<div align="center"> <span style="font-size:24pt;line-height:100%">@</span> January 25, 2007 - 8:00 pm ET<span style="color:#FF0000">Game on TNT</span></div><span style="color:#000099">Dallas Mavericks</span> <span style="color:#3333FF">(35-8)</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:#FF0000">Chicago Bulls</span> <span style="color:#000000">(24-19)</span><span style="color:#000000">PG</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Kirk Hinrich</span> <span style="color:#000000">SG</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Ben Gordon</span> <span style="color:#000000">SF</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Luol Deng</span> <span style="color:#000000">PF</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Andres Nocioni</span> <span style="color:#000000">C</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Ben Wallace</span> <span style="color:#000000">Key Bench Players:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">P.J. Brown, Thabo Sefolosha, Tyrus Thomas, Chris Duhon</span> Injury Report<span style="color:#000000">CHI:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Chris Duhon is questionable (being disciplined for oversleeping, missing practice)</span> Who To Watch Out For<span style="color:#000099">Dirk Nowitzki</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats: 25.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3.3 apg</span><span style="color:#000099">Josh Howard</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats: 19.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 2.0 apg</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Last 5 Games: 24.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.8 spg</span><span style="color:#000099">Jason Terry</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats: 15.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.3 apg</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Ben Wallace</span><span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 6.7 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 1.6 spg, 2.0 bpg</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Kirk Hinrich</span><span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 15.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.3 apg</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Luol Deng</span><span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 17.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.2 apg</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Ben Gordon</span><span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 21.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.4 apg</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Andres Nocioni</span><span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 15.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg</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:#000000">CHI:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Tyrus Thomas</span><span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 4</span><span style="color:#000000">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">3.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.0 bpg</span> <span style="color:#000000">CHI:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Thabo Sefolosha</span><span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 13</span><span style="color:#000000">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">3.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.9 apg</span><span style="color:#000099">Dallas's X-Factor</span><span style="color:#000099">Erick Dampier</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats: 7.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.2 bpg</span><span style="color:#000099">He obviously has an incredibly tough assignment in Ben Wallace tonight. Damp has to bring his A-Game tonight and he has to make sure Big Ben doesn't completely shut down the paint. He can't let him own the glass.</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Chicago's X-Factor</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Andres Nocioni</span><span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 15.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Noc is a very tough player and he always gives his all. He needs to try and do his best on Dirk tonight. Obviously his shot is pretty much unblockable and he's just an incredible player, but Noc should throw his weight around and make Dirk work on the defensive end.</span> <div align="center">Key Matchup vs. <span style="color:#000099">Josh Howard</span> <span style="color:#000000">vs.</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Luol Deng</span></div><span style="color:#000000">Both of these young swingmen have had terrific years, and both are very good players on both ends of the floor. Both are athletic, and both are very long. Howard is the better player right now, but Deng really isn't that far behind him. This should be an excellent matchup.</span> CelticBalla's Extra Thoughts/Notes- Dallas is on an 8 game winning streak and they have won 9 of their last 10 games.- Chicago is 18-6 at home, Dallas is 16-5 on the road.Also, I know P.J. Brown has been starting recently, but I'm assuming that they'll start Noc tonight. The matchup with Dirk makes more sense. CelticBalla's PredictionI'm going with the Bulls tonight. I think the Dallas winning streak will end tonight. Chicago just brings way too much energy at home, and I think the defense will work wonders tonight. Dallas is the better team, best team in the league IMO, but I'm feeling Chicago tonight.
As always man, awesome writeup!This is a tough matchup for Dallas. Chicago is the best defensive team in the league IMO, and they will cause Dallas lots of problems. The biggest key for Dallas is to get it to Dirk early and often. For Chicago, Ben Gordon has to have a good game for them to get enough offense to beat the high powered Mavs.I predict Mavs by 5-7 in a close game 'till the end.
Probably the toughest game out of the next 15 games for the mavs. If the was win this game they could really go on a tear with a huge winning streak. We'll see what happens.
Hopefully the Bulls can win VS Dallas.I think its a big game for them against one of the best teams in the leauge. Hopefully Gordon and/or Deng can have a big game, as we will need the extra puncj on offense.I hate the inconsistency of Chicago so far, even though I expected to only get to the second round this year barring some big posistive changes, I expected them to do better in the weak Eastren Confrence at this point.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mavsfan1000 @ Jan 25 2007, 08:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Brilliant Avery. Put Stackhouse on Gordon so Gordon can go off.</div>Which is exactly what happened lol. Gordon had a great first quarter, let's hope this can continue. Dallas has come out flat, but that's not all because they are having an off night. You have to credit the defense of Chicago thus far, they have been extremely active and they completely owned the boards. The only one who did anything offensively for Dallas was Stack.Dallas will pick it up though, expect a run soon.
Dallas started to pick it up in the back-end of the 2nd quarter, and they cut the lead to 6. They really need to get some sort of rhythm going in the 3rd quarter, and the Bulls need to expand and actually hold on to the lead.
Everyone is playing horrible tonight for Dallas. Terry being sloppy. Howard can't shoot. Stackhouse the usual game for him. Dirk even sucking. AH!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KobeBryant_24 @ Jan 26 2007, 02:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Bulls are going to win....</div>You might've spoke too soon. The mavs are coming back. Only down 5 with 5 minutes left.
Big 3 for Dirk, tough fall-away for Brown, big 3 for Hinrich, then another big 3 for Dirk! What a sequence! This game is going down to the wire. KB24, never count out the Dallas Mavericks. Never.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mavsfan1000 @ Jan 25 2007, 10:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Damn PJ Brown. Luck going the bulls way tonight. The mavs just couldn't get any breaks.</div>Yeah, P.J. Brown hit 3 big shots in a row on that left block. Awesome job from him, he deserved that little ovation he got when he came out. But Dallas just couldn't get anything going tonight. They made a couple little runs, but Chicago answered right back. Dallas shot the ball terribly, they were outworked, and Chicago played some very good defense.But awesome win for the Bulls, they really needed it considering that monster 7 game west coast swing they have coming up.
Awesome defense by Chicago. Early on Dallas just couldn't get a rythem going, and got no easy shots against the tough interior D of the Bulls.Great win for Chicago. Just 1 more scorer and this team would truly be a championship contender.
We are lucky they were a bit off tonight, but I think the Bulls will take the win.With all these trade rumors around Gordon, I hope he does not go, as nights like tomight show he has been the only decent scorer we have..
Yeah games like these happen when your team relies so much on tough jumpers. You go cold. The bulls are very good defensively. Definitely the best I've seen from any team this year.
Gosh, I am a big surprised at this win by the Bulls. I just couldnt ever imagine the Mavs or Suns actually losing a game. haha...If the Spurs could pull their head out of their ass, they could have picked up a game on Dallas but they had to go and lose to Houston last night. The Spurs are done for the season. Its quite sad.
I'm not too worried about this kind of game against the Bulls. They played some great defense and the Mavs only shot 31% from the field. Has to be the worst of the season. Both Dirk and Howard were cold and were a combined 11-42. Ouch. :thumbdn1: We got beat on just about every phase of the game if you look at the box score, but only lost by 9 points and had cut it to as close as 4 in the late 3rd and early 4th. Mavs only had 8 TO, but shot horribly and rebounded poorly as stated above. This can only become a positive down the road. Avery will push the team more and remind them that they have to keep thier edge and stay focused on the goal.
