Mavericks 128 Timberwovles 101: Game 60 Recap

The Lead
The Mavs dominate from start to finish as another strong outing from Parsons lead the way.

Box Score

Leaders
Mavs
Points: Parsons, 29
Rebounds: Lee, 9
Assists: Williams, 9
+-: Parsons, +31
Wolves
Points: Muhammad, 24
Rebounds: Towns, 11
Assists: Jones, 6
+-: Payne, +4

Game Ball
Chandler Parsons
29 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 10-15 FG

X-Factor
Wesley Matthews
15 points, 5-10 FG, 3-6 3PT

Stat of the Game
After several disappointing starts to games of late, the Mavs jumped out to a 8-0 lead and lead from start to finish for only the fourth time this season. 

Play of the Game

Of Note

• Parsons has two of his three highest scoring games of the year against Minnesota. He also scored 30 against the Wolves on Jan. 20. He is also shooting 69% (29-42) in the three games vs. Minnesota this season.
• The Mavs have their 3 highest scoring games of the season over the last 4 games. They scored 129 vs. Philadelphia last Sunday and 122 against Denver on Friday.
• Because of the blowout and foul trouble Dirk only played 17 minutes. He scored all 10 of his points in the first quarter.
• David Lee had another strong outing in his 3rd game as a Mav, scoring 13 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in 22 minutes.
• Justin Anderson had his third double-digit scoring game of the season, scoring all 10 of his points in the 4th quarter including hitting 2 threes.
• All 13 Mavs who were active scored at least 2 points.
• The Mavs have now beaten the Wolves 6 straight times.

Quote of Note
"Once I had to chase that rebound full court, I was done for the night."
Dirk on his unsuccessful attempt to chase after a loose ball in the third quarter.

Tweet of the Night

The Big German & The Kid. 🙌🙌🙌 #DALvsMIN pic.twitter.com/wbS9TyedRm

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) February 28, 2016

Next Up
The Mavericks (32-28) look for some payback when they host the Orlando Magic (26-32) on Tuesday.

Mavericks vs. Timberwolves: Game 60 Preview

Dallas Mavericks (31-28) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (19-40)
Sun. Feb. 28, 6:00 at the AAC
TV: FSSW, NBATV
Line: Mavs by 6.5

2015-16 Matchups
Jan. 10 at Minnesota
Mavs 93 Wolves 87
Jan. 20 at Dallas
Mavs 106 Wolves 94 (OT)

All-Time Series
Mavs 63 Wolves 44

Team Stats
Mavs
Off. Rating: 104.0 (9th)
Def. Rating: 103.7 (17th)
Point Differential: -0.6
Wolves
Offense: 103.4 (12th)
Defense: 106.6 (26th)
Point Differential: -3.6



Projected Starters
Mavs
PG: Deron Williams
SG: Wesley Matthews
SF: Chandler Parsons
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Zaza Pachulia
Wolves
PG: Ricky Rubio
SG: Zach LaVine
SF: Andrew Wiggins
PF: Gorgui Dieng
C: Karl-Anthony Towns

Team Leaders
Mavs
PPG: Nowitzki, 17.8
RPG: Pachulia, 10.6
APG: Williams, 5.4
PER: Nowitzki, 19.1
Wolves
PPG: Wiggins, 20.8
RPG: Towns, 10.2
APG: Rubio, 8.8
PER: Towns, 22.7

Of Note

• The Mavs are looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since Jan. 29 and 31 against the Nets and Suns.
• The Mavs have won 5 straight against the Wolves over the last 2 seasons.
• David Lee's 14 rebounds on Friday were the most for a Mavericks reserve since DeJuan Blair had 18 rebounds on Nov. 29, 2013.
• Since shooting 1-7 on threes against Orlando in the first game out of the All-Star break, Wesley Matthews has made 12-25 from downtown in the last three games.
• With a Player Efficiency Rating of 22.7, Karl-Anthony Towns has the 4th best PER in a season ever for a player age 20 or younger. He is behind only Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Shaquille O' Neal.

Mavericks 122 Nuggets 116 (OT): Game 59 Recap

The Lead
Mavs fight back from deficits of 23 in the second quarter and 14 in the fourth quarter to win in yet another overtime affair.

Box Score

Leaders
Mavs
Points: Parsons, 27
Rebounds: Lee, 14
Assists: Felton, 6
+-: Felton, +30
Nuggets
Points: Barton, 22
Rebounds: Faried, 12
Assists: Mudiay, 6
+-: Lauvergne, +8

Game Ball
Raymond Felton
16 points, 6 assists, 7-12 FG, +30

X-Factor
David Lee
14 points, 14 rebounds, 6-10 FG

Play of the Game
With 2:43 left in overtime, Raymond Felton beat the Nuggets for a loose ball and then raced down the court for a layup to put the Mavs up 3.

Stat of the Game
After trailing the Nuggets 55-32 with 3:15 left in the 2nd quarter, the Mavericks went on a 35-11 run to take a 67-66 lead on a David Lee shot with 4:38 left in the third.

Of Note

• Raymond Felton tied the game with a wide open layup with 10.8 seconds left in regulation then proceeded to score 8 points in overtime.
• In his second game as a Mav, David Lee had his first double-double of the year with 14 points and 14 rebounds. 
• Zaza Pachulia did not play in the second half after having 0 points and 1 rebound in 8 first half minutes.
• Dirk had 13 rebounds to go along with his 20 points, his second highest rebound total of the season.
• Chandler Parsons had 15 of his game high 27 points in the 3rd quarter.
• In the fourth quarter the Mavs overcame deficits of 98-84 with 6:45 to go and 108-99 with 1:50 to go.

Quote of Note

Tweet of the Night

pic.twitter.com/4pvV4ZY9SO

— Austin (@garooya) February 27, 2016

Next Up
The Mavericks, (31-28) will face another below .500 team at home when the Minnesota Timberwovles (18-40) come to town on Sunday.

Mavericks vs. Nuggets: Game 59 Preview

Dallas Mavericks (30-28) vs. Denver Nuggets (23-35)
Fri. Feb. 26, 7:30 at the AAC
TV: FSSW, NBALP
Line: Mavs by 5

2015-16 Matchups
Nov. 28 at Dallas
Mavs 92 Nuggets 81

All-Time Series
Mavs 83 Nuggets 76


Team Stats
Mavs
Off. Rating: 103.7 (9th)
Def. Rating: 103.6 (17th)
Point Differential: -0.7
Nuggets
Offense: 101.7 (22nd)
Defense: 105.2 (20th)
Point Differential: -3.2

Projected Starters
Mavs
PG: Deron Williams
SG: Wesley Matthews
SF: Chandler Parsons
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Zaza Pachulia
Nuggets
PG: Emmanuel Mudiay
SG: Gary Harris
SF: Danilo Gallinari
PF: Kenneth Faried
C: Nikola Jokic

Team Leaders

Mavs
PPG: Nowitzki, 17.7
RPG: Pachulia, 10.8
APG: Williams, 5.5
PER: Nowitzki, 19.2
Nuggets
PPG: Gallinari, 19.7
RPG: Faried, 8.7
APG: Mudiay, 5.7
PER: Jokic, 21.9


Of Note

• The Mavs, losers of 6 out of 8, have four straight home games against teams with losing records.
• Dirk is coming off a season high 33 points against OKC where he shot 10-16 from the field and 11-12 from the line.
• Nuggets point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, who grew up in Dallas, leads all rookies in assists per game (5.7) and is 5th in points per game (11.3). However he is shooting only 33.8% from the field.
• The Mavericks have won 3 in a row and 4 out 5 against the Nuggets. The teams still have two remaining games to play in Denver in March.
• Chandler Parsons 6 point outing on Wednesday was only his second time scoring in single digits in his last 16 games.

Mavericks vs. Thunder: Game 58 Preview

Dallas Mavericks (30-27) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (40-16)
Tues. Feb. 24, 7:30 at the AAC
TV: FSSW, NBALP
Line: Thunder by 4

2015-16 Matchups
Nov. 22 at OKC
Thunder 117 Mavs 114
Jan. 13 at OKC
Thunder 108 Mavs 89
Jan. 22 at Dallas
Thunder 109 Mavs 106

All-Time Series
Sonics/Thunder 76 Mavs 70

Team Stats
Mavs
Off. Rating: 103.7 (9th)
Def. Rating: 103.3 (17th)
Point Differential: -0.5
Thunder
Offense: 109.7 (2nd)
Defense: 102.0 (11th)
Point Differential: +7.5

Projected Starters
Mavs
PG: Deron Williams
SG: Wesley Matthews
SF: Chandler Parsons
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Zaza Pachulia
Thunder
PG: Russell Westbrook
SG: Dion Waiters
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Serge Ibaka
C: Steven Adams

Team Leaders

Mavs
PPG: Nowitzki, 17.4
RPG: Pachulia, 10.8
APG: Williams, 5.5
PER: Nowitzki, 18.9
Thunder
PPG: Durant, 27.7
RPG: Durant, 7.9
APG: Westbrook, 10.2
PER: Westbrook, 28.9

Of Note

• David Lee, who signed a contract for the remainder of the season today, is expected to make his Mavs debut.
• Chandler Parsons has scored at least 15 points in 13 out of the last 15 games. He scored 26 points against the Thunder on Jan. 22.
• Russell Westbrook (28.9) and Kevin Durant (28.0) rank 2nd and 3rd in the league in PER this season. Stephen Curry leads the league with a PER of 32.1.
• This the only game of the Mavs' first 8 contests out of the All-Star break against a team with a winning record. 
• The Mavericks have dropped all 3 games of their games against OKC this season after winning 3 out of 4 against them last season. Of course a healthy Kevin Durant makes a big difference.

Mavs Sign David Lee

The Mavericks made it official today, agreeing to a contract with veteran big man David Lee for the remainder of the season. Lee was recently waived by the Celtics after being traded there last Summer from Golden State where he played for the Warriors championship team last season.
In 11 NBA seasons with the Knicks, Warriors and Celtics, the 32-year-old has career averages of 14.4 points and 9.2 rebounds. He was named an All-Star in 2010 and 2013 and was a 3rd team All-NBA selection in 2012-13. In 30 games for the Celtics this season Lee averaged 7.1 points and 4.3 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per game. He scored a season high 14 points in 15 minutes against the Mavs on Nov. 18.
To make room on the roster the Mavericks waived guard John Jenkins.

Mavericks 129 76ers 103: Game 57 Recap

The Lead
The Mavs bounce back to crush the lowly Sixers as Dirk passes 29,000 points.

Box Score

Leaders
Mavs
Points: Matthews, 21
Rebounds: Pachulia, 10
Assists: Williams, 8
+-: Parsons, Matthews, +27
76ers
Points: Okafor, 31
Rebounds: Okafor, 8
Assists: McConnell, 6
+-: Holmes, +2

Game Ball
Wesley Matthews
21 points, 8-12 FG, 3-7 3PT

X-Factor
J.J. Barea
12 points, 5 assists, 5-9 FG

Play of the Game
Dirk hit a three from the top of the key early in the third quarter that made him the 6th player in NBA history to score 29,000 career points. He joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain in some exclusive company.

Stat of the Game
The Mavs made 34 out of their 36 free throw attempts in their best free throw shooting night of the season at 94.4%. Their previous best came against Utah on Nov. 20 when they were 16-17 for 94.1%.

Of Note

• The win was the Mavs largest margin of victory of the season, easily beating out their 16 point win against the Suns on opening night. The 129 points was also a season high beating the previous high of 119 accomplished twice.
• After the game, Rick Carlisle announced that the team has agreed to sign former all-star forward-center David Lee for the remainder of the season. Lee, who was recently waived by Boston will replace John Jenkins on the roster.
• Matthews' 21 points were the most he has scored since scoring 22 against Milwaukee on Dec. 28.
• Dirk made 5 threes tying a season high set on Nov. 11 against the Clippers.
• Devin Harris returned to action after missing 10 games with a strained left toe. Harris scored 8 points in 17 minutes off the bench.
• 76ers rookie Jahlil Okafor scored 18 of his career high 31 points in the first quarter.
• The Mavericks have beaten the Sixers in 7 straight meetings.

Quote of Note
"It means you've been around for a long, long time and you've put in a few baskets here and there. I've been fortunate to be with this franchise for so long and stay injury free for the most part."
Dirk on crossing the 29,000 point plateu

Tweet of the Night

.@swish41 pic.twitter.com/5xrnsSdJif

— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) February 22, 2016

Next Up
The Mavericks (30-27) have two nights off before hosting Durant and Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder (40-16) on Wednesday.

Mavericks at Magic: Game 56 Preview

Dallas Mavericks (29-26) at Orlando Magic (23-29)
Fri. Feb. 19, 6:00 at the Amway Center
TV: FSSW, NBALP
Line: Mavs by 1


2014-15 Matchups
Jan. 31 at Orlando
Mavs 108 Magic 93
Mar. 18 at Dallas
Mavs 107 Magic 102
  
All-Time Series
Mavs 30 Magic 23


Team Stats
Mavs
Off. Rating: 103.0 (11th)
Def. Rating: 103.0 (16th)
Point Differential: -0.9
Magic
Offense: 103.0 (11th)
Defense: 101.9 (12th)
Point Differential: +1.5

Projected Starters
Mavs
PG: Deron Williams
SG: Wesley Matthews
SF: Chandler Parsons
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Zaza Pachulia
Magic
PG: Elfird Payton
SG: Victor Oladipo
SF: Evan Fournier
PF: Aaron Gordon
C: Nikola Vucevic

Team Leaders

Mavs
PPG: Nowitzki, 17.6
RPG: Pachulia, 10.7
APG: Williams, 5.4
PER: Nowitzki, 19.3
Magic
PPG: Vucevic, 17.0
RPG: Vucevic, 8.9
APG: Payton, 5.8
PER: Vucevic, 20.4


Of Note

• This a rare road game for the Mavs during this portion of the schedule. After this game they play 9 out of 10 at the AAC.
• The Mavericks stood pat at Thursday's trade deadline. They could still be candidate to sign a veteran who gets bought out of their contract.
• Devin Harris is questionable to play after missing the last 9 games prior to the All-Star break with a strained left toe.
• The Mavs have won 9 straight games at Orlando as well as 7 in a row overall against the Magic.
• Chandler Parsons was born and raised in the Orlando area and played his college ball at the University of Florida.
• The Magic did make a significant trade right before the deadline sending Tobias Harris to Detroit for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova, who both played for Magic coach Scott Skiles in Milwaukee.

NBA Awards Watch

My current NBA awards picks at the All-Star Break.

MVP

1. Stephen Curry
2. Kevin Durant
3. LeBron James
4. Russell Westbrook
5. Kawhi Leonard

Rookie of the Year
1. Karl-Anthony Towns
2. Kristaps Porzingis
3. Jahlil Okafor

Defensive Player of the Year
1. Draymond Green
2. Kawhi Leonard
3. Tim Duncan

Coach of the Year
1. Rick Carlisle
2. Brad Stevens
3. Gregg Popovich

6th Man of the Year
1. Will Barton
2. Andre Iguodala
3. Manu Ginobili

Most Improved Player
1. C.J. McCollum
2. Will Barton
3. Draymond Green

All-NBA
First Team
G: Stephen Curry
G: Russell Westbrook
F: Kevin Durant
F: LeBron James
C: Draymond Green
Second Team
G: Chris Paul
G: Kyle Lowry
F: Kawhi Leonard
F: Anthony Davis
C: DeMarcus Cousins
Third Team
G: James Harden
G: Jimmy Butler
F: Paul George
F: Paul Millsap
C: Chris Bosh

Mavericks vs. Jazz: Game 55 Preview

Dallas Mavericks (29-25) vs. Utah Jazz (25-25)
Tues. Feb. 9, 7:30 at the AAC
TV: FSSW, NBALP
Line: Mavs by 2


2015-16 Matchups
Nov. 20 at Dallas
Mavs 102 Jazz 93

All-Time Series
Jazz 90 Mavs 70

Team Stats
Mavs
Off. Rating: 103.0 (11th)
Def. Rating: 103.0 (16th)
Point Differential: -0.9
Jazz
Offense: 103.0 (11th)
Defense: 101.9 (12th)
Point Differential: +1.5

Projected Starters
Mavs
PG: Deron Williams
SG: Wesley Matthews
SF: Chandler Parsons
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Zaza Pachulia
Jazz
PG: Raul Neto
SG: Rodney Hood
SF: Gordon Hayward
PF: Derrick Favors
C: Rudy Gobert

Team Leaders

Mavs
PPG: Nowitzki, 17.6
RPG: Pachulia, 10.7
APG: Williams, 5.4
PER: Nowitzki, 19.5
Jazz
PPG: Hayward, 19.8
RPG: Gobert, 10.4
APG: Hayward, 3.7
PER: Favors, 22.2

Of Note

• This will be the Mavs final game before they enjoy a 9 day all-star break.
• Devin Harris will miss his 9th straight game with a strained left toe. He is expected to return after the break.
• The Mavericks have dominated the Jazz at home, winning 10 straight, 15 out of 16 and 22 out of 24.
• The Jazz come in winners of 6 straight to get to .500. 5 of those wins came at home.
• In the last 3 games Justin Anderson has recorded 24 points and 14 rebounds in 53 minutes of playing time.

Mavericks 114 Grizzlies 110 (OT): Game 54 Recap

The Lead
The Mavs bounce back from Friday's embarrassing loss with a gutty overtime road win.

Box Score

Leaders
Mavs
Points: Parsons, 26
Rebounds: Parsons, 8
Assists: Williams, 11
+-: Powell, +8
Grizzlies
Points: Gasol, 22
Rebounds: Randolph, 14
Assists: Conley, 7
+-: Randolph, Lee, +7

Game Ball
Chandler Parsons
26 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 10-15 FG, 5-8 3PT

X-Factor
Justin Anderson
6 points, 4 rebounds, +6

Play of the Game
With the Mavs clinging to a 1 point lead with 16.6 seconds left in OT, Deron Williams finds Dirk for a wide open jumper that gives the Mavs some breathing room.

Stat of the Game
The Mavericks overcame being outshot 50%-43.2% by turning the ball over only 6 times.

Of Note

• Williams played a particularity strong floor game with 11 assists and 0 turnovers to go along with 22 points.
• The Mavs avoided what would have been their first 4 game losing streak of the season.
• The Mavericks improved to 6-1 in overtime games this season and 12-1 over the last two seasons.
• This was Parsons' fifth 25+ point game of the season, all since Jan. 12.
• Dallas was able to overcome being outscored in the paint 56-26 by hitting 15 threes and 23 free throws.
• Every Mav player besides Devin Harris, who is still out with a strained toe, was available on the second night of a back-to-back.

Quote of Note
 "It was a lousy way to show for our team. You don't want to go through that. We had to show character."
Rick Carlisle on bouncing back from the Spurs debacle.

Tweet of the Night

Dirk hit a shot with 16 second left in OT to put the Mavs up by 3 which sealed the game. Love having a pony who can do that trick.

— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher) February 7, 2016

Next Up
The Mavericks (29-25) close out their pre-All-Star break schedule with a home date Tuesday against the Utah Jazz (25-25).

Mavericks vs. Heat: Game 52 Preview

Dallas Mavericks (28-23) vs. Miami Heat (27-22)
Wed.. Feb. 3, 7:30 at the American Airlines Center
TV: FSSW, NBALP
Line: Mavs by 3.5

2015-16 Matchups
Jan. 1 at Miami
Heat 106 Mavs 82

All-Time Series
Mavs 30 Heat 28

Team Stats
Mavs
Off. Rating: 103.0 (11th)
Def. Rating: 102.7 (15th)
Point Differential: -0.4
Heat
Offense: 101.7 (23rd)
Defense: 99.8 (5th)
Point Differential: +0.1

Projected Starters
Mavs
PG: Deron Williams or J.J. Barea
SG: Wesley Matthews
SF: Chandler Parsons
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Zaza Pachulia
Heat
PG: Goran Dragic
SG: Dwyane Wade
SF: Luol Deng
PF: Chris Bosh
C: Amare Stoudemire

Team Leaders
Mavs
PPG: Nowitzki, 17.5
RPG: Pachulia, 10.9
APG: Williams, 5.3
PER: Nowitzki, 19.6
Heat
PPG: Bosh, 19.2
RPG: Whiteside, 11.2
APG: Dragic, 5.1
PER: Whiteside, 23.4

Of Note

• Deron Williams(hip), Devin Harris(toe) and Salah Mejri(knee) are all listed as questionable by the Mavs.
• Heat starting center Hassan Whiteside, who has put up big numbers against the Mavs in past meetings, has been out with a hip injury. Former Mav Amare Stoudemire has been starting in his place.
• Starting Wednesday the Mavericks will play 12 out of the next 15 games at home. They are 10-3 in their last 13 home games.
• Since beating the Heat in the 2011 Finals, the Mavs have lost 8 out of 9 games to Miami including 4 straight at home.
• Chandler Parsons has scored at least 15 points in 9 straight games, He has also grabbed at least 5 rebounds in 8 of those games.

Update: Williams and Harris have both been ruled out.

Mavericks at Hawks: Game 51 Preview

Dallas Mavericks (28-22) at Atlanta Hawks (27-22)
Mon. Feb. 1, 7:00 at Philips Arena
TV: FSSW, NBALP
Line: Hawks by 6

2015-16 Matchups
Dec. 9 at Dallas
Hawks 98 Mavs 95

All-Time Series
Hawks 37 Mavs 32

Team Stats
Mavs
Off. Rating: 103.1 (11th)
Def. Rating: 102.5 (14th)
Point Differential: -0.1
Hawks
Offense: 102.5 (15th)
Defense: 100.4 (6th)
Point Differential: +1.6

Projected Starters
Mavs
PG: Deron Williams
SG: Wesley Matthews
SF: Chandler Parsons
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Zaza Pachulia
Hawks
PG: Jeff Teague
SG: Kyle Korver
SF: Kent Bazemore
PF: Paul Millsap
C: Al Horford

Team Leaders

Mavs
PPG: Nowitzki, 17.5
RPG: Pachulia, 10.8
APG: Williams, 5.4
PER: Nowitzki, 19.5
Hawks
PPG: Millsap, 18.0
RPG: Millsap, 8.7
APG: Teague, 5.5
PER: Millsap, 23.3

Of Note

• Devin Harris will missed his 5th straight game with a strained left toe.
• This will be the Mavs 19th game in 32 days. They will only play 9 games in 28 days after this including a 9 day all-star break.
• The Mavs have lost 4 straight to Hawks with 3 of those losses coming by 3 points or less.
• Former Hawk Zaza Pachulia has 25 points and 27 rebounds in the last 2 games after missing 3 games due to a sore Achilles.
• The Hawks have really struggled lately, losing 5 out of their last 6 games in which they failed to score more than 95 points in any of those losses.