Full-Court Press

Mavs to go without Nowitzki tonight

Dirk Nowitzki has been ruled out of tonight’s grudge
match against the San Antonio Spurs, the Mavericks said after shootaround this
morning.
Nowitzki suffered a sprained right knee on Monday at
Oklahoma City and sat out Tuesday’s home loss to Toronto.
The superstar’s recuperative powers have bordered on
legendary in the past as he has rarely missed more than a game or two after his
assorted ankle twists and sprains. But the Mavericks obviously are proceeding
cautiously with the knee, wanting to make sure there is no danger of re-injury.
That means the Mavericks will face the team with the
NBA’s best record (27-4) without their best player. Shawn Marion likely
will start again in Nowitzki’s place.

Crazy results in all-star voting

Guess who your No. 3 center is on the Western Conference
all-star balloting results so far?
 
That’s right. Brendan Haywood.
 
Could he be the starting center in the game February in Los
Angeles? Well, Yao Ming will win the fan balloting, but he’s out for the
year. That means the next center in the fan voting would ascend to the starting
spot.
 
Right now, that’s the Lakers’ Andrew Bynum.
 
But we all know how brittle Bynum is. If he gets hurt, does
it go to Haywood?
 
What a travesty that would be. All the more reason to get to
the arena and write in a vote for Tyson Chandler, who by the way is not among
the top 10 Western Conference centers.
 
Dirk Nowitzki is fourth among forwards behind Kevin Durant,
Carmelo Anthony and Pau Gasol.
 

No rush; Nowitzki shouldn't play tonight

DALLAS _ No word yet on whether Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki will play in tonight's NBA headliner against the San Antonio Spurs.

But here's my word. Don't play him.

Nobody ever won an NBA championship in December, and the winner of tonight's game won't either. It's more important for the Mavs' long-range plans of winning this season's NBA title to have a healthy Nowitzki in April, May and June than to beat the Spurs in December.

Nowitzki obviously hasn't fully recovered from the right knee sprain he suffered Monday night in Oklahoma City, and there is absolutely no reason to rush the franchise's centerpiece player back onto the court when he's not completely healthy 31 games into the season. Even if it is a game against the hated Spurs.

Yes, a loss to the Spurs would damage the Mavs' chances of winning the Southwest Division and having homecourt advantage just in case they meet the Spurs in a Game 7 in the playoffs.

But look at the glass half-full for a moment. The Mavs have already beaten the Spurs with Nowitzki earlier this year in San Antonio, so they know they can do that.

The Mavs have the NBA's best road record at 11-1, so they know they can win a game on the moon, if need be.

On the flip side, the Mavs are a shaky 13-5 at home this season,including losses to NBA low-rent teams Memphis, Milwaukee and Toronto. So looking ahead, the Mavs may be better off playing a Game 7 against the Spurs in San Antonio.

Crazier things have happened.

For those of you with excellent memories, the Mavs beat the Spurs in a Game 7 in San Antonio in the 2006 playoffs, 119-111 in overtime. So they've been there, done that.

Thus, in four words, don't play Nowitzki tonight. It could be the best move the Mavs make -- or don't make -- this season.

And if could be the move that propel the Mavs past the Spurs later on down the road. When games against the Spurs really count.

-- Dwain Price  

Mavs have to play better to beat the new-look Spurs

 DALLAS _ Whether or not Dirk Nowitzki plays when Dallas entertains the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, the Mavericks know they need to put forth a better effort than the one they gave during Tuesday’s lackluster 84-76 loss to Toronto.

The Spurs (27-4) are the best team in the NBA and lead the Mavs (24-6) by 2 1/2 games in the Southwest Division. San Antonio has won 12 of its past 13 games, and has shown they can win games in a variety of ways.

 One night earlier this season the Spurs took down the Houston Rockets in overtime, 124-121. The very next game they had to grind out a 95-91 win over Charlotte.

Such is the versatility the Spurs bring to the court on a nightly basis.

“They’re playing up tempo, they’re pushing the ball, and they’ve got a good thing going,’’ Mavs guard DeShawn Stevenson said. “We’ve got to come out here and think that they’re going to be up for this game and we’ve got to play hard.’’

Everything the Spurs are doing this season flies in the face of the way they’ve conducted business under coach Gregg Popovich. Defense has always been the Spurs’ staple, but this year they’re 12th in the league in points allowed (97.6), 16th in defensive field goal percentage (.458 percent), and next-to-last in 3-point field goal percentage allowed (.402 percent).

Offensively, the Spurs lead the NBA in 3-point shooting (.402 percent), is fourth in scoring (105.9) and fifth in field goal accuracy (.472 percent).

Indeed, the Spurs’ interchangeable parts have been their calling card.

Last week the Spurs lost a track meet at Orlando, 123-101, but recovered to win slow-poke games over Washington (94-80) and the two-time defending world champion Los Angeles Lakers (97-82).

Back on Nov. 26, the Mavs snapped the Spurs' 12-game winning streak with a 103-94 win in San Antonio. But that was with Nowitzki in the lineup.

Nowitzki missed Tuesday's game against Toronto with a sprained right knee and is listed as day-to-day. Mavs center Tyson Chandler said: "We’re going to have to get used to playing without the big fella for a little while.''

If Nowitzki can't play, the Mavs will probably need every player in their rotation to raise their level of play a notch or two as they try to close the gap on the Spurs.

“This is a big game for us,’’ Chandler said. “We’re going to have to play to our personnel now.

“Defensively, I think we’ll be OK. Offensively we’re going to have to make the adjustments so that we can keep up with them.''

-- Dwain Price

These aren't your daddy's Spurs

All you have to do to realize this is a different San
Antonio team that will be coming to AAC on Thursday night is look at the box
score from Tuesday’s win against the Lakers.
 
In that game, Tim Duncan was 1-of-7 from the field, had just
two points and four rebounds and played almost 30 minutes.
 
And the Spurs won, going away.
 
This is not Duncan’s team anymore. Oh, the Spurs can
still lean on him offensively from time to time. But this club is built around
Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker and Richard Jefferson, who has found a stride
after struggling in his first season with the Spurs.
 
In addition, DeJuan Blair picked up 17 points and 15
rebounds in the 97-82 win over Kobe Bryant’s team.
 
You have to give credit to Gregg Popovich for the way the
Spurs have reinvented themselves. History says they are a defense-first team.
And judging from the Lakers’ output on Tuesday, that can still be the case.
But the Spurs also average nearly 106 points per game, putting them in the top
five in the league. Popovich is usually ahead of the curve when it comes to
setting trends and not following them. His switch to a higher gear offensively
is commendable.
 

Mavs got 'trapped' by the Raptors

DALLAS _ In the NBA, they call it a "trap' game.

By definition, it's a three-game set where the first game is against a quality opponent, the second game is against a lesser foe, and the third game is against a quality opponent. That's the situation the Dallas Mavericks found themselves in Tuesday night.

The Mavs were coming off a quality win Monday night at Oklahoma City and hosted a lesser foe Tuesday night in theToronto Raptors. And everybody donning Mavericks colors has Thursday circled on their calender.

That's the day the big, bad San Antonio Spurs come to town. So with a win over the Thunder in the bag -- and with the big bad Spurs coming to town Thursday -- there was a human tendency to look past the Raptors.

Bad idea.

Toronto took advantage of being overlooked by the Mavs and went on to stun Dallas, 84-76, behind a career-high 17 points and a career-high tying 12 rebounds from rookie Ed Davis.

"I just think we kind of took them lightly,'' Mavs guard DeShawn Stevenson admitted. "We couldn't get to the hole and get the shots that we usually get.''

Those shots weren't there because the Mavs were without forward Dirk Nowitzki, who commands a great amount of attention when he's on the court. Nowitzki sat out Tuesday's game with a sprained right knee, and no one stepped up to fill the void.

The 76 points were the fewest the Mavs (24-6) have scored this season. And it came against a Toronto team that's 11-20 and had a bevy of its key players injured.

"We had some guys play well, but when it came time to put it all together we just came up short,'' Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "It was a disappointing loss, but I would credit Toronto more on their effort and how well they played.

"They won the game. We didn't give it to them.''

-- Dwain Price

 

 

 

Mavs suffer bad loss to Toronto

DALLAS _ As if they didn’t already know it, the Dallas Mavericks discovered how life is without Dirk Nowitzki.

And it isn’t very good.

The Toronto Raptors ran the court hard and hit the boards even harder en route to stunning the Nowitzki-less Mavericks, 84-76, Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. The 76 points were the fewest the Mavs have scored all season as they suffered a serous power outage.

The loss snapped the Mavs’ five-game winning streak and dropped them 2 1/2 games behind San Antonio in the Southwest Division. The Spurs, who play in Dallas on Thursday,  hammered the two-time defending world champion Los Angles Lakers, 97-82, on Tuesday.

Dallas (24-6) entered Tuesday’s game following an impressive 103-93 win at Oklahoma City on Monday. However, Nowitzki sprained his right knee in that game and wasn’t available to play against the Raptors.

Nowitzki’s absence was like the Supremes trying to sing without Diana Ross.

“When you’re missing your best player it’s always difficult,’’ Mavs guard JJ Barea said. “We’re going to have to do a better job in the next game.’’

Barea acknowledged that the Raptors (11-20) were the better team on this night. Toronto won the scoring battle in the paint, 48-24, and it had a 25-9 advantage in fast break points.

“They outplayed us at both ends,’’ Barea said. “They played great defense on us and we couldn’t execute.’’

The Mavs only shot .413 percent from the field and got outrebounded, 42-35.

Toronto led 23-13 after the first quarter, 46-40 at the half, and 64-59 entering the final period.

“I think Toronto played a great game and we were subpar,’’ Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “We got off to a sluggish start, particularly defensively.

“I think we were in too much of a ‘try and make things happen’ mode and not enough trusting the team and the system and really working together.’’

The Mavs are now 5-1 in the second game of back-to-backers. This also was the third ugly home loss of the season for the Mavs, who also lost to lowly Memphis (91-90) and Milwaukee (103-99) at American Airlines Center earlier this year.

Meanwhile, forward Caron Butler had his right shooting hand heavily taped after the game. Butler said he injured the fourth and fifth fingers on his right hand, but added: “‘I’ll be fine.’’

The Mavs also hope Nowitzki, who is listed as day-to-day, will be fine and ready to go against the Spurs.

-- Dwain Price

Random observations from the Mavericks' 84-76 loss to Toronto

In a word, stinko.
 
The Mavericks were within 71-68, but the Raptors got six
points in a row from Leandro Barbosa and eight in a row overall as they pulled
away for a huge upset. The Raptors have been surrendering 105 points per game and
the Mavericks had to hustle just to get over 70.
 
The Raptors had lost 10 in a row in Dallas.
 
Dirk Nowitzki was out with a sprained right knee. But that’s
no excuse against the 11-20 Raptors.
 
Terrible ballhandling was part of the problem with 17
turnovers. But as much as the emotional win at Oklahoma City was a total team
effort on Monday, this was a total team letdown.
 
They started out missing 16 of 20 shots in the first
quarter, fell behind by a dozen points and never fully recovered. The Raptors
allow more than 105 points per game, but the Mavericks never got close to
finding any rhythm.
 
Rookie Ed Davis had played only 13 games all season but he
had his best game as a pro, going off for 17 points and 12 rebounds.
 
They were down by six at halftime and could trim only one
point off that in the third quarter, when Toronto’s Linas Kleiza was
ejected. Kleiza had tormented the Mavericks with his 3-point shooting. Without
him, the Raptors’ offense dried up to a level even below the
Mavericks’.
 
But the Mavericks couldn’t complete a rally. They got
within 71-68 before Leandro Barbosa scored three times to make it a nine-point
lead with four minutes to go.

The Mavericks came into the game 7-2 when trailing after
three quarters. There was no such magic this time.
 
They fell to 24-6.
 

Toronto leading after three, 64-59

DALLAS _Toronto led by as many as 13 points (53-40) early in the third period Tuesday night before the Dallas Mavericks staged a rally.

With Brian Cardinal nailing a late 3-pointer, the Mavs cut their deficit against the Raptors going into the fourth quarter to 64-59.

The Mavs caught a big break when Toronto forward Linas Kleiza was ejected with two quick technicals issued by Bob Delany with 5:14 left in the third period and the Raptors ahead 56-52. At the time of his departure, Kleiza was leading the Raptors in scoring with 16 points on 7 of 14 shots in just 26 minutes.

-- Dwain Price

 

Mavs trail at the half, 46-40

DALLAS _ Clearly missing leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki, the Dallas Mavericks are trailing the Toronto Raptors at the half, 46-40.

Nowitzki sat out Tuesday's game with a sprained right knee that he injured Monday in Oklahoma City. His absence was clearly noticed as the Raptors got 14 points from Linas Kleiza and 12 points and 10 rebounds from rookie Ed Davis to lead at intermission.

Davis is the son of former Mavs forward Terry Davis.

The Mavs, which trailed 46-33 late in the second period, got 11 points from Caron Butler and converted 12 of 19 baskets in the second period.

By the way, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle missed Monday's game after having arthroscopic knee surgery last Wednesday. Asked before Tuesday's game if he and Nowitzki had shared knee stories, Carlisle said: "I don't think he's that interested in mine.''

-- Dwain Price