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Old 02-15-2011, 10:04 AM   #17
thereaper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by muzak View Post
There's an ESPN insider about how the Mav's recent winning streak was misleading. I'd like to read that if anyone with an account cares to post it.
Yes more of the same:
Quote:
With their 10-game winning streak that came to an end on Arron Afflalo's buzzer-beating jumper Thursday in Denver, the Mavericks put themselves back into the discussion of the Western Conference's best teams. Dallas now holds a half-game advantage over the Los Angeles Lakers for the West's second seed. However, a deeper look at the Mavericks' streak suggests it was much less impressive than it looks on the surface.

Dallas benefited from an easy schedule during the winning streak. Just three of the 10 teams the Mavericks beat sport above-.500 records. On top of that, Dallas hardly dominated its inferior opponents. The Mavericks skated past the New Jersey Nets by one point, the Sacramento Kings by two points and narrowly escaped the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers at home, sweating out a tying 3-point attempt in the closing seconds before handing the Cavaliers their record-setting 25th consecutive loss.

All told, Dallas played 4.4 points per game better during the winning streak than an average team would have been expected to do against the same opponents. By the same measure, the Mavericks' earlier 12-game winning streak that ended Dec. 11 was far more impressive; Dallas was 7.4 points better than average during that stretch. For that matter, the Mavericks were 6.6 points better than average on the season through Dec. 27, when Dirk Nowitzki was sidelined with a knee injury.

The most encouraging aspect of Dallas' winning streak was the way the team clicked on offense. The Mavericks posted a 116.3 offensive rating over those 10 games, which is more efficient than any team in the league has been over the course of the season. After accounting for schedule, Dallas' offense was still more prolific than it has been at any point this year. If the Mavericks can get their defense back where it was before the turn of the calendar, their play might live up to their recent record.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insid...ory?id=6120675
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