Win Again?

So once again the Dallas Mavericks go out and attempt to be head on against the reigning champs before them, the Los Angeles Lakers. There were different opinions being thrown out by all sides about how the result of this face off would look like. Some said the Lakers would prevail with their dominant Kobe and Gasol duo; others thought that the win was in favor of the Mavericks because Nowitzki and the rest of his teammates knew how to work well together. Overall, there was much logos being thrown about because everybody was making logical suggestions as to who would come out on top at the end. 

The game was a tight and interesting game to watch from the tip off. With Nowitzki facing off against Kobe, it was great to see who would prevail on the floor. At the end of the first quarter the Lakers were winning 25-21 against the Mavericks with Gasol kicking butt for a change instead of Bryant. Both teams went hard against each other the second half of the first half and thus at half time the score was a tie 48-48. The intense competition between the two amazing teams continued onto the next half where both teams continued to play hard and make around twenty points the third and fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter though, the Lakers seemed like they wanted it a bit more than the Dallas Mavs because the Lakers scored 24 points where the Mavs only scored 19. Though this difference might not seem like much, it made all the difference when it came to final score of the game. The final score was caused by the downplay of the Mavericks in their fourth quarter because the score was 96-91 where the Mavs only lost by five points. The loss was a dissapointment especially for Nowitzki who played approxiamately 36 points and scored 25 points. The win felt extremely nice for the Lakers though where for once Bryant wasn't the prevailing player. Pau Gasol received 39 minutes to play and was the Lakers top scorer for the night with 24 points. For once Bryant wasn't really on top because he only had 15 points for the night. Overall, this matchup further left the question open about how the Mavs will be doing this season, especially when it comes to playoffs. Will this team come back and win or will somebody else steal their spot this year?

Win Again? 

Many were expecting the number one seed in the NBA to come out with a win against the reigning champs, the Mavs, but that isn't exactly what happen on monday February 13th. The LA Clippers were hoping to end their grammy road trip with a five to one winning record but that isn't exactly what happened. With a mix of Clippers' star, Blake Griffins struggle in free throws and Mavs star, Dirk Nowitzki's notorious fourth quarter, the Mavericks were able to clench the win and turn the Clippers' on the road record to four to two instead of five to one. 

Apart from Nowitzki and Griffin, Butler of the Clippers also had an impressive season high of twenty three points doing work on the floor. With the Clippers players doing really well throughout the game, the Dallas Mavericks needed to come up with something or another to pick up a win this game. Their solution came when they made twenty two points off of twenty one turnovers that the Clippers committed. Apart from this there was also a crazy turning point at the end of the game when the Mavericks were leading 94-92 and there were only five seconds. At that time Kidd threw the ball in-bounds but it was intercepted by the famous CP3 who passed it to Butler for a three but unfortunately Butler was off the mark by a tiny little bit and the Mavs got out safe. 

Beating the Clippers was a very big step for the Champs because the Clippers seem to be the biggest threat in the NBA this year. With their star players Blake Griffin, Caron Butler, and Chris Paul the Clippers seem to be taking down everyone in their way. With this win the Dallas Mavericks will definitely feel more confident about their standing among the best teams in the NBA. This win also further leaves the question open...will the Dallas Mavs win again?

Win Again?

With the big man, Dirk Nowitzki, back into rhythm everyone watching the Cavs and Mavs game was expecting the Mavs to sweep it away. This is not exactly what happen though. Nowitzki back from his strained leg has been struggling for the past couple of games but this game he was back to his ten time all-star status. He had a season high of thirty points with numerous rebounds and assists. Though he led his team, it was not enough and the Dallas Mavericks ended up losing to the Cavaliers 98-87. Another main point to the loss was said to be the fact that point guard Jason Kidd was missing. Kidd had a straigned left calf and as of yet the doctors haven't given a time at which he will be back. With all these injuries, the team is attempting to keep itself in rhythm to be the champions again. But yet again the question is the same is as before, will they be victorious once again? One thing the Mavs know they have to do if they want to win the trophy once again is not let one loss get to them and effect their next game. Something like this happened in the Cavs game on last saturday. The game before that the Mavericks had just lost to the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma Thunder. The fact that they lost those mentally affected them and the way they played their game against the Cavaliers. Everyone knows the Cavaliers aren't a good team anymore and the Mavericks could have beat them but with the right mentality not present, the Mavs were unable to clench that win. Hopefully this losing streak ends right here and the returning champs take the trophy back to Dallas once again!

Win Again?

     With a 14-8 record winning record right now, last year's reigning champions the Dallas Mavericks are clinching onto the 4th place in the West, right behind the Denver Nuggets. Last year the underdog Dallas Mavericks came out victorious after winning four out of six games against the great Miami Heat. This year the Mavs are trying to make it happen again but at the moment with teams such as the L.A. Clippers and Chicago Bulls, things are looking too sunny for Dallas. 

     Just this past week on Monday the Mavericks played the Phoenix Suns and won their 7th straight game against them. Things were made even tougher on the Suns side because their star point guard, Steve Nash, was out with a leg injury. Things were looking swell on Dallas' part because it was last years' MVP Dirk Nowitzki's second night back so he was definitely playing well. 

    The first quarter remained pretty close throughout but as the end came Jason Terry went for a three, missed it, but was rebounded by Lamar Odom who made a fade away just as the buzzer rang; letting the Mavericks to lead 29-24. The Suns attempted to come out with the a strong defense for the second quarter where a couple of the Mavs players got swatted. But the Mavs seemed quite in the game on Monday and Vince Carter made a strong statement by banking in a three right away and coming away with 21 points. As the second half began, Delante West became as prominent of a player as Vince Carter. West had five out of six from downtown and a game high of 25 points all together. Vince Carter also had a five out of seven from the three point range. With these two players on fire during the game, the Mavericks were able to win 122-99 against the Suns. I think the strategy used by both West and Carter will help take the Mavericks far into the playoffs once again. The Mavericks will be playing the number one team, the Oklahoma Thunder, and that game will tell how the reigning champions will actually fare out this year.