Jason Terry and the Mavericks started off slow, but picked in up in the second half en route to their 12th home victory of the season. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)In the first half, Dallas just couldn't get anything going as their field goal percentage was in the 20's for the majority of the first quarter and it wasn't much better in the second.
The second half was a different story.
After scoring only 36 points in the first half, the Dallas Mavericks (24-11) put up 32 in the third and 30 in the fourth.
The Detroit Pistons (11-22) led for most of the first three quarters but the Mavericks tied it up at the end of three and then went on a 11-3 run to start the fourth quarter.
"Early on, we were missing bunnies at the basket," said Jason Terry, who had a game high 26 points. "The third quarter came and we pushed the tempo. That is the way we like to play."
Terry had his best game scoring in over a month (27 against Houston. Nov.25) thanks largely to his willingness to drive to the basket. He shot 11-19 from the field (58 percent) and dished out five assists.
Shawn Marion tied his season high in points (18) and came down with seven boards but his ferocious defense was a key to the Mavericks win. Marion shot an efficient 71 percent from the field (5-7) as he continues to exclusively score inside.
The Pistons had a shot in this game, they led by as many at 14 points in the first half, led by Richard Hamilton's team-high 20 points. The Mavericks just had too much firepower late and Detroit couldn't catch up.
"Our guys competed," said Detroit coach John Kuester. "I was very impressed."
Is Dallas so good now that an opposing team's coach is "very impressed" when they give up a 14-point lead and lose by five points? Or is Detroit just that bad?
DirkTastic
Dirk Nowitzki scored 14 of his 22 points in the Mavericks third quarter run. With 12 rebounds on the night, Nowitzki now has 10 double-doubles this season.
"Tipping it to himself"
"He kept tipping it to himself," Nowitzki said of Drew Gooden's performance around the rim. "There seemed to be a lid on the basket."
With Erick Dampier out for the second consecutive game, Drew Gooden got the chance at another start.
Another start - another double-double.
Gooden had a career-high nine offensive rebounds, as he could not get the ball in the basket. After a shot, Gooden would have two, sometimes three, touches on the basketball as it refused to go down.
He finished with a season high 18 rebounds and, with 10 points (on 4-16 shooting), he now has seven double-doubles this season.
What's Next
This was just down-right ugly. The Pistons have now lost 10 straight games but the Mavericks gave them every opportunity to win this game.
Dallas is going to have to play better if they want to defeat the San Antonio Spurs at home on Friday night. I would recommend putting Josh Howard (12 points, 5-10 shooting) back into the starting lineup as the Barea experiment seems to have run it's course (zero points, 0-4 shooting in 20 minutes).
After a slow start to the season (9-9), the Spurs have quietly snuck up on the Mavs in the Southwest division standings. San Antonio is only one game behind Dallas in the loss column (20-12) and have won 11 of their last 14 games.
Led by Tim Duncan's 20 points a game, the Spurs are 10th in the NBA in scoring (101.8 points per), ahead of the Mavericks (100.7). San Antonio's defensive prowess has not wavered, though, as they are 5th in the NBA in points allowed (95.6).
It should be noted that of the 14 teams San Antonio has gone 11-3 against, only three teams had winning records (@ Phoenix, Portland, Miami). The Spurs were 1-2 in those contests, with the win coming against the Miami Heat who are 17-15 this season.
San Antonio is 3-10 against teams with winning records this season.
This should be a great game between bitter rivals. The two teams have split the first two games this season against each other with each winning at home.
Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen locally on KXTA 21.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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