Full-Court Press

Mavs blow out the Nash-less Suns

PHOENIX _ Rick Carlisle didn’t get too carried away with Monday’s 122-99 win over the
Phoenix Suns.

Sure, the Dallas Mavericks shot a spectacular 55.2 percent from the field and tallied a season high in points. But when the Mavs found out that a left thigh contusion would keep Suns point guard Steve Nash on the sidelines, the Mavs knew that was a huge advantage in their favor.

The Mavs used that advantage to their advantage en route to pounding the Suns, 122-99, before 13,132 at US Airways Center.

“We caught a break with Nash not playing,’’ Carlisle, the Mavs’ coach, said. “I don’t think you can overlook that as a big factor in the game, but we played.

“I thought our effort was even and consistent. We were able to keep fresh guys on the floor and we moved the ball well and made shots.’’

The Mavs were in such a zone that they converted 14-of-27 baskets from three-point land. That marksmanship sucked the life out of the Suns.

“I wouldn’t say it was demoralizing,’’ Suns guard Josh Childress said. “But when you’re trying and you’re playing as hard as we were, and to just consistently get his with three after three after three, it’s frustrating.

“We have to really focus on running those guys off the (three-point) line. But also trying to rebound the ball and get out on the break, (that) puts the pressure on them.’’This game was never in doubt.

The Mavs led 31-24 after the first quarter, 66-48 at the half and 96-70 after the third period. The 66 points are the most the Mavs are scored in any half this season.

In other words, the Mavs had their feet on the pedal all night long and the Suns didn’t have enough weapons to counter-punch.

“They’ve always been tough for us,’’ Suns guard Jared Dudley said. “They have a great defense, they have different counters, they got people that can score in different ways.’’

The Mavs led by as many as 28 points and were so efficient on offense that they collected 31 assists.

“It’s just a tough team to guard,’’ Dudley said. “And once they start hitting shots the flood gates really opened and it was tough for us.’’

The 14 treys are the most the Mavs have hit in a game this season. The Mavs were so on fire that they were 10-of-16 from downtown in the first half.

Dudley said: “Even when we had a hand up on good defense they were hitting it, and when we had bad defense they made us pay every time.’’

Delonte West led the Mavs with a season-high 25 points, six assists and two steals. West made 9-of-12 shots, including 5-of-6 from three-point range.

“I can shoot the basketball,’’ West said. “We just found the game within the game.

“The ball came south to the open man and I just stepped up and knock those shots down.’’

Vince Carter also knocked down his share of shots for the Mavs, finishing with a season-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

“We were moving the ball and finding open guys and the guys are hitting shots, which just makes it tough,’’ said Carter, who was 5-of-7 from three-point territory. “We have a couple of guys that can make plays, but it’s a fun game when guys are moving it, because this team doesn’t really care who
scores.

“You worry about are we playing together, are we making the right play. And we’ve done that.’’

Shawn Marion tallied 20 points for the Mavs and Jason Terry tossed in 11. Marion, who played the first eight-and-a-half years of his career for the Suns, was asked about any extra motivations he was carrying while playing in Phoenix for the first time since the Mavs won last season’s NBA title.

“It’s a little different coming here and playing a s visitor coming here and playing in this gym,’’ Marion said. “I’m a Dallas Maverick right now and that’s all you can focus on.

“When you play in a city like this for a long time there is definitely part of you that is still there.’’

Meanwhile, in his second game back after sitting out four games with a sore right knee, Dirk Nowitzki tallied 10 points on 4-of-10 shots for the Mavs and was moving ore precise.

“I’m getting better,’’ Nowitzki said. “I obviously got some work to do, but I think my legs are stronger and even (Sunday against San Antonio) I was able to put the ball on the floor.

“I’ve got to be able to move and put the ball on the floor a little bit. I like the progress.’’

The Mavs must be liking their overall progress as a team. After starting the season with a 1-4 record, the Mavs are 14-8 after winning 13 of their last 17 games.

In other words, the Mavs are steadily finding their groove.

“It almost feels a little bit like last year,’’ Nowitzki said. “We’ve got a bunch of veterans that want to play, they’re not selfish.’’

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

Mavs look good on offense, beat Jazz, 116-101

DALLAS_ In one of their more impressive games of the season Friday – at least on the
offensive end -- the Dallas Mavericks looked like they were ready to defend
their NBA title.

The Mavs tallied a season-high in points, shot a sizzling 54.9 percent from the field and had their way with the Utah Jazz in the fourth quarter while pulling away for a 116-101 victory before a sellout crowd of 20,096 at American Airlines Center.

Even with Dirk Nowitzki and Delonte West in streets clothes, and with Jason Kidd joining them after he strained his right calf less than two minutes into the game, the Mavs were an offensive juggernaut against a solid Jazz squad.

“I thought everybody on the team played well,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said. “Jason went out early with a calf strain and all of a sudden a lot of things changed for us.’’

What changed was Rodrigue Beaubois stepped in during Kidd’s absence and played near-flawless basketball. Beaubois had a season-high 22 points, a season-high seven assists and a career-high four blocks to go with six rebounds in one of the best all-around games of his career.

All of it was needed with Nowitzki, West and Kidd as mere spectators.

“We learned that we can play well (without the aforementioned three starters),’’ Beaubois said. “But we just need to keep pushing out there.

“We’re very close, but we just need to keep pushing and keep working.’’

The Mavs (12-8) had six players in double-figure scoring for just the second time this season. Besides Beaubois, Lamar Odom poured in a season-high 19 points and grabbed five boards, Jason Terry tossed in 18 points, Shawn Marion contributed 16 points, Vince Carter scored 12, and Brendan Haywood added 12 points and 12 rebounds in registering his first double-double of the season.

Carlisle even praised the 13 minutes he got from Dominique Jones, especially the eight minutes he played in the fourth quarter that enabled the Mavs to rest players ahead of him in the rotation.

“That’s really key,’’ Carlisle said of Jones’ efforts. “Odom played his best game of the year, Marion was really consistent, and Haywood was a force inside.’’

This also was the first time Carter played since straining his left foot during a Jan. 16 game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The 6-6 Carter converted 5-of-10 shots and a few times found himself guarding Enes Kanter, a 6-11, 267-pound brute of a player.

“Carter, tonight, came in and gave us a huge lift at the start of the game when Kidd went out,’’ Carlisle said. “He hit two or three shots immediately and that got the building going and got
everybody into it.

“I was really proud of the way the guys competed because this is a very competitive team.’’

The outcome, for the Mavs, was a reversal of fortunes after what transpired Wednesday when the Minnesota Timberwolves drilled Dallas, 105-90, in this same building.

“All these guys got to stay ready,’’ Carlisle said. “Tonight was really a microcosm of what this season is about.

“You can tear up any rotation sheet that you make up. It’s going to be seat of our pants, everybody’s got to be ready. We trust all our guys and tonight they showed why their trust is earned.’’

The game was tied 30-30 after the first period, and the Mavs assumed a 58-50 lead at the half. It was still 82-80 Dallas with 1:15 left in the third quarter until the Mavs exploded with a 28-9 run to blow the game completely open.

“They made a run,’’ Jazz coach Tyron Corbin said. “I don’t think that I’d say they blew us out, but we cut it to two points there at the end of the third quarter.

“But give them credit. They made the right plays and made some big shots and we just didn’t make shots at the end.’’

-- Dwain Price
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@dwainprice

Carlisle still believes in Odom

DALLAS _ Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was engaged in an interview with the
media today when forward Lamar Odom walked by.

“Get ‘em off me, coach,’’ Odom said. “Get ‘em off me, coach.”

When Carlisle was asked why should the media get off Odom, Carlisle asked: “Why should you be off of Lamar? I don’t know, are you on him?’’

Actually, Odom has been criticized for not playing up to the fans’ expectations. That reached a crescendo during Wednesday’s 105-90 home loss to Minnesota when Odom was
just 2-of-14 from the field and tallied only five points.

“Hey, listen, we believe in Lamar,’’ Carlisle said. “This has been a struggle so far, but this guy can play.

“We’re going to keep supporting him and keep believing in him and he’s going to get better and better. That’s been his pattern every year of his career.’’

Odom is averaging career-lows of 7.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 21 minutes per game. He also is shooting a career-low 32.9 percent from the field while shooting a puny 24.1 percent from three-point range.

Despite all that, Carlisle repeated: “He’ll be fine. He’ll be fine. You know, in an NBA season after 28 years, I’m not sure how often I’m ever surprised.

“But Lamar’s going to be fine. He’s got to stay with it, he’s got to be aggressive, and we’re with him.’’

Guard Vince Carter noted that Odom is asked to do a lot of things that aren’t visible to the average fan’s eyes, and that could be affected is overall effectiveness.

“We are asking him to play a lot of positions and do a lot of things,’’ Carter said. “It’s one thing playing the wing position and playing (power forward).

“When you are playing the point guard you have to know what is going on (and) where everybody is supposed to be. That is an unbelievable adjustment. I don’t think there are a lot of guys who can handle it.’’

Obviously, Odom hasn’t handled it well. Hence, the slow start.

“We know who is and what he can do,’’ Carter said. “We say just relax and be Lamar Odom.

“He has done a great job and I admire him. He puts the pressure on himself of performing at a high level.''

Odom won two NBA championship rings with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and ’10, so he’s accustomed to playing at a high level.

“Of course he has played at a high level,’’ Carter said. “He pushes himself in knowing what’s going on and wanting to play well.

“Sometimes it’s a negative to us all because we try so hard. I fell into the same thing at the beginning -- you just want to do well on a team like this. You play on a team like this the first thing you think is you want to go out there and contribute instead of being who we are.’'

At the time Dallas acquired Odom from the Lakers on Dec. 10 for basically an $8.9 million trade
exception, it looked like the Mavs had stolen a valuable piece away from one of their top nemesis in the Western Conference. But expect for flashes here and there, Odom has yet to live up to his advance billing.

How long can – and will – the Mavs wait for Odom to give them some consistent minutes night-in and night-out?

“We’re working at it every day, and that’s what we’ll continue to do,’’ Carlisle said. “We’re going to stay the course with the things that we feel are the best things for our entire team and go from there.

“It’s kind of the old phrase that when things are going good, you’re never that far from them being bad, and when things are a struggle, you’re never that far from being on track. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a team or an individual player. In this league, it can be that much of a fine
line.’’

When Carlisle was asked how much of a slump is mental focus, he answered with: “I’ll gladly take a question on another topic, because I’m done with that one.’’

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

 

Odom struggled big-time

DALLAS _ With his family watching from owner Mark Cuban's suite, Lamar Odom never got things going in a positive manner Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In one of his worst games with the Dallas Mavericks, Odom scored just five points on 2-of-14 shooting. He never really got into the offensive flow of the game, although he said he took some great shots.

"I only think I forced one,'' Odom said. "They were all good shots.''

But the overwhelmingly majority of those shots never found the basket and played a role in the Mavs dropping a 105-90 decision to the Timberwolves.

Coach Rick Carlisle admitted that Odom was in a funk, which is why he only played him 4:35 in the second half.

"He was struggling and we needed guys in the game that could either make plays, have quickness, have energy, and were playing better,'' Carlisle said. "And that's pretty much the bottom line.''

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

Mavs Championship Ring Facts: 14k White gold, 250 diamonds, 91.7 grams, 10 total karats

The 2011 Dallas Mavericks Championship Rings, designed by Jostens and players Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, might be the gaudiest ever.

The Ring Facts:

14 K White Gold

250 total diamonds

219 Brilliant round diamonds

31 Custom cut princess diamonds

10.00 total karats

91.7 grams (total ring weight)

The Mavs logo is on top set against a custom blue stone encircled by 31 princess cut diamonds, one for each year of the organization.

The top features "World Champions" flanked by a 10 round cut diamonds.

The players name and number are on side A along with the NBA logo and one diamond star signifying the first title for the Mavs. The secondary logo is set with another custom blue stone inside a basketball. The M is emblazoned with with 15 diamonds to represent the 15 memebers of the championship team.

Side B incorporates "Dallas Mavericks" alongw ith the team motto, "The Time is Now", engraved in a banner behind the Larry O'Brien trophy. Round diamonds fill the trophy flanked by 2011.

Inside the band is the original Mavs team logo in honor of the first owner Donald Carter in addition to the results of the four playoff series.

Clarence E. Hill Jr.  

Mavs get their rings

DALLAS _ The Dallas Mavericks received their NBA championship rings before tonight's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

JJ Barea and Peja Stojakovic were the first players to collect their ring.

Once the ring ceremony started, coach Rick Carlisle was talking about the four players who were on the Mavs' title team last year but are playing elsewhere when he momentarily stumbled. Carlisle mentioned Corey Brewer and Caron Butler, then stumbled before mentioning Tyson Chandler and DeShawn Stevenson.

Later, Jason Terry got his ring and did his runway thing. Jason Kidd got his ring and hugged owner Mark Cuban and kissed his ring. Dirk Nowitzki got his ring -- and the loudest applause from the crowd -- then spoke to everyone.

"How does it look?,'' Nowitzki asked while flashing his gaudy ring. "It looks like there's only one more ring left.

"And obviously whtout this man this wouldn't be possible. He's the greatest owner in sports, so here's Mark Cuban.''

By the way, the Timberwolves stayed in their locker room during the ring ceremony. That's the same thing the Miami Heat did when the Mavs opened the regular season against them by raising the championship banner to the rafters on Dec. 25.

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

Adelman happy for Stojakovic

 DALLAS – One person who will be delighted to see Peja Stojakovic gets his NBA championship ring tonight is Minnesota Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman.

Adelman was Stojakovic’s coach with the Sacramento Kings from 1998-2006.

“He was a young player when I had him,’’ Adelman said before tonight’s Timberwolves-Dallas Mavericks game. “He was the best shooter I ever saw, bar none.

“I’ve seen him too many times. He practiced 100 3’s and he’d make 95. The guy who rebounded for him had an easy job. He just kept catching it.’’

Stojakovic retired afte helping the Mavs win their first NBA title last season. He's at American Airlines Center and will receive his championship ring prior to tonight's game.

Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

Three Kardashians are at the Mavs' game

DALLAS _ Sisters Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian will be attend tonight's game at American Airlines Center between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Khloe just tweeted "My sisters just surprised me in Dallas!!!!''

Khloe, of course, is married to Mavs forward Lamar Odom. Kim was married to New Jersey Nets forward Kris Humphries last year before filing for divorce 72 days later.

The Mavs will receive their NBA championship rings prior to tonight's game.

-- Dwain Price

Follow me on Twitter

@dwainprice

 

Carlisle looks for the best matchups

DALLAS _ Basketball is a game of matchups. So, when Rick Carlisle puts a certain lineup on the floor, it’s mainly based on those strategic matchups.

And the Dallas Mavericks coach is always searching for a matchup that’ll work in his favor. Thus, when asked how he determines who plays and who sits during certain times of a game, Carlisle said:

“Sometimes it’s matchup based, sometimes it’s me going by the seat of my pants, sometimes it has to do with who’s tired, sometimes it has to do with who the other team has in the game. But we’ve got to be able to play a lot of different ways.

“Right now just the fact that we’ve thrown a lot of different lineups out there is something that we’ve got to view as something that’s going to help us going forward.’’

With games coming fast due to the lockout and compact 66-game schedule, Carlisle knows set rotations will not be the norm this season. So that doesn’t even figure into his game plan, regardless of who the Mavs are playing.

“It’s not very rhythmatic, and it doesn’t lend itself to comfort and those kinds of things with having a set rotation,’’ Carlisle said. “But what it is doing is keeping guys playing hard because you play until you’re tired, then give me a fist to come out and we’ll get another fresh guy in here.

“That’s a big part of the formula for winning this year.’’

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

 

Mark Cuban placed a bid to buy the Dodgers

DALLAS -- He already has an NBA championsip. Now, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is going after a World Series.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Cuban was one of at least 10 people/groups who placed an opening bid on Monday to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers from Frank McCourt.

Some of the others who placed opening bids include groups headed by Magic Johnson, former Dodgers manager Joe Torre, and ex-Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley.

McCourt, according to the LA Times, is expecting to sell the team for at least $1.5 billion.

Cuban has failed in previous bids to purchase the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers.

-- Dwain Price

Follow me on Twitter

@dwainprice