Always good to have a game where Dirk and Josh Howard can sit out the entire fourth quarter, and kudos to Avery for taking advantage of the opportunity.
It's hard to take too much away from a game like that, but Diop looked good last night. His 26 minutes was more time than he had seen in the last five games combined.
"He has to make his presence felt, especially with blocking shots," Johnson said. "We can't afford to have teams come down the middle on us, especially with him in the game. He has to really contest the shot and rebound for us. That's his primary job."
-------------------Jerry Stackhouse looked good in his return, but unfortunately he was only able to play the first half. It sounds like he could miss a few more games.
After the game Johnson declared him fine, but Stackhouse said he tweaked the hamstring in the first quarter.
"I don't think it's as ready as it needs to be," Stackhouse said. "It's disappointing to me. I want to be able to play all out and not coast through games. That's not my style."
---------------------"I don't think it's as ready as it needs to be," Stackhouse said. "It's disappointing to me. I want to be able to play all out and not coast through games. That's not my style."
JJT has some article about the Mavs being underdogs to win it all and how he thinks that's a good thing.
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Down in the D-League: All-Star Nick Fazekas had 27 points and 16 rebounds last night. He was 8-13 from the field and made all 11 free throw attempts.