Source: http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/
*********************************************************************
Downhill: Dallas Mavericks take big spill in 115-87 loss to Utah
10:43 AM CST on Friday, February 6, 2009 / By EDDIE SEFKO /
The Dallas Morning News
*********************************************************************
SALT LAKE CITY - Things just seem to go badly when the Mavericks visit Utah.
On Thursday, Jason Kidd bruised a thumb in the layup line before the game.
And that wasn't the worst of it.
The Mavericks were playing at Utah's EnergySolutions Arena for the second
time this season, again as the second game of a back-to-back situation
following a contest against Portland.
Both times, the Mavericks' legs were all lead and their shots were all iron.
The Jazz buried the visitors in the second and third quarters, running away
for a 115-87 demolition of the four-game winning streak the Mavericks brought
to Utah.
The Mavericks were slow. Utah pounced and stayed aggressive. And the result
was a predictable embarrassment.
"You put yourself at a disadvantage coming here on a back-to-back both
times," said Jason Terry. "You tell me the percentages of you winning. Blame
it on whatever, they kicked our butt tonight. But, at the same time, you got
to put yourself in a position to be successful and coming in here on the
second night of a back-to-back is tough. It's like spotting them 10 points."
OK, so the Mavericks still lost by 18 instead of 28.
This one had all the earmarks of a tough evening from the start. Actually,
before the start.
Kidd caught a pass from a ball boy awkwardly with his left thumb and the nail
started bleeding. It was sore the whole night.
"Not the way you want to start a game," Kidd said.
The Mavericks then missed 14 of their first 18 shots, hit just 28 percent in
the first quarter and watched their deficit grow all night long.
Even with the Jazz missing Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko and C.J. Miles -
three of their starters - the Mavericks couldn't catch up once the deficit
reached double figures.
That's because the Jazz had Deron Williams, and that was enough. The Colony
product finished with 34 points and 12 assists, guiding the Jazz to what
turned out to be an easy win, even if the Mavericks put up what fight they
could in the early going.
"It was a butt-whipping," coach Rick Carlisle said. "I'm not going to make
any excuses. They played great, and we just did not."
Carlisle pointed to the rebounding as a big problem. The Jazz won the boards
54-32.
On the bright side, at least the Mavericks don't have to come back to Utah
this season, barring that unlikely playoff matchup between the teams.
And if you're looking for more silver linings, Dirk Nowitzki got through a
whole game at Utah without getting ejected or having the threat of a
suspension for the next game hanging over his head.
"We don't have to come back here," he said. "The good thing is nobody got
ejected. Nobody's going to be fined. I guess that's the only positive from
this game."
Like Terry, Nowitzki didn't like the fact that the playing field wasn't
particularly level on the Mavericks' two visits here. The first time, they
played Christmas night in Portland, then traveled to Salt Lake City.
On Wednesday, they won a tough game against the Blazers in Dallas, then
jetted out to Utah.
"Yeah, it sucks a little bit," Nowitzki said. "But that's the league. Every
team has to fight through back-to-backs. But they looked way more aggressive.
"Maybe we were a little tired. There wasn't a lot of body movement or ball
movement." And he wasn't just talking about himself. All of the Mavericks did
a lot of standing around, and not enough of them did any passing to
teammates.
In the truest terms, this was a game in which none of the Mavericks could
claim a good day at the office.
*********************************************************************
--
Only the strong survive- Iverson ⊕ ═█┘
⊕ ●╱ Ｗ
● ●︵ ● ●)) ３╯
<３\ /３⊕ ／３﹚ ３ \\
/>⊕ >/ ⊕ ╲> >>
========= http://www.wretch.cc/blog/AWEI3 =========
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 58.114.81.64