| 24 March 2010
A lot has changed in Dallas since late January.
Back then, the Mavericks led Portland 112-108 with 2:23 to go in overtime before the Blazers used a 6-0 run to take 114-112 lead with 44.9 seconds left. Thanks to Andre Miller’s 52 point performance, Portland left Dallas with their second-straight win over the Mavs at American Airlines Arena this season.
That snapped Dallas’ 11-game win streak over the Blazers on their own floor.
Now with the scene shifting to Portland on Thursday night as two of the hottest teams in the league prepare for battle, Mark Cuban’s club is easily looking for a little payback.
And the Mavs are set to cash in beyond a regular season game in mid-March. There is more at stake here. A lot more.
If any team in the Western Conference is built to knock the Los Angeles Lakers off their throne on the road to the NBA Finals, you’d have to seriously consider Dallas.
Unlike seasons past where Dirk Nowitzki – who ranks sixth in the league in scoring with 24.8 points per game – was typically the go-to guy in Dallas’ offense, now their options are endless with Caron Butler (16.7 points per game), Jason Kidd (10 ppg), Shawn Marion (12 ppg) and Jason Terry (17 ppg).
That’s just a start.
Some other numbers tell the rest of the story and provide a warning to the rest of the West:
-Jason Kidd has made his living this season being the kick-out man. He has made the most three-pointers in the NBA since the beginning of March (64) and is on pace for career numbers from beyond the arc (ranks fourth overall in the league with 152).
- Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler have learned quickly to play off one another. That’s just what the rest of the West didn’t want to happen. Dallas is 5-0 when they both score 20-plus points per game.
-The Mavs aren’t just about Brendan Haywood and Erick Dampier getting the work done in the paint. As a team, Dallas is 22-6 when out-rebounding the opposition.
-Dallas will put the hurt on you real quick like. They’ve scored 60-plus points in the first half six different times this season and are 26-5 when Kidd dishes 10-plus assists. The Mavs currently rank third in the league with 23.4 assists per game.
- Jason Terry is a bad man off the bench - Sixth Man of the Year worthy kind of bad. Despite missing significant time after breaking a bone in his face against Minnesota on March 3 and undergoing surgery, Terry has notched 23 games with 20-plus points this season and Dallas is now 6-4 when Terry alone outscores the opposition’s bench.
- This may not be “Matrix Reloaded”, but Shawn Marion still has a soft touch. He’s had 17 games this season where he’s scored 15-plus points a game. Marion’s marks have allowed Dallas to improve to 7-1 when all five starters score 10 or more points a game.
Thanks to a 13-game win streak, the Mavericks own the third best record in the league after the All-Star break (15-4). But that number won’t mean much if they exit the postseason early, as has been the case twice out of the last three years.
That doesn’t sound like part of the plan this season in Dallas.
photo: getty
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