Mavs 97 Hornets 88 Grades: What Took So Long For Adrian To Come Back? Doug Christie?s replacement, Adrian Griffin, started tonight. All I have to ask is why the Mavs didn?t sign him in the first place. The Mavs scored on their first 6 possessions to go up 12-0 before the Hornets woke up. The Mavs still put up their second best effort this season on defense (their best was holding the Nuggets to 12 points in the fourth) by limiting the Hornets to only 15 first period points. Although the Hornets made several runs, the Mavs more or less played even the rest of the way. FSSW : A; All it takes is a dose of TNT to bring one back to reality about good broadcasting. +36 Johnson: B, After two 2-point losses, Avery had the Mavs pumped up for this one. Not sure I agree on his timing of timeouts (the 10-2 run to bring the Hornets within one at 51-50 comes to mind), but the bottom line is the Mavs responded and went on to win. Nowitzki: A, Dirk got hot, really hot in the fourth quarter keying a 10-3 run with back-to-back treys to lead all scorers with 30 points. Dirk also tied DeSagana for game high rebounding honors with 8 rebounds. Zero turnovers. +32 Griffin: A; Adrian was one of the Mavs favorite ?glue? guys and thanks to Doug Christie?s exit, has returned to the Mavs. What was great to see was Adrian making an immediate positive impact on the floor by directing his teammates; a veteran?s leadership the Mavs were sorely lacking with the departure of Michael Finley and Shawn Bradley. It?s only the pesky Hornets, but excellent defense (2 blocked shots, 1 steal, good fundamentals), good shooting and 7 rebounds works for me. Maybe Erick can take notes. +15 Dampier: C+, Erick delivered 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots but was only 1-5 from the field. +5 Daniels: B, Marquis had another solid outing, if you accept that he is what he is. Marquis has responded well to starting in Doug Christie?s place. Hopefully it will translate into a more consistent game. Daniels delivered 13 points (5-11 FG, 3-4 FT) and five assists. +10 Terry: A, Jason played quite gingerly, obviously bothered by the strained hamstring he sustained in the Spurs game. Before Dirk caught fire in the fourth, Jason and Marquis were really all the Mavs had going. +24 Harris: B, Devin matched Marquis? output in assists with 5 and dropped in 12 points as well. +17 Diop: B-, Similar to Erick, not much on the points side, getting his one point by going 1-2 from the line and 0-3 from the field. DeSagana did play a big part in the Mavs rebounding edge, tying Dirk for game high honors with 8 boards. +6 Van Horn: B-, Keith avoided any ?blonde? moments tonight and chipped in 10 points while playing good defense. +7 Marshall : C, Essentially a DNP-CD getting in for the final minute of play. +0 Powell: C, Essentially a DNP-CD getting in for the final minute of play. -1. M?Benga: C, Essentially a DNP-CD getting in for the final minute of play. -1. Armstrong : DNP-CD. Howard: DNC-CD, Josh is out for the next few weeks with the ankle sprain suffered in the closing minutes of the Memphis loss. Podkolzin: DNC-CD, Pavel had surgery to repair his right foot and ankle and is expected to miss three to four months. Stackhouse: DNP-CD, Jerry was inactive, out with a sore knee that continues to swell. Typical Chef Ed Type
