Mavericks 98, Cavaliers 90

Dirk vs. LeBron.

Except....not really. They got their points, most of them late, but this was again the difference between the DALLAS Mavericks and the LEBRON Cavs. Dirk can have a bad night, as he did for most of three quarters and the Mavs can wait until he figures it out and play well regardless. The Cavs watch LeBron struggle and it makes them struggle, too. They just aren't build to handle that, and it must be a mental thing. You can see the teamwork and team style of play with the Mavs, who have bounced back wonderfully from that tough loss to Phoenix in double-overtime.

Nowitzki did end up with 23 points, leading the Mavs. And LeBron ended up with 31 points, leading the Cavs. But most of the points came late and didn't factor much into the actual game. Dirk had good points, but was just 9/24. Josh Howard was worse, putting in 7 points. Dampier had 13 and 9 and it was good to see him put back-to-back solid games together. Jason Terry had 21 points, and Stackhouse had 10. But I thought the player of the game was Devin Harris. Harris ended up with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Every time he took the ball up high, he burned somebody and scored a layup. Whether the layup was easy or difficult, it went in the net. The offense was flowing through him a lot more than it ever has, with Jason Terry playing more of a minor role or a shooter's role. It was nice to see Devin create and function and he even made a couple jumpers! He took over the flow of the game at several times and it was fun to watch. Hopefully it wasn't just a blip on the radar screen, but something that can keep building and growing.

As a team, the Mavs shot better from the field but shot worse on 3-pointers. This has been the case for the past several games. They are taking too many 3's and they are missing most of them. Not shooting well in that regard. The incredibly positive thing was the free throws. The Mavs as a team didn't attack the basket very much and shot significantly less free throws (17 to 29) but they made them all! 17/17. That was extremely impressive.

Maybe what's even more impressive, and I hit on it earlier, is the Mavs recent success after the very tough loss to the Suns. Whereas the Suns lost two in a row to far inferior teams, the Mavs have won four in a row, including beating the #1 and #2 teams in the East. Well done, Mavericks.

Twins 5, Reds 3

I like the Twins. I dig 'em. Think they're cool.
I love the Reds. Even romantically, if you'd prefer. But probably not.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: All the people screaming for Milton's outright release or trade for chump change (and that includes me most of the time) had some reason to do so again after today's performance. 5 innings, 8 hits (1 homer), 4 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 K's. There he goes again, being mediocre but leaning to the bad side of things. That's just who the man is. Again, the point is brought up about him automatically getting the #3 spot. Has he ever deserved it? Not quite. Lohse should get it. Should that mean Milton gets #4 automatically? No. ANYWAY.....No runs allowed after Milton left, as the 6-7-8 innings were pitched well by Burton, Coutlangus, and Coffey with the anti-save. Coutlangus in particular looked good, fanning 2. Burton walked 1, threw a wild pitch, and gave up a hit. But I still like the guy. That might have hurt him, though.

Hitting: Ryan Freel was back in action at the leadoff spot, going 0/2 and grounding into a double play but taking a walk and scoring on it. He was lifted late in the game, though it seems as a precaution. EdE was 2/4 with a run scored. Hamilton was 1/3 with an RBI, and took a walk as well. Javier Valentin, not hitting well, was only 1/4 today but it was a crucial hit, a 2-RBI single that tied the game. Alas, it was not meant to be. Denorfia reverted to old form, going 0/4 with a K. This is not helping you out, kiddo. Considering some guy named T. Godwin got the only extra-base hit, that being a double, the hitting was not very great.

Fielding & such: Remember the last time the Reds made no errors? I don't think it was that long ago, but the point is that they make errors more often than not, no matter how much Narron talks about it. How about action vs. talk? Maybe. Anyway, today it was Castro of ALL PEOPLE who threw the ball like a grapefruit. Ah well, even the best can have their bad days.

Maple Leafs 2, Devils 1

Just what I feared. There they go, down the tubes. They can't avoid the playoffs, they're in there. They better start acting like they want to be.

Hard to do with injuries flying in from all over the place, but possible to do. Remember when Brodeur was everyone's savior and everyone wrote a million pages on him per day? He is still amazing, but can you remember the last time people have talked about him? I mean, in a positive way, not in a he's-been-yanked-from-the-net kind of way.

Revenge, blah blah, horrible hit, blah does Cam Janssen have a soul? blah blah Kaberle blah Belak! Belak! Belak! blah blah worst hit I've ever seen blah blah REVENGE. Oh, and the Maple Leafs won the game, by the way. That's a key stat because the Devils look pretty poor right now. Stumbling into the playoffs isn't a worthwhile goal.

In a game where the shots on goal were even and the faceoffs identical, along with a close low-scoring game, it seemed everything was pretty even. Didn't feel that way, though. Felt like the Devils packed it up and were waiting for a lucky bounce instead of trying to seize the moment. Tough.

I know I'm a complainer and a pessimist. I apologize for these things, that's just my nature. I realize that if I step back and look at things, look at the win-loss-tie record, look at the points for what they are, the Devils have had a very good season and are still currently #2 in the East, no matter what it looks like. So I need some perspective. I just can't help feel like everything is falling apart.

Mavericks 92, Knicks 77

And to think, I was actually worried about this game. The Mavs, though bit by the injury bug as of late, are good. The Knicks are bad. So I guess the score makes sense, even if I was a bit unneccessarily pessimistic. It was so obvious (sorry Dirk!) that the Mavs were going to win this game, Isiah Thomas repeatedly pleaded to the media that the Knicks had no chance. Very weird.

Anyway, not much of a story here. The Mavs came to New York, saw some sights, ate some food, got in a game, and are now out of there. Josh Howard had 24 and 10, pacing the Mavs all night long. Nowitzki was right there with him, pouring in 24 of his own while taking smart shots and getting 5 rebounds. Dampier showed up, and you never know when he'll do that, but he got 10 points and 13 rebounds, so that's nice. Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse were unspectacular, but made some nice shots. Devin Harris was disappointing.

Not much the Knicks did, except having Eddy Curry and Nate Robinson score points. They were an awful 36% from the field, that's the whole team. They made many mistakes and didn't look like they wanted to be playing the best in the league. I wonder where that idea came from, head coach of the Knicks perhaps? Possible.

Nothing more to see here, move along.

Reds release Wilson

I was hoping so.

It's only made tough by the fact that the guy is a heckuva guy. Great guy, good leader. Never pitched very well, though. I mean, think about it, this guy used to be our #1 pitcher. That's how bad the Reds were. At best he was reliable and decent, but never great. His time has come and gone, it's nice to see he recovered well from surgery and all, but this move needed to be made.

Dirk Nowitzki "Obviously" Watch

Double dosage!

"Just because we lost that one, big game, it wasn't like we were worried or anything," Nowitzki continued. "Obviously, that was a disappointing loss, but we're very confident in our ability to close games out.

"Obviously, what everyone remembers is our meltdown in The Finals last year," Nowitzki said.

Preview of the rest of the Devils season

I know nobody really reads this, especially the hockey section about the Devils, so there's no point in me telling you to go read something. And the person that will read this is the person I am linking to, so they've already written it and don't need to read it. But I'll do it anyway because it's worth looking at.

John F writes about the rest of the regular season for the New Jersey Devils.

He paints a pretty grim picture of things ahead, but actually ends up being more optimistic than I would have thought. Looking at it, all the challenges and the hurdles, I am very pessimistic. The Devils could end up as low as #5 in the East, after holding #2 forever. But hopefully they can maintain #2. It all starts tonight against Toronto. It's the beginning of the home stretch and the Devils, amidst their poor play and nagging injuries at just the wrong time, need to win.

Tigers 6, Reds 2

Shawn uses the word "meaningless" for every recap. So there's your perspective.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Arroyo started and got the loss, emerging with an ERA. Seemed pretty human and a pretty mediocre pitcher, but was facing pretty decent Tiger hitters. Final stats were 4.2/3 innings, 7 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 1 K. He gave up a homer to Sheffield. After Coutlangus got Arroyo's final out, Paul Wilson pitched the 6-7-8 and gave up 3 hits and 2 walks for 2 runs scored. Ever since his first appearance he has looked pretty lame and is definitely looking from the outside in to make the team. I am hoping anyway.

Hitting: Kenny Rogers was pretty decent, but Adam Dunn had his way with him, knocking a homer out of the park as well as getting hit by a pitch. Denorfia led off and was 1/3 with an RBI-double. He is finally starting to turn it on and if he keeps turning it on closer to the season, it will be hard to send him down. But that's probably what they will do anyway. Alex Gonzalez was 0/4 which sucked, so he probably shouldn't be in this category. Because he didn't exhibit hitting skills. Josh Hamilton got a pinch hit. Norris Hopper was 0/2 with 2 K's.

Fielding & such: Says there were two errors, but they only list one and that is Hopper. Certainly not a good day for the guy.

Mock Draft

Sporting News' Vinnie Iyer:

Both Johnson and Russell had impressive pro day workouts to solidify their elite status. If there are no trades before the draft, Russell is the right pick, and the Raiders will enter project mode with their young coach and young quarterback. If they trade Moss, however, they should jump on Johnson, the draft's most surefire superstar, and look for a veteran quarterback willing to mentor Walter.

Interesting comparison linking it to Moss, but what isn't linked to Moss these days? His logic is that if the trade comes off and Aaron Rodgers lands in Oakland, why draft Russell and have three unproven QB's? Makes sense to a degree. If Moss sticks around, which is most likely, Russell is the choice. Interesting stuff. We shall see.

Mock Draft

Pat Kirwan's Mock Draft 3 at NFL.com:

1. Oakland: JaMarcus Russell, QB, LSU -- The Raiders have a lot of needs, but as long as quarterback is one of them, they have to respond by selecting the guy with the great deep ball. I could see a move down, especially now that Cleveland will not need Adrian Peterson and someone was counting on tackle Joe Thomas or wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

Yup, pretty much.

Griffey to right field

At least for now, for the beginning of the season. He didn't get enough work in during Spring Training, so Ryan Freel has the job for now. Which is good. I did like seeing Freel in right field, though. He played it well. And there are plays that still need to be made over there, and I hope Griffey can make them. He better be able to, otherwise he'll just be the DH when we play AL teams, and not much more than that. Keep watching this story.

Reds fifth starter

JD has a good post today:

Matt Belisle wants to start and I think that's an excellent idea. Saarloos would be a nice guy to have coming out of the pen, and Belisle has the stuff to start. He's also still only 26 years old, meaning his best years should still be ahead of him. Belisle's health has been an issue, but he pitched all winter and apparently his back has held up fine.

He's the best option right now, from what I can see. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Belisle develop into a number three or four type guy in the next couple of years.

And it's kind of a shame that the Reds think Eric Milton has to start. Harang/Arroyo/Lohse/Belisle/Saarloos (with Bailey waiting in the wings) would be an interesting rotation.

This is a point I've been wanting to make, but he beat me to it. The idea that Milton is just handed a starter's job without earning it is rather annoying. Instead of having everyone battle for a fifth spot, they should be battling for the fourth and fifth spots and Milton and his huge salary would be traded for some cheap talent. There are more deserving candidates, but I also believe Belisle could eventually be a #3 starter. I mean, Milton is #3 so that could mean anything, but Belisle could be legitimate.

Reds cut 2

Brad Salmon & Brian Shackelford are out. It's Brian, right? I think so, anyway. Nobody is using first names. I don't know much about Shack, he seemed alright and we saw him a fair amount last year, so we'll see him again.

I kinda liked Salmon. And not just to eat, either. He seemed to be a pretty decent pitcher, young guy with some good moves. I would like to see him this year and I think that I just might.

Mavericks 92, Pistons 88

Nice to see the Mavs pull off a grinder like yesterday's affair. Granted, the Pistons were playing without Chauncey Billups which definitely could have affected the game, but it was still very good for the Mavs to win. Which they did.

Jason Terry for me was the player of the game, although his stats were very unspectacular. He got 12 points on 5/11 shooting, but almost all of his points came late, and he really distanced the Mavs from the Pistons late in the game, allowing Dallas to pull off the win. He hit two critical jumpers late as well as made two free throws. So his performance was huge in the fourth quarter, and he also contributed a sweet pass to Stackhouse where Stack got fouled and made both of his free throws. Nowitzki led the Mavs with 28 points, many of those coming later in the game. He started very cold again as he has done recently, but really picked it up late. He made a couple incredible shots and kept the Mavs in it late. He also played some pretty good defense, which was nice to see. Josh Howard, while pulling down 9 rebounds, had a pretty bad game. He had 12 points, most of those near the beginning of the game. His defense was solid, but not as good as it usually is, and he just missed a lot of shots, including an airball 3-pointer which would have iced the game. Dampier was a joke on the offensive side of things, but his defense was pretty dang decent in this game. He got called for a flagrant foul that wasn't flagrant whatsoever. He hit the guy's arm and Hamilton just fell down hard and put on a little acting show. It was pretty lame, and at a crucial time in the game. Speaking of Stackhouse, he had 12 points. Devin Harris had a very nice night, scoring 22 points, including 9/10 at the free throw line, meaning he went hard at the basket all game long. His performance was very decent, though his jump shots still need a LOT of work.

For the Pistons, it was pretty even scoring across the board, with Ronald Murray being the leader at 18 points. You could tell they missed Billups. I would like to think the Mavericks would beat the Pistons even with him in the lineup, but they haven't proven that this year. Still a good win though, as things could have gotten bad late but Nowitzki & Terry picked it up to preserve the victory.

Braves 6, Reds 5

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Harang had a weird day. He pitched five innings and took the loss. He gave up 3 earned runs on 8 hits, 2 of which were home runs. That wasn't all that great, but he did strike out 9, which was pretty sweet. Not a big deal, not really as bad of an outing as everyone is making it out to be. Shackelford went next, giving up 2 runs and an earned run in his inning. Weathers, Cormier, and Coffey closed out the game.

Hitting: Lots o' hits today, but a lot of men left on base. Ross was the big hitter of the day and it was about dang time, going 3/3 with an RBI and a double. Alex Gonzalez led off and was 1/2. Hopper was 1/2 with an RBI, Hatteberg 1/3 with an RBI. Adam Dunn was 1/3 (another freakin' single!). Janish was 2/2 with an RBI. Hamilton was 1/4 with a double and 2 K's as his average is simply bottoming out now to an astonishing low of .474. Denorfia had a pinch-hit strikeout.

Fielding & such: Nothing to be too pleased about today. 3 errors, on Phillips, Gil, and Machado. While Hopper stole a base, Gonzalez got caught stealing on a bad decision. Shackelford got the first pickoff for a Reds pitcher this year. David Ross also picked off Orr at second base.

Hurricanes 7, Devils 2

I really don't want to get into a review of the game here, so I won't. It was bad. It was clearly awful. The Devils are struggling in the home stretch and are now on the opposite end of an Atlantic Division surge, but this team Pittsburgh is the team to beat. They could very well, and very easily, win the Atlantic. The way the Devils are playing does not please anyone.

Reds 2, Red Sox 1

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Kyle Lohse got on the five-innings board today and pitched extremely well. He got the win with 3 hits, 3 K's, 0 runs. A lot of flyouts, but they were outs so I can handle that. But those could hurt him come season time. He did hit a batter, which he always does. But dang, could this be the Kyle Lohse we've been waiting for? Let's hope so, I'd rather him have the #3 spot over Milton. Don't like Milton. Anyway, Lohse defeated Papelbon, who is being used as a starter this year for Boston. Hermanson had a clean quick inning, Coutlangus not so much but kept it scoreless. Jared Burton got the 8th and gave up a run on 2 hits, a double to Ramierz and an RBI-single to some guy named Scales who knocked in some guy named Ochoa. Victor Santos had another pretty save, K'ing 1.

Hitting: Denorfia finally got himself into the game, hitting a leadoff homer and scoring the other run off of Adam Dunn's RBI single. What's up with Dunn's singles lately? That was the only hit he didn't have last year, now it's all he is hitting. What has Jacoby done? Dunn also walked twice and has remained very good in that respect. Hamilton obviously did not enjoy having some days off and was feeling the rust today, going 0/3 with 2 K's. His average now sits at .500. Phillips was 1/4 with a meaningless triple. Reds hit into 3 DP's, not a great stat.

Fielding & such: No errors today. Denorfia stole his first base.

Mavericks 106, Celtics 101

Yikes, what would have happened if the Mavs lost this one? Thankfully they didn't, and a win by 5 over a terrible team is the same as a win by 35 over a great team, at least in the win column. But still. Can't feel too great about it.

Dallas was trailing by ten points at the half, not what you would expect. Howard was playing well, but Nowitzki was ice cold. Paul Pierce was everywhere. Then the Mavericks slowly closed the gap over the third quarter and then took over late in the fourth quarter. Nowitzki stepped up, scoring 19 in the fourth, and 30 overall, 12/13 at the free throw line. He also pulled down 12 boards. Howard tied Nowitzki with the team lead in points and got 8 rebounds of his own. Terry had 16 and Stackhouse had 11.

Free throws were a big deal, as the Mavs found their way to the line, especially Nowitzki (mentioned above). The Mavericks were 30/33 on the night, with Boston going 19/22 which isn't too shabby, but a lot fewer attempts.

Not much else to see, good to see a win. Just to make sure they can still do it. Gotta keep winning. Without two of their best defenders, George and Buckner, being out.

Injuries & Cuts

Sounds nice, eh?

CUTS

Homer Bailey (yep, it's finally over, but he said he knew it was coming, and so did most people)
Kerry Ligtenberg (could have been a pretty reliable guy, but people were ahead of him)
Brian Meadows
Joey Votto (we'll see him)
Michael Gosling
Dan Conway
Ryan Hanigan

INJURIES

Gary Majewski (won't be ready for a while)
Griffey (not sure if he will start the season)
Billy Bray (better hurry up and get well, son!)
The Lizard (nothing major)
Gordo (duh, but getting closer)
Ryan Freel (minor)

Reds 3, Pirates 2

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Livingston started and went 3.2/3 giving up 2 runs. He gave up 8 hits (!) but if you can limit that to 2 runs, that's pretty decent. He walked 1 and K'ed 4. So pretty well done again by Bobby. Jared Burton closed out his inning and pitched another, giving up a hit and K'ing 2. I like this Burton guy. Cormier, Coffey, and Coutlangus kept it going and Ligtenberg got the save, K'ing 1.

Hitting: Denorfia was 2/4 with a run scored and an RBI. About dang time. Extreme back-up catcher Ryan Jorgenson got the game-winning RBI. Dunn was 2/2. Jay Bruce did not impress, but what the heck is he doing up at camp anyway?

Fielding & such: After subduing the errors for a while, the Reds busted out with 3 of them. Castro, of all people, had an errant throw. Bruce misplayed a ball, and Machado had a bad throw. He, being Machado, also stole a dang base.