Dallas beats NY

[MavsFanFinley]

Wednesday’s action started with the Dallas Mavericks beating New York Knicks 88-77. Coming into the game the Mavericks were 1-2 and the Knicks were even at 1-1. Maciej Lampe continued his aggressive play from the night before, scoring six points in the opening minutes and finishing with nine quarter. For the Mavericks, Josh Howard showed a consistent jump shot, knocking down several shots from the outside, shooting 3-5 from the field, and scoring seven points. Marquis Daniels helped Howard push the Dallas lead to three as the first quarter ended, also scoring seven points.

But as the second quarter began, the Knicks took the lead back with a 8-0 run in the first three minutes with Matt Carroll, Frank Williams, and Troy Ostler scoring. Maciej Lampe checked in midway through the quarter and kept his hot hand, connecting on 18ft jump shot and a three point field goal. By the end of the quarter though, Dallas was back in the driver’s seat, with a seven point lead at the two minute mark. By half time, the Knicks were unable cut into the deficit and the Mavericks went into the half with a six point lead, 45-39. At the break Lampe was the leading scorer with 14points on 6-12 shooting and four rebounds.

Marquis Daniels helped keep the Mavericks in control during the third quarter, scoring six points midway through the quarter. Matt Carroll tried to keep the Knicks close, connecting on 2-3 field goals, but Dallas pushed their lead to 14points. Each team continued to push the ball down the floor, trading baskets, and as the end of the quarter approached the Knicks were still trying to keep the lead under double digits. Mladen Sekularac, ended what had previously been a shooting drought, by connecting on two long jump shots to score seven points.

Entering the last quarter of play, the Knicks could do little to slow the Mavericks down. Brandon Williams came out shooting well, scoring seven points in by the four minute mark. With Frank Williams on the bench, Billy Keys manned the point for the Knicks and scoring 10 points during the game. Keeping their lead at 14 consistently during the fourth quarter, the Mavericks ran away with the victory though Maciej Lampe played well for New York, scoring 25 points, connecting on 10-18 field goals, grabbing 11 rebounds. Marquis Daniels paced the Mavericks with 16 points and three assists.

The Knicks will take Thursday off and will resume play again on Friday when they take on the Chicago Bulls at 4:00 p.m. MT on NBA TV. The Mavericks will take on the Pacers/Sixers team Thursday at 4:00 p.m. on NBA TV.

[ocelot_ark]

Howard continues to do good...as does Daniels.

But Lampe sure is starting to play very well.

[MFFL]

Originally posted by: ocelot_ark
But Lampe sure is starting to play very well.

Oh yeah

[mavsfanforever]

Originally posted by: MFFL

Oh yeah

Just remembered, we had a chance to pick Lampe in the draft.

[aexchange]

Originally posted by: mavsfanforever

Just remembered, we had a chance to pick Lampe in the draft.

we can flog this horse to death...
but to be frank, i have a better chance of being the mavericks new starting power forward over dirk, then we had of feasibly signing lampe with the last pick in the 1st round.

quit beating a dead issue. we all know we had a chance to draft lampe. whoop de doo. because of the way 1st rd contracts are slotted or guaranteed, lampe would have lost money to come play with us. word out of the NYC papers are that the knicks are going to have to dip into their MLE to help sign lampe. if we had the 1st pick in the 2nd rd, i'm sure we would be in a different situation.

[Dooby]

we can flog this horse to death...
but to be frank, i have a better chance of being the mavericks new starting power forward over dirk, then we had of feasibly signing lampe with the last pick in the 1st round.

quit beating a dead issue. we all know we had a chance to draft lampe. whoop de doo. because of the way 1st rd contracts are slotted or guaranteed, lampe would have lost money to come play with us. word out of the NYC papers are that the knicks are going to have to dip into their MLE to help sign lampe. if we had the 1st pick in the 2nd rd, i'm sure we would be in a different situation.

Exactly. Fault the Mavs for many things, but taking Lampe in the late first round meant waiting on him until possibly 2008 to play in the NBA. It is a weird quirck in the CBA that allows the first pick of the second round to potentially be paid more than the last pick of the first. If the Knicks don't use their MLE on a free-agent, they can use it to give to Lampe so he can buy out his Real Madrid contract. One, the Mavs could not do that as first round picks have slotted salaries and Lampe wouldn't make enough money to buy out his Real Madrid contract. Second, the Mavs weren't willing to spend their MLE on Lampe anyway.

[MFFL]

Originally posted by: aexchange

we can flog this horse to death...
but to be frank, i have a better chance of being the mavericks new starting power forward over dirk, then we had of feasibly signing lampe with the last pick in the 1st round.

quit beating a dead issue. we all know we had a chance to draft lampe. whoop de doo. because of the way 1st rd contracts are slotted or guaranteed, lampe would have lost money to come play with us. word out of the NYC papers are that the knicks are going to have to dip into their MLE to help sign lampe. if we had the 1st pick in the 2nd rd, i'm sure we would be in a different situation.

Always take the more talented player. Always.

Always take a tall player over a small player if the talent is equal. Always.

The contract stuff is BS - I'm sure that Lampe would have been released in a season or two. So we have to wait - who cares? We have been talking about reloading around Dirk in 3 years anyway.

[aexchange]

with all due respect MFFL, i disagree.

if you are a contender, you draft to win championships now, and get players who can help you now. i think most people would agree we are one of the top 4 or 5 teams in the league. while everyone talks of the mavs getting too old and needing to reload they conveniently ignore the past few championship teams that had quality vets and depth on the bench. SA, the Lakers, even the Bulls of the 90s. their average age was much higher than the Mavs.

if we were a lottery team with no hopes or aspirations of winning a championship, you probably take Lampe and pray that he can come over in 2 to 3 years. but the goal is to win championships now. finley, nash, and NVE are in their primes. you dont strip down everytime someone approaches 30, because in 3-5 years we'll be talking about needing to get younger again. youth doesnt win championships. and that is a time tested and proven theory.

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by: MFFL
Always take the more talented player. Always.

Always take a tall player over a small player if the talent is equal. Always.

The contract stuff is BS - I'm sure that Lampe would have been released in a season or two. So we have to wait - who cares? We have been talking about reloading around Dirk in 3 years anyway.

It's debatable that Lampe is more talented, or equal in talent. I care. Then we'll wait at least another season for him to get used to playing in the NBA. By then, Howard would have had 3 full NBA seasons, and perhaps be the guy we need. We'll know in 1 or 2 seasons if he is, with Lampe, we'll have to wait at least 3.