Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 59 – NBA Blog

Spurs send Mavs to sixth straight loss

Dirk Nowitzki grabbed a loose ball in the backcourt and started the fast break himself, pulling up for a 3-pointer just like the days before his first knee surgery.

The difference this time: The Dallas Mavericks star threw up an airball.

Nowitzki will need more time to work his way back from a surgery that cost him the first 27 games of the season. Even then, it may not be enough to keep up with the San Antonio Spurs and their Big Three.

Tony Parker had 21 points and nine assists, Manu Ginobili had several key baskets among his 20 points and the Spurs handed the Mavericks their sixth straight loss, 111-86 on Sunday night.

Two nights after his second 30-point game of the season, Tim Duncan had 10 in the second quarter before settling in for a more typical outing: 18 points and 10 rebounds for his 16th double-double to go with three blocks…

Nowitzki followed his first-half airball by missing three more in the second half before finally getting a basket on a driving layup. He finished with eight points on 3-of-9 shooting – and didn’t come close to trying another 3-pointer. He did have five rebounds and three blocked shots…

Darren Collison scored 18 points to lead the Mavericks, whose losing streak is their longest since January of their championship season in 2010-11…

O.J. Mayo, Dallas’ leading scorer, was held under 10 points for the third time in four games. He came in averaging 9 points on 33-percent shooting the previous four games and finished with eight on 4 of 14 shooting…

Mavericks F Vince Carter made his first start after coming off the bench the first 30 games.

— Reported by Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press

Kevin Durant scores 40, Thunder beat Mavericks in overtime

Kevin Durant scores 40, Thunder beat Mavs in overtime

Kevin Durant scored 40 points while Russell Westbrook added eight of his 16 points in overtime to help the Oklahoma City Thunder beat Dallas 111-105 on Thursday night for their 11th straight win at home.

Serge Ibaka added 19 points and matched his season high with 17 rebounds as Oklahoma City charged back from 10 points down in the final 7:17 of regulation and found a way to win after losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Darren Collison scored a season-best 32 points for Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki scored nine points in his second game back after offseason knee surgery, showing some rust down the stretch.

Westbrook turned the game around with six straight points after the Mavs had gone up 104-101 on Chris Kaman’s bucket inside midway through overtime. Westbrook had a layup, hit a jumper over Nowitzki and then made a leaping steal of an O.J. Mayo pass that led to a fast-break layup. The sequence left Mavericks owner Mark Cuban shaking his head in his seat near the team’s bench…

Kaman ended up with 17 poitns and Marion chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds for the Mavericks, who were swept on a treacherous three-game road trip that featured stops at West contenders Memphis, San Antonio and Oklahoma City despite getting Nowitzki back. Dallas has lost seven of eight…

Beaubois, a reserve guard for the Mavericks, did not play because of an illness. Carlisle said he hoped to have Beaubois back for Friday’s home game against Denver. … Reggie Jackson took Eric Maynor’s minutes as Westbrook’s backup at point guard for the second straight game.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Dallas Mavericks sign Chris Douglas-Roberts

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent guard/forward Chris Douglas-Roberts. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Douglas-Roberts (6-7, 210) has played in 11 games (all starts) for the Mavericks’ D-League affiliate Texas Legends this season, and has averaged a league-high 22.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals in 38.5 minutes per game. In those 11 contests, he has shot 49.4 percent (79-160 FGs) from the field, 39.5 percent (15-38 3FGs) from 3-point range and 90.4 percent (75-83 FTs) from the line.

The 6-7 guard/forward spent the 2012 training camp with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he averaged 4.0 points and 8.3 minutes in four games. He played for Virtus Bologna of the Italian League in 2011-12.

Douglas-Roberts was originally selected by the New Jersey Nets in the second round (40th overall pick) of the 2008 NBA Draft. The three-year pro has appeared in 155 NBA games (53 starts) for the Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks and holds career averages of 7.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 20.6 minutes.

Douglas-Roberts played three seasons at the University of Memphis (2005-08) and earned first-team All-American honors as a junior. He declared for the NBA Draft following his junior season.

The Mavericks’ roster now stands at 15 players.

Dallas Mavericks waive Derek Fisher

Veteran guard Derek Fisher’s time with the Dallas Mavericks has ended.

The Mavs announced today they have requested waivers on Fisher, who was signed as a free agent by Dallas on Nov. 29, 2012.

Fisher (6-1, 210) averaged 8.6 points, 3.6 assists and 25.4 minutes in nine games (all starts) for Dallas this season.

According to ESPN.com, Fisher issued the following statement: “In Tuesday’s game against Philadelphia, I suffered an injury to my patellar tendon. The recovery time will be approximately two weeks. With this news and the difficulty I have been having being away from my family, I have asked the organization to waive me so I can return home. “(Mavericks owner) Mark Cuban has been extremely supportive and has granted me this request. I cannot say enough good things about this organization. From Mark, to Coach (Rick) Carlisle, to the players on the Mavericks’ team, I sincerely thank them for the opportunity. “I have made decisions in the past, leaving money and opportunity on the table, and I will need to do that again. My family is my priority and that is where I choose to be. I won’t close the possibility that I will play again, however for now my family and being close to them remains the priority.”

The Mavericks’ roster now stands at 14 players.

LeBron scores 24, Heat beat Mavericks 110-95

LeBron James scored 24 points with some early baskets on nifty passes from Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat rolled to a 110-95 victory over the injury plagued Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.

James has scored at least 20 points in all 23 games, the longest streak to start an NBA season since Karl Malone’s 24 in a row opening the 1989-90 season.

Dallas, still waiting for the season debut of 11-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki after right knee surgery, was also without starting point guard Derek Fisher (right knee).

The Heat never trailed after James drove for a short floater 3 minutes into the game to make it 6-4.

— Reported by Stephen Hawkins of the Associated Press

InsideHoops.com notes: With Dirk Nowitzki still out for Dallas, Jae Crowder came off the bench to lead the Mavs in scoring with 15 points. Dahntay Jones and Bernard James each scored 12. Darren Collison scored 11. The Mavs as a team shot just 38.5 percent, and hit just 3-of-22 from three-point range.

Ricky Rubio returns for Timberwolves in OT win over Mavericks

The white sleeve on Ricky Rubio’s left knee served as a reminder of what he went through to get back on the court.

While it served to protect his surgically repaired joint, it clearly does nothing to constrict the creativity and unbridled joy that made him one of the most exciting players in the league before he went down last season.

Nine long months later, it’s as if Rubio never left.

Zipping passes between his legs to his Timberwolves teammates in a dazzling season debut, Rubio had nine assists and eight points in 18 minutes of Minnesota’s 114-106 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.

Andrei Kirilenko scored five of his 14 points in overtime while Rubio watched from the bench because of a minutes restriction…

Nikola Pekovic scored 21 points for the Timberwolves, who won their fourth straight game despite playing without All-Star Kevin Love because of an illness.

O.J. Mayo had 20 points, six assists and five rebounds and Shawn Marion had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Mavericks, who led by 13 early before Rubio came off the bench for the first time since he tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee in March…

Alexey Shved had 18 points and six assists and the Wolves scored the first 10 points in overtime to send an amped crowd home happy.

Derek Fisher scored 20 points for the Mavericks, who turned the ball over 20 times. They led 98-96 after Fisher’s four-point play with 2:50 to go.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Dirk Nowitzki making progress in recovery

Dirk Nowitzki ran through a long set of shooting and running drills before Friday’s game at Toronto and went through some of the Mavericks’ shootaround earlier in the day.

The next step in his recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery: taking part in a practice.

That could come next week.

For now, Nowitzki spends a lot of his time running to midcourt, turning around, running back to the corner or the wing outside the 3-point line, and shooting a jump shot.

— Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News (Blog)

Mavericks assign Jared Cunningham to D-League

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have assigned Jared Cunningham to the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Cunningham (6-4, 194) has seen action in seven games for the Mavericks and holds averages of 2.3 points and 3.4 minutes per game.

Cunningham will join the Legends on Saturday night, Dec. 15, when they take on the Rio Grande Valley Vipers at 7:00 pm CT at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco.

Mavs continue to beat Kings in Dallas

Dallas relied on defense to build a massive lead and extend its recent home dominance against Sacramento.

O.J. Mayo scored 19 points and the Mavericks took control with a 31-3 run in the first half to win their 17th straight regular-season home game against Sacramento with a 119-96 victory over the Kings on Monday night.

The Mavericks held the Kings without a field goal during the game-turning run. Sacramento missed 12 straight shots and committed nine turnovers in a span of nearly 11 minutes…

Dallas (11-10) picked up its third win a row to go over .500 for the first time since Nov. 21…

Francisco Garcia, who was 7 of 12 from 3-point range, and DeMarcus Cousins scored 25 points apiece for the Kings, who haven’t won in Dallas during the regular season since Feb. 27, 2003. Jason Thompson added 11 points and 12 rebounds…

Dallas starting forward Shawn Marion missed his second straight game with a strained right groin.

Chris Kaman, playing 21 minutes on a sprained left ankle which Carlisle described as ”a glowing purple” before the game, scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half and reserve Darren Collison added 15 points for the Mavericks.

— Reported by David Jimenez of the Associated Press

OJ Mayo scores 40, Mavs beat Rockets in Kevin McHale`s return

Chris Kaman scored half as many points as O.J. Mayo for the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.

Considering the way Kaman’s left ankle looked, those 20 points were just as impressive to coach Rick Carlisle.

Mayo tied a career high with 40 points, including 10 in the last three minutes, to lift the Mavericks to a 116-109 victory over the Rockets in coach Kevin McHale’s return to the Houston bench.

Kaman left the Mavericks’ last game on Thursday night with a sprained left ankle. He started Saturday night and played more than 18 minutes despite the left side of his ankle being almost completely covered by a deep purple bruise…

Kaman also had seven rebounds for Dallas, and Vince Carter and Darren Collison had 12 points apiece…

Harden had 30 points at halftime, but the Mavericks slowed him down in the second half. He scored just nine points in the second half.

McHale rejoined the team on Saturday after almost a month away from the team, and two weeks after the death of his daughter…

The Rockets battled back from a 19-point deficit with a strong second quarter to lead at halftime and were up by nine points with 7 1/2 to go. But Mayo got hot and the Rockets came up short as Dallas extended its winning streak in the series to eight games…

Chandler Parsons made the second of two free throws for the Rockets before Mayo scored five quick points to extend the Mavericks’ lead to 107-101 with less than three minutes left.

Parsons finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Harden had nine assists and six rebounds.

— Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press