Mavericks 80, Rockets 77

What can you say? The Mavericks win in all sorts of ways, this one being ugly. I finally got to watch them on TV, and it was not pretty. Which, as I said, is ugly. But it was still fun to watch. It was fun to watch McGrady and Nowitzki go back and forth in the second half, matching big shot with huge shot. It was like nobody else was on the floor for a while. But Nowitzki was the better mean because he earned it. I hate Tim Duncan. Can't stand the man. But this T-Mac of Tracy McGrady is starting to climb the ranks. He has a sweet shot and is a good player, but he is such a whiner. And he gets pansy fouls called for him all the time. Good thing he can't make a freakin' free throw. Or else the Rockets would have won this game. They were so bad from the line, thank goodness.

The Rockets had this game in hand, although it was close. They were scrappy, they were fighting. They just ran into a team who would not and will not lose. It's as simple as that. Jason Terry, who had a very poor game, was of course the guy who made the winning shot. And for the Rockets, the worst guy on the floor for them (I think Alston maybe) took this horrible-looking shot. It was so bad. But the Mavericks got it back and made the shot. I am pretty sure that was NOT the shot the Rockets wanted to take, but oh well. The Mavs continue to win. Nowitzki, unspectacular through much of the game, turned it on for his little fued with McGrady. Stackhouse had huge buckets to pull the Mavs closer, and then Nowitzki hit back-to-back 3's to put the Mavs on top late. They held on. Nice.

It's to be expected, but the Mavericks won again. So many dang games. 44 wins. 9 losses. They won't post the best record of all-time, but they could be in contention to be one of the best teams of any given year. In NBA history. That's pretty amazing right there.