Nov 21, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler (6) gets fouled late in the fourth quarter by Dallas Mavericks guard Vince Carter (25) at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Well after nearly a week of no internet access, website issues and flaky League Pass playback, I’m finally back online and able to review the Dallas Mavericks win over the New York Knicks.

With the Mavericks having failed to defeat a team with a winning record and the Knicks leading the NBA at 8-1, defeating the visiting Jason Kidd, Tyson Chandler & Co. didn’t seem all that likely and after trailing in the early going it appeared no upset was going to occur.  The Knicks were hitting from downtown and a staggering pace and the Mavs were lucky to hang in.  After the half, however, the Mavs jumped out to a 12-point lead and while they couldn’t maintain it, they held on for the win.

Former Mavs Tyson Chandler and Jason Kidd had huge games for the Knicks, as did Raymon Felton who is doing a remarkable job replacing Jeremy Lin in his second tour with the Knicks.

Carmelo Anthony scored a team-high 23 points but was frustrated by the Mavs’ swarming defense led by Shawn Marion, which drew a couple of offensive fouls and helped Anthony commit 7 turnovers.   Chandler had a double-double (21 points, 13 rebounds) as did Raymond Felton (18 points, 11 assists). In his return to Dallas, Kidd was 5-for-8 from 3-point range and an outstanding game overall with 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals.

The Good:

The Mavericks found the range from 3-point land, albeit not ’til the second half, and O. J. Mayo continued to be a sparkplug.  While New York dominated from downtown in the first half, the Mavs turned the tables behind Vince Carter and that largely proved to be the difference.

The Mavs outrebounded the Knicks even with Chris Kaman having a subpar night and Troy Murphy playing relatively few minutes after leaving the game with a respiratory illness.

Vince had a season high and continued to ease the pain of losing Jason Terry, scoring inside and out including an amazing reverse under the basket reminiscent of Dr. J., finishing with 25 points.

O. J. Mayo continued to be a focus of the offense and led the team with 27 points.

Darren Collison returned to form and scored 19 points while dishing out 7 assists.

Jae Crowder returned to the rotation and matched his season high with 12 points.

Shawn Marion did his usual stellar job of frustrating Carmelo Anthony and had help from Dahntay Jones and Jae Crowder, who were all effective and drawing contact.  Although Melo did end up with leading the Knicks he was frustrated much of the game and ended up fouling out after committing 7 turnovers.  The rest of the Matrix’s stat line looked pretty typical:  7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and the defense that shows up on the other’s guys number.

Troy Murphy left after 17 minutes not to return do to illness and only scored a couple of points at the free throw line but still managed to nab 5 rebounds.

The Meh:

Roddy B did not make it into the game and as Dominique Jones appears to be hitting his stride, the official end of the Roddy experiment may be drawing near.

Elton Brand is still not finding the range and only scored 4 points on 1-of-3 shooting, but did manage to grab 8 rebounds in 20 minutes.  He ended up playing a lot of center rather than Brandan Wright or Bernard James and unfortunately both Chandler and Rasheed Wallace had better-than-average nights.

Brandan Wright and Bernard James also did not make it into the game, even with Troy Murphy leaving with a respiratory problem.   While the Mavs managed to outrebound the Knicks, they still have no one with an athletic inside game and this may come back to haunt them.  Kaman contines to be effective on occasional post ups and with his midrange jumper but it would be nice to have more of an inside-outside game.

The Ugly:

The Mavericks turned the ball over repeatedly in the first half.  They were able to turn it around in the second half but that is a statistic that will continue to cause problems if not rectified.

The Knicks had a big lead early and almost came back to win.  In the end it’s the final score that matters and both teams played a great game.  The danger is relying too heavily on the jump shot.   The Mavericks have had success with that in the past but any team is much better being more versatile.

Without Wright, James, Kaman or Brand establishing consistent presence in the low post, the team will rely too heavily on outside shooting and when the shots don’t fall (as they haven’t for much of the year), the results won’t be as pretty.  Now granted, Chandler is arguably the best low-post defender in the league so the Knicks might not be the easiest team to score inside on but this has been a pattern for too much of the year and with Wright out, it is likely to be worse.

For the year, Kaman has done a great job overall and is still among the NBA leaders in field goal percentage but Brand is still struggling and Wright, the only Mav who consistently plays above the rim, has been benched.   Personally I believe relying too much on the jumper is going to come back to haunt them.  One of the major purposes of having great outside shooters isn’t ONLY to sink those shots, but also to “spread the floor” and force the opposing team to respect the shooters rather than double-teaming or clogging up the lane.  That being the case, the Mavs should take advantage.

The Mavericks also need to work on their own pick and roll and low-post defense.  Felton and Chandler carved them up in the middle and Vince Carter was frequently left trying to guard bigger players.  Chandler had three 3-point opportunities in the later stages of the game and ended up more than doubling his average with a season-high     21.  The Mavs had a lot of trouble with big men last year and that appears to be happening again, despite the presence of Kaman, Brand and James on the roster.

Takeaways:

You can’t discount a win against the hottest team in the league; however the Mavs still had a couple of issues which could be problematic.  Streaky shooting will occasionally happen to any team but streaky turnovers shouldn’t.   Mayo, Kaman and Carter are proving to be very consistent performers and if the Mavs can stop the mistakes and continue to improve the rebounding, the team can go far.    The next game against the improving Lakers will be a good chance to see if the Knicks game was a fluke.

Next Up:

The Lakers, Part Deux.   Since the Mavs defeated them on opening day, the Lakers have a new coach and are playing a lot better.   In the interest of annoying Laker fans, let’s hope for a repeat performance.

Nov. 16, 2012; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Dallas Mavericks center Chris Kaman (35) shoots over Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert (55) during the first half at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-US PRESSWIRE

It almost seems as if the Dallas Mavericks are running out of gas but the engine doesn’t stop; it just keeps sputtering.   Another first half lead fell apart Friday night and once again turned off the motor after the break, turning a one point halftime lead (which had already eroded from a four point advantage) into a 103-83 blowout at the hands of the Indiana Pacers.

Indiana, playing without Danny Granger, still managed six players in double figures.

The Good:

Not much to go on here.  If we could have stopped after the first half, perhaps.  Unfortunately life doesn’t work that way.

Bernard James played only 15 minutes but 9 points and 7 rebounds.  If the Mavs continue to struggle on the boards I can’t see Sarge not getting more time.   He is also shooting well from the floor and the line.

The Meh:

Well, it’s sad when you have to celebrate that the Mavs weren’t outrebounded by much.   Clearly this is not an area of strength for Brandan Wright but Kaman, Brand, Marion, Murphy and Sarge are all superior rebounders and Carter and Mayo are above average for their position.  Why the Mavs continue to lose the battle of the boards every night is hard to fathom and in fairness, Kaman had 10, Marion had 7 and of course James had 7.   That might have been good enough if anyone had consistently found the basket.

O. J. Mayo didn’t have a terrible night offensively (6-of-13 for 19 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds) but seemed to be absent for long stretches as if he was out of the flow.  Considering he and Kaman have pretty much been the bread-and-butter so far this season, I would think keeping him integrated would be key.

The Ugly:

The Mavericks allowed 103 points by Indiana, who has been averaging just over 87 ppg.  Meanwhile the Mavs shot 37% from the field and 15.7% from downtown.

We could go down a list of who shot poorly and basically, it was pretty much everyone including the normally accurate Chris Kaman.   There are certainly specific observations to be made about this game and some disturbing patterns, and Kirk Henderson of The Two Man game covers many of them in his recap.

But the bottom line is the Mavs keep finding ways to lose instead of ways to win.  Most nights it’s being outrebounded to begin with; on others it may be turning the ball over or terrible shooting.  Some times the defense is lax.  These are all prescriptions for failure.

For most of the team, the season has been up and down.  Everyone is entitled to a bad night and for the most part Kaman, Mayo and Sarge have been the most consistent contributors.  Then you have players such as Elton Brand and Roddy who simply can’t get up to speed.  With Brand, 14 years in the league would suggest he can do better since the main thing he’s failing to do is find his shot.  For Roddy, it past the time when it seems the experiment may have failed.  Then you have Darren Collison who seems to enjoy feast or famine.   The Mavs have enough talent to be able to survive any one individual’s bad night but if it’s most of the team, your chances go from little to none.

Next Up:

The Mavs do another back-to-back against the Cleveland Cavaliers and hope to get their first road win since upsetting the Lakers.   Preview coming up on The Smoking Cuban.