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Raptors attempt to extend NBA champs’ winless… |
The Dallas Mavericks aren’t the National Basketball Association’s only winless team, but they are the only franchise without a victory and a 2011 championship banner hanging above their home court. Off to the worst start by a defending champion in 40 years, the Mavericks again try to pick up their first win Friday (7:30 p.m. CT) and bounce back from a heartbreaking defeat against the Toronto Raptors. Dallas (0-3) won the franchise’s first title with 105-95 win over Miami on June 12, and that could end up being the Mavericks’ last win of the 2011 calendar year if they don’t defeat the visiting Raptors (1-1). While Dallas looked sluggish in its first two games, trailing by as many as 35 points against the Heat and by as much as 33 against Denver, a win was well within reach Thursday against Oklahoma City. The Mavericks led by 12 early and a three-pointer by Vince Carter with 1.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter put Dallas up by one. The Thunder responded with a deep three-pointer by Kevin Durant at the buzzer, sending the Mavericks to a 104-102 loss. With the defeat, Dallas became the first defending champion to start 0-3 since the Boston Celtics lost four straight in 1969-70. While their disappointing start is making headlines, the Mavericks are trying not to pay attention. “I think the more we go out and just play the game itself more, good things happen on the court,” Shawn Marion said. “We’ve got to just go out there and stop worrying about other things and just go out there and just play the game and just play hard.” The Mavericks are off to their worst start since opening 0-4 in 2006-07. They went on to win an NBA-best and franchise-record 67 games that season, but rebounding from a slow start could be more difficult this year because of the lockout and significant roster turnover. Dallas is replacing two key contributors from last season’s team in Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea. Nowitzki still go-to manThe Mavericks’ offence obviously still revolves around Dirk Nowitzki, and he is coming off his best performance of the season, finishing with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Nowitzki had 31 points and 13 rebounds in a 114-96 victory in Toronto on Feb. 27, but a sprained right knee kept him out of the first meeting, an 84-76 loss, snapping the Mavericks’ 10-game home winning streak in the series. The Raptors arrive in Dallas to open a three-game trip after losing to Indiana 90-85 on Wednesday. DeMar DeRozan scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to help Toronto trim a 14-point, fourth-period deficit to two, but it wasn’t enough. DeRozan also played well down the stretch in Monday’s 104-96 win over Cleveland, scoring nine of his 15 points in the final period. Toronto coach Dwane Casey, an assistant with the Mavericks the last three seasons, is thrilled with DeRozan’s late-game exploits, but would also like to see him be more assertive early. “Start off aggressive, that’s one thing I need to do,” DeRozan said. “Just got to get off to a better start, but I love the fourth quarter. It’s fun to me.” Toronto has been strong defensively in its first two games, although it hasn’t faced the stiffest competition. It held the Pacers to 39.5 per cent shooting after limiting the Cavaliers to 41.2 per cent. “We got the concept of the defence and we know what we got to do and when we have to do it,” Andrea Bargnani said. “The effort is there.” Dallas’ defence has been a big reason for its early struggles. It is allowing an average of 108.0 points on 51.8 per cent shooting. Leave your comments on the news below. Posted in nba, Uncategorized | Comments Off
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Buzzer-beating 3 by Durant keeps Thunder perfect… |
Durant scored 30 points and hit a 3-pointer at the final buzzer to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 104-102 win against Dallas on Thursday night in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals. “As a kid, of course you dream about hitting a game-winning shot in the NBA,” said Durant, who has hit two other game-winners at the buzzer in his five seasons. “It’s a dream come true.” The Thunder let Dallas wipe away a five-point deficit in the final 46 seconds to go ahead on Vince Carter’s 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds remaining. That was just enough time for Thabo Sefolosha to get the ball to Durant, who drilled a 3 from the right wing that improved his team to 4-0. “It was crazy, a crazy course of events,” Durant said. “When two tough teams always go at it, it always comes down to the last play.” Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Mavericks, whose title defense is off to a 0-3 start. Dallas had been blown out in its first two losses against Miami and Denver before letting a close one slip away. “I think the more we go out and just play the game itself more, good things happen on the court,” Shawn Marion said. “We’ve got to just go out there and stop worrying about other things and just go out there and just play the game and just play hard.” Russell Westbrook had 16 points in his second straight subpar performance, but he made up for it with a few critical plays down the stretch. He started the game 3 for 11 with seven turnovers before getting a longer-than-usual benching in favor of Eric Maynor. He returned when the game got close midway through the fourth quarter, providing a momentary lead with a two-handed breakaway dunk that turned into a three-point play. He followed that with a 17-footer from the right wing for a 96-93 lead, but the Mavericks — who made it a habit to stage late comebacks against Oklahoma City in last season’s West finals — had a few tricks left. Nowitzki tied it at 96 with a 3-pointer but, after a Durant jumper, was called for a technical foul for arguing an offensive foul. Durant hit that foul shot and Westbrook added another jumper from the right elbow to put Oklahoma City up 101-96 with 46 seconds left Jason Terry hit a 3-pointer to get Dallas within two. Durant then missed a 3-pointer at the other end and Serge Ibaka missed both of his free throws after getting fouled on an offensive rebound. Nowitzki pitched it back to Carter for the go-ahead 3, and Durant blamed himself for going for a block against Nowitzki and leaving Carter open. Durant returned to the bench for a timeout, with rookie Reggie Jackson screaming encouragement that he was going to hit the game-winner. “I just tried to be confident, tell myself I could make it and luckily I did,” Durant said. “It’s special to hit a game-winner,” he added. “The season’s still young. To beat the champs in the early season is always pretty cool, but we’ve got to move on and get ready for the next game.” Ibaka finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for Oklahoma City. Terry had 16 points and nine assists, and Delonte West scored 15 for the Mavericks. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news. |
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Durant leads Thunder past Mavericks 104-102 |
Kevin Durant thought he might have just given away a victory and Then he found a way to take it right back. Durant scored 30 points and hit a 3-pointer at the final buzzer “As a kid, of course you dream about hitting a game-winning shot “It’s a dream come true.” The Thunder let Dallas wipe away a five-point deficit in the “It was crazy, a crazy course of events,” Durant said. “When two Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points and 10 rebounds to lead the “I think the more we go out and just play the game itself more, “We’ve got to just go out there and stop worrying about other Russell Westbrook had 16 points in his second straight subpar He started the game 3 for 11 _ with one of the makes coming when Westbrook returned when the game got close midway through the He followed that with a 17-footer from the right wing for a Nowitzki tied it at 96 with a 3-pointer but, after a Durant Jason Terry hit a 3-pointer to get Dallas within two. Durant Nowitzki pitched it back to Carter for the go-ahead 3, and Durant returned to the bench for a timeout, with rookie Reggie “I just tried to be confident, tell myself I could make it and “It’s special to hit a game-winner,” he added. “The season’s Ibaka finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks Terry had 16 points and nine assists, and Delonte West scored 15 Before the game, both Oklahoma City All-Stars downplayed a “It wasn’t nothing that people should be blowing out of Westbrook simply said: “What happened? I don’t know what you’re Coach Scott Brooks said the whole team was frustrated over a “To me, an altercation _ in my world, it’s a fight or it’s a Brooks said he thinks it drew more attention only because the “I don’t really think nothing happened. … Everybody on the NOTES: The Mavs beat the Thunder in five games in the West Gotta run!. |
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Oklahoma City Thunder Vs. Dallas Mavericks Preview… |
In 2010-11, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks met in the Western Conference Finals, the winner getting a chance to play in the NBA Finals. The Mavericks won the series and went on to win the NBA Championship. It was the second year that the Thunder made it to the postseason and they did better each year. Dirk Nowitzki Now in 2010-11, the Thunder are ready to make that next step towards their destiny. They have started the new season with a 3-0 record, looking like the long NBA lockout didn’t affect them one bit. However, the Mavericks are headed in the other direction, sitting at 0-2, they have not won a game since they won the championship last season. Kevin Durant leads the Thunder once again. In three games, Durant has surpassed 30 points each time, the first player in franchise history, Seattle and Oklahoma City combined, to open a season with three straight 30 point games. If Durant hits 30 points again against Dallas, he will be the first NBA player since Kobe Bryant (2005-06) to open a season with four consecutive 30-point games. James Harden is the second leading scorer, the most valuable sixth man in the NBA. Harden heads in averaging 18.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists a game. Despite not starting, Harden still averages over 30 minutes a game. Russell Westbrook fell hard in Week 3, going 0-of-13 from the field, but still averages 15.3 points, 6.0 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals a game. Dirk Nowitzki leads the Mavericks once again this season, the defending 2010-11 MVP. He only averages 20.5 points in the first two games this season with only 4.5 rebounds. Outside of Nowitzki, Jason Terry (14.5), Sean Williams (12.0) and Jason Kidd (10.5) are the only double digit scorers. Newcomers Vince Carter (8.0 points) and Lamar Odom (5.0 points, 5.5 rebounds) have not found their comfort level yet in Dallas. From the look, the Thunder have outperformed the Mavericks in every area of play this season. In the preseason, Oklahoma City swept Dallas in both their meetings. If they beat the Mavericks now, the Thunder will be 4-0 for the first time since 2003-04 when they played in Seattle. The game against Dallas tips off at 7:00 p.m. CT on December 29 in Oklahoma City. Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own. Source: NBA.COM Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content. Thanks for visiting our blog =). |
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Mavs aren’t panicking after two blowout losses at… |
DALLAS (USA TODAY) — The Dallas Mavericks’ problems appear to be greater than X’s and O’s, although coach Rick Carlisle has tried to take the blame for his team’s 0-2 start. The Mavericks lost six players from last season’s NBA championship team that beat the Miami Heat, most notably 7-1 defensive pillar Tyson Chandler, change-of-pace guard J.J. Barea and physical perimeter defender DeShawn Stevenson. Still, Western Conference foes won’t write off the Mavericks, who have been blown out twice at home: 105-94 by the Heat and 115-93 by the Denver Nuggets. They last opened 0-2 in 2006-07, when they started 0-4. Through Monday, the Mavs led the league in points allowed (110.0 a game). Last season, they were 10th (96.0). “We look old, slow and out of shape,” Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki said after Monday’s loss. “I still think this team has a lot of potential. We just need to work. We probably needed extra weeks of training camp. But we don’t have it, so the young teams, the athletic teams, look better right now than we do.” What opponents don’t overlook is a champion’s resolve. “The team that wins the championship usually is formidable because they’ve gone through an experience nobody else has,” Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. “They have a mental toughness. They have the confidence to know they can.” Nuggets guard Corey Brewer, who had five points and four rebounds Monday, played for Dallas’ championship team. “When Tyson jumped out, he pushed the pick-and-roll back and he protected the basket. … There wasn’t any layups, no dunks without Tyson coming to contest it,” Brewer said. “But they got to trust the system, because the system is great. Dirk is going to get everybody shots and guys get confidence, and that’s how they win.” Besides losing key players, Dallas lost assistant coach Dwane Casey, Carlisle’s “quarterback,” who orchestrated the 2-3 matchup zone defense that keyed the title run. Casey is coach of the Toronto Raptors. Casey called the defense under Carlisle. After Dallas’ made baskets, Casey would signal to point guard Jason Kidd, who would retreat with a clenched fist high. That meant a switch to the matchup zone. When executed properly, it’s difficult to decipher it from a man-to-man defense. Monte Mathis, a Mavs assistant last season, has assumed Casey’s role. “He’s got not only the complete respect of the players, he’s a bright young mind,” Dallas general manager Donnie Nelson said of Mathis. “When you lose a guy like Dwane … it’s just another change you have to get used to.” Nuggets coach George Karl thinks these Mavericks need time. “In an 82-game season, I don’t think anybody knows anything for about 20 games,” he said. “With a 66-game season, after 10 to 15 you’re going to have to make some decisions. I don’t think it’s time to panic.” Nelson isn’t sure when they’ll click. “We’re patient,” he said. “I don’t think you can put a time element on chemistry. The good news is we’ve got veteran guys, and usually that stuff with veterans goes faster than not.” Copyright 2011 USA TODAY
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