Mavs 95 Hornets 90 Grades: By the Hair of their Chinny-Chin-Chin The Mavs nearly had a repeat of last night against the Warriors on their hands as the Hornets went on a 10-0 run to close within 4 points with a minute left in the game. A win is a win, but if this had been a home game, Cuban may have been refunding money tonight. Good thing this game wasn?t nationally televised. Dirk did tie a Mavs franchise record by making his 49th consecutive free throw in tonight?s game. Can anyone guess whose record Dirk tied (No it wasn?t employee number 8). Laura Green : C; Laura surprisingly was unable to make it to Oklahoma City. Hopefully it wasn?t anything serious. +0 Johnson: C-, Avery did not have the Mavs prepared for tonight?s game, but he did have an impact after the first half with the score tied 44 all. The Mavs came out in the third period with a significant increase in hustle even if their tails looked a bit smaller. Nevertheless, once again the Mavs defense let them down again in the fourth period as it was the Hornets that made a charge. The Mavs were just lucky tonight. Avery?s biggest challenge is going to try to find some team chemistry with Jerry back playing again. Stackhouse is playing well, but the rest of the team has taken a step back. Howard: C- : Josh put up decent offensive numbers with 20 points, but it was his defense that was missing in action tonight. Hopefully the new year will get Josh?s mind back to business. +14 Nowitzki: C+, Dirk got to a double-double to reach 24 points and 10 rebounds, but it sure seemed like Dirk had no desire to be at this game. Dirk made a shot at the end of the first half to get to 2-12 shooting from the field. Dirk got his shooting to be a bit respectable by going 5-8 in the second half but at least he didn?t lead the team in turnovers as he did against the Warriors. Dirk did lead the Mavs with 5 assists (Jason and Devin combined for an amazing 2 assists.) Zero turnovers. +28 Dampier: B, Erick scored 4 points (2-2 FG), 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 blocked shot as Dampier was one of the few Mavs actually playing defense. +13 Daniels: C, Marquis was actually the Mavs best point guard on the floor tonight which is not good news. Daniels ended up with 6 points (3-8 FG) and 4 assists. +8 Terry: C+, Jason had some nice shooting in the fourth to keep the Hornets away but it would have been nice to have had thrown in some defense as well. I could mention that his opposition, the rookie Chris Paul had 10 assists, but that would be unfair since Marquis was actually running the point for much of the game. Zero turnovers. +15 Van Horn: C-, Keith didn?t want to embarrass Dirk too much and he succeeded, but only barely. Keith managed 5 rebounds and 4 points (1-4 FG, 2-2 FT). +7 Stackhouse: B, Jerry had another good game, but again is way too comfortable taking shots behind the arc. The one trey Jerry made was an end-of-the-shot-clock desperation shot, but the other two missed attempts were not. Jerry ended up with 14 points (5-8 FG, 1-3 treys, 3-4 FT) but led the Mavs with 4 turnovers. At least Jerry played some defense though. +15 Diop: C, DeSagana got no swats, but picked up 2 rebounds and 2 points. +3 Harris: D; Devin fouled out in 14 minutes with no points. Hopefully Devin burns this game tape before Avery, or anyone else on the coaching staff, gets a hold of it. Other wise Harris? confidence may be set back to his rookie season. -3 Griffin: DNP-CD. Armstrong : DNP-CD. M?Benga: DNP-CD. Powell: DNP-CD. Marshall : Rawle has been sent to the Fort Worth Flyers (NBDL) to get playing time. Podkolzin: DNC-CD, Pavel had surgery to repair his right foot and ankle and is expected to miss three months. Typical Chef Ed Type
Dirk did tie a Mavs franchise record by making his 49th consecutive free throw in tonight?s game. Can anyone guess whose record Dirk tied (No it wasn?t employee number 8). Steve Nash Laura Green : C; Laura surprisingly was unable to make it to Oklahoma City. Hopefully it wasn?t anything serious. +0 Laura doesn't report on road games does she? I gotta tell she's really sweet though
