Full-Court Press

Dahntay Jones knew how Fisher felt

SAN ANTONIO -- Dallas Mavericks guard Dahntay Jones said he recently had a talk with Derek Fisher and discovered how much the 17-year veteran guard was missing his family.

But little did Jones know that Fisher would ask the Mavs to release him from his contract, which they did on Saturday. 

“I knew how he felt about the situation, because we spoke about it, but I didn’t know the severity of the events,'' Jones told the Star-Telegram. "However, this situation did come out of the blue.’’

Fisher signed a one-year, $1.11 million contract with the Mavs on Nov. 29 and was brought him to stabilize the point guard spot. But that position is once again in disarray now that Fisher is out of the equation.

"It forces us to move on and just make due with what we have,'' Jones said. "Guys have to speed up the learning process and the learning curve, and just get ready to take on the burden of being a full-time point guard.''

Jones said the Mavs will truly miss Fisher and the experience and knowledge he brought to the table.

"He's a great leader, he's well respected, he's a great basketball mind and he played extremely hard,'' Jones said. "It was a pleasure to be able to play with him.''

-- Dwain Price

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Mavs waive homesick point guard Derek Fisher

SAN ANTONIO -- Because of his strong desire to be back in Los Angeles with his family, guard Derek Fisher was released Saturday by the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavs had signed Fisher to a one-year contract on Nov. 29, and he immediately moved into the starting lineup. In nine games with the Mavs, Fisher averaged 8.6 points and 3.6 assists in 25.4 minutes per game.

Fisher's departure will either thrust Darren Collison back as the Mavs' starting point guard. Or they could give the job to Dominique Jones, who had 13 points and seven assists during Friday's 92-82 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Rodrigue Beaubois also is a candidate to get more minutes at that position.

In an effort to get more outside help at the point guard spot, the Mavs will turn to their D-League Texas Legends squad and either promote Jared Cunningham or Chris Douglas-Roberts.

-- Dwain Price

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Mayo just wants to win Friday in Memphis

DALLAS -- OJ Mayo is looking at his first trip to Memphis since the Grizzlies decided they didn't want him any more as strictly a business trip.

Mayo was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and spent his first four seasons with the Grizzlies. The USC product started the first two seasons for the Grizzlies, then came off the bench the last two seasons before the Grizzlies refused to pick up Mayo's $7.3 million qualifying offer this past summer.

That bold move by the Grizzlies -- or lack thereof -- effectively dumped Mayo on the free agent market. That's where the Dallas Mavericks found Mayo and signed the shooting guard to a contract that pays him $4.02 million this season with a player option for the 2013-'14 season that pays him $4,200,900.

Whether Mayo has a chip on his shoulders about the way the Grizzlies gave him the cold shoulder, he didn't give any hint after the Mavs dropped a 115-90 decision to the defending NBA champion Miami Heat on Thursday. But he certainly has only one mission when the Mavs (12-14) play the Grizzlies (17-6) at 7 Friday night at the FexEd Forum.

“I just want to go win the game,'' Mayo said. "They made the decision they made and they’re a heck of a team.

"They’re playing well right now, so I just want to go in there and compete hard and play well.”

-- Dwain Price

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Containing James: Is it mission possible?

DALLAS -- Usually, Shawn Marion is the player who is given the assignment to contain Miami Heat superstar forward LeBron James.

During the 2011 NBA Finals -- which the Mavs won over the Heat in six games -- Marion basically turned James into a statue and a non-factor in the series. But when the Mavs (12-13) entertain the Heat (16-6) at 8:30 tonight at American Airlines Center, don't just look for Marion to get his shot at trying to slow down James.

"We've got to do it as a team,'' coach Rick Carlisle said. "You can't say to one guy, 'OK, guard this guy and stop him.'

"That's not how it works in this league. The rules are set up to help the offensive guys in a lot of cases, and it's got to be a five-man responsibility to deal with great players.''

The Heat's case is unique, because the world champions also have superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh as part of their arsenal. That's what makes them so challenging.

"They have three great players,'' Carlisle said. "They've got (James) and they've got Wade and they've got Bos,h and they've got a lot of other guys that are playing at a really high level, too.

"So it's challenigng, but we're going to be aggressive, we're going to bring a lot of energy to the game and we're going to play as a team.''

-- Dwain Price

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Marion turned James into a statue during the 2011 NBA Finalsm  which the Mavs won in six games over the Heat.

"We hope he misses.

Other Mavs must step up in Fisher's absence

DALLAS -- With Derek Fisher out for at least three games with a strained right patellar tendon, several players will have to step up for the Dallas Mavericks and fill his point guard shoes.

That includes Darren Collison, Dominique Jones and Rodrigue Beaubois. 

"We have some depth at the point guard position and it's going to have to be done by committee,'' coach Rick Carlisle said after Thursday morning's shoot around at American Airlines Center. "It's not as important as who starts the game.

"But it's important how we approach it and that we have guys that can do different things and bring different positive things to the equation.''

Fisher sustained his injury early in the first period of this past Tuesday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers. The 17-year veteran had brought a calming influence to the point guard spot since the Mavs signed him to a one-year contract on Nov. 29.

"He played really well for us and helped us in a lot of different ways during that two-week period or whatever it is,'' Carlisle said. "Now we'll be without him for awhile and these other guys got to hold the fort.''

-- Dwain Price

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Mavs hope to contain LeBron James

DALLAS -- The challenge for the Dallas Mavericks tonight against the Miami Heat? Stop LeBron James.

James is the face of the NBA right now after winning the Most Vaulable Player award three of the past four seasons, helping the Heat capture last year's NBA team, and helping the United States win this past summer's Olympic gold medal.

"He's the best all-around player on the planet right now,'' coach Rick Carlisle said. "He causes major problems in multiple areas.

"We've got to try to contian him and keep him form having a big scoring night, and keep him from getting our defense broke down and getting his other guys involved. It's a tough task.''

James is averaging 25.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. Also, his defense is so stout that he's only committed two fouls in the past six games, including none in five of those games.

-- Dwain Price

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Fisher will miss at least the next three games

DALLAS -- Dallas Mavericks guard Derek Fisher will miss at least the next three games because of a strained right patellar tendon.

Fisher will miss tonight''s home game against the Miami Heat, and will also sit out Friday's game in Memphis and Sunday's contest in San Antonio. Mavs offcials said there is no timetable set for Fisher's return, and he'll be re-evaluated next week.

Fisher suffered the injury midway through the first quarter of this past Tuesday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers. 

-- Dwain Price

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Guess when Nowitzki plays his first game?

DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki, who underwent arthroscopic right knee surgery on Oct. 19, would like to get in a couple of full contact practices before playing in his first game of the season.

So, let's take a peak at the Dallas Mavericks' schedule and try to figure out when the 11-time All-Star theorically could return to the basketball court.

1.) The Mavs host the Miami Heat on Thursday and play at the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. So there won't be a practice on Saturday, meaning Nowitzki won't play in Sunday's game in San Antonio.

2.) The Mavs will have a full practice on Monday which Nowitzki will participate in. Then they'll be off on Christmas before having another full practice on Dec. 26. That means Nowitzki, if all goes well, could play in the Dec. 27 game at Oklahoma City.

3.) If Nowitzki isn't ready for the OKC game, then he likely won't play the next day (Dec. 28) at home against Denver, either. And since OKC and Denver are back-to-back games, the Mavs won't practice on Dec. 29, meaning Nowitzki probably won't play in the Dec. 30 home game against San Antonio.

4.) Logically, that means Nowitzki will go through another full practice on Dec. 31 and his first game of the season will be Jan. 1 in Washington against the Wizards.

-- Dwain Price

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Nowitzki may not return until early next month

DALLAS -- After going through a light workout Wednesday with his Dallas Maverick teammates, Dirk Nowitzki said he doesn't have a timetable set for whenever he'll be able to play in a live basketball game.

But from the sound of it, Nowitzki likely won't be back until the last week of this month or the first week of January.

Nowitzki underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Oct. 19, but said constant swelling in the knee has prevented him from returning to the court sooner than he wanted to.

"It wasn't really hurting that much in the first place,'' Nowitzki said of his knee. "It was just stuff in there that was irritating it and it was constantly swelling.

"We didn’t want to play the season on a swollen knee.''

Whenever he does return, Nowitzki would like to see his minutes limited to 20-25 per game for the first few games until he's his old self again.

"I'm not opposed to coming off the bench at the beginning and slowly finding my rhythm,'' Nowitzki said. "But I think that’s something we need to talk about when it gets closer, and we haven’t addressed that yet.

"I think it's obvious I'm not going to play 35 minutes the first game out. That’s something I think we’re going to talk about next week.''

Coach Rick Carlisle said Nowitzki will be back in due time, and not a moment too soon.

 "Dirk’s been doing a lot of things, so this is no different really than any other day,'' Carlisle said. "But he's doing OK.

"It wasn’t a full, full, full contact day, so he’s working hard.''

Nowitzki has yet to play this season. The Mavs have a 12-13 record going into Thursday's home game against the world champion Miami Heat.

-- Dwain Price

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Kaman was impressive in crunch time

DALLAS -- Chris Kaman hasn't had a lot of fun lately languishing on the bench during crunch time.

It's not a place the Dallas Mavericks center like to be when the game's on the line. And it's probably not a spot the 7-footer thought he would be when the Mavs signed him to a one-year, $8 million contract this past July.

"It's the most important time of the game -- it's crunch time,'' Kaman said. "And I was glad I was out there to finish plays and get a win.''

Kaman tallied eight of his 20 points during a 4:50 span late in the fourth quarter Tuesday that helped the Mavs edge the Philadelphia 76ers, 107-100, at American Airliens Center. Dallas (12-13) was able to snap a three-game losing skid headed into Thursday's home game against the world champion Miami Heat.

"It feels good to come out and play well,'' Kaman said. "And it's important for us to get that win going into the next game.''

-- Dwain Price

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