Mavericks Rebound From Tough Loss - 107-97

Jason Kidd had a career-high seven steals as the Dallas defense held the potent Suns offense to 97 points, almost 13 fewer than their season average (109.6). (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

No matter how you slice it, the Dallas Mavericks (33-21) needed this game bad.

After losing to a division-rival by double-digits Tuesday night in Oklahoma City, the Mavericks knew they had to rebound at home - even if it was on the second night of a back-to-back. Jason Kidd had quite possibly his best game since his return to Dallas, filling up the stat sheet with 18 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, and a career high seven steels, leading the Mavericks to a much-needed win.

"As a veteran team, we've got to understand what's at stake and start playing our best basketball," said Kidd, who also knocked down 4-8 shots from behind the arc. "We can't wait until the playoffs start. This was a must-win for us."

The Mavericks held the Phoenix Suns (32-23) to 39 percent shooting in the first half, 1-14 from behind the arc, and into 17 turnovers. Dallas forced nine of those turnovers in the pivotal third quarter, where they took their biggest lead at 72-53, never trailing after that.

Nowitzki Gets Nasty

Aside from leading the Mavericks with 28 points, Dirk Nowitzki also got into an alteration with Grant Hill with 1:25 left in the game. It appeared Hill tried to take a swipe below Nowitzki's waist as the two were fighting for position, and Dirk wasn't happy. The two had to be separated with Hill yelling "what the f*** are you going to do?!"

If I was Nowitzki, here would be my response:

"I'm going to lead my team in scoring, score 10 points in the fourth quarter, grab seven rebounds, dish out three assists, block a shot and force a steal just for good measure. What are you going to do?"

Then I would have pointed first to the scoreboard, that showed Dallas up 103-95 and on their way to victory. Then I would have pointed to the stat-sheet that went a little something like this for Hill: 25 minutes, four points on 2-5 shooting, 0 rebounds, three assists, a block a -19 plus/minus.

Of course, Nowitzki is a professional so any shit-talking directed at Hill wasn't caught on camera.

Haywood, Butler Getting Comfortable

With Erick Dampier's bone popping out of his middle-finger and requiring surgery (and may be out up to a month) Brendan Haywood got the first start of his Dallas career. The big man made the most of his opportunity, accounting for five of the Mavs' seven blocked shots. Haywood was a major reason Dallas held the second-highest scoring team in basketball to under 100 points. On the offensive end he showed soft hands under the basket, making 5-7 shots for 10 points while also grabbing nine rebounds.

Caron Butler played a better game as he seemed to be more in-tune with the Mavs offense. Shooting-wise there was nowhere to go but up after his 4-16 night against the Thunder. Butler went 6-16 this time (baby steps), scoring 15 points and pulling down five rebounds.

Both of the new additions showed flashes of why Dallas is going to be so tough down the stretch.

Stoudemire Goes Out With A Bang?

With 30 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, Amare Stoudemire certainly made himself more valuable in a trade after his performance against Dallas. Stoudemire was a beast on both-ends of the court, seemingly making plays around the basket (at both ends of the court) all game long. Amare has scored over 20 points in eight straight games for the Suns and Phoenix is 6-2 during that span.

"I felt great," Stoudemire said. "I came out with a lot of intensity from the start. I wanted to set the tone early, offensively and defensively."

I don't know if the Suns will trade him, but Stoudemire definitely just upped the ante on what Phoenix is going to want in return.

What's Next

Dallas gets a day off before heading to Orlando Friday on the first night of yet another back-to-back. This will finally allow the new Mavs to get a practice session in for the first time since arriving.

Orlando is 37-18 0n the season (second in the Eastern Conference) and have won three of their past four games. Orlando is 21-5 at home (4th best in the NBA) and have won eight of their past nine games at home.

The Magic come into the game averaging 101.4 points per game and only allowing 95.8 (7th in the NBA). This will be the first meeting between the two teams this season.

Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m and can be seen nationally on ESPN

News and Notes:

• Dallas has won five straight games at home against the Suns.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)