<div align="center"><font color="blue">Dallas Mavericks (18-7)</font> at <font color="Purple">Sacramento Kings (10-15)</font> Thursday, December 22th, 2005 ARCO Arena, Sacramento 9:30 CT @ </div> [div=50%] <font size="3"> Projected Starters</font> <div align="center"><font color="yellow"> <font size="1"><font color="Purple">(M. Bibby, B. Wells, P. Stojakovic, S. Abdur-Rahim, B. Miller)</font></font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Mike Bibby - 18.8 PPG Leading Rebounder: Brad Miller - 7.7 RPG Assist Man: Brad Miller - 6.1 APG The 'X' Factor: Bonzi Wells (15.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 3.2 APG)</font> <font size="3">Keys to the Game</font><ul> [*]<font color="Indigo">Passing</font> - The Kings are known as a great passing team, with some good passers. You know it's impressive when the center is leading the assists [*]<font color="Indigo">Bonzi Wells - <font color="black">The Kings have been impressed with Bonzi Wells, especially his rebounding this season. Look for him to keep it up</font></font>[/list] [/div] <font size="3">Projected Starters</font> <div align="center"><font color="blue"> <font size="1">(J. Terry, A. Griffin, J. Howard, D. Nowitzki, E. Dampier)</font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Dirk Nowitzki - 25.8 PPG Leading Rebounder: Dirk Nowitzki - 9.2 RPG Assist Man: Jason Terry - 3.7 APG The 'X' Factor: Josh Howard (14.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.8 APG)</font> <font size="3">Keys to the Game</font><ul> [*]<font color="Blue">Team Defense</font> - Sacramento still can run, as shown by almost averaging 100 points a game. Dallas can't let them score over 100, as they are 9-3 when scoring over 100. [*]<font color="Blue">Defense on Mike Bibby</font> - Bibby always torches us, but it has been slowed down. Hopefully this is another game where he stays quiet [*]<font color="Blue">Off to a good start </font>- Dallas got spanked in the first quarter, we need to get our spirits up and man up this game. Starting in the first[/list]<font size="3">Did you know? </font><ul> [*]In 3 quarters of play, Kobe had 62 points and Dallas had 61[/list]<font size="3">Prediction</font> I see Dallas coming out burning in the first half, but Sacramento catching up after. Dallas 107, Sacramento 98 <font size="1">Sorry, I was away. Bad GT</font>
Erick Dampier playing pretty good right now being tough on the glass grabbing a bunch of rebounds. Harris playing pretty good with a few blocks...
Even though the Kings are down 53-47 right now, I have to say the way theyre playing is refreshing. Hopefully the games the Kings have coming up will rally the bench together.
I like seeing Josh Howard with 6 assists, it'd be great if he could develop into a great passer (like Boris Diaw). Dallas with a nice win to overcome the others days embarassment
Nice win by the Mavs and I'm sure Avery is impressed with the way they came out and once this game. When the Kings tied the game early in the 3rd, I thought the Mavs were going to fold and drop their second straight. The Mavs showed some fight tonight, and I really like how Devin Harris has been playing of late. Creating plays, getting to the free throw line, and forcing the other guards to fight against the shot clock.
<font size="-1">By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News</font> SACRAMENTO - As the Mavericks prepared for Thursday night's meeting with the Sacramento Kings, they knew they had to wipe away the stench of Kobe Bryant's 62-point game 48 hours earlier. "The whole team took it personally," said Josh Howard. "But we have to turn the page." Not only did they turn the page, Dirk Nowitzki wrote his own vintage chapter. Leaning heavily on their defense and their star in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks pulled away for a 105-95 victory over the Kings at ARCO Arena. The Mavericks leveled their record at 1-1 on the three-game Western swing that ends tonight at Seattle. "We all felt embarrassed, and we talked about it before the game," Nowitzki said. "We had to go out and forget about that one as quick as we can." Nowitzki had a season-best 37 points to go with 10 rebounds. He had plenty of help. Howard had 14 points, 13 rebounds and a career-best six assists. "I've been dreaming about that," said coach Avery Johnson. The Mavericks also got two key shots from Adrian Griffin to keep them afloat in the fourth quarter until Nowitzki heated up. Defensively, they forced the Kings into eight consecutive missed shots starting with 5:03 to play. They did a solid job all night on Kings point guard Mike Bibby, a frequent Mavericks nemesis who failed to record an assist for only the second time in his career. The Mavericks led by as many as 14 points early. But a lukewarm third quarter left them in a tight game, despite the Kings missing starters Peja Stojakovic (back) and Bonzi Wells (groin). The game was tied at 85 when Nowitzki stepped up, pouring in 11 consecutive points, capping the run with a cold-blooded 3-pointer from the corner and a face-up jumper while well-covered that put them up 96-85 with 3:19 to play. Most of Nowitzki's points in the run came when Sacramento's Brad Miller was trying to guard him. "We ran a couple plays, and they switched Brad on me and I had to be aggressive in that matchup to try to get fouled or get to the basket," Nowitzki said. "And that set up my shot." It was a nice way to get rid of the hangover from Bryant's wild night. "The only way to erase that was to get a win," said Howard. "Superstars have super nights. And tonight, Dirk was super." And that was enough to make sure the bad taste was flushed from their mouths in a hurry.
Mavs 105 Kings 95 Grades: Mavs Play to the Competition You’d think that after the nightmare in Los Angles that the Mavs would have come out and buried this Kings team that was sitting two of its starters. Of course you would have thought wrong. The Mavs basically played down to their competition and didn’t’ get serious until the game was on the line in the fourth quarter. Avery saddled up Dirk and rode him hard to win the game, but it should never have come to that. DJ, Powell, and Rawle should have played at least the last 12 minutes of this game. UPN 21 : A+; Interesting to see the Lakers girls and the Kings dance team back-to-back : No drop-off in Sactown at all. +36 Johnson: C, After the Lakers’ debacle, it’s truly surprising that the Mavs weren’t up for this one. Howard: B : Josh got his double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds, but it wasn’t pretty. Howard went 5-19 from the floor and 0-2 from behind the arc. +16 Nowitzki: B+, Dirk also got a double-double with 37 points and 10 rebounds. Dirk got red hot after the Kings tied the game and went on a 11-0 run to put the Kings away, but the previous three quarters were much less than pretty. +41 Dampier: B, Erick played fairly well with 9 rebounds and 6 points in 24 minutes. +14 Griffin: B+; Adrian rebounded well after the Beanin' in Los Angeles. Griffin put up 12 points (5-6 FG, 2-2 FG) along with 5 rebounds. Zero turnovers. +17 Terry: B-, Jason backed up Dirk with 19 points but also led the Mavs with 4 turnovers. +14 Van Horn: C-, Dirk got 40 minutes tonight because his primary backup struggled with 3 turnovers and only 1-4 from the field. +0 Diop: C, DeSagana got two blocks tonight, but again faced foul trouble with 4 fouls in 19 minutes. +4 Harris: B; Devin pitched in 15 points on 4-8 from the field and 7-8 from the stripe. +17 Armstrong : DNP-CD. M’Benga: DNP-CD Powell: DNP-CD Marshall : DNP-CD. Daniels: DNP-CD, Marquis was inactive again with a neck sprain. Podkolzin: DNC-CD, Pavel had surgery to repair his right foot and ankle and is expected to miss three months. Stackhouse: DNP-CD, Jerry was inactive, out with a sore knee. Typical Chef Ed Type
