Marquis Daniels available for tonight's Season Opener

[Steve13]

Update: Daniels, who missed all eight preseason games with an ankle sprain, is expected to be available for the Mavericks' season opener Tuesday night against the Kings, the Dallas Morning News reports. "He's been very good in practice," Nelson said of Daniels. "He's not even 100 percent, but I forgot how good he is."


http://fantasysports.yahoo.com/analy...gns&league=nba

[Drbio]

Great news, but I hope he doesn't rush back until fully healthy.

[MavsFanFinley]

Not only is Daniels available tonight, so is Stackhouse.

Mavs hit high point in health

By Art Garcia
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS - If the entire training camp/preseason went as well as the last four days, the Mavericks might have a better idea of what's in store for the regular season.

That's not to say Don Nelson and crew are flying blind into 2004-05. The Mavs are healthier than at any time in the last month, and Nelson has a definite rotation in mind heading into the season opener tonight against the Sacramento Kings at American Airlines Center.

"I really like the team," Nelson said after a light practice Monday. "I think we're going to be really good. I don't know when we're going to be good. That's the only problem, but this is going to be a good team. I'm excited about coaching them this year."

Everyone on the 12-man active roster went through an entire practice for the first time Monday.

Marquis Daniels, out for all eight preseason games with a sprained left ankle, is expected to play tonight. Nelson estimates Daniels' ankle at 80 percent, so the plan is to monitor his minutes during the early part of the season.

Jerry Stackhouse, who missed seven preseason games, and last week doubted whether he'd play in the first few regular-season games, is also set to go against the Kings.

"That's all I asked for: Give me four days together," Nelson said. "I didn't have any other days together, so I got my wish. They've done really well. They've grown together nicely."

Nelson came into October planning to use a nine-man rotation, but has pushed that to 10 because of the team's depth.

"We're well-rounded," Dirk Nowitzki said. "We have all the pieces we need. Now it's about finding the rhythm early."

First hurdle

Don Nelson's decision to make rookie Devin Harris the starting point guard apparently has gone over well with veteran Jason Terry, who began the preseason as the starter. That's the kind of move that led to friction last season.

"This team is able to take constructive criticism and use it to its benefit," Michael Finley said. "We have a team that's able to put our egos on a shelf and do what's best for the team. If you have that, it makes it easy for the coach to make 'executive decisions' and not affect the overall morale of the team.

"I think last year, the coach was put in a difficult situation to make some decisions that he probably should have made that he didn't make."

Finley expects the team to have its share of adversity behind the scenes. The key is not letting it become public, i.e. Antoine Walker complaining about playing 18 minutes.

"If you find out where there's a bump in the road," he said, "then it's a problem."

Briefly

• Dan Dickau (sprained left ankle), Pavel Podkolzin (torn cartilage in right knee) and Tariq Abdul-Wahad (left knee tendinitis) were placed on the injured list Monday.

• Mark Cuban on the NBA opening the season on election night: "Who's the genius behind that?"

• Election updates will be available during the game on the matrix boards inside American Airlines Center.

• The team is releasing several hundred tickets today starting at $25.

• A victory tonight would be the franchise's 100th at AAC.

[alby]

its still early guys.. please fully heal instead of rushing your returns

[steponhens]

I am glad to hear positive reviews for Daniels even when his ankle is at 80%. I can't wait to see him towards the end of the season.

[Marv Albert]

The prospects for tonight's game are looking better and better. A week ago, it seemed like this would be a meeting of two banged-up squads. In addition to this news, Christie and Ostertag have been cleared to play for the Kings.

Those guys coming off injuries will probably be playing limited minutes, but it's much closer to full strength than was expected. I'm excited.