Mavericks' sloppy final frame, smoldering 3-point shooting from the Magic and Hedo Turkoglu's (15) spectacular all-around night lead to Orlando winning franchise-record ninth straight contest. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)It appears as though the mighty Dallas Mavericks (26-10) have gone from from the "Streak Busters" of the NBA, to the "Second Half Strugglers" in just a matter of weeks. Reminiscent of what happened just two nights ago against Oklahoma City, the Mavericks laid an egg in the second half -- particularly in a horrendously played fourth quarter -- after a strong first half.
The Orlando Magic (25-12) dominated the fourth, forcing four turnovers and going on a 26-3 run; this after Dallas took an 85-82 lead just over a minute into the final frame. The huge push put Orlando up 20 points with under four-and-a-half minutes to play and Dallas would wave the white flag soon thereafter, pulling all of it's starters with 2:55 left in regulation.
"We just started playing hard," Magic center Dwight Howard said of his team's 37-26 fourth-quarter surge. "We're trying to be consistent with the way we play. We've got to learn our lesson, that we can't expect to play only half the game."
What makes this so troubling is how well the Mavericks started out of the gate for the second straight contest.
Dallas led by as many as 16 points in the second quarter, led by five first half 3's from DeShawn Stevenson -- who finished with a season-high 24 points to lead the Mavs.
Dallas had a chance to take advantage after Howard picked up his third foul with 3:03 left in the second quarter, but Orlando responded with a 17-7 run to end the half that cut the Mavs lead to just six going into the locker room.
"I thought a key part of the game was the second quarter with Dwight out of the game and to come back and close that gap and be in the game at the half," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. ..."It was as big as the stretch where we made the big run in the fourth quarter to go up 20."
Despite out-shooting the Magic both overall from the field and behind the arc, the Mavericks repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with turnovers. Dallas committed 11 in the second half alone, 17 total on the night, which led to Orlando getting out on the break and capitalizing with 21 points off turnovers.
Six Magic players scored in double figures, led by Howard recorded team-highs in both points (23) and rebounds (13). While Jason Richardson added 20 points and Hedo Turkoglu put on a show running the Magic offense. Renewed and reinvigorated after returning to the team he shined the brightest for, Turkoglu dished out a season-high 17 assists to go along with 13 points, five steals and three boards.
"You could tell he's a different player now," Richardson said of his former teammate in Phoenix. "He is a guy that can do everything."
Frustrations reached a boiling point for Dallas in the fourth quarter as both Mavericks' coach Rick Carlisle (two technicals) and center Tyson Chandler (sixth foul + the technical) were ejected. Carlisle argued what should have been a foul taken by J.J. Barea on Howard that led to a J.J. Reddick 3-pointer -- demonstratively gesturing a bear hug to the officials before receiving two quick T's with 6:06 left in the quarter.
"I didn't like the officiating, obviously, but that's as much as I'm going to say about it," Carlisle said. "I think calls you disagree with are one of the realities in this league, and when you totally disagree a lot you get thrown out of the game."
Despite going 2-5 in the last seven games without their superstar and now for the duration without the second banana, Dallas remains second overall in the Western Conference - ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers and behind only the San Antonio Spurs. This team can still right the ship, but not against the better teams in the league without a healthy Dirk Nowitzki.
Which brings us to...
What's Next
Dallas has three days off to lick it's wounds before embarking on a four-game road trip. Nowitzki is expected to at least accompany the team on the trip, but it's unknown if he'll be able to lace 'em up.
The Mavericks first opponent with be the Indiana Pacers, who are 14-20 on the season (9-9 at home) which is good for seventh best in the Eastern Conference. Indiana comes into the game in a tailspin, having lost three straight games, and six of the last seven overall.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. central time.
News and Notes:
- While Jason Terry scored 16 points and dished out a season-high nine assists, the back court duo of JET and Jason Kidd struggled mightily in this one. The duo combined to put up and ugly +/- of -38 for the contest. Kidd was worst among all players at -28 and also missed six of eight shots from the field, but did have seven assists and five boards out there.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press, or provided by the Mavericks P.R. Dept.)
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