Josh Howard has been struggling with a bad ankle for a long time and after a brief attempt at a comeback earlier in the year, decided to sit out until it just felt right and that healing time made all the difference in a big victory by the Dallas Mavericks over the cooling Suns.

Dallas Mavericks 102 Phoenix Suns 101

You can tell the Suns are cooling due to a 5 – 5 record in the last 10 games. Dallas is barely better at 6 – 4, but the Mavs do not have the Lakers to contend with in their Division like the Suns do. The Mavs and Suns are both a respectable 15 – 7 on the year, but the Suns trail the 16 – 3 Lakers in the Pacific Division. The Mavs lead the much easier Southwest Division which is populated with the under achieving Rockets, Spurs, and Hornets, as well as the almost worthless but now minus Allen Iverson Grizzlies.

The Phoenix Suns may in the end be much luckier because after the Lakers the Pacific division is populated with the bottom dwellers of the Kings, Clippers, and Warriors. Not much competition there.

Dirk Nowitzki celebrated Josh Howard's return with 33 points

So just what did Josh Howard do to help the Mavericks?

Howard was greeted with a lively ovation when he went into the game midway through the first quarter. It took a while to get his feet under him, but he scored 16 points in 15 second-half minutes when the rest of the Mavericks were struggling.

That set up Terry to make four clutch free throws in the last 12.3 seconds, then miss one intentionally, to offset Steve Nash’s remarkable 3-point shooting down the stretch and save the win.

It was Howard’s return that had the locker room buzzing afterward. He hit six of 11 shots in the second half and looked much better than he did a month ago, when his first try at a return was aborted after three games.

“It’s night and day,” said Jason Kidd. “He looks a lot more comfortable and relaxed. To be away that long, then to come back and play like this, it’s pretty impressive.”
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Dallas plans to be careful with Josh’s ankle and he may miss a few of the upcoming games if it remains tender.

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Has Dirk Nowitzki started an early bid for MVP with an incredible fourth quarter of 29 points against the Utah Jazz? Dirk had 40 total points on a night when for 3 quarters he just could not get it going and it looked like a boring defeat at the hands of the Jazz, but then the magic scoring hands of Nowitzki went to work and broke Mark Aguirre’s 1 quarter Maverick scoring record.

NBA factoid: Last December Carmelo Anthony had 33 in a single quarter to tie George Gervin’s all time NBA record.

Mark Aguirre had 27 on March 24th 1984.

Dirk had Jason Terry just gushing.

He scored 23 of 25 Maverick points in one stretch, including a step-back jumper with 2:05 to go that put them ahead, 85-83.

“It was tremendous,” Jason Terry said of Nowitzki’s fourth quarter. “Dirk put us on his back and showed us why he’s the MVP. We were in it defensively all night long. But offensively we struggled. It was getting to us. … But we didn’t let our defensive effort lack. I think that’s what kept us in the game.
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Dirk Nowitzki with classic shooting form

Dirk Nowitzki has 29 in the fourth

For the Dallas Mavericks the true test will come at the defensive end as a team loaded with offensive stars attempts to stop the opposing team from scoring, which is something they have not shown a strong propensity to accomplish in the past.

What’s more significant to me is that the Mavs have won three consecutive games despite not shooting better than 41.7 percent in any game this season. Last year, when they shot 42.5 percent of worse from the floor, they were 3-25. In many ways, just like the Rangers, this offense has traditionally been so good that if it gets even a touch of defense, it wins. Since that rather rough season opener, the Mavs have won as much because of defense as anything.

That is most definitely a change in this team. Maybe it’s only a one-week aberration, but, at least for a week, you have to figure the attention to defense is paying off for this team.
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If the Defensive Trend continues for the Dallas Mavericks then you can look for an extended playoff run at the end of the year.

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Now it is time to play who makes more in the NBA as provided by Hoopsworld. The answers will be at the bottom of the blog.

Are you ready?

A) Who makes more Boston Celtics… Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, or Kevin Garnett?

B) Who makes more Cleveland Cavaliers… LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neil, or Mo Williams?

C) Who makes more Denver Nuggets… Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, or Kenyon Martin?

D) Who makes more Los Angeles Lakers… Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, or Ron Artest?

E) Who makes more New Orleans Hornets… Chris Paul, Emeka Okafor, or Peja Stojakovic?

F) Who makes more San Antonio Spurs… Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, or Richard Jefferson?

G) Who makes more Dallas Mavericks… Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, or Dirk Nowitzki?

H) Who makes more Orlando Magic… Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, or Vince Carter?

I) Who makes more Miami Heat… Dwyane Wade, Michael Beasley, or Jermaine O’Neal?

J) Who makes more Detroit Pistons… Ben Gordon, Charlie Villenueva, or Rip Hamilton?

Tim Duncan makes a lot of cash!

Answers from Hoopsworld:
A) Paul Pierce $19,795,712.
B) Shaquille O’Neal $21,000,000.
C) Kenyon Martin $15,613,636.
D) Kobe Bryant $23,034,375.
E) Peja Stojakovic $13,392,000.
F) Tim Duncan $22,183,220.
G) Dirk Nowitzki $19,795,714.
H) Rashard Lewis $18,010,791.
I) Jermaine O’Neal $23,016,000.
J) Rip Hamilton $11,625,000.

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Shawn Marion is known as the Matrix and he can do it all on a hoop court. For years he operated in near anonymity in Phoenix. It got so bad that Shawn threatened to leave just so he could be the man on some other team instead of third banana behind Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire on the Suns. Finally the Suns gave him his wish and dealt him to the Heat for the Shaq. The Heat were not very good and needed a big man, so Matrix was dealt to Toronto and from there he was dealt to Dallas.

Dirk Nowitzki will join Shawn Marion to go for the NBA title!

In Dallas, Shawn will never be the man. That label belongs to Dirk Nowitzki the perennial All Star and offensive power house. But the overall game and relentless movement on offense from Shawn has brought an extra dimension to the Mavericks that will only serve to enhance the play of Nowitzki.

“He’s pretty amazing, I got to admit,” Nowitzki said. “Playing against him all these years, you don’t really know all the little things he does. I really like playing with him. He doesn’t demand the ball, he just gets his points on the go.”

And he also sees the big picture. Marion’s do-it-all game should make life simpler for Nowitzki.

“I really think, especially on the break, that’s going to open up my shots on transition,” he said. “And we can get some baskets where we don’t have to work extra, extra hard.”
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The Mavericks will now face the Western Division with 3 solid but aging stars in Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, and Shawn Marion. If they stay healthy it could be the same formula the Boston Celtics used to win the NBA title a few years ago.

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It came out during an interview with Rick Carlisle, the Dallas Mavericks are better. Now if you look at the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association there are 3 super teams and the rest is wide open. The super teams would be the Los Angeles Lakers, the Denver Nuggets, and the San Antonio Spurs. After that the West is wide open, with even the rotten teams improving themselves.

The Dallas Mavericks have added Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, and Tim Thomas to a 6th place team. That is three quality players that will add shooting, scoring, size, and rebounding. Each of those players has missing parts to their games, but put the 3 together and you have an amazing set of situational type players.

So what does Rick Carlisle, the coach of the Dallas Mavericks think of all this?

What about the roster changes of the off-season? What do the incoming players bring to the table?

I like the moves we’ve made. We’ve acquired competitive guys. I like our chemistry. I think the pieces we added fit. The personalities of the new guys complement our nucleus. And I really believe the abilities of our new guys complement the guys that we have. We’re more athletic. We’ve got more experience.
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Rick is a coach that holds you accountable and often puts you in situations to help the team with what you do best. Look for him to get the most out of the new players. He also is a strong believer in scripting plays and defending 1 on 1. It will be interesting to see how well the new players adapt to this type of coaching.

Dirk is yelling for the ball!

Rick is smart enough to know that Dirk Nowitzki is what makes the team go and all the new players will have to play to Dirk’s strength. Who knows, maybe the Mavericks could move into the group of super teams in the West!

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Every year you can count on the Dallas Mavericks being very interesting with Mark Cuban as an owner and Dirk Nowitzki as your star player, you have all the makings of an explosive team with explosive ownership. The Mavericks as usual made a lot of moves to change their team. One of the most lethal moves was to pick up Shawn “Matrix” Marion.

The Shawn Marion deal helps; there’s no question about that. In talking with Mark Cuban during summer league he told HOOPSWORLD to expect a lot of small ball next season. He said they’ll run Dirk Nowitzki at the center, Marion at the four, Josh Howard at the three, and some combination of Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, and J.J. Barea in the backcourt. We were quick to point out that playing Dirk at the five has been tried and was a dismal failure for both Don Nelson and Avery Johnson, but Cuban insisted that the up-tempo style his team will look to run next season will make that lineup a lethal combination.
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Shawn Marion will be a Maverick

The Mavericks did not stop there as they also signed Drew Gooden, the man of 7 teams in 7 years.

Like Brandon Bass, Gooden has a good mid-range game. The good news for Mavericks fans is that Gooden is more consistent than Bass, who seemed to have good games about three out of every five nights. Gooden will deliver the same effort night in and night out, and given enough playing time he’s a solid double-double threat. He rebounds well, grabbing 7.9 boards per game over his career, hits 47% of his field goal attempts, and is an above average defender, as well. He should be a great addition, one who complements Jason Kidd nicely.
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The up tempo style of the Dallas Mavericks makes the need for a lot of players paramount and in case you were wondering, they are loaded with a lot of players. Check out the two deep of:
PG Jason Kidd Jose Juan Barea
SG Jason Terry Matt Carroll
SF Josh Howard Shawn Marion
PF Dirk Nowitzki Drew Gooden
C Erick Dampier Kris Humphries
[as reported in Yahoo Sports]

Most teams would salivate at the likes of that type of depth. Not the Mavericks, they still feel they need a shooting guard to really make the team go. These guys never quit, on the court or in the front office.

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Maverick fans have to be drooling. Mark Cuban has let it be known that he would pick up the two worst contracts on the Hornets in order to get Chris Paul.

It makes the mind swirl to think of the Dallas Mavericks picking up Chris Paul to play on the same team as Dirk Nowitzki. You would have a former MVP still playing at a very high level with a future MVP candidate adding some much needed full court speed.

Chris Paul defies the laws of gravity

Dirk is still one of the top mismatch players in the league, presenting an interesting combination of size and long distance shooting ability. If you added in Chris Paul, just think of the explosiveness on the Mavericks. Chris is a penetrating point guard and they rule the NBA right now.

So why would the Hornets let this deal happen?

In a word, contracts. They have way too many dollars tied up in longer contracts.

Who would the Hornets want to get rid of so badly that they’d be willing to part with Paul? Peja Stojakovic ($13.39 million next season and $14.26 in 2010-11) would definitely be part of the deal. Chandler ($12.3 next season and $13.2 in 2010-11) probably would be included, too. Morris Peterson (due a total of $12 million over the next two seasons) or James Posey ($19.5 million over three seasons) are other possibilities.

Stojakovic’s contract ranks among the worst in the league. He’s had a very good career, but he’s an oft-injured 40-percent jump shooter these days. But he is the starting small forward for a playoff team.

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Michael Curry will try to right the Piston ship

The NBA is proud to bring a brand new coach to your area. They did it for 8 teams.

Think about that. 8 new coaches.

Ever heard of a brand new coach immediately winning it all? It has probably happened, but not to my knowledge.

Usually you just fired the last coach because the team stunk so bad he could not make them win.

So this year we bring you the 8 trying to make the magic happen.

Michael Curry, Pistons

Curry, 40, was an assistant to last year’s coach, Flip Saunders, who was fired. From 2000 to 2004, Curry was president of the National Basketball Players Association. He’s also a former NBA vice president for basketball operations and played for six teams in an 11-year career.
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Michael is lucky. He inherits a veteran team with a real honest to god chance to win it all. The team knows him. The GM, Joe Dumars, knows him. Heck, the hotdog vendor in section 133 knows him. Michael Curry was a defensive minded team oriented over achiever as a player. He even used to plan out bike trips and movies for when the players were on the road.

But can he coach? Well, he can as an assistant, but can he as the head coach?

Vinny Del Negro, Bulls

Del Negro, who has no coaching experience at any level, follows interim coach Jim Boylan, who replaced Scott Skiles. Del Negro, 42, formerly was assistant general manager for the Phoenix Suns and played for five teams in a 12-year NBA career.

Scotty Skiles and Jim Boylan is a tough act to follow. Vinny has his hands full with that crew in Chicago. Skiles whipped and beat them to play defense and play as a team. Boylan found out they are lacking depth, size, speed, etc. Good Luck!

Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat

Club President Pat Riley named Spoelstra, a seven-year assistant, to succeed him. Spoelstra, 37, is the youngest coach in the league.

This guy just has the job on loan until Pat Riley sees a good enough team to take over. Sure doesn’t hurt to have Dwyane Wade and the Matrix auditioning for jobs.

Larry Brown, Charlotte Bobcats

Have witnessed Larry up front with my Pistons and he is an amazing coach and complicated man. He is always chasing after something that is missing in his life. Some think he is looking for his father that left him at young age, not literally, but figuratively.

Larry will put them in half court sets and make them play playoff style basketball. If teams listen, they win, but most young players do not want to play that way. Example: Chauncey Billups was close to a triple double one night and Larry pulled him and said “You don’t have a clue as to how to play point guard for me, do you?” Think about it.

Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks

This one will be fun to watch. The Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki were often shooting before crossing half court and now will be playing half court. Rick was the Piston coach before Larry and he alienated so many people that he had to be fired with a winning record. Chauncey Billups used to say they knew exactly what plays would be run in the last two minutes as Carlisle called all the plays. Rick also does not like to double on defense. Can Dirk defend?

Mike D’Antoni, New York Knicks

Mike has his hands full until the Knicks can clean house and find some D’antoni style players. He needs speed and outside shooting to go along with a pass first dribbling point guard, a la Steve Nash. Mike is a great coach and the players love his style. The ball gets shared and the pace is quick.

Can he play enough defense to win a title though?

Must be Michigan week in the NBA or something

Michael Curry, Detroit Pistons
Larry Brown, former Detroit Pistons coach
Rick Carlisle, former Detroit Pistons coach
Vinny Del Negro replaces Jim Boylan former assistant at Michigan State University
Before Jim Boylan was Scott Skiles former player at Michigan State University
Mike D’Antoni was brought in to replace Isiah Thomas former Detroit Piston
The D’Antoni wanted to trade Zach Randolph former player at Michigan State University
Terry Porter, former Detroit Pistons assistant coach
Scott Skiles, former player at Michigan State University
Scott will work for GM John Hammond and he worked under Joe Dumars of the Detroit Pistons.

Terry Porter, Phoenix Suns

A hustling guard as a player and an average coach at Milwaukee, Terry will have some talent to work with, but will drastically change the style for the Suns. Terry is a real believer in defense.

Scott Skiles, Milwaukee Bucks

Scott will have some hungry players in Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson. Maybe not enough talent to win, but that has never been an issue with Scott. He just wants you to bring the desire.

Photo source Newscom

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Steve Nash can play defense with his hands tied behind his back

Now that is something we are not used to, the Phoenix Suns adding defense to the lineup, but new coach Terry Porter wants more balance on the court.

Remember the legendary Suns vs. Mavericks games that included barrages of points from both sides? Steve Nash against Dirk Nowitzki. Well, forget that, it is not going to happen anymore. Rick Carlisle is running the Mavs and Terry Porter is running the Suns and both of them believe you need defense to win championships.

It is the end of an era in the West with maybe only Golden State hanging on to the all offense philosophy.

So what is Porter thinking?

“I don’t foresee scoring to be a problem going forward,” Porter said. “Are we going to be scoring 115 a night? Probably not. I’d like to be a team that defends a lot better. That’s going to be a focus of ours. And a team that scores in the 100s.

“I’m more of a traditional type of guy about guys playing the same positions and traditional sets. I’ll be running pretty basic NBA sets but just have different wrinkles than they’ve had in years past.”

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Hey, just trying to keep you informed.

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Dwight Howard is even helping other players dribble the ball

Medal play will now begin after the Redeem Team beat Germany handily 106 – 57.

Carmelo Anthony, always good for a quote, had this to say.

“It’s finally here,” forward Carmelo Anthony said. “We’re knocking on the door. It’s time to get down to business right now. We’ve got three games to accomplish what we’ve been waiting to do for four years.”

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The United States went off to a huge lead punctuated by a LeBron dunk to make the score 20 -3.

Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps made a huge impression on the Redeem Team.

After the game, the Americans celebrated in their locker room with Michael Phelps. He went 8-for-8 in Beijing, and that’s exactly what the U.S. is shooting for.

In a tribute to the record-setting swimmer, center Dwight Howard sported a pair of swim goggles at the postgame news conference, and he joked that he’s going to give the 100 meters a shot.

Dirk Nowitzki is not having a great Olympics so far and only had 14 points for Germany. By contrast, Dwight Howard had 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Be sure to check out all your Olympic news at NBCOlympics.com

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