Full-Court Press

Dirk hurt, but Mavs win behind Terry's hot fourth quarter

Dallas Mavericks acting head coach Dwane Casey probably didn't think the odds would be stacked against him Monday when the Mavs hit the road to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Casey replaced head coach Rick Carlisle, who stayed home and watched the game on TV after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee last Wednesday. But Casey also had to replace All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki, who left Monday's game for good less than three minutes into the second quarter with a sore right knee.

X-rays taken after the game were negative, and Nowitzki is slated to have an MRI at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning.

"It kind of gave in,'' Nowitzki said of his knee. "I don't know what really happened.

"It's been bothering me the last two weeks. Maybe that's why it gave in. It wasn't bothering me to the point where I had to do something about it.''

Despite no Nowitzki for the final two-plus quarters, the Mavs had enough in their arsenal to upend the Thunder, 103-93. It was the 17th victory in their last 18 games for the Mavs, who increased their record to 24-5 after playing for the first time since last Tuesday's win in Orlando.

Dallas is also an NBA-best 11-1 on the road. In addition, the Mavs have now won eight consecutive road games for the first time since Jan. 15-Feb. 12, 2002.

With Nowitzki out, Casey was forced to use rotations the Mavs normally don't employ. But with Jason Terry shaking off a slow start and heating up in the fourth quarter, the Mavs were able to win their fifth straight game going into Tuesday's home game against Toronto.

Terry entered the fourth quarter with just two points on 1 of 9 shooting. But he tallied nine of the Mavs' first 11 points in the final period that gave Dallas a 90-84 lead with 5:50 left in the game.

Key baskets down the stretch by Caron Butler and Tyson Chandler aided the Mavs, who gutted it out at the end and defeated the Thunder for the second time this year.

Butler led Dallas with 21 points, Shawn Marion scored 20 and collected nine rebounds, DeShawn Stevenson tallied 12, Terry finished with 13 points and eight assists, and Jason Kidd came up one rebound shy of a triple-double (10 points, nine rebounds, 10 assists).

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 28 points on 10 of 21 baskets, and James Harden came off the bench to tally 18 points.

Terry showed his penchant for coming up big with the game on the line by scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter on 5 of 8 shooting -- or one more point than the entire OKC team tallied in the final period. Terry entered the game averaging 7.1 points in the fourth period in the last 17 contests.

Now the big question facing the Mavs is the health of Nowitzki. Especially with a game Tuesday against Toronto, not to mention Thursday's big shootout at home against the San Antonio Spurs, who lead the Mavs by 1 1/2 games in the Southwest Division.

"This is a weird injury, I've never had it,'' Nowitzki said. "It's kind of day-to-day at this point.

"The X-rays were great. We'll see more about it (Tuesday).''

-- Dwain Price

Random observations from the Mavericks' 103-93 win over Oklahoma City

 
Not even losing their head coach or Dirk Nowitzki could stop
the Mavericks. Rick Carlisle was back in Dallas rehabilitating from knee
surgery. Nowitzki left in the second quarter (more below) with a knee injury.
And yet, the Mavericks pulled out an impressive 103-93 victory over the
Thunder. It was their fifth consecutive win.
 
Impressive because it came without Nowitzki for nearly the last
three quarters. He went to the locker room with a sore right knee after coming
down awkwardly when fouled on a jump shot by the Thunder’s Serge Ibaka.
Without him, the Mavericks struggled at times. But they did not curl up and go
away. Jason Terry scored seven consecutive points midway through the fourth
quarter to put the Mavericks up 90-84. After Jeff Green scored for the Thunder,
Caron Butler’s 3-pointer and a Tyson Chandler bucket made it 95-86. The
Thunder got no closer than six the rest of the way.
 
Dirk Nowitzki went down with 9:10 to go in the second
quarter and the Mavericks weren’t the same from there on. The official
explanation was that Nowitzki has a sore right knee. When he came down
awkwardly after being fouled by Serge Ibaka, Nowitzki appeared to step on his
own foot and he obviously turned his knee in a bad way.
 
The Mavericks were up 42-36 when Nowitzki left the game.
 
The Mavericks could not miss from long range in the early
going. They hit four of five 3-pointers in the first six minutes and also had a
Dirk Nowitzki three-point play. By racking up points three at a time, they
inched ahead 19-12 courtesy of a 16-4 blitz. They ended the first quarter up
34-29, tying their first-quarter high this season for points.
 
Tyson Chandler was probably a cinch to make the highlight
reels Monday night – for the wrong reason. He was trying to make a
driving, one-handed dunk and Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka met him halfway
and slapped the slam attempt out near midcourt.
 

Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion try to pick up the slack

Jason Kidd is already closing in on his first triple-double
of the season with 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists with still nearly
half the third quarter to go.
He and Shawn Marion are trying their best to keep the
Mavericks afloat without Dirk Nowitzki.
DeShawn Stevenson, too. He’s got half of his 12 points
in the third quarter, including three when he was fouled by Kevin Durant in
3-point land while the shot clock was about to expire. It was a terrible foul
on Durant’s part.
Mavericks are up 74-73.

Nowitzki injures right knee, return doubtful

The report from the locker room is that Dirk Nowitzki has a
sore right knee.
His return is doubtful.
We’re not in the business of trying to predict medical
situations, but it did not look good when Nowitzki could not immediately put
any weight on his right leg without quickly bracing himself with his left leg.
The perennial all-star has been as durable as any player in
the league during his 13 seasons. He’s often looked like serious injuries
hit him, only to return in the next game, or in some cases, in the same game in
which he was injured.

Nowitzki injured, return doubtful

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki left tonight's game at Oklahoma City with a sore right knee early in the second period, and it's doubtful he'll return to the game.

Nowitzki converted a basket with 9:10 remaining before halftime and was fouled on the play by Serge Ibaka. Also on the play, Nowitzki went tumbling to the floor.

Following a timeout, Nowitzki hit his free throw. Center Brendan Haywood then committed an intentional foul, and Nowitzki went straight to the locker room for treatment.

The Mavs were leading, 42-36, when Nowitzki departed. He has 13 points on 4 of 6 shooting.

With 21,811 career points, Nowitzki is within three points of passing Gary Payton (21,813 points) and becoming the No. 24th all-time scorer in NBA history.

-- Dwain Price

 

Dirk Nowitzki injures himself

Dirk Nowitzki just took an awkward fall that came after he
appeared to step on his own foot.
He stayed in the game long enough to shoot a free throw to
complete the three-point play, but then headed slowly to the locker room. He
was having difficulty putting weight on his right foot.
It appeared that he twisted the ankle when he went down.
Nowitzki was off to a torrid start with 13 points in the
first 15 minutes of the game.
The Mavericks were leading 42-36 when he went out.

Mavericks' start will say a lot about their physical state

Acting head coach Dwane Casey said he’s got one
significant concern going into tonight’s game against Oklahoma City.
“We’re fighting rust vs. rest,’’ he
said.
The Mavericks’ first quarter will go a long way toward
telling Casey whether the team lost its rhythm during a six-day break between
games.

Mavs will play without Brian Cardinal tonight

Backup forward Brian Cardinal will miss tonight’s game
with a stomach ailment.
It’s the second time in the last month that he’s
had gastro problems keep him out. He had not played in four of the previous
five games because of coaching decisions.
Cardinal stayed at the team hotel and his absence means
Alexis Ajinca will be activated.

Mavs championship fortunes rest with their defense

As the assistant coach/defensive coordinator for the Dallas Mavericks, Dwane Casey knows how important playing tough defense is to a team’s championship fortunes.

In other words, no defense, no championship rings.

“We have to have that every time we walk on the floor if we’re serious about winning a championship, and we are,’’ Casey said. “The guys are committed to it and they’ve bought into what we’ve been doing the whole year and I think that’s the difference.’’

With center/defensive guru Tyson Chandler as the ringleader, the Mavs are tied for second in the NBA in opponent’s field goal percentage (.434 percent). They also are sixth in points allowed at 93.5 per game.

Those are numbers that warms Casey’s heart.

 “I think you saw the top teams play (Saturday) on television, the No. 1 theme of the day was defense,’’ Casey said. “You’ve just got to continue, build on it, and keep improving as a defensive-minded team.’’

Casey will be the acting head coach for the Mavs (23-5) when they play at Oklahoma City (21-10) at 7 tonight. Mavs’ head coach Rick Carlisle had arthroscopic left knee surgery last Wednesday and was advised by doctors not to travel to Oklahoma City for tonight’s game, but he will be back on the sidelines Tuesday when Dallas entertains Toronto.

-- Dwain Price

Mavs won't put in the fumble-rooskie with Casey calling the shots

 
Don’t expect things to look much different tonight for
the Mavericks when they play Oklahoma City.
Just because coach Rick Carlisle, recovering from knee
surgery, is back in Dallas and the Mavericks will be coached by Dwane Casey
tonight, it doesn’t mean the acting coach is going to try to reinvent the
wheel.
“We’re going to try to keep everything the
same,’’ Casey said this morning after shootaround.
“We’re not going to do anything crazy.’’
So don’t expect to see Alexis Ajinca or Steve Novak
suddenly playing 30 minutes.
What also won’t change is the Mavericks’ desire
to play zone defense for a considerable part of the game. Casey is the
defensive coordinator and said he’s been happy with the way the players
have adapted to playing zone defense so much.
“Rick made a conscious commitment to the zone and
where it really turned for us was that (preseason) game in Chicago, when we
played zone the whole game,’’ Casey said. “We had to play
through some bad stretches. A lot of coaches, when the other team hits one
3-pointer, they’ll say: ‘That’s it. The zone’s
off.’
But we have gotten to where we can play through a few rough
possessions and stay confident with it.’’
Casey said he’s become more and more comfortable with
his teams playing zone through the years.
“A lot of people claimed we played zone in Seattle
when I worked for George Karl,’’ Casey said. “And it
wasn’t even legal then. But it’s been an evolving thing for all of
us.’’
As for sliding over a couple of feet into the big chair,
Casey figures his years as Minnesota’s head coach will serve him well.
And there no doubt will be a text message or phone call from Carlisle at
halftime.
“I have to change my whole mindset,’’
Casey said. “I have to make decisions instead of
suggestions.’’