So I'm watching this game while simultaneously watching my daughter. Don't worry, the knives are dull. I tested them out before I taught her to juggle. Duh! What kind of idiot do you take me for? Anyway, she's fine. My wife was going to a bachelorette party, and I wanted to earn some brownie points. Plus, I've also taught my daughter to "beer me". What?!? She doesn't open them! What kind of idiot do you take me for?
1. J.J. Barea - My favorite Puerto Rican Maverick went nuts tonight, starting in place of an injured Devin Harris so that Jason Terry could still come off the bench. 25 points on 9 of 11 shooting (perfect 4 of 4 from behind the arc), with 5 assists and only 4 turnovers from a second year, undrafted, undersized guard that really never played last year. You have to love this guy, unless you are my brandonmay.com contributor The Don, who hates all Puerto Ricans except Benicio Del Toro.
2. Josh Howard - Back in the saddle after being saddled with a 2 game suspension, playing against the same team he was playing when he got suspended. Talk about motivation. Howard (I refuse to call him J-Ho) collected 27 points on 10 of 17 shooting, and had 7 boards, 5 assists, 2 blocks and a steal.
3. King's Backcourt - Kevin Martin, Francisco Garcia and John Salmons combined for 78 points on 24 of 42 shooting, 27 of 27 from the charity stripe, 12 boards, 10 assists and 6 steals. Too bad for them that none of their other teammates topped 6 points in this game or this might have been a contest.
Random Crap!
- Dirk's Digits: Dirk blew up with 24 points on 9 of 11 shooting, with 4 boards, 7 assists and a block in only 30 minutes of a blowout.
- Mavs Bench: Jason Terry again outscored the opponent's bench, this time 16-14, and my favorite Maverick with the same first name as me, Brandon Bass, tossed in 11 points, 3 boards, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
- Howard's back in action, but Devin Harris is out, thanks to that thigh bruise compliments of a Josh Smith charge during the Atlanta game the night before. I guess I'll take it since the Kings are without Ron Artest and Mike Bibby.
- I wrote a little note on my notepad during the game about Brad Miller regarding his attitude and how it might be compensation for something small on his anatomy, but I probably shouldn't put it down on this post. Ooops! I've said too much!
- Since this was the first home game, Jerry Stackhouse came out to center court with a microphone, not to sing the national anthem as he has done before, but to address the crowd and welcome them to a new season. He said he had done this before so he didn't know what else to say. Then he said he asked Dirk what to say, and Dirk told him to tell the crowd that he would talk to them during the championship parade. The crowd went nuts, but it seemed a little hokey. Stack might as well have come out like an old rock band and just screamed, "Thank you, Dallas! We were playing the Atlanta concert last night, and they thought they knew how to rock. But I told them the only place to rock is DALLAS, TEXAS!!!!"
- Some dude is dressed up as a squirrel and wearing a throwback Rolando Blackman jersey. Halloween was 3 days ago, and Rolando doesn't look like a brown squirrel. I don't get it. I appreciate it, but I don't get it.
- I love how Avery Johnson just waves off the refs when he doesn't agree with them, kind of like my daughter does when she doesn't want that bite of broccoli. Or kind of like I do when I don't want that bite of broccoli. He kind of squishes up his little face and snaps his hand out like he's playing an imaginary Whack-a-Mole game without the paddle.
- Underrated part of Josh Howard's game: Following his own shot for a rebound and/or putback. Reason it's underrated: Because he only does it when he wants to. If he would commit to this more often, he could increase his scoring by 5 points a game, and his rebounding by 3 a game. I just made those numbers up, but I bet I'm right.
- I will admit that I was a little skeptical when we dumped D.J. Mbenga to sign Juwan Howard, but if the Mavs believe in this Brandon Bass kid as much as it seems like they do, then Juwan might just be the best teacher for him. They are about the same size and height, and Juwan has been around the block enough to have a few words of wisdom to give the kid. If that alone is the reason Juwan is here, then it's worth it . . . provided they are right about Bass.
- Here are your halftime stats for the Mavs in this glorious blowout: 68% shooting, 17 assists, 20 points off turnovers, 14 fast break points, and 73 points. 73! They wound up "cooling off" to 65.2% shooting at the end of the game, which was still an American Airlines Center record.
- Speaking of which, the Kings must be kicking themselves for shooting 57% in the first half and 50% for the whole game and still getting demolished like this. Isn't that like getting asked out by the hottest chick in school, and then finding out that your chaperone is her gun-toting Nazi father? Well, maybe not, but it's something in the same vicinity as that, kind of.
I have other notes, but none of them pertain right now because my daughter has graduated to juggling chainsaws. What?!? They're not plugged in! What kind of idiot do you take me for? I will just close out by saying that my Mavs bias allows me to say very grandiose things about anyone wearing the Mavs logo, but in this case I'm being sincere. Jason Terry is one of the good guys in this league. When you read about all the ass clowns that are in this league and you start to get down, look up Jason Terry. He's charitable, but not for show. He's giving, but not for reciprication. He just cares about other people, and he's an easy player to cheer for because of it. For all of you non-Mavs fans, just think about that next time he's draining 3's against your team. Go Mavs!