The anguish and the agony

I hear it, a voice from the distance. It's Kelly Clarkson. What the flip? Wait......she's singing. What's the song? I think it's called "Since You've Been Gone." I think, yes, she must be, asking me via song. I think it's a personal message directed towards me. How odd.

Hmm.........what's happened since I've been gone? What's happened in the span of a month?

Well..............

The Mavericks blew one of the best records in the NBA by losing in the first round to the Golden State Warriors. #1 losing to #8 had NEVER happened in the history of a 7-game series. That was painful.

Three days later, the New Jersey Devils lost to the Ottawa Senators, who I proclaimed would be the next Stanley Cup Champions. They got off to a bit of a bumpy road, losing the first game of the Finals to the Anaheim Ducks, but I still believe they are the better team. If Ottawa prevails, it will be the second year in a row that the Devils have lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. Not an encouraging stat, but it does soften the blow a bit.

The Reds, since I posted, have been downright awful and it's a new problem all the time. Hitting goes flat, defense goes awful, pitching goes softball. You name it, it's happened. Sitting at 19-33 is not a pretty sight, that's for sure. They returned basically the same ballteam as 2006, although probably a little improved. Who would have guessed? Well, they are right where many pundits predicted, in dead last. Sad to see it happen like that.

Thankfully, the Raiders haven't played any games, so they haven't had a chance to go awry.

But dang, do I not deserve some love? I'd like to think so, after having 3 of my 4 teams crash and burn so badly in such a short span of time. Being such a diehard fan, I thought I'd be losing my mind, wallowing around in depression, but thankfully I'm doing a lot better than I thought I would be. Not sure how, but that's how it goes. I guess life > sports. Or something like that. That's what we tell the grandkids, anyway.

Dirk Nowitzki "Obviously" Watch

"Obviously, they've been making it tough for me to score," Nowitzki said.

Warriors 109, Mavericks 91

I really don't know what to say about this one, except for the Golden State Warriors, at least for one night, had the biggest home-court advantage I'd ever seen. That place was simply electric. Wow. You get the impression folks in Dallas are just so dang used to it all, they practically applaud with golf claps compared to the fans in Oakland. There was nothing like it. And it wasn't like the Warriors weren't giving them anything to cheer about, they were amazing yet again. Maybe all the homers in Oakland are right - the Warriors really will wipe the floor with these Mavs. We can hope not, for the sake of all things holy, and the sake of what a truly horrendous offseason these Dallas Mavericks will face, getting the 4th-best record in the NBA to do what with it? Not show up come playoff time? That doesn't make any sense. For a team that was talking about only the playoffs the ENTIRE YEAR with just a shrug about the regular season, as if it was some annoyance they had to trudge through to get to where they want to be, sure are acting like the opposite. It's true the Warriors have their number, that much is evident. It's just sickening how poorly the Mavs are playing. It's clear they understand the trouble that they are in, first #1 seed to go down to a #8 seed in the history of a 7-game series. Losing back-to-back rounds in the playoffs, albeit competely different circumstances but with the same style of chokery that allows them to forget playing defense and missing all their jumpers. Can we say gut-check time? Or should we have said that a long time ago?

Mavericks 112, Warriors 99

That sound you don't quite hear is a collective sigh of relief coming up from within the bowels of Dallas, Texas. Where the Mavericks could not afford to go down 2 games to n0ne. And thankfully they didn't. Hard to say how much they actually earned it when Golden State's best player, Baron Davis, was ejected at the end of the third quarter and their second-best player, Stephen Jackson, was thrown out with 4 minutes left in the game. Not sure how much they earned it, but what I do know is that they got it. They got the win. I wish they would have gotten it without any question marks, but that's just now how it went. I'll take the win for now.

The Mavs got off to another slow start, though it wasn't nearly as disastrous as Game 1's sluggish beginning. But it wasn't much to get excited about either. I was fairly concerned, the Warriors looked good again and had early sizeable leads while the Mavs looked like they weren't in it a whole lot. That changed over time, thankfully and believeably so. The Mavs eventually took control of the game bit by bit and were helped out enormously by the ejections, though that's no consolation to the Warriors at this point.

Baron Davis, even before he got thrown out the game, was not the same Mavs Killer as he was in Game 1. He left with 13 points on 5-12 shooting, a good testament for the Mavs playing a much better defensive game, even though both teams scored far more than they did in Game 1. Stephen Jackson was the best threat Golden State put on the floor, and he got kicked out. He left with 30 points, but had 8 turnovers. Jason Richardson had 14 and 10 and Monta Ellis threw in 20 points.

Jason Terry was the man in this contest, playing all but 7 minutes of the game. He ended up with 28 points on 23 attempts, shooting barely over 50%, but it was enough. He was ice cold from 3-point land, going 1/7 but was strong when it counted. Nowitzki was next with 23, even though everyone was predicting a 40-point, or even 50-point explosion from him due to his lack of anything in Game 1. I wasn't expecting that and he delivered a solid, unspectacular game. He also chipped in 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Josh Howard had 22 points and 11 rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse made a complete turnaround from his 0/7 Game 1, with 17 points in this one. He went to the free throw line often, which was great to see. He also ended up with 8 rebounds.

Shooting was fairly even, Mavs had the edge 49%-47%. Nobody could hit a 3, as the Warriors were 4/20 and the Mavs were 1/16. Free throws were 86%-85% in favor of Dallas, and that figure could stand to improve. The Mavs outrebounded 41-34. Assists were very low for both teams, the Mavs with 15, but the Warriors with only 9. That's pretty sickening right there. Especially when you consider the Warriors had 24 turnovers. Turnover-to-assist ratio was 24/9, one of the worst figures of the entire season I would imagine. Dallas had twice as many steals, 14-7, and the Mavs blocked 9 shots. Stats clearly in favor of Dallas, if not even, so it's somewhat a concern that they didn't win by a wider margin, especially considering the Warriors' two hot shots were holed up in the locker room unable to play the late stages of the game. Hopefully the win will be enough to give the Mavs some confidence heading into Oakland.

Avery Johnson 3rd in Coach of the Year voting

Third:

Johnson, who won the award last season then guided the Mavericks to a 67-15 regular-season record in 2006-07, finished third in the voting. Toronto's Sam Mitchell won the award, and Utah's Jerry Sloan finished second in the voting.

This is quite ridiculous. If a coach deserved to win back-to-back awards, it would be Avery Johnson. He took a team that blew a colossal lead in the Finals and turned them into a better team. Sure, they were expected to be good and many expected them to be #1 in the West, if not the NBA. They did those things, but does that mean that we should shrug off his efforts? No. The Mavs could have gone 1 of 2 ways - the NFL way, in which the losing championship team sucks for many years, or the way he did take them, crafting the team in a way that improves their strengths and masks their weaknesses as much as possible. Not only that but they recorded the best record in the league, the best record in franchise history, started 0-4 and still ended up with the 4th-best record in NBA history with many many record-breaking stats, including four 10-game+ winning streaks. Dallas has turned itself into a beast and much of that is because of all the work Avery Johnson puts in.

Hard to understand this one, although everyone goes for the surprises. It's always a vote for the "surprise" which is dumb. Sure, nobody expected Toronto to be as good as they were, but they ended up getting the #3 seed in the East, which means nothing these days. Just because they had the biggest turnaround of any team in the league, does that mean the coach should get the award? Of course not. Turnarounds are nice, but it goes beyond coaching although that plays a great role. If Toronto actually did anything worthwhile, maybe I would reconsider. But they haven't. Sloan was expected to be in the running and there he was, also ahead of Avery Johnson with the Utah Jazz. Another surprise-type move, though not as much. The Jazz were much better than people gave them credit for and I would have given Sloan the award at the halfway point of the year, but not the entire team. The Jazz were the hottest team in the league at the start. They were simply amazing for a while. Now they are #4 in the West, but basically being treated as the #5 since they don't have home-court advantage. They dropped the first 2 games to the Rockets. Sloan has always been a good coach, and he should have been given consideration. But the Jazz didn't pan out the entire year, so it doesn't make sense that he should get more votes than Johnson, as he should have gotten more votes than Mitchell.

1) Johnson
2) Sloan
3) Mitchell

That's how it should have been, folks.

Dirk Nowitzki "Obviously" Watch

Double dosage.

"Obviously, the pressure's all on us," Nowitzki said. "No one expects them to win. Obviously, shooting 35 percent [as a team] on our home court won't get it done."

Warriors 97, Mavericks 85

Wow.

One of two things will happen next.

1) The Mavericks will find themselves in a dog fight, slugging it out until late in the series where they will either barely lose or barely win.

2) They find some motivation, some desire, some sense of shot-making ability and slap themselves in the face and win the next 4 games.

This was a sad state of affairs, but that's why they play a 7-game series, I guess. Though if the Mavs keep playing like this, they won't last that long.

This was a game where everyone was giving little advantage to Golden State. Sure, they had beaten the Mavs 6 out of the past 7 times, and now 6 in a row. Sure that happened, but let's give you some excuses as to why none of it mattered. Well, it mattered last night. This team has figured the Mavs out, and they were the better team the entire way through. Nowitzki was a non-factor at best, nobody could make a shot, they gave up on defense far too quickly, and walked away with a deserving loss. On the other end, the Warriors were flying, grabbing tons of rebounds, making little plays and big plays, scoring like crazy, and letting Baron Davis take over in the late stages of the game. He ended up with 33 points to lead all scorers. He also had 14 rebounds and 8 assists. He could not be stopped. He hit three 3-pointers at the late stages of the third quarter to put just enough distance between the Warriors and the Mavs to allow them to win it. Stephen Jackson had 23 points.

For the Mavs, team shooting was 35%. Howard led the way with 21 points, most of those coming early in the game. He was only 8/21 shooting. He did snag 13 boards, though. He also played a ridiculous 43 minutes. Nowitzki had 14 points and and 12 rebounds, and was 4/16 shooting the ball. The Mavs actually had more success when he was on the bench. Terry and Harris were cold for sure. Stackhouse played 20 minutes and missed all of his shots. Dampier only played 2 minutes.

Stats don't really paint as clear of a picture as watching the actual disaster, but here they are nonetheless. Team shooting for the Warriors was only 43%, so the damage could have been much worse. Both teams were awful at the beginning of the game. The Warriors attempted 11 more 3's than the Mavs and made 4 more. Free throw shooting was about even, Mavs with a slight edge, but misses are a concern. Dallas actually ended up outrebounding Golden State, which is hard to figure out, because it didn't appear that way. Must have been late in the game. Assists were tied up at 16 a piece, Golden State had one more turnover, Dallas had 3 more steals. Blocks were even at 6. So stats paint a better picture for the Mavs, but the paintbrush was sweeping toward Golden State's direction.

You can expect Dallas to come out on fire next game. They better.

Mavericks 106, Sonics 75

As much as the Warriors game was a meaningless loss, this was as meaningless win against the Supersonics tonight. The Mavs played all their stars in a "tune-up" game for the playoffs and showed their dominance, which I think helps going into the playoffs after playing weak as of late. Good to see this outcome. But also easy to see because the Mavs have dominated the Sonics over recent years, and I doubt much was on the mind for Seattle players except for ending their dang season and taking some vacation.

Apparently there isn't going to be a team in Seattle next year. How did I miss that? Did you miss it? Let me know. If so, sad to see it end after such a horrible season and a horrible final home loss. That won't leave a good taste in the mouths of Seattle's fans, especially since they won't be able to redeem themselves. Better turn to the Mariners or college sports instead.

Hard to understand such domination when the leading scorer for the Mavs had 20 points. That would be Nowitzki, who ends another year without a triple-double, but is leading the pack of MVP candidates according to the world. He also had 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Josh Howard had 15 and will need to pick it up if the Mavs are to have any chance of winning during the playoffs. Nothing else very noticeable, just that the Mavs took 81 shots which is a lot, and made 43 of them, so they were shooting smartly. On the other end, Seattle only shot 69 times and made only 29 of them. Yikes. Superstar Rashard Lewis had a team-high 14 points for Seattle. Team-high. 14. Yuck. They were interested in making free throws, grabbing rebounds, or recording assists. It was pretty obvious.

So there it is, folks. The end of the regular season 2006-07. The Mavericks tied for the sixth-best record in NBA history at 67-15. That's pretty sweet stuff. They will play the Golden State Warriors, and like I said, I'm worried that they will take them lightly. I don't think they will, but there's a chance. It's sort of like the Devils with the Tampa Bay Lightning right now, #2 vs. #7 but the Lightning knew how to beat the Devils up. This could be similar, but let's hope not. It's playoff time, so maybe another first-round sweep is in order, which would be amazing. Clippers are out and the Lakers stay in #7 although they tried desperately to fall to #8. So here we go. Good stuff. See you when it counts.

Warriors 111, Mavericks 82

What did you expect? No Nowitzki, Howard, Stackhouse (or Dampier). Avery was resigned to lose this game, which is sad in a way. I am not so sure it's wise to take the Golden State Warriors lightly. They swept the regular season series, although this game doesn't really count. But this is the team that can give the Mavs problems. I wouldn't much want to see the Lakers in the #8 seed either, but the Warriors are scary and have lights-out shooters that when they get hot are hard to stop. The Warriors could be the #8, that's the most likely case. The Lakers could fall to #8 and the Clippers could rise to #8. We'll know soon enough.

Hard to draw much from this game, though. When the leading floor players are Buckner, George, Ager, and Barea, you know that's not the usual Mavs out there. Moe Ager actually didn't perform all that poorly and ended up with a team-high 20 points, along with 6 rebounds. He made all of his free throws, too. Harris & Barea got 13 points apiece, and little Barea got 10 rebounds somehow. Must have come right to him. Devean George had 12 points.

For the Warriors, just like the Mavs, only one guy scored 20 or more. That guy was Mickael Pietrus of all people, with 22 points. Superstars Richardson & Davis had only 14 and 12, respectively. Barnes got 19. Weird game.

What did it was the poor shooting. The Warriors were consistently better on overall shooting, 3's, and free throws. They also killed on assists and had far fewere turnovers. Nothing to get excited about here.

Mavericks 91, Spurs 86

Oh, it's always great to beat the Spurs.

This game appeared to be surprisingingly meaningful, as Dallas saw fit to play their superstars as if it were a real game. Not quite sure the logic in that, but it worked as they pulled out the victory. Although the win wasn't quite as meaningful as it could have been since Tim Duncan was out for the entire fourth quarter because he got ejected. That was the story of the day for sure, and rightfully so. I have never liked Tim Duncan. Maybe he's a cool guy, I think he plays basketball pretty well, but he's one of my least favorite guys. He is a constant complainer and everyone calls him otherwise, and so does he. Does it seem like he truly deserved to get quicked out? Not really, but I still choose to enjoy it because it's funny to me. Here's the money quote from official Joey Crawford, who kicked him out:

He's complaining. He was constantly complaining. He was complaining when he was on the court. Then he got on the bench and kept doing the same stuff. So I just ejected him.

Great stuff right there. The only downside is that it's hard to figure out if the Mavericks would have won the game had he stayed in. Chances would have been pretty tough, since they were already down late and went on a 9-0 run to win the game. Odds are likely the Spurs win and the teams finish with yet another split in the series, 2-2. As it stands in the real standings, the Mavericks won the season series 3-1.

Nowitzki & Devin Harris led the way with 21 points. Josh Howard had a poor shooting night and ended up with 15 points. Stackhouse added 14 off the bench.

Shooting was fairly even, 3-point shooting was very low, and the Mavs had the edge in free throws. Spurs barely had the rebounding edge. Not much there of substance, just the big Tim Duncan story. Maybe he didn't deserve it, but it was a long time coming.

Jazz 104, Mavericks 89

Not much to see here, folks. Sure Nowitkzki played 29 minutes, though I'm not sure why. He ended up with 23 points. Josh Howard played some. A lot of guys didn't play at all. They didn't really care. Or try. It was sad, but expected. The Jazz played like it was a regular game and pretty much dominated, even when the Mavs threatened to get close. Boozer went nuts, 32 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists. Really wasn't a good game, but you can expect that to happen. The Jazz were all acting like it was a real game since Josh Howard played some and Nowitzki had some major minutes, but it really wasn't.

Mavs are #1

Best record in the NBA. It was inevitable and now it's here.

Time to rest the superstars and we'll see you in the Playoffs.

Mavericks 86, Blazers 74

Another low scoring affair, this time with the positive result. It was good to be home, albeit without Josh Howard. Maybe Josh Howard should be MVP of the league, the Mavericks look worse without him than without Dirk. That's mostly a joke, but still a weird phenomenon. Anyway.

This game was never really in doubt and the better team won. Not sure what else you want other than that. Howard and Stackhouse didn't play, and didn't need to. Nowitzki played less minutes than ever before, but he was cold anyway. He ended up with a measly 11 points. It was the guard duo of Jason Terry and Devin Harris that took over this night. Terry had 22 at halftime and was simply taking over the game. He was great. He ended up with 29, which was sad because I thought he might just explode, but he tempered things down in the second half. Devin Harris had a lawnmower type game. Scored a little bit here, a little more here, a little bit more here, and then ended on a very solid note with 18 points. They controlled the flow of the game, allowing the reserves to do their thing.

Portland can be beaten even when they have their stars. They didn't have any of their big stars, with Zach Randolph and LaMarcus Aldridge already out, and the rookie of the year Brandon Roy declared inactive for the game. That pretty much seals the deal right there. If you can beat that team with those guys in there, then it shouldn't be a contest when they are out of it. And that's pretty much what happened. Jarrett Jack was really the only guy worth watching for them, he played a smart game and ended up with 18 points.

Kevin Willis made his Mavericks debut and second NBA debut after a few years away from the game. He did nothing but get 2 fouls in less than a minute and then sat back down. Ha. Sad. Moe Ager, the Mavs rookie draft pick, got significant minutes (24), scoring 8 points and getting 3 rebounds. Nothing to write home about.

Portland jacked up a ton of shots, 77 in all, and made only 29 for 38%. The Mavs shot 51%. Finally, the Mavs were able to dominate in free throw shots, 28 to 19 attempts. Problem is, they only made 16 of their 28, which is very bad for the best free-throw shooting team in the league, but it happens every now and then. Still not good. Rebounds were clearly in the Mavs favor, thanks in large part to 10 rebounds snagged by Diop and Croshere.

That's about it, folks. Next game vs. the Clippers tomorrow night. Could be a first-round matchup. More importantly, if the Mavs win, they get #1 in the West. It's practically inevitable, but it would be nice to get out of the way.

I'm back

What did I miss?

Raiders - Nothing.

Reds - Of course my computer goes down just as the MLB season gets underway. Reds currently stand at 4-1, taking 2/3 from the Cubs and the first 2 from the Pirates. The Cubs series was pretty good; Harang dominated, Arroyo was solid but just got outdeuled by Ted Lilly, Lohse did surprisingly well in the finale and the Reds did just enough to win their games. The freezing cold game yesterday against the Pirates went well. It looked like Belisle was going to be pretty shaky, but he settled down and turned in a great performance. The game today was also freezing cold, and the most back-and-forth the Reds have gone all season, but ultimately coming out on top. The big story this year is the bullpen, they have been simply dominant. I am particularly pleased with Victor Santos who has pitched out of 2 very tough situations so far. But everyone is playing really well, the only exception was Jared Burton, but hopefully he can figure things out. Apparently Milton pitches tomorrow. Happy Easter? We'll see, looks like we'll need the offense rolling on this one.

Mavericks - A bit cold as of late. Lost to Phoenix yet again, that sucked. Also lost to the Nuggets last night in probably their worst loss of the year. It was just painful to watch. What do they say, idiocy is when you try the same thing every time expecting a different result? Something like that. Well, that's what they did. They did beat the Kings in there somewhere, but they had their first losing road trip, 1-2. Hopefully they won't enter the playoffs looking lame, but they haven't looked great lately.

Devils - Well, I missed a ton. Brodeur goes out and beats Bernie Parent's single-season wins record. Parent had 47, Brodeur has 48 and maybe will end up with 49. Parent was extremely gracious about it, as was Brodeur. It was just a good all-around deal. Great for Brodeur! I am so pumped for the guy. As well as the Devils in general, as they locked up #2 in the East and also set the franchise record for wins in a season (49). Just a great year. Awesome stuff. And yet, maybe this is just me, it didn't feel like the Devils best year. This doesn't feel like 1995 or 2000 or 2003. Not just because the Devils ended up winning the Stanley Cup, but they don't seem as dominant. And yet, here they are, with the most wins of any Devils team, and the most wins by Brodeur in his career. So you'd think you could feel great about it. Don't get me wrong, I do feel very good about it. It's just that, something seems to be missing. They don't seem as dominant as many other Devils teams. Maybe I can be proved wrong. Maybe they will steamroll teams in the playoffs. That would be great. Looks like the first-round matchup will be with the Tampa Bay Lightning, though. That could be very, very dangerous. Hopefully things can be better against them than the results we have seen in the regular season. Let's hope.

Mavericks 105, Knicks 103

Whew. Yikes. Again.

Remember almost losing to the Bucks? It happened again, the Knicks are not a team that anyone should lose to. I mean, it happens. Thankfully this time it didn't happen. It blows my mind how one team can both be playing for a lottery pick as well as playing for the playoffs. It doesn't make any sense. That's how bad the Eastern Conference is these days.

The Knicks hung around due to many things, primary among them the Mavs shooting woes. They shot 38.5% from the floor, including an atrocious second quarter where they were 2/19. Other than shooting, the Knicks had the Mavs number in rebounds, though that margin was closed late. Starbury was HUGE for them, scoring a season-high 43 points. He was unstoppable until the end of the game, where he missed both of his late shots and was also forced into a turnover. If it were not for the fourth quarter, the Knicks would have had all the stats in their favor, but the Mavs went wild in the fourth quarter, scratching and clawing their way back in.

The only thing that kept the Mavs close early in the game were free throws. They ended up being 35/39 which was HUGE. Even though they did miss most of the free throws late in the game. That needs to stop. But they did well on free throws, finally having more attempts than the other team, even thought it was only by 2.

Nowitzki was ice cold throughout the game, feeling the effects of his injury. But he turned it on in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 of his 30 points. He also surpassed 15,000 points for his career on this game. Congrats, Dirk. He simply took over the game late in the fourth quarter for these Mavs. Stackhouse, while ending up with only 19 points, scored almost all of them early in the game. He kept the Mavs in it when they were out of it, and he was also 11/12 from the free throw line which was major. Josh Howard had 20 & 8. Jason Terry had 14 points, had a horrendous off-night shooting the ball, but still managed to hit two incredibly big 3-pointers late in the game. Once again, the Mavs got to 20 assists and once again they won. They barely got to 20 though. Also, the 3-point shooting kept the Mavs in it, as they were 10/22 which is pretty dang good.

All in all, the Knicks didn't have this in the bag, but they were staying around and playing better. The Mavs turned on the defensive pressure and made key baskets down the stretch. This is the story of their lives. They should have beaten the Knicks, and they ended up doing so, despite all the adversity going against them. Excellent.

The Mavs to pick up Kevin Willis?

Say it ain't so, Joe.

Umm........anbody not feeling this is a great move? I mean, granted, the guy is fit and muscular and has a great work ethic, blah blah. He is a team leader and blah blah. He's also 44 years old. It's true Diop has had a bust year and half the way Dampier is smoking the apathy weed, but do we need this guy? Out of all the candidates we could have, is Kevin Willis, the since-2004 retired Kevin Willis, the answer to the Mavs questions? Sure, you'll tell me he might play 4 minutes in a game or something like that. Alright, fine. Can he do it? Maybe. Could somebody do it better? Most certainly. We'll see what happens, it just seems everyone is so positive about this. I felt I needed to be the voice of negativity, if not the voice of reason.

Dirk Nowitzki "Obviously" Watch

"There's really no need right now to make things worse at this point in the season. Avery told me to sit it out so obviously it was killing me in a close game to sit back and watch."

Mavericks 105, Bucks 103

6-0 on the road trip, coming home, relax, and almost lose to the Milwaukee Bucks? You've got to be kidding me, right? Wrong. Gut check time. Thankfully the Mavs pulled it off.

It didn't help having Nowitzki out the second half with an ankle injury. It was scary times, though we have seen it before. He just came out late in the second quarter but eventually returned, so people thought it was okay. But he couldn't get it going in the second half, so people were scared again. Apparently where it stands now is that he is fine and ready to go but his ankle is not good. He's going to play on it regardless. We'll see how they handle him for the rest of the season. And he wasn't the only one, Josh Howard tweaked his ankle late in the game. Aaaahhhhh!!!!!

The good news is the first to 60 wins. Both in terms of the Mavericks are the first to 60 wins, and the team that gets to 60 first wins. Maybe.

After Nowitzki was injured out, the Bucks went on a tear to lead the game at halftime. Even though the Mavs struggled at times late, they eventually closed it out thanks in large part to Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse. Terry ended up with 27 points. He knew he had to lead this team and he did a dang good job of it making many key baskets down the stretch. Stackhouse's 21 points were also crucial and he was 5/8 on 3's. Howard & Nowitzki ended up with 17 a-piece, Howard also getting 9 rebounds.

For the Bucks, Michael Redd took over and it wasn't hard to see coming. He ended up with 34 points, but the great part of that stat was that he scored 0 points in the fourth quarter. The Mavs made it their top priority to get the dang ball out of his hands and it worked wonders. Thankfully. But he still owned the game for the first three quarters, that's for sure.

Dallas launched a lot of 3's and ended up making 11 of them. The free throws weren't great, especially down the stretch. That could have allowed the Bucks to come back and win it, but thankfully there were strong defensive plays late in the game. The best free throw shooting team will have their off nights, but it's still tough to watch clankers late in the game. Once again the Mavs surpass 20 assists and win the game, this time with 24.

The Mavs got outshot, outrebounded, outassisted, outstealed, and outblocked, but they won the game. 60 wins. The first to 60 wins.

Dirk Nowitzki "Obviously" Watch

"It was really a fun trip, obviously. We're trying to work hard offensively moving the ball, and everybody's making shots," said Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 15 points while shaking off an illness. "It was a fun trip."

Mavericks 105, Hornets 89

The Mavs win again. That makes the Eastern Conference road trip 6-0. 6 wins, no losses. Played some good teams, played some bad teams, all the games were on the road. That's quite a way to turn it around from that heartbreaking loss to Phoenix. But they did it, and they did it well.

As much as it seems the Warriors have the Mavs number, the Mavs REALLY have the Hornets number. As in the number 21. 21 straight victories over the Hornets of Oklahoma City/New Orleans. That's quite a few wins. The last time the Mavs lost to these jokers was back on Nov. 17, 1999. Back when they were the Charlotte Hornets. Oddly enough, the Hornets wore throwback Charlotte uniforms last night. Didn't help. It's also the current longest winning streak of any team against any team in ANY major sport. So, how's that for impressive?

How easy was this one? The Mavs had leads twice of 31 points in the fourth quarter and the Big 3 didn't play any of the fourth quarter. So yeah.

The Warrior Award (not Golden State style) goes to Nowitzki for everyone thinking he wasn't going to play this game due to having the flu. But he played it, he played for 23 minutes and got 15 points. Certainly not typical numbers, but I wasn't expecting his name to be in the box score. Hopefully he gets well soon. Josh Howard was the man last night, scoring 25 points (2/2 on 3's, and making 3/3 free throws) as well as snagging 10 boards. Jason Terry had 19 points, 7 assists, and once again had amazing shot selection. I hope he can keep this up. He is shooting very efficiently right now. Devin Harris was a little sluggish, but had 14 points.

For the Hornets, Chris Paul 2 points. That's right, all of 2 points on 1/10 shooting. Hilarious. Pargo had 23 points, but nobody was a real threat.

The Mavs shot 55% overall to the Hornets 42%. Mavs are still struggling getting to the line, but I'll imagine they will turn that up come playoff time. They need to get to the basket as almost every team, if not every team, this road trip has shot more free throws than the Mavs. When the Mavs get over 20 assists, I think they are undefeated or something this year. They got 22.

Dominating performance in what should have been one, even with Nowitzki at 77% health. Good stuff. Keep the Suns & Spurs away, let them fight it out, and we'll see what we have on the other end.