Full-Court Press

Amazing

The Mavericks had nothing less than a horrible first half, saw head coach Rick Carlisle kicked out of the game for two technicals,trailed early in the third quarter by 29 points and came back to win the game 107-100.

The comeback was the biggest in Mavericks history and it was a game they had to win against a team that was 6-24 entering the game. They go to 19-12 and are now 17-5 since the 2-7 start.

Jason Terry led Dallas with 29 points, Dirk Nowitzki had 24 and 13 and Jason Kidd had 14 points, 16 assists and seven rebounds.

-- Jan Hubbard

Poof go the Wolves

The Cowboys have to be watching this game and saying: Can we get a do-over?

The Mavericks once trailed 70-41.

Now they trail 89-87.

Well, let's do remember that the Wolves have earned that 6-24 record.

In the last 14:31, Dallas has outscored Minny 46-19.

-- Jan Hubbard

Mavericks thank Danny Biasone

Before the 1954-55 season, Danny Biasone -- one of the NBA's founding fathers -- convinced his peers that something was needed to speed up the game. He reasoned that teams attempted 60 shots each a game, so he divided 48 minutes by 120 shots and came up with the 24-second clock.

It is because of the 24-clock that no lead is safe and no deficit is hopeless. And it's exactly why the Mavericks have fought their way back in this game. Once trailing by 29, they now are down by 6 at 86-80 with 10 minutes left in the game.

-- Jan Hubbard

It's all relative

You know, if the Mavericks knew beforehand that they would be trailing the Timberwolves by 15 points with less than six minutes left in the third period, they would have been horrified.

But they once trailed by 29. They have outscored Minny 18-2 and, well, check that. Jason Terry just hit a three and Dallas is back to within 10 at 72-62.

-- Jan Hubbard

An Eagle-like performance

A few of us were sitting around and talking at halftime, and someone wondered when was the last time a team looked as lifeless as the Mavericks did in the first half.

Well . . . Sunday.

It's one thing to be embarrassed by the Eagles,and quite another to be plastered by the Timberwolves.

Minny leading 70-45. And the Mavericks have scored four straight.

-- Jan Hubbard

Rick the reluctant prophet

From Rick Carlisle's pregame meeting with the media:

"We’ve got to be ready for every opponent regardless of record. We’ve had struggles virtually against all kinds of teams. And the teams with lesser records have given us a lot of problems, especially at home. You got to have an appropriate level of respect for who you’re playing and you’ve got to execute defensively. There’s effort and there’s kind of precision that goes with it."

The Mavericks limped off the floor trailing 62-40 at the half. Fans apparently were so unenthused that they could work up only a weak boo.

-- Jan Hubbard

Carlisle can't stand it

The Mavericks are stinking it up so bad against the 6-24 Timberwolves that fans are booing and it's only the second quarter. Dallas trails 51-32 and Rick Carlisle will be watching the rest of the game from his office.

Carlisle was ejected with about five minutes left in the half. He became upset when Dirk Nowitzki was hit in the face on a shot attempt and no foul was called. Carlisle went on the court, received two techs and departed for the night.

Assistant Dwane Casey has taken over, which, perhaps could be interesting. Casey was the Wolves head coach for 122 games from 2005 to 2007. Maybe he has some leftover secrets.

-- Jan Hubbard

Dirk suspended after all

Apparently the NBA league office lights stayed on late last night as they reviewed Dirk Nowitzki's Flagrant-2 foul from Friday night.

No word came down all day Saturday, even after the league officials spoke to Nowitzki to get his side of the story. Then on Sunday morning, the hammer dropped. The league suspended Nowitzki for one game, today's matinee at the Los Angeles Clippers.

It's the second time in successive seasons that Nowitzki has been suspended a game after a hard foul in Utah. Last season he got tangled with Andrei Kirilenko and after a take-down that landed the Russian hard on his back, the league reviewed and suspended Nowitzki.

The Mavs lost the next game at Houston without him. They'll need big efforts today from Josh Howard, Brandon Bass and James Singleton without their leading scorer and rebounder.

The suspension seemed apparent since Nowitzki struck Jazz forward Matt Harpring with a closed fist, even if it was in a backhanded motion.

But, after Saturday came and went without word from the league, it was thought that Nowitzki had skirted a suspension this time.

Turned out not to be the case.

-- Jeff Caplan

Dirk suspended for today's Clippers game, report says

ESPN.com reports that Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has been suspended for today's game against the Los Angeles Clippers after being called for a flagrant-2 foul Friday night against Utah.

The ruling came down about three hours before today's tipoff, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Central in Los Angeles.

Nowitzki swung his arm and struck Jazz forward Matt Harpring in the face with a closed-fist, which by definition would result in a suspension. Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle argued that the closed-fist wasn't intentional.

Dirk waits on league

Dirk Nowitzki is taking it easy in SoCal Saturday afternoon, waiting to hear from the league if he'll be suiting up for Sunday's game against the Clippers or watching on TV from his Beverly Hills hotel room.

Nowitzki has been in contact with the league today, but there's no word yet if his Flagrant-2 foul from Friday night will result in a suspension.

Stay tuned.

-- Jeff Caplan

Here's the story on what happened in Friday night's game.