3-17-10
After a disappointing home loss against the New York Knicks on Saturday, the Dallas Mavericks hope to begin a new win streak tonight as they face the Chicago Bulls. The Dallas Mavericks reeled off 13 straight wins, tying the third-longest win streak in team history, before faltering against New York, 128-94.
Perhaps the biggest lucky charm the Mavericks have on their side tonight is the return of Sixth Man of the Year Jason “The Jet” Terry. Terry is slated to return to action after missing five games due to facial surgery. Wearing a custom-designed plastic mask, he may look a little different to Mavericks’ fans tonight. After practice yesterday, Terry said he has no feeling on the left side of his face following his surgery and the doctors told him to wear the mask for the rest of the season. However, Terry, the most superstitious player on the team, hinted the mask may come off a little sooner.
"If I miss the first shot, it might be coming off. Take a good look now because it might be the last you see of it," Terry said. "Hopefully, I'll have enough feeling on the left side to wear it one game and get rid of it."
The Mavericks have definitely missed his 17.0 points a game during his absence, especially on Saturday night. Terry believes he can come in and bring energy off the bench like he has done all season.
"I'm feeling good, no pain," Terry said. "The body is good and well-rested and hopefully I'll be able to provide a spark for us. When I went out, I was performing at a high level and I want to maintain that level."
Head Coach Rick Carlisle agreed and is ready to welcome Terry back to the floor.
“It is a great lift for us (having Jason back) both basketball-wise and spiritually too. He is one of our inspirational guys,” Carlisle said. “It was a tough two weeks with out him. But he is a guy that is absolutely essential to any success we are going to have.”
The Chicago Bulls enter tonight’s game with much to play for. They are right in the thick of the race for the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final Playoff spot. However, more than that, the Bulls will be looking for revenge for the events of a week ago when the Mavericks traveled to the Windy City and defeated the Bulls on their homecourt, 122-116.
Outmanned and seemingly overmatched, the Mavericks, on the second half of a back-to-back, played only eight players as they out-hustled and out-played a well-rested Chicago squad. In that game, the Mavericks were without the services of Terry (facial surgery), Brendan Haywood (lower back tightness) and Erick Dampier (right middle finger surgery).
The Mavericks shot 56.3% as a team and got 20 or more points from Dirk Nowitzki (27 points), Caron Butler (24 points) and rookie Rodrigue Beaubois (24 points). Derrick Rose was the lone bright spot for the Bulls as reigning Rookie of the Year recorded 34 points on 15-for-22 shooting from the field.
“They are going to be a desperate team,” Carlisle said. “They have lost some games and we are not exactly sure who is going to play for them but it’s got to be more how we are going to play-our disposition we have both defensively and offensively. We got to get back on track and get another win streak started.”
Tonight’s game will air locally on TXA21 at 7:30 p.m. CT. The team concludes their four-game home stretch against Boston on Saturday. Tickets for both games are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.
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