Full-Court Press

Let's see if J5 can finish strong

I called Josh Howard out a few games ago at halftime about not finishing games strong. He ended up finishing with a career-high 47 points and demolished the Jazz in the second half.

Let's try it again. Josh started off with a strong first half and was the Mavs' best player with 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting and 4 rebounds. Let's see if he can finish like he started or if he'll tail off like we've seen him do so many times.

-Scooter Hendon

Dirk doing well in All-Star voting.

And Josh Howard is not doing badly, either. Here are the first returns and, yes, it helps the Dallas players that Kevin Garnett has gone East. I've listed the top five players at each position and a few extra to cover the Mavericks in the West.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Forwards

Carmelo Anthony (Den) 482,127
Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 443,117
Tim Duncan (SA) 423,608
Carlos Boozer (Utah) 175,248
Shawn Marion (Pho) 154,641
Josh Howard (Dal) 146,909
Kevin Durant (Sea) 113,314

Guards

Kobe Bryant (LAL) 569,302
Tracy McGrady (Hou) 388,959
Steve Nash (Pho) 317,091
Allen Iverson (Den) 292,565
Manu Ginobili (SA) 141,891
Jason Terry (Dal) 121,397
Tony Parker (SA) 117,881
Chris Paul (NO) 110,688
Jerry Stackhouse (Dal) 103,307
Baron Davis (GS) 100,422.

Centers

Yao Ming (Hou) 439,125
Amaré Stoudemire (Pho) 286,401
Erick Dampier (Dal) 101,878
Marcus Camby (Den) 94,473
Pau Gasol (Mem) 73,461

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Forwards

Kevin Garnett (Bos) 735,664
LeBron James (Clev) 597,768
Chris Bosh (185,294)
Paul Pierce (Bos) 164,346
Yi Jianlian (Mil) 98,507

Guards

Dwyane Wade (Mia) 470,921
Jason Kidd (NJ) 343,468
Vince Carter (NJ) 277,705
Ray Allen (Bos) 270,114
Gilbert Arenas (Wash)) 256,994;

Centers

Dwight Howard (Orl) 596,187
Shaquille O'Neal (Mia) 282,727
Rasheed Wallace (Det) 69,331
Ben Wallace (Chi) 68,871
Jermaine O'Neal (Ind) 53,107

The Howard-Williams shootout

Howard and Deron Williams both had career highs tonight, but went about it in different ways.

Howard had 22 at the half and looked primed and ready for another of his countless slow second halves to follow a strong first half. This would not be. He finished with 47, blasting his previous career high of 30, Josh also finished with career highs in free throws made and attempted (15 of 17), field goals made (14) and tied his career high in three pointers made with 4.

On the flip side, Williams had a quiet first half with 9 points and scored 32 in the second half. He finished with a career high in free throws made with 12 as well as the career-high 41 points.

-Scooter Hendon

Halftime notes

• Josh Howard is once again the halftime MVP. If he can match his second-half performances with his first halves, he'll be an unstoppable force. Maybe he doesn't need to get out of rhythm in the locker room between games. Has a player ever run shooting drills on the practice court during halftime? I can't tell you how many times we've seen Josh start with around 20 points in the first half and finish with 26.
• The Jazz are currently second in the NBA in assists, but the Mavs outdid them at their own game in the first half. The Mavs have 14 and the Jazz have 11. Utah averages almost 27 a game and the Mavs only average 20. Devin Harris is doing a good job on both ends of the floor, and thus the teams have swapped spots on their normal success points. Devin has 7 assists.
• It's becoming tired to say so, but the Mavs did much better at the free-throw line than their opponent. They finished the half 7-8 while the Jazz were 7-13 from the line.
• The Mavs continue to have trouble with post players. Carlos Boozer is an uncontained force down low right now, and Erick Dampier can't seem to anything about it. Gana Diop got limited minutes and couldn't do much either. Boozer finished the half with 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting. This is starting to become a trend. Maybe Damp has lost a step defensively or the shoulder is holding him back, but he seemed a bit better equipped down low defensively than he is this season.

-Scooter Hendon

Big Threes going in different directions

No wonder the Bulls can't get much going. Their supposed big three of Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng have shot a combine 5 of 34 from the floor. That's 14 percent. On the other side of the coin, the Mavs big three of Dirk, Josh and Devin are a combined 18 of 35, or 51 percent. It's a wonder the Mavs aren't beating them more soundly, but nothing from this Mavs team is surprising anymore. Of course, Devin left awhile back and hasn't returned, so we'll see how this pans out.

-Scooter Hendon

Now, was that really so hard?

After seeing the Mavs struggle to succeed for some time now, it's nice to see them come out and do what's expected of them. With Dirk and Josh holding down the fort mightily on the offensive end and the defense pressuring guys into bad shots, it kind of makes you remember what these Mavs are supposed to look like against bad teams. Now, if they can get one more half like that, maybe we can start throwing around the phrase "back on track." Maybe.

-Scooter Hendon

Josh by a mile

In the early battle between Josh Howard and Luol Deng, it's no contest. With 6:23 left in the second quarter, Howard has scored 21 points and Deng has scored none. They're not on each other all the time, but Avery Johnson was hoping Howard would win the battle of the small forward, and he is so far.

Mavericks are leading 45-37.

Take a break

With Friday's home game against Portland kicking off a back-to-back with a big intra-division matchup at New Orleans on Saturday, coach Avery Johnson sent his big-minute players home early on Thursday.

Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Terry and Erick Dampier -- not DeSagana Diop -- left after film session while the other players went through a light shootaround and some running.

The back-to-back is already the fourth of the season and one of two coming up this week.

-- Jeff Caplan

J-Ho frustrated with refs

Josh Howard picked up his fourth foul Monday night against the Wizards 21 seconds into the third quarter when the Mavs trailed by three points. He immediately took a seat on the bench and didn't return until the start of the fourth quarter when the Mavs trailed by 13.

He said he believes had he been on the floor, he could have prevented the Wizards' 38-point onslaught and helped the Mavs seize momentum.

He also said that the refs need to cut him a break now and again. He said he's not fouling as much as they're calling and that they need to let him play defense.

-- Jeff Caplan

Josh turns the ankle yet again

They called the foul this time. Bobby Simmons slipped his foot under Josh Howard and got Josh to turn his ankle once again. However, they put Josh on the free throw line for this one, but he might sit down for a bit as he hobbled his way through the final minute of the third quarter. We'll see how badly Avery wants him on the floor for the fourth.
-Scooter Hendon