Mavs 115 Raptors 113 OT Grades: Armstrong leads the Mavs Back! The Raptors were well rested. All-Star Chris Bosh was playing in front of his hometown friends and family. The Raptors came out and put up 67 points in the first half, the most the Mavs have given up in a half this season. The Raptors lead got to 24 points before Avery inserted Darrell Armstrong. Up to this point, the most Darrell had done was tackle Jason Terry to keep Jason from diving head first into the Raptors huddle, but now Avery was looking for a spark, any spark. Darrell delivered. The Mavs went on a 8-0 run after Armstrong entered the game in the third period. The Mavs run extended into the fourth period when a Dirk jumper gave the Mavs their first lead of the game at 105-103 with 51 seconds left in the game. The Raptors tie the game from the line and the Mavs go to Dirk for the game winner, but Nowitzki is stripped by Villanueva. The Raptors set up for the game winner, going to Mike James, but his layup at the buzzer is blocked by Dirk as the Mavs go to overtime. The Mavs get the first 4 points of the overtime, but the Raptors refuse to go away as Mike James gives the Raptors the lead, 109-108, off of a Mavs turnover with 2:17 left in the game. Dirk scores the next 4 points to give the Mavs a 113-110 lead, but Bonner nails a trey to tie the game up with 12.4 seconds left. The Mavs go to Dirk, who jab-steps Bonner to nail the game winner with 1 second left. Diop and Dirk seal the deal as DeSagana gets a piece of the Raptors inbounds pass and Dirk gets a piece of Peterson?s potential game winning trey. Laura Green : A+; Laura and Mark unveiled their new show, Mid-Day with Mark and Laura before the game and had their first guest, Bob Ortega. Great stuff! FSN Southwest : B-; Not much coverage tonight. Can?t wait for another UPN game. +12 Johnson: B+, Not sure who did the better coaching job tonight, Avery or Darrell. I guess the credit will have to go to Avery since he finally relented and put Armstrong in the game, but that was probably only to keep Armstrong from tacking any other Mavericks players. Stackhouse: B+; Jerry got the start with Josh out and pitched in 22 points (5-13 FG, 0-3 treys, 12-12 FT). I?m still waiting for Jerry to recognize his game strengths (going to the basket for the layup and or foul) as launching treys are not exactly his forte. Jerry did nearly get to Avery?s personal challenge of 10 assists as Jerry dished out 8 assists. +23 Nowitzki: A+; Dirk had a game high 32 points (13-23 FG, 1-5 treys, 5-7 FT) that included the game winner with 1 second left in overtime. Dirk also turned up the defense in the fourth which featured a game preserving blocked shot in regulation (James) and in overtime (Peterson). Dirk was officially credited with 4 blocked shots, which in some part made up for his team high 3 turnovers. Dirk also led the Mavs with 11 rebounds. +37 Diop: B-; DeSagana only got 14 minutes tonight as he got into foul trouble early. Diop did have a key blocked shot in the Mavs second hald run to pump up the crowd and his teammates. Zero turnovers. +2 Terry: A; Jason started out slow, really showing no fire until he got clothes-lined. Luckily for the Mavs, Armstrong was astute enough to tackle Jason as he got back up off the floor to keep Jason from getting ejected from this game. Jason ended up with 27 points (11-20 FG, 5-9 treys, 0-0 FT) as he came alive in the second half. +22 Griffin: B; Adrian pitched in 6 points and 3 rebounds, but Adrian really struggled trying to stop the Raptors. +6 Dampier: A-; Erick hit the floor early with Diop in foul trouble and was actually one of the few Mavs highlights in the first period as he led the Mavs in scoring with 5 points after the first 12 minutes. Erick also ended up grabbing 9 rebounds and getting a blocked shot. +8 Harris: C+; Devin couldn?t slow down the Raptors back court either and only got 9 minutes of floor time. Zero turnovers. +4 Armstrong : A+; Darrell was the star of the game. Avery turned to Armstrong in desperation for some defensive energy on the floor and Darrell delivered an 8-0 run to get the Mavs started on their way back out of their 24 point hole. Armstrong nailed a nice trey and drew several charges in addition to 3 critical rebounds and 3 assists. Zero turnovers. +9 Powell: C Josh only got 2 minutes of floor time, picking up a foul, missing a shot and blocking a shot. Zero turnovers. +0 Van Horn: B-; Keith struggled with his shot, going 2-7 from the field for 5 points. Keith also grabbed 6 rebounds. Zero turnovers. +6 Daniels: B; Marquis pitched in 10 points (3-8 FG, 0-0 treys, 4-4 FT) and grabbed 6 rebounds in 23 minutes. +13 M?Benga: DNP-CD. Howard: DNP-CD, Inactive with a rolled right ankle. Podkolzin: DNP-CD, Pavel had surgery to repair his right foot and ankle. Marshall : Marshall : DNP-Inactive, Rawle has been sent to the Fort Worth Flyers (NBDL) to get playing time. Typical Chef Ed Type
Wow. What a comeback. What were we down like 30 in the 3rd quarter? Great win, this season is one for ages. Cuban must be walking on clouds.
OK..I gotta give props to Dirk for this comeback. He did make a few clutch shots a the end, also stole and blocked a shot from Bosh in OT. Mavs really missed Howard, letting the Raptors score 16 treys..Stackhouse filled in with 22pts, but Avery was a genius in managing this game - atleast in the second half. Subbing in DA was the turning point in the game. Mavs have now one 14 straight at home..
Dirk may be able to score, but whats gonna happen during the playoffs? He should be able to guard big guys but he can't. He is a jump shooter and has very few post moves. Dallas isn't going to win anything this year!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting norespect:</div><div class="quote_post">Dirk may be able to score, but whats gonna happen during the playoffs? He should be able to guard big guys but he can't. He is a jump shooter and has very few post moves. Dallas isn't going to win anything this year!</div> And where do you think Your Raptors are going? Quit whining and go to momma.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting norespect:</div><div class="quote_post">Dirk may be able to score, but whats gonna happen during the playoffs? He should be able to guard big guys but he can't. He is a jump shooter and has very few post moves. Dallas isn't going to win anything this year!</div> Every year, same stuff. Wait till the playoffs son, see what happens. The raptors will be sittin on their couches watchin it with you Anyway, great game. Although I dont like the Mavs making this a habit, it's good to see Dirk picking up some slack with two 30-point games in a row, filling up the box score, and making some clutch plays. We need him playing like this in the playoffs. Hopefully when Howard comes back he doesnt become too passive again.
I thought Dirk's last shot was especially impressive. He had Bonner right on him, playing great D. It seems like he can hit that shot blindfolded sometimes. Is it a coincidence that Terry gets knocked down two games in a row and both times the Mavs game back from a huge deficit?
Thank You Chutney. Norespect, is just showing... Ohhhhh. So you do that on purpose? Dallasdude, i especially want to rub this in your face cuz i remember a couple of posts back you said Dirk isnt clutch. I dont know if i posted back at it but, i did get to read it. So in that i say, IN YOUR FACE (with the ut-most love and respect). But.....IN YOUR FACE.
You know what, I'll take this one..This is the type of game, I hope Dirk and the rest of the Mavs play in the playoffs when they are in close games. Dirk did show great leadership and hitting much needed baskets in the end. But the Raptors are still a questionable opponent and the home crowd really helped to make the comeback. He still needs to prove me if he can get it done in the playoffs and on the road for sure. I'm going to give much of the credit to Avery for winning the game. He's going to be a great coach in the league and I would be surprised if he doesn't win coach of the year. He's a great decision maker, knows when to take the right timeouts, make the right substitutions etc., He's not afraid to sit down his star players like Dirk when they don't play D. He seems to have a plan for every situation. If anyone watched this game, the Mavs made the monster comeback without Dirk and Avery put Dirk in to get the finishing touches done..
Dirk has no post moves? what are you talking about? Look, Dirk is at a different level than 98% of the guys in the league right now and he showed it last night. when he's on i don't think anyone can stop him not elton brand not even tim duncan. the only guy who could shut him down i reckon is rasheed wallace cause he can run out to the 3 point line. WHEN he commits to defense he's actually a very good defender. He's just not a mix-it-up rebounder so that leads him to not think about defense except for the occasional key stop as in last night. I think his biggest problem is his ability to hold on to the ball, he gets stolen from a lot, being 7 foot he is naturally not a true handler. I would love to see him slash to the basket more, i've seen him explode to the rim only a few times this season and it's cool to watch, i wish he would do it more.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Chutney:</div><div class="quote_post"> Is it a coincidence that Terry gets knocked down two games in a row and both times the Mavs game back from a huge deficit?</div> Good observation; and no, it isn't a coincidence. That is one of the biggest problems with the Mavs. If they get jumped on out of the gate they just lose all drive and have to wait for something like that to happen. Of course, with the deep bench we have, getting a spark is a bit easier than for some other teams. However, it is still a bad habit
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting phunDamentalz:</div><div class="quote_post">Dirk has no post moves? what are you talking about? Look, Dirk is at a different level than 98% of the guys in the league right now and he showed it last night. when he's on i don't think anyone can stop him not elton brand not even tim duncan. the only guy who could shut him down i reckon is rasheed wallace cause he can run out to the 3 point line. WHEN he commits to defense he's actually a very good defender. He's just not a mix-it-up rebounder so that leads him to not think about defense except for the occasional key stop as in last night. I think his biggest problem is his ability to hold on to the ball, he gets stolen from a lot, being 7 foot he is naturally not a true handler. I would love to see him slash to the basket more, i've seen him explode to the rim only a few times this season and it's cool to watch, i wish he would do it more.</div> You're right in that the big guys can't guard Dirk when he's working on the perimeter. Dirk still struggles when he's guarded by a SF like T-Mac and Marion as seen in last year's playoffs. Dirk can't slash and take it to the hoop against them. He either needs to post them or shoot over them - neither of 'em has been effective thus far.
You guys are happy about this game? I'd be scared as %#(&$#, as a team with championship aspirations to be down 24 to a bad team....yikes! I know you came back to win, but I don't see the Detroits or Miamis doing that. Against a 'real' team you wouldn't have (probably) been able to come back. Plus you pull that in the playoffs and you won't be going far. And as for the Raps, no one expected them to make the playoffs so we don't care about not making them this year. But things are looking up if we can take the allegeded (sp) #1 team to OT. That's a good thing for us and a bad thing for you.
The Pistons have lost to teams such as the Hawks, the Jazz twice, and the Wizards. Every team, no matter who they are, will have a good number of games a year where they just dont show up and get outplayed. At the end of the year, a W is a W and every game counts when we are in a race as close as ours.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jones:</div><div class="quote_post">You guys are happy about this game? I'd be scared as %#(&$#, as a team with championship aspirations to be down 24 to a bad team....yikes! I know you came back to win, but I don't see the Detroits or Miamis doing that. Against a 'real' team you wouldn't have (probably) been able to come back. Plus you pull that in the playoffs and you won't be going far. And as for the Raps, no one expected them to make the playoffs so we don't care about not making them this year. But things are looking up if we can take the allegeded (sp) #1 team to OT. That's a good thing for us and a bad thing for you.</div> This is not a good point. First of all, in the NBA every dog can have its day. Atlanta has a couple of wins against good teams, so does Toronto. It's always a game cause the overall talent level is always high. Secondly, against a "real" team, Dallas probably wouldn't have allowed themselves to get down by 24. Bottom line when you're record is 43-12 or whatever and you're playing Toronto, you're probably going to take a quarter or two off. Good teams now how to pace themselves for the important quarters and wins.
In my opinion it was not Dallas's lack of focus or effort that resulted in there poor start to the game, but rather Toronto's incredibly hot start. The Mavericks did score 51 point in the half, which is slightly above the season average for Dallas so it was not as if you were having problems scoring. I would argue that Toronto is the most underrated offensive team in the league, as we are 6th in the league I believe in scoring, but are never mentioned in the same breathe as other elite offensive teams. Though at times the Raptors defense is certainly porous, which the Mavs exploited in the fourth, with so many weapns, I would argue that our great start was not so much due to a loack of effort from Dallas, but rather the Raptors just doing what they are capable of doing on offense any given night.
