10-8: Mavs beat the Suns (I love typing that)

[jthig32]

JJ Freaking Barea. Holy cow. I still feel like it's somewhat fool's gold, but man I'm enjoying it while it lasts. I love seeing him play with confidence.

Don't overlook Damp tonight. He severely outplayed Shaq tonight, and don't discount that. Shaq has played well this season, he was rested last night specifically to play tonight and Damp just dominated him in every phase of the game.

It was fun to see Dirk shoot like that. He's due for a few more games like that.

I still want to see how everything fits when all the pieces are put together, but don't overlook what's going on here. This team is developing some serious flexibility. Dallas outplayed Phoenix with the big lineup tonight, and when Phoenix went small Carlisle said "ok, I got that too", and Dallas' midget lineup dominated again.

And this versatility is happening without one of our most versatile players. Josh is someone that would live at the rim against the kind of small lineup Phoenix threw out there in the fourth quarter, and he's our best wing defender to boot.

One small negative: Kidd is looking like he's scared of the rim again. There were several instances tonigt when Kidd beat his man off the dribble late in the shot clock and instead of making a play at the basket he forced it to a covered player on the perimeter. I hate that.

Look at Shawne Williams' line and tell me why he can't take Deaven George's minutes when everyone is healthy again.