Dragnsmke1

dont forget once they have "officially" locked the #1 seed in the east they will start resting some...

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Briefly: The Mavericks have held the last six opponents to 32-of-102 shooting on 3-pointers (31.4 percent). "More than anything, we're fortunate that teams have missed some shots," Johnson said. "We try to keep a man between the basket and the player with the ball. And contesting shots has been a big emphasis for us." ... The near loss of a 30-point lead against Chicago last week is long forgotten. Or is it? Johnson said he learned a valuable lesson in that game. "That was partly my responsibility," he said of the blown lead, which ended up as a four-point win. "I kind of went away from what I like to do. Normally, I'll play those third quarters really hard. But we went away from that. I won't do that again."

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Focus is on getting physical
Coach has tried to whip them into shape, but have teams noticed?



10:49 PM CST on Monday, February 6, 2006
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News



After more than half a season of demanding a more physical style from his team, Avery Johnson said the Mavericks are making progress.

For a dissenting opinion, we give you Phil Jackson.

"They're not a physical team," the Lakers coach said Monday. "Not that I remember. That's not their style. They play an open-court game."

And just like that, any perception that the Mavericks have become more physical was thrown for a loss. While Jackson said the Mavericks' defense has shown improvement, he thinks that's more a product of their pace than their physicality.

"The two games we've played against them, I think they're playing better defense," Jackson said. "They're more [conscious] of it. But that's more tempo. They're not playing at that outrageous tempo they did before."

Johnson readily admits his team is not as physical as he wants it to be. But he knows it is making strides, even if the rest of the NBA isn't noticing yet. And he said he believes he can make a difference in teaching a physical style.

"Absolutely, it's my job to teach it," he said. "A lot of times, we'll say: 'He's not a physical player.' Sometimes, that gives guys an out."

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Reliving the moment: It got lost in the moment of Tuesday's win over the Lakers, but the Mavericks tied their best defensive first quarter in franchise history when they limited LA to 10 points.

"That first-quarter defense probably was as good as I've seen in a long time," Johnson said. "No matter who you do it to, when you hold a team to 10 points in a quarter, that's pretty special."

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