Full-Court Press

Mavs look good on offense, beat Jazz, 116-101

DALLAS_ In one of their more impressive games of the season Friday – at least on the
offensive end -- the Dallas Mavericks looked like they were ready to defend
their NBA title.

The Mavs tallied a season-high in points, shot a sizzling 54.9 percent from the field and had their way with the Utah Jazz in the fourth quarter while pulling away for a 116-101 victory before a sellout crowd of 20,096 at American Airlines Center.

Even with Dirk Nowitzki and Delonte West in streets clothes, and with Jason Kidd joining them after he strained his right calf less than two minutes into the game, the Mavs were an offensive juggernaut against a solid Jazz squad.

“I thought everybody on the team played well,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said. “Jason went out early with a calf strain and all of a sudden a lot of things changed for us.’’

What changed was Rodrigue Beaubois stepped in during Kidd’s absence and played near-flawless basketball. Beaubois had a season-high 22 points, a season-high seven assists and a career-high four blocks to go with six rebounds in one of the best all-around games of his career.

All of it was needed with Nowitzki, West and Kidd as mere spectators.

“We learned that we can play well (without the aforementioned three starters),’’ Beaubois said. “But we just need to keep pushing out there.

“We’re very close, but we just need to keep pushing and keep working.’’

The Mavs (12-8) had six players in double-figure scoring for just the second time this season. Besides Beaubois, Lamar Odom poured in a season-high 19 points and grabbed five boards, Jason Terry tossed in 18 points, Shawn Marion contributed 16 points, Vince Carter scored 12, and Brendan Haywood added 12 points and 12 rebounds in registering his first double-double of the season.

Carlisle even praised the 13 minutes he got from Dominique Jones, especially the eight minutes he played in the fourth quarter that enabled the Mavs to rest players ahead of him in the rotation.

“That’s really key,’’ Carlisle said of Jones’ efforts. “Odom played his best game of the year, Marion was really consistent, and Haywood was a force inside.’’

This also was the first time Carter played since straining his left foot during a Jan. 16 game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The 6-6 Carter converted 5-of-10 shots and a few times found himself guarding Enes Kanter, a 6-11, 267-pound brute of a player.

“Carter, tonight, came in and gave us a huge lift at the start of the game when Kidd went out,’’ Carlisle said. “He hit two or three shots immediately and that got the building going and got
everybody into it.

“I was really proud of the way the guys competed because this is a very competitive team.’’

The outcome, for the Mavs, was a reversal of fortunes after what transpired Wednesday when the Minnesota Timberwolves drilled Dallas, 105-90, in this same building.

“All these guys got to stay ready,’’ Carlisle said. “Tonight was really a microcosm of what this season is about.

“You can tear up any rotation sheet that you make up. It’s going to be seat of our pants, everybody’s got to be ready. We trust all our guys and tonight they showed why their trust is earned.’’

The game was tied 30-30 after the first period, and the Mavs assumed a 58-50 lead at the half. It was still 82-80 Dallas with 1:15 left in the third quarter until the Mavs exploded with a 28-9 run to blow the game completely open.

“They made a run,’’ Jazz coach Tyron Corbin said. “I don’t think that I’d say they blew us out, but we cut it to two points there at the end of the third quarter.

“But give them credit. They made the right plays and made some big shots and we just didn’t make shots at the end.’’

-- Dwain Price
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@dwainprice

Carlisle still believes in Odom

DALLAS _ Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was engaged in an interview with the
media today when forward Lamar Odom walked by.

“Get ‘em off me, coach,’’ Odom said. “Get ‘em off me, coach.”

When Carlisle was asked why should the media get off Odom, Carlisle asked: “Why should you be off of Lamar? I don’t know, are you on him?’’

Actually, Odom has been criticized for not playing up to the fans’ expectations. That reached a crescendo during Wednesday’s 105-90 home loss to Minnesota when Odom was
just 2-of-14 from the field and tallied only five points.

“Hey, listen, we believe in Lamar,’’ Carlisle said. “This has been a struggle so far, but this guy can play.

“We’re going to keep supporting him and keep believing in him and he’s going to get better and better. That’s been his pattern every year of his career.’’

Odom is averaging career-lows of 7.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 21 minutes per game. He also is shooting a career-low 32.9 percent from the field while shooting a puny 24.1 percent from three-point range.

Despite all that, Carlisle repeated: “He’ll be fine. He’ll be fine. You know, in an NBA season after 28 years, I’m not sure how often I’m ever surprised.

“But Lamar’s going to be fine. He’s got to stay with it, he’s got to be aggressive, and we’re with him.’’

Guard Vince Carter noted that Odom is asked to do a lot of things that aren’t visible to the average fan’s eyes, and that could be affected is overall effectiveness.

“We are asking him to play a lot of positions and do a lot of things,’’ Carter said. “It’s one thing playing the wing position and playing (power forward).

“When you are playing the point guard you have to know what is going on (and) where everybody is supposed to be. That is an unbelievable adjustment. I don’t think there are a lot of guys who can handle it.’’

Obviously, Odom hasn’t handled it well. Hence, the slow start.

“We know who is and what he can do,’’ Carter said. “We say just relax and be Lamar Odom.

“He has done a great job and I admire him. He puts the pressure on himself of performing at a high level.''

Odom won two NBA championship rings with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and ’10, so he’s accustomed to playing at a high level.

“Of course he has played at a high level,’’ Carter said. “He pushes himself in knowing what’s going on and wanting to play well.

“Sometimes it’s a negative to us all because we try so hard. I fell into the same thing at the beginning -- you just want to do well on a team like this. You play on a team like this the first thing you think is you want to go out there and contribute instead of being who we are.’'

At the time Dallas acquired Odom from the Lakers on Dec. 10 for basically an $8.9 million trade
exception, it looked like the Mavs had stolen a valuable piece away from one of their top nemesis in the Western Conference. But expect for flashes here and there, Odom has yet to live up to his advance billing.

How long can – and will – the Mavs wait for Odom to give them some consistent minutes night-in and night-out?

“We’re working at it every day, and that’s what we’ll continue to do,’’ Carlisle said. “We’re going to stay the course with the things that we feel are the best things for our entire team and go from there.

“It’s kind of the old phrase that when things are going good, you’re never that far from them being bad, and when things are a struggle, you’re never that far from being on track. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a team or an individual player. In this league, it can be that much of a fine
line.’’

When Carlisle was asked how much of a slump is mental focus, he answered with: “I’ll gladly take a question on another topic, because I’m done with that one.’’

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

 

Odom struggled big-time

DALLAS _ With his family watching from owner Mark Cuban's suite, Lamar Odom never got things going in a positive manner Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In one of his worst games with the Dallas Mavericks, Odom scored just five points on 2-of-14 shooting. He never really got into the offensive flow of the game, although he said he took some great shots.

"I only think I forced one,'' Odom said. "They were all good shots.''

But the overwhelmingly majority of those shots never found the basket and played a role in the Mavs dropping a 105-90 decision to the Timberwolves.

Coach Rick Carlisle admitted that Odom was in a funk, which is why he only played him 4:35 in the second half.

"He was struggling and we needed guys in the game that could either make plays, have quickness, have energy, and were playing better,'' Carlisle said. "And that's pretty much the bottom line.''

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

Mavs Championship Ring Facts: 14k White gold, 250 diamonds, 91.7 grams, 10 total karats

The 2011 Dallas Mavericks Championship Rings, designed by Jostens and players Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, might be the gaudiest ever.

The Ring Facts:

14 K White Gold

250 total diamonds

219 Brilliant round diamonds

31 Custom cut princess diamonds

10.00 total karats

91.7 grams (total ring weight)

The Mavs logo is on top set against a custom blue stone encircled by 31 princess cut diamonds, one for each year of the organization.

The top features "World Champions" flanked by a 10 round cut diamonds.

The players name and number are on side A along with the NBA logo and one diamond star signifying the first title for the Mavs. The secondary logo is set with another custom blue stone inside a basketball. The M is emblazoned with with 15 diamonds to represent the 15 memebers of the championship team.

Side B incorporates "Dallas Mavericks" alongw ith the team motto, "The Time is Now", engraved in a banner behind the Larry O'Brien trophy. Round diamonds fill the trophy flanked by 2011.

Inside the band is the original Mavs team logo in honor of the first owner Donald Carter in addition to the results of the four playoff series.

Clarence E. Hill Jr.  

Mavs get their rings

DALLAS _ The Dallas Mavericks received their NBA championship rings before tonight's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

JJ Barea and Peja Stojakovic were the first players to collect their ring.

Once the ring ceremony started, coach Rick Carlisle was talking about the four players who were on the Mavs' title team last year but are playing elsewhere when he momentarily stumbled. Carlisle mentioned Corey Brewer and Caron Butler, then stumbled before mentioning Tyson Chandler and DeShawn Stevenson.

Later, Jason Terry got his ring and did his runway thing. Jason Kidd got his ring and hugged owner Mark Cuban and kissed his ring. Dirk Nowitzki got his ring -- and the loudest applause from the crowd -- then spoke to everyone.

"How does it look?,'' Nowitzki asked while flashing his gaudy ring. "It looks like there's only one more ring left.

"And obviously whtout this man this wouldn't be possible. He's the greatest owner in sports, so here's Mark Cuban.''

By the way, the Timberwolves stayed in their locker room during the ring ceremony. That's the same thing the Miami Heat did when the Mavs opened the regular season against them by raising the championship banner to the rafters on Dec. 25.

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

Adelman happy for Stojakovic

 DALLAS – One person who will be delighted to see Peja Stojakovic gets his NBA championship ring tonight is Minnesota Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman.

Adelman was Stojakovic’s coach with the Sacramento Kings from 1998-2006.

“He was a young player when I had him,’’ Adelman said before tonight’s Timberwolves-Dallas Mavericks game. “He was the best shooter I ever saw, bar none.

“I’ve seen him too many times. He practiced 100 3’s and he’d make 95. The guy who rebounded for him had an easy job. He just kept catching it.’’

Stojakovic retired afte helping the Mavs win their first NBA title last season. He's at American Airlines Center and will receive his championship ring prior to tonight's game.

Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

Three Kardashians are at the Mavs' game

DALLAS _ Sisters Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian will be attend tonight's game at American Airlines Center between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Khloe just tweeted "My sisters just surprised me in Dallas!!!!''

Khloe, of course, is married to Mavs forward Lamar Odom. Kim was married to New Jersey Nets forward Kris Humphries last year before filing for divorce 72 days later.

The Mavs will receive their NBA championship rings prior to tonight's game.

-- Dwain Price

Follow me on Twitter

@dwainprice

 

Carlisle looks for the best matchups

DALLAS _ Basketball is a game of matchups. So, when Rick Carlisle puts a certain lineup on the floor, it’s mainly based on those strategic matchups.

And the Dallas Mavericks coach is always searching for a matchup that’ll work in his favor. Thus, when asked how he determines who plays and who sits during certain times of a game, Carlisle said:

“Sometimes it’s matchup based, sometimes it’s me going by the seat of my pants, sometimes it has to do with who’s tired, sometimes it has to do with who the other team has in the game. But we’ve got to be able to play a lot of different ways.

“Right now just the fact that we’ve thrown a lot of different lineups out there is something that we’ve got to view as something that’s going to help us going forward.’’

With games coming fast due to the lockout and compact 66-game schedule, Carlisle knows set rotations will not be the norm this season. So that doesn’t even figure into his game plan, regardless of who the Mavs are playing.

“It’s not very rhythmatic, and it doesn’t lend itself to comfort and those kinds of things with having a set rotation,’’ Carlisle said. “But what it is doing is keeping guys playing hard because you play until you’re tired, then give me a fist to come out and we’ll get another fresh guy in here.

“That’s a big part of the formula for winning this year.’’

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

 

Mark Cuban placed a bid to buy the Dodgers

DALLAS -- He already has an NBA championsip. Now, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is going after a World Series.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Cuban was one of at least 10 people/groups who placed an opening bid on Monday to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers from Frank McCourt.

Some of the others who placed opening bids include groups headed by Magic Johnson, former Dodgers manager Joe Torre, and ex-Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley.

McCourt, according to the LA Times, is expecting to sell the team for at least $1.5 billion.

Cuban has failed in previous bids to purchase the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers.

-- Dwain Price

Follow me on Twitter

@dwainprice

Beaubois is tough as nails

DALLAS _ Rodrigue Beaubois came to the Dallas Mavericks two season ago as a player with a lot of flair and finesse. Now he’s showing them his tough side. “He’s gotten so much tougher in two-and-a-half years,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said. “His first year you would have needed a spatula to get him off the ground. “Honestly, he fell in a heap every time he got touched. He took a lot of heat from his teammates, he took a lot of heat from the coaches, and he’s raised his level of toughness quantum over that period of time.’’ Beaubois’ level of toughness was questioned Monday night when Phoenix Suns guard Sebastian Telfair clobbered him on a fastbreak attempt early in the third period. Telfair was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the game, while Beaubois picked himself up off the floor and calmly sank the ensuing two free throws to give the Mavs an 86-74 lead. “The Flagrant 2 play was a massive play in the game – a big momentum play,’’ Carlisle said. “I thought (Beaubois) showed toughness, he showed resolve, he continued to concentrate. “He’s more and more coming to the realization that his game is predicated on the defensive end first, and that’s what’s going to bring us success this year.’’ Beaubois only tallied four points, and was 0-of-5 from the floor. Carlise, however, was not discouraged. “I like Roddy tonight,’’ Caerlisle said. “Nights like tonight where maybe the shots aren’t going in and there’s a couple of uncharacteristic offensive mistakes, he stayed into the game mentally and he was in a stance and he was a positive factor for us. “Look, he’s a smart guy. He understands that if you crumble every time you get hit, they’re going to keep hitting you in this league, and it’s going to be harder and harder to get back up. He gets hit now, he pops back up and boom, he’s ready to go again, and it wasn’t always that way.’’ Dwain Price Follow me on Twitter @dwainprice