New Jersey vs Dallas <div align="center"><font color="navy">New Jersey Nets (34-28)</font> vs <font color="royalblue">Dallas Mavericks (52-14)</font> Place: Continental Airlines Arena, New Jersey Date & Time: Sunday, March 19 2006, 1:00 PM EST TV: ABC(National TV) Radio: WBBR Away/Home</div> [div=50%] The Nets are surging of late, winning 4 straight games and leading Philly in the Atlantic division by 5.5 games. They have also won 14 of their last 22 games overall. If the Nets beat the extremely successfull Mavs, who have won 3 straight and 6 of 7, they get their longest winning streak since December/January. But doing that isn't going to be easy. Projected Starters Point Guard: <font color="blue">Jason Kidd</font> Stats: PPG 14.1 RPG 7.3 APG 8.5 Kidd has continued his solid play, especially in the assist column. Though his shooting has been off target lately, he's still been leading the team and making everybody better. Shooting Guard: <font color="blue">Vince Carter</font> Stats: PPG 24.1 RPG 5.8 APG 4.2 Vince is Jersey's best scorer, so look for Dallas to concentare on him defensively, creating scoring opportunities for the rest of the Nets. Small Forward: <font color="blue">Richard Jefferson</font> Stats: PPG 19.3 RPG 7.1 APG 4.0 Richard has been in somewhat of a shooting slump lately, and will try to revive his play tonight. Power Forward: <font color="blue">Cliff Robinson</font> Stats: PPG 6.4 RPG 3.20 APG 1.1 I predict that Coach Frank will go with old, wily Cliff tonight instead of Jason Collins in the starting lineup. Cliff is the Nets' best big perimeter defender, which is important going up against Dirk Nowitzki. Center: <font color="blue">Nenad Krstic</font> Stats: PPG 12.9 RPG 5.8 APG 1 Krstic has been giving some great performances lately, with 25+ point, 7+ rebound games. If he can keep up his current play, the Nets will continue to improve. <font color="blue">Nets Keys to the Game</font> 1)Don't let Dirk get the ball at the perimeter. Plain and simple. Dirk is a guy whose always a threat from beyond the arc, and his numerous fakes nearly always get the defender jumping and fouling him sooner or later. Dirk is better outside than inside, so if the Nets can force him to go into the paint, it'll be much easier to handle him. 2)Run, and prevent foolish turnovers that lead to fast-breaks. Dallas are an extremely finnesse, fast-break team, and the Nets will have to keep up with them. The Nets need to prevent losing the ball at midcourt and keep up with the Mavs on defense. Let's just hope for a win here. <u>Prediction</u>: Dallas +6[/div] Dallas have surprised a lot of people who thought that they would have a weaker season than usual in 05-06. After bringing in a new coach, Avery Johnson, late last season, the Mavs have become much better defensively, but have surprisingly been able to maintain there incredible offense that made them famous in previous years. With MVP candidate Dirk Nowitzki leading the way, the Mavs are one of the league's top 3 teams and are battling with the Spurs for the #1 seed in the playoffs. Projected Starters Point Guard: <font color="royalblue">Jason Terry</font> Stats: PPG 17.2 RPG 1.90 APG 3.8 Terry is Dallas's best three point shooter, even better than Dirk. He averages an impressive 3 threes a game. Look for Terry to cause havoc for the Nets on offense if they ever even think to send a guard to double-team Nowitzki. Shooting Guard: <font color="royalblue">Marquis Daniels</font> Stats: PPG 10.7 RPG 3.70 APG 2.9 Daniels is a good offense/defense player who is having a solid season. His 2 pt. fg% has been great for a guard and Dallas depends on him to play his role and contribute 10-15 ppg. Small Forward: <font color="royalblue">Rawle Marshall</font> Stats: PPG 2.9 RPG 0.80 APG 0.3 This rookie has been starting lately for the Mavs in Josh Howard's absence. Not much to say here. Power Forward: <font color="royalblue">Dirk Nowitzki</font> Stats: PPG 25.8 RPG 8.80 APG 2.8 Dirk has always been a great player and especially a great shooter, but this season he's gone to the next level, with excellent shooting percentages, very good rebounding and improved ball handling. He's a matchup nightmare for any team, and nearly nobody in the NBA can guard him. Center: <font color="royalblue">DeSagana Diop</font> Stats: PPG 2.3 RPG 4.70 APG 0.2 Diop came to the Mavs in the summer and has had his minutes more than doubled from last season. Though Erick Dampier gets most of the minutes at the center position for Dallas, Diop has been starting lately, probably to gain experience as the playoffs get closer.
Wow I can't believe that the Nets blew the Mavs out. They struggled and we played. Jefferson played great this game. He and Krstic really should be the MVPs of the game. Here are the stats. Kidd 15 pts 9 asts Carter 23pts 6 rebs. Really struggled this game Jefferson 28 pts 5 rebs Krstic 18 pts 13 rebs Bench pts- 16
