Mavericks-Timberwolves Recap

Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Dallas Mavericks 89 at Minnesota Timberwolves 77

With the announcement coming earlier in the day that swingman Josh Howard would be out indefinitely as he returns to rehabbing from his surgically-repaired left ankle, the Dallas Mavericks came into Minnesota hoping to get back on the winning track against a short-handed Timberwolves squad.

As they had the previous 12 times the two teams met, Dallas came away with another notch in the win column, moving their winning streak against Minnesota to 13 (tied for the longest streak in the NBA) with a scrappy 89-77 win. In a physical and emotional affair, the Mavericks kept their heads as tempers flared and moved to 6-3 on the season.

"I liked our defense, we did a nice job defensively and I know they are missing some key guys but in terms of coverage and execution we did a solid job," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after the win. "They are a team you can't look past because they have a lot of 3-point shooters and the point guard situation is strong with (Jonny Flynn) and (Ramon Sessions) and you have to play, play to beat them. It's a good win."

"Road wins in the NBA are not easy to come by, so we'll take it."

But the Mavs had to work hard to claim a victory on the road against the 1-9 Wolves.

"They are a feisty, young team that goes out there and plays hard," forward Shawn Marion said. "We just got to look at it like that."
(Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Rookie Rodrigue Beaubois got the start in place of Howard

As Howard began to sit out for Dallas, and with Al Jefferson (family death) away from the Timberwolves while Kevin Love (broken left hand) continues to watch from the sidelines in street clothes, it was clear early that neither team was at full strength. Carlisle inserted rookie Rodrigue Beaubois into the starting lineup in Howard's stead, playing next to Jason Kidd, Marion, Dirk Nowitzki and Erick Dampier.

As he did in his first start of the season against the New Orleans Hornets, Beaubois opened the scoring by turning a lob pass into an easy deuce off the feed of Kidd. Seemingly like deja vu, the rookie went on to score the first seven Dallas points, as the Mavs jumped out to an early 7-2 lead.

Once the rookie picked up his second foul early and the Timberwolves battled back to take a brief lead, Dallas replaced Beaubois with sixth man Jason Terry while Drew Gooden entered for Dampier. Behind Terry and Gooden, the Mavericks' second unit closed the opening quarter tied at 22-all.

As they have throughout the early stage of the season, Dallas struggled shooting in the first quarter (9-of-23) but used six Minnesota turnovers to stay in the game.

In the second quarter, the Mavs had a tough time defending forward Nathan Jawai in the paint. Jawai, who was on the Dallas preseason roster before being traded, began to show the promise that the Mavs' coaching staff saw this exhibition season but both teams continued to stay evenly matched, tied at 29-all midway through the second quarter.

In a sloppy quarter, Dallas emerged as the front-runner after outscoring Minnesota 22-11 behind defensive rebounding and transition offense to take a 44-33 advantage into the halftime break. Neither team scorched the nets in the first half, as Dallas shot 39 percent while Minnesota hit on just under 33 percent of their shots in the first 24 minutes of play. Marion's 10 first half points, on 4-of-7 from the field, led all scorers at the half.

"We got some stops, in that first half we couldn't make a shot or finish a play," Kidd said. "So we got some defense. We've been talking about it all season and at the beginning of Training Camp, we've got to play good team defense if we want to be one of those elite teams."

(Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)

Dallas began the second half with the game's starters, as the rookie Beaubois continued to get the minutes. Playing fast at both ends, pushing the tempo on offense and defensively collecting timely deflections and a block on Corey Brewer's dunk attempt, Beaubois showed he belonged on the court. The game got testy in the third, with Nowitzki and former Mav Ryan Hollins receiving a double-technical foul call in a scrum before Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis also drew a technical for arguing a call.

The two teams continued to bring out each other's ugly side with confrontational play when Gooden committed a hard foul on Hollins, leading the Minnesota center to be ejected after throwing an elbow Gooden's way. Hollins picked up his second technical in a three-minute span in the altercation.

"It's part of the game, those couple altercations that happened, its just part of the game," Marion said. "Nobody did it intentionally or anything -- it's just the heat of the moment. It's a battle out there on that floor."

"They're a young feisty team just trying to get a win, there's nothing wrong with that and you have to give them credit for that. I won't take that away from them at all."

Meanwhile, the fiery play did little to change the results on the scoreboard as Dallas remained poised and continued to hold a double-digit lead after Terry's steal and breakaway layup gave the Mavs a 60-47 advantage with 3:48 left in the third quarter. The lead then ballooned to 18 just two minutes later, as Nowitzki began to heat up, nailing a 3-pointer off of Terry's feed. Nowitzki poured in 15 points in the period, doing much of his work after the double-technical to take Dallas up 73-54 heading into the final quarter.

"He (Nowitzki) had been struggling and I was considering getting him out and getting him back in, but then he hit a shot so we rolled with him and then he got it going and hit three or four which were big, so that was a key stretch," Carlisle said of Nowitzki's third quarter.

"Dirk is one of the best in the league and he got motivated," Kidd said. "You can see that once he got going, he's tough to stop."

Dallas led by as many as 23 in the fourth behind the above-the-rim play of reserve forward Kris Humphries, as the Mavericks began to put the game away early in the fourth. With Humphries and J.J. Barea leading the way, the Maverick reserves closed out Dallas' sixth win of the season despite Minnesota outscoring Dallas 23-16 in the fourth quarter. The Maverick bench saw most of the time in the fourth.

"We always use it (the second unit), not this much but our second unit is one of the top two or three in the league in scoring, so its not that unusual that they played," Carlisle said.

Nowitzki finished with a game-high 20 points (on 8-of-15 shooting) and 11 rebounds in just 28 minutes. Marion added 15 points, while Terry led the Dallas bench with 12 points of his own.

The rookie Flynn led Minnesota with 11 points.

Despite shooting just 40 percent in the win, Dallas' defense suffocated Minnesota into 33 percent shooting. Dallas also won the rebounding edge 57-51. The Mavs did struggle handling the ball, overcoming 17 turnovers mainly with defensive intensity that translated into 12 blocked shots.

The Mavericks play the third matchup of a four-game road trip and the front end of a back-to-back when they fly to Detroit to take on the Pistons on Sunday evening, with the game airing on FSN Southwest at 5:00 p.m. CT.

Dallas returns to the American Airlines Center on Oct. 18, when the Mavs host the San Antonio Spurs, after the Spurs handed Dallas a 92-83 road loss on Wednesday night. The game will air locally on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD and nationally on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.



The Mavericks and the NBA have introduced the official NBA All-Star game ballot, featuring Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. For more on how to vote for your favorite Mavs for the All-Star game, to be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, visit Mavs.com.

Follow Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.

Around the Southwest Division

Mavericks-Timberwolves Preview

Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Dallas Mavericks (5-3) at Minnesota Timberwolves (1-8)

The Dallas Mavericks' 92-83 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night may prove to be more costly than originally expected.

Though the Mavs suffered just their third loss of the season, the major causality may have come when swingman Josh Howard left the game after playing only a handful of minutes in the second half before re-aggravating the left ankle the former All-Star had surgically repaired this offseason.

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Mavericks must roll on while Howard's out with an ankle injury

Howard had only returned to the court just two games before, when he debuted with 16 pints in 25 minutes in a 129-101 win over Toronto. Now, after playing on a second night of a back-to-back, Howard is once again sidelined though this time there is no scheduled timetable for his return.

"I'm going to go with the unexpected speed bump right now," Howard said after leaving the San Antonio game early with the injury. "I've just got to keep working towards getting healthier."

"He's (Howard) had some soreness in practices, as he's in the stages of a long process of recovery and reconditioning of his ankle," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said initially when Howard exited the game in the loss to the Spurs. "So at times this soreness will occur."

Now, Howard is on the mend and it is unsure when he will return. But the Mavs have played, and won, without Howard in the lineup this season and they must do so again.

If Dallas is looking for a team to release the stress of the Howard loss on, the Minnesota TImberwolves are the perfect test subject. Already struggling out of the gates to a 1-8 start, the T-wolves will be without leading-scorer Al Jefferson when Dallas comes to town. Jefferson will be gone from the team to tend to a family illness.

The Wolves are also without second-year pro Kevin Love, who could return from a broken left hand as early as next week. With Jefferson and Love out, the onus falls on rookie Jonny Flynn and sixth man Ramon Sessions to handle the scoring load. Former Mav Ryan Hollins will also have to step in and play big minutes at the center position.

With the Wolves bruised and battered, Dallas hopes to get off to a quicker start than they have in their previous games. The Mavs have stumbled early in games, needing late-game heroics from Dirk Nowitzki and second half scoring binges to claim their five victories. That can not be the recipe to cooking up a win against the the Wolves, Carlisle said.

"It's (balanced scoring in the first half) an area where we have to continue to work to get better and that's by having the right balance offensively and make sure there is plenty of help out there for him (Nowitzki) because we have plenty of good players."

The Mavericks play the second of a four-game road trip in Minnesota against the Timberwolves on Friday night, with the game airing on FSN Southwest at 7:00 p.m. CT.

Dallas returns to the American Airlines Center on Oct. 18, when the Mavs get a chance at revenge themselves when they host the Spurs. The game will air locally on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD and nationally on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.

The Mavericks and the NBA have introduced the official NBA All-Star game ballot, featuring Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. For more on how to vote for your favorite Mavs for the All-Star game, to be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, visit Mavs.com.

Follow Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.

Mavericks-Spurs Recap

Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Dallas Mavericks 83 at San Antonio Spurs 92

The heated rivalry between the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs went to another level last season when the Mavs ended the Spurs' season in the first round of the playoffs.

Wednesday night, San Antonio got a little bit of revenge as the two teams looked to add the latest installment of their epic battles, though the Mavericks saw a much different Spur lineup in the first of four meetings between the two teams this regular season. Playing on the second night of a back-to-back and matching up against a short-handed Spurs squad, Dallas' tired legs showed as the Mavs struggled to defend San Antonio on the perimeter, falling 92-83 on the road.

"Disappointing loss, San Antonio dictated the game with their aggressiveness as we had some stretches where we matched it but we were never able to exceed it or sustain their high level," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after the loss. "And that was the difference in the game."

"I'll make no excuses, they played harder than we did, simple as that."

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/NBAE via Getty Images)
Mavs dropped the first of four games against the Spurs

Playing with what figures to be their starting lineup on a nightly basis (Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki and Erick Dampier), the Dallas Mavericks looked to exploit a San Antonio squad without Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. Both of the superstar Spurs sat out with left ankle injuries.

"I don't want to take anything away from the Spurs," Nowitzki said. "They were without Duncan and without Parker. They battled. They made big shots when they had to and they played a heck of a game.”

Even with the two go-to players for San Antonio out, Dallas struggled to find the bottom of the net, missing on the first six Maverick shot attempts. The Mavs stayed in the game behind Howard's inside-outside play.

After Howard put Dallas up by two (8-6), San Antonio answered with 10 unanswered, which was eventually broken up by Marion's breakaway dunk. The dunk got the Mavs back on track offensively, as Dallas closed the quarter on a 13-5 run but Keith Bogans' corner 3-pointer at the buzzer brought the game to a 21-all tie at the end of the first quarter.

Both teams struggled to find the shooting stroke, as San Antonio's 36 percent bettered Dallas' 28 percent shooting. But the Mavs lived at the foul line, reaching the charity stripe nine times (6-of-9) in the quarter.

"They were extremely aggressive and we had a lot of good looks that we missed early and that‘s tough when you're on the road but you got to keep playing. I thought that when we got behind a bit our shot selection suffered as we could have gotten better shots and moved the ball better," Carlisle said.

"Especially on a back-to-back, it’s a tough position. I felt we had nothing going," Nowitzki said about the team's fatigue.

Behind sixth man Jason Terry, the Mavericks' offense picked up early in the second quarter, though the Dallas defense struggled to take the 3-point shot out of the Spurs' arsenal. Manu Ginobili's three from the top of the key put the Spurs up 41-32, Carlisle to burn a timeout with 3:58 left in the first half. Out of the timeout the Mavericks went to Nowitzki, as the 7-footer nailed a tough fadeaway in the lane.

The rim-attacking Richard Jefferson and Bogans then took over the scoring responsibilities for the Spurs, until Ginobili nailed a buzzer-beating three over Kidd's defending arm to close the half with San Antonio up 51-38.

"We’re just not aggressive," Nowitzki said. "We’re a veteran team and we’ve got to find a way to be better early and bring more energy early. Not only pick it up when we’re down, we have to be a hit-first kind of team and not hit back all the time when we’re down."

Dallas' cold-shooting night continued through the end of the first half, hitting just 12-of-43 from the floor (28 percent), while the Spurs hit on 43 percent. San Antonio torched the Dallas defense from behind the 3-point arch, knocking down 9-of-18 from long range. Bogans and Jefferson combined for 27 points in the half.

The Mavericks started the second half with a "small ball" lineup, with Barea joining Kidd, Howard, Marion and Nowitzki. The strategy quickly backfired when Marion picked up his fourth foul at the 10:35-mark of the third, sending the high-flyer to the bench.

The Mavericks then found success with a three-guard lineup when Terry joined Kidd and Barea, playing alongside Nowitzki and Dampier. The move freed things up for Nowitzki, as the superstar tried to elevate his team in the quarter.

"Well, you don‘t want to have to reduce it to where you're just going to one guy, we have to get on a roll, eight days ago against Utah, we had to overcome a huge deficit, ride him (Nowitzki) completely and now we just need to do it with more balance and more as a team," Carlisle said. "It's an area where we have to continue to work to get better and that‘s by having the right balance offensively and make sure there is plenty of help out there for him because we have plenty of good players."

The team was without Howard at that point, as the swingman played just five minutes in the second half before re-aggravating his nagging left ankle injury.

"He (Howard) was limping so we took him out. Well tonight was the first back-to-back so we'll evaluate it and treat it accordingly. He's had some soreness in practices as he's in the stages of a long process of recovery and reconditioning of his ankle. So at times this soreness will occur and we will have to get him out of the game."

"It was something I thought about," Howard said after playing his first back-to-back since returning to the lineup. "I didn’t know how it was going to respond and this is how it turned out. It's something I’ve got to deal with and work on getting better."

The Spurs once again turned to the three-ball, as Matt Bonner and Jefferson pushed the San Antonio lead to 15 with 3-point bombs. The Spurs kept launching from deep and the ball continued to find its way in the basket, as San Antonio took a 79-64 lead into the fourth quarter.

Nowitzki continued to put the team on his back in the fourth, driving for a left-handed layup with 7:25 on the game clock to cut the deficit to 10 (82-72). With Dallas down seven, the Mavs continued to inch closer as Terry connected on a corner 3-pointer off the feed of Kidd with 4:12 remaining, cutting it to a four-point game (83-79). Like they had all night, San Antonio answered from behind the 3-point arch, as Bonner once again extended the lead from deep.

"I think the big play was when we had it down to four," Nowitzki said. "I took a bad shot, they came down and we played zone. Then Bonner hits that three from the wing to push it back up to seven with a couple minutes left. I think that was really the game-winner right there."

Down seven with 1:26 to go, Antonio McDyess' foul on Nowitzki on the inbound pass allowed Dallas to draw closer without time coming off the clock, but George Hill's jumper with 1:07 remaining closed the door on Dallas for the night. The Spurs then put the finishing touches on the win at the foul line.

Dallas looked like a team that had exerted all of its energy in a comeback win against Houston just the night before, shooting just 35 percent. San Antonio hit just 42 percent in the win, but made 14-of-34 from behind the 3-point line. The two teams battled to a 47-47 rebounding stalemate on the glass.

"I think our defense wasn't that bad, actually. We held them to 42 percent at home. Offensively, we just couldn't get much going," Nowitzki said.

While Nowitzki matched Jefferson for game-high scoring honors with 29 points apiece, the 7-footer also grabbed 12 rebounds. The Mavs got little help from the other starters, as Marion was the only other Maverick starter in double-figures with 11 points. Terry added 19 points off the Dallas bench.

The Mavericks play the second of a four-game road trip when they travel to Minnesota to meet the Timberwolves on Friday night, with the game airing on FSN Southwest at 7:00 p.m. CT.

Dallas returns to the American Airlines Center on Oct. 18, when the Mavs get a chance at revenge themselves when they host the Spurs. The game will air locally on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD and nationally on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.

The Mavericks and the NBA have introduced the official NBA All-Star game ballot, featuring Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. For more on how to vote for your favorite Mavs for the All-Star game, to be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, visit Mavs.com.

Follow Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.

Mavericks-Spurs Preview

Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Dallas Mavericks (5-2) at San Antonio Spurs (3-3)

There is usually very little time to celebrate a big win in the NBA.

That is especially the case when a team, like the Dallas Mavericks are, goes through a stretch of five games in seven nights. After the Mavs got through the first game in that brutal stretch with a 121-103 runaway win at home against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night, Dallas returns to the court just one night later as they travel south to San Antonio to meet the Spurs.

(Photo by D. Clarke Evans/NBAE via Getty Images)
Dallas hopes Dampier continues his low-post dominance

With the win over the Rockets, the Mavericks moved into first place in the Southwest Division but now the team must venture out on a four-game road trip. Dallas was fortunate to be able to use the energy from the home crowd to to overcome a 17-point first half deficit against Houston, but if they are to be successful on the road then the Mavs can not spot teams double-digit leads and expect to win on a nightly basis.

"We know how good San Antonio is," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after the win against Houston. "We're going to have to play a lot better to win down there. I think we can, we've just got to correct some things and we don't have a whole lot of time to do it but we'll figure out a way."

"We probably played 30 minutes of the kind of basketball we want to play (against Houston). But the other 18, that's where it's got to get better for us. It's a mindset and we'll do our best to learn from this and move on. The games are coming fast and furious now, almost every 24 hours."

One thing that Dallas doesn't have to correct is the play from the center position, as Erick Dampier has shown a high propensity to score and rebound in the paint from the five position. Dampier claimed his third double-double of the season with a 14-point, season-high 20-rebound night against the Rockets.

Now Dampier figures to see a lot of time tormenting the Spurs, with Tim Duncan listed as doubtful for the matchup. Duncan, who has torched the Mavs and the rest of the NBA in the past en route to his four titles, has been fighting a nagging ankle injury. The San Antonio offense figures to go through slow spells, as both Duncan and point guard Tony Parker, who is also listed as doubtful with an ankle injury, are expected to be missing in action Wednesday night.

Though the Spurs have gotten contributions from the likes of a healthy Manu Ginobili, newcomer Richard Jefferson, George Hill and rookie DeJuan Blair, the bulk of San Antonio's success falls on a healthy No. 21 and No. 9. But if Duncan is unable to play, expect for Dampier to thrive, as the Mavs' center hopes his play in the paint will help lead the Mavs to an NBA title of their own.



"I think the biggest goal in mind is the championship," Dampier said. "So, I'm just going to go out there and play the way that I've been playing and try to help us win games."

"We just have to make up our minds to go out there and get the job done. We know what we have to do. It's going to be a team effort (on defense and the glass), and we just have to go out there and stop guys and get rebounds."

The Mavericks meet the Spurs on Wednesday night with the game airing on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Dallas returns to the American Airlines Center on Oct. 18, when the Mavs host the Spurs. The game will air locally on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD and nationally on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.

The Mavericks and the NBA have introduced the official NBA All-Star game ballot, featuring Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. For more on how to vote for your favorite Mavs for the All-Star game, to be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, visit Mavs.com.

Follow Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.

Mavericks-Rockets Recap

Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Houston Rockets 103 at Dallas Mavericks 121

It was truly a tale of two halves in Dallas on Tuesday night.

In a game built as the battle for the early lead in the Southwest Division, the Dallas Mavericks struggled out of the gate and fell behind by 17 points in the first half to the Houston Rockets. Dallas responded with excellent defensive intensity in the second half, a tireless effort from center Erick Dampier on the glass and explosive scoring from sixth man Jason Terry off the bench to win their second straight game, eventually blowing the Rockets out 121-103 on the home floor at the American Airlines Center.

(Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
Dampier's interior presence on the galss powered Dallas to the win


"We just were getting our tails kicked and the guys got angry and played a lot harder and with a lot more purpose," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "That started the turnaround. The play in the first half was really poor."

For the second straight night the Dallas Mavericks' starting lineup was intact, as Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki and Dampier prepared to do battle with their divisional rivals from the southern sector of the state.

To start the game Dampier carried the Mavs inside the paint, while Howard torched Houston from the outside to lift Dallas to an early 10-4 lead. When Howard picked up his second quick foul with 6:08 left in the first, Terry entered the game during a Houston hot streak, as the Rockets rallied to take a 16-14 lead after a Shane Battier 3-pointer.

The Mavs came right back, when Drew Gooden (strained rib cage) returned from his four-game absence. But Dallas struggled to slow down the quickness and shooting ability of Aaron Brooks. After Brooks' 3-pointer gave Houston a 45-35 lead, Terry's driving three-point play with 43.2 seconds left in the quarter kept Dallas in the game.

"We didn't spot them points. Give them a little bit of credit. Aaron Brooks came out extremely hot," Terry said.

Behind 14 points from Brooks, the Rockets closed the quarter up 37-28. While both teams shot well in the period, Dallas' seven turnovers in the first proved to be their downfall early. The Mavs also gave up 18 points in the paint in the period.

Brooks continued his scoring assault as the second quarter began, giving the Rockets a 42-30 lead on his third 3-pointer of the first half. The Houston lead grew to 15 (50-35), leading Carlisle to call for a timeout to regroup with 7:31 left in the half.

"We got scored on 11 straight times at one point. It's embarrassing how poorly we were playing, and give them credit because they were aggressive and making shots and driving the ball, persistent defensively and they had something to do with it," Carlisle said.

After Dallas fell behind by 17, the Mavericks found a boost from the two players that carried the team to begin the game. Dampier's emphatic offensive rebound and hook shot, followed by Howard's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 11 (56-45) with 4:26 remaining in the first half.

After Carl Landry powered Houston back ahead by 14, Kidd found Dampier above the rim for a highlight reel alley-oop finish.

"I think the guys are looking for me more around the basket and a lot of that is because of Jason Kidd," Dampier said. "He has the ball in his hands a lot so I try to present myself under the basket and try to score whenever I get the ball inside."

Kidd then got Dallas' transition game in gear, finding Marion on the break for a score. Back-to-back Nowitzki scores helped Dallas finish on a 10-0 run the last 3:03 of the half to go into the break down 61-57.

The Rockets out-shot Dallas 52 to 48 percent in the half, while also winning the rebounding edge 20-12. Brooks led all scorers at the half with 19 points, while Landry added 13 off the Rockets' bench. Dallas was led by Nowitzki's 14 first half points, while Dampier provided 10 in the middle.

"In a 48-minute game, we're not going to have the luxury of having a bad half and then saying okay now we're going to kick it in," Carlisle said. "You can't fllip a switch. Teams are too good. The game is too challenging, and you're men not machines."

Perhaps the coach spoke accurately of most nights, but as for Tuesday night, the Mavs played like a machine in the second half.

"We got kind of overwhelmed by their energy in the first half," Marion said. "We were able to whip up our energy and get it going in the second quarter and make the big run to close the half out. We just carried it over into the second half and did what we had to do to get the win."

The third period started with the Mavs' run expanding to 14-0, tying the game at 61-all. Kidd's spinning layup with 9:45 on the clock gave Dallas its first lead since 5:02 in the first quarter. After the two teams exchanged blow for blow, the Mavericks emerged ahead behind stellar defensive rotation and timely 3-point shooting from J.J. Barea. Dallas closed the quarter up 83-74 after holding Houston to 5-of-22 shooting in the third quarter. The Mavs outscored the Rockets 26-13 in the third.

In the fourth the Mavericks looked to finish off the win, and Terry's circus shoot and subsequent foul gave Dallas a 12-point advantage with 11:11 remaining. Behind Dampier's dominance on the glass and Marion's low-post scoring, the Mavericks turned what was once a double-figure deficit into a decisive lead.

Terry's transition dunk over Battier's out-stretched arm gave Dallas a 98-85 lead with 6:07 on the clock. Dallas then found the touch from long range, as the sixth man extraordinaire, Terry, nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with 4:29 remaining to keep Houston at bay. Nowitzki's three from the top of the key at the 3:20-mark capped off the win, sending Dallas up 110-91 and leading both teams to empty their benches.

With 2:31 on the clock, Dampier exited the game to a standing ovation with 14 points and a staggering 20 rebounds. The Dallas bench then secured the 18-point win.

"He (Dampier) was great. He was not only a presence around the basket, he was a force. The numbers are monster numbers, so without him we would have been in real trouble tonight," Carlisle said.

Dampier, who was left off of the NBA All-Star ballot, played like an All-Star caliber player on Tuesday night, collecting his eighth career 20-plus rebound game.

"It was disappointing not to see him on that ballot, but I promise if he continues to work hard and do the things that he's doing for this team then he will be an All-Star," Terry said.

"We have to go out and defend and rebound consistently each and every night," Dampier said. "We have guys that can really put the ball in the basket and as long we go out there and work together and play hard good things are going to happen."

After Brooks' 19-point first half, the Dallas defense held the young point guard to just three in second half.

"We just did a better job guarding him," Carlisle said about the Dallas defense on Brooks in the second half. "It wasn't just one guy left on an island, our whole team was reacting to what was going on."

Terry scored a game-high 24 points and Nowitzki added 23 of his own. Barea and Howard added 14 points, while Marion pitched in 10 more. Kidd benefited from the balanced-scoring night, dishing out a game-high 11 assists.

Brooks' 22 led the Rockets, while Landry finished with 19 off the bench.

Dallas out-shot Houston 55 percent to 43 percent on the night, holding the Rockets to 31 percent shooting in the second half.

Behind Dampier, Dallas dominated the glass, winning the rebounding edge 46-37. The Mavs torched Houston in the paint, outscoring the Rockets 60-44 inside.

The Mavericks next play four straight on the road beginning on the second night of a back-to-back, meeting the rival San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night with the game airing on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD at 7:30 p.m. CT.

"Life in the Southwest Division in the NBA is one of the most challenging things you can be involved with. I love it. I love the challenge. I think our players do to, but we know we have to get better," Carlisle.

Dallas returns to the American Airlines Center on Oct. 18, when the Mavs host the Spurs. The game will air locally on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD and nationally on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.

The Mavericks and the NBA have introduced the official NBA All-Star game ballot, featuring Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. For more on how to vote for your favorite Mavs for the All-Star game, to be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, visit Mavs.com.

Follow Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.

Pregame Report with Chuck Cooperstein

Mavericks-Rockets Preview

Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Houston Rockets (4-2) at Dallas Mavericks (4-2)

While there is still a lot of basketball still to be played, the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets meet with first place in the Southwest Division on the line on Tuesday night.

For Dallas, an offseason of wheeling-and-dealing has helped Dallas reverse their early-season failure from last season, when the Mavs started 2-7. In Houston's case, the Rockets have overcome the absences of Tracy McGrady (knee) and Yao Ming (foot) to sprint out to a surprisingly quick start behind hard play on a nightly basis.

(Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)
Slowing down Trevor Ariza will be on Dallas' priority list

"They don't have the two All-Stars," Mavs sixth man Jason Terry said. "When you don't have the two guys that are explosive players then your team has to play hard. If you look at their wins and losses, that's why they've played well, because they've played hard."

With the two high-profile stars out of the Houston lineup, the team has succeeded in playing balanced, well-rounded basketball. The Rockets have also transitioned into a high-octane offensive juggernaut.

"It's not that hard to predict," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "They're going to have a bunch of guys in double figures. They're going to push the ball up very quickly and the 3-point shot is a deadly weapon for them."

"You have to be smart on offense and make sure you can get back to guard them. And you have to take away penetration and deal with the 3-point shot, which isn't easy."

One player that has emerged for the Rockets is new addition Trevor Ariza. After playing as a role player for the Los Angeles Lakers last season during their title run, Ariza has come to Houston and become a go-to scorer and lock-down defender. The forward's length on defense and his ability to knock down the three ball has fit in perfectly with Houston's new brand of play.

"With their present personnel situation, he's (Ariza) one of their main scorers. Right now he's tied for the league lead in fastbreak points with LeBron James, so that tells you something. He's shooting well over 40 percent from three, and defensively he's one of the best players in the league. He's one of many challenges that they present."

To counter Ariza, the Mavs will feature the shooting guard-small forward combination of Josh Howard and Shawn Marion. Howard, who debuted this season in the Mavs' blowout win over Toronto, is still making the transition to the shooting guard position. But while the swingman is learning to defend quicker guards, Carlisle wants Howard to stick to his strengths on the offensive end and not fall into the mold of the prototypical shooting guard.

"Josh is a veteran player, and he knows what his strengths are and he's going to play to those. Really, the two (shooting guard) and three (small forward) positions are kind of interchangeable on our team and in this league. You use the skill set that you have, you use the physical tools that you have, you use your experience and you play your game to the best of your ability. He'll do that, whether he's a two or a three," Carlisle said.

With Howard back into the fold, the Mavericks are patiently awaiting the return of forward Drew Gooden, who has been sidelined with a strained rib cage. Gooden is a game-time decision.

"We'll see where things are tonight," Carlisle said of Gooden's status. "He got through practice yesterday. He's made progress."

The Mavericks begin a stretch of five games in eight nights when they host the Rockets on Tuesday night, with the game airing on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.

Before the game, the Mavericks and the NBA introduced the official NBA All-Star game ballot, featuring Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. For more on how to vote for your favorite Mavs for the All-Star game, to be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, visit Mavs.com.

Follow Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.

Mavericks Practice Report (11/09/09)

Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Mavs Practice Report (11/09/09)

While the Dallas fans had a lot to be excited about after the Mavericks ran away from the Toronto Raptors in a 129-101 blowout win on Saturday night, the team quickly tamed their enthusiasm.

After the Mavs shot a season-high 62 percent and scored a season-best in points in the win, the Mavs turned their attention immediately to the Southwest Division rival Houston Rockets.

(Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)
Mavs will see a tough-minded Rockets squad on Tuesday night

"For us, it was good," Nowitzki said about the offensive barrage the Mavs displayed against Toronto. "We had a couple of suspect offensive outings so far in the beginning of the year, only shooting low 40s, so that was definitely good. Everybody got touches, even the bench came in and made some big shots for us."

"That's definitely something we can build on, but as our offense gets better we don't want to take steps back defensively. We want to keep our defensive intensity at the same level and just get better offensively. We don't want to trade defense for offense now."

Dallas hopes both their offense and defense show up Tuesday night when the Rockets travel upstate. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said the Rockets' blue-collar approach, with superstars Tracy McGrady (knee) and Yao Ming (foot) out with injuries, has Houston playing the most competitive basketball in the league. The Mavericks will see first-hand how competitive Houston is when the two squads meet on floor of the American Airlines Center.

"We're going to play a team tomorrow that's probably the hardest-playing team in the league," Carlisle said. "The challenge tomorrow with Houston is to meet their level of intensity. You don't do that and they beat you, that's what they've been doing to people."

"They've just got a bunch of hard-playing guys. They're very well-coached. They push the ball up fast, so you have to be extremely aggressive because they're going to be aggressive and it's an 'in the trenches' type of game."

The test against the Rockets will be a good measuring stick for how tough the Mavericks are at this stage of the 2009-10 season.

"We'll find out how tough we are on Tuesday night. I like our team, but this is a different kind of test than we've had," Carlisle said.

With Ming and McGrady sidelined, the Rockets play a very high-tempo, rugged style. New addition Trevor Ariza has impacted the team immediately with his do-it-all ability both on offense and on the defensive end.

"They (Houston) are pretty impressive, I have to admit," Nowitzki said. "We played them in the preseason and that was already a battle. They have a bunch of young guys that really play hard."

"I think Ariza really fits in well with them -- kind of long, moving, on the go, shooting the three, driving. They're a tough team to beat, so we have to be ready."

The Mavericks begin a stretch of five games in eight nights when they host the Rockets on Tuesday night, with the game airing on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available, can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS. The Mavericks then play four straight on the road beginning with the rival San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.

"We've got a road trip, which is never easy in this league no matter who you play. It's a nice little stretch for us. I think here in the beginning our games were stretched out -- we always had two days in between, which is not really normal in this league. So now, the hits are going to keep coming. Hopefully we start off on the right foot tomorrow."

Follow Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.