<font size="-1">By GERRY FRALEY / The Dallas Morning News</font> Series: Utah won this season's first meeting, 93-82 at home, and leads the all-time series, 78-45. Key matchup ANDREI KIRILENKO VS. DIRK NOWITZKI Kirilenko challenges Nowitzki for the unofficial designation of best European player. Both are forwards, with Nowitzki more in the power mold. Kirilenko can influence a game in many ways. He is averaging 1.6 steals and 2.8 blocks per game. Nowitzki has shot 41.7 percent from the field in his last four games against Utah. Inside the Jazz Texas turmoil: Hard to keep track of the rises and falls of the North Texans on the Utah roster. Center Greg Ostertag, of Duncanville, was suspended a game for his petulance after Wednesday's loss to Seattle (he will be avail- able to play Monday against San Antonio). Rookie Deron Wil- liams, of The Colony, is tied for last among league qualifiers in shooting percentage at .386 and has slipped to No. 3 point guard. Rookie C.J. Miles, of Sky- line, may be coming back from the NBADL to replace injured front-courter Robert Whaley. Briefly: From the Department of Go Figure ? Utah has beat- en Detroit twice this season and outrebounded the Pistons by 43 in those games. ... If the Jazz gets behind, it can't count on the 3-pointer to rescue it. Utah ranks last in the league in 3-point percentage at .302. Inside the Mavs Record-setters: The Mavericks have quietly set an obscure but intriguing club record. They have held the opponent below 50 percent shooting in 18 consecutive games. The previous club record was 17 consecutive games, by the 2002-03 team. The streak probably will continue in this game. Utah ranks 28th in the NBA in shooting percentage at .431. The Mavericks' opponent has made at least half its shots in only six games this season. Briefly: DeSagana Diop has become a machine at the free throw line, making four con- secutive attempts. Diop had made only five of his previous 16 free throws. ... Jason Terry has made a 3-pointer in 24 consecutive games. His shooting percentage from the distance over that span is .423. <font color="Navy">Utah Jazz: 21-22 (11-11 road) 90.1 PPG, 43 RPG, 21.5 APG </font> <font size="1">K. McLeod | D. Brown | A. Kirilenko | M. Okur | J. Collins <font color="Navy">KEY TO WINNING Putting the ball in: <font color="Black">Utah are 28th in the league in points per game with a mere 90 a game, a whole 10 points less than Dallas averages. They are also 28th in the league at FG% with a horrid 43%. Utah will need to play a good offensive game if they want to win, roleplayers such as Devin Brown and Deron Williams will need to step it up Did I mention they are last in the league in 3 point field goal percentage? So, simply put, if Utah wants to win this game they need to score efficiently and not give up easy baskets to the Mavs.</font> </font></font> <font color="Blue">Dallas Mavericks (16-4 home) 99.9 PPG, 42.9 RPG, 17.7 APG </font> <font size="1">J. Terry | A. Griffin | J. Howard | D. Nowitzki | D. Diop <font color="Blue">KEY TO WINNING Defense: <font color="Black">Dallas needs to put a man on Mehmet Okur, he is the kind of player who will give Dirk troubles when defending him. Last game he scored 27 points against us and grabbed 8 rebounds. We need to make sure he has an off game, and the rest of the Jazz are left forcing their own shots. Dallas also needs to be able to try an take all aspects of Andrei Kirilenko's game out. Last game he torched us with; 7 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 blocks, 1 steal and 0 turnovers. Who will be marking AK47? Will it be Josh "long arms" Howard or Dirk Nowitzki? </font></font></font>
He turned around and whacked into a Mike Dunleavy screen. It wasnt really an illegal pick, but Devin says (Mike) went in with his shoulder, not his chest. Sprained shoulder, missed the Seattle game and will be re-evaluated today.
Dirk had a minor tweak on his right ankle but it wasn't anything serious. Howard has been playing great tonight. Good to see Daniels back. He is a good defender against point guards. Now all we need is Harris back. Dallas is up 60-46.
Mavs 103 Jazz 89 Grades: Dirk Comes Back The Mavs have dealt with their share of injuries this season, but the one injury they don?t want to see is Dirk going down. The Mavs got a brief glimpse tonight as Dirk was doubled over in pain. Dirk limped to the locker room but returned to the bench in the second period and played the second half. The Mavs led most of the game, but the Jazz were never far behind in spite of the Mavs shooting 55.4% from the field. The Jazz managed to hang close mainly on free throws as they relentlessly attacked the basket. The Mavs needed this win to keep up with the Spurs who won tonight as well. Johnson: B, Avery had the Mavs back on track, coming out strong to open the game after the last few games where the Mavs sleepwalked through the first period. Avery also got the Mavs attention in the second half as they started attacking the basket to even up the free throw deficit somewhat. Howard: A, Home cooking seems to have done its work on Josh as he had his best game in recent memory. Josh had a game high 24 points (8-13 FG, 0-0 trey, 8-13 FT) to to go with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Zero turnovers. +21 Nowitzki: A, Dirk went down hard in the first as many probably saw the Mavs season flash before their eyes. Dirk came back from the locker room in the second period and returned to action to calm the fans down on his way to 21 points (6-8 FG, 1-2 treys, 8-8 FT), 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Zero turnovers. +27 Diop: B, DeSagana can still look at the Mavs record as justification for him staying in the starting lineup as the Mavs are undefeated with Diop at the opening tip. DeSagana still understands what his role as he grabbed 6 rebounds and blocked 2 shots. +7 Griffin: B+; Adrian again kept things together for another night. Adrian grabbed 4 rebounds and picked the Jazz pockets for 3 steals. +8 Terry: B, Jason, still playing hurt, found his shot tonight on his way to 18 points (8-12 FG, 2-3 treys). +20 Dampier: C, Erick had a good run on the road but it caught up with him tonight as he was seemed a step slow most of the night. +3 Stackhouse: B, Jerry went for 11 points (4-8 FG, 1-2 treys, 2-3 FT) off the bench. Stackhouse tied Jason with a Mavs high 4 assists including a nice dish to DJ in the last minute. +7 Van Horn: A, Keith scored 15 points (6-12 FG, 3-5 treys) in only 16 minutes along with 3 rebounds and an assist. Zero turnovers. +13 Armstrong : B, Darrell?s hustle again helped take up some of the slack for Devin?s absence, but like the game against the Sonics, Darrell again took a hard fall. Armstrong again got up, but one can see the toll its taking on his 82 year old body. Darrell was buoyed by the congratulatory telegram he received from fellow octogenarian Kevin Willis. +0 Daniels: B, Marquis made a successful return to the Mavs lineup after 15 inactive games mostly due to the sprained neck suffered from the Kurt Thomas clothesline. Zero turnovers. +9 M?Benga: B, DJ hit the floor in the last minute and a half, getting a nice pass from Jerry for a dunk to go along with a blocked shot. Zero turnovers. +3 Powell: C; Josh only got 1.5 minutes at the end of the game, picking up a foul and giving up a turnover. -1 Harris: DNP-CD, Devin is out a shoulder injury. Marshall : DNP-Inactive, Rawle has been sent to the Fort Worth Flyers (NBDL) to get playing time. Podkolzin: DNP-Inactive, Pavel had surgery to repair his right foot. Typical Chef Ed Type
