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.”
source

Dallas plans to be careful with Josh’s ankle and he may miss a few of the upcoming games if it remains tender.

Image: Zuma Press

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Post from: NBA Obsessed

Josh Howard, here are some things you can do.

You can disagree on the Iraq war or whether we should even be there.

You can disagree on how much racism is still in the United States.

You can disagree on anything the President says or does.

In America, you can do any of these things and nobody comes to your house and takes you away. Why? Because it is the land of the free and the brave. We have a constitution that endows us with certain rights and protections. We have a system of government and economy that allows have not’s opportunities that they would never see anywhere else in the world.

Is America perfect? No.

But please don’t act like you are bigger than America. Not during this period of history where maybe everything we stand for is being challenged. Especially when you are a pampered multi millionaire basketball player.

This is the same guy that admitted to smoking weed, got caught drag racing his car, and now disrespects the National Anthem.

The Mavs have been quietly shopping him to no avail.

We don’t know Josh. Maybe he is a great kid that did not think before opening his mouth. If so, maybe a little public relations apology is needed.

Here is the YouTube of Josh Howard disrespecting the National Anthem.

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Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks or soon the Memphis Grizzlies?

In a surprise move, one of the only teams left with money, the Memphis Grizzlies, have signed Josh Smith to an offer sheet of 58 million dollars for 5 years.

Hawks management had said they would match any offer. They have seven short days to do it.

Josh Smith averaged over 17 points and 8 rebounds last year and is a key part of the playoff Atlanta Hawks team.

Atlanta recently lost 6th man Josh Howard to Greece.

Before losing Josh Howard the Hawks led the league in Josh’s with Josh Childress also on the team.

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Post from: NBA Obsessed

By Guest Blogger, Kori Ellis

In NBA action on Thursday night, there were only two games on tap.

In a match-up of two of the league’s best teams, the San Antonio Spurs took on the Mavericks in Dallas.

The Mavs got up quickly on the Spurs and never really looked back. San Antonio tried to close the gap with several surges, but could never get the lead down to single digits.

Dallas was led a balanced scoring attack of Josh Howard (23), Devin Harris (18), Jason Terry (18) and Dirk Nowitzki (17).

The loss was the Spurs second of the season. Manu Ginobili filled the stat sheet for San Antonio with 25 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Tim Duncan had 24 points for the Spurs, while Tony Parker struggled. Parker hit only 1-of-11 from the field on the night, finishing with seven points and eight assists. Heading into the game, he was averaging 20 points a night.

The Mavericks have now beaten the Spurs in 9 of their last 13 meetings, counting both the regular season and the playoffs.

In the other game on the schedule, the Phoenix Suns defeated the Chicago Bulls, 112-102. Leandro Barbosa led the Suns with 25 points off the bench, while Grant Hill had 24 and Shawn Marion chipped in 21. Steve Nash finished the night with only 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting, but dished 15 assists.

The Bulls record is now 1-6 as they sit in the cellar in the Central Division.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Dallas Mavericks will win the NBA Championship, according to SI.com writer Ian Thomsen. The runner up will be the Detroit Pistons.
The stars will be Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard for the Rockets.

Editor Note: Mark Cuban finally dances with the stars to the title!

Let’s look at the other writer’s choices:

Marty Burns: NBA Champion – San Antonio Spurs
Runner Up – Detroit Pistons

Editor Note: David Stern will not be happy with the low TV ratings. Maybe Rasheed can create some controversy.

Chris Mannix: NBA Champion – San Antonio Spurs
Runner Up – Boston Celtics
Chris has Tony Parker playing to the level of Jason Kidd and Steve Nash.

Editor Note: Parker? Come on, maybe playing with female fans heads everywhere. Tony is a great complement to The Big Fundamental, but he is no Kidd or Nash.

Jack McCallum: NBA Champion – Dallas Mavericks
Runner Up – Boston Celtics
Jack has the Mav’s highly motivated after last year’s disappointment in the first round.

Editor Note: Again we have Cuban dancing. They must have started playing defense or something. It would be great to see Garnett in the finals.

Steve Aschburner: NBA Champion – Phoenix Suns
Runner Up – Cleveland Cavaliers
Steve has the Mavs and Spurs beat each other up before facing Phoenix.

Editor Note: Ok, the Suns, but the Cavs coming back with the poor off season they had? If so, give LeBron another 80 million in endorsements. Hmm, LeBron and Nash, David Stern is licking his chops.

Paul Forrester: NBA Champion – Dallas Mavericks
Runner Up – Chicago Bulls.
Paul has the Bulls possibly picking up Kobe.

Editor Note: The Bulls are not ready.

NBA Obsessed pick: NBA Champion – Phoenix Suns
Runner Up – Detroit Pistons
Your Hit and Run author is tired of the Spurs and my poor Pistons will be the bridesmaid.

Big question: Where are Shaq and the Heat?

See some of SI.com’s other picks here.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Who are you picking and why?

Visit my companion blog on the NFL at Squibkick.com

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Post from: NBA Obsessed