<font size="+2">Mavs-Sonics preview </font> <font size="+1">9:30 p.m. today, Key Arena, TNT/Ch. 21; ESPN-FM (103.3), KFLC-AM (1270, Spanish) </font> <font size="-1">08:35 PM CST on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 </font> <font size="-1">By GERRY FRALEY / The Dallas Morning News</font> Series: Mavericks won this season's first meeting, 101-98 at Seattle. Seattle leads series overall, 59-49. Key matchup Josh Howard vs. Rashard Lewis: Lewis has been white-hot. Entering Wednesday night's game at Utah, Lewis had led the Sonics in scoring for five of the last six games. That included two performances of more than 40 points. Howard has done well against Lewis. In the last five games against the Mavericks, Lewis has averaged 18.4 points with a 43.6 shooting percentage. Inside the Mavericks Sleep quickly: The Mavericks, who played on Wednesday night at Golden State, are in a back-to-back situation for the 11th time this season. They are 6-4 in the second games, which have often been a struggle for leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki. His shooting percentage has dropped to 39.2 for the second game of the back-to-backs. In all other games, before Wednesday's match at Golden State, Nowitzki had a 49.7 shooting percentage. Seattle, also on a back-to-back, is 3-5 for the second games. Briefly: The Mavericks overcame a 12-point deficit to win at Seattle on Dec. 23. Nowitzki had 34 points in the win, giving him an average of 28.8 for his last five games against the Sonics. ... The Mavericks have won eight of the last 10 games against Seattle. Inside the Sonics Same as ever: The firing of coach Bob Weiss did not change the Sonics' fortunes. Entering Wednesday night's game at Utah, Seattle was 3-7 since Bob Hill replaced Weiss. No matter the coach, the Sonics cannot play defense. Entering the Utah game, Seattle had allowed 100-plus points in an NBA-high 31 times and was 11-20 in those games. The Sonics are also in danger of becoming the first team since Boston in the 1996-97 season to allow opponents to make at least half their shots. Briefly: The Sonics have lost eight of their last 11 home games. ... Seattle probably will be without its frontcourt bouncers. Danny Fortson is plagued by a sore knee, and Reggie Evans is deep in the doghouse. ----------------------------------------------------------- If we win this game, we win our first ever 5-0 road trip. We just need to be able to hit our shots well, Sonics have horrid defense
Dallas injuries Devin Harris (shoulder) Marquis Daniels (family) Seattle injuries Danny Fortson (Knee) Reggie Evans (trade demands) Speaking of Reggie Evans, the other day he demanded a trade. Dallas should go after him, get rid of some trash.
I expect this to be a VERY close game. Mavs are coming off a tough win during a road trip, playing on back to back nights, with some key absences. Add to that the fact that the Sonics have been playing good ball, this game will be tough. That being said, I think this will be a shootout and I believe the Mavs will end up on the winning end. Score? Lets say 108-100 Mavs
Oh and I forgot the game's on TNT tonite..So the Mavs are going to play poor defense and let the TNT bozos show some tough love. But I don't give a damn about what they think.
I also forget that 1. Jason Terry always plays huge against Seattle 2. Holger is in town, so Dirk should have a big game..hopefully
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dallasdude:</div><div class="quote_post">Oh and I forgot the game's on TNT tonite..So the Mavs are going to play poor defense and let the TNT bozos show some tough love. But I don't give a damn about what they think.</div> Agreed. It really sucks for us out of the Dallas area without the nba league pass(which I am definately investing in next year).. the only times I see them play, they always seem to get pounded
With Daniels and Harris Dallas will be fatigued to play a back to back. 30-14 right now. Seattle is a step ahead of us on everything.
Dallas right back in it. Barkley talking **** again about Dallas. Nothing even mentioned about the tough game last night along with this being the last game on a long road trip.
I don't get why Avery likes a Dirk/Van Horn front court. With having the luxury of Diop/Dampier at center this doesn't make sense. It cost Dallas 3 points on the last play of the 3rd quarter.
Dallas wins 104-97. Stackhouse was clutch tonight along with the centers continuing to dominate the paint on defense. 7 blocks between Damp and Diop.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting on_fffire:</div><div class="quote_post">i predict dallas wins 104-97</div> I can't disagree with you there.
Mavs 104 Sonics 97 Grades: Mavs Complete Road Sweep The Mavs completed their first ever 5-0 road trip at Seattle and are now on a 7-0 win streak heading into their home game against the Utah Jazz. However, combined with the Mavs overtime win over the Blazers, it wasn?t all that easy. The Sonics opened up the game red hot and buried the Mavs to go up 34-17. The Mavs didn?t panic though and came back on a 18-0 run to get back in the game. The Sonics really never went away after that, even all the way to the end of the game, but the Mavs persevered. Johnson: B, Avery has acquiesced to Jerry and brought him off the bench earlier and it has paid off for the Mavs as Jerry has been a big time spark plug off the bench. Tonight, the Mavs weren?t ready to battle with the Sonics fury, but Stackhouse off the bench was ready. Howard: C, Josh, once again, struggled tonight, scoring only 6 points (3-9 FG, 0-1 trey, 0-0 FT) and grabbing only 3 boards. +6 Nowitzki: A, Dirk led the Mavs with 29 points (8-22 FG, 3-8 treys, 10-11 FT) to go with 12 rebounds. Dirk seemed to have a knack tonight for making key shots to stop the Sonics momentum. +28 Diop: B+, DeSagana brought the energy tonight with 3 blocked shots (should have been more) and 5 rebounds (4 offensive). Zero turnovers. +10 Griffin: A; Adrian is turning into Mr. Consistent with his hustle. I can?t imagine how Avery is going to be able to bury him on the bench again when Marquis comes back. Adrian grabbed 7 rebounds to go with his 4 points (2-3 FG). +12 Terry: B, Jason, playing in front of his home town crowd put up 20 points (8-18 FG, 3-8 treys, 1-2 FT) along with 4 assists and 2 steals. +16 Stackhouse: B+, Jerry finished with 21 points (6-15 FG, 2-6 treys, 7-8 FT) single handedly outscoring the Sonics bench. +17 Dampier: A, Erick scored 7 points (2-4 FG, 3-5 FT) and grabbed 9 boards along with 4 blocked shots. +18 Van Horn: B, Keith scored 9 points (3-4 FG, 1-2 treys, 2-2 FT) in only 14 minutes along with 3 rebounds. Keith is quietly becoming quite efficient with his minutes. +11 Armstrong : B, Darrell?s hustle helped take up some of the slack for Devin?s absence, but Darrell ended up leaving the game with a neck sprain after crashing in to the seats chasing a ball. Armstrong scored 4 points (2-2 FG) and dished 3 assists in 13 minutes. +8 Harris: DNP-CD, Devin is out a shoulder injury. Powell: DNP-CD. M?Benga: DNP-CD Daniels: DNP-Inactive, Marquis is out with a family emergency in Florida. Marshall : DNP-Inactive, Rawle has been sent to the Fort Worth Flyers (NBDL) to get playing time. Podkolzin: DNP-Inactive, Pavel had surgery to repair his right foot. Typical Chef Ed Type
