Mavs Turn it On in Second Half - 96-86 Mavericks

There were a couple of trends that continued in tonight's game. First, the obvious one: the Raps got outrebounded. Big. Tonight was 47-37 in favour of Dallas. The other is not as obvious but has presented itself often in the recent string of games: the Raptors again coughed up a double-digit lead and were unable to mount their own rally. Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry poured in 27 apiece in busting the Raptors' defense down to size (in this case, our size is XXL), and Josh Howard added a solid 20.

Raptors recap

Player of the Game:
Jermaine O'Neal had a pretty nice game down low, going for 19 points on passable 7-15 from the field and perfect 5-5 from the line. He added 7 rebounds and an impressive 3 blocks, and was the best Raptor big man tonight by a long shot.

Notables:
Jose Calderon - 11 points (5-12 FG, 0-2 3FG, 1-1 FT), 10 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 turnovers. Jose had a beautiful game again, but his scoring efficiency, besides that perfect game, doesn't appear to be as deadly as before his injury.
Jamario Moon - 13 points (5-7 FG, 3-3 3FG), 9 rebounds, 2 assists, one block. Jamario was once again in the running for Player of the Game. He's been doing the little things right, playing good defense and not forcing his offense. That's all we can ask from him at this point; he'll really never carry this team.
Chris Bosh - 12 points (6-20 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-2 FT), 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals. Chris has had an off month in December, but when was the last time he had a legitimately bad game? No, it wasn't tonight as he contributed nicely all-around as usual... but 6-20 shooting? That's bad. He even missed a dunk. And let's face it, if we aren't all that successful when Bosh is putting up MVP numbers... well, you finish that sentence.

Full box score

Stat of the Game:
What were you expecting? Rebounding, people. We again got destroyed on the boards, 47-37. But hold on, maybe the problem isn't as bad as people think. The Raptors shot 42.9% (36-84) from the field, missing nine more shots than the Mavs (who shot 50%, 39-78). That means that all the Mavericks had to do to outrebound us by ten is grab all nine of those missed shots and beat us by one in offensive rebounding. Lo and behold, this game was practically even on the offensive side of things: the Mavs had 8 offensive boards to the Raptors' 7. So maybe it's not just that "this team can't rebound". Don't think I'm making excuses for this team, though - rebounding is crucial to this team's success - but it's pretty clear (at least in this game) that maybe shooting is more important than just raw rebound numbers.

A Guide to Reducing Your Opponents' Total Rebounds, by this humble blogger:
Step one: Put ball in hoop.
Repeat.

Next Game: Friday, December 19th, 8:00 PM at Oklahoma City Thunder

Mavs Pay Toronto a Visit

Tonight we have (another) critical game for the Raptors. Our Dinos currently sit at 10-14, and Dallas comes in at 13-10. The game tips at 7:00 PM and is on TSN2 (boooo!), the Fan590 and www.channelsurfing.net. The Raptors downward slide continutes, and if we can't pull out this game, it might be spiraling out of control.

NBA.com's preview

What to Watch For:
- The Raptors have been outrebounded in every game over the last 13. Not coincidentally, you may have noticed we are 2-7 in our last 9. Time to pick it up on the boards - we're looking at you, Chris Bosh and Jermaine O'Neal. We used their full names cause we're angry, like parents do. See how that works?
- This game's key matchup is Dirk Nowitzki and Bosh. Dirk is averaging 26.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, very similar to Bosh's 24.1 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Whichever of these players comes out with more intensity could very well win the game for his team.
- Jose Calderon and Jamario Moon have their work cut out for them in the defensive end today, as they'll be guarding Jason Terry and his 21 points and 4 assists, and Josh Howard and his always-solid 19 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists.


* We at Prehistoric Hoops apologize for the lack of a postgame recap for Monday's game against New Jersey. Both editors were in the home stretch of final exams, and unfortunately could not find the time to publish one. Thank you for your understanding, and happy holidays from PH!