Category: Dallas Mavericks Blog

Here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporting on the 41-27 Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki:

It’s not often that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban publicly criticizes his superstar forward, Dirk Nowitzki.

Monday, though, was one of those rare occasions.

Cuban took time before Monday’s game against the Boston Celtics to tell the media of a conversation he had with Nowitzki earlier in the day. It’s about as critical as Cuban as ever publicly been about Nowitzki.

“I think sometimes he loses concentration, and I think we’ve got to get past that,” Cuban said. “I mentioned it to him today. I asked him how his nap was during the game [Sunday at Oklahoma City]. He laughed. At least that’s while I was facing him. When I turned my back and walked away, I don’t know.”

Nowitzki had two first-quarter rebounds against the Thunder and finished the game with just four boards and 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Cuban also was none too pleased that Nowitzki had just 12 points and six rebounds during last Tuesday’s 108-85 loss on the road to the Golden State Warriors.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have recalled rookie guard Shane Larkin from the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Larkin (5-11, 176) had 22 points and 11 assists in the win against the Maine Red Claws last night. In four games with the Legends this season, he has averaged 15.3 points, 8.3 assists, and 4.8 rebounds in 35.8 minutes. He has played in 42 games for the Mavericks and is averaging 2.9 points and 1.6 assists in 11.1 minutes per contest.

In related moves, the Mavericks reassigned Gal Mekel to the Legends. He will be available for tonight’s game against the Tulsa 66ers. Mekel has played in three Legends games and has averages of 9.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 27.7 minutes.

Watch video highlights of Dallas Mavericks guard Monta Ellis tossing up some trick shots in pregame shootaround:

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have recalled rookie guard Gal Mekel from the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Mekel (6-3, 202) is averaging 2.4 points, 2.1 assists and 9.6 minutes in 30 games (one start) for Dallas this season.

Mekel was assigned to the D-League on March 4. He appeared in three games for the Legends and averaged 9.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 27.7 minutes.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have assigned rookie guard Gal Mekel to the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Mekel (6-3, 202) is averaging 2.4 points, 2.1 assists and 9.6 minutes in 30 games (one start) this season.

He has missed the last 21 games of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to address a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee.

Mekel (6-3, 191) spent two seasons at Wichita State University (2006-07, 2007-08) before leaving school early and beginning his professional career in Europe. In his first season overseas, he was named the 2009 All-Israeli League Newcomer of the Year.

Last season, the point guard led Maccabi Haifa to an Israeli League Championship en route to claiming his second Most Valuable Player award. Mekel averaged 13.3 points, 5.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 32.3 minutes in 30 games while shooting .525 from the field and .779 from the free throw line.

The Petah Tikva, Israel native is just the second Israeli-born player to sign with an NBA team. He follows in the footsteps of veteran forward Omri Casspi.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have reassigned Jae Crowder and Shane Larkin to the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Crowder (6-6, 235) and Larkin (5-11, 176) were both a part of Thursday night’s Legends’ victory. Crowder finished with 23 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists to record the Legends’ first triple-double of the season. Larkin chipped in 9 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds.

Both Mavericks will join the Legends and be available for tonight’s game when they take on the Los Angeles D-Fenders at 7:00 pm CT at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco.

Here’s ESPN Dallas reporting on the Mavericks, who have enjoyed great success this month but have a tougher schedule going forward:

We might find out what the Mavs are made of over the next eight games, starting with Friday night’s home game against the rugged Chicago Bulls.

“The competition gets tougher,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “So it’s more physical, it’s harder to score, it’s harder to get stops. You’ve got to be that much more tied together, you’ve got to be that much more efficient and you’ve got to have that much more concentration on the boards.”

The Mavs will see only two sub-.500 opponents over that stretch, and both of those games are on the road. The other six games feature matchups against the top three teams in the West standings (Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers), a rematch with the Pacers and a visit to the Golden State Warriors that could have significant playoff-seeding implications.

“This stretch we’ve got coming up is pretty tough, a lot of good teams, some of them on the road, so it should be a good test,” Nowitzki said.

Here’s the Dallas Morning News blog reporting on veteran Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki, who would be perfectly happy spending most of Sunday’s All-Star game on the bench watching the action:

The Mavericks played 54 games before the All-Star break, and Nowitzki played in all but two of them. Like most of his teammates, he was rolling in the weeks leading up to the NBA’s annual intermission.

Unlike most of his teammates, he doesn’t get to kick back on a beach or at the house to chill out for a few days. But he still doesn’t plan on putting in much of a workload in New Orleans. With his sprained left ankle still healing, plus a playoff race ahead of him, he values all the rest he can get.

“A couple minutes,” was all Nowitzki said when asked what he expects to do in Sunday’s All-Star Game. “I got a couple days now, and I probably won’t do much, including the game.”