DALLAS MAVERICKS
The Mavs continue to roll, either blitzing opponents or delivering the killer blow at the death. Either way, they just win.
Recap Rewind: The Mavericks blew by the Houston Rockets last Tuesday, a combined 58 points from Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard overcoming 45 points from Tracy McGrady... Thursday saw another home game for the Mavs, this time welcoming the LA Lakers to the American Airlines Center. Howard and Nowitzki did most of the damage again, scoring 29 and 27 points respectively, as the home team cruised to a 114-95 win... Dallas began a three-game East-coast spin on Sunday when the visited the Miami Heat for the first Finals rematch this season. The Mavs never trailed, winning 99-93 in the end.
Notable News: ESPN's Marc Stein is calling MVP a two-horse race between Nowitzki and the Suns' Steve Nash... Mavs' pivot Erick Dampier might end up in the All-Star Game, even ahead of Howard... Jerry Stackhouse isn't getting complacent with the Mavs' NBA-best 34-8 record, saying "It's great, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really mean anything. Last year, Detroit had the best record, and they weren't even in the Finals"... In fact, nobody in Dallas seems satisfied with their current record, as evidenced by a team meeting last Friday... Jason Terry has been setting up his teammates more often recently, dishing 8 assists against Houston, a team-season-high 13 against the Lakers, and 11 against the Heat. He's averaging 5.3 assists for the season.
Fast Forward: This week the Mavericks will finish up their current road trip with games against the Orlando Magic and Chicago Bulls. Saturday sees them return home to meet the Sacramento Kings.
HOUSTON ROCKETS
This time last week the Rockets had won nine of ten. Now they're on a three-game losing streak. Ouch.
Recap Rewind: Last Tuesday the Rockets arrived in Dallas, but couldn't leave with a win. As noted above, the duo of Josh Howard and Dirk Nowitzki killed the Rockets. Tracy McGrady dropped 45 points, but got littel help... The very next night, the Rockets returned home to host the Phoenix Suns, not a team you want to face on the second night of a back-to-back. Worse still, McGrady missed this one with that back playing up again. The result was an expected 100-91 victory for the Suns, despite the best efforts of Rafer Alston, who scored 29 and dished 8... McGrady would return for Saturday's home date with the Denver Nuggets. Seven players would score in double figures for the Rockets, but the end result was no better, as Allen Iverson led the Nuggets to the 121-113 win in overtime.
Notable News: Those three losses leave the Rockets with a 25-16 record, good enough for the sixth seed in the West, and not far behind the LA Lakers (26-15) and the Utah Jazz (27-14)... Dikembe Mutombo continues to be a warrior on the boards, but he's feeling sensitive about his age... Seldom used Greek guard Vassilis Spanoulis has been venting about his lack of playing time... Despite the recent losing streak, the Rockets are 9-5 without the injured Yao Ming. Ming is still projected to return some time after the All-Star break... Kirk Snyder and Bonzi Wells continue to fight for more playing time after both missing plenty of games due to injury. Snyder is only getting garbage minutes right now, while Bonzi played 17 minutes in each of the past two games, scoring 12 points against Denver.
Fast Forward: The Rockets won't be back in action until Wednesday, when they tangle with the Spurs in San Antonio, not exactly their ideal opponent right now. The only other game for the Rocks this week will be against the visiting Portland Trailblazers on Friday.
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
Pretty much the same old story for the Grizzlies, who sputtered to a 1-2 week.
Recap Rewind: As previously mentioned here, the Grizzlies have tried playing a more up-tempo style since Tony Barone took the coaching reigns. The Phoenix Suns showed them how it should be done last Monday, as they sprinted their way to a 137-122 drubbing of the Grizzlies. Mike Miller paced the Griz in that one, scoring 25 points... Miller was again the top-scorer for Memphis on Wednesday against the visiting Philadelphia 76ers, when he scored 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting. Six other players also scored in double-figures for the Griz, as they managed a 118-102 win over their lowly opponent... Saturday saw a better opponent in the L.A. Clippers, and a more familiar result for Memphis, as the lost 112-91 on the road. Pau Gasol went off for 27 points in that one.
Notable News: Even with the win over the Sixers, Memphis still own the NBA's worst record at 10-31... Coach Barone had some harsh words for his team after the loss in L.A., even calling their play "selfish"... Stromile Swift continues to be hampered by back spasms, and there's no timetable for his return... Damon Stoudamire has been struggling to score lately, scoring two points or less in four of the past five games... Rookie Rudy Gay has put together a pair of solid outings, scoring 23 against Philly and 17 against the Clippers last week... Team president Jerry West may have already found the Grizzlies' next head coach.
Fast Forward: No such thing as an easy week for Memphis. They continue their road trip with stops in Denver (Monday), Utah (Wednesday) and San Antonio (Friday), then it's right back home on Saturday to face the Blazers.