Full-Court Press

Strange half

It was a weird half for the Mavs. They are down by 15 at the half, so there's nothing weird there. But the Maverick contributors were the strange part. Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Kidd and Josh Howard finished the half with 26 of the 39 Dallas points after combining for only 11 in Game 4. Too bad everyone else has innefficient and unreliable. To the Hornets credit, they have played very well to finish with an all-too-familiar big lead.

-Scooter Hendon

3-1 is quite a climb

Well, the Suns are alive for another day after beating the Spurs handily. Being down 3-1 is quite a mountain to climb, especially considering that they just won their first game of the series.

If the Mavs lose tonight, they will find themselves in a similar hole, but will have paced it differently with a Game 3 victory instead of Game 4. But really, what's the difference? You still have to win three straight against a team that has already bested you 75 percent of the series thus far.

So, can you call this a must win? With the steaming pile they ran out on the floor in New Orleans, you have to think that their odds heading back there for Game 5 aren't great. They won't be getting the calls like they've been getting here, and the Hornets are certainly more on their game there than in Dallas. So, in that respect, yes, it is a must-win.

-Scooter Hendon

Push the pace

When the Mavs push the pace, they succeed. With Jason Kidd on the team now, getting up  and down the court is of the utmost importance. On the last play, Dirk grabbed the rebound, passed it to Kidd who immediately went on the break. This has to happen if the Mavs want to emulate their second-half success in their last game against the Hornets when they ran away from it.

-Scooter Hendon

Back to the 7

With the Nuggets losing to the Suns tonight, the Mavs winning and the Warriors inactive, the Mavs move back into the 7 slot while the Nuggets move back out of the playoff picture into the 9 slot. The Warriors play the Spurs and the Nuggets play the Suns Tuesday night.

                   Rec.     GB
7. Mavs        46-28      -
8. Warriors    45-28    1/2
9. Nuggets    45-27      1

-Scooter Hendon

Warriors now in the nine slot

If you care about the Mavs playoff hopes, you were probably paying attention to the Nuggets-Warriors game tonight.

Well, it's over, and the Nuggets were victorious 119-112. With the win, Denver leapfrogs into the eight spot and are now 1/2 game ahead of the Golden State for the final playoff spot. The Nuggets are 1/2 game behind the Mavs now, and play their next game at Phoenix on Monday. Kenyon Martin evidently visited the way-back machine and brought 2004 K-Mart to tear the Warriors up with 30 points and 11 rebounds.

-Scooter Hendon

Playoff hopes taking a hit

Obviously, this was a big game for the Mavs, and they failed. With the loss, they fall back to only being one game up on the Warriors in the seven spot and the Nuggets are tied with the Warriors for the eighth spot (at least for another hour). The Warriors are currently playing the Blazers, and it's a close one. Check it out on TNT if you like, because the success or failure of the Warriors may have just as much to the Mavs playoff hopes as the Mavs trying to scrap together some wins.

Plus, it wouldn't kill you to scout the Mavs next opponent either. How badly will Baron Davis or Monta Ellis run circles around Jason Kidd? How much will the Warriors stable of guards confound the weakened Mavericks defense? Check it out and make your own observations. Then, be worried about the Mavs next few games. It's currently tied at 59 with just under 9 minutes left, which is enough time to make a makeshift Blazers towel and wave it from your living room.

UPDATE: The Warriors have come on to thoroughly whoop the Blazers. They outscored Portland 40-20 in the third quarter and are up by 20 with six minutes to play. This will put the Warriors half a game up on the Nuggets for the eighth spot, and 1/2 a game back from the Mavs for the seventh spot.

-Scooter Hendon

One writer's perspective

Here's an excerpt from Mark Heisler's NBA column in the LA Times, in which he analyzed the West contenders. I usually like Heisler's stuff, but I'm not sure how true the Mavs stuff is. Here ya go:

Phoenix -- Here’s the early verdict on the O’Neal trade:
Disaster.
It’s not their 3-6 record because there’s time to work things out, but the fact that, as Steve Nash said, "We’ve changed everything we’re doing."
The question was how O’Neal and Nash would run the Suns’ bread-and-butter pick-and-roll.
They don’t run it much at all, with Shaq mostly in the low post, a 180-degree change from their spread offense.
In other words, they’re not the Suns anymore. They just went from a system no one could guard, which they were geniuses at running, to some generic team.