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.