Sacramento Kings at Mavericks preview7:30 p.m. Tuesday, American Airlines Center, FSNSW; ESPN-FM (103.3), KFLC-AM (1270, Spanish)11:08 PM CDT on Monday, April 3, 2006By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning NewsSeries: Tied 1-1 this season; Mavs lead 60-58 all timeKey matchupRon Artest vs. Dirk Nowitzki: It's highly unlikely that these teams will meet in the playoffs, which might be a good thing for Nowitzki. Artest is one of the best straight-up defenders in the NBA, and he will be matched up a lot with Nowitzki tonight. In last month's meeting at Sacramento, Nowitzki had 24 points but needed 25 shots to reach that total. That's the sort of output the Kings can live with from the MVP candidate.No respect: Brad Miller gets no recognition, but he's clearly the second-best center in the Western Conference after Yao Ming. He had a team-best 17 points in the Kings' 85-80 win over the Mavs at Sacramento last month. He's a wonderful passer and decent rebounder. But stepping out to hit the 15-foot jumper is probably his best asset.Briefly: Since acquiring Ron Artest on Jan. 26, they have gone 20-12 ... In that span they have given up 93.7 points per game, compared with 100.2 before his arrival ... Frequent Mav-killer Mike Bibby is averaging 20.9 points and is among the league leaders with 164 3-pointers made.Inside the MavericksNo gimmes: It's a good thing the Mavericks aren't trying to hold onto a playoff seeding because seven of their eight remaining opponents are either playoff-bound or fighting for a postseason slot. "Sacramento is going to be another game with a playoff atmosphere," coach Avery Johnson said. "They outhustled us, outmuscled us and outplayed us up there."Briefly: Dirk Nowitzki has played 40 or more minutes in 11 of the last 13 games. He reached 40 in eight of the previous 31 games ... Josh Howard's 20-point game against Denver was his first since Feb. 21.PROBABLE STARTERSKings Pos. MavericksRon Artest F Dirk NowitzkiKenny Thomas F Josh HowardBrad Miller C DeSagana DiopBonzi Wells G Jerry StackhouseMike Bibby G Jason Terry http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...ew.ca969ef.html
Yeah, man, I read this in the papers, lol.Anyway, this'll definitely be a tough game, as we saw last time, but hey, Dallas has Josh Howard back. Let's hope he doesn't get injured again, lol, but we need DIRK TO COME UP BIG.
Josh Powell is a beast. He just rejected Brad Miller and than ran the floor and attacked the basket on Ron Artest. I am loving his game and what he brings to the mavs.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Josh Powell is a beast. He just rejected Brad Miller and than ran the floor and attacked the basket on Ron Artest. I am loving his game and what he brings to the mavs.</div>Calm down man, I liked what I saw too, but he had 5 fouls in what 15 minutes of play. And loving the block but he had 2 plays that shows he's very green. He passed into double coverage, and another where he secured a nice rebound only to drive into a crowd. I still think we need a veteran behind Dirk come playoff time, Powell needs more under his belt.
Well I disagree. I would take an athletic inexperienced young player instead of over the hill veteran that has slowed down anyday. Powell is deserving of even getting some backup minutes at the 3 like tonight. I say keep the rotation the same since it is working. At least it did tonight.
Yeah, man...Howard started the game off nice, and was just a BEAST.But same problem as the last game, court vision.Once again, I can't go TOO hard on him at this stage of his career, but I saw Terry and Dirk open for treys several times tonight, but still, VERY nice game. A+ on the offense. That offensive rebound play when Howard got five and Dirk got one was just SWEET.
Yeah the one weakness of Josh Howard is his passing game. His slashing game is incredible. It looks like the other team is forcing Howard into a really tough shot yet he makes them.
Yeah, man, and ALSO, look at Nowitzki's stuff...18-straight 24+ points games12-straight 25+ points games25-straight 20+ points gamesAnd 29 tonight in just 31 minutes!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Well I disagree. I would take an athletic inexperienced young player instead of over the hill veteran that has slowed down anyday.</div>Inexperience will kill you in the playoffs. I rather have a smart vet who won't make costly plays.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I say keep the rotation the same since it is working. At least it did tonight.</div>We still don't have Griff or Harris back yet, so I would say this rotation is temporary. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Yeah the one weakness of Josh Howard is his passing game. His slashing game is incredible. It looks like the other team is forcing Howard into a really tough shot yet he makes them.</div>He sucks at passing. Especially on the break, good example tonight on the fastbreak in the 2nd, instead of passing to Terry(even looked at him on break), he took it himself and almost tweaked his hammy once again.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Yeah, but Rok, WHAT ABOUT TERRY!?That was his first playoff series EVER, and he was awesome!!</div>Terry isn't a rookie, and has proved to be clutch before he was in Dallas. Look at him in his years at Arizona, he thrives in those moments, you can't say the same for Powell.
Powell doesn't need to thrive in 8-15 minutes of play. He is best available option at the backup power forward. Griffin is too small, Howard is too weak, and Mbenga is too out of control. Mbenga might be a nice player to play there also since he looked good when he was out there tonight.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Powell doesn't need to thrive in 8-15 minutes of play. He is best available option at the backup power forward.</div>Probably the reason were searching for a vet backup pf. I want Powell to do well, but I see him more of next year contributing rather then right now being put on the spot in the playoffs.
Man you guys are high on Powell for this upcoming playoffs. If he does well, I will shut up but I'm not gonna be high on him because of this one game.
The way Powell plays I don't think the inexperience will hurt that much. He has better balance than Mbenga, more athletic and stronger than Van Horn, and bigger than Griffin. He plays very tough and those are the type of players I think work well in the playoffs. Experience is overrated. Some players just don't handle pressure well and Van Horn is it.
lets see...dirk nowitzki will be avgeraging at least 40 minutes a game in the playoffs. that leaves about 8 minutes of playing time for a backup. i think that can easily be handled between Powell, Howard, and Griffin. Its not like we are asking Powell to play 20 minutes a night at the position. Another point it that he will most likely be playing other backups, so its not like he will be matched up against Elton Brand or Time Duncan all night. Powell did make some mistakes tonight, but he also played really well. its a stepping stone for him. maybe this will boost his confidence and he'll play better.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Some players just don't handle pressure well and Van Horn is it.</div>Well he was a part of the Nets Finals team, and played big minutes for them. So it's not like he hurt them.Also, who says Powell can handle the pressure?<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>lets see...dirk nowitzki will be avgeraging at least 40 minutes a game in the playoffs. that leaves about 8 minutes of playing time for a backup. i think that can easily be handled between Powell, Howard, and Griffin. Its not like we are asking Powell to play 20 minutes a night at the position. Another point it that he will most likely be playing other backups, so its not like he will be matched up against Elton Brand or Time Duncan all night. Powell did make some mistakes tonight, but he also played really well. its a stepping stone for him. maybe this will boost his confidence and he'll play better.</div>I see what your saying, I hope he responds to being thrown into the rotation so close to playoffs.
Yeah, guys, Dirk averages 42.6 MPG in the playoffs, along with about 26 PPG and 11 RPG, so you really expect Powell to be playing a LIABILITY? Even if Van Horn was NOT injured, he'd only play around 10-15 MPG...
