Game Day: Mavs (20-9) @ Suns (15-14), Tues 12/23/14

[SDC]

oh, i forgot to mention... the suns will win this game because the mavs continue to employ richard jefferson

[SDC]

the 3 pgs + green on the court

[OE32]

SDC: do you still want to say "bye" to mcdo when it now appears he's nailed both of his drafts?

... I feel good about it because I loved the Len, Warren and Ennis picks...

[SDC]

5pt swing by the mavs cuts down the lead to 11.

[carey]

Gerald Green sure can be an idiot sometimes. Also, Tyson Chandler ate Kieff's lunch on back to back possessions. He just looked over at Longo like, "What?"

[carey]

Bled needs one rebound for a triple double and almost had it but stepped out of bounds. 2:24 left.

[carey]

Damnit LEN you have to DUNK THAT!

[carey]

Len fouled out too on the next trip down. Not good....

[SDC]

laughter all around as bledsoe gets his final rebound.

[carey]

Those shooting percentages from Eric and IT, bleh. Great win though.

[Indy]

It was a strange game to be at. It was announced as a sell out, and it was pretty darn close in actual attendance. But there were a lot of Mavs fans. They weren't too noisy, but noticeable.

Without looking at any stats, box scores, or listening to post-game, or even reading here... it felt like we couldn't buy a bucket from anyone in the first half. Fortunately the same could be said for Dallas. It was starting to look like both teams were going to be in the 40s at halftime before a burst at the end.

Besides having a really solid all-around game, I thought Eric did a good job on catch and shoots tonight. Again, not sure of the percentages, as he seemed to miss some gimmes.

Those two back to back dunks that had Keiff and the bench yelling at each other were pretty crazy. It seemed like there was a missed rotation, because next time down the court Keiff was back on Dirk.

Len. Loved it.

Green. Jesus Christ! He is just one of those guys. I think I was yelling at him louder than Hornacek was when he got yanked. But I really love him on our team.

The refs were not giving IT or Goran their due. It was pretty blatant.

Marcus--I thought he did a decent job trying to be his brother on the court after Keiff picked up two quick fouls.

Plumlee seemed like the typical plumlee. I sure wish he was a 3rd option at the C spot, and could play a defensive 4 if needed.

Dirk--I know he is 36, so I get these types of games from him. But I was remembering the first time I saw him play in person. It was his rookie year, and we were not a good team. The game was well out of hand for the Suns, and he just kept hitting every damn shot he put up. There were two ladies behind us that kept yelling at him when he would hit a shot. Making fun of his name. I can't tell you how many times I heard them say "Duuuuuurrrrkkkk..." that night. I wanted to punch them. But I didn't. Anyway, my brother and I were sitting there watching the game thinking, "damn that guy can shoot, and not just for a 7 footer. He can really shoot. He is going to be pretty unstoppable if he can get some weight and start scoring in the paint." 17 years really flew by.

Finally--that last play when Bledsoe fought Goran for the board and knocked him down, then took off without helping him up was hilarious. Goran called him back to help him up and the laughs and hugs were great to see.

[Indy]

Oh, and I thought it was really a breath of fresh air that even with Markeiff and Len in foul trouble, we didn't see a single minute of Tolliver or Randolph.

[Nodack]

Thanks for the at the game synopsis Indy.

Ya, I don't think Dirk even needs to see the basket. He just instinctively throws it in the hole.

[INFORMER]

Another big win. And I say "another" because I think the Washington win was one too, like 'bazz said in that game thread.

Although this was another game where Markieff turned the ball over a ton and rebounded poorly, one thing he has a regular habit of doing is finding ways to be productive. He chipped in 4 dimes and 4 steals, which is nice to see.

Similarly, despite not shooting well, Bledsoe found a way to significantly and positively impact the game.

7 dimes and 1 turnover from the much maligned ball hog. Hmmm. He did struggle with his shot though.

And Plumlee at least provided great work on the boards.

22 points in 23 minutes from Green. Ridiculous.

Best stat of the night: Suns dished out 30 assists.

A lot of good to take away from this win.

[Mori Chu]

I'm so happy about this win. I was only able to see bits and pieces since I am with my future in-laws for xmas this week. But I am proud of our guys. Bledsoe with a triple double! Impressive. Len had 17 and 7, wow. And Goran and Green put up a lot of points.

I do think that the Rondo addition will be really good for the Mavs, but I'm glad we caught them before they have their chemistry figured out.

[Superbone]

laughter all around as bledsoe gets his final rebound.

That was pretty hilarious. The way he ripped it from Dragic and knocked him down. They were all laughing it up.

[Superbone]

Best stat of the night: Suns dished out 30 assists.

A lot of good to take away from this win.

Wow, 30 assists?! No wonder the ball seemed like it was moving really well. I sure hope the team took it to heart and continues to move the ball like that.

[SDC]

watch EJ laugh...

[video][/video]

[Ring_Wanted]

One of the best team defensive efforts this season, as well as smooth offense after the first Q. Loved the way fastbreaks were executed.

Bledsoe played top notch defense and took care of Monta.

Absolutely loved Kieff's passes and Len's finishing. Markieff made a huge difference on offense when he came back after the two quick fouls he picked up against Dirk. His box score doesn't make justice to his impact. Marcus was decent on Dirk and even managed to block/steal one of his fadeaway shots.

Green would hit a three everytime the Mavs would think about making a comeback. PJ also made two very important threes.

Dragic was a permanent threat to score and he converted his penetrations and a couple of shots. The refs still don't give him as much respect as they should. Same with IT3 and to a lesser extent Bledsoe (because he labors too much when he jumps near the rim)

Thomas' shot was mostly off the mark, and Barea scored on him but to his credit lately he is playing better team ball and didn't commit TOs. Recently the 3 PG lineups are working better too.

PJ hit some big threes, didn't botch fastbreaks and his intensity was felt. Miles was active on the boards but he still can't catch or keep passes with any degree of difficulty.

Again, one of the best collective games of the season.

[Xylus]

I haven't had any time to watch games these past few weeks, but it seems like Hornacek has finally nailed down the right rotations.