Mavs' Dominate Nuggets

The Mavericks knew this game was the game of the year. It would decide the season series between these two team that hate each other, and would give the winner any tie breakers for home court advantage. I told you to mark your calenders because it would be an awesome game that you wouldn't want to miss. And in case you missed it...I was right. I'll give you the highlights.

I'll start with the big one...Dirk Nowitzki recorded his 2nd career triple-double with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. He really put his stamp on this game and played extremely well. He got his 10th assist on a set play with a couple of minutes to go, he passed to Jason Terry off the screen and roll and Terry knocked down the jumper from the free throw line. It was really exciting...and that was really the only thing at that point that kept everyone at the stadium because the Mavs' never really trailed in the game. They ended up winning by 16 when it was all said and done. Here's the video replay: http://www.nba.com/games/20100329/DENDAL/gameinfo.html

I liked the edginess that the Mavs' showed in this game. They did not back down ever from their opponent and every time Denver came at them and got within striking distance the Mavs' hit the gas and put distance between them. The thing that I liked most out of this game was the Dallas defense. It was...great? Or at least the kind of defensive intensity that a "great" team would play with. For instance, Jason Terry (who is not known for defense) picked up his defensive mentality and played solidly. Roddy B was given big minutes (almost 15) in a big game. And he played well during that time on the defensive end. He only scored 5 points, but he guarded rookie Ty Lawson very well and even recorded 3 steals. Brenden Haywood played a good game and had 4 blocked shots.

But here is the greatest part of this game. Shawn Marion. His was the task of guarding Carmelo Anthony who is one of the leagues top scorers with 28.5 points per game. Melo is a phenomenal scorer and really gets whatever shot he wants most nights. But, on this night he would be given the shots that Marion said he is allowed to take. Not only did Marion push the ball on the offensive end and force Melo to do alot of work defensively, but Shawn Marion held Melo to only 10 points on 3 of 16 shooting. He made 1 three, and shot 3 free throws. Other than that, his impact was non-existent. Marion scored 21 points, and held Melo to 10! That is amazing.

Here are some stats for you to chew on.

Against the Mavericks in three games this season, Carmelo Anthony has averaged only 15.0 points per game. That is his lowest against any team. Another cool thing...how the Mavs' have done against the leagues top guys?

Mavs vs top scorers this season
            Season    vs Mavs
1. Lebron     29.8        25.0
2. Durant     29.6        22.3
3. Melo        28.9        15.0
4. Kobe        27.1        16.3   


Especially against Melo and Kobe, Shawn Marion has done a phenomenal job! Thats why we brought him here and thats why he's such a big part of what the Mavericks are doing this year. 


Here's a couple quotes on the subject of Marion shutting down Anthony. 


"I thought the player of the game was Marion, He did a really fantastic job on Melo. … Carmelo is one of the best scorers in the league and he did a phenomenal job on him. … to me, the game ball really belongs to Marion." - Dirk Nowitzki


"I was just making him take hard, contested shots and making him work on defense, too. The thing I've noticed about this league, though, is that most scorers in the league don't want to play defense.  So if you make them play defense, man, it's that much harder for them." - Shawn Marion


And by the way, Dirk moved up past Bob Pettit on the NBA all-time scoring list to number 28 with 20,912 points. That is incredible. And coming up in another couple of games Dirk will attempt to pass Walt Bellamy who is at 20,941. Can't wait to see where he ends up...by my calculations he's been averaging 1,860 points per season for the past 11 seasons (which excludes his rookie year)...if he continues close to that pace for the next 5 seasons which would make him 37 years old he will be somewhere in the ballpark of 29 thousand points leaving him 5th behind only Wilt Chamberlain, Micheal Jordan, Karl Malone, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I'm not saying that will happen, but I'm saying even if he falls off more than I put into my calculations, we could be looking at Dirk amongst the top 10 scorers in NBA history when all is said and done. That is amazing!