<div align="center"> <span style="font-size:24pt;line-height:100%">@</span> January 21, 2007 - 1:00 pm ETGame on ABC</div><span style="color:#000099">Dallas Mavericks</span> <span style="color:#3333FF">(33-8)</span><span style="color:#3333FF">PG</span> <span style="color:#000099">Jason Terry</span> <span style="color:#3333FF">SG</span> <span style="color:#000099">Devin Harris</span> <span style="color:#3333FF">SF</span> <span style="color:#000099">Josh Howard</span> <span style="color:#3333FF">PF</span> <span style="color:#000099">Dirk Nowitzki</span> <span style="color:#3333FF">C</span> <span style="color:#000099">Erick Dampier</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Key Bench Players:</span> <span style="color:#000099">Jerry Stackhouse, Deaven George, Greg Buckner, DeSagana Diop, Anthony Johnson</span><span style="color:#000000">Miami Heat</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">(18-21)</span><span style="color:#FF0000">PG</span> <span style="color:#000000">Jason Williams</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">SG</span> <span style="color:#000000">Dwyane Wade</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">SF</span> <span style="color:#000000">Jason Kapono</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">PF</span> <span style="color:#000000">Udonis Haslem</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">C</span> <span style="color:#000000">Alonzo Mourning</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Key Bench Players:</span> <span style="color:#000000">James Posey, Antoine Walker, Gary Payton, Dorell Wright, Michael Doleac</span> Injury Report<span style="color:#FF0000">MIA:</span> <span style="color:#000000">Shaquille O'Neal is questionable (recovering from knee surgery)</span><span style="color:#FF0000">MIA:</span> <span style="color:#000000">Wayne Simien will not play (Salmonella poisoning)</span> Who To Watch Out For<span style="color:#000099">Dirk Nowitzki</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats: 25.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3.2 apg</span><span style="color:#000099">Josh Howard</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats: 19.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.0 apg</span><span style="color:#000099">Jason Terry</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats: 15.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.2 apg</span><span style="color:#000000">Dwyane Wade</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Season Stats: 28.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 8.0 apg, 2.0 spg, 1.2 bpg</span><span style="color:#000000">Udonis Haslem</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Season Stats: 11.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg</span><span style="color:#000000">Alonzo Mourning</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Season Stats: 10.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.9 bpg</span> Rookie Watch <span style="color:#3333FF">DAL:</span> <span style="color:#000099">Pops Mensah-Bonsu</span><span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: Undrafted</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#000099">1.0 rpg</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">MIA:</span> <span style="color:#000000">Robert Hite</span><span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: Undrafted</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#000000">4.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.7 spg</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">MIA:</span> <span style="color:#000000">Chris Quinn</span><span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: Undrafted</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#000000">2.6 ppg, 0.4 rpg, 1.2 apg</span><span style="color:#000099">Dallas's X-Factor</span><span style="color:#000099">Devin Harris</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats: 10.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.9 bpg, 1.2 spg</span><span style="color:#000099">I have Harris as the X-Factor today because of the way Dallas is counting on him defensively. He'll be guarding both Wade and some Jason Williams throughout the game, neither one of them are easy covers. I know Harris is coming off an illness, and didn't play the other day, but let's hope he comes back strong.</span><span style="color:#000000">Miami's X-Factor</span><span style="color:#000000">Antoine Walker</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Season Stats: 8.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.5 apg</span><span style="color:#000000">Since Toine has come back from his body fat fiasco, he has put together a string of a few good games. He needs to keep it up and get back to last year's form. Let's hope he continues to play well off the bench for Miami. Go get 'em, Toine!</span> <div align="center">Key Matchup vs. <span style="color:#000099">Devin Harris</span> <span style="color:#000000">vs.</span> <span style="color:#000000">Dwyane Wade</span></div><span style="color:#000000">Both of these guys are combo guards that bring a lot of energy. Wade is obviously the better player, and one of the best offensive players in the league, but Harris can defend. Don't count him out completely.</span> CelticBalla's Extra Thoughts/Notes- Dallas is on a 6 game winning streak and they have won 9 of their last 10 games.- Miami is 5-5 in their last 10, coming off a horrible loss to Philadelphia. CelticBalla's PredictionI'm going with Dallas. They are the best team in the NBA, IMO, and Miami has no Shaq. Miami will definitely bring a ton of energy, especially since they have the home crowd with them, but I'm saying Dallas pulls out the victory and Dirk goes for 30.
This is a no brainer to me. I would pick Dallas over any team at this point. They are just too deep and just too good. And to boot, Miami doesn't even have Shaq. I say Dallas wins by 8-12.
Jhoward & Dirk are gonna light it up today. Kapono won't do squat over Howard and Haslem is pretty small compared to Dirk. Mavs win by 20+
Good game so far. Wade should have many more assists, although he hasn't looked the same as a scorer since going down. Not much explosion and has had to take more jumpers than he'd like (although it's falling today).
It's really nice to see Antoine get it going today. I know it's still only around mid-way through the 4th, but he has done a really nice job off the bench tonight. He's not jacking, he's not forcing much, he's not turning it over, and he's really hustling. Miami needs this from Toine ever night.
Funny to see that Dallas still can't slow down the best scorers in the league AT ALL. Nash, Amare, Kobe, T-Mac, and now Wade have all burned them again this season.
Wade tied it, Dirk hit a huge shot to get the lead back.2:48 left, Mavs up 4 now after a steal and lay up by Howard.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ Jan 21 2007, 03:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>It's really nice to see Antoine get it going today. I know it's still only around mid-way through the 4th, but he has done a really nice job off the bench tonight. He's not jacking, he's not forcing much, he's not turning it over, and he's really hustling. Miami needs this from Toine ever night.</div>Of course, right after I make this post, Antoine bricks a 3, fumbles a pass, and throws a pass away. Oh well.
Good look by Wade at the end for 3, just couldn't hit it. Probably should have drove it to basket and hoped for foul. Ultimately Walker on offense and bad rotation on defense in what killed Miami.
That was a tough loss for the heat, even though toine make some mistakes he played a decent game, I know it's a loss but the heat still played tough and I think there gonna turn their season around. A month ago the heat would of probaly loss by 40
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Funny to see that Dallas still can't slow down the best scorers in the league AT ALL. Nash, Amare, Kobe, T-Mac, and now Wade have all burned them again this season.</div>Funny how you continue to say this like it's a big deal. Like I stated before, it's a weakness all teams have. Just like the Miami Heat couldn't stop Howard or Dirk. Or even Stackhouse for that matter. Those guys are superstars for a reason, teams have trouble against all those guys. But you just pinpoint that as a Mavs weakness. Great!, how about acknowledging it's a moot point when every team in the league has the same weakness.Dallas still got stops during the game when it mattered and came out with the win. So spare me this talk about how Dallas can't stop superstars, when they seem to come out with the victory still just like they did last year against the Spurs/Suns. And during this regular season as well.
Wow, what a finish! Wade got a good, clean look on that step-back 3, but clanked it off the front rim. Posey did a great job with tapping it back out to the perimeter, but Stack chased it down and took it all the way. Great job.Stack had a great game all night long. He was shooting the ball very well from mid-range. Josh Howard did it all on both ends, showing the All-Star caliber talent that he is. Dirk had a decent game. Not his best, but he knocked shots down and was a big part of a couple big defensive trips for Dallas. Damp did an excellent job defensively. He was very aggressive and he pulled down the boards. Deaven George did a solid job today. He made a few really good defensive plays. He was such a perfect pickup for this team.You have to respect D-Wade for coming out and playing hard through the pain. You could tell that he obviously wasn't his normal self, but he was still effective. Antoine, up until the last 5 minutes of the game, did a very good job off the bench. He didn't force anything, he didn't jack up 3's (except for one), he turned the ball over twice (but in those last 5 minutes), and he got a couple easy buckets around the basket. J-Will made a few spectacular plays on the run. Udonis had a horrid first half, shooting wise, but he really did a good job in the second half with getting to the basket. Zo was a beast defensively as usual.That was a very good game, fun to watch. The Heat put up a great fight today, but they had a few defensive lapses.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rok @ Jan 21 2007, 03:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Funny how you continue to say this like it's a big deal. Like I stated before, it's a weakness all teams have. Just like the Miami Heat couldn't stop Howard or Dirk. Or even Stackhouse for that matter. Those guys are superstars for a reason, teams have trouble against all those guys. But you just pinpoint that as a Mavs weakness. Great!, how about acknowledging it's a moot point when every team in the league has the same weakness.Dallas still got stops during the game when it mattered and came out with the win. So spare me this talk about how Dallas can't stop superstars, when they seem to come out with the victory still just like they did last year against the Spurs/Suns. And during this regular season as well.</div>You forget that Miami didn't have Shaq and Wade wasn't healthy most of the game. That changes a lot on both ends. You never expect that a team can stop a superstar, but you can't have Nash and Amare killing you everytime they play (that game was won by a Dirk buzzer beater, easily could have gone either way), Kobe going for 17 on you in a quarter, T-Mac dropping 45 on you, and Wade tearing it up despite injury. Dallas more than makes up for it, but in a 7 game series they will need to have to stop these type of players. And as you saw in Finals, one player can down a championship caliber team like the Mavs. You guys are not going to win all these close call games (game 7 vs Spurs, against Suns this year, etc...). Dallas has improved their defense, but in playoffs they need to do a better job against superstar players.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nitro1118 @ Jan 21 2007, 09:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You forget that Miami didn't have Shaq and Wade wasn't healthy most of the game. That changes a lot on both ends. You never expect that a team can stop a superstar, but you can't have Nash and Amare killing you everytime they play (that game was won by a Dirk buzzer beater, easily could have gone either way), Kobe going for 17 on you in a quarter, T-Mac dropping 45 on you, and Wade tearing it up despite injury. Dallas more than makes up for it, but in a 7 game series they will need to have to stop these type of players. And as you saw in Finals, one player can down a championship caliber team like the Mavs. You guys are not going to win all these close call games (game 7 vs Spurs, against Suns this year, etc...). Dallas has improved their defense, but in playoffs they need to do a better job against superstar players.</div>It wasn't just Wade that played great against Dallas last year. Haslem manhandling Dirk and Josh Howard's jump shot not falling were all reasons. It's not as simple as all shooting guards destroy Dallas. Dallas has Harris, Buckner, and George to defend these players. I don't know why Avery didn't put Buckner on Wade more since George doesn't have that type of quickness to stay with Wade but I guess it was worth considering Dallas dominated the boards. It might be a concern but the mavs won despite of great performances from Wade and Mcgrady.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mavsfan1000 @ Jan 21 2007, 06:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>It wasn't just Wade that played great against Dallas last year. Haslem manhandling Dirk and Josh Howard's jump shot not falling were all reasons. It's not as simple as all shooting guards destroy Dallas. Dallas has Harris, Buckner, and George to defend these players. I don't know why Avery didn't put Buckner on Wade more since George doesn't have that type of quickness to stay with Wade but I guess it was worth considering Dallas dominated the boards. It might be a concern but the mavs won despite of great performances from Wade and Mcgrady.</div>Wade didn't have Shaq and T-Mac didn't have Yao. In the playoffs, if they don't want to tempt fate every game, they have to defend these players better. Hell, had it not been for misses on all of Duncan's clutch shots (who also had a huge series vs Dallas), Dallas wouldn't even be in the Finals. I know I'll hear the, "Well, Dallas still came up victorious," but it still is their biggest weakness, and in the playoffs it can end up haunting you.
Once again it's not more of a weakness to Dallas than the other teams in the playoffs. Wade and Mcgrady when on are unstoppable to any team in the league. Dallas has contained Kobe so far this year in the 3 meetings they played. The key is to stop everyone else and Dallas only gave up 93 points so I'm happy there. Dallas always struggles with Sunday afternoon games anyways.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>You forget that Miami didn't have Shaq and Wade wasn't healthy most of the game. That changes a lot on both ends. You never expect that a team can stop a superstar, but you can't have Nash and Amare killing you everytime they play (that game was won by a Dirk buzzer beater, easily could have gone either way), Kobe going for 17 on you in a quarter, T-Mac dropping 45 on you, and Wade tearing it up despite injury. Dallas more than makes up for it, but in a 7 game series they will need to have to stop these type of players. And as you saw in Finals, one player can down a championship caliber team like the Mavs. You guys are not going to win all these close call games (game 7 vs Spurs, against Suns this year, etc...). Dallas has improved their defense, but in playoffs they need to do a better job against superstar players.</div>Honestly, Nitro I don't think you addressed my point at all yet. Bottom line, tell me one single team in this league that can consistently stop a team's superstar? One team. Have a good time searching for that. As for those guys you mention in this post. Like I said, these teams weren't exactly stopping us or our superstar for that matter, which is why we won those games. So like a broken record, every team struggles in the same department. But yet it's only those guys against Dallas you bother bringing it up. All that shows to me is a reason for you to pick something negative on Dallas just for the sake of it. That's all I can gather from picking a moot point to argue.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Hell, had it not been for misses on all of Duncan's clutch shots (who also had a huge series vs Dallas), Dallas wouldn't even be in the Finals. I know I'll hear the, "Well, Dallas still came up victorious," but it still is their biggest weakness, and in the playoffs it can end up haunting you.</div>This post is so easy to switch around, it's just stupid. I mean seriously Nitro, this is one sided bias here. But I would like to point first off, how Duncan did not hit his "clutch shots". What irony.Second, this shows the Spurs weakness in not being able to guard superstars. Dirk Nowitzki had a big series as well and proved that with his clutch play in the 4th quarter into overtime. So therefore, why is this just a Dallas weakness?
