Mavs Maniac

The Particulars
Date: Monday, March 28th, 2006
Time: 7:30 PM CT
TV: unsure



If Dallas can win this match, we would once again have sole possession of the best record in the West. We would be 0.5 games behind Detroit, and then a win the following night against Cleveland would have us tied. Josh Howard has a slight chance of playing, he needs to be able to lock down on Mr. Endurance Rip Hamilton and we need to get Terry to match Billups production.

Dallas will need a huge night on the boards, which is the reason for their last victory against Detroit (outrebounded Detroit 47-26), with Dampier leading the way with 14 rebounds and Dirk and Howard both grabbing 8 each. Dallas needs to show the league a message, after losing to both San Antonio and Phoenix the other day.

I wouldn't mind seeing a Nowitzki/Van Horn duo at some stages, forcing either of the Wallace's out onto the perimeter - and if Van Horn can not get totally bullied in the paint then that could be a deadly combination.

LAST MEETING: Dallas won 119-82, possibly the best game of the season.

<table align="center" border="3" bordercolor="#0000ff" height="224" width="665"><tbody><tr align="center"><td align="center">Pistons</td><td>
</td><td>Mavs</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>96.9 / 89.8 (opp PG)
</td><td>PPG</td><td>99.5 / 92.7 (opp PG)
</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>40.3 / 41.1
</td><td>RPG</td><td>42.5 / 38.7
</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>24.2 / 18.8
</td><td>APG</td><td>18.2 / 17.2
</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>
</td><td>
</td><td>
</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>Rip Hamilton 20.8
</td><td>PPG</td><td>Dirk Nowitzki 26.3
</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>Ben Wallace 11.7
</td><td>RPG
</td><td>Dirk Nowitzki 8.8
</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>Chauncey Billups 8.8</td><td>APG
</td><td>Jason Terry 3.8
</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>Ben Wallace 1.7
</td><td>SPG
</td><td>Jason Terry 1.3
</td></tr></tbody></table>
Detroit is not going to be an easy match, they have an amazing record at the palace and the Pistons have only lost back to back games once this season (on my birthday!). I think Dallas loses: 98-97

mavs41531

Harris would've been the perfect player to put on Hamilton but oh well. Hopefully Howard can get some minutes. Detroit has been very beatable lately so I wouldn't totally count out Dallas winning.

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Mavs Maniac

MAVERICKS NOTES

Pistons' likely aim is to avenge beating

By DWAIN PRICE

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

<!-- begin body-content --> DETROIT -- Mavericks center Erick Dampier knows it won't be difficult for the Detroit Pistons to remember the events of Nov. 19.

The Pistons walked into American Airlines Center on that day armed with an 8-0 record and set on reminding everyone why they were preseason picks by many to win this year's NBA title.

But the Mavs sent the Pistons to their worst loss of the season, 119-82.

The Mavs and Pistons will meet for the first time since that game when they play Tuesday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Dampier, who had 16 points and 14 rebounds in the first meeting, said he's sure the Pistons will try to use the loss as motivation.

"We're playing in their building," Dampier said. "There's no place like home, so I'm sure they're going to be pumped for it, and they're going to be prepared to play.

"But we still remember the way we played, so we're going to go in there focused and with the mind-set that we can win."

The Mavs will be without two players who were instrumental in that victory. Josh Howard (26 points) and Devin Harris (14) won't play Tuesday because of injuries.

"They're the best team, they come in with the best record, and they're going to come out firing on all angles," forward Dirk Nowitzki said. "It should be a great defensive battle and we'll see who comes out on top."

mavs41531

Man Josh Howard is still out. I guess we got to play with what we have but this is frustrating stuff.

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Mavs Maniac

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

Series: Mavs lead 1-0 this season; Pistons lead 32-18 all time.



Key matchup
Chauncey Billups vs. Jason Terry: This could be terrible news for the Mavs. Billups was 0-for-5 from the field with no points until the final five minutes Sunday night against New Jersey. He was a key reason the Pistons lost. He doesn't have many games like that, much less back to back. With Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace, you know what you're going to get. Handling Billups is the key for the Mavs to have any chance of completing a sweep of the Pistons this season.

Inside the Mavericks


State of flux: Jerry Stackhouse may or may not be in the starting lineup for the second game in a row. Said Avery Johnson of Stackhouse's 16 points in Atlanta: "Hopefully, this will jump-start him a little bit." Eventually, Stackhouse will return to sixth-man duty when the team is healthy.

Strange how that works: Jason Terry hit 10 of 15 shots Saturday in Atlanta. Dirk Nowitzki has been on a roll pretty much all season. It should come as no surprise, Johnson says. "I saw them going to the gym on an off day before the Atlanta game," he said. "It's amazing that a lot of guys who really, really work hard on their shooting are the best shooters."

Inside the Pistons


Same as it ever was: They have had the same starting lineup for all 69 games, eclipsing the NBA record previously owned by Golden State in 2002-03 of 66. Since they acquired Rasheed Wallace on Feb. 19, 2004, the quintet has played 152 games together, winning 118.

Briefly: Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups are the fifth-highest scoring backcourt tandem in the league at just less than 40 points per game ... They had won 16 consecutive home games, the third-longest streak in franchise history, before losing to New Jersey on Sunday.

mavs41531

Against a strong point guard like Billups I would start Daniels and have him guard Billups while I would put Terry on Hamilton.

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Mavs Maniac

Eh, I'd be iffy on that. Hamilton will run Terry ragged and just shoot jumpers over him. We need to play this game our style, not let Detroit slow it down and get iffy

BTW, Dear Mavs Scrub

...Fire up Rasheed Wallace

mavs41531

Yeah that is what makes Detroit so hard to guard. There isn't a player to rest someone on. Every matchup is tough. Billups can wear you down by posting you up and bumping you while Hamilton runs you through screen after screen. I think it is more important to contain Billups and I don't know if Terry is the best player to guard Billups. We could also through Armstrong on Hamilton.

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Mavericks_Fan

Bleh, how are we supposed to win games like this with half our team injured? Detroit has been so incredibly lucky this year with the complete lack of injuries.

Hope our boys can figure something out. Detroit really isn't that great of a rebounding team in my opinion, so maybe we can hit the offensive glass hard for extra points and keep on the defensive boards to limit their retries.

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....and if you don't believe that then you're just not a fan of the game of basketball.

mavsmania41

Is there anyways we get our depth healthy by the Playoffs?

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Mavericks_Fan

Well, I said a couple weeks ago that we wouldn't be seeing Devin suit up again until April some time. I think he can come back and be effective.

My biggest worry is Josh. Hamstrings have a tendency to continue flaring up until they have extended time of rest. Notice how they keep qualifying their words carefully when talking about his progress and coming back?

We really gotta have Josh and Devin to do anything in the playoffs. Adrian is extremely valuable to have his head and all the things he brings so he's really important also, but not quite as much as Josh and Devin.

Another thing is that I think it's fairly obvious that without the rash of injuries over the last month we would be at least a game or two in front of the Spurs right now and very possibly ahead of Detroit for first place in the league. Those extra home games can be so huge in the playoffs, and it'll suck if these injuries keep us from having them, but what are you gonna do? You gotta play the hand your dealt, and I do believe this team can go into any arena in the league and win.

I'm betting Avery is being extremely cautious in bringing guys back after how we got burned awhile back with getting reinjured. He knows there's no time for a do-over at this late date and isn't going to let guys step on the court if he's not comfortable that they're ready. I have faith the team can be back close to full strength next month for the playoffs.

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....and if you don't believe that then you're just not a fan of the game of basketball.

Seed

Come one Mavs keep it up

VeN

Its a damn great game sofar but were getting outrebounded. Stack and Van Horn are having GREAT games. No doubt if we didnt have so many injuries we would have a bigger lead. ANd of course, Dirk is being Dirk with a double dub already.

VeN

Blunder by Steak just cost us the game.

Chaos

I hate complaining about refs, but is it just me, or does Detroit manage to get away with EVERYTHING? They can get away with bumping people on the defensive end that every other team gets called for. They are, at best(assuming everyone is healthy) the 3rd best team in the league, behind San Antonio and Dallas. And I'd be tempted to put a healthy Phoenix in front of them.

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On to next season.....