Kidd rises up in the desert

Kidd burns the Suns AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

Okay.  I now believe that there should be a warning posted before all future Dallas Mavericks games.  Anyone who has any heart issues or high blood pressure should consult with their doctor before watching.  To watch the beginning of the game, your blood pressure will most certainly rise.  Once again the Mavericks started out slowly, falling behind 26-17 after the first period.  A pattern is developing.  Slow start, fall behind, commit turnovers, and then come roaring back in the fourth quarter to capture the win.

In the fourth quarter, you need a strong, healthy heart.  Phoenix spent the overwhelming majority of this game out in front.  The Mavs continued to battle, and tied the score at 83 with under two minutes to go.  This is when Jason Kidd decided that enough was enough.  He knocked down two huge three point buckets in the final minutes, and the Mavs won 91-83.

Kidd finished the game with 16 points and only 3 assists.  Tyson Chandler and Jason Terry scored 16 points each, while Chandler pulled down a season-high 18 boards.  The stat of the game for the Mavs would be their 38% shooting percentage from the field.  That is turrible as Charles Barkley would say.  That is not winning basketball.  Perhaps the team should use the two day break to practice their shooting skills.

Roddy Beaubois hit on 4 of his 6 shots for 10 points, but only played 13 minutes because of foul trouble.  Dirk Nowitzki had an off-night shooting 6-19 for 15 points.  Perhaps the minutes are starting to catch up to Dirk as he played a game-high 39 minutes.  After back-to-back games, fatigue may have been an issue.  JET also had a rough night shooting the rock, going 5-16.  Shawn Marion hit only 2 of his 10 shots, for 6 points.  Matrix also collected 8 boards, 2 assists, and 3 steals to help the team grab a much needed win.

The Mavs will obviously take the win, running their winning streak to four.  The victory helped the team keep pace with the Lakers, who also won last night 102-84 over the Hornets.  Their clash on Thursday night in Los Angeles, which will be televised nationally, is looking bigger every day.  A similar slow start then will most likely not end well for Big D.  The Mavs have two days to regroup and sharpen their shooting skills before going to L.A. to play Blake Griffin and the Clippers.

Hopefully the game against the Clippers will provide the Mavericks one more opportunity to sharpen their rotation and get ready for the game with the Lakers.  But they better not overlook the Clips.  A loss would greatly hurt their chances to push past the Lakers to claim the second spot.  They must take care of business on Wednesday night, hopefully winning comfortably enough to rest some guys for Thursday and protect the health of their fans as well.