The AP reports: Chauncey Billups’ jumper with 1:19 to play helped the Detroit Pistons rally for an 85-81 exhibition victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night. Down 13 points entering the fourth quarter, the Pistons (5-1) outscored the Mavericks (3-2) 36-19 in the final 12 minutes. Richard Hamilton led Detroit with 17 points, and Billups added 16 and seven assists. Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points for Dallas in 23 minutes, and Brandon Bass added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Category: Dallas Mavericks Blog
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Devin Harris explains UK streetball incident
I’m sure you’ve heard by now about the Devin Harris streetball incident in the UK where a pretty harmless-looking dude had about 60 seconds of success against Devin in a little mini-game of one-on-one. The first shot was a simple but decent close-range jumper, but the second move involved putting the ball through Devin’s legs for a pretty sweet reverse layup.
Thursday night I was with Devin in New Jersey and a full explanation from him as to what happened is here in this Harris interview. Read it and post the link in any discussion you’ve seen about what went down.
–Jeff
Avery Johnson joins ESPN
Former NBA point guard and head coach Avery Johnson has also joined ESPN as an NBA studio analyst, mainly joining host Stuart Scott and analyst Bill Walton on ESPN’s NBA Shootaround pregame show throughout the season and postseason. Johnson, who contributed to ESPN’s NBA Playoff coverage earlier this year, will also contribute at times to ABC’s GMC NBA Countdown.
“Avery has excelled in every professional endeavor and we know his success will carry over to his on-air role,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, production. “His experience and passion for the game will resonate with our fans.”
“I’m excited to join the ESPN family of networks and, specifically, to join the NBA broadcast team,” said Johnson. “ESPN and ABC has an abundance of terrific talent and I’m glad to launch my career in broadcasting with the premiere sports network.”
Johnson most recently served as coach of the Dallas Mavericks (2004-08), guiding the franchise to a .735 winning percentage (194-70). His team advanced to the Finals in 2006 and Johnson was rewarded with NBA Coach of the Year recognition. During the 2007 season, Johnson became the fastest coach to reach 150 wins.
Johnson, an NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs in 1999, had a 16-year NBA career including time with the Seattle SuperSonics (1988-90), Denver Nuggets (1990-91; 2001-02), Spurs (1991, 1992-93, 1994-2001), Houston Rockets (1992), Golden State Warriors (1993-94, 2003-04) and Dallas Mavericks (2002-03). Johnson earned the NBA Sportsmanship Award in 1998.
Oct 15: Pacers 100, Mavs 93
The AP reports: Danny Granger had 18 points and rookies Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert scored 15 apiece, leading the Indiana Pacers to a 100-93 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in a preseason game Wednesday night… Antoine Wright scored 14 points, James Singleton added 11 points and nine rebounds, and DeSagana Diop contributed 10 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks, who dropped to 3-1 in the preseason.
Eddie Jones and Pacers agree to part ways
Eddie Jones will not join the Pacers but the franchise will recoup the ability to sign another player as a result of an agreement reached today.
Jones was acquired by the Pacers from Dallas, along with two second-round picks and cash, in exchange for Shawne Williams on Oct. 10.
The 36-year-old veteran guard made it clear he preferred not to play this season.
The Pacers worked with agent Leon Rose and reached an agreement that lowers the salary-cap figure for the one season remaining on Jones’ contract, thus clearing enough room for the team to sign another player to a veteran minimum contract without exceeding the NBA Luxury Tax threshold.
Oct 10: Mavs 105, Bucks 79
The AP reports: Jason Terry scored 15 points, including a 40-foot 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, in the Dallas Mavericks’ 105-79 preseason victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night… Dirk Nowitzki added 11 points in 18 minutes for Dallas (3-0). Jerry Stackhouse also scored 11 points for the Mavs, who led by as many as 25 in the third quarter. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes for the Bucks (0-3). Ramon Sessions led the Bucks with 11 points, while Luc Mbah a Moute added 10 in 33 minutes. Richard Jefferson, acquired in an offseason trade with New Jersey for Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian, scored nine points for Milwaukee.
Pacers, Mavs trade Shawne Williams, Eddie Jones, picks, cash
The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they acquired forward Shawne Williams from the Indiana Pacers in exchange for guard Eddie Jones and two future second-round draft picks.
Williams (6-9, 225) was selected by Indiana with the 17th overall pick in the 2006 draft. The third-year forward averaged 6.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 65 games (3 starts) last season with the Pacers improving on his rookie numbers of 3.9 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in 2006-07.
A native of Memphis, Tenn., Williams played one year of college basketball at the University of Memphis before declaring himself eligible for the 2006 NBA Draft. As a Tiger, Williams helped lead Memphis to a 33-4 record while averaging 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds and being named Conference USA Freshman of the Year. In his lone collegiate postseason, Williams was named Most Valuable Player of the Conference USA Tournament after averaging 18.0 points and 6.7 rebounds.
“On behalf of the Mavericks organization, we would like to thank Eddie Jones for the valuable contributions he has brought to our team,” President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Donnie Nelson said. “We appreciated his professionalism both on and off the court as a Maverick. Shawne Williams is an exciting young prospect with a bright future. We look forward to developing him into the player he aspires to be.”
InsideHoops.com editor says: The Mavs must see some talent in Williams. The Pacers just see that he occasionally gets in legal trouble, and they aren’t particularly in love with his basketball ability or brains. Eddie Jones is all washed up at this point and doesn’t really count. Second rounders don’t have much value these days. And then there’s the cash. It’s basically Williams for second rounders and cash. Which sounds like a somewhat even deal, assuming Williams avoids getting arrested and turns out to be good enough to help the Dallas bench sometime in the near future.
Shawne Williams to Mavs
The Indianapolis Star (Mike Wells) reports via blog: The Indiana Pacers have traded swingman Shawne Williams to Dallas, two people with knowledge of the situation said today. The Pacers will receive guard Eddie Jones, two second-round picks and approximately $1.8 million in cash. Williams averaged 6.7 points in two seasons with the Pacers, but several off-court incidents put the franchise in a bad light and made him expendable.
UPDATE: The trade has happened and is official. Read this.
Oct 9: Mavs 110, Bulls 102
The AP reports: Gerald Green scored 18 points to lead six Dallas players in double figures, helping the Mavericks beat the Chicago Bulls 110-102 in a preseason game on Thursday night. Bulls rookie Derrick Rose, last spring’s No. 1 draft pick, played nearly 27 minutes and scored 10 points in Chicago’s preseason opener… Luol Deng, Aaron Gray and Darius Washington paced the Bulls with 14 points each, while Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes each added 11. Dirk Nowitzki scored 15 points for the Mavericks, Antoine Wright and Jose Barea each had 11 and Brandon Bass added 10.
Oct 7: Mavs 108, Wizards 82
The AP reports: Dirk Nowitzki and Brandon Bass each scored 17 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 108-82 victory over the injury-depleted Washington Wizards on Tuesday night in the preseason opener for both teams. Wizards forward Antawn Jamison left in the first quarter with a right knee injury and did not return… Andray Blatche’s 18 points paced the Wizards. Dallas’ Josh Howard, who finished with 15 points, was greeted by a mixture of cheers and boos from the crowd when he was introduced with the starting lineup following a controversy-filled offseason.