Jason Kidd jumped on The Ben and Skin Show on 103.3 FM ESPN Radio on Tuesday to discuss injury, age, and recovery, and ended up hitting on a familiar theme with the humble hosts:

Ben Rogers: Back in the day, everyone used to say Mark Cuban was the greatest because the players get to have a Playstation in their locker. But now, isn’t it more about — look, you guys are using cutting-edge technology to get the most out of yourselves to prolong your careers, to be fresher, to recover faster, to heal faster. Between the hyperbaric chamber and liquid nitrogen cryotherapy, are you amazed by how far things have come technology-wise from when you first got in the league?

Jason Kidd: It’s night and day. We still use ice baths and also at the game we put ice on our knees and whatever other joints are hurting, but you can see the technology of cutting-edge medicine — of being able to get in these different chambers and see your body heal, and also be able to perform at a higher level as you get older. That was a perfect example of what we did last year as an older team being able to win a championship.

Kidd’s response is all well and good, but the more interesting concept here is Rogers’ framing of medical technology and innovation as a selling point for players. If trainer proficiency has been made into a factor in recruiting and retaining free agents (as was the case with Grant Hill choosing to return to the Phoenix Suns, for example), then why can’t cryotherapy — a magical tool of rejuvenation and recovery — serve a similar function? It may not factor heavily into the decisions of young players, but as the reputation and awareness of cryotherapeutic treatments increases, these kinds of medical technologies could provide a nice cherry on top of an altogether well-run organization.

Then again, there’s a fine line; as players become more aware of the benefits of cryo, so, too, do other teams. Any advantage the Mavericks have would likely be neutralized in the long-term, but I think there is also some persuasive value in being on the forefront of a movement like this, just as the Mavs have been on the forefront of so many others in the past decade or so.

But, naturally, the most important thing: Widespread usage of cryotherapy throughout the league only makes for better basketball featuring healthier players. Dallas may eventually lose some small competitive advantage, but as fans of the game, we all win.

Be sure to check out The Ben and Skin Show in its entirety for more comments from Kidd, as well as a segment with Marc Stein on Dirk Nowitzki, Jeremy Lin, etc. For the audio-averse out there, I’ve transcribed a pair of questions Kidd fielded on cryotherapy:

Jeff ‘Skin’ Wade: One of the things that I’m assuming you’re using to help you get back is something that Ben and I have recently gone through, and that is cryotherapy. We were told that the first Maverick to buy into cryotherapy and really start using it toward the end of last year was one Jason Kidd. What can you tell us about this?

Kidd: Well, I think cryotherapy is excellent for anybody, not just athletes. I did buy into it at the end of the season, in April. [Mavs trainer] Casey [Smith] asked me to try it out, and I felt great throughout the playoff run, so I thought: ‘Hey, this is something that could help me throughout my career.’ It’s not as bad as getting in the cold tub — that takes you at least two or three minutes just to get in the cold tub. This is a process where you step in the tube, and you’re in there for two and a half or three minutes, and [then] you’re out and you feel great.

…

Rogers: We knew that C.J. Wilson of the [Texas] Rangers — pitching in that extreme heat — he was using it, and he told us about it…We had Rick Carlisle on the show last year, and we said, ‘Rick have you considered cryotherapy for your players?’ and man, he stonewalled us. He was like ‘Guys, I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ And we came to find out that you guys were all about cryotherapy. So now, more and more people are learning about it and they say [that] in the future, it’ll be in every locker room, but do you guys think, in a way, it was a bit of a secret weapon last year to help you guys get rejuvenated?

Kidd: We did. We thought it was our secret weapon because of what it did and how it made everyone feel. In Portland, Nike had one on campus so during the Portland series we got to use the one at Nike. They also had one in L.A., but the drive was a little bit too far. But we definitely used it in that series. The big thing is that I think it’s gonna be in every locker room and probably [on] every campus because of what it does to the body, how you feel, and the success rate that it’s had so far.

Box Score — Play-by-Play — Shot Chart — Game Flow

Team	Pace	Off. Eff.	eFG%	FTR	ORR	TOR
Dallas	96.0	91.7	52.2	40.3	12.1	21.0
Cleveland		94.8	43.0	16.1	32.7	8.3

You know the drill. The Difference is usually a reflection on the game that was, with one bullet for every point in the final margin.

• Unfortunately, this installment of The Difference will be a bit brief. An unfortunate DVR meltdown derailed my viewing of this game before it even began, making a full recap treatment a bit out of the question. But as I track down a copy of the game tape through alternative means, fill me in: What happened in this one and what does it mean?

Box Score — Play-by-Play — Shot Chart — Game Flow

Team	Pace	Off. Eff.	eFG%	FTR	ORR	TOR
Dallas	92.0	94.6	45.8	15.7	28.3	15.3
Indiana		106.5	49.4	18.4	34.1	13.0

You know the drill. The Difference is a reflection on the game that was, with one bullet for every point in the final margin.

• [11:26, 1st] - Brendan Haywood catches an entry pass from Vince Carter in the high post, and awkwardly anchors the offense from the elbow. He doesn’t panic, but does immediately look to get the ball to Dirk Nowitzki, who has been waiting patiently in the right corner. Nowitzki makes the catch on the wing, and immediately moves toward Haywood for the ever unconventional 4-5 pick and roll. He slides around the pick, but there is no roll, and no dribble penetration whatsoever; tucked behind Haywood’s screen, Dirk elevates for a jumper that leaves both David West and Roy Hibbert at arm’s distance. The ball splashes through the net, and drips with confidence.
• [10:52, 1st] - Carter inbounds the ball to a flaring Rodrigue Beaubois, who looks to initiate the offense from the left wing. So around an impromptu Haywood screen he goes, and upon entering the paint, Beaubois hits a revving Shawn Marion on the opposite side for a driving counter from the right. Three Pacers are drawn to him, choosing to suffocate Marion’s runner rather than stick to their respective assignments. Nowitzki, who had been waiting at the top of the key, is the beneficiary.
• [8:26, 1st] - The high pick and roll is a staple of virtually every team’s offense, and the Mavs have the luxury of running that play action with a wide variety of player combinations. On this occasion, Carter looks to work to the left side of the floor with Nowitzki acting as the screener. David West hedges early to deflect that action, allowing Paul George plenty of time to recover back onto Carter. However, that pick-and-roll set has effectively functioned as a beautiful guise for a Nowitzki iso; West’s recovery left a perfect window for an uncontested entry pass, allowing Dirk a clean catch and a chance to face up without the threat of a double team. He pivots forward. He measures up West. He stunts and then rises, launching a jumper over West’s vertical extension that seeps through the net.

• [7:05, 1st] - In a classic Maverick set, Nowitzki sets a pin-down screen for Marion, who cuts upward from the corner for a curl. Danny Granger flows under Nowitzki’s screen to pick Marion back up on the other side, but Dirk immediately steps up to the elbow to collect an easy pass. This is where Carter — who had made the feed to Nowitzki from the right side of the floor above the break — throws in an interesting twist. V.C. muscles his way through Paul George toward West, setting an undoubtedly illegal screen for Nowitzki. George eventually scrambles out of Carter’s vicegrip, but like so many defenders before him, he’s too late. The shot is gone, and the points belong to Nowitzki.
• [6:18, 1st] - Dallas is set to inbound the ball from under the right side of the basket with Marion as the trigger man. Brendan Haywood, Carter, and Delonte West stack on the right side of the paint, but Nowitzki stands somewhat out of formation at the center of the free throw line. Haywood cuts under the rim and Carter darts to the right corner, but both movements are mere decoys; Delonte West slides up to the elbow to set a surprise screen for Nowitzki, and David West has the odd notion to go underneath it. Perhaps he was playing for time, and thought an attempt at a furious close-out would be his best option. Perhaps he thought he’d play the odds with this season’s Nowitzki, and challenge Dirk to take the jumper. Perhaps David West had lost his mind, or at least temporarily misplaced it. Regardless of West’s reason for taking the long route on defense, Nowitzki was able to catch and fire from the right free throw line extended without incident.
• [11:26, 2nd] - The Pacers need to rest Danny Granger at some point in this game, but also need George — their top perimeter defender — to stick Jason Terry. That leaves Dahntay Jones with the tall order of defending Lamar Odom on the block, a matchup that the Mavs quickly identify and seek to exploit. As Odom begins posting up on the left wing, Nowitzki creeps toward Terry out on the perimeter for a quick pick and roll. Tyler Hansbrough commits to the hedge too quickly, Dirk slips underneath, and JET balks. Rather than run the pick and roll with Nowitzki, Terry drops an entry feed to the now-posted Odom, who quickly finds Nowitzki slinking toward the rim. Dirk elevates to finish with his oddly favored left hand, and easily finishes despite Hansbrough’s downward swipe on his left shoulder.
• [9:37, 2nd] - Nowitzki’s been waiting for this one. You could see him aching with every quick release over the last few weeks, frustrated with his inability to find this one particular momentum-changing gem in his game among all others. But here it finally was: the potential for that glorious, trailing, transition three sitting right in his paws. No Pacer defender was within a 10-foot radius. No knee swelling nor conditioning issues could deter him. It was just a stationary basket, a shot in a vacuum, and a seven-foot German waltzing into one of his favorite looks.
• [7:50, 2nd] - They can’t all be pretty. A quick Nowitzki jumper from the right wing meets the backboard and the back of the rim before tracing a perfect mini-arc and front-rimming in. It’s precisely what Dirk had in mind upon release, no doubt: a brilliantly scripted miniature Rube Goldberg machine in jump shot form, with every bounce and carom a meticulously planned element in his sequence.
• [6:52, 2nd] - Dirk trails in transition again, but the pull-up three-pointer just isn’t to be this time; Nowitzki accidentally shares a transition lane with Carter, and ends up jogging into a hand-off and screen just inside the three-point arc. From there, Hansbrough — the only defender in Nowitzki’s immediate vicinity — is hapless. The rhythm J rattles home, and Nowitzki returns to the defensive end with such nonchalance that you’d never believe he had struggled with that very same shot just a few days prior.
• [5:28, 4th] - Nowitzki again makes a catch at the top of the key, but at this point, West has had enough. He’s seen jumper after jumper tossed in over his outstretched hand, and has no intention to let Dirk rise into his shooting motion undeterred. Nowitzki goes into his usual face-up routine: he establishes his pivot foot, rotates, wards off his defender with his elbows while holding the ball over his head, and then sinks down into the triple threat. West takes a quick swipe at the ball and manages to knock it free, forcing Nowitzki to clumsily recollect the ball as it bounces through his legs. He finally does, and again initiates his sequence: pivot, rotate, elbows, triple threat. West swipes — swing-and-a-miss. He swipes again. No dice. He swipes a third time, and Nowitzki takes advantage of his lunge with a quick drive to his left. West is still able to body Nowitzki throughout, and meets him on the lower left block. Nowitzki then freezes with his back to the basket before spinning into a beautiful fadeaway and a deep David West sigh.
• [4:07, 4th] - Rick Carlisle manages to see opportunity in everything, and it’s for that reason that Dallas’ guards play such an essential — if unconventional — role as screeners in the Mavs’ offense. On this particular sequence, Jason Terry sets the crucial down-screen for Nowitzki on the right block, allowing Dirk to come up to the elbow and make the catch in one of his favorite spots on the floor. Hansbrough goes around the screen to meet Nowitzki on the other side, and manages to establish defensive position before Dirk can square up his jumper. As a response, Nowitzki puts the ball on the floor and swings to his right, shifting his back to Hansbrough and drawing Granger’s defensive attention in the process. That leaves Carter — Granger’s defensive assignment — curiously open out on the perimeter. Nowitzki makes the right pass out to the open man, but Carter quickly looks to re-establish Nowitzki back in the post. The trust is there, as Carter waits for Nowitzki to seal Hansbrough before dropping him a perfect entry bounce pass. Nowitzki bumps, he plants, and he rises from the dead, ascending from the flames with an impossibly angled one-footed fadeaway.

Al Harrington has played in 14 NBA seasons, and for a vast majority of that time he’s been a key component of some highly diverse offenses. He’s played in all kinds of systems maintained by all kinds of coaching administrators. He’s played under Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Rick Carlisle, Mike Woodson, Don Nelson, Mike D’Antoni, and most recently, George Karl.

Which makes it very interesting that in his conversation with Henry Abbott on today’s installment of the NBA Today podcast, Harrington chose to gush about Carlisle — who was with Harrington in Indiana first as an assistant under Bird and later as a head coach — over some of the other, very capable coaches (including his current one) on that list:

Henry Abbott: [Which coach that you've played for] does the best game planning, would you say?

Al Harrington: Rick Carlisle, hands down.

Abbott: Why’s that?

Harrington: He’s incredible. As far as X’s and O’s, he was definitely by far the best coach that I ever played with. He had a plan for everything, a scheme for everything. Every situation — he had something for it. He was a high execution coach. I would say him, for sure.

Abbott: So I guess you weren’t surprised to see the Mavericks do what they did last year?

Harrington: I wasn’t surprised. I always felt that he was going to be a coach that would win a couple of championships. He’s got one, so far, and I’m sure he’ll get a couple more.

Abbott: So when you say he has a scheme for everything, could you give me an example? Was there a moment where you were surprised to see he was prepared with something?

Harrington: What he would do is — if you’ve ever watched him coach — he has a blue card in his pocket. So what he does is he watches film on the team before we play them, obviously, and [he] comes up with like eight different plays according to how they play defense or whatever and those are the only plays he would call that night. Whenever he would draw something out of a timeout, whatever shot he wanted us to get, it would always work. So that’s the one thing I always remembered about him. If Rick wanted you to get a shot off, you would get a shot off.

That’s some serious praise, and after a continued discussion about how the Pacers operated with Bird as head coach and Carlisle in an “offensive coordinator” role, Abbott asked a crucial follow-up question about the dynamic between player and coach:

Abbott: Do players want to be coached that intensely?

Harrington: I think so. At the end of the day, if you want to win a championship, you want to be coached that way I feel like as I’ve watched the playoffs for the last 14 years that I’ve been in, the high execution teams are the ones that are always winning. So you’ve gotta want that if you’re trying to win.

All of this makes Carlisle look very, very good, and rightfully so. Carlisle proved throughout last year’s playoff run that he’s often a few steps ahead of some of the NBA’s other excellent coaches; after all, Nate McMillan, Phil Jackson, Scott Brooks, and Erik Spoelstra were made his playoff victims. Dallas’ championship run wouldn’t have been possible without the Mavericks’ willing execution, but it’s always reassuring to hear that players — like Harrington, and certainly like last year’s Mavs — want information that helps them get better.

So many professional basketball players are cast in a light that makes them seem spoiled or entitled, and some certainly are, in a sense. But on the most basic level, many of them are just professionals trying to get better at what they do, and who will readily turn like a man like Carlisle to make that happen.

The All-Star Game is a fine exhibition, and a spectacle worthy of the league’s ever growing popularity. It brings entertainment. It brings some inevitable disappointment. It rolls up a weekend of fun into one easily digestible and ultimately forgettable package, with only a few exemplary dunk contest highlights enduring beyond the weekend’s end.

It’s not something worth getting all that worked up over, one way or another. The fans — who vote for the game’s starters via pure popular vote — sometimes make mistakes. The coaches — who select the game’s reserves — occasionally leave out a worthy candidate or two. These things happen, and we move on. We forget that there was ever an issue until the next year’s selection process creates a similar pseudo-controversy. It’s just the way of it, and I wouldn’t count on it changing any time soon.

That said, there is an odd sense of regret in the notion that Dirk Nowitzki shouldn’t — by any criterion — be considered an All-Star this season. It’s not that his case is weak; a case for Dirk simply cannot be made. Nowitzki hasn’t been a quality shot creator this season, nor has he been able to capitalize on looks created for him by others. His struggles have reduced him to an often ineffective complementary piece, and even with a list of prior accomplishments longer than his seven-foot frame, looking past Nowitzki’s issues this season is beyond unfair to the glut of qualified forward candidates in the West.

If Nowitzki is indeed excluded — as he should be at this point — his absence will generate more than a few headlines. Flames will be stoked, and discussions will be had. Just don’t forget that these things happen, and we move on. The cycle never changes, even if the names always do, and whether Dirk ends up an All-Star or not is only an inconsequential bit of trivia for his Wikipedia page.

Box Score — Play-by-Play – Shot Chart — Game Flow

Team	Pace	Off. Eff.	eFG%	FTR	ORR	TOR
Dallas	100.0	86.0	38.1	29.8	20.0	13.6
Oklahoma City		95.0	43.8	40.7	30.6	14.3

You know the drill. The Difference is a reflection on the game that was, with one bullet for every point in the final margin.

• Not many teams on this side of the Orlando Magic have managed to put together the kind of inescapably horrendous shooting performance that sank Dallas on Thursday. The Mavs shot just 8-for-38 in the second half, with the occasional trip to the free throw line providing the only non-JET source of reliable scoring. It would be incredibly convenient if there just one element to blame for Dallas’ offensive implosion — disrupted ball movement, a lack of effort, a mere bad shooting night, or the tilt of a team missing its star. Unfortunately, the best explanation is “all of the above.” This was a true team effort, with every possible variable ganging up on the Mavs for a perfect storm of offensive impotency. (To put things in perspective: Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, and Rodrigue Beaubois combined to shoot 28 percent from the field. Ouch.)
• A testament to how bad things have become for Nowitzki (eight points, 2-15 FG, eight rebounds): The Thunder aggressively trapped the ball handler on pick-and-rolls involving Dirk. Nowitzki is certainly trying his best to revert back to the player we all know he can be, but the impossible fadeaway jumpers are finally starting to live up to their billing. That bouncing ball has no mercy for Dirk whatsoever, and it simply refuses to cooperate with Nowitzki’s efforts to provide his scoring talents to the Mavs’ championship defense. He’s still making some smart passes, working hard on defense, and clawing for rebounds, but Nowitzki isn’t suited to be a glorified hustle player. This is one of the greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen, and if anyone out there has any idea how to help him find his way home, I’m sure Mark Cuban and Rick Carlisle would be all ears.

• The officiating in this game was certainly notable — so much so that Mark Cuban just couldn’t help himself from speaking up. There were definitely a few calls that didn’t go the Mavs’ way that easily could have, but there were also a few “crowd reaction” non-calls on plays with no actual foul (vertical extension at the rim by a Thunder defender, etc.). This game was physical at times, but the overall sloppiness of Dallas’ offense likely compounded the frustration felt by both the fans and the players themselves.
• Serge Ibaka (four points, 11 rebounds, 10 blocks) often plays the part of an impact defender, but on this particular night he was completely dominant. Ibaka shaded slashers and drivers all night long, and his frequent, demonstrative rejections may have also played a part in Dallas’ second-half hesitancy. Every player in the Thunder’s rotation contests shots effectively, but having Ibaka in the paint to clean up mistakes and handle switches with ease makes scoring on OKC an incredibly difficult proposition. The Mavs may not have helped matters with their woeful — and I do mean woeful; it’s rare to see Dallas miss so many shots so badly — offense, but Ibaka and the Thunder D deserve plenty of credit.
• Shawn Marion (12 points, 6-15 FG, 10 rebounds, four turnovers) hyperextended his — err, Kendrick Perkins hyperextended Shawn Marion’s right knee in the second quarter, a potentially tough break for a Mavs team that has already been on the wrong side of a few. Marion has been one of just three players — along with Jason Terry and Vince Carter — that has been able to provide Dallas with consistent offense, and though his knee injury didn’t keep him out of the game on Wednesday, a perpetually hobbled Marion could spell trouble down the line. This season almost demands an in-or-out verdict in regard to injury; there just isn’t much time for rest and training on this season’s compressed schedule, meaning that if Marion’s hyperextension really is a problem, it could very well become a lingering one. Luckily, the Mavs seem to be taking an incredibly conservative approach when it comes to the health of their players (as we saw with the decision to nix Brendan Haywood for this game with some tightness in his lower back), and that precedent would likely continue through Marion if need be — even if the offense completely falls apart in the short term. No Maverick is more crucial than Marion is right now, but his offensive and defensive import will only be magnified in the postseason.
• The matchup zone was a big part of the Mavs’ fourth-quarter rally (How insane is it that the Mavs were able to stage a rally while in the middle of a 5-of-19 shooting quarter?), and it’s very clear that the Thunder have no structured response to that kind of defensive coverage. Oklahoma City was eventually able to create some mismatches on the wings after taking their sweet time settling in against the zone, but Dallas can certainly be pleased with the trouble that alignment caused Kevin Durant. Marion had done a really terrific job of running through screens to keep up with Durant for a majority of the game, but the late switch to zone both threw the Thunder offense for a loop and relieved Marion of his unenviable defensive duties. If the Mavs had been able to get a few buckets to capitalize on their effective defense and — later — the Thunder’s fortunate misses, this would be a much shorter recap with a decidedly different tone.
• Terry (25 points, 7-10 FG, 2-4 3FG, two assists) was brilliant. The box score will tell you that no Mav was more productive, but the tape speaks to JET’s resourcefulness above all else. He drove into the lane and created open shots under pressure. He baited Russell Westbrook into fouling him on a three-point attempt. He turned a sure pull-up jumper into a nifty, high-percentage lay-in. He converted a contested baseline J from behind the backboard. He handled the ball a ton, and though he had a few turnovers and few more near-turnovers, JET did far more right than wrong, far more good than bad.
• Rodrigue Beaubois (nine points, 3-13 FG, four assists, four rebounds, two steals) and the Maverick guards weren’t getting killed by Russell Westbrook (33 points, 11-24 FG, four assists, six rebounds, two steals, six turnovers) per se, but it’s hard to argue with the 33 points that Westbrook was able to put up on just 24 shots. The defense on him wasn’t great, but it was present; the Mavs’ guards fought to recover on Westbrook after being picked off on the perimeter and the bigs stepped up to contest his shots, but it was often too late or not enough, if only by the slightest margins. Westbrook converted some pretty tricky finishes from all kinds of angles, and capped it all off with a dagger three-pointer with Shawn Marion in his face. He couldn’t help but stray into the wild with some of his shot attempts and turnovers, but in total Westbrook put together a very productive, efficient performance.
• Ian Mahinmi (six points, nine rebounds, four offensive rebounds) was naturally inserted into the starting lineup in Brendan Haywood’s absence, but it was Brandan Wright (12 points, 4-5 FG, three blocks) who ended up being the man in the middle — or really, the man streaking all over the court — for Dallas by game’s end. Mahinmi had a solid game (and was particularly effective on the offensive glass), but Wright found his sweet spot on both ends: He cut hard to the basket and came up with some truly impressive finishes (a feat made even more impressive by Ibaka’s dominance and OKC’s length in general), and did a spectacular job of defending the rim in both man-to-man and zone coverages. Wright’s athleticism wasn’t showcased very well in Golden State and New Jersey, but his time in Dallas has been a legitimate revival for his career. This is the prospect that warranted the No. 8 pick in the 2007 draft, and he’s already proven to be more useful in limited minutes than a lion’s share of reserve big men are in far more generous amounts of playing time. It’s now time to not only applaud Donnie Nelson, Mark Cuban, and Rick Carlisle for nabbing Wright for the league’s minimum salary, but for signing him to a two-year deal for the league’s minimum salary. Well played, gents.

As the season began, Rodrigue Beaubois found himself on the fringe of the Mavericks’ rotation. He managed to earn spot minutes for a Dallas team with considerable guard depth, but played too sporadically to earn a consistent role. But rather suddenly, Beaubois was given occasion to return to a level of importance he hadn’t seen since his rookie season; when Vince Carter injured his foot in mid-January, followed soon by an injury to Jason Kidd, a opportunity arose for Beaubois to distinguish himself once again as being worthy of a greater billing.

Beaubois didn’t immediately seize the opportunity allowed by Carter’s absence, but in typical fashion, he played well enough to hover around a possible breakthrough. Despite his continued struggles with consistency, Beaubois’ play improved for the most part, highlighted by a 17-point performance (on only nine shots) against the Jazz. It would be a stretch to describe his performances as particularly strong during the four-game period immediately following Carter’s injury (in which Beaubois rose to fourth-guard status), but he filled his role competently. The defensive effort that Rick Carlisle has demanded of Beaubois appeared present, and the team won three of four games.

Then, following Kidd’s injury (which is likely to keep the Mavs’ starting point man out of the lineup for another week), Beaubois’ role once again shifted into a realm of greater prominence. Beaubois started at point guard against the Utah Jazz — his first start since April 11th, 2011.

Beaubois’ performance against the Jazz can best be described as a vintage “What if?” game. Beaubois was stellar, as he knifed through the Jazz defense with ease. He scored and created for others at will, and even put an exclamation point on the virtuoso performance with four blocks. It was the best of Rodrigue Beaubois, and emblematic of the player many still hope he can become.

But perhaps Sunday night’s game against the Spurs displayed a more manageable and realistic vision of how Beaubois might operate in the near future. Early on, as the Mavericks’ dominated, he struggled to make open jumpers, despite being just days removed from a game in which he made the same shots with ease. Yet what could have been a discouraging performance from Beaubois morphed into something encouraging due to his strong (and essential) late-game play.

Beaubois checked into the game with 9:29 remaining in regulation, following a thoroughly stagnant run from the Mavericks’ offense. Beaubois then proceeded to score or assist on five of the Mavericks’ next seven baskets, serving as a key spark of energy to an offense previously bereft of life beyond Jason Terry. The most important play contributed by Beaubois may have been his rapid-fire layup with 29 seconds remaining, the quickness of which afforded the Mavericks an opportunity to play defense (without fouling) and still have time for a tying final possession. The Mavericks went on to win an entertaining overtime game against their long-time rivals, largely due to season-best nights from Terry and Vince Carter.

Though Carter and Terry had far better statistical nights than Beaubois, the young guard’s resiliency and adaptation may have been the most encouraging aspects of the Mavericks’ overall performance. Instead of deferring and hoping for the best on a night in which his jumper lacked rhythm (as we’ve seen too often in the past), Beaubois adapted his play during the later moments of the contest. During the late third and fourth quarters, Beaubois turned to his innate speed to create for both himself and his teammates. As important as the key baskets created by Beaubois down the stretch were, the way he earned those opportunities could hold more long-term importance. The success of these possessions was not reliant on a hot shooting night or flashy transition finishes. Instead, Beaubois used the fundamental tools he possesses to make smart basketball plays. 14 points on 7-of-16 shooting is nothing special, but on Sunday night, Beaubois’ seven assists (five in the second half) to one turnover — a ratio echoed in Beaubois’ 24 minutes against the Phoenix Suns on Monday — certainly is.

For the next week, and likely much of the season, Rodrigue Beaubois will be asked to function in a key role on a competitive team. Thriving while in rhythm has come easily for Beaubois early in his career. Now, in his third season, he must learn to persevere in the face of adversity by applying his tools in an adaptive, consistent, and beneficial way.

Box Score — Play-by-Play — Shot Chart — Game Flow

Team	Pace	Off. Eff.	eFG%	FTR	ORR	TOR
Dallas	95.0	128.4	63.2	20.7	27.8	9.5
Phoenix		104.2	51.3	25.0	17.1	11.9

You know the drill. The Difference is a reflection on the game that was, with one bullet for every point in the final margin.

• So much of this brilliant offensive outing was built on the strength of the Mavs’ multi-angle drive-and-kick game. Initial penetration would draw defensive attention and lead to a kick to the corner, which would lead to a close-out and more dribble penetration and an ensuing kick-out from the wing, which would lead to an open three-pointer above the break. That cycle of dribble action may make it seem like the Mavs were getting nowhere, but having so may consecutive opportunities to put pressure on the opposing defense is hugely beneficial. Hence the scoreboard.
• Which isn’t to say that the Mavs didn’t work the ball in other, less direct ways. Dallas’ ball movement was as crisp around the perimeter as it was from the inside out; despite the fact that everyone seemed to be connecting on their three-point attempts, the Mavs willingly rotated the ball around the perimeter to fully scramble the Suns’ defense and manufacture wide open attempts. They could have settled — in a sense — for good shots rather than great ones, but the ball never stuck to a single hot hand.
• The basketball gods gave the Mavericks a gift: On the second night of a back-to-back — and following a hard-fought overtime game against the San Antonio Spurs — Dallas was given a crack at the struggling Phoenix Suns. Even better: They were given a crack at the struggling Phoenix Suns sans the one player that the Suns can never afford to lose. Again, hence the scoreboard.

• Dirk Nowitzki (10 points, 4-10 FG, four rebounds, four assists) didn’t make all that much of an offensive impact, but the levity of this contest allowed him the opportunity to fight for position and try to establish himself. Needless to say, based on his statistical result: Nowitzki’s shot creation is still a work in progress. Still, Dirk can only tap back into his usual dominance by getting reps on the block and at the elbow, and he had a handful of chances to face up or fade on his defender from both of those areas on Monday night.
• For a brief stretch in the first half, Josh Childress (nine points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals, three turnovers) flashed back to his previous life as an occasional burst scorer and a incredibly versatile defender (perhaps too versatile; Childress was asked to guard Dirk Nowitzki at times, largely because no one else could). His nine points was a somber season high, but they don’t stand as a precursor of better days with more minutes. Childress will return to the land of the DNP-CD, and we’ll all likely forget that this random stretch of effectiveness ever happened.
• Lamar Odom was supposed to provide Dallas support during Nowitzki’s lapse, but Vince Carter appears to be the Mav behind the “BREAK IN CASE OF EMERGENCY” glass. Since returning to the court on the 27th, Carter has averaged 18 points on 55-percent shooting (and 53-percent shooting from beyond the arc), 3.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 0.3 turnovers a night. He clearly won’t be asked to uphold that standard on the regular, but it’s always nice to have capable contributors waiting in the wings.
• As a complement to drive-and-kick ad infinitum, Dallas also worked a smart series of post variants. At the beginning of the game, the Mavs hit Shawn Marion, Nowitzki, and Carter in the post on consecutive possessions. This is a terrific way to feel out the Suns’ coverage; repeated post looks with different players involved tests to see where doubles might be coming from (if they come at all), and offers an early evaluation for potential mismatches. That kind of strategy didn’t turn out to be all that necessary in this game, but I appreciate the potential that such a sequence holds.
• The Mavs would have scored 30+ points in each quarter of this game if not for the lopsided margin. Even against the league’s 26th ranked defense, that’s pretty gaudy.
• The Mavs wasted little time in their efforts to bury the Suns, and that was as evident in their offensive rebounding effort as it was their offensive and defensive execution. The success on the glass didn’t hold up for the entire game, but the starters were able to create a handful of bonus possessions by pressuring a poor defensive rebounding team.
• On a related note: Ian Mahinmi and Brendan Haywood have both been effective offensive rebounders this season, but the stylistic differences in their technique always stand out to me. Earlier this season, I discussed the difference between offensive and defensive rebounding approach with Mahinmi. He offered the following:
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  “Defensively, you try to box out your guy. You try to make sure that your guy is not getting the board, and then you go get it. Offensively, you’re just moving around, and when the shot goes up you just go up and get it. There’s no special recipe.”
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  That description sums up Mahinmi’s offensive rebounding strategy pretty perfectly; the shot often goes up with Mahinmi on the wing or near the top of the key, and he grabs an offensive board through hustle alone. Haywood, on the other hand, seems to approach offensive rebounding much like he does defensive rebounding. He establishes position down low, boxes out his man, and uses his height and long arms to corral rebounds slightly out of his immediate vicinity.
• I could (should?) create an entirely new blog devoted solely to Delonte West’s (25 points, 9-12 FG, six assists, three rebounds, two steals, three turnovers) on-court virtues and versatility. He had a half of terrific playmaking (five assists in 16 first-half minutes), a game of long-range dominance (5-6 3FG), characteristically stellar defense, and great work with and without the ball. He succeeded in every single facet of this game, and need I remind you that he’s somehow playing for the veteran minimum?
• Three Mavericks players scored 20 points or more, two more Mavs scored in double-digits, and a total of eight Mavs scored seven or more points. Jason Kidd did not play, and both Dirk Nowitzki and Lamar Odom hit on the low end of that scale with 10 and seven points, respectively. Last season’s depth was impressive. This is just silly.
• Or, put another way: Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry combined for just 21 points, and yet Dallas put up 122 and at one point held a 28-point lead.
• For clarity’s sake: Brandan Wright and Yi Jianlian aren’t arranged in typical fashion in the Mavs’ rotation; they share the same spot, and Rick Carlisle has clarified that their utilization will depend largely on the lineup constructions the Mavs will use. It’s not one above the other at this point — it’s one or the other. Wright got the call on Monday, but it’s clear that Carlisle trusts both players.
• An underplayed storyline in light of the Suns’ uncomfortable positioning as neither a terrible team nor a competent one: Grant Hill, at age 39, appears to have finally hit the wall. He actually scored very well on Monday relative to his season performance, but the minor differences in his play from last year to this one are still pretty glaring. Hill isn’t long removed from being the most energetic Sun on the floor; they turned to him as their defensive stopper at 37, and Hill’s fill-in-the-gaps offensive game was a huge boon for the Suns’ Western Conference Finals run in 2010. And though it wouldn’t be fair to say that those elements of his game have disappear completely, they already appear well faded, and that’s a damn shame.
• No Maverick played more than 28 minutes, with Dirk — who actually needs some minutes at this point — leading the way. A well managed game by Rick Carlisle, but a better one by the Mavs, who did themselves a service by removing all doubt in the third quarter.
• Hill’s decline leaves the Suns in a really strange spot, as Nash is the only true shot creator on the roster. Ronnie Price, Sebastian Telfair, and Shannon Brown can create things off the dribble now and again, but lack the ability to generate offense consistently. Jared Dudley, Channing Frye, and Markieff Morris bring only the slightest tinges of solo shot creation (Morris more so than either Dudley or Frye), but are more realistically reliant on Nash to make plays for them. With all of that in mind: Which players should start alongside Nash, and which should come off the bench to try to create in his absence? It’s a problem that will plague the Suns all season long, and one that I have dubbed “The Hakim Warrick Quandary.”
• The Mavs are making shots again, which tends to have a positive influence on the offense as a whole. But let’s not get the causalities mixed up here: a big reason why the Mavs are making more of their three-pointers than they were earlier in the season is because those shots are actually resulting from successful offensive sequences. That doesn’t account for all of the open shots the Mavs missed at the start of the year, but taking shots in the flow of the offense really does make a profound difference.
• I’m still pretty baffled by the way Channing Frye (seven points, 1-5 FG, 1-3 3FG) has crumbled. What makes a good outside shooter suddenly start shooting threes at a 30-percent clip? Any insight, Jason?
• I wish we could paint Shawn Marion’s success on Monday as some kind of vendetta against the Suns, because those revenge angles can be fun for all parties involved. But this was a game that seemed devoid of any real narrative importance; Phoenix still means something to Marion, but a face-off against a team he barely recognizes wasn’t the reason for his 20 points. It wasn’t the reason for 29-point outing against the Suns a week ago, either. Marion has just been tremendous for the Mavs this season in every role he’s been asked to fill, and on this particular night they needed his scoring to pull away, and whether that came against his former team or not ended up being of little consequence.
• One of these days, a ferocious Rodrigue Beaubois dunk attempt will actually stay in the basket. Beaubois nearly made the US Airways Center collapse on itself in the first quarter, but alas, Monday night was not the night.
• That said, Beaubois had a quietly productive game in the wake of his very loud dunk attempt. He’s now hit the seven-assist mark in three consecutive games without turning the ball over much (just a single TO on Monday night), forcing shots, or betraying his defensive effort with bad fouls. The scoring has fluctuated with his utilization, but dare I say that Beaubois is beginning to find consistency?
• A strong argument against Marcin Gortat’s supposed reliance on Steve Nash: 17 points (7-12 FG), 10 rebounds, and four blocks in just 32 minutes. There’s no question that Nash’s passes make Gortat’s life significantly easier, but he’s a fantastic player with Nash, with Ronnie Price, or with Sebastian Telfair. If the positional rules for the All-Star team were a bit more strict (specifically, if the backup center had to be actually classified as a center), I think Gortat could have a very compelling case. They aren’t and he doesn’t, but boy has he been good.

Box Score — Play-by-Play — Shot Chart — Game Flow

Team	Pace	Off. Eff.	eFG%	FTR	ORR	TOR
Dallas	98.0	103.1	46.0	12.0	29.6	7.1
San Antonio		102.0	54.8	20.2	26.4	8.9

You know the drill. The Difference is a reflection on the game that was, with one bullet for every point in the final margin.

• Behold, the power and savvy of Gregg Popovich. The top coach in the league has managed to create a system where prematurely emptying his bench in the face of a deficit actually puts all of the pressure on the Spurs’ opponent. That inverted dynamic — which has far from a perfect success rate, but still manages to make some opponents tighten up — is a pretty brilliant way to both manage the minutes of San Antonio’s top players and lend weight to the comeback efforts of his reserves. In the face of a double-digit Maverick lead, no Spur starter played beyond the 2:44 mark in the third quarter (save nine seconds from Kawhi Leonard); Danny Green, Tiago Splitter, Matt Bonner, Gary Neal, and James Anderson were left to fend for their lives against a Dallas offense that had been humming all game long, and that group responded by dropping 33 points in the fourth quarter, making seven of eight three-point attempts in the frame, and nearly finishing off the defending champs with a baseline jumper at the buzzer.
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  If not for Green’s fingertips grazing the ball ever so slightly as the backboard illuminated, this would be a triumph for a talented core of San Antonio role players. As it stands, it’s still very much a triumph for San An, albeit one colored by the game’s unfortunate, uncompromising verdict. Dallas ran counterprogramming to the second-half narrative, recovering just enough from their lapses to earn extra minutes and a chance at redemption. The Mavs shouldn’t have squandered their lead, but the Spurs reserves — capable though they may be — never should have been in a position to win. In basketball, a game can only go by the script for so long before the final pages begin to write themselves, and this season, that self-scribing tends to happen without much regard for theme or continuity. Ultimately, this wasn’t a game of lessons for either team; after 53 minutes and a thrilling conclusion, all we’re really left with is a fitting tribute to a zany regular season that is predictable only in its unpredictability.
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  San Antonio shot 3-of-15 from deep in the first three quarters only to begin the fourth quarter with a stretch of unbeatable long-range offense. Dirk Nowitzki struggled from the field all night before hitting a crucial layup over two Spurs defenders and then fading into the background. Dallas’ offense was neither incendiary (as it was on Friday night against the Jazz) nor implosive (as it has been for much of the season), as the Mavs somehow executed to the frequency of white noise. James Anderson, just days from being deemed an inessential element of a San Antonio team that declined his option for next season, became a vital part of an improbable comeback. A typically strong-handed Mavericks team bobbled four uncontested defensive rebounds out of play. Lamar Odom supposedly turned a corner on Friday, but played 18 unspectacular minutes on Sunday evening. Tony Parker, San Antonio’s surest creator, was halted completely from getting into the lane and held to just nine points in 27 minutes. Vince Carter, in just his second game back from injury, continued to aggressively pour in points in impressive — and efficient — fashion. Tiago Splitter had just eight points on 3-of-9 shooting, but was crucial in a way that both exceeds — and yet was still well within — the box score. The oft-disregarded Brendan Haywood thrived, while the mid-renaissance Shawn Marion struggled. Jason Terry did what Jason Terry often does, but some of his most heroic makes were predicated on hitting shots he really shouldn’t have been taking in the first pace.
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  After recounting all of this, I ask you, dear reader, with bated breath: What do we really know about the dynamics of this game and this matchup after watching Sunday’s events unfold? What is there to be gleaned from an outing of truly entertaining basketball so random as to be uninstructive?
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  Then again, maybe the answers to these questions are irrelevant. Maybe, in this particular case, there is nothing to do but nod to one another, knowing nothing more than the fact that we were all there — at the American Airlines Center, in front of our television sets, or hunched over our computers — eagerly awaiting improbability after improbability. That may not be enough to satisfy the most hardened basketball empiricist, but on this occasion, I suppose it’s good enough for me.