Mavericks at Houston Gameday Thread

[kg_veteran]

Originally posted by: capitalcity

That is why -
NELLIE MUST GO® (Registered trademark of kg_veteran)

In fairness, I took it from my friend MavKikiNYC.

[MavsFanFinley]

No Dirk, no Fin, no win for Mavs

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

HOUSTON – Don Nelson's hobbies include golf and hanging out at the beach. Lately, he's found a new pastime: quilting.

Through all the injuries and illnesses this season – from Marquis Daniels to Michael Finley to Jerry Stackhouse to Erick Dampier to Josh Howard – Nelson's patchwork skills have stitched together a lot more wins than losses.

But it's harder piecing together a pattern without Dirk Nowitzki.

The Mavericks found out Sunday how quickly they can go from elite status to lottery impersonators. Just take Nowitzki away. Without their most important thread, they frayed at the edges in the second half as the Houston Rockets ran off with a 90-69 victory at Toyota Center.

It was the Mavericks' lowest scoring output of the season by 11 points and their lowest since Feb. 26, 1999, when they lost, 80-65, at Utah. Boston now is the only team in the NBA to score at least 80 points in every game.

The 0-3 road trip ended with three starters sitting out – Nowitzki (left knee), Finley (left calf) and Dampier (right foot). Only 10 players suited up Sunday. Nowitzki's absence left the Mavericks with no offensive leader.

"He's an MVP, so it's a big void to fill," said Jason Terry, who had 20 points.

Not that the Mavericks were blaming their second three-game skid of the season on injuries. They only needed to look in the mirror.

"You can always blame injuries, but we're still better than that," Nowitzki said. "We just haven't been playing well, home or road, since the All-Star break. So we're a little concerned. There aren't even 25 games left. We have to get our act together."

They hope that will happen when they get their health together. But losing four of their last five after a six-game winning streak has stung them.

"It's our worst trip of the year," Terry said. "We went 0-3, and we need to end it at three games. That's way too many."

The capper was a game that was not exactly ripe with drama.

Despite shooting 37 percent, the Mavericks were only down 59-55 in the final seconds of the third quarter before a "stupid" play gave the Rockets two points. Keith Van Horn tried a court-length pass that sailed out of bounds. The Rockets got the ball inbound to Tracy McGrady, who poured in 32 points, for an easy layup and a six-point lead.

"We did that stupid play at the end of the quarter, then it got away from us in the fourth," Nelson said. "We played pretty well for three quarters, but we had our best offensive players in street clothes, and we couldn't make a shot.

"You don't get disheartened. You have to win a game tomorrow."