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Game Book: Mavs v. Suns

Big win for the Mavericks last night, stretching their lead over the 9th-place Suns to five games. Perfect way to kick off what is perhaps their most crucial road swing of the season, especially since they had not won a game away from the AAC since an early February W against the Orlando Magic. Jump for some notes from the action:

• Dirk was, yet again, Dirk, fully returned from a post-All-Star-break funk. His line: 34 points (on 13-27 shooting), 13 rebounds, 4 assists (including two big ones in the fourth, when he found Jason Kidd behind the arc), 2 blocks, 1 steal, and only 3 turnovers. Never take that kind of production for granted.
• Also worth mentioning: 23 of those points came in the second half.
• All that said, the player of the game might have been Ryan Hollins, the skinny center the team picked up in the DeSagana Diop deal. He hasn’t played much since the trade. Maybe that should change. His appearance early in the second half energized the team, as he played active, pesky defense on Shaq, finished around the rim, and hit the boards hard. Put it this way: Hollins played only 14 minutes, but he still ended up leading the team in plus/minus (+18, meaning, for non sports nerds, the Mavs outscored the Suns by 18 when he was on the court).
• Jason Terry was, again, extremely solid (25 points on 9-18 shooting) — though maybe a little three-point happy (he made three but shot 10). If that’s the worst you can say, I’ll take that any day.
• Jason Kidd, as he’s done lately, saved his best for the fourth quarter (except for one out-of-character turnover in the endgame, when he just threw the ball upcourt, hoping someone in blue would retrieve it). He confidently knocked down two straight three-pointers with around three minutes to play. Were they daggers? Yes, I believe they were.
• J.J. Barea had a good first half, getting the start for the hobbled Josh Howard (who now looks to be out until — guh — April). Fourteen of his 16 points came before halftime, his first good run since practically getting a curbing in the Portland game. One thing though: if you’re a 5-foot-10 shooting guard, which is essentially what he is no matter what the program says, you need to shoot better than 69 percent from the free throw line. That’s a number that Erick Dampier would be thrilled with, sure. Barea should be good for no less than 85 percent, period.
• Finally, one fly in the ointment from last night, but it really could be from any night: all too often in the fourth quarter of games, especially the fourth quarter of games they are winning, the Mavs are content to jack up three-pointers late in the shot clock. Pretty much the only thing that’s worse than that is firing up three-pointers early in the shot clock. After Kidd made his pair of threes, the next two possessions Terry and Barea both shot and missed. That’s partially why, in just about a minute and half of game time, a 112-99 lead turned into a much scarier 112-105 margin.