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.