Jason Terry came into the season promising to win back the Sixth Man of the Year award that Atlanta’s Jamal Crawford claimed last season. Terry, of course, brought that title to Dallas the previous campaign.

He looks like a pretty good bet to win it back going into the All-Star break. He went into Wednesday averaging 15.9 points this season, but is on a tear in February. Terry is averaging 18.1 points on 47-percent shooting this month. Read the rest of this entry »

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Rumors turned into reality on Friday when the Mavericks opened the trade season by shipping backup center DeSagana Diop to Charlotte for sharpshooter Matt Carroll and young reserve center Ryan Hollins.

The Mavs are, in essence, a jump-shooting team, but they’ve had trouble all season connecting from behind the arc. They entered Saturday’s game against the Jazz ranked 26th in the league from 3-point range at 33.3 percent. That’s exactly what they made against Utah (6-for-18).

They hope the 6-foot-6 Carroll can do what Kyle Korver did for the Jazz last season—spread the floor, drain shots and provide a boost the team can use to climb back into the top half of the Western Conference.

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Forward/center Anderson Varejao found himself in an unusual position the past two games—the starting lineup.
The 6-foot-11, 260-pounder had started 23 games in his career before getting the nod on Friday against Philadelphia. It was his first start of the season, and he was back on the floor for the start of Saturday’s game at Atlanta.
In his two games as starter, Varejao has averaged 14 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.0 block. He has also shot 60 percent from the field (12-for-20).
Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas is expected to miss at least a week after he sprained his left ankle. The Cavs are unsure on Ilgauskas’ timetable, but they probably won’t rush him back.
Hawks 97, Cavaliers 92:   Atlanta stopped Cleveland’s 11-game winning streak on Saturday at Philips Arena.
It was the fifth time in Cavs history they had won 11 games in a row. On each occasion, they lost the next game.

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If the Lakers are going to stay hot, they’re going to have to avoid the problem of playing down to the level of their competition.
They failed in that sense in their 118-108 victory over visiting Sacramento on Sunday night. Lakers coach Phil Jackson was very dissatisfied by the team’s defensive effort against a Kings team missing Kevin Martin (ankle).
“Defensively, we weren’t happy with our game,” Jackson said. “We have a younger team defensively, and they are still learning.”
The Lakers have a cushy schedule coming up, so they’ll be wise to do better in their efforts against middle-of-the-road teams.

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This game on Thursday features two of the most exciting, and well regarded teams in the NBA. Both the Mavericks and the Celtics have NBA Final aspirations, as do all teams, but these two have as good as chance as just about any of the best teams. The Mavericks are winners of eight out of their last ten after starting the beginning of the season a little slower than years past. Nobody in the Western conference is dominating this year, and 55 wins or so might be enough to win the conference. In other words, there are a lot of good teams in the conference this year. The Celtics are actually in the midst of their worst downswing of the season. While still playing well, they have actually only won six out of their last ten. While that doesn’t seem that bad, when you consider they only have seven losses the entire season, you can see that most of them have came of late. Surprisingly, four of those seven losses have come at home. The Celtics still have a commanding lead in the Eastern conference, but they would like to continue playing well to ensure the home court advantage all the way through the playoffs. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett have never won an NBA championship, and with each in their 30’s now, they would like to finish their career on a high note with a championship or two. In order to do that they will need to beat tough teams like Dallas in the process.

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As Giants defensive end Michael Strahan put it after their first round playoff victory over Tampa Bay, “I hope the third time is a charm,” in reference to their two previous regular season losses during the regular season to the Dallas Cowboys. Their first match-up of the year came during the very first week of the season, a high scoring affair with the Cowboys coming up on top 45-35 in Dallas. In New York during week nine the Cowboys took that one 31-20. However, the Giants may be facing their nemesis at just the right time.

Never before in the history of NFL has a loss seemed so important to a team’s morale. During the final game of the year the New York Giants and New England Patriots played all of their starters in a seemingly meaningless game, as both teams have already etched in stone their playoff destinies. The one thing that was on the line was an undefeated season for the Patriots, which they ultimately got, but not after one of the best games of year. The 38-35 loss left the Giants feeling great, knowing they just hung with the best team in the league for four quarters, and left New York hoping to see them again. Amazingly the Giants only lost one game on the road this year, that was the Dallas game. It’s been said that one of the hardest things to do in the NFL is to beat the same team three times in the same season. The Giants are hoping that rings true for them this coming week.

The Cowboys went through the majority of the season riding high. Quarterback Tony Romo spent the majority of the season finding Terell Owens wide open down field. Win after win piled up, until around the 15th week of the year. They unexpectedly lost to the Eagles in Philadelphia, but only expected that to be a hiccup. Ironically, or because, according to some people, this was also the game that Jessica Simpson and Romo officially became a couple, and Simpson was seen in the press box cheering for her man throughout the game. Many fans, and even some teammates, view Simpson as a distraction, and will most likely boo if they see her at this game, no joking aside. After beating Carolina in week 16, they lost to the Redskins in week 17, allowing Washington to sneak into the playoffs. While that didn’t ultimately affect the Cowboys playoff standings, it was Romo’s 7 for 16, 86 yard performance that has Cowboys fans wondering if the Cowboys will once again sputter out early in the playoffs.

Of all the games this weekend, I see this one as having the biggest chance of an away team winning. The Giants are playing well, and the Cowboys could be in for some trouble. I feel this game is a pick-um, with the ultimate deciding factor being the play of Tony Romo. As of this second I am leaning towards a Giants upset victory.

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A pair of teams that have gotten off to fairly decent starts will square off in primetime for a meaningful western conference showdown. The Mavericks (10-5) are actually used to have a better start, as last year they led the league with 67 wins. This year their defense has seemed to take a step backwards. They are currently on a streak that sees them losing three out of their last four games. Dirk Nowitzki appears to be able to take on that challenge, as he is now leading the team in scoring at 21.7 a game. In the western conference no win comes easy, so when playing at home, such as this game, they should try to perform as well as they can.

The Nuggets are also in a bit of a rut, losing two in a row. While Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson make up the bulk of the scoring, Marcus Camby is having another fine year defensively. He is averaging 14.8 rebounds a game to go along with 3.5 blocks a contest. Marcus Camby has been ridiculed in the past for being soft, but the last few years he has been a beast on the inside. I like the home court advantage in this one, so I’ll favor Dallas. Dallas seems like a team that should be able to turn things around, and that could possibly show up against the Nuggets.

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