appearing uninteresting, which he is decidedly not. (How many NBA players teach themselves guitar or read Joseph Conrad?) At press conferences he drops his voice, tape recorders shoved beard-close. He avoids eye contact, says little. Dull by design, he has no interest in being the color in the commentary. “He’s a character. He’s funny,” says teammate Jason Kidd. “He can laugh at himself. But unless you’re in the inner circle, you’ll never see that side.”

Photo by Ethan Levitas for ESPN the Magazine.

I ask Nowitzki when he became a man. “I don’t know. Am I a man?” he asks, head tilted. “I sometimes think I am still a little kid.” He pauses, tosses up an empty water bottle, lets it hit the table.

“There is an innocent quality to Dirk,” says trainer Casey Smith. Indeed. After the Mavs were upset by the Warriors in 2007, Nowitzki chose to drown his sorrows in … a huge bowl of vanilla ice cream. “He lives in a dream world,” Casey says. “He gets to do exactly what he’s been doing since he was 16. Normal people go through changes and searches. He hasn’t. He’s in a unique reality.”

Allison Glock of ESPN the Magazine (Insider) has put together a very interesting foray into the world of Dirk. Not all of Glock’s prose is golden (”baby mama drama” seems out of place, and claiming that “Nowitzki’s head is never on a platter, even amid playoff exits” just seems downright untrue), but her piece succeeds in what I can only assume is its intent: to bring us one step closer to Nowitzki’s inner circle, so that we might see Dirk for Dirk, regardless of what that entails.

It’s beyond merely “worth reading” for Mavs fans. This is a getting-to-know you piece 12 years into Dirk’s career, and it still manages to capture both the known (goofy, hard-working) and the relatively undocumented (extremely introspective, anxious about aging). It’s about Cristal Taylor, it’s about basketball as life, it’s about public persona, it’s about personal inspiration, and it’s about continuing to grow and grow up, even at 31. All of which leads me to say, perhaps redundantly, that Glock’s piece could be fairly described as being all about Dirk.

Ultimately, Glock’s work is best served as a companion piece to Zac Crain’s oral history of Nowitzki. Crain charted Nowitzki’s career mostly through the eyes and lives of others, but it was less about Dirk the player and more about Dirk the man. The accounts offered from Holger Geschwindner, Steve Nash, Mark Cuban and so many others reflected on emotions, reactions, and behaviors. Meanwhile the more traditional landmarks of Nowitzki’s career (his NBA debut, the 2006 Finals, Dirk’s MVP) are treated as mere prompts to guide the more important personal narrative.

It’s not that Glock doesn’t formulate her piece with perspective from the peripherals; Jason Kidd, Rick Carlisle, Casey Smith, and a hand-full of others fill paragraphs with terrific quotes. But there’s something in the way she describes Dirk that really makes him three-dimensional. Compounded with his own responses, Dirk is instantly made mortal. Maybe most of the heavily lifting was done by Crain, but Glock has certainly done a fine job of detailing.

Or rather, if Mavs fans have spent the last decade building a 20-foot high statue of Nowitzki in marble, Glock and Crain have destroyed it. Not in the name of myth-shattering revolution, but simply so we can erect a new one, standing a mere seven feet, bearing the inscription: “Behold Dirk Nowitzki, the man who made the Mavericks great.

Los Angeles Lakers 100, Dallas Mavericks 95

Posted by Rob Mahoney on January 14, 2010 under Recaps | View Comments

Photo by Danny Bollinger/NBAE via Getty Images.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Shot Chart — GameFlow

“They’re certainly not the protagonists.”
-Robert Thompson

Each Maverick game this season has been but another installment in the team’s plotline. There are ups and downs, triumphs and failures, and hopefully, a terrific climax following the rising action late in the playoffs.

But tonight didn’t feel like a Maverick game. Dallas was merely the backdrop of the latest Laker adventure, with the Mavs thrown out of the spotlight in favor of the night’s true protagonists. They showed resolve. They showed savvy. They fought nobly in the face of adversity, displayed teamwork and fellowship, and prevailed. The Mavs were simply the extras in the background while the celebration ensued, a footnote in the epic being written to log the exploits of the reigning champs.

From the very beginning, it seemed as if Dallas was fighting an uphill battle. The Lakers found plenty of early success by jumping on the back of Andrew Bynum (22 points, 8-11 FG, 11 rebounds). Erick Dampier’s (five points, four rebounds, two turnovers) return was supposed to provide a defensive counter to Bynum’s inside presence, but to no avail. Damp couldn’t slow down Bynum, much less stop him, and the interior D went from bad to worse when Dampier picked up two early fouls. Drew Gooden (eight points, five rebounds) is an able big against second units and small lineups, but against a gifted conventional center like Bynum, he could offer little in the way of resistance. The center rotation couldn’t even balance their poor defense with a bit of offense, leaving the rest of the Mavs to counter Bynum’s efficient night.

The defensive problems hardly stopped there. Ron Artest (16 points, 5-5 FG, 11 rebounds) was a bull inside, exploiting Josh Howard in the post with decisive moves and superior size. But perhaps the biggest slap of all came with the Mavs inability to get stops against the Lakers’ reserves; how is that a team of starters for a would-be contender fails to gain ground against a lineup of Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown, Luke Walton, Josh Powell, and Andrew Bynum? That’s one starter (albeit on this night, a terribly effective one) with two rotation players and two deep reserves, and yet stops were a rarity and easy buckets were nowhere to be found. That is not the kind of team that the Mavs are supposed to struggle against, and though the Lakers’ margin of victory is relatively small, that stretch is surely representative of a larger deficit. The Mavs are struggling.

Kobe Bryant (10 points, two rebounds, one assist) was a virtual non-factor in the first half, as back spasms rendered him an observer on the court. The ball stayed out of his hands, and the Mavs failed to attack him when in the half-court offense. Bryant was matched up Marion, and while Shawn does not have an expansive offensive repertoire, would posting up Bryant be too much to ask? It’s hard for players with hurt backs to guard mobile opponents, but it’s also difficult for them to establish a base, bump, and contest down low. That should have been the Mavs’ primary directive early in the game, but Marion was hardly a factor in Dallas’ first quarter offense.

By the second half, Kobe seemed to be more comfortable. Maybe it was the considerable rest (he didn’t play at all in the second quarter, giving him thirteen minutes of rest in addition to halftime) afforded him by the Laker bench, or perhaps a change in approach by L.A.’s training staff. Or perhaps a recovery of some supernatural nature, a divine right given to the heroes of our story so that they may rise above. Bryant didn’t do much of the heavy lifting, but he managed to suck the air out of American Airlines Center with a go-ahead jumper with 29 seconds remaining. Dirk had just hit the biggest shot of the night to tie the game 95-all, but we should have known that the Mavs were simply setting the stage for their opponents’ victory. Josh Howard later had a chance to send the game to overtime on an open three-pointer, but leather hit nothing but rim. And instead of thinking that the Mavs fell short, all I could think was that the Lakers held on. From the opening tip on, this was their game. It was their story, and they played like it.

Closing thoughts:

• Dirk Nowitzki (30 points, 11-22 FG, 16 rebounds, two assists) and Jason Kidd (11 points, 3-8 3FG, seven rebounds, 11 assists) were sensational. But Kidd’s timely threes and Dirk’s heroics couldn’t overcome the Mavs’ defensive shortcomings. It was one of those nights where Dirk reminds you of just how fantastic of a player he is, and fittingly so, because Nowitzki notched his 20,000th career point. He’s 38th on the all-time scoring list, and while it’s easy to say that the Dallas Mavericks have never seen another player or scorer like him, I’d venture as far as to say that the NBA hasn’t, either. Dirk is a truly unique talent, a revolutionary, a franchise savior, and one of the best to ever play the game.
• Jason Terry (seven points, 2-12 FG, three assists) didn’t offer much support, and the offense stalled because of it. Terry is so crucial to the offensive game plan, and when he’s not providing a scoring punch from the bench (especially on a night where Josh Howard moved into the starting lineup), he doesn’t offer much at all. That’s painful considering just how close the Mavs were to a victory, and when considering that the Lakers’ bench outscored the Mavs’ bench by ten points (31-21).
• Lamar Odom did exactly what the situation called for - he drove to the basket (nine attempts at the rim), set up his teammates (four assists) and hit his open jumpshots (four of five from 16-23 feet). With Kobe stepping into a minor offensive role, somebody needed to use up shots. To Lamar’s credit, he certainly wasn’t passive, and although his 9-20 shooting and three turnovers aren’t terrific in regard to efficiency, it was exactly what the Lakers needed on this night.
• Early in the game, the Mavs made the decision to put Josh Howard on Ron Artest and Shawn Marion on Kobe Bryant. I don’t meant to beat a dead horse here, but the way that Artest was bullying Josh inside made me wonder if Marion couldn’t do a little better job of standing his ground. Shawn is bigger than Josh and a more adept defender in the post, and putting Josh on Kobe would create more transition situations where Kobe is forced to guard Josh. Even if you don’t buy into the idea of Marion being able to punish Kobe in the post, Howard could at least provide offensive pressure on an ailing Bryant.
• Two crucial plays that Rick Carlisle highlighted in his press conference took place at the end of the second and third quarters. To close the second, Ron Artest had a look at a running three-pointer, but Dirk Nowitzki mistimed his jump and ended up fouling with .2 seconds on the clock. Ron sank all three free throws, and what could have been a one-point deficit at halftime was four. Then, to close the third, the Mavs gave up an uncontested three to Jordan Farmar, pushing a two-point deficit to five. Both were pretty glaring mental mistakes, worsened by the fact that the clock was working against the Lakers in those situations, and yet they still found ways to get points.

Rocking the Internet Airwaves

Posted by Rob Mahoney on January 13, 2010 under xOther | View Comments

Andrew and Brian Kamenetzky, they of the Land O’Lakers Blog at ESPN Los Angeles, were kind enough to have me around for some Mavs-Lakers talk on their podcast. We discuss the night that shall live in infamy, the impact of Erick Dampier, Dirk vs. Pau, and plenty more. Check it out, and if you make it all the way to the end you get a piece of candy.

Heard It Through the Grapevine

Posted by Rob Mahoney on under The Grapevine | View Comments

• Kelly Dwyer on the Lakers’ rough night last night: “The Lakers are beat to hell - Ron Artest, Jordan Farmar, and a guy named Kobe Bryant are in pain; Pau Gasol didn’t even play - and they were on the road. Topping that, they’re the champs. The last bit means teams have it out for them. It means teams get up for the best. And while Tim Duncan has never needed an excuse to rule the entire half-court defensively, he easily turned in his best defensive performance of the season against Los Angeles. Every angle was covered.”
• And just in case you’re not quite getting it, here’s Brian Kamenetzky with a laundry list of Laker injuries: “Start with injuries. L.A.’s entered the game dealing with the slow burn of Kobe Bryant’s fractured right index finger and Pau Gasol’s improving hamstring. Over the ensuing 48 minutes, they added Ron Artest’s right hand- one he spent most of the second half clutching before leaving the game with 4:11 remaining- a hamstring injury for Sasha Vujacic  limiting him to 3:06 of playing time, a sore throat for Adam Morrison…oh, and did I mention Kobe spent the fourth quarter in the locker room getting treatment for back spasms? So easy to overlook the minor details, right?”
• Josh Howard is expected to play tonight, but Erick Dampier and Tim Thomas are questionable. Dampier could be the biggest blow of all; we’ve had the distinct displeasure of seeing how the Lakers can dissect a Damp-less Maverick defense, and while the Lakers are even more banged up this time around (remember, that horrible loss was without Ron Artest and largely without Pau Gasol), I’d still much prefer it if Damp could find a way onto the floor. Knee effusions aren’t something you want to mess with, but the Mavs need Damp tonight.
• The Mavs are projected to have a home record of 27-14, which would be among their worst of the decade. The players and coaches are saying all the right things, but this is one of those tricky psychological problems that’s easy to notice but far more difficult to solve.
• John Hollinger, on Twitter (@johnhollinger): “Southwest Division: Five teams over .500. Entire Eastern Conference: Four teams over .500.” The Grizzlies and the Hornets are making a run at the playoffs, and from where I’m sitting, the Southwest is the best division inbasketball. The other two divisions in the West each boast some impressive teams, but they also have dead weight in the Timberwolves and the Warriors. The worst team in the West is a game over .500, and that’s beyond impressive.
• Dirk Nowitzki is a hop and a skip (no jump necessary) away from 20,000 career points. Get ready for the standing ovation.
  

Rumor Mongering: Alternate Reality

Posted by Rob Mahoney on under Rumors | View Comments

In what was supposed to be a relatively uneventful trade season for the Mavs, we know two things:

1. The Mavs made a move to swap Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams for Eddie Najera, earning some short-term savings, bringing a fan favorite back to Dallas, and picking up a guy with a positive influence in the locker room.
2. Before that, the Mavs tried to package Hump, Williams, and Drew Gooden in a salary-clearing deal for Carlos Boozer that would have saved the Jazz $2.5 million initially, an additional $2.6 million if they decided to waive Gooden, and possibly more if the Mavs threw cash compensations into the deal.

Needless to say, the latter would have been a complete game-changer. If the Mavs had the luxury of bringing Boozer off of the bench (and make no mistake, that’s the role that would best serve the team) instead of Gooden, Dallas immediately becomes a contender for the Western Conference crown and the title. Plus, if the Mavs could have picked up Drew Gooden on the flip side after being waived, they would have a dominant rotation of bigs capable of matching any in the league.

But it wasn’t meant to be. Rather than trade out of their luxury tax obligations by ditching Boozer for pennies (or halves of pennies, really) on the dollar, the 9th place Jazz know that right now they need Carlos Boozer. Deron Williams has quietly had a terrific season, but would he be able to fend off the Thunder, Rockets, Hornets, and Grizzlies with Kris Humphries’ production replacing Boozer’s? Hardly. Booz is absolutely crucial to Utah’s playoff hopes, and while I’m sure that on some level Kevin O’Connor would love nothing more than to rid himself of the headache, he’s well aware of his team’s dependency.

So no Boozer, for now, at least. And now that Drew Gooden’s contract has lost its value to teams over the luxury tax (his salary is now guaranteed for the season), hopefully never. As Stein mentions in his piece over at TrueHoop, the Mavs don’t gain much if they agree to swap Josh Howard or Erick Dampier in a deal for Boozer. That said, Stein cites a different line of logic than I would. According to Marc, trading Howard, Dampier, or another core piece for Boozer is troublesome in that there’s no guarantee of Carlos’ return. That’s true. But the real trouble would be what the Mavs would do this season without either one of those players. If they lose Dampier, the vaunted Mavs’ defense falls to pieces, and Damp’s minutes are ceded to a guy marked by his inability to block shots and his irrelevance as a low post defender. If they lose Josh, the perimeter defense suffers, albeit with a bit less of an overall effect on the team’s success on that end than if they were to trade Damp. Trading Josh seems like the more palatable option…but while Boozer would bolster the Mavs’ rotation in the frontcourt, the backcourt would likely be a mess. No Howard means more Terry (who for all his improvements on defense, is a merely average defender) and more Barea (who has really struggled lately and continues to be a defensive liability), which is a pretty lethal blow to the team defense.

Carlos Boozer would be an interesting addition, and the Mavs took a shot. A long shot, admittedly, but Nelson, Cuban, and Carlisle tried to offer the Jazz exactly what they need. That Utah still fancies themselves contenders for the playoffs seems to be the real complication.