Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
New Jersey Nets 87 at Dallas Mavericks 96
For the most part, the Dallas Mavericks' play over the last 13 games has been a thrill to watch. But for 24 minutes on Wednesday night, everything the Mavericks had accomplished since the All-Star break was in jeopardy of coming to a screeching halt.
Playing against the New Jersey Nets, the team with the NBA's worst record, the Mavericks found themselves in a double-digit hole in the first half. But stellar defense and the play of Jason Kidd and Caron Butler erased that disadvantage in the third and fourth quarters. The result was a 96-87 victory to begin a four-game home stand. It is the team's 13th consecutive win, tying the league's best stretch by any team this season.
(Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
"The difference tonight was when they were scoring, we weren't able to go back and score back on them, like we have been able to do in the last couple of games," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after the win. "But the key is finding a way to win."
Injuries have riddled the Mavericks recently. But the team has played through their recent ailments, taking the NBA's longest active winning streak into their matchup with the Nets. Fortunately for the Mavericks, they took a step in the right direction on the injury front, as two 7-footers returned to the streaking Dallas squad. Despite losing reserve guard J.J. Barea (left ankle) in the Mavericks' 125-112 win over Minnesota on Monday night, the team was delighted to have big men Brendan Haywood and Erick Dampier back on the floor. Haywood returned to the starting lineup after missing two games with lower back tightness. Dampier saw his first game action since dislocating his right middle finger on Feb. 16 in a 99-86 loss to Oklahoma City.
But even with the two big bodies on the floor, the Mavericks were out of sink in the early going. The Nets jumped out to a 17-3 lead from the opening tip. The duo of former Mav Devin Harris and Nets center Brook Lopez dominated the Dallas defense in the opening quarter, lifting New Jersey to a 33-19 lead after one.
"The only thing we've down during this stretch is play good defense. We didn't do that in the first quarter," Haywood said.
The Nets shot lights-out in the first quarter, hitting on 14-of-21 shots from the field. Meanwhile, the Mavericks struggled to just 7-for-17 shooting.
"The first quarter was ugly and we played poorly. They shot a high percentage. Really what the game came down to was the defensive end. I believe they shot 32 percent the final three quarters, but them shooting 67 or 68 in the first quarter was not the right way to start," Carlisle said.
New Jersey continued to come at the Mavericks head-on in the second quarter, led by swingman Terrence Williams' attacking play. But after trailing by as much as 18, the Mavericks rallied behind rookie guard Rodrigue Beaubois. A 10-1 run was capped in spectacular fashion when Kidd dove into the crowd to save a loose ball, eventually leading to a transition dunk for Shawn Marion to cut Dallas' deficit to single digits. The game's intensity level picked up from that point. The last 7:26 of the second stanza, the Nets shot 2-for-10 and committed five turnovers. The Mavs outscored the visiting team 16-6 during that stretch. Still, the Mavs entered the half down 47-39.
New Jersey out-shot Dallas 53 percent to 36 percent in the first half. The Nets capitalized off of Dallas' seven first half turnovers, scoring 13 points on Maverick miscues. Harris led all scorers at the midway point with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Beaubois kept the Mavs close with his 11 points off the bench.
"They have some dynamic players. They are athletic, they're hungry. They came out and hit a bunch of shots and we weren't as good as we needed to be defensively. So, we got in a big hole. At halftime, basically, we felt like if we could have a 40-point defensive half, we'd be in position to win the game. That's exactly what we held them to," Carlisle said.
An angrily aggressive Dallas team came out of the locker room to start the second half. The Mavericks' 12-2 run knotted the game at 51-all at the 7:30-mark of the third. Dallas took its first lead of the night a short time later on a pair of Shawn Marion free throws. They never looked back. Outscoring the Nets 31-15 in the third, the Mavericks galloped into the final period with a 70-62 advantage.
"Our defensive disposition was stronger," Carlisle said. "We were more physical. We were more alert. We scored 31 that quarter. A lot of them came in transition off stops."
Beaubois and Kidd quickly put distance between the two teams, giving the Mavs a double-digit lead with sharp shooting from behind the 3-point arch. But the Nets were able to hang tough behind former Mav Kris Humphries and Jarvis Hayes. The Dallas offense looked for an answer with Dirk Nowitzki having a rare off night.
"Dirk wasn't playing extremely well, but we can't ask him to score 20 to 30 every night," Kidd said.
Things got even harder when Beaubois picked up his sixth foul, taking him out of the game with the Mavs up just 85-81 with 5:36 remaining. The Mavericks' lead shrunk to as little as two before Kidd and Butler elevated their games to push the Mavs to the victory. The future Hall of Fame point guard rained in a three to put his team up 90-85 with 2:43 left. Butler followed Kidd with a jumper of his own.
"Obviously, things are going to run through (Nowitzki)," Butler said. "But when things aren't going well, that's what we're here for -- a helping hand."
Butler even battled through a hit to the face while battling with Haywood for a rebound, making perhaps the play of the game when he found that same teammate that knocked him to the floor for a layup with 50.8 ticks left to put the Mavericks up seven.
"The assist to Haywood was the key play that probably put the game away," the coach said of the sequence.
The two-time All-Star then added a pair of free throws to seal the Mavericks' 13th straight win.
The streak continued despite the back-to-back Western Conference Player of the Week, Nowitzki, hitting just 3-of-16 shots and scoring 12 points in just over 40 minutes played.
"My jump shot was all over the place, just not in the middle," Nowitzki simply said.
"Dirk had an atypical night, but you're not going to play like the MVP every night," Carlisle said of the superstar's rough night. "I think he's earned the right to have an off night."
With Nowitzki struggling, Kidd stepped up with 20 points and nine assists. Butler added 18, while Beaubois posted 16 points off the bench before fouling out. In his return to the lineup, Haywood record a double-double, scoring 11 points and snatching 10 rebounds. But it was Marion's 14-point, 13-rebound night that had his coach raving."Shawn Marion has been Mr. Everything for us -- Mr. Whatever-we-need," Carlisle concluded.
Returning to Dallas, Harris scored a game-high 21 points after his 7-for-14 shooting. Williams pitched in 18 points off the bench, as six Nets scored in double figures including Humphries who finished with 13 points.
The Mavericks finished the night out-shooting the Nets 44 percent to 41 percent, even after Dallas' cold start. The Mavs also hit 6-of-13 from behind the arch. Losing the rebounding battle (44-40) and the points in the paint (40-38), the Mavericks' 25-11 advantage in fast break points was a telling stat.
The streaking squad from Big D will now take Thursday off. The Mavs will hit the practice court on Friday, and they'll look to extend their winning streak on Saturday night against the New York Knicks.
In the second of four games on their current home stand, the Mavericks welcome in a Knicks squad that they beat 128-78 in New York on Jan. 24. That Knicks-Mavs matchup will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. The home stretch continues with games against Chicago and Boston. Tickets for all three games are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.
"We're not thinking about the streak. We just want to get better every game. We want to win every game," Kidd said.
For up to the minute news on the Dallas Mavericks, visit Mavs.com. Follow Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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