Lakers 109 Mavs 106 Grades: Mavs Top 10 Excuses Excuse Number 10 : That would be 10 missed free throws. Excuse Number 9 : Its that Lakers’ curse. Excuse Number 8 : Allowing Luke Walton to get an offensive rebound off a missed Bean free throw. Excuse Number 7 : Avery had no chance against the Zen master. Excuse Number 6 : The game was fixed by David Stern desperately trying to get that other team in Los Angeles back on track. Excuse Number 5 : Erick’s 5 fouls in only 16 minutes. Excuse Number 4 : Dirk’s game high 4 turnovers. Excuse Number 3 :Bean’s off balance trey that had no reason to go in, but did. Excuse Number 2 : Keith Van Horn leaves the game with a hip injury. Excuse Number 1 : The Mavs number one player misses 3 free throws, more than any other Maverick missed. UPN 21: A+; Finally, UPN gets a game to remind everyone how it should be done! +36 Johnson: D, Avery got out coached from the start. Time to re-read some of the Zen-Master’s books. Howard: C; Josh started in the first half, but 10 minutes was all Avery was ready to dole out. +6 Nowitzki: C, Dirk took game high honors on the boards with 15. Too bad this effort wasn’t reflected in his shooting. +27 Dampier: C-, Erick got to find a way to avoid fouls like DeSagana can. Diop played most of the second half with 3 fouls. Zero turnovers. +6 Daniels: B+, Marquis had an impressive game tonight with 23 points on 9-15 shooting. +25 Terry: B, Jason is getting closer to being 100% back on his way to 20 points. Led the team with 5 assists against Zero turnovers. +19 Van Horn: C, Keith landed on his right hip and left for the locker room. Hopefully this will be the only game he will miss, the Mavs can’t afford to lose him. -1 Diop: B, DeSagana only had one blocked shot tonight, but at least was able to play most of the second half while avoiding picking up an additional foul. Diop delivered 7 points and 8 rebounds. Zero turnovers. +12 Harris: B+; Devin was back into double-figure attempts from the stripe, only this time he didn’t miss. Wish the same could be said for a few other Mavericks. Zero turnovers. +20 M’Benga: A, Sure, DJ missed two free throws, but is was all made tolerable by his nice block of a Bean layup attempt. +0 Powell: C-, Josh got 3 minutes, but had nothing going tonight. -1 Armstrong DNP-CD. Marshall : DNP-CD. Podkolzin: DNP-CD, Pavel had surgery to repair his right foot and ankle and is expected to miss three to four months. Stackhouse: DNP-CD, Jerry was inactive, out with a sore knee that continues to swell. Typical Chef Ed Type
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting viggenja37:</div><div class="quote_post"> Stackhouse: DNP-CD, Jerry was inactive, out with a sore knee that continues to swell. </div> Laura Green reported the swelling has stopped and Stack's going to begin practice this week. That's good news.
thats a tough one to see them loose...hey they won 5 straight before, cant win them all. there were upsets all across the board tonight...phx, det, minny, and dallas all lost.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dallasdude:</div><div class="quote_post">Laura Green reported the swelling has stopped and Stack's going to begin practice this week. That's good news.</div> Great news. Another tough lost though. What is with the teams struggles at the line though?
their offense was fine tonight, their defense lacked a little bit, but kobe had a special game and a special shot, and it won the game for them. well get another shot at them.
How about the stupid foul on Dirk when Odom blew right by him? I thought that was a turning point in the game and Dirk didn't have anyone to scream at afterwards. The Mavericks should have won the game, but they kept leaving the door open for the Lakers and Kobe Bryant jumped right through with a ridiculous basket. The Mavs were the more aggressive team all night long, and got dribble penetration at will. Devin Harris made a living at the free throw line, and Daniels made his floaters by shooting over the top of shorter players, or dribbling right past Odom's matador defense.
their defense lacked. it reminded me of the older mavericks...the other team scoring at will. thats going to happen sometimes to a team shifting to play a little better defense. they are ok, cant win them all, the lakers deserved to win that night with all the circus shots that were made.
Excuse Number 8 : Allowing Luke Walton to get an offensive rebound off a missed Bean free throw. Am I the only fan who thinks that Walton showing up right before Bean's free throw and standing the corner while Bean bounces his second shot off the rim right to him was too amazing to be "luck"? Walton was brought in during the time out only for the free throw, recieved the tipped ball and shot 2 free throws to put the Lakers out of reach by 4. If Bean had made they shot, the Mavs had four strong shooters on the floor and might have tied up the game, putting it into overtime. As soon as Walton hit his free throws, he went back to the bench. Just smells like the Zen Master to me. Am I crazy?
