Mavs 104 Wizards 94 Grades: MVP, Reason 52 The Wizards have beaten Detroit this season. Three times. The Wizards have swept the season series with the Spurs. The Mavs were playing without two of their starters and another two contributors to their primary rotation. Maybe, just maybe, the reason is Dirk Nowitzki. Of course it won?t mean anything to those who vote, after all, the home crowd doesn?t even believe it. There are certainly no MVP chants in the AAC as the other MVP ?candidates? have been receiving. As an aside, the shot of the night was from Gilbert Arenas who swished a trey in the third period that was negated because of a backcourt violation: His heel was on the mid-court line. FSN : B-; Hmmmmmm, no UPN 21 tonight. Bummer. +12 Johnson: A, Avery made the adjustments during halftime as the Mavs came out and took a close game with the Wizards and put this one away. Marshall : B; Rawle again got the start, and played well on defense, but offensively he played like the rookie he is. No matter. The 15 minutes of hustle he provided was less ear and tear on Stackhouse. Rawle put up 5 points (2-6 FG, 1-1 FT) to go with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal but had 2 turnovers. +5 Nowitzki: A; Dirk came out shooting on this way to yet another double-double with 25 points (10-19 FG, 0-1 treys, 5-5 FT) and a team high 13 rebounds. Dirk also had 3 blocked shots to go with 2 assists. +31 Diop: B; DeSagana provided more of the hustle that Avery had been looking for lately, of course, Brendon Haywood is not going to be confused with Ming anytime soon either. Diop had 5 points (2-3 FG, 1-2 FT) and 4 rebounds. Zero turnovers. +9 Daniels: A; Marquis needs to review tonight?s game tape to see if he can start duplicating this kind of effort. If Daniels wants minutes tonight?s play will keep him dear to Avery?s heart. Marquis pitched in 15 points (7-13 FG, NO TREY ATTEMPTS, 1-2 FT) to go with a game-high 8 assists against only 1 turnover. +21 Terry: A; Jason matched Dirk?s 25 points (10-16 FG, 3-6 treys, 2-2 FT). Jason also contributed 6 rebounds and 3 assists against Zero turnovers. +28 Stackhouse: B; Jerry returned to one of his former haunts and to boos every time he touched the ball. Jerry did provide 17 points (5-13 FG, 2-2 treys, 5-6 FT) off the bench to go with 5 assist. Still would like to see him operating in the paint more though. +14 Armstrong : B-; Darrell?s highlight was a blocked shot. Of course he did have 4 rebounds and 3 assists, but the block made it all worth while. +6 Dampier: A; Erick continued playing well with 10 points (4-7 FG, 2-2 FT) and 5 rebounds to go with a game high 3 blocked shots. +15 Powell: C+, Josh once again focused on defense and blocking out tonight, grabbing 4 rebounds and putting up 2 points (2-2 FT). +5 M?Benga: DNP-CD. Griffin: DNP-CD, Adrian is out with a strained right hamstring. Van Horn: DNP-CD, Keith is with a strained MCL sustained when Darrell Armstrong was pushed into him in the Bobcat game. Keith has started light running and will accompany the team on their upcoming road trip. Harris: DNP-CD, Inactive. Devin is out with a sore quadriceps. Howard: DNP-CD, Inactive. Josh is out with a strained hamstring. Podkolzin: DNP-CD, Inactive. Pavel has been sent to the Fort Worth Flyers for playing time. Typical Chef Ed Type
