Full-Court Press

Mavs taking advantage of opportunities

DALLAS – Dirk Nowitzki doesn’t want his Dallas Maverick teammates getting too full of themselves just because they’re 3-0 on this four-game home stand.

That’s because Nowitzki knows the three wins against Memphis, Minnesota and Houston came on the second night of a back-to-back for all three of those teams. Just call it a big favor to the Mavs from the NBA schedule-maker.

“I don’t want to overrate these wins,’’ Nowitzki said after Thursday’s practice at American Airlines
Center. “All these teams that came in here were on a back-to-back and we took it to them early, and that’s what you’re supposed to do at home when a team comes in a little tired.

“We took care of business, so that was good that we won the games.’’

The Mavs (17-23) close out the home stand Friday night at 8:30 when they battle the Oklahoma City Thunder (31-8). And no, the Thunder will not be on a back-to-back.

-- Dwain Price

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Mavs to sign James to a second 10-day contract

DALLAS -- The Dallas Mavericks saw enough positives from Mike James during the past five games to convince them to sign the 37-year old point guard to a second 10-day contract.

That signing will come Friday, since James' current 10-day contract with the Mavs expires tonight at midnight.

In five games since joining the Mavs, James scored eight points, distributed five assists and was 3-of-16 from the field in 42 minutes. All five of James’ assists came during Wednesday’s 105-100
victory over Houston, including four of them in the tensed fourth quarter.

That was more than enough to convince the Mavs that they truly do need James.

"He brought exactly to the team what I told you 10 days ago,'' forward Dirk Nowitzki said. "He's bringing some savvy-ness, just a swag about him, he's not scared of the big situations.

"He made some solid decisions on offense passing, he's just a solid all-around player. So yeah, he's definitely brought something to this ballclub, so it's no surprise that he's around for 10 more days.''

If the Mavs desire to keep James after his second 10-day contract expires, under NBA rules they'll have to sign him for the remainder of the season.

-- Dwain Price

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Nowitzki's All-Star Weekend streak will end

DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki has already come to grips with the fact that the NBA will host its All-Star Weekend without him for the first time since they staged this event after he entered the NBA.

The NBA had no All-Star Weekend when Nowitzki joined the league during the 1998-'99 season, because of the lockout. However, the Dallas Mavericks' forward participated in the three-point shootout in 2000 and '01 during All-Star Weekend, and has been in the All-Star game from 2002-'12.

But that streak will come to an abrupt end when All-Star Weekend is held in Houston from Feb. 15-17. That's because the arthroscopic right knee surgery Nowitzki underwent on Oct. 19 forced him to miss the season's first 27 games and prevented him from gaining any traction towards continuing his All-Star Weekend streak.

But that's OK with Nowitzki, who won the three-point shootout in 2006 in Houston, and also participated in this event in 2008.

"Yeah, that's obviously a disappointing streak to end, but it is what it is,'' Nowitzki said after this morning's practice at American Airlines Center. "I had fun representing the Mavs all these years, but it's a tough year for me with injuries.

"So I guess those four days (off) I'm going to enjoy and get a good amount of work in as well and be recharged for the second half of the season.''

-- Dwain Price

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Mavs win their fourth straight game

DALLAS -- The Dallas Mavericks are on a roll.

The Mavs won their fourth straight game Wednesday night with a 105-100 victory over the Houston Rockets at American Airlines Center. It was the first time this year the Mavs have won more than three games in a row.

The Mavs are now 17-23 on the season and 3-0 on this home stand, which concludes Friday at 8:30 p.m. against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Dirk Nowitzki put the Mavs up 101-98 when he drained two free throws with 25.1 seconds left. Jeremy Lin then had a turnover, and Dahntay Jones hit a pair of free throws to give the Mavs a 103-98 lead with 14.1 ticks to go.

The Mavs saw a 15-point lead whittle to 95-94 when Lin buried a three-pointer with 3:41 left. Lin later tied the game at 97-97 with a free throw with 1:52 remaining in the game.

Houston had a chance to take the lead, but Elton Brand blocked James Harden's driving layup, and a pair of free throws by OJ Mayo put the Mavs up 99-97 with 1:02 left.

Nowitzki led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds, Mayo had 18 points, six rebounds and eight assists, Shawn Marion scored 18, and Elton Brand finished with 11 points and 10 boards.

Harden led the Rockets with 20 points and Lin had 19.

Dallas fell behind 15-10, then ran off 19 consecutive points to go up 29-15 late in the first period.

-- Dwain Price

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Mavs hope to contain Harden tonight

DALLAS -- The No. 1 item on the Dallas Mavericks' shopping list when they play Houston tonight is finding a way to contain Rockets guard James Harden.

When the Mavs defeated the Rockets, 116-109, on Dec. 8, Harden poured in 39 points, grabbed six rebounds, dispensed nine assists, picked up two steals, was 15-of-16 from the free throw line, and 10-of-17 from the field, including 4-of-9 from three-point territory. In other words, Harden was a one-man wrecking crew.

Thus, a lot of the Mavs' film sessions leading up to tonight's 7 o'clock tipoff at American Airlines Center was focused on what to do with Harden, who is fourth in the NBA in scoring with 26.4 points per game.

"One guy is not going to stop him,'' coach Rick Carlisle said. "It's going to have to be our team reacting to where he's at on the floor.

"We have to be very precise in how we're playing him because a guy with that kind of range and that kind of ball skills and ability to get to the rim and get to the free throw line, he taxes your defense in ways most players don't.''

One player who will likely get his turn at defending Harden tonight is Dahntay Jones, who loves to get in shooter's grill when playing defense. As far as defending Harden, Jones said:

"You keep him out the paint and try to make him take as many contested two's as possible. And try to keep him off the free throw line.''

-- Dwain Price

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As always, the Mavs are working the phones

DALLAS -- If it's getting close to the NBA trading deadline, that means -- as owner Mark Cuban affectionately calls it -- "The Bank of Cuban'' is wide open for business.

Prior to Monday's 113-98 win over Minnesota, Cuban said the Mavs will be looking at a chance to improve via a trade, even if it meant taking back salary. After today's practice at American Airlines Center, coach Rick Carlisle made it clear that that's a non-story.

"That's how we've done business here for four-and-half years,'' Carlisle said. "I don't see any major change.

"Mark's always aggressive to make deals that are good deals to help the franchise, so it's not surprising. I know it's news because every time he says someting it's news, but that's good.''

Carlisle said, like any other owner, Cuban is in the business of making his team better and more profitable. So taking phone calls from other NBA executives are just par for the course for the Mavs.

"It's nothing new to me,'' Carlisle said. "I know that we're aggressive, I know that we're on the phone a lot and I know we're going to make deals that are the right deals to rebuild this thing the way we want to rebuild it, not just to do something for the sake of doing it.

"That's how it needs to be approached.''

Cuban said he and Donnie Nelson, the Mavs' president of basketball operations, will do their due diligence by working the phones in search of help that can get his team back among the NBA's elite.

“Every day I’m going through rosters trying to come up with ideas for Donnie,’’ Cuban said. “We want everybody to know that the Bank of Cuban is open and if it’s the right deal, we don’t mind taking back money.

“But we’re not going to just do a trade just to do a trade. It’s got to be really worthwhile.’’

The trading deadline is Feb. 21, which Carlisle so eloquently said: "Five weeks is light years. Two days from now is like eons.''

Carlisle said whatever rumors pop up in the ensuing 37 days won't affect the 15 players he already has on his roster.

"Having had two straight years of a locker room full of free agents, I think people underestimate the resiliency of players,'' Carlisle said. "I think our guys are going to play, I don't think they're going to be affected by any potential rumors or any present rumors.''

And Carlisle knows those players already know what working the phones to improve his team is simply a matter of Mark Cuban being Mark Cuban.

"Every executive in the league knows that we're on the phone all the time,'' Carlisle said. "To me, that's the real truth about it.

"If there's something worthwhile to do, I'm sure we'll do it. And if there isn't, we won't. I think that that's pretty clear, too.''

-- Dwain Price

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Ricky Rubio has skills similar to Jason Kidd

DALLAS -- Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio has some of that Jason Kidd sizzle in him. So said Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle.

Like Kidd, Rubio appears to have eyes behind his head and can fire a bullet pass to an open teammate, even when that teammate isn't exactly open.

"There are some similiarities, yeah, especially when you talk about the court vision and just knowing what everybody's doing from a teammate standpoint, and some of the passes he makes without looking and things like that,'' Carlisle said. "So yeah, from that perspective there's definitely similiarites.''

In his season debut -- against the Mavs on Dec. 15 -- after returning from left knee surgery, Rubio dazzled with eight points, nine assists and three steals in only 18 minutes. And that's not including all those show-stopping passes -- a la Kidd -- that he performed in a game the Timberwolves won 114-106 in overtime.

"Rubio's a great player, and he's proven it now,'' Carlisle said. "He had a big impact on the game the last time we played them even though that was his first game back, so we're very aware of him.''

The challenge of slowing down Rubio -- tonight at 7:30 when the Mavs play the Timberwolves at American Airlines Center -- will mostly fall on the lofty shoulders of Darren Collison. And he's ready to showcase his talents against one of the league's best young playmakers.

"We've just got to contain him the best way we can, try to challenge him in different ways,'' Collison said. "The pick-and-roll is going to be key for us when it comes to him.

"He’s no different from any other good point guard in this league that we have to face, so we’ll be ready for the challenge.''

-- Dwain Price

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A home sweep could pay major dividends for the Mavs

DALLAS -- Starting with tonight's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, this is a big week for the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavs are at home all week to play three teams that are ahead of them in the standings. And if they want to get a foot back into the thick of the Western Conference race, the Mavs may need to sweep all three games, or at least come out of the pack with a 2-1 record.

After hosting the Timberwolves at 7:30 tonight, the Mavs entertain the Houston Rockets at 7 p.m. Wednesday and the Oklahoma City Thunder at 8:30 p.m. Friday. The Mavs, of course, won't lump all three games together when discussing the tough task that's ahead of them.

"One game at a time -- that's how you've got to look at it,'' forward Shawn Marion said after this morning's shoot around at American Airlines Center. "We're able to do something here and it could mean something.''

The Mavs' confidence has grown since they've won their last two games after dropping 13 of their previous 15 games. This week, however, will go a long ways towards determining whether they've turned the corner.

"I'm not jumping the gun right now, we've got a long ways to go,'' Marion said. "We're just going to keep taking the little steps we need to (in order) to get to the right direction, and that's all that matters.''

Point guard Darren Collison also is hopeful that the Mavs can use the three games this week as a springboard to put their dark days behind them.

"This is huge,'' Collison said. "We have a great home stand push right now and we want to take advantage of it.

"We've just got to keep pushing at it. I don't want to talk too soon. I want our focus to remain the same, like it's been the last two games.''

The pesky Timberwolves already are 2-0 against Dallas this season. The Mavs lost both of those games even though Minnesota was without injured All-Star forward Kevin Love, who also will miss tonight's game with a fractured hand.

As he reflects on the past two games, Marion believes the Mavs are just rounding into shape and are close to being the team everyone thought they would be when the season started.

"We've been putting ourselves in good position to just finish (games),'' Marion said. "I think we've got to keep giving ourselves a chance.

"Our Achilles heel this year has been we've been having turnovers at the wrong time, but in particularly the last two games we didn't do that. We've just got to keep taking them little baby steps to get to where we want to get.''

-- Dwain Price

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Mavs blow out the Grizzlies, 104-83

DALLAS -- In one of their most impressive games of the seaosn, the Dallas Mavericks have put together their first two-game winning streak in over a month.

Shawn Marion poured in a season-high 20 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 17 points as the Mavs rolled over the Memphis Grizzlies, 103-82, Saturday night at American Airlines Center. The victory enabled the Mavs to improve their record to 15-23 as they won two games in a row for the first time since beating Houston and Sacramento on Dec. 8 and 10, respectively.

Overall, the Mavs put six players in double-figure scoring as they followed up Thursday's 117-112 overtime win over Sacramento with a solid showing against one of the NBA's top ballclubs.

The Mavs shot 48.8 percent from the field and also converted 11-of-17 three-pointers in routing the Grizzlies. Dallas also won the rebound battle, 48-41, and finished the game with just nine turnovers.

-- Dwain Price

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Mayo hopes to play better tonight against Memphis

DALLAS -- The last time the Dallas Mavericks played the Memphis Grizzlies, Tony Allen and some of his teammates followed guard OJ Mayo so closely that they may have even followed him to the bathroom.

That’s how determined the Grizzlies were that Mayo was not going to have an impact on that Dec. 21 game, which Memphis won, 92-82.

However, Dirk  Nowitzki missed that contest because he was still recuperating from the right knee surgery he underwent on Oct. 19. And now, since Nowitzki is back in the starting lineup, that should lessen the overall attention Mayo received from the Grizzlies three weeks ago.

Or, will it?

“I’ve been over there and they’ll play Dirk one-on-one with no double-teaming and just try to make us beat them,’’ said Mayo, who spent his first four seasons with the Grizzlies. “We've got to just do a good job of trying to get to the rim and attacking instead of settling for jump shots.’’

No team has smothered Mayo this season the way the Grizzlies did. The fifth-year guard finished that game with just 10 points, four assists and five turnovers while only going 3-of-11 from the field in 35 minutes.

“They’re a defensive team, they’re the No. 1 defensive team in the league,’’ Mayo said after this morning's shoot around at American Airlines Center. “So they’re going to do what they feel is best for
them to get the win tonight.’’

Mayo is hoping for some better results tonight at 8 when the Mavs meet the Grizzlies at American
Airlines Center. However, coach Rick Carlisle noted that this game has less to do about Mayo and
more about the Mavs as a whole as they attempt to win two games in a row for the first time since beating Houston and Sacramento on Dec. 8 and `10, respectively.

“It has nothing to do with OJ, it’s about our team,’’ Carlisle said. “We’ve got to do the things that we have to do to be successful.

“With Memphis it comes down to a physical game. They’re the best at stealing the all and converting turnovers, so we’ve got to take care of the ball.’’

-- Dwain Price

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