Dirk Nowitzki had a really bad shooting night. He went 7-24 from the field, but still managed to lead the Mavericks in scoring with 24 points. The two most important points he made came with six seconds left in the game, when Dallas was down one point to the New Jersey Nets. He hit one of his weirdly angled jumpers that bounced and rolled around the rim... and fell in. That shot would be the game-winner, giving the Mavericks win number 28 over the Nets, 87-86.
Just behind Dirk in scoring was Tyson Chandler, who tied his season-high with 19 points, but his missed free throw with under a minute to play could have really saved us all a lot of angst. Shawn Marion led the team in rebounds with 11, but no one could match the great Kris Humphries' 15 boards for the Nets. Sidenote, Jose Barea went 2-3 from three-point land. He finished with eight points, three assists... and three turnovers.
Jason Terry was the only other Maverick in double digits with 11 points. The team shot an abysmal 34.7% from the field against a team they should have beaten by double digits. The only truly impressive statistic was their free-throw shooting: Dallas went 27-29 from the line, which may have kept them in the game. They also managed 11 steals, with Chandler and Jason Kidd getting three each.
Let's not sugarcoat this victory. The Mavericks should have won by a lot more than they did, and they shot like poo. But a win is a win. Discuss.