Full-Court Press

Howard back on the bench

No word yet on whether to expect Josh Howard back on the court, but he has at least returned to the bench, just in time to see J.R. Smith "accidentally" whack Dirk across the nose with a forearm. It just have hurt....he just shot an airball. The Nuggets come down and score and it's 30-27 Mavs.

   -- Jim Reeves

It was a Tech

Actually, they did hit Martin with technical. Dirk makes the FT. Mavs have a 15-9 lead with 5:31 left in the first quarter. Damp has returned to the lockerroom for treatment.

   -- Jim Reeves

Is anyone else stunned?

Not by the Mavericks grabbing the Game 3 victory, or by how motivated they came out in this one. I'm talking about the one-sidedness of this outing. Less than five minutes remain in the fourth quarter, and the Spurs have just 58 points. Keep this in mind, folks: Tony Parker had 38 by himself in Game 2.

Just 58 points. For a team. An NBA team. Wow.

-- Tracey Myers

This is pretty/ugly

I don't know why but I was expecting Game 3 to be full of drama and well, an entertaining game. Well, I was half right. Mavs fans have to be thrilled at this 62-36 lead with 7:42 remaining in the third quarter. Mavs are doing everything right, Spurs everything wrong.

-- Tracey Myers

Fear the 'stix

I'm not kidding, either. They were dropping those Thunderstix from the rafters a few moments ago, and they looked like missles. I'm sitting up here at the top of Section 124, and a colleague of mine just about took one in the eye.

Wouldn't have thought those things to be weapons, but now I know better.

-- Tracey Myers

A good sign

I mean the one a fan was holding up in the stands:

Hey Tony, tell Eva to stop calling me.

Sorry, I found that quasi-amusing.

--Tracey Myers

'That's when sound had feeling.'

I'm actually quoting Al Michaels from an HBO Sports documentary on the Miracle on Ice from 1980. He described the Lake Placid arena as such when the U.S. was about to win the gold medal. But I think it applies to the first few minutes here, too.

The Mavs took an 8-0 lead at the 10:03 mark, and it was deafening here in the AAC. Think everyone in here is a little excited at the possibilities of going up 2-1 in the series?

By the way, Erick Dampier picked up his first foul at the 10:48 mark, to a chorus of boos. Could've seen that reaction coming, too.

-- Tracey Myers

Parker in Game 3

Actually, I'm just curious at what everyone thinks he'll finish with this evening. Nobody needs to review what he did in Game 2; we're all well aware of it.

So... do the Mavs find a way to contain him, or does he rip off another big night?

-- Tracey Myers

Feeling better?

Sorry, folks, maybe I needed to be clearer in that title... I'm not talking about Josh Howard here. I'm asking you if you're feeling better about your Mavericks midway through this road trip.

The big thing I worried about with this team was how they were playing (or not playing as the case sometimes seemed) on the road. Well, they just grabbed two big ones, sans Howard. They're moving up in the standings. They've regained their away-from-home confidence, which every solid postseason team needs.

So, are you feeling better about the Mavs' postseason chances?

-- Tracey Myers

The Road: Try, try again

Ah, yes, it's crunch time. So of course the Mavericks are headed on the road, where it's just been ugly lately. Now the Mavs have had the "luxury" of their last few road trips being brief ones: A bad road game was usually followed by a strong showing at home, or at least enough of a showing to get a victory.

Now they have four in a row on the road. And a daunting little group it is, too, especially with Phoenix still scratching for a spot and the L.A. Lakers being, well, the Lakers. Add in the possibility of no Josh Howard, and it's sounding like the case for a while, and just how tricky is this trip going to be?

The "team effort" quotes are going to be thrown about with regularity these next few days. Still, missing Howard, especially early when he's been so good giving the Mavs that offensive jump, is going to hurt. Question is, how much?

So what are we thinking on this trip, folks? 3-1? 2-2? Worse?

-- Tracey Myers