A shorthanded Mavericks team dominated from the second quarter on, achieving the largest margin of victory in franchise history. Drew Gooden started and had a double-double by halftime, helping Dallas to the end of a 3-2 road trip. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)This is how the Dallas Mavericks (29-15) should handle vastly inferior teams, even on the road.
Of course your not going to win by 50 every time, but the way Dallas refused to take their foot off of the New York Knicks' collective throat is how you take care of business against a 17-26 team.
Even without their starting point guard and center, future Hall-of-Famer Jason Kidd (personal reasons) and a resurgent Erick Dampier (left knee inflammation), the Mavericks completely dominated the Knicks. Dallas shot 58 percent from the field and made a season high 12 of 22 attempts from behind the arc; this while holding the Knicks to 33.7 percent shooting and a season-low 78 points. The Mavericks led by as many as 53 points on three different occasions in the fourth quarter in which they played bench players for the majority of the quarter.
After leading by only a bucket (27-25) after the first quarter, Dallas outscored New York by a combined 70-31 in the second and third quarters - sealing the victory and demoralizing the Knicks. The Mavericks made 15 of the 19 shots they attempted in the third quarter (79 percent).
"They took our heart out of us," said Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni.
Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry both scored a game-high 20 points, leading seven Mavericks that scored in double-figures. After a slow start (Nowitzki had no points in the first quarter), Nowitzki scored all of his 20 points in the second and third quarters including 13 in the 3rd quarter when Dallas pulled away.
Nowitzki was able to rest in the fourth quarter, and the last Mavericks' starter went out (Drew Gooden) with 9:22 left in the game. Even the Mavericks' reserves were able to drive to the basket or get any shot they wanted at will.
To put how pathetic New York's defense was in persective: Matt Carrol took a Knicks' defender off the dribble and finished with a layup at the rim.
"We ran a play with J.J. [Barea] and he got to the basket three times the exact way and nobody came over to help on him," said Drew Gooden of the Knicks porous defense, "and I think that was a sign of them kind of, not laying down, but they just didn't know what to do and we took advantage of that."
Speaking Of Gooden...
Drew Gooden had a double-double at halftime (10 points, 15 rebounds) and finished the game with a season-high 18 rebounds, along with 15 points and a game-high two blocks.
Gooden scored eight of the Mavericks first 12 points, helping Dallas to a good start with Nowitzki struggling early. He scored at the basket, he hit jumpers and he tipped a couple in around the rim as he scored both inside and out.
Roddy B Gets Some Court Time
Rodrigue Beaubois got some playing time for the first time in the last four games and over 20 minutes for the first time since Dec. 4, at Memphis.
The rookie got 24 minutes, to be exact, and seemed to make the most of his opportunity. Aside from some defensive lapses and typical rookie mistakes (Roddy B had four fouls and five turnovers for the game), Beaubois played pretty well. He went 5-8 from the field for 13 points, while also chipping in six rebounds, five assists and three steals for the game.
The more time this 21-year old point guard gets, the better.
Whats Next
The Mavericks return home, Tuesday night, to take on the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks are 16-24 and the Mavericks will face their ex-Sixth Man, Jerry Stackhouse, for the first time since the Shawn Marion trade in the off-season.
Dallas won earlier in the season, in Milwaukee, 115-113 in overtime.
The Bucks are 5-17 on the road this season and have lost six of their last seven road games.
Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
News and Notes:
- The Mavericks are now 13-2 this season after a loss, the best winning percentage in the NBA after a defeat.
- Dallas is now 4-0 when scoring 120 or more points and 8-0 when scoring 110 or more.
- For the seventh time this season, the Mavericks won by 15 or more points.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
GO MAVS!!!!
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