6 posts tagged “dallas mavericks”
San Antonio vs. Dallas
With two key players out, two of the Texas NBA teams have has to fill large holes. For San Antonio has been missing Manu Ginobili's presence of the bench. His achievements were so impressive a season ago that he won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year. While not receiving an award for his efforts of the bench, Jason Terry is still missed by his team, Dallas. Each player will be missing another two weeks or so and will miss out when their teams face each other Tuesday in San Antonio.
Ginobili had missed the first 12 games of the season after surgery on his left ankle. Now his right ankle is bothering him. Terry, who leads the league with 20 points off of the pine is recovering from surgery on his left hand.
Grab a date and prepare for the dance, San Antonio because the Spurs are having their homecoming. As February is in its final week, the Spurs (37-17) will play at the AT&T Center for the first time in the month.
With nearly 11,000 miles of travel over 19 days, the Spurs had been evicted from their home while the rodeo dazzled the locals. They went a respectable 5-3 on the grueling trip and still lead the Southwest Division. The last time the Spurs played at home was January 31st, a 106-93 victory over New Orleans.
They capped the extensive road trip with a 98-67 destruction of Washington. Former Wizard Roger Mason led the team with 25 points and hit 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Mason needed to step up as Tim Duncan was held to a dozen points and Tony Parker netted 9. San Antonio is 8-8 in games without Ginobili.
In their last game, Dallas (33-22) had an easy time of it, thrashing Sacramento 116-95. The Mavericks were able to rest their starters and rely more heavily on the bench on the basis of their 70-50 halftime advantage. That gave some reserves and role players more time to shine. Brandon Bass recorded his season high of 20 points while James Singleton set his high with 19 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds. The Mavericks won their third game in five games that Terry has been absent.
Dallas has dropped four out of their last five against San Antonio. The teams have split their two prior contests this season with each team winning on the road. The Spurs won their most recent matchup in overtime on December 9th, 133-126.
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Dallas +3 1/2 vs. Detroit
In his two seasons coaching the Detroit Pistons, Coach Rick Carlisle made his name with a stingy defense, with his current squad, the Dallas Mavericks—well not so much. Carlisle’s present team will travel to face his former team Friday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Dallas’ defense reached a new low in their last contest, Wednesday night in Milwaukee. They allowed the Bucks to score the most points they have given up in seven years en route to a 133-99 rout. It was also the Mavericks’ (24-18) worst loss since November 2001.
Giving up 99 points per game, Dallas has seen that stat bloom to 109.6 in their last seven contests, of which they have lost five. Dirk Nowitzki is trying his best to keep his teams in these games. Over the past five games, he has averaged 31.4 points and has shot 52 percent.
The Pistons (24-17) are looking for their third straight victory after dropping five in a row from January 10th-January 17th. Wednesday, they defeated Toronto 95-76 in a solid defensive effort which saw Detroit hold the Raptors to 42.5 percent shooting. Tayshaun Prince led the way with 25 points on 11-of-16 from the field.
Detroit has been solid on defense much of the season, ranking fourth in the NBA in field goal defense and fourth fewest points allowed per game with 92.7. Their recent slide has more to do with their offense than their defense as they have struggled to reach 100 points. The Pistons have hit the century mark only once in the last 15 games.
This will be the first meeting of the year between the teams. They have alternated wins and losses in each of their last eight meetings at the Palace of Auburn Hills, with the Pistons taking the most recent game played there 90-67 last February 3rd.
Dallas -8 vs. New York
A once promising season for the New York Knicks now resembles many of their seasons of the last decade. The NBA and fans of the Knicks hopeful of a renaissance in Madison Square Garden may have spoke to soon as New York has dropped eight out of their last ten.
Some hope was reborn with New York (13-20) defeated Boston on Sunday, but the fact that the Celtics have been losing to everyone lately and the Knicks followed that victory with a devastating loss to the doormat of the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder, 107-99, on Tuesday. Any hope was deflated.
Thursday the Knicks can attempt their next rise from the ashes as they travel to Dallas to take on the Mavericks. It will be quite the uphill battle for New York who has not won in eight trips to Dallas, their last road win was in 1999. The Mavericks (21-13) also look to wrap up the two-game season sweep, having beaten the Knicks at MSG 124-114 in overtime on November 16th. A victory Thursday will give the Mavericks nine straight victories over the Knicks and victories in 14 of the last 15 matchups between the teams.
Dallas continues their stretch against some of the weaker teams in the league and while they have been victorious in most games, they have struggled, including overcoming double-digit deficits in wins over Minnesota and Philadelphia and a 20 point loss to the cellar dwelling Memphis Grizzlies.
Tuesday the Dallas Mavericks rebounded with a 107-102 home victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Dirk Nowitzki blocked a shot and nailed the game winner with under a minute to play. Dallas has now 11-2 in their last 13 home games. Still Dallas had to go on an 11-1 run to come back and win.
Houston -5 vs. Dallas
The battle of Texas will commence tonight in Houston as the Mavericks travel west to take on the Rockets at the Toyota Center. But just what Rockets team will the Mavericks see?
Houston (7-4) lost three of their best players in their 100-89 win over Oklahoma City Monday night, which was their second straight victory. First Tracy McGrady was hobbled by a recurring knee injury and left the game in the opening minute of the second half. Yao Ming, who has suffered with leg and foot problem since he joined the league, left with under 4 minutes remaining in the game and finally Ron Artest joined them in the MASH unit in the final minute of the game with a twisted ankle. All three still may play, but it is unknown if their lingering dings will hamper their play against the rival Mavericks.
McGrady is the cloudiest of the three. He had off-season knee surgery and may look to take some time off until it properly heals. McGrady practiced with the team Tuesday, however, skipping a MRI and he may wish to give it one more go before going under the knife again.
It has been a strange season for Dallas (3-7). They have struggled mightily all season long, but have managed to string two wins in a row for the first time all season. They have a way to go if they want to erase the five game skid that preceded their modest two game winning streak.
It has been no less strange off the court either as Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was indicted on insider trading Monday. Cuban was in attendance Tuesday night and was less of a distraction then, perhaps, an inspiration as Dallas played one of their better games of the year by scoring the first 15 points in route to a 100-83 home win against Charlotte.
On the day before Halloween the teams met in Dallas with Houston winning 112-102. Dirk Nowitzki led all scores with 36 in a losing effort. Houston had a stellar effort from Yao (30 points), Artest (29) and McGrady (16), so it is crucial that the trio play and play well for the Rockets.
Los Angeles -6 1/2 vs. Dallas
The Lakers and Mavericks have taken turns being high profile teams in the Western Conference in recent years, but neither has seemingly been good at the same time. This trend seems to be continuing as Los Angeles takes its undefeated record into Dallas to take on a struggling Mavericks team.
The Lakers (5-0) dispatched the previously undefeated, now swooning Houston Rockets Sunday night at the Staples Center, where Los Angeles is now 3-0. The Lakers weathered an early storm which saw the Rockets shoot out to a double digit lead to crush Houston 111-82. As usual Kobe Bryant lead all scorers with 23 points, followed closely behind by Pau Gasol with his 20 points and 15 rebounds.
With the win, Los Angeles Lakers ran its record to 5-0 for the first time since 2003-2004 and a win over Dallas Tuesday will put the team at 6-0 for the first time since 2001-2002. In that season the Lakers claimed their second of three straight championships. At 2-0 on the road, it will get a little tougher for the Lakers as after their meeting with the Mavericks, they will move on to New Orleans and come home to face Detroit.
Dallas (2-4) comes home after a tough road trip which saw the team go 1-2. The positive emotion of a victory against the rival Spurs in the first game of the trip was quickly erased with two straight losses to Denver and most recently Sunday to the lowly and previously unbeaten Los Angeles Clippers 103-92. The game saw the Mavericks fall far behind and rally from an 11-point deficit to tie the score with a little over eight minutes remaining, but that is where it all fell apart and lead to another disappointing Dallas loss.
Dallas is 0-2 at home and was 1-3 against Los Angeles a year ago. The Dallas Mavericks only victory came on the road in the first game of the series, they then dropped the next three, including both at home.
Denver PK -110 vs. Dallas
A new era begins in Denver as the Nuggets welcome back a hometown boy and hope his championship experience can finally get Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets over the hump in the Western Conference.
Chauncey Billups is expected to join the struggling Nuggets (1-3) tonight as they welcome the also struggling Mavericks (2-2). Billups helped Detroit win the NBA Championship in 2004 and was named Finals MVP that season. He has also been on a squad that has gone to six straight conference championship series and been to two NBA Finals. Denver hopes some of that magic will rub off on the Nuggets who have never been out of the first round during Anthony's tenure.
Joining Billups in Denver via the trade is Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb, while Allen Iverson took his scoring and league MVP pedigree to Auburn Hills. From the look of the trade it looks like Samb was the throwaway player in the deal, but it is in fact been McDyess. The Denver Nuggets are trying to buy out his contract and let him become a free agent. But Denver is excited about the 7-foot-1 Samb who led the NBA Development League over the summer with 4 blocks per game. He also looks to play Friday night.
Without Iverson or any of their new players, Denver tripped over Golden State 111-101 on Wednesday. Anthony netted 28 and pulled down eight boards in a losing effort.
The Dallas Mavericks have alternated losses and wins through the first four games, which is good news for Denver because if they follow that pattern will be do for a loss. Dallas picked up a huge road victory over the rival Spurs 98-81 on Election Night. That game was a nice bounce back game for the Mavs after they lost a crushing home game to Cleveland 100-81. Jason Terry was the Mavs star Tuesday night as he scored 29 points. Dirk Nowitzki countered Terry nicely by netting 30 points.
Dallas lost the season series 3 games to 1 last year, including dropping both games at the Pepsi Center. However, the Mavericks two victories this season have both come on the road.
