Dirk Nowitzki's monster game led Dallas to a 2-1 season-series victory over the Nuggets and puts them in the driver's seat for the second seed in the Western Conference. Nowitzki hit four-threes in the game, a season-high. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes) It seemed like every time Dirk Nowitzki tried to get comfortable at one of his sweet spots on the court, Denver decided to collapse and send another player his way. It didn't seem to bother Nowitzki on this occasion as the former MVP scored 34 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists for the second triple-double of his career.
"[Nowitzki] did everything," said Jason Kidd, who knows a little something about triple-doubles and had eight points and 10 assists himself. "He set the table, he accepted double-teams, he moved the ball and hit shots."
The 34 points, which are nothing new for the NBA's seventh best scorer (24.7 per game), came from both outside (4-5 from deep) and by his willingness to get to the basket, evidenced by his 16-17 performance at the free-throw line. As a team, Dallas shot 46.9 percent, 54.9 percent from three-point range and committed only seven turnovers. This was largely a result of the Mavs making a conscientious effort to get to the basket and push tempo. The Mavericks had 23 fast-break points compared to 17 for the Nuggets.
Dallas led by double-digits for the majority of the second-half and held a 20-point lead (103-83) with 3:47 left in the fourth quarter. The icing on the cake was Nowitzki's pass two Jason Terry (who added 15 points on 6-10 shooting) near the free-throw line with 2:15 that secured his 10th assist and second-career triple-double.
"We ran that last play for me to get that last assist for 'Jet' and that was a great play design," said Nowitzki.
Put it all together and the Mavericks are 49-25, a full two games ahead of the Denver Nuggets thanks to the season-series advantage, with only eight game left in the regular season. The Mavs have just served notice to the rest of the Western Conference that facing them will be no walk in the park come playoff time.
Melo' Caught Up In The Matrix
The Mavs second-leading scorer was Shawn Marion with 21 points on an efficient nine of 13 performance from the field. He caused steals that led to breakaway opportunities and used his myriad of post moves to make buckets over bigger defenders. But, most importantly, he provided some lock-down defense on Carmelo Anthony.
Anthony came into the game averaging nearly 29 points (28.9) and shooting nearly 46 percent from the field. Against the Mavericks Monday night, Melo' made only 3-16 shots (19 percent) and scored only 10 points - 20 points below his season average - thanks to Marion's unrelenting defense. Throw in the fact that Anthony had averaged 30.4 points per over his last 10 games and Marion's relentless effort was praised his coach.
"The key to tonight's game was the job Shawn Marion did on Carmelo," said coach Rick Carlisle. "He's one of the toughest guy's in the league to guard and [Marion] took the challenge."
Mavericks' Defense Steps Up
As a whole, the Mavericks forced the Nuggets to shoot only 41 percent as a team, down from their 47 percent season-average. Jason Kidd and Rodrigue Beaubois each contributed three of the Mavs 10 steals for the game. Denver had 12 turnovers on the night that led to 17 points for Dallas.
Lost all the Melo' hoopla is the Mavericks' team defense on Chauncey Billups, who was guarded mostly by the aforementioned Kidd and Roddy B. Billups missed 11 of the 14 shots he attempted, 1-7 from deep, scoring only 11 points for the game.
Brendan Haywood also played a factor with some perimeter defense. The big man had four blocks, Haywood is third best in the NBA with 2.14 per game, two of them coming damn-near the three-point line. One on Billups at the top of the key and one on J.R. Smith (who led the Nuggets with 27 points) near the corner were each 20-feet away from the rim. Haywood is counted on to do some things here in Dallas, but I don't know if perimeter defense was on his resume before Monday night.
What's Next
An electric win for the Mavericks as the crowd was energized and the players brought the A-game.
Dallas travels to Memphis to take on the Grizzles Wednesday night on the first game of a back-to-back.
The Grizzlies are 38-35 this season, but have last two of their last three contests. Memphis has shattered his win-total from last season (24) and are poised to have their first winning record to end a season since 2005-2006 - the last year they has Pau Gasol for a full season. With a 22-15 record at home, they are not to be taken lightly as they've won three of the past four games there.
Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. and can be seen locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
News and Notes:
The 34 points, which are nothing new for the NBA's seventh best scorer (24.7 per game), came from both outside (4-5 from deep) and by his willingness to get to the basket, evidenced by his 16-17 performance at the free-throw line. As a team, Dallas shot 46.9 percent, 54.9 percent from three-point range and committed only seven turnovers. This was largely a result of the Mavs making a conscientious effort to get to the basket and push tempo. The Mavericks had 23 fast-break points compared to 17 for the Nuggets.
Dallas led by double-digits for the majority of the second-half and held a 20-point lead (103-83) with 3:47 left in the fourth quarter. The icing on the cake was Nowitzki's pass two Jason Terry (who added 15 points on 6-10 shooting) near the free-throw line with 2:15 that secured his 10th assist and second-career triple-double.
"We ran that last play for me to get that last assist for 'Jet' and that was a great play design," said Nowitzki.
Put it all together and the Mavericks are 49-25, a full two games ahead of the Denver Nuggets thanks to the season-series advantage, with only eight game left in the regular season. The Mavs have just served notice to the rest of the Western Conference that facing them will be no walk in the park come playoff time.
Melo' Caught Up In The Matrix
The Mavs second-leading scorer was Shawn Marion with 21 points on an efficient nine of 13 performance from the field. He caused steals that led to breakaway opportunities and used his myriad of post moves to make buckets over bigger defenders. But, most importantly, he provided some lock-down defense on Carmelo Anthony.
Anthony came into the game averaging nearly 29 points (28.9) and shooting nearly 46 percent from the field. Against the Mavericks Monday night, Melo' made only 3-16 shots (19 percent) and scored only 10 points - 20 points below his season average - thanks to Marion's unrelenting defense. Throw in the fact that Anthony had averaged 30.4 points per over his last 10 games and Marion's relentless effort was praised his coach.
"The key to tonight's game was the job Shawn Marion did on Carmelo," said coach Rick Carlisle. "He's one of the toughest guy's in the league to guard and [Marion] took the challenge."
Mavericks' Defense Steps Up
As a whole, the Mavericks forced the Nuggets to shoot only 41 percent as a team, down from their 47 percent season-average. Jason Kidd and Rodrigue Beaubois each contributed three of the Mavs 10 steals for the game. Denver had 12 turnovers on the night that led to 17 points for Dallas.
Lost all the Melo' hoopla is the Mavericks' team defense on Chauncey Billups, who was guarded mostly by the aforementioned Kidd and Roddy B. Billups missed 11 of the 14 shots he attempted, 1-7 from deep, scoring only 11 points for the game.
Brendan Haywood also played a factor with some perimeter defense. The big man had four blocks, Haywood is third best in the NBA with 2.14 per game, two of them coming damn-near the three-point line. One on Billups at the top of the key and one on J.R. Smith (who led the Nuggets with 27 points) near the corner were each 20-feet away from the rim. Haywood is counted on to do some things here in Dallas, but I don't know if perimeter defense was on his resume before Monday night.
What's Next
An electric win for the Mavericks as the crowd was energized and the players brought the A-game.
Dallas travels to Memphis to take on the Grizzles Wednesday night on the first game of a back-to-back.
The Grizzlies are 38-35 this season, but have last two of their last three contests. Memphis has shattered his win-total from last season (24) and are poised to have their first winning record to end a season since 2005-2006 - the last year they has Pau Gasol for a full season. With a 22-15 record at home, they are not to be taken lightly as they've won three of the past four games there.
Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. and can be seen locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
News and Notes:
- Dirk Nowitzki's four made three's were a season high and the most he's made in a game since Jan. 6, 2009 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
- Shawn Marion must like the month of March. The Matrix has averaged 15.6 points (up from his season average of 12.2) and 56.8 percent shooting (up from 51.5 percent). Over the last three, he's made 25 of 37 attempts (67.5 percent) and averaged 18 points per.
- Dallas is now 4-4 since their 13-game winning streak.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
let's GO MAVS!!!
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