Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 60 – NBA Blog

Clippers beat Mavs for 4th straight win

The starters got off to a strong start, then had a front-row seat for the show near the end of the Clippers’ fourth consecutive victory.

Blake Griffin had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Chris Paul added 14 points and 13 assists in Los Angeles’ 112-90 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.

Jamal Crawford had 20 points, Caron Butler scored 16 and DeAndre Jordan 12 for the Clippers, who shot 50 percent and dominated the entire game, keeping excitable Dallas owner Mark Cuban glued to his seat with his chin cupped in his left hand…

Vince Carter scored 16 points off the bench. Derek Fisher added 15 points, and Shawn Marion and Chris Kaman had 14 points apiece for the Mavericks, who fell to 2-7 on the road…

The Clippers’ former front line of Elton Brand and Chris Kaman, who helped them get within a game of the 2006 Western Conference finals, combined for 28 points for the Mavs.

Los Angeles’ second unit came on in the fourth, with Crawford and Matt Barnes combining to score 21 of their 28 points in the period…

F Dirk Nowitzki is on the Mavs’ trip to LA, Phoenix and Houston, but still not close to playing games.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

Elton Brand thinks he can do more for Mavs

Brand has had his struggles this season, but he doesn’t think the 17 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks he had in Saturday’s win over the Pistons should be considered a surprise. Those all at least match season highs, but Brand expects many more nights like this in a Mavs uniform.

“Nah, that’s not vintage,” said Brand, who was averaging 6.2 points and 6.0 rebounds entering the game. “Not even close. That’s what I can do. That’s where I’m at right now.

“With the opportunity and the looks, I’m still right there. I can do that every night – most nights – with those opportunities.”

By opportunities, Brand means shots and minutes. They were both tough to come by for Brand in the first month of the season.

— Reported by Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas

Mark Cuban understands fine from NBA against Spurs

It’s not very often that Mark Cuban is on the same page with NBA commissioner David Stern.

But the Dallas Mavericks owner said Stern did the right thing Friday in fining the San Antonio Spurs $250,000 for not bringing Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green to Thursday’s nationally televised game in Miami against the Heat.

Cuban said where the Spurs went wrong is not bringing their marquee players to a game that was shown on TNT. If the Spurs had done the same thing in a game not played on national TV, Cuban said they likely would not have been issued a fine.

“Everybody who planned to watch San Antonio vs. Miami on TNT, we’ve got disappointed customers all over the place,” Cuban said before Saturday’s Mavericks home game against Detroit. “When I say our biggest customer, TV is our biggest customer.

“So I’m not saying San Antonio did the wrong thing. I’m just saying I understand exactly why the league did what they did.”

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Too soon to tell if Darren Collison is a long-term Maverick

Nobody wants Collison to be a keeper more than me. The guy has great quickness, is a good ballhandler and is fearless. Not as good a defender as the Mavericks would like. But he’s working on it. But it’s tough to say right now whether he’s the long-term solution at point guard. Mayo obviously is great on the offensive end. But he too has limitations on defense. That’s what the next 65 games are going to be about — figuring out who stays and who goes. And they’d like to be a playoff team while they’re at it. As for Kaman, he’s been what we all thought he would be. He’s a 15-and-8 guy who occasionally will get you 20 and 10 and occasioally get you 8 and 4. He’s still figuring things out, as he said last week. So let’s get to the quarter mark of the season in a week or so before drawing any hard conclusions.

— Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News

Turner, Young lead 76ers past Mavericks 100-98

The 76ers won again with Elton Brand having another strong game and earning a hefty paycheck from the organization.

Brand just couldn’t celebrate because his effort was wasted with Dallas.

Evan Turner scored 22 points and Thaddeus Young had 20 to lead Philadelphia to a 100-98 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

Brand scored a season-high 17 points for the Mavericks in his first game against the Sixers since they used their one-time amnesty provision over the summer in the new labor deal to let him go. The move meant the $18.1 million Brand was owed in the final season of his $80 million, five-year contract did not count against the salary cap for Philadelphia, though it still owed him about $16 million…

Jrue Holiday had 18 points and seven assists for the Sixers, who snapped a six-game losing streak to Dallas. Philadelphia shot 6 of 14 on 3-pointers and won its second straight game.

Chris Kaman scored 20 points and Shawn Marion also had 17 for the Mavericks. Vince Carter added 15 and was clutch in the fourth quarter in trying to bring Dallas back from a 10-point hole.

— Reported by Dan Gelston of the Associated Press

Jason Kidd steps up, but Knicks lose to Mavs

When the Knicks beat the Mavericks 12 days ago in New York, Jason Kidd said it was “just another win” and called Dallas “just another opponent.”

In his return to Dallas on Wednesday night, however, Kidd certainly didn’t play as though the Mavericks were just another opponent. He scored a season-high 17 points, pulled down six rebounds, had five assists and five steals.

After Dallas rallied for the 114-111 victory, though, Kidd claimed there was no extra motivation in facing the franchise that he helped win the 2011 NBA title. Kidd did, however, say it was nice to be back in the American Airlines Center.

“Oh, I love Dallas,” he said. “What we accomplished as a team will always be special to me, but now I’m in New York, trying to accomplish that again. That’s to win another championship.”

— Reported by Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News

Minnesota Timberwolves sign Josh Howard

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed unrestricted free-agent forward/guard Josh Howard.

The versatile swingman has had a solid NBA career, but in recent seasons has not had a big impact. At this point, Howard is currently considered NBA bench depth. Though, with all the Timberwolves injuries the team has suffered, there is an opportunity for Howard to rise up and really contribute, if he still has it in him to do so.

Howard’s signing brings the Wolves’ roster to 15 players.

“We’re pleased to add a proven veteran in Josh Howard to our team,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “Josh has been a productive player in our league for nine years and will add to our depth at the wing position.”

Howard, 32, joins the Wolves with career averages of 14.5 points and 5.7 rebounds in parts of nine NBA seasons with three different teams (Dallas, Washington and Utah). Most recently he spent the 2011-12 season with Utah where he averaged 8.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in 43 games, 18 starts. His best season came in 2007-08 when he averaged 19.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game en route to making his lone All-Star Game appearance.

Howard will wear No. 5 and is expected to be in uniform tonight when the Wolves take on the Golden State Warriors at Target Center.

Dallas Mavericks forward Shawn Marion out with MCL sprain

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that an MRI confirmed forward Shawn Marion has a sprained left medial collateral ligament (MCL). He will be listed as out tomorrow and will not travel with the team to New York and Charlotte later this week. He will be re-evaluated next week.

In four games this season, Marion has averaged 8.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 blocks in 27.0 minutes while shooting 51.9% (14-27 FGs) from the field.

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle is already a Damian Lillard fan

Count Dallas coach Rick Carlisle among the growing list in the NBA who are impressed with Trail Blazers rookie Damian Lillard.

Carlisle, whose Mavericks (2-1) face the Blazers (2-1) tonight in Dallas, called Lillard an “early Rookie of the Year candidate” after the point guard has opened the season with averages of 21.3 points, 9.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds in three games.

“He’s going to have that much impact on their team,’’ Carlisle said. “Plus, point guards have the abll more, so they are going to feature him even more. But I’m really impressed with his feel for the game. He has an air of confidence, and he does a really nice job involving his teammates. And his shooting ability – we haven’t seen a point guard come in like this that can shoot from 25-to-26 feet – easily – in some time.’’

— Reported by Jason Quick of The Oregonian

Troy Murphy makes sense for Mavericks

Because he is so familiar with coach Rick Carlisle’s system, Troy Murphy was the perfect fit for the Dallas Mavericks.

Thus, the Mavs signed the 6-11, 245-pound power forward to a one-year contract Friday in the hope that he can help stretch opponents’ defenses and also help the Mavs out on the boards.

“I think I can spread the floor, add some shooting and some rebounding as well,’’ Murphy said after this morning’s shootaround at American Airlines Center. “I’m ready to go.

“I’m still learning the plays and I’m just taking it as it comes.’’

Murphy played for Carlisle in Indiana after he was traded to the Pacers from the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 17, 2007.

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram