Peja ( A+ ) -- Could be absolutely no question at all about this one -- tonight Peja put aside the weenie shooter routine and gave a true superstar performance. Exploded out of the gate with what may have been one of the finer first quarters of his entire NBA career. Not just scoring, but *gasp* grabbing loose rebounds. Was slowed in the early second by foul trouble and fatigue, but returned after a spell on the bench to again dominate offensive action for us. Best half of the season that eventually turned into his best game of the season. Huge key for Peja was that not only was his shot ridiculously on tonight, but he got to the foul line in true superstar fashion -- 14-14. Career high? In the first half the Mavs did at least find a player -- Keith Van Horn -- who could score on Peja as often as Peja was scoring on the other end, but in the second half Peja kept on scoring while the Mavs kept on playing traditional Mavericks defense on him. And nether Van Horn nor any other Mav not named Dirk had any impact at all. Did not disappear in the 4th quarter (although he did make a dubious decision to chuck up a 30 footer with about a minute to go that was effectively a turnover). While he didn't grab many boards after the initial burst, came up with a big one to help seal it in the final seconds.
Thomas ( B ) -- got off to a rough start against Dirk, who wasn't scoring much but was drawing fouls on the Kings frontcourt. And on defense struggled against Dirk badly enough that we actually had to hide him away in the second half. Woke up in the second quarter and hit 3 straight jumpers, but then got HAMMERED by Dirk Nowitzki of all people on a breakaway. Went away for a long time after that, and basically took himself out of the game on a couple of not-smart fouls on Dirk in the mid-third (the first of which was called a flagrant, although really it wasn't). But stepped up and played well down the stretch -- again the key to his contribution was the 18ft standstill jumper, which he can hit all night. Tonight if he moved, he missed. But when given a little room and an opportunity to set his feet, he hit 5 or 6 of those little jumpers in a row. By the end, had worked himself into a solid game despite the defensive struggles, and may have matched Dirk offensively in the final quarter.
Skinner ( B- ) -- not as effective early as he has been in the past, but did contribute a big early block on the 7'6" Shawn Bradley. Went on to get his numbers in the game, but got them in pretty quiet fashion and was never a significant factor in this one.
Mobley ( B- ) -- played wingman to Peja in the first quarter, as two of our softer players not only scored but contributed in the hustle departments -- both on the glass, and in Mobley's case with steals and a block as well. Was quiet after he returned in the second, and never really did get his offense going. But thought he did a nice job in the other areas with hustle, some boardwork, blocks and steals, and in general a pretty complete floorgame.
Bibby ( C+ ) -- Hard game to grade simply because I didn't think he played very well, but he did direct an offense that scored 109pts (albeit largely due to Peja's hot shooting). Very quiet first half -- barely knew he was out there. Began to sputter to life in the third with a couple of three point hits mixed in with a variety of bricks, and gave us a few more points in the 4th. But in general it was a struggling 17pts tonight. On the other end of the court Jason Terry was just terrible. Would like to attribute that to Mike, but no, think he just stunk it up and Devin Harris proved to be a pain again off the bench.
Songaila ( B ) -- started out looking very much like a sore basketball player out there. Had an ineffective first half, and wasn't moving very smoothly. But came back in the second half to play an important role for us. Never much offensively, but grabbed some boards, and critically provided by far the best defense on Dirk tonight down the stretch of the game.
Williamson ( C- ) -- struggled on offense during the first half. Competed with Dirk on the other end of the floor, with decidedly mixed results. Enough of a struggle that Rick went away from him in the second half.
Evans ( C+ ) -- not terribly effective in his stints and not able to dominate action with his athleticism and energy. Really kind of placeholder minutes until Cat could return.
House ( B+ ) -- another very nice backup stint for Eddie in the first half...that somehow again failed to translate into any minutes in the second half.
Adelman ( B+ ) -- very encouraging game against a possible first round opponent, and actually the reason that the Mavs remain the team I would most like to see in the first round. The enemy we know and have always been able to beat. Important game as well, since every single one of our playoff positioning rivals also won tonight (Seattle, Houston, Memphis, Denver) -- well, every one except the Mavs of course.
The Mavs were really a one man team tonight (and so were we actually) -- Van Horn and Harris had stretches of effectiveness, but it was Dirk, Dirk, and more Dirk. And really the crux of the issue tonight for Rick was simply finding someone, anyone who could slow him down. It took 3 quarters, and about 4 different players, but Rick finally found an adequate solution with Darius in the 4th. Didn't lock him up, but made it hard on the big German, which was all that was needed with us scoring at will against the Mavs "defense". The bench was not used extensively again, but Darius was a key contributor late, and it was enough. And so a good win over a good opponent (still not going with the sudden elevation of the Mavs to "elite" status -- they are what they have always been). Now if we can just convince Peja to play like a superstar on a nightly basis, we're in good shape.
P.S. I do have to ask one question -- exactly how many layups did the Mavs blow tonight? Goodness. Looked like us out there.
