What a game. Mavericks win 81-80. They came out of the gate on fire but cooled off during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Luckily, they stepped it up in the 4th and got a great win. These are the kind of wins that separate the good from the great. Also, even if its only for a few hours until the Spurs finish their game, the Mavericks are in sole possession of the best record in the Western Conference! It feels good
It's good when a team knows it can win in the 4th quarter no matter how the rest of the game has gone.
Mavs 81 Grizzlies 80 Grades: Number 10 doesn?t come easy The Mavs come out strong in the first period, shooting out to an 11 point lead, but the Grizzlies came back hard to close within 2 points at halftime at 47-45. Memphis continued their push in the third to take a nice lead before the Mavs finally made a push late in the fourth. The Mavs playing on the road on the second night of a back-to-back had every reason to look tired, and they did. Nevertheless, a late charge led by Dirk, Jason, Josh, Erick and Adrian brought the Mavs back from looking at a loss. Jason tied the game at 77-all with a trey with less than 2 minutes left as the Mavs rode Jason who had 9 of the Mavs 11 points on their come back. Josh has a key block of Gasol and a critical back tip to keep the ball in the Mavs possession. Atkins seemingly gives the Grizzlies back control of the game with a trey at 80-77 with 39 seconds left. The Mavs pass on a trey to tie the game as Dirk finds Erick wide open under the basket for the easy dunk to bring the Mavs within one point. Equally important was two rare misses from the free throw line by Chucky Atkins (87.5% this season with Memphis) with 21.7 seconds left. Dirk drives and cans 2 free throws for the lead. The Grizzlies get the ball to Mike Miller who drives for the layup, but excellent defense by Adrian keeps the Grizzlies at bay. Johnson: B, Avery got challenged by Mike Fratello tonight as Mike threw a lot of different lineups tonight. Howard: A, Josh carried the Mavs early on his way to lead the Mavs with 19 points (6-10 FG, 0-1 trey, 7-8 FT). Josh finally re-appeared at the end of the fourth to apply some defense to help keep this one in the win column. +24 Nowitzki: B, Dirk floated in and out of the game tonight, but made the plays at the end on his way to 18 points (7-18 FG, 0-1 trey, 4-4 FT). As a bonus Dirk also grabbed 12 rebounds. +17 Diop: B+, DeSagana started out strong on his way to 9 rebounds and countless tips to keep the ball in play. Would have gotten more play but Erick was taking care of business as well. Zero turnovers. +12 Griffin: A; Adrian once again displayed the importance of the Mavs having a ?Glue Guy? again. Griffin added the exclamation point tonight with his defense against Mike Miller on the final play of the game. +1 Terry: B+, Jason is still playing hurt but found a way out tonight on his way to 15 points (7-15 FG, 1-4 treys). JET?s only trey came in time to tie the game at 77-all. Zero turnovers. +14 Dampier: B+, Erick took care of business tonight. Erick scored 6 points and grabbed 6 rebounds to go with 2 key blocked shots. Zero turnovers. +12 Van Horn: B+, Keith scored 6 points (3-6 FG) and grabbed 6 rebounds in one of Keith?s better defensive efforts. +9 Harris: C, Devin is probably still not over his shoulder injury as he really struggled tonight on his way to 5 fouls. +1 Stackhouse: C, Jerry had a key steal and blocked shot but he also had two blonde-moment turnovers. +3 Armstrong : B, Darrell got a few minutes to help out at point with Devin struggling so much. +0 Daniels: B, Marquis got 3 minutes floor time with Jerry?s lack of concentration. Marquis missed his only shot, a floater in the lane but had a steal and a rebound. Zero turnovers. +1 M?Benga: DNP-CD. Powell: DNP-CD. 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
There were some positive and negative things that happened tonight. I'll start with the positive. Josh Howard is a beast in the low post. So everyone questioning that Dallas doesn't have a legit post player. Howard is it. Dampier and Diop is an incredible combo at center. They bring tons of defense and rebounding to the table. Alright the negatives. Stackhouse is being selfish as of late. Jacking up some terrible shots. Van Horn returning to his playing scared look. Also Avery refuses to take out Stackhouse even when he is struggling for a more active Daniels. Last complaint is Avery likes to go without a center. This team doesn't need to do that now that they have 2 quality centers. Van Horn and Dirk is a soft frontline when they are in at the same time. Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki are money in the 4th quarter. Dallas can't seem to lose right now. Gotta give Avery credit for having this team play defense.
We won 10 in a row??? You would of never known if ya didnt have the internet. We get no respect. But Kobe goes off (against the shyttyest of teams) although a lot of respect for the 81. But when Detroit and some good teams come around they stink it up. Forget Barkley, forget ESPN, forget Ric Bucher, Steven A., Sherman Helmsley and anyone else i dont like.
very very nice win, i was very proud to be a mavs fan and to watch that game. totally playoff atmosphere...dallas playing good defense. they won a defensive game, and defense against defense they came out on top. memphis statisticly in some areas is argueably the best defense in the league. now folks will never give them props over the spurs and det, but they have a good defense and numbers show it. jet in the clutch! go mavs.
