11/21/24
May 09, 2003
Nick Van Exel: leads the Mavs to a whomping win over the Sacramento Kings that included a half-time score of 83-61(!) (box score here). Also, Chris Webber and Bobby Jackson take injuries. As a Mav fan, I'm ready to stop calling on "the Big Three" (Nash/Nowitzki/Finley) and add Nick the Slick as a bonafide star (again). (discussion of all NBA playoffs inside).
posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 09:50 AM - 5 comments
I picked the wrong night to give up on the Mavs. 83 points in a half! To quote Dirk, "mein leiben!"
posted by rcade at 10:12 AM on May 09, 2003
It was a great offensive show, but my god man, the Mavs allowed 61 points in the first half! They're not going to score 83 every first half, hell I doubt they get to 60 in the next game. There is no way they can win this series. I'm glad the Pistons are winning, last night's game was great. Nets/Celtics series has been pretty boring so far, I wish they could both lose. Yay Spurs! ABTL! (anybody but the lakers) I'll go with Pistons and Kings in the finals. Kings wax'em.
posted by corpse at 10:14 AM on May 09, 2003
I picked the wrong night to give up on the Mavs. Yeah, had they lost last night, I would've conceded defeat, but the series took a serious turn last night. I haven't heard exactly what Webber's injury is, but I do know that Bobby Jackson fractured a cheekbone (on Raef's hip while Raef was taking a charge). Don't know yet if either one will play tomorrow, but those back-to-back games in Sacramento could now actually play in the Mavs favor if either one of those two has a slow recovery. On Preview: It was a great offensive show, but my god man, the Mavs allowed 61 points in the first half! They're not going to score 83 every first half, hell I doubt they get to 60 in the next game. There is no way they can win this series. No they won't score that much in every first half, but when you are scoring that much, and you've got a Mavs/Kings game, it's going to be very quickly paced. Dallas didn't really buck up on defense until midway through the third quarter (right before Webber went down), but once they did, they made some big stops (aided, of course, by the Kings going Ice Cold for a while). The thing that gave me the most hope for the Mavs wasn't really the scoring though. It was in the fourth quarter when they were up by 30 and the game was all but over and still you have people taking charges, diving for balls going out of bounds, making those hustle plays that show that they actually have some gut and fortitude. If they can keep that attitude up, then they have a good shot at the Kings, IMO.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:18 AM on May 09, 2003
That game was just fun to watch. I enjoyed listening to Bill Walton call a game for the first time ever. He was egging Van Exel to "shoot it from there, Nick!" And Nick did shoot it from there and anywhere, and it seemed like every one his shots fell. After the first quarter, I wanted Dallas to shart shooting from the half-court line. I know they would have made at least 60% of them.
posted by dusted at 12:38 PM on May 09, 2003
It's not just one game. Van Exel has been consistent in giving the team a push when it needed. I wasn't real excited when he came to Dallas, fearing he would have some of the ego/attitude problems that he put the Lakers through. But he's gladly accepted his role as a sixth man and leader when nobody else is stepping up. Rundown of the rest of the NBA: Pistons 2, Sixers 0 (Defense can win in the East) Nets 2, Celtics 0 (Sorry, Boston. Game tonight) Spurs 2, Lakers 0 (Very important game tonight).