Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 109 – NBA Blog

Mavericks notes after beating Bucks

Wednesday night in Dallas the Mavericks beat the Milwaukee Bucks 116-96. Here are Mavs team notes:

TONIGHT’S KEY RUN: Milwaukee led 15-7 with 6:15 to go in the 1st quarter. The Mavericks then went on a 58-26 run through the end of the 1st half to take a 65-41 lead into the locker room. During the run, Dallas shot 67.9% (19-28 FGs) from the field while Milwaukee shot 29.4% (10-34 FGs). Dallas made their last 7 FGAs of the 1st half.

MORE NOTES:

Charlie Villanueva scored 19 of MIL’s 23 1st quarter points. He went 8-12 from the field while the rest of the team went 0-12 from the field in the period.
Villanueva’s 19 points were the most in a quarter by an opposing player this season (Paul Pierce 18 vs. BOS, 2/12). He finished the game with 25 points (10-22 FGs, 1-4 3FGs, 4-4 FTs).

Dallas scored 21 fast break points in the 1st half (to MIL’s 4). Dallas averages 15.5 FB ppg (ranks 5th in the NBA). The Mavs finished the game with 30 FB points.

Brandon Bass recorded his 4th double-double of the season with 18 points (5-8 FGs, 8-8 FTs) and season-high tying 11 rebounds (8DR) in 30 minutes.
Josh Howard scored a game-high 27 points (10-16 FGs, 4-6 3FGs, 3-4 FTs) with 7 rebounds, season-high 5 steals and season-high tying 3 blocks in 35 minutes. Howard now has 5 25-point games for the season (his last was 29 at LAC, 12/28).

Over their last 9 wins, the Mavericks are shooting 53.3% (390-732 FGs) from the field. Tonight, they outshot the Bucks 53.4% (39-73 FGs) to 42.0% (37-88 FGs).

Dallas committed a season-high 25 turnovers resulting in 29 MIL points (previous high was 22 vs. LAL (11/11)).

The Mavericks recorded their 6th 20+ point victory of the season, winning by 20 points tonight. Dallas last 2 wins have come by an average of 20.5 points.

MIL came down with an opponent season-low 25 rebounds (18 DR). The Mavericks are now 12-0 when outrebounding the opposition by at least 10 (51-25 tonight).

Dallas is 15-3 when shooting 50% FG and 11-1 when scoring 110+ points.

Tonight’s attendance was 19,558 fans (19,200 capacity). The Mavs have sold out 304 consecutive regular season games at AAC and 362 games including the pre and postseasons. Dallas currently owns the longest running sellout streak in the NBA. The Sacramento Kings previously held the streak.

Spurs sign Pops Mensah-Bonsu to 10-day contract

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed free-agent forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu to a 10-day contract.

The 25-year-old Mensah-Bonsu had most recently been playing with the Austin Toros, the Spurs NBA D-League affiliate. In eight games with the Toros, he averaged 26.6 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.50 blocks in 39.8 minutes. His best game with the Toros came on 2/22 vs. Colorado where he had 39 points and 18 rebounds in 47 minutes.

Mensah-Bonsu was signed by the Dallas Mavericks after going unpicked in the 2006 NBA Draft. During the 2006-07 season he appeared in 12 games with the Mavericks, averaging 2.4 points and 1.0 rebounds in 5.9 minutes. That season he also appeared in 26 games for the Fort Worth Flyers of the D-League, averaging 15.8 points and 10.4 rebounds in 30.7 minutes. Mensah-Bonsu was selected to the 2007 D-League All-Star Game where he captured MVP honors after scoring 30 points and grabbing 7 boards.

The 6-10, 240-pound forward was born in London and played collegiately at George Washington University. He spent four years with the Colonials finishing his career second on the school’s all-time blocks list (141) while earning Atlantic-10 All Conference First Teams honors during his senior year.

Mensah-Bonsu will wear uniform #54.

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Duncan sits out, but Spurs still crush Mavs

The AP reports: Playing for the first time this season without Tim Duncan, who sat out with a sore right knee, Tony Parker had 37 points and 12 assists as the Spurs crushed Dallas 93-76 on Tuesday night in the worst offensive effort to date for the Mavericks… Spurs forward Michael Finley scored 16 against his former team, and Josh Howard led the flat-looking Mavericks with 19 points… Dirk Nowitzki scored 14 points for the Mavericks, who are also still without one of their biggest offensive weapons, Jason Terry. The standout sixth man missed his sixth game with a break in his non-shooting hand.

Bass and Singleton shine, Mavericks beat Kings 116-95

The AP reports: One night after logging major minutes in a loss to Houston, the Dallas Mavericks’ starters were able to take to take it easy. Brandon Bass scored 16 of his season-high 20 points in the second quarter and Dallas’ reserves contributed 54 points to lift the Mavericks past the Sacramento Kings 116-95 on Saturday night… Josh Howard scored 20 points, Nowitzki had 12 and Singleton grabbed 12 rebounds for the Mavericks, who have won 11 straight home games over the Kings in the regular season. Dallas pulled all their starters early in the fourth quarter. Beno Udrih had 18 points, and Spencer Hawes and Francisco Garcia each scored 17 for the Kings, who have the NBA’s worst record at 12-45.

Ex-Nets Kidd, Wright help Mavs beat New Jersey 113-98

The AP reports: Jason Kidd and Antoine Wright celebrated the first anniversary of their trade from the New Jersey Nets a day early Wednesday night, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 113-98 victory over their former team. Kidd opened the game with three early 3-pointers and scored 23 points, one shy of his season high. He also had 10 assists and a quick-handed steal against Devin Harris—the youngster he was dealt for—during the game-breaking third quarter.. The Mavericks improved to 7-2 since Kidd was put in charge of the offense. This one was especially impressive as four starters cracked 20 points, and all five were in double figures. Josh Howard had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points and nine rebounds, and Erick Dampier scored 10.

NBA to borrow $175 million

The Sports Business Journal (Daniel Kaplan and John Lombardo) reports: The NBA is set to borrow $175 million Feb. 26, marking one of the first league financings since the implosion of the credit markets last fall. The money, which will be available to 15 teams, supplements an existing $1.7 billion leaguewide credit facility that uses the NBA’s media contracts as collateral to secure loans for the clubs. The NBA surveyed its teams, and 15 responded they would like to tap into the new borrowing. While the league said it is pleased to borrow in an extremely illiquid credit market, the deal came at a cost, with interest rates up to 8.27 percent, hammering home the notion that the era of cheap money in sports is over. The 15 teams can use the money for any purpose, but covering operating losses may be high on the list.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Loan me three fiddy. I want some ribs.

Dirk Nowitzki speaks on Mavs season

Here’s what Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki said Friday at NBA All-Star weekend about the team’s season so far:

Question: When you look at the first part of the season, why has it been such a roller coaster, with five wins in a row, then five losses in a row?

Nowitzki: Well, I think we just had to work and keep improving. We had a new coach. We tried to put a new system in that wasn’t really working the way we wanted. We had stuff from both ends of the floor, offensively and defensively. I think once we got comfortable with that, we started to be a little more consistent. We didn’t lose that many games anymore. It is all about a work in progress, getting all the players on the same page with the coach. It has been better here the last two, three weeks. We have beaten two, three teams. In the Western Conference, it is so tight. I think we are fifth or sixth now. We are setting ourselves up for these last 30 games we got and hopefully make a great run at the playoffs. We were struggling and it was a little up and down, but the good thing is other teams were too. If you look at New Orleans, lost some tough games. Utah, Boozer has been out for a couple months. They lost some games. Phoenix is struggling. There are a lot of teams that are up and down a little bit. And I think that’s what helps us. I still think we are in a great position to have a great playoff run.

Gerald Green wants dunk contest spot in 2010

The Dallas Morning News (Eddie Sefko) reports (via blog): We were all reminded Saturday night of Gerald Green’s lasting legacy (so far). His cupcake blowout in the dunk contest two years ago was destined to be replayed on an annual basis whenever the dunk show is on display. Green has said he hopes to re-appear in the contest next year when it’s in Dallas. It remains to be seen if he gets an invite or not, but if he’s with the Mavericks, you can bet he’ll get strong consideration. Unfortunately for Green, that remains his claim to fame. Actually, one of his two claims to fame. Nothing he’s done on the court has gotten him as much claim as his dunk and the fact that he was part of the trade that brought Boston Kevin Garnett and laid the foundation for the Celtics’ championship last season.

Rondo triple-double, Celtics beat Mavericks 99-92

The AP reports: Kevin Garnett was frustrated and sitting on the Boston bench after getting three fouls in a matter of seconds while battling with Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas’ lone All-Star. Celtics coach Doc Rivers was already in the locker room because of the same sequence late in the third quarter, ejected after two quick technical fouls… And they would go on to a physical 99-92 victory Thursday night over the Mavericks. Pierce scored 18 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, but gave plenty of credit to his argumentative coach… Nowitzki led Dallas with 37 and Howard had 17 before fouling out. Ray Allen, playing a night after injuring his thumb in the Celtics’ victory at New Orleans, had 20 points and will play in the All-Star game still. Rajon Rondo had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists for his second career triple-double, both this season.

Mavs beat Kings 118-100; Sacramento has losing season

The AP reports: Antoine Wright scored 23 points, his best scoring game in nearly three months, Josh Howard also had 23 points, and the Mavericks won 118-100 over Sacramento on Tuesday night to make the Kings the first NBA team guaranteed to have a losing season… Dirk Nowitzki added 21 points, Jason Kidd had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Erick Dampier had 16 rebounds. J.J. Barea, the primary fill-in for Terry, had 10 points and four assists without a turnover in 25 1/2 minutes… Kevin Martin had 18 points, though he missed nine consecutive shots at one point for Sacramento. John Salmons had 16 and Shelden Williams 15.