That was a big hustle play from the Mavs with Dirk getting the block, the Hornets recovering and Jet getting the block on Pargo. Jet saved the ball to Devean and they hurled it up court, where Peja Stojakovic fouled Stack. Now, Peja has three fouls, so that hustle play will likely play dividends for the rest of the game.
-Scooter Hendon
The newest All-Star returns are in and Dirk Nowitzki remains third among Western Conference forwards. But Tim Duncan and Carmelo have such a big lead that it's doubtful Dirk can catch up. Here are the returns:
East Forwards:
Kevin Garnett (Bos) 1,756,251
LeBron James (Cle) 1,564,974;
Chris Bosh (Tor) 516,669
Paul Pierce (Bos) 411,231
Yi Jianlian (Mil) 342,669
Caron Butler (Was) 213,924
Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) 196,362;
Tayshaun Prince (Det) 178,122
Andrea Bargnani (Tor) 168,287
Josh Smith (Atl) 163,384.
East guards
Dwyane Wade (Mia) 1,179,889
Jason Kidd (NJ) 868,069
Ray Allen (Bos) 733,440
Vince Carter (NJ) 708,409
Gilbert Arenas (Was) 585,345
Chauncey Billups (Det) 402,787
Michael Redd (Mil) 247,384
Richard Hamilton (Det) 193,618
Joe Johnson (Atl) 171,500
T.J. Ford (Tor) 164,342
East Centers
Dwight Howard (Orl) 1,456,898
Shaquille O'Neal (Mia) 701,253
Rasheed Wallace (Det) 190,684
Ben Wallace (Chi) 172,147
Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cle) 163,518
Andrew Bogut (Mil) 156,012
Jermaine O’Neal (Ind) 143,026
Emeka Okafor (Cha) 85,340
Zaza Pachulia (Atl) 66,705
Eddy Curry (NY) 64,896.
West forwards
Tim Duncan (SA) 1,246,125
Carmelo Anthony (Den) 1,218,106
Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 946,421
Carlos Boozer (Utah) 402,917
Shawn Marion (Pho) 345,400
Shane Battier (Hou) 341,621
Josh Howard (Dal) 324,267
Luis Scola (Hou) 309,994
Kevin Durant (Sea) 299,481
Grant Hill (Pho) 248,273.
West guards
Kobe Bryant (LAL) 1,441,333
Tracy McGrady (Hou) 907,639
Allen Iverson (Den) 827,273
Steve Nash (Pho) 808,995
Manu Ginobili (SA) 418,442
Tony Parker (SA) 374,340
Chris Paul (NO) 330,902
Baron Davis (GS) 298,827
Jason Terry (Dal) 241,839
Jerry Stackhouse (Dal) 212,320
West centers
Yao Ming (Hou) 1,255,263
Amaré Stoudemire (Pho) 685,772
Marcus Camby (Den) 265,830
Erick Dampier (Dal) 207,354
Pau Gasol (Mem) 154,741
Tyson Chandler (NO) 135,388
Mehmet Okur (Utah) 132,310
LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 117,508
Andris Biedrins (GS) 98,460
Chris Kaman )LAC) 97,569
-- Jan Hubbard
The team has listed Jerry Stackhouse as day-to-day stemming from a sprained right thumb in Friday's win against the Heat. He didn't play at all in the second half of that game and it sounds as if he'll be scratched from the lineup today. If he doesn't play, it will be his second missed game of the season. Avery Johnson surprised Stackhouse in a November road game by resting him, but not telling him until close to game time.
-- Jeff Caplan
Earlier this week Jerry Stackhouse was adamant that Warriors swingman Stephen Jackson's defense on Dirk Nowitzki wasn't the killer element it's perceived to be in the playoff. He believes the Mavs simply were too passive.
So it was a positive sign Wednesday night to see the Mavs taking the ball strong to the hoop, especially in the fourth quarter when they scored 16 of their 46 points in the paint. That tied the second-highest points in the paint total. The Mavs have hit 46 three times and 50 once.
They got away from penetrating in the third quarter with just four points in the paint. Not coincidentally, the Warriors rallied to within three points three times and headed into the fourth quarter trailing by four, 89-85.
"We attacked the basket," point guard Devin Harris said of the fourth quarter. "In those stretches where they got it to three, we kind of got jump-shot happy a little bit, guys kind of took some quick shots. And then the light went on. Guys started attacking the basket and then the lead went back up. It's something we have to constantly remind ourselves. Sometimes the early jump shots are good, but when they're not going we definitely need to attack the basket the way we did."
-- Jeff Caplan
Starting Friday Jerry Stackhouse will be featured on TNT OverTime on NBA.com. The piece is hosted by hip-hop artist and Boston native Michael Bivins, who's got a series of features titled "Bivins in Boston."
In the feature, Stackhouse discusses his future music career and a possible album.
Bivins' features focus on the Celtics' resurgence on Boston, but he pays visits to selected players around the league. He was hanging in the Mavs locker room last week.
Told by Bivins that the people want to know when his album is coming out, Stackhouse, who's shown on the feature singing The National Anthem at a Mavs game, had this to say: "I've been in the lab working on some things. I've got about eight tracks. I want to do about 12, then it iwll come out."
-- Jeff Caplan
I've been in the lab working on some things, I've got about eight tracks. I want to do about 12 then it will come out."
smokes! that slashing, driving, spinning layup through traffic brought back memories of jerry stackhouse's youth. who knew he could still float like that? could a return to the slam dunk contest be next?
-- garza, mavs lite
When the Mavs beat the Warriors 120-115 back in November at their place, only one thing was missing -- Stephen Jackson. He was serving a seven-game suspension to start the season so he missed out on guarding Dirk Nowitzki, a job he did pretty well in the first round.
With the Warriors in Dallas Wednesday night, I'll have an article that morning looking at the matchup between Dirk and Jackson and the Mavs and Warriors.
While Jackson seemed to really irritate Nowitzki in that series, Jerry Stackhouse was adamant on Monday that it wasn't so much what Jackson did to Nowitzki, but rather what Nowitzki and the Mavs did to themselves.
Here's Stackhouse's take on Jackson's defensive role in the playoffs:
"I just think we didn't take advantage of some of the things that we should have. We weren't aggressive in our moves. We allowed him to play; up until that series, nobody had ever thought of Stephen Jackson as no hell of a defensive player. He was just a guy that could shoot the basketball. He made some big shots for San Antonio when they won the championship that year [2003]. But, he's not no defensive stopper or anything. I think it was moreso what we allowed to happen to us. Like anything basketball is a game of confidence. When they come out and for a game and tell him that he did a good job on Dirk, now all of a sudden he's looking for him. It's up to Dirk to get that back. What's a better opportunity to do that than Wednesday night?"
-- Jeff Caplan
Jerry Stackhouse didn't intentionally play the straight man Saturday, but when put into the position, he did a nice job. After the Mavericks' 97-84 victory over Atlanta, a radio guy noted that Erick Dampier, who had his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, was on a roll in the first half.
So Stackhouse was asked if the Mavericks looked to get Dampier the ball when he's on a roll. Stackhouse paused and said dryly:
"No."
Everyone laughed.
Stackhouse went on to say that it was great to see Dampier get a few shots and get rewarded for the blue collar work that he does in setting screens and getting rebounds. But with a roomful of skilled offensive players -- Dirk, J. Terry, Stack, Josh, Devin and even Eddie Jones, who has been an excellent scorer throughout his career -- the offense is not designed to go to Dampier.
And Dampier knows it.
"On the offensive end, I know I’m not going to et the ball a lot,” Dampier said. “But whenever I get that chance, I’m just trying to be a presence on that end of the court.”
-- Jan Hubbard
The Mavs have struggled with noon games in the past so last season Avery Johnson instituted an early wake up call to get the juices flowing.
The team doesn't seem to be too fazed by the early start time today, that is other than Gana Diop not having his typical chicken and pasta before the game. He said chicken at 9 am wouldn't do the trick so he settled for the team breakfast of eggs and pancakes at the arena.
I told Jerry Stackhouse that the early start messed up my routine this morning so no doubt I can see how it would mess up theirs since athletes are totally creatures of habit.
He just laughed and said he didn't think my routine mattered a whole lot when it came to the game. I told him I still had to perform my job. He said, yeah, but who can tell the difference between a good game story and a bad one.
Obviously, Stackhouse has never seen my inbox the morning after a game.
-- Jeff Caplan
After being wildly inconsistent this season, Jerry Stackhouse has just put together solid back-to-back games. It's the best two games he's had since the fourth and fifth games of the season against Houston and Golden State. He combined for 31 points in those two games and shot solid percentages while scoring 33 in these last two games against New Orleans and Houston. In fact, Stack has done well in all three games against Houston, averaging 16 points.
Maybe this is a sign of Stack coming around a consistent force off the bench as he was last year. With Jason Terry starting, Stack is averaging 11.8 points per game and seems to be getting more involved. If Terry goes back to the bench at some point (who knows at this point), Stack will have to re-adjust to being a secondary part of the second unit instead of the leader like he has been accustomed to in the past. We'll see how this all pans out.
-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd
