Mavericks at Los Angeles Clippers9:30 p.m. today, Staples Center 09:15 PM CDT on Sunday, April 9, 2006By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News TV/radio: FSNSW; ESPN-FM (103.3), KFLC-AM (1270 Spanish) Series: Mavs lead, 2-0, this season; 66-42 all time Key matchup: Sam Cassell vs. Jason Terry Coach Avery Johnson said over the next few weeks, Terry will defend some of the tougher point guards in the league. Cassell is one of them. He's battling a knee injury, but he's averaging 17.5 points and 6.4 assists per game. In two games against the Mavericks, Cassell has averaged 20 points. His ability to penetrate and shoot from the outside makes him dangerous. Terry was praised following Saturday night's win over New Orleans for shutting down potential rookie of the year, Chris Paul. Inside the Mavericks Damp playing well: During the four-game winning streak, Erick Dampier is averaging 7.7 points and eight rebounds a game. When the Mavs went through a recent three-game losing streak, Dampier averaged four points and only five rebounds a game. Dampier has become more aggressive in challenging shots and playing more physical. Dampier grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds against New Orleans on Saturday. Briefly: Dallas is 25-13 on the road with a 17-6 mark against the Western Conference. ... The Mavs are 24-3 when they have 20 or more assists. They had 24 Saturday. ... Nowitzki has scored 20-plus points in 24 consecutive games. ... The Mavs are 10-0 when holding opponents to fewer than 80 points. Inside the Clippers Clippers playoff bound: New Orleans' loss to Dallas on Saturday night, clinched a playoff berth for the Clippers. It's the first time the Clips have reached the playoffs since the 1996-97 season. Los Angeles currently is the fifth seed, and the Clippers would the Mavericks in the first round. Sam Cassell is battling knee problems, and Corey Maggette missed a recent game with lower back spasms. Briefly: Maggettee was listed as questionable against the Lakers on Sunday night. ... Quinton Ross (SMU) is averaging 4.8 points a game and had no points in 21 minutes in a loss to the Kings on Friday night. In his only meeting against his hometown team, Ross scored four points and had three assists in 27 minutes on Jan. 20. PROBABLE STARTERS Clippers Pos. Mavericks V. Radmanovic F Dirk Nowitzki Elton Brand F Josh Howard Chris Kaman C DeSagana Diop Quinton Ross G Jerry Stackhouse Sam Cassell G Jason Terry LINK
Josh Howard should have a field day with Radmanovic guarding him. Same with Terry with Cassell on him. Tough matchup for Dirk though on Kaman. Prediction: Mavs win 105-99.
Wow is this a bad second half by Dallas. 23 points in the second half with 25 seconds left. They are up by 1 with the Clippers having the ball.73-73 with 17 seconds left. Dallas has the ball.
Dirk hits the winning shot. I thought Dirk always chokes at the end of games. Dirk proving the naysayers wrong again. Btw Daniels compared to Stackhouse tonight. Daniels-6-8 for 13 pts 4 asts and no to's in 23Stack-2-11 for 8 pts 4 asts and 3 to's in 35 min
Yeah, Daniels would've been the player of the game if Dallas won in overtime, without any Dirk miracle.He had his own miracle, though, with that trey at the end of the first half.
Great shot by Dirk, but that was terrible basketball by Mavs, lucky to win.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Yeah all Dallas needs now is Harris. How about that 3rd string Center (Mbenga).</div>What about him? I didn't see him getting any time when it counted.
Why should he? He is a little inexperienced to play at the end of games. He was totally shutting down Elton Brand when he was out there though. Josh Powell with some nice defense as well. Terry, Howard, and Dirk all struggled tonight but they still won thanks to incredible defense.
Your just in love with the Mavs young guys. Brand wasn't shut down by one on one defense by Benga, double teams had something to do with it as well. Can we tone it down on the hype machine here on every young Mav? First the Rawle thread, then Powell, now Benga.
I didn't think Rawle was ready yet but Powell has consistently good lately. Mbenga was making his shots that Diop struggles with. Mbenga has some offense unlike Diop.
Better to have a role player that plays a role than have a supposed scorer trying to play like a role player. Dallas needs a tough power forward to backup Dirk. It is good to have opposites off the bench. Van Horn does some of the stuff Dirk does but a lot worse. Van Horn to me fits best as a 3 that has a rugged power forward. Having a soft player at the 3 and 4 or 4 and 5 will hurt Dallas. Anyways wouldn't Howard, Griffin, Stackhouse, and Daniels have to share the 2 and 3. Powell would be lucky to get on the court at all if Avery keeps Van Horn.
Hey, guys, I uploaded the game recap and Dirk's clutch shotirk's Gamerwinner: http://www.bestsharing.com/files/ms0013064...060410.asf.htmlMavs, 75 - Clippers, 73 Recap:http://www.bestsharing.com/files/ms0013065...dallac.asf.html
Oh, sorry. It's on the blog , lol, so I just copied/pasted it here.The password is:mavsgamenightAll media from Mavs GameNight has that password.
I've never really thought of Dirk as a choker at the end of games, he hasn't been considered clutch either, which is more of shock to me.I've personally seen him make at least 4 game winners, or take over the game in the 4th tons of time, when the Mavs need him the most.
Yeah, he had 8 of the last 12 points TOTAL in the first Toronto game (Two three's by Dirk, then a 10-foot jumper over two defenders by Dirk, then Toronto a score, and Terry's floater good at the buzzer, Dallas won 93-91). There was also the Dirk explosion on opening night. Phoenix led by 13, but Dirk scored 11 straight (2 free throws, three consecutive three's). So he comes up a big a lot in crunch time.
I think Kaman wears out Dirk. Dirk is forced to guard a post player. Either the strong prescence of Elton Brand that could get him in foul trouble or Kaman who likes to post up. No surprise Dirk wore down in the 4th quarter. Hopefully we don't play them in the playoffs because of how tough their frontcourt is. They didn't have Cassell or Maggette either so their backcourt is tough also.
