Details: Who: (27-32) vs (38-20) Where: American Airlines Arena When: Tuesday, March 2nd, 5:30pm TV: KONG, NBALP Projected Lineups: PG: Antonio Daniels/Luke Ridnour SG: Ray Allen/Ronald Murray/Richie Frahm SF: Rashard Lewis/Vladimir Radmanovic/Ansu Sesay PF: Reggie EvansVladimir Radmanovic/Calvin Booth C: Vitaly PotapenkoJerome James/Calvin Booth Coached by Nate McMillan PG: Steve Nash /Tony Delk SG: Michael Finley /Marquis Daniels SF: Antoine Walker/Josh Howard/Eduardo Najera PF: Dirk Nowitzki/Antawn Jamison/Danny Fortson C: Scott Williams/Shawn Bradley Coached by Don Nelson Injury List: Nick Collison: shoulder, season. Brent Barry: broken finger, on IL. Injury List Travis Best: right achilles inflammation, on IL. Tariq Abdul-Wahad: left knee tendinitis, on IL. Jon Steffansson: sprained left ankle, on IL. Analysis: Seattle continue their toughest stretch of the season in Dallas, fresh off a 17 point pasting of the Rockets, before the Duncan-less Spurs and the Lakers await. Dallas are smoking right now, winning eight of their last ten, while the Sonics have won just three in that time. Seattle’s fast breaking, shooting style of basketball always suits a defensively challenged team like Dallas, who are usually confident they can outscore anyone anyway. They normally do, and will go into this one as heavy favourites. Walker Wiggle These two teams last met at Key Arena on January 27th, and played one of the most exhilarating games of the season. Going basket for basket until the final seconds, Dallas’ Antoine Walker nailed an impossible fadeaway from the left corner, over Vladimir Radmanovic to give Dallas a 118-116 win, rubbing further salt into the wounds with his patented ‘Walker Wiggle’ celebration. Dirk Nowitzki nailed eight treys from 11 attempts on his way to 43 points, while Rashard Lewis led Seattle with 30 points and nine rebounds. [quoteright] "I heard him say shoot. So I shot it." – Vladimir Radmanovic on hitting a key three pointer in the fourth period against Houston, from a Rashard Lewis pass. Radmanovic finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds in a timely return to form.[/QUOTERIGHT] Key Factors: - Try and slow the game down. No one can beat Dallas at the running game, and Seattle’s best chance here is to try and slow the game down. The tough defense and hardness they played with against Houston needs to be repeated here; Dallas don’t like a physical contest, and will beat a Barry-less Sonics outfit in a shootout. - Zone up. Make Dallas shoot the ball, as they have too many scoring options for Seattle to play a man to man game. Last time around, Nowitzki hit eight threes from eleven attempts, so defensive rotations are vital. The Mavericks are easily capable of breaking down a zone, but playing man to man will only hurt Seattle. Key Matchup: Ray Allen vs Michael Finley Aside from Kobe Bryant, these two are arguably the most in form Western guards in the league. Allen continues to fill up the boxscore for Seattle, while Finley’s season has kept on climbing and climbing. Both guys love to shoot the ball and both love to run. Allen is probably the better passer and Finley the better defender, while both have shown a real knack for grabbing key rebounds all season. Both are also clutch, meaning if there is a close game in the fourth quarter, it could turn into a shootout. Allen has found his shot to be off the past couple, and will look at Dallas as perfect opposition to regain his touch, as they will give open looks. Finley must be on his guard early, as Ray always looks to break a slump by getting hot early in a game. Alternatively, Finley’s outside shot is at a point where Allen cannot give him any room, meaning Finley will look to use his quickness to get to the basket. X-Factors: Vitaly Potapenko – fresh off a strong performance on Yao Ming and sporting a nice black eye, Potapenko will provide what Dallas lack: interior toughness. Whether Dallas’ fast paced style of game will go against him remains to be seen, but he is still Seattle’s best option at center. Antawn Jamison – hot favourite for the 6th man of the year award, Jamison continues to come off the bench and put up big numbers. He scored 51 against Seattle whilst in Golden State, and his ability to get to the basket and play inside gives Seattle yet another Maverick they may have trouble with. <font size="1">Player photos and logo images courtesy of NBA.com </font>
I thought Jerry Sloan coached Utah... Not Dallas. Mavs by 7. They have to much firepower for the sonics.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Streetball2k3:</div><div class="quote_post">I thought Jerry Sloan coached Utah... Not Dallas.</div> He just made a mistake it happens all the time.Dallas should win this one but i think the Sonics will win by 5.Ray should have a great game tommorow.
Last time Seattle had a lot of trouble picking up Dirk when he was on the perimeter.. i dont think he will score 43 again, but i expect a nice 25-10 performance from him. Dallas 112 Seattle 105
This one will be a good game. If Finley and Ray both get hot it will come down to Dirk and Shard. The Mavs wrap up the end of a homestead before they go on the road, so I figure they will want to go out banging. Mavs by 3
Look for this one to be a high-scoring game. The Mavs just have too much firepower for the Sonics to contend with. Dallas 113 Seattle 102
Well, leading going into the fourth, Seattle suffer yet another fourth quarter meltdown as the Mavericks win 107-96. Down 77-70, the Mavs went on a 22-1 run, mainly through Finley (20 last quarter points), as they shot about 90% in that stretch. The Sonics missed open shot after open shot, gave up too many second chance points and basically wasted a fantastic effort for three quarters. They got it back to 98-94, but could'nt get any closer. Ray Allen had 25, Rashard Lewis 14 and 11 and Flip Murray had 19 off the bench. Seattle shot 5-24 from downtown, were out-rebounded 54-42 and gave up a 38 point last quarter. Finley finished with 35, while Antawn Jamison had 21 on 8-9 shooting and undrafted rookie Marquis Daniels had 14, nine and nine. <font size="1">Box Score courtesy of NBA.com</font> Next Game: @ Spurs, Wednesday
Fins is playing real well all year, off night for Shard. Right when I drop Antwan he has a good game, oh well. Seattle has a tough stretch, but caught some breaks Nashless Mavs and now Duncanless Spurs
dang...so many times I was thinkin Sonics got this belted down...but nope...juss so many turnovers...I'm starting to get used to all these losses...without Brent, it's like--the right arm is missing..how can you start writing if theres nothing there....and so you try to fill the spots in with alternates but it just doesn't work (haha..sorry if that analogy sucked...but that's what popp'd into my mind...)
