Mavs 114 Nuggets 112 OT Grades: Devin?s the Hero! Josh Howard is trying to find Dirk for a game winning shot, but Dirk gets bottled up by the Nuggets. Devin cuts back to the basket and Josh spies him for the flip to the strong side block for the easy layup. It didn?t have to get that far, but the Mavs kept making mental errors to give the Nuggets one more shot: Anthony with the regulation ending trey to tie the game and Dallas? own Kenyon Martin who gets the missed free throw put back to tie the game in overtime. This was really a close game throughout, not played especially well, but their was plenty of hustle to loose balls by everyone on the team, highlighted by Dirk flying across the floor to save the ball inbounds. Dirk has got to be hurting for sure. It probably doesn?t mean much to Dirk tonight, but he put up a career high 7 blocked shots tonight. Johnson: B, This was a game the Mavs had to win after the stinker in Minneapolis and Avery was able to get his team to turn in, if not a pretty game, at least a gutsy performance. Howard: A : Josh played well with 18 points (8-15 FG, 0-1 treys, 2-4 FT) to go with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Josh also pitched in 2 steals and a blocked shot but the glory goes to Josh for finding Devin for the winning shot. 21 Nowitzki: A+, Dirk led the team in hustle along with his 27 points (8-17 FG, 1-4 treys, 10-11 FT). Dirk?s free throw streak ends tonight but Dirk blocks a career high 7 shots. Dirk also pitched in 5 assists to go with his floor burns. +37 Dampier: B-, Erick had another decent game with 5 points and 8 rebounds but fouled out in 25 minutes. +9 Griffin: B-; Adrian goes from bench warmer to starting with Marquis out hurt again. The good news is that Adrian is going to be paid as a Maverick for the rest of the season as the Mavs are going to keep him thus guaranteeing his contract. Adrian pitches in 4 points (2-2 FG), 3 rebounds, and 1 steal against Zero turnovers. +8 Terry: B+, Jason matched Dirk?s 27 points (11-20 FG, 4-8 treys, 1-2 FT) and dished out 7 assists to help keep the Mavs in this one. Unfortunately Jason led the Mavs with 4 turnovers. +23 Harris: A; Devin makes a nice comeback from his worst game of the season. Harris contributes 11 points (4-8 FG, 3-4 FT) including the game winner! +9 Stackhouse: C, Jerry pitches in 9 points (2-9 FG, 0-3 treys, 5-5 FT) and grabs 4 rebounds. Jerry still needs to lay off the trey attempts and keep to his bread and butter though. +7 Diop: B, DeSagana combines with Erick to provide another solid performance at the ?5?. The Sultan of Swat has only 1 blocked shot, but has several more intimidations. Diop also contributes 6 rebounds, 3 offensive. Zero turnovers. +7 Armstrong : B, Darrell provides a few minutes of energy and one assist. Zero turnovers. +1 Van Horn: C+, Keith is still looking for his shot but stroked a key trey to keep the Mavs going. Hopefully it will carry over to get him over his recent slump. Van Horn finished with 11 points (4-10 FG, 1-2 treys, 2-2 FT) to go with 6 rebounds. +9 M?Benga: DNP-CD. Powell: DNP-CD. Daniels: DNP-CD, Marquis is out yet again with neck swelling from the Kurt Thomas clothes line hit. 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
