This is fun to watch, isn't it? After dropping their first game after the All-Star break - and after the trade, the Mavericks have ripped off an impressive 8-game winning streak. Some highlights:
Big wins at home vs Phoenix and the Lakers, and on the road (with team's home record in parenthesis) at Orlando (23-6), Atlanta (23-7), and Charlotte (20-8).
Opponents winning percentage: 56.3%
Opponents shooting percentage: 42.9%
The Mavericks have become a priority to record/watch on TV over the last week for me. What they did to New Orleans in the first half Sunday night was a beautiful basketball clinic. Friday's game in Atlanta was awesome .... or so I heard. That one I missed -- I was running around the Metroplex shooting basketball games that night in Plano, Garland, and Carrollton, AND I forgot to record it. So all I experienced from that game was what Chuck Cooperstein and Brad Davis told me while I drove from one game to the next. After Kidd's performance that night, I won't forget to set the DVR again.
Last night's game was particularly interesting, and a good example of how this team has evolved since the trade. The Mavs were sluggish. They were dragging. And who could blame them after the turnaround from Sunday's late game to an early tip on the east coast? The Bobcats put together a run at the end of the second quarter to take a pretty good lead, and then Dirk slowly brought them back in the third quarter with jumper after jumper. The spark finally came in the fourth quarter, when Jason Terry came up with a steal, resulting in a fast-break dunk for Shawn Marion and a tie game at 74-74. You could see it then, on that one play, an energy that had been lacking throughout the first 3 1/2 quarters. It kicked off an 11-1 run to give the Mavericks an 8-point lead.
But the team's defensive play through those first 3 1/2 quarters kept them within striking distance, and that's where this team has gotten so much better. Charlotte shot under 40% for the game (39.7), and the Mavs have held opponents to under 43% shooting during this winning streak. It's still a relatively small sample size, but it's also been a challenging one, with five of the eight opponents owning records above .500.
Dallas' next game is Wednesday night at home against Minnesota. I know where I'll be.
