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Mike James will be sticking around.
The guard’s second 10-day contract expired after Sunday’s game, and the Mavericks had to make a decision about whether to keep him or cut him loose.
They elected to sign him for the rest of the season, meaning the roster will remain full with 15 players heading toward the trade deadline.
“He’s done a terrific, solid job since he’s been here, so it’s good news for us,” coach Rick Carlisle said.
— Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News
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Tony Parker returned from a cut above the same eye he injured in a nightclub incident last summer and scored 23 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 113-107 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
Parker missed about a quarter in the first half when he took three stitches above his left eye after a collision with Elton Brand on a drive. He nearly lost the eye in June when shards of glass embedded in his cornea after he got caught in a bottle-throwing melee in New York.
Tim Duncan stayed home with a sore right knee, but DeJuan Blair made up for his absence by scoring a season-high 22 points.
Rodrigue Beaubois led the Mavericks with a season-high 19 points…
Parker’s head collided with Brand’s arm on a drive early in the first quarter, and no foul was called. Parker stayed down alone under the basket covering his left eye for about 20 seconds during a Dallas possession on the other end. Once play stopped, Parker had to be separated from the referees as he was led to the bench…
Nowitzki finished with 15, and Mayo had 14. Vince Carter scored 17 for Dallas…
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich missed his second straight game because of illness.
— Reported by Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press
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The Texas Legends have acquired guard Delonte West. West, a former member of the Mavericks, will be making his way back to Dallas in an effort to once again reach the NBA.
West (6-4, 180, St. Joseph’s) was selected 24th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2004 NBA Draft. West played in Boston for three years averaging 12.25 pts, 3 reb, and 4.4 ast his third season. Following that, West was traded to Cleveland where he played for three years before returning to Boston for the 2010-11 season and then to Dallas where he averaged 9.5 pts, 2.3 reb, and 3.1 ast last season. West helped his team to post-season play in six of his eight seasons in the NBA.
With the acquisition of West, the Texas Legends currently have five former first-round picks on the roster. West also makes the seventh player on the current roster with NBA experience (Justin Dentmon, Melvin Ely, Luther Head, Rashad McCants, Sean Singletary, Delonte West, Sean Williams).
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Shawn Marion had 20 points, and O.J. Mayo and Vince Carter scored 15 apiece as the Dallas Mavericks fought off a late Orlando surge and beat the Magic 111-105 on Sunday night.
The Mavericks led by 13 in the fourth quarter, before the Magic pulled within a basket in the final minute.
Dallas earned its seventh straight road victory in its series against Orlando. The Mavericks now have five days off before hosting division-leader San Antonio on Friday.
Glen Davis led Orlando with 24 points, followed by Jameer Nelson with 20 and J. J. Redick’s 18.
The Magic have lost three of their last four games and also fell for the seventh straight time to an opponent with a sub-.500 record.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said Dirk Nowitzki, who played in his 15th game following offseason knee surgery, may need until February to get back to full strength.
The former MVP finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. He scored six points in the first half, but was active with some early assists as Dallas built a small cushion after digging out of an early hole…
Davis was whistled for a technical foul with 9:31 left in the third quarter.
— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press
Dallas Mavericks forward Shawn Marion has been fined $25,000 for public criticism of officiating, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.
Marion’s comments were made after Dallas’ 117-114 overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 18 at American Airlines Center.
More info will be added to this page this evening.
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Kevin Durant’s miserable fourth quarter ended with a final miss that gave Dallas a chance to finish a rally in overtime Friday night.
The Oklahoma City star took care of things in the extra period instead, and ended up with a career high and the first 50-point game in the NBA this season.
Durant scored 52 points, including the go-ahead basket with 16.9 seconds remaining in overtime, and the Thunder held on for a 117-114 victory that extended their winning streak to six games and ended the Mavericks’ season-best run of four straight.
A night after getting voted a starter for the All-Star game, Durant missed six straight shots and was 2 of 11 from the field while the Mavericks were rallying in the fourth quarter. When Durant missed at the buzzer after O.J. Mayo’s tying 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left in regulation, he had to remind himself to keep shooting.
”In overtime, I knew if I got down on myself that I was going to put my team in a tough position to win,” said Durant, whose previous career high was 51 against Denver last February. ”They look at me in crunch time to come through for them. When I don’t have confidence in myself, they make sure they pump me up a little.”
Durant was still scoring because he couldn’t miss at the free throw line. He was 19 of 19 in regulation, which he finished with 43 points.
Vince Carter, who kept the Mavericks close when Oklahoma City threatened to blow them out in the first half, had a season-high 29 points. He hit three free throws to start overtime when he was fouled on a 3-pointer, but Durant answered with a pair on the other end.
Durant went on to score nine of Oklahoma City’s 12 points in overtime and had three go-ahead buckets to help the Thunder avoid losing for the first time in 28 games when leading after three quarters. The Thunder blew a 14-point lead in the second half.
”Experience has helped me a lot,” said Durant, who was 13 of 31 from the field but made all 21 of his free throws and also had nine rebounds.
— Reported by Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press
The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed guard Mike James to a second 10-day contract.
James (6-2, 188) signed his first 10-day contract with the Mavericks on Jan. 8 and played in all five games during the length of that contract. He averaged 1.6 points, 1.0 assists and 8.2 minutes in five games off the bench.
The Copiague, N.Y., native is a 10-year veteran and has played in 544 games (263 starts) with Miami, Boston, Detroit, Milwaukee, Houston, Toronto, Minnesota, New Orleans, Washington, Chicago and Dallas. He holds career averages of 10.3 points, 3.5 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 24.8 minutes per game.
Memo to the rest of the NBA: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is in “Let’s Make a Deal” mode.
“We’re letting everybody know that the “Bank of Cuban” is open,” Cuban said Monday night, a couple of days after declaring that there was a “100 percent chance” the Mavs would aggressively pursue trade opportunities before the Feb. 21 deadline.
“If it’s the right deal, we don’t mind taking back money. But we’re not going to do a trade just to do a trade. It’s got to be worthwhile.”
The Mavs have the ability to take back significantly more salary in trades because they are under the salary cap. Cuban has continually insisted that is a primary reason he opted for financial flexibility instead of re-signing several key contributors to the Mavs’ 2010-11 title team, not just because they wanted to have enough salary cap space to sign a superstar in free agency.
— Reported by Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas
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Darren Collison now runs the floor where J.J. Barea was the spark that helped rally the Dallas Mavericks to their first championship two seasons ago.
Dallas’ new point guard made sure one of his predecessors didn’t finish off another comeback Monday night.
Collison led six players in double figures with 23 points and the Mavericks matched their season high with a third straight win, holding off a pair of Barea-engineered surges in a 113-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
”I felt like we were going to attack,” said Collison, who also had nine assists and three steals.
That used to be Barea’s job coming off the bench in Dallas, until he became a starter midway through the 2011 NBA finals on Dallas’ home court and helped erase a 2-1 series deficit against Miami.
He was finally back on that floor after sitting out Minnesota’s first two trips with injuries since signing as a free agent when Mavericks owner Mark Cuban decided not to bring back several key pieces of the title team.
The diminutive guard is a reserve again, and he had former teammate Dirk Nowitzki and others chasing him all over the court while running the pick-and-roll and scoring 11 second-quarter points. He led the Timberwolves with 21 and was on the floor for a second-half rally that cut a 23-point deficit to eight…
O.J. Mayo and Elton Brand had 20 points each for Dallas. It was a season high for Brand. Mayo matched Collison’s nine assists, and the Maverick had a season-high 33 as a team. Nowitzki, Chris Kaman and Vince Carter had 10 points apiece…
Interim Minnesota coach Terry Porter said there was nothing new on the status of Adelman, who has been out since the last home game, Jan. 8 against Atlanta, attending to his wife, who was hospitalized. Minnesota plays at home Thursday against the Clippers.
— Reported by Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press
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Dirk Nowitzki is coming along gradually. Maybe the Dallas Mavericks are, too.
Nowitzki scored 17 points and was one of three Dallas starters who didn’t miss from 3-point range, and Shawn Marion had a season-high 20 to lead the Mavericks to consecutive wins for the first time in a month with a 104-83 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.
The Mavericks, three days removed from dropping 10 games under .500 for the first time in 13 years, beat a team with a winning record for just the fourth time this season. They did it soundly, too, taking their first 30-point lead of the season and coasting through the fourth quarter.
”It’s the kind of game we need,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. ”We need more of these, but they’re hard to come by.”
The Grizzlies were ragged a night after a big overtime win against Southwest Division-leading San Antonio. Memphis shot 38 percent and Rudy Gay was the only starter in double figures, in part because all five of them sat out the entire fourth quarter. Gay led the Grizzlies with 12 points…
All five starters scored in double figures for Dallas, with Chris Kaman stringing together eight straight in the third quarter and finishing with 14. O.J. Mayo had 11 and Darren Collison 10.
The Mavericks were 11 of 17 from 3-point range, and the starters made eight of nine. Nowitzki hit three, Mayo two and Collison had one. Marion was the only starter to miss, going 2 of 3…
Randolph, who entered the game leading the NBA with 24 double-doubles, had six points and four rebounds.
— Reported by Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press