Shooting Stars

by Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld

It was one of those shots kids dream of making when they’re playing basketball in their driveways.

Two seconds left… Catch the ball at three-quarters court… Launch… Buzzer… Swish! The crowd goes wild.

That was exactly what Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard treated his fans to just before half time of their recent win over the Phoenix Suns. It was gut-check time for the Mavs, who allowed the Suns to hang around the playoff picture for far too long.

Their offensive explosion in the first half of the game eclipsed any hope the Suns might have had of making some kind of miracle comeback. Josh’s three, which Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle called “magical,” gave the Mavs 81 points at the half.

“I told our guys before the game that there’s no other team in this league that’s gone through the highs that we’ve gone through, the lows, the winning streaks, the losing streaks, the great wins, the tough losses… All that stuff really prepares you to play a game like (Phoenix),” said Carlisle. “When you’ve got great energy going into it and the crown is in a frenzy, I don’t know how to explain it, but things like that happen. Magical things can happen. We’re looking to ride the wave here. We’ve got a chance to build some momentum, we’ve got a chance to get healthier, and we feel like we’re becoming a more dangerous team every day.”

“That’s the kind of night you have sometimes,” said Dirk Nowitzki of Howard’s big shot. “We’ve been on both ends before, where it feels like nothing goes in and the other team has it rolling and shots go in that usually don’t. I think if you’ve been in this league for a while you’ve been on both sides.”

The focus of the game, which Dallas won 141-116 was largely on Jason Kidd. His 20 assists moved him past Magic Johnson on the all-time assist list. But after the game everyone was talking about how important Josh is to the team. His 24 points in 28 minutes were every bit as key as Kidd’s assists.

“Josh is big for us, we’ve said it all season long,” says Nowitzki. “His ability to pass and shoot, slash and be active, his ability to crate his own shot on offense takes a lot of pressure off of me and Jet. We all know what he can do on the boards and defensively if he’s engaged in the game. He can be one of the best defenders out there because he’s long and he’s active. Hopefully his ankle responds the right way, but with him we have to take it one game at a time right now. We definitely need him out there. We saw it Friday when we lost to Memphis, if he would have played we wouldn’t have lost the game.”

Kidd points out that while Josh’s scoring is nice, his defense is really the key for Dallas.

“We can talk about Josh and his offense, but I think he’s getting his hands on balls, being effective, and getting rebounds on the defensive end, which we need. Offensively he’s a talent and can score with the best of them. But defensively he’s huge for us. We just need him to get healthy, get better, and push forward for these last few games so we can have him out there on the floor.”

“The lift that he gives us just by being on the court is something that’s hard to quantify,” adds Carlisle. “You can add up the points, you can count up the charges he takes, but he brings a bounce to our team and he juices up our fans. He makes our whole situation significantly better.”

The Mavericks are going to need Josh to inspire as much bounce as he can tonight. They might even need another magical shot. Tonight is the Mavericks’ big chance to get out of the Los Angeles Lakers’ sights as they begin to look at playoff match-ups. A win tonight moves them into a tie with the Jazz for the seventh seed in the West.

Nothing would be more magical than avoiding L.A. in the first round.

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By Wendell Maxey of HoopsWorld

The Portland Trail Blazers have seen this act before.

You would think by mustering two mere wins out of their last 20 meetings with the Dallas Mavericks, the scouting report on Dirk Nowitzki would be officially ingrained in their collective memory.

You would think.

In less than a minute, Nowitzki hit a pair of big shots down the stretch to seal the 93-89 victory for the Mavericks, snapping the Blazers 12-game win streak at home. Two tough shots with guys in his face each time: a 17-foot fade away jump shot with Dallas up four points, and a deep jump shot seconds later to shut the door.

“That one shot was probably a little lucky but I was just happy it went in,” Nowitzki said of the fade away jumper that put Dallas up by four points late.

Dirk finished with a game-high 29 points, while also grabbing 10 rebounds for his 21st double-double of the season.

“LaMarcus (Aldridge) was pretty tight on me and it was just a matter of looking at the rim and getting it up over him, because he’s long and athletic. I was able to get him up and shoot over him.”

How do you defend that? With the 7′0 Nowitzki, it’s nearly impossible when he is falling away or with his textbook high release. Scratch that. It is impossible.

While he started the game strong – going 8-11 for a game high 17 points in the first half – Dirk straight struggled in the second half. Double teams came between early and often. His shot was falling. But he kept shooting hit them when it mattered most – twice.

“He’s a great player. He wants the ball in his hands when the game is being decided and we do everything we can to make sure he gets it,” added head coach Rick Carlisle, “he delivered last night in a huge way and tonight he delivered again.”

That’s what Dallas will remember most– not how Portland basically won three of the four quarters of the game – but how Dirk delivered in déjà vu fashion on back-to-back nights in Phoenix and Portland.

“It was tremendous,” Mavs guard Jason Terry, who finished with 24 points off the bench, said of Nowitzki’s hot hand late in the fourth quarter.

“With the ball in my hands in that situation I was just looking to get a shot off, but Dirk’s defender took his eye off for a split second and I got it to him and he knocked it down. He’s in rhythm right now that I don’t care what he does out there. There is just a good chance it is going to go in.”

With the win, Dallas lives to fight another day in the postseason picture as they sit in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Chances are the playoff race out West will come down to the final days of the regular season.

And chances are Dirk has still a few more big shots to hit before it is all said and done.

“Some of those shots he hit tonight, there is no defense for that. Even with great defense he just makes those shots,” Terry said with a smile.

“That’s why he was MVP a few years ago and that’s how he’s our most valuable player today.”

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by Bill Ingram of Hoopsworld.com

Most people think of passing when they hear the name Jason Kidd. The Dallas Mavericks acquired him in a trade that sent scoring phenom Devin Harris to the New Jersey Nets because they were looking for a set-up guy.

Kidd, now past the 10,000-assist threshold for his career, fits the bill perfectly. Kidd is a capable scorer, too, but he’s never been the first - or even second - option when it comes to putting the ball in the hole directly. He’s much more likely to be once removed from all baskets scored. This season, however, we’re seeing more and more of Kidd with the ball in his hands when it counts the most - and he’s delivering the big shot himself instead of deferring to others.

Classic case in point, a recent win over the San Antonio Spurs. After leading by ten with a few minutes to go, the Mavericks saw the Spurs cut that lead to two with 30 seconds left in the game. The Spurs played Kidd to pass, as most teams do, and Kidd fooled them. Anticipating their inattention, he set himself up for a corner three. He drilled it, icing a huge win for the Mavs.

The “Other” Jason Kidd

“I had a feeling they were going to double Dirk,” Kidd said of the play. “We put Dirk at the free throw line so he could see the double-team. I chose to go to Terry’s side because I felt that if they doubled off of me then I would have a wide open shot and it was just up to me to make or miss. I felt that I was going to make it, so that’s why I went over there. I wanted the shot and I would go from there.”

“It was huge,” said Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle. “It was huge. But ever since Jason Terry went out with the hand injury, (Kidd) has stepped it up and he’s looking to score. He’s coming off at mid-range and we’re running stuff with people coming around screens and he’s knocking down shots. He is a great player, and the things that he does for this team from an analytical standpoint have the computers overheating churning out all the (stats). It’s beyond belief how much better he makes guys when he’s on the floor. I’m really happy for him because that was a game that meant a lot to him because it’s a big-time team in our division, the match-up against Tony Parker is one that everybody talks about, and so much of Kidd’s greatness gets overlooked when he doesn’t put up big scoring numbers. That’s a sin. Shame on the media for that.”

OK, Rick, here you go. This season Kidd is scoring a career-low 9.2 points per game, but he also has three top-notch scorers around him in Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, and Jason Terry. In late February and early March, when the Mavs were without Terry for a couple of weeks due to a hard injury, Kidd averaged better than 10 points per game and shot over 50% from the field and over 45% from three.

“He can take and make the big shot,” says Terry. “We’ve seen him do it time and time again. At the end, when it’s on the line, we want the ball in his hands because he is going to make the right decision, whether it’s shooting himself or getting it to the guy that’s open. He’s done it throughout his career and it’s nothing different now.”

Kidd is still somewhat reluctant to look for his own shot most of the time. A familiar sight for Mavs fans is Kidd all alone at the top of the three-point arch with defenders scurrying away to cover passing lanes or position themselves for rebounds. Lately, however, that maneuver is costing opposing teams three points, especially late in games.

“I think at the end of the game, he’s going to be the guy that’s open,” says Dirk Nowitzki. “For some reason, he doesn’t have the reputation of a good shooter, but for us actually, when his feet are set, he’s been a great three-point shooter. When he’s got the time to set his feet, split his legs a little bit, it always seems to look good. When he’s open, I totally trust him, no matter if it’s the first quarter or the fourth quarter.”

That vote of confidence from his franchise player, together with a few more game-winning three-point shots, should do wonders for both Kidd and the Mavs. Though they sit in the Western Conference’s eighth seed today, they’re also just a couple of games removed from home court advantage in the playoffs.

With Kidd gaining confidence and knocking down big shots, the Mavs don’t need much of an opening to move up over the season’s final 20 games.

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