The one (and only) Dallas at New Joisey thread

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: MavsFanFinley
Daniels saved our butt today with that steal.

Dirk should buy Daniels a watch or something for saving his bacon. If Dirk had called a timeout like he SHOULD HAVE then the last second steal would have been unnecessary.

And I agree with Bayliss about going small - I didn't understand it at all.

[MavsFanFinley]

Mavs win 101-98:

Walker (26) 2-6, 4pts, 4rbs, 3as, 3to's, 1stl

Williams (3) 0-1, 0-2

Dirk (35) 7-19, 1-2, 6-6, 21pts, 5rbs, 1as, 2to's, 2blks

Finley (37) 7-13, 1-4, 15pts, 5rbs, 4as, 1to, 1stl

Nash (41) 5-12, 3-4, 2-2, 15pts, 5rbs, 16as, 4to's, 2stls

Fortson (4) 1-1, 2pts, 1rb

Jamison (32) 9-13, 2-6, 20pts, 5rbs, 2tos, 1stl

Bradley (12) 1-3, 2pts, 3rbs, 2as, 2stls, 1blk

Daniels (19) 6-7, 12pts, 1rb, 1as, 1to, 2stls

Howard (23) 3-6, 6pts, 3rbs, 2as, 1to, 1stl, 2blks

Najera (8) 2-4, 4pts, 1rb

[MightyToine]

Let's see what happens tomorrow against Philly....


I doubt Walker will play AS BAD as he did tonight.....right??? RIGHT?? [img]i/expressions/rolleye.gif[/img]

[dude1394]

But when he had fortson/williams in there with walker,dirk,finley, steve they were getting beat to the paint.

[dude1394]

Nellie's "small" today was . Shawn, jamison, howard, finley, daniels. It's small enough to get through the double-picks contest shots outside, but still with shawn in there stop drives to the paint.

This is versus something like (fortson, williams) shawn, dirk, walker, stevie, finely. Dirk, walker wasn't hanging with their outside guys.

[Bayliss]

But when he had fortson/williams in there with walker,dirk,finley, steve they were getting beat to the paint.

And yet Williams and Fortson played 8 minutes combined.

Just out of curiosity, did we ever see:

Williams/Bradley
Dirk
Howard/Daniels
Fin
Nash

I don't remember seeing it. The starting 5 is the best lineup we could've put out there. Howard cvan defend Jefferson, Bradley can deny penetration, Dirk can guard Rogers, and we have offense on the floor.

In fact, has Nellie ever used that lineup for extended minutes? (Dude, that is my main point. Nellie can preach all he wants to about "defense" but unless he puts a semi-balanced lineup out there, it will be for naught. And he'll never put a "balanced" team out there.

[MightyToine]

From the Recap off of http://www.sports.yahoo.com/nba :



EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Steve Nash had 15 points and a season-high 16 assists and the Dallas Mavericks came up with two big defensive plays in the final 18.8 seconds to post a 101-98 win over the undermanned New Jersey Nets on Sunday.

Dirk Nowitzki blocked a shot underneath the basket by Nets center Jason Collins, seconds after hitting a fadeaway jumper that gave the Mavericks a 99-98 lead with 26.8 seconds left.

Nash, who had a big turnover in the final minute to keep the Nets' hopes afloat of an upset without Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin, made the second defensive play with 5.4 seconds to go.

Guarding Lucious Harris in front of the Mavericks' bench with Dallas still up a point, Nash tipped the inbounds pass and Marquis Daniels picked it off.

Daniels threw the ball downcourt and Nash tracked it down and was fouled with a tenth of a second to go.

He made both free throws to send the Nets to their third straight loss.

Nowitzki finished with 21 points and Antawn Jamison had 20 for the Mavericks, who hit 14 of 20 shots in the final quarter.

Richard Jefferson had 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for New Jersey, which putty on a gutty effort. Harris scored a season-high 21 points and Rodney Rogers had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Antoine Walker of Dallas did not play the final 17-plus minutes. There was no immediate explanation why he sat out.

Dallas, which trailed by 12 points midway through the third quarter, got within four entering the fourth and then finally found its shooting touch, building a 91-86 lead with 5:03 to play.

The Nets got within a point twice, and they finally took the lead on a layup by Collins with 51.9 seconds to play and a fastbreak by Rogers after Nash lost the ball with 33.7 to go.

Nowitzki hit his fadeaway to give Dallas the lead.

After Nowitzki blocked Collins' shot, he threw on an errant inbounds pass that Rogers intercepted.

The Nets retained the ball after Josh Howard tipped a pass out of bounds with 10.4 seconds to go. Dallas had a foul to give and used it with 5.4 seconds, setting up Nash's big play.

Dallas, which led only in the opening minutes, weathered a torrid stretch by the Nets in the opening eight minutes of the second half.

New Jersey hit 11 of its first 14 shots, including nine in a row in one stretch, to open a 12-point lead.

Nash hit two long 3-pointers and Nowitzki added another to get to within74-70 entering the final quarter.

Notes

Finley, whose eight points against Boston on Friday night was his first non double-digit game since Jan. 11, had nine in the first quarter against New Jersey and finished with 15. ... With the NCAA Regional at East Rutherford this week, the Nets will play their next three games on the road. ... Harris' nine baskets gave him 2006 in his NBA career. ... Both teams shot better than 50percent. New Jersey was 38 of 74 (51.4) and Dallas 43-of-85 (50.6).












>>> Umm....What do these guys THINK happened with Walker? He plays well, he stays in. He doesn't(which he didn't tonight), he sits.

How hard is it to understand? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

[EricaLubarsky]

Im 1-0 on the road but this was a game we really should have won big. Im sticking to home games from now on.

[Day1MavsFan]

Well, I was right. Bradley goes out and the lead evaporates. They got the big lead when he was in, and after he went out it went right back down to within two points of what it was before he entered. Nellie just can't seem to handle success. Now Shawn will probably get a DNP tomorrow. And we wonder why he isn't very motivated.

[Mavs Rule]

Guarding Lucious Harris in front of the Mavericks' bench with Dallas still up a point, Nash tipped the inbounds pass and Marquis Daniels picked it off.

Nice to see Steve with a big DEFENSIVE play in the last minute. Marquis had an outstanding game also. This guy is going to be a good backup point, and I am glad Nellie is recognizing it and giving him the minutes he deserves. I would much rather see the ball in his hands instead of our point forward's hands. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[dude1394]

I heard bradley interviewed in the postgame. First thing is he seems to be just the nicest guy, really personable. Second he sort of validated some thoughts that the nets run a very good motion offense with a lot of switching and movement. I would imagine that's why nellie wanted to sit walker and dirk for a while.

At the end he almost had to put dirk back in as getting a score was as important as contesting one.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: dude1394
I heard bradley interviewed in the postgame. First thing is he seems to be just the nicest guy, really personable. Second he sort of validated some thoughts that the nets run a very good motion offense with a lot of switching and movement. I would imagine that's why nellie wanted to sit walker and dirk for a while.

At the end he almost had to put dirk back in as getting a score was as important as contesting one.

I don't believe Nellie was actually doing anything different with Dirk than what he routinely does. Nellie was getting Dirk some rest to start the 4th quarter. Usually, he'll bring him back in with 8 to 9 minutes left. But, the Mavs were playing so well that Nellie decided to ride the lineup that was on the court. It worked.

As for Dirk's bad pass at the end of the game, he simply must call a TO in that situation. He could have cost the Mavs the game. Thankfully the Mavs pulled it out.

And remember, while dirk was out at the start of the 4th, Fin was on the bench alongside him for much of the time. Nellie simply was sticking with what was working at the time.

[dude1394]

It's just one of those things that they've been doing THIS year that they didn't last year isn't it. A sort of semi-inattentiveness.. Sort of unfocused and unsure of themselves.

[MavsFanFinley]

Rookies help Mavericks cut Nets, 101-98

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Don Nelson has a favorite saying for just about everything, and his rookies are no different.

"No rookies on the wood make the game go good," he said when asked before Sunday's game against New Jersey if he was going to start playing Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels more as the playoffs approach.

So what does Nelson do? He puts both of his rookies on the floor for the crucial stretch against the Nets. And the kids were all right. In fact, the way they made plays in the Mavericks' 101-98 squeaker over the Nets, Nelson may actually get over his rookie phobia.

Daniels hit his first six shots, had 12 points and made the game-saving steal of an inbounds pass in the final seconds. Howard had two important blocked shots to go with six points and joined Daniels, Antawn Jamison, Steve Nash and Shawn Bradley on the floor during a six-minute stretch bridging the third and fourth quarters that swung the momentum to the Mavericks.

"Our rookies really deserve the credit for us winning this game," Nelson said. "I thought they kept us in it when things didn't look good. They made the big plays, from steals to baskets to offensive rebounds to defense."

And there was some defense, at least at the end, as the Mavericks won the opener of an all-important five-game road trip. And the pressure certainly was on with New Jersey missing its two best players – Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin.

"Even without their two best players," said Howard, "they came to play."

The Mavericks were down 72-62 late in the third quarter. With Dirk Nowitzki, Antoine Walker and Michael Finley on the bench, the lesser lights went to work. And Nelson proved that Walker is not the only star he will sit when somebody else is more deserving of playing time.

"I was going with the hot guys," Nelson said. "So both rookies were playing well. I normally don't like to play them together too much. But maybe it's time that, if they're playing the better ball, they deserve to play.

"I had my three best players out of the game and we played our best ball. The other guys did it. They came back from eight or 10 down and got us a nice lead.

Nash and the rookies led a 19-4 splurge that put the Mavericks ahead 81-76 after a Daniels layup with 8:39 to play.

They would relinquish it only once, when Rodney Rogers got a layup with 33.4 seconds left for a 98-97 New Jersey lead. But Nowitzki salvaged a subpar game with a 14-foot jumper over Rogers with 26.8 to go.

The Mavericks would spend the rest of the game chasing the Nets and praying for the buzzer. Nowitzki botched an inbounds pass to Nash, as Rogers intercepted with 15 seconds left.

But the Nets' last gasp ended when Lucious Harris' inbounds pass was deflected by Nash and picked off by Daniels with 4.8 to go.

"A trusty deflection," said Nash.

Said Daniels, who has gone from undrafted rookie to in the Mavs rotation as the playoffs near: "I was going for a steal all the way. I was trying to deny him. The pass didn't have much on it and I was able to come up with it. It's good to know that the coach has a lot of confidence in you."

Not to mention his teammates, who still treat Daniels and Howard like rookies but love that they aren't playing like rookies.

"It's about time for them to grow up and put their uniforms on by themselves," Finley said. "I was very impressed with them."

And in the biggest upset, so was the coach.

[Novice#41]

i knew we would win !!!

[PubaNWO]

If the Rooks did not play as well as they did that game then a loss was inevitable....

Nellie would be taking so much heat for keeping Fin, Walk, dirk on the bench even though dirk and walk were not shooting particularly well.....you still have to play your best players.....

fortunately the rooks played real well and Nash stepped up offensively.....he seems to pick his spots when to score and shoot and generally it happens when it's needed....I think Nash is probably the Mavs SMARTEST player on the team.....