Eddie Sefko tells the story of the game in one sentence.
The Sixers were buried in no time as the Mavericks pulled away in the first half, weathered the inevitable mild rally, then took off with a 106-89 victory at Wachovia Center.
Of course, this trend of blowing huge leads then waking back up annoys Avery Johnson.
"We really got off to a good start," said coach Avery Johnson, as his team ran out to a 63-39 lead at the half. "The second half, we just kind of went to sleep."
"We've got so much stuff to work on," Johnson said. "Stay interested?
"We're always in the lab, buddy. There are always little things within the game that we're working on, because we're trying to get to the next level."
---------------------"We've got so much stuff to work on," Johnson said. "Stay interested?
"We're always in the lab, buddy. There are always little things within the game that we're working on, because we're trying to get to the next level."
On the John Amaechi newsfront, Mark Cuban says that the first active NBA player to come out would become a rich man and that the NBA should reconsider its infectious disease policy that came into place after Magic Johnson announced he was HIV positive.
"There was still a lot of ignorance in the NBA at that point," Cuban said. "Can you imagine if they had infection control in the NFL? There's no infection control in the NFL, and they're bleeding all over each other like stuffed pigs. And there's guys who have come out and said they were gay bleeding all over each other and nobody got sick.
"I'll defer to the chancellor of David Stern University for his ruling. But is there a medical reason anymore for infection control to stop the game and clean up the jersey or tape it over? If it's really not homophobic, don't we have to get rid of it?"
"Look, if there's a medical reason for doing what we do, fine," he said. "Keep on doing it. But my anecdotal exploration of the issue says, from the outside, if it's not an issue in football or hockey, I have a hard time seeing it be an issue in basketball."
---------------------"I'll defer to the chancellor of David Stern University for his ruling. But is there a medical reason anymore for infection control to stop the game and clean up the jersey or tape it over? If it's really not homophobic, don't we have to get rid of it?"
"Look, if there's a medical reason for doing what we do, fine," he said. "Keep on doing it. But my anecdotal exploration of the issue says, from the outside, if it's not an issue in football or hockey, I have a hard time seeing it be an issue in basketball."
Down in the D-League: Maurice Ager let loose on offense for the first time in his second trip down. He led the team in scoring with 24 (9-18 from the field, 3-7 from three). He also had four rebounds, four assists, and six turnovers.
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Around the NBA: San Antonio fell nine games back of Dallas after losing to Miami.
No Nash, no win for Phoenix. There's a note at the side of that article about Phoenix without Nash.
The Suns have lost their last two games, both without Steve Nash, by a combined margin of 22 points. With Nash on the floor this season, Phoenix has outscored its opponents by 456 points. But with Nash on the bench, the Suns have allowed 54 more points than they've scored.
With Dirk on the floor Dallas has outscored their opponents by 423 points. But with Dirk on the bench, the Mavs have allowed 58 points more than they've scored.Paul Peirce returned for the Celtics, but it didn't matter. They lost their 18th in a row.