Game 28 December 25, 2008: Mavs @ Blazers

[blocks]

The good news is we are 1.5 games out from 2nd in the west.
The bad news is we are 1 game from the lotto and if we lose to Utah, we will be stradling the 8th seed.

We need to bring it tomorrow.

Wow...That's crazy! The difference between the 2nd seed and the 9 spot is 2.5 games.

[cavsfan_osiris]

That was a great win for Dallas, however...

I'm confused as to what's going on with Josh Howard. This guy quit on his team tonight when they needed him the most. I know it was a holiday, but that's not acceptable. A few years ago he's the last guy I would have pegged to have done something like this.

Has he slowly made a transformation after getting his money? I ask this question based on the lackluster play and declining stats. He used to be one of my favorites in the NBA. Now I'm not even sure if I want to root for him anymore.

I hope he hasn't forgotten where he came from and how he made a name for himself in the NBA. As a fan I'm extremely disappointed in him

[italy_23]

^you're not alone
I think howard is indeed close to one of the dumbest players in the L, like some dude said here. it's sad, cause we would have a hell of a team if howard just played like he used to 2-3 seasons ago; going strong to the hole and playin tough defense. no jumpshooting, just attacking the rim.

[JES12]

^you're not alone
I think howard is indeed close to one of the dumbest players in the L, like some dude said here. it's sad, cause we would have a hell of a team if howard just played like he used to 2-3 seasons ago; going strong to the hole and playin tough defense. no jumpshooting, just attacking the rim.

Rick....you got a new goal!

[ppp000]

That was a great win for Dallas, however...

I'm confused as to what's going on with Josh Howard. This guy quit on his team tonight when they needed him the most. I know it was a holiday, but that's not acceptable. A few years ago he's the last guy I would have pegged to have done something like this.

Has he slowly made a transformation after getting his money? I ask this question based on the lackluster play and declining stats. He used to be one of my favorites in the NBA. Now I'm not even sure if I want to root for him anymore.

I hope he hasn't forgotten where he came from and how he made a name for himself in the NBA. As a fan I'm extremely disappointed in him

JHo quit on the team long before tonight. See last year's playoffs when he was just horrendous, actually mid last season he had some family deaths and then the Devin trade.

Anyways, he stopped being a hustle-slasher guy a while ago. Nowadays, he's really a headcase. Not to mention a ballstopper, low IQ, and still disappears after halftime.

Which is sad, b/c if his head was on right, he was really a complete player.

[Dirk]

This was a great win. With the same atitude and toughness against the Jazz, we have a very good shot at beating them, something that didn't seem very likely not too long ago.

[cmavswin]

Good win for the Mavs last night a win on the road is always a good win.

The Good
Kidd 6-12-10
Singleton continues to contribute
The Mavs shot almost 49% from the field
Barea 8 rebounds
Mavs winning the 4th quarter after losing the 3rd.

The Bad
Barea 8 points on 13 shots
Portland going to the line twice as much as Dallas
Josh getting 2 T's even though he was having a good shooting night.

[studcrackers]

anyone else not really that pissed at howard getting thrown out? maybe he got thrown out for different reasons then im thinking but i was glad rick/dirk/jho got T'ed up b/c we were getting absolutely screwed that quarter just getting called for ticky tack bullsh*t. it may have lit a fire under us, of course it may have sealed howards fate. i was just annoyed the refs completely changed how they called the game from the 1st to 2nd half

[JES12]

anyone else not really that pissed at howard getting thrown out? maybe he got thrown out for different reasons then im thinking but i was glad rick/dirk/jho got T'ed up b/c we were getting absolutely screwed that quarter just getting called for ticky tack bullsh*t. it may have lit a fire under us, of course it may have sealed howards fate. i was just annoyed the refs completely changed how they called the game from the 1st to 2nd half

I agree with most of what you said. But what do you mean "of course it may have sealed howards fate"

Rasheed Wallace, Kevin Garnett, Stephen Jackson, Kobe Bryant

What do they all have in common? They were the emotional heart that their team thrived off of and all have a ring. Now, Garnett and Bryant are smarter, but all of them pull some bull **** stuff during the game and their team thives off of it. Howard did that last night for us.

[ppp000]

There's a difference between intensity and idiocy.

If anyone is the heart of the team, it's Terry. JHo shows no emotion out there except for boneheaded-ness.

I didn't care that he got tossed, but it just showed how stupid it was. You made your point with your first Tech, plus that was a blatant foul on Pryzbilla (he practically shoved him to the floor). Dirk is out in foul trouble, time for you to step up since it's a close game.

But it just showed once again that the team does fine without him. None of his teammates even bothered to go over to him or defend him. Honestly, they looked like they didn't care either.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Came to the Dallas board to find out why Dirk got suspended and thought I'd check out this game thread since it was only 4 pages long. That initial post is the single greatest game thread I have ever seen. Fantastic job. Sucks the Blazers lost, but the win was well deserved for all the work that went into making this thread. Nice work!