Offensive Explosion - Mavs Dominate Raps 129-101

Josh Howard returned and the Dallas Mavericks set a season high for points scored tonight (Nov. 7) with a 129-101 victory. Howard started and scored 16 points in 24 minutes of action. (AP Photo/Tim Sharp)

The Dallas Mavericks set season highs in scoring (129), shooting percentage (62.4 percent), three-point percentage (50 percent), fast break points (24), and points in the paint (56); en route to their fourth victory of the season (4-2). Dallas led by double digits for the majority of the second half and scored 44 points in the 4th quarter, a season high for any quarter. Dallas was 18 of 22 from the field in the 4th.

"They went past us, and they shot over us," Toronto coach Jay Triano said. "They had more movement and energy and had confidence in their shooting.”

Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 29 points on 12 of 20 shooting while also adding nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block in 39 minutes. Jason Terry was second on the team with 19 points off the bench, including 3 of 6 from downtown.

Shawn Marion finally showed some of the potential he flashed in the preseason. Marion was nine of 11 from the floor for 18 points, while also contributing 8 rebounds. Josh Howard added 16 points and Marion and J-Ho’s relentless attacks to the basket were a large reason Dallas had such a large amount of fast break points and points in the paint. Coming into tonight’s game, Dallas had averaged just 10 fast break points per game for the season. Howard (8) and Marion (6) combined for 14 points on the break alone.

"It all starts with defense," Marion said. "The more we play defense and get stops, the better our offense will be. We've got to keep that going."

Dallas had 11 steals and 3 blocks as a team while holding Toronto to 43.9 percent shooting on the night.

Former Lincoln High School star Chris Bosh led the Raptors with 28 points along with 12 rebounds and Andrea Bargnani added 22 with both shooting 50 percent from the field. But it simply wasn’t enough as Toronto seemed to run out of gas in the second half on the second night of a back-to-back.

"It was our first back-to-back, and they got off to a track meet," Bosh said. "We kind of played into their game. We settled for too many jump shots. They got long rebounds and were off to the races."

Mavericks’ fans also got their first chance to see the lineup of Kidd, Terry, Howard, Marion, and Nowitzki on the floor at the same time. The five-some didn’t get to play together all that much (a little over 5 minutes total) but did outscore the Raptors 17-12 (+5), shooting 61.5 percent while they were on the floor together. Through one game, it appears as though they will play at the end of quarters to put their best five on the floor in the clutch. More on this situation as the season goes on.

Dallas looked like the team Mavs’ fans have been hoping for, playing solid defense while also getting up and down the court with regularity. The Mavericks’ play their next game at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 10) against the Houston Rockets, in Dallas.

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

Josh Howard Returning For Mavs Tonight

The highly anticipated season-debut of Josh Howard is finally going to happen.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Josh Howard will be in uniform tonight for the first time this season. After off-season ankle and wrist surgeries caused Howard to miss the first five games of the season. It is unclear whether J-Ho will start this game or begin the season on the bench in order to get into better game shape.

Regardless if Howard starts or not, Mavericks' fans dreams of Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion, Howard, Jason Terry, and Jason Kidd all on the floor at the same time might finally come to fruition.

Mavericks guard Quinton Ross is also likely to return tonight after sustaining a lower back injury taking a charge (that wasn't called) in the win against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Dallas is going to unveil their new lineup tonight (Nov.7), in Dallas against the Toronto Raptors. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen locally on KTXA channel 21.

CHOKE

Jason Terry and J.J. Barea combine to miss 4 of 5 free throws with a 97-94 lead in the final 15 seconds that would have iced the game. Dallas went on to lose the game in overtime, 114-107.

It's hard to write this post, literally because I'm drunk. This game could not have been thrown anyway any more pathetically. Barea topped it off by taking ill-advised shots in overtime that sealed the deal for this team. Barea was three of 10 from the field for the night.

Chris Paul scored 39 points and David West had 25 to lead the New Orleans Hornets to their second victory of the season (2-3). Paul shot nearly 61 percent from the field (14-23) and made three of four from behind the arc. Paul is shooting 64 percent for the season.

JET did have a quality game aside from bricking two free throws. Terry scored 35 points to lead Dallas, making 12 of his 18 shots.

Erick Dampier played well again,(time to get a fat contract from another team after this season and then revert back to the form of sucking for 2-3 more years) Damp was second on the team in points at 16 while also contributing 14 rebounds and 3 blocks on the night.

Rodrigue Beaubois started for Dallas and scored the team's first 7 points. Roddy B didn't do much after that, ending the game with 9 points.

The good news for the Mavs is that they will certainly be healthier when the Toronto Raptors come to town 7:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 7. Josh Howard is expected to be back in action along with Drew Gooden and Quinton Ross.

Dallas in now 3-2 on the season.

Dazzling Dirk

Dirk Nowitzki went to the basket many times in the 4th quarter and it paid off. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

Mavericks Rally From Down 16 Thanks to Nowitzki’s Huge 4^th Quarter

The Dallas Mavericks were dreadful through 3 quarters, Tuesday Nov. 3, in what seemed like a certain loss on the first night of a back-to-back. Mavericks’ leader Dirk Nowitzki had other plans and set the all-time club record for points in a quarter with 29 in the 4th, leading Dallas to a miraculous come-from-behind 95-86 victory over the Utah Jazz. Nowitzki broke the over 25 year old record of 24 points in a quarter, set by Mark Aguirre against Denver, on March 23, 1984.

"It was an ugly game," Nowitzki said. "We couldn't get anything going for three quarters. We were slow. We were looking for a spark offensively and I was able to do that tonight."

After scoring only 52 points through the first three quarters, the Mavericks had 44 in the 4^th as Dallas outscored Utah by 26 points in the quarter. The Mavericks trailed Utah 72-56 with 9:51 left in the fourth quarter. From that point on Dallas went on a 39-14 run to close the game. At one point, late in the 4^th quarter, the Mavericks scored 14 straight unanswered points.

Dirk Nowitzki lit up the box score with 40 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks on the night. Nowitzki drove to the basket time and time again in the 4^th quarter and either got the basket, the foul, or both as he was 12 for 22 from the field and 15 of 16 from the free-throw line for the game.

"It's tough, because we were up by 15 with 8 minutes to go," Utah power forward Carlos Boozer said. “The next thing you know it was free throw, free throw, free throw, free throw."

Jason Kidd was second on the team in scoring with 19 points on six for 11 shooting including five of eight from behind the arc. Kidd also added six assists, five rebounds, and two steals. Shawn Marion and Jason Terry had 10 points each, but shot a combined nine of 28 from the field (32 percent). Erick Dampier showed up yet again with eight points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks in 38 minutes of action.

Deron Williams led the Utah Jazz with 22 points along with five rebounds, and five assists on nine of 19 shooting. Mehmet Okur was second on the team with 14 points and 14 rebounds but shot only four of 15 from the floor.

The Dallas defense played a large role yet again as Dirk Nowitzki and Erick Dampier combined for 11 blocks, 23 rebounds, and two steals. The Mavericks had 12 blocks total for the game, out-rebounded the Jazz 50-37, and held Utah to 41.5 percent shooting. Only one time in Dallas’ first four games has a team scored more than 85 points or shot better than 43 percent, and that was the season opener at home against the Washington Wizards who scored 101 points on 46 percent shooting.

It wasn’t pretty, but these Mavericks keep finding a way to win despite poor shooting (39.5 percent for the game). Suffocating defense, hustle, and clutch scoring have this Dallas team sitting pretty at 3-1. Dallas’ next game is at 8:30 p.m., Nov. 3, in New Orleans against the Hornets.

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

Cowboys Take Care of Business

Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys Dominate Injured-Plagued Seahawks 38-17. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

After a 2-2 start, the Dallas Cowboys are beginning to resemble the team that started the season with such high expectations. Handing an injury-plagued and inferior team like the Seattle Seahawks a loss in dominating fashion for their third consecutive victory can do that for a team.

"I feel good about the progress we've made, but we've still got a ways to go," said Dallas Cowboys’ head coach Wade Phillips.

Dallas has won their last three games by an average of over 14 points a game and quarterback Tony Romo has 8 touchdowns and zero interceptions over that span, the longest interception-less streak of his career.

"I'm seeing things. It's as simple as that,” Romo said. “I'm not throwing and hoping."

Romo was 21 for 33 passing on the day with 256 yards and three touchdowns to three different wide-outs. Romo’s first touchdown pass of the game was a 33-yard strike to fourth-year wide-receiver Sam Hurd, his first touchdown since the 2007 season opener, which gave the Cowboys a lead they would not relinquish at 7-3. Romo completed passes to 10 different receivers on the day. One of those receivers was newcomer Miles Austin, starting his third career game. Austin continued his hot streak with 5 receptions for 61 yards along with a touchdown and is becoming Romo’s go-to-guy in the offense with three straight games with at least one touchdown. Miles Austin now has 482 receiving yards in the first three starts of his career, the most in NFL history over a player’s first three starts since the NFL-AFL merger. On the other side of the field, Roy Williams and Romo continued to have miscommunications as Williams caught only 2 passes for 19 yards, despite being targeted seven times for the game. Williams did account for one of Romo’s three touchdown passes, though, a 7-yard grab to give Dallas a 21-10 lead going in to halftime. The Dallas rushing game also accounted for 113 yards on 29 carries, led by Marion Barber’s 53 yards and a touchdown.

The Dallas defense showed up for the second consecutive week with an aggressive performance. After not having a sack in their first two and a half games, Dallas now has 17 sacks in its last 18 quarters played. The Cowboys had 3-sacks for the game and forced two fumbles, recovering both. The special teams also came up big and Patrick Crayton had an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown, his second in as many weeks and second of his career. Crayton did fumble yet another punt in this game, but quickly recovered it. It’s safe to say his job isn’t in jeopardy anymore.

Seattle is now 2-5 on the season while Dallas is 5-2 and tied for the NFC East division lead with the Philadelphia Eagles, who spanked the New York Giants 40-17. The Dallas Cowboys play at the Philadelphia Eagles a week from today, Sunday Nov.8, on NBC at 7:20 p.m. for sole possession of first place in the division.

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