Defense fuels Mavs' victory
Dallas scratches and claws its way to impressive 4-0 start
12:41 AM CST on Tuesday, November 9, 2004
It wasn't the sort of victory that sends people into the streets raving about how good the team looks.
But in some ways, it was the Mavericks most impressive win of this young season.
Shooting 38.1 percent from the field and needing overtime to beat a winless Golden State team isn't normally the sort of performance that builds confidence. In past years, it wouldn't have.
Those teams won with offense. They shot their way to victory or they didn't win.
The Mavericks didn't shoot their way to a 4-0 record Monday night. They won with balance, they won with defense, and they won with perseverance as they begin to shape a new identity.
"It was a tough game for us," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. "We relied on our defense to win this one.
"The better defensive team you are, the closer games you seem to have and you have to battle them out, scratch them out. That's how playoff basketball is played."
The Mavericks have won more games in seven days than the Cowboys have won in nine weeks. Admittedly, that says more about the Cowboys than it does the Mavericks.
And what does it say about the Mavericks? Monday night was the kind of win that Detroit grinds out with regularity.
We're not about to compare the Mavericks defense to the Pistons. But this comeback wasn't fueled by Michael Finley's hot hand. The deficit didn't melt under the heat of a relentless, full-court assault and a barrage of 3-pointers.
The foundation for this comeback was built in the third quarter when the Mavericks held the Golden State to 10 points and harassed the Warriors into going 3-of-23 from the field with three turnovers. It continued in the fourth quarter not with offensive execution, but with hustle and positioning.
Alan Henderson, an afterthought in the trade that brought Jason Terry to Dallas, had four rebounds, two points and an assist in a key three-minute stretch. The Mavericks didn't pick and roll the Warriors into oblivion late. When they needed a basket with 1:05 left in regulation they slowed down, ran a halfcourt offense and got the ball to Erick Dampier for a hook.
Halfcourt offense.
Strong defense.
"We buy into what coach says and go out and put forth a full effort and change the mentality of the way the league thinks about Dallas," Terry said. "You know, how we don't play any defense. That's what everyone thinks right away. Dallas, run and gun. We've been dedicated and committed to the defensive end. It makes the offense go a lot easier.
"Our whole mentality is why lose. We're in it to win. We're going to take it one at a time, like the New England Patriots, let's knock this next one out. Look up in a couple of weeks and see where we are."
Where they are right now is 4-0 for only the third time in their history.
"You can learn some lessons and still win," Nelson said. "That's what I was hoping for."
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dmoore@dallasnews.com
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