Video Quoteboard: Dallas Mavericks surge back against Charlotte Bobcats

Game Notes

• Dirk's first half: 1-for-10. Dirk's second half: 9-for-11.
• He finished with 25 in the second half, the 80th time he's scored 20+ in the second half. And with 35 minutes, he needs just three more to pass Patrick Ewing for 25th on the NBA's all-time minutes list.
• Monta's 22 points was his 13th 20-point game of the season. His 10 points in the fourth quarter, Dirk's 14 and Vince Carter's five combined for all of the fourth quarter points. #Montadirk scored the final 19 points.
• A 13-3 run, starting at the 5-minute mark in the final quarter, turned a 75-72 Charlotte lead into an 85-78 Dallas advantage.
• The Bobcats managed only three field goals (15 attempts) in the first quarter. It was the first time since 2/7/07 against the Lakers that the Mavericks defense managed that feat in any quarter.
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist left the game with a fractured left hand suffered in the third quarter, which is sad for NBA basketball. He joins Anthony Davis and Paul Pierce (and kind of J.J. Redick, although as Mark Stein pointed out to me, his injury is more significant) in the ranks of NBA players to suffer fractured hands in the past week.
• Per Bryan Gutierrez, it was only the third time in Jose Calderon's career that he played 30+ minutes and recorded one assist.
• Pre-game, we learned Devin Harris went through practice on Monday and is still aiming for a December return, hopefully "before Christmas."
• Dallas flies out at 11:15 tomorrow morning for the second game in two nights against New Orleans. It's the start of a four-game road trip.

Big 3: Quotes of the Night

Jose Calderon on the big picture of things: I know we lost some games that we should win, but we got to keep working. We know how to do it. We know what we have to do to be better.

Jose Calderon on Dirk's turnaround: He can do it. He can do anything. He doesn't surprise me anymore. He can go 1-for-10, 1-for-12, we'll still be getting him those shots to shoot.

Rick Carlisle on Monta making that baseline fadeaway in the fourth: Monta's shot on the baseline was the biggest shot of the game. Shot clock running down, tie game, or whatever it was, that really was the momentum changer right there.

Rick Carlisle

On #Montadirk in the final quarter

Those guys did a great job scoring the ball down the stretch and we were getting really good stops. Our first and fourth quarters were very solid; our second and third quarters were very poor. We're lucky to survive it, but it's the kind of game we totally expected it to be, so there's no surprise.

On Monta's baseline shot in the fourth quarter

Monta's shot on the baseline was the biggest shot of the game. Shot clock running down, tie game, or whatever it was, that really was the momentum changer right there. Then the crowd really got into it and made it really hard on them.

Dirk Nowitzki

On being able to correct his first half shooting woes

I don't know if I was bending my knees enough in the first half. I thought I had some good looks but something was a little off. I was getting the ball up enough and so at halftime I went out a little early and focused myself to really bend the knees and get a little life on the jumper and that got my legs going. It was a great comeback there and it was a fun atmosphere. We were scrambling defensively and finally got some stops, but give them credit. They are a scrappy team. They've been in a lot of ball games and they really made us work for it.

On the comeback

Well, we talked about it a little bit during timeouts that we needed to get things going. This was a big game for us with us about to hit the road for a lot of though games. This game tonight was definitely one we wanted to have and not travel and sit on this loss. We really focused and came out there pretty good in the third quarter and Monta took us home down the stretch with the pick and rolls.

On the impact of Jose Calderon's presence

His veteran leadership, he's one of the lowest turnover point guards in the league and he puts us in the right sets offensively. And then on the weak side he's on of the best shoooters and his presence means a lot to us out there. He was great again tonight and he grinded out and we needed him tonight.

Jose Calderon

On how it felt coming back

I know it's going to be a while until that thing [heals] up. I was able to help so I'm happy, we needed this win. It was really important for us after what happened the last couple of games and we fought for 48. It was great.

On helping out in the first half with Dirk slumping

You know, I was hitting threes...I couldn't hit a two today. I don't know if it was the ankle, or what it was. It was great that even if Dirk goes 1-for-10 or Monta, you know they're going to come back at some point and get hot. They're going to make big shots for us and that's what they did. The three in a row by Dirk was amazing.

On the big picture

I know we lost some games that we should win, but we got to keep working. We know how to do it. We know what we have to do to be better.

On Dirk's instant turnaround

He can do it. He can do anything. He doesn't surprise me anymore. He can go 1-for-10, 1-for-12, we'll still be getting him those shots to shoot.

Monta Ellis

On #Montadirk down the stretch

That's the game was flowing. We were just reading one another. Dirk did a great job keeping us close, then he got us ahead. We ran the two man game and just went with what the defense was doing.

On his baseline jumper that Carlisle called the biggest shot of the game

I don't know if it was big, but it was a shot that was needed, then we came back down on the defensive end and got two or three consecutive stops. Came back out and, like I said, we made shots.

On turning it on in the fourth quarter

We were reading the defense. I need I had to continue to be aggressive. It's all Dirk, coach, my teammates, Mark, all they kept telling me was attack, attack.

On Jose's return to the lineup

He did a great job. He made his shots when he needed to, he made the passes and he got a couple of defensive stops in the end.

Bobcats head coach Steve Clifford

On whether the Bobcats can win games relying on their defense

If we don't turn it over and we rebound well enough, I think we can. We're not going to make a lot of threes. We don't have it in our lineup. It's just not the way we are built. So we have to be low turnover and really good on the defensive end. We have to get to the free throw line and when we get there we have got to make them.

Bobcats guard Kemba Walker

They made shots and we didn't. Dirk got hot and we kind of just got cold. So it wasn't a good mix-up.