Mavs Moneyball - Gameday: Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trail BlazersRick Carlisle approved.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50869/mmb-fav.png2015-04-16T00:38:11-05:00http://www.mavsmoneyball.com/rss/stream/81786122015-04-16T00:38:11-05:002015-04-16T00:38:11-05:00Everything the Mavs said about the Rockets series
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<figcaption>Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Dallas talked about their opening playoff series after the last game of the regular season.</p> <p><b>Here's what everyone had to say about the first round series against the <a href="https://www.thedreamshake.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Rockets</a></b></p>
<p>Carlisle, on what the Mavs can take away from their season series against the Rockets: "We'll look at everything. I'm sure they'll look at everything too. It's going to come down to execution. It's going to come down to managing the stakes. The 3-point shot is going to be a big element of the series. Rebounding will be huge. It's a tough series but we're looking forward to it."</p>
<p>Dirk, on what he learned from those four games: "They like to go small, they're extremely quick. They got a lineup out there with Ariza and Smith with a lot of length on the wing, [they] switch a lot. Harden's been incredible all year long, making big plays, making the other guys better, driving, getting to the line, getting the other guys the ball, making big shots. You know, all four games were fun games to be a part of. All of them were pretty close. The one we won here we were up big and made it close in the fourth. The other three were really close games. They won three of them out of the four. They're a really good team and we've got our hands full."</p>
<p>Tyson on the series: "The Rockets are going to be a great challenge, they're a good team. We had a tough schedule against them this year. They've got some great players. I think <span>James Harden</span> is either MVP or runner up. They've got great balance, <span>Trevor Ariza</span>, having Dwight back."</p>
<p>Carlisle, on confidence in team going forward: "I've got great confidence in our team going forward. The fact that the period since the All Star break has been difficult, it's something that helps us. Even though we haven't played our best all the time, we've had quality opponents for 20-something games now since the break. We've had to earn every win and I think it's a situation where that kind of a stretch has to bring you closer together as a team. That's where we are and we'll get ready for Game 1 and we'll go down there with guns blazing."</p>
<p>Dirk, on facing Rockets in playoffs for first time since 2005: "It's more of a rivalry since Cuban and what's-his-face went back and forth a little bit, Morey. When you only play a team once in 10 years you can't really speak of a rivalry. I mean, both teams are in Texas. Both teams want to win in the first round."</p>
<p>Carlisle, on Dwight Howard's impact: "You've got a guy who's a massive difference maker at the rim, both ends of the floor. We know his game, we know his greatness. Two summers ago, we backed up the truck to try to get him here. We've got great respect for him. If Harden's no the MVP, he'll be one of the best years ever had and not being an MVP. He's had that kind of impact on that team and the league this year. Lot of tough things to deal with when we get to this part of the season and going into the playoffs."</p>
<p>Carlisle, on all the storylines: "I don't think you're going to hear Mark [Cuban] say anything during this series. This is not a series about <span>Chandler Parsons</span> going back to Houston. This is a series about the <a href="https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Dallas Mavericks</a> playing the Rockets. That's how we view it."</p>
<p>Dirk on whether he looks at all the storylines: "I don't, but that's what the media talks about. It's a fun little side notes I guess, which players don't really care much about, [we just care] about what team comes out in the end. Obviously they have home court advantage. We'd love to go down and steal one, steal the first one. It's a tough environment. They really spread the floor as well as any team in the league. They shoot a lot of 3s. They got a lot of 3-point shooters. And Harden attacking off the dribble, they're tough to guard down there."</p>
<p>Tyson: "I think it's going to be a good one. You've got two Texas teams going at it. You've got Chandler going against his former team, Trevor Ariza the new addition there, Dwight coming back, James Harden with the year he's having. It has a lot built up. I think it's going to be a good series."</p>
<p>Tyson, on how he just forgot JET in that quote above: "My boy JET. Exactly. His name is on a banner there. JET coming back in this building when they come back has a lot of emotions built into it. <span>Corey Brewer</span> as well."</p>
<p>Carlisle on Harden's foul shooting: "I don't remember all the details from all the games off the top of my head. He may be the best player in history at creating situations where you foul him. He's the best I've ever seen because he creates so much vertical force going to the hoop. He has such a great knack of creating contact. For those reasons, he's very hard to defend. That will be a major challenge in this series."</p>
<p>Carlisle on Parsons going back: "It's not a Parsons series. It's a Mavericks-Rockets series."</p>
<p>Dirk on advice to give Parsons, since he'll be public enemy number one: "He got the first game out of the way, that's the tough one. He played pretty good as far as I remember in the second one. Made a lot of shots, played pretty good. If he's playing, we'll have to see how his knee reacts the next couple of days, but we'd love to have him out there, we'd love to have him healthy and Devin [Harris] back. If we want to win this series we need the full troops."</p>
<p>Tyson, same question: "It's not about him, it's about the team. You can't get caught up in the individual matchups at any time. It has to be about the team. Just stay focused on that and how you can help your team."</p>
<p>Carlisle on all the emotion and storylines: "That's a lot of external noise. We've got to make sure we ignore what's not important. What's important is our group, how tight together we are and how strong our will is. That's going to be the bottom line in this series."</p>
<p>Dirk on what's going through JET's mind: "He's a big game player. He loves challenges. He loves to compete even at 41. He still goes out there and make big shots."</p>
<p>Tyson: "I give JET no advice. He's in a different jersey. Still love him, though."</p>
<h4>Chandler Parsons' injured knee</h4>
<p>Carlisle: "Parsons is going through a critical period right now through his rehab. He's doing well, he's making progress. The next 48 hours are really key. We need to have him continue trending the right way to make sure we get him involved in this series."</p>
<h4>Everything else</h4>
<p><span>Rick Carlisle</span> on the Southwest Division: "It's the toughest division in all of sports. It has been the last few years. I don't see it getting any easier, but the good thing is that it makes you tougher and it makes you better. When you go through tough periods there is never an easy one waiting around the corner. It's always hard, but that's alright -- if it isn't rough, then it isn't right. That's how it is in the Western Conference."</p>
<p>Tyson on the locker room: "There's a lot of guys who came here with the ultimate goal of winning a championship. I know STAT had a couple teams he could have gone to, and we had several conversations before he came here. I told him, 'You'll have a shot here. It's a great locker room. Great organization. They're going to hold guys accountable and keep guys locked in.' I thought Rondo's been playing incredible of late, Monta played great tonight, RJ has done a great job stepping in tonight. You never want to see a guy go down, hopefully Chandler is healthy and ready for the playoffs, but during that time Farouq was able to play a lot of minutes and so was RJ which is really going to help us along."</p>
<p>Carlisle on getting 50 wins: "We feel as though it is significant. We wanted to do it and 50 sounds better than 49. Really, year in and year out it sounds better, and it is. Not only because it's a higher number, it's a different set of 10, but it brings you above 60-percent winning percentage, which is pretty significant. But that is done. Now it's 0-0 for everybody and the first team to 16 wins. We have been watching this thing very closely. We have a lot of information on a lot of people, but it's going to be Houston and they are a great team that has had a great year. They have two of the greatest players in the game with Howard and Harden. They have a terrific supporting cast and they are well coached. We are going to have to play our butts off to beat them."</p>
<p>Dirk on 50: "That's always a nice accomplishment in a tough Western Conference with a lot of good teams. I thought overall it was a decent season. There was a little bit too much up and down, we had some injury problems we had to deal with. Overall, 50 wins is not bad at all in the Western Conference and now we're looking ahead to the playoffs."</p>
https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2015/4/16/8425987/nba-playoffs-2015-mavericks-rockets-interview-locker-room-reaction-playersTim Cato2015-04-15T21:34:48-05:002015-04-15T21:34:48-05:00Mavs cap off 50-win season with 114-98 win
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<figcaption>Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Dallas never trailed in meaningless but fun game to cap off an interesting regular season.</p> <p>FIFTY WINS Y'ALL. F-I-F (T-Y)</p>
<p>I know this game was largely meaningless, but it feels good to hit the 50-win mark again. Plus the basketball gods smiled upon MFFLs everywhere, as the <a href="https://www.thebirdwrites.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Pelicans</a> and <a href="https://www.thedreamshake.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Rockets</a> won in order to give Dallas a matchup with Houston in the playoffs rather than yet another soul-crushing series against the <a href="https://www.poundingtherock.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Spurs</a>.</p>
<p><span>The Mavs started off the game pretty strong. After a bit of back and forth, Dallas quickly built a double-digit lead, largely on the efforts of <span>Tyson Chandler</span>. Tyson finished the quarter with 11 points and 7 rebounds while really going to work on <span>LaMarcus Aldridge</span>. </span></p>
<p><span>Things kept humming along for much of the 2nd quarter. Charlie V came in and hit a couple of threes, drumming up some excitement before he should've headed back to the bench. Except he didn't. He stayed out there and played just awful defense, and before you knew it, the Blazers were back in it. Now it wouldn't be fair to blame it all on Charlie. But it's game 82, and I still want more <span>Dwight Powell</span>, so I'm gonna go ahead and be extra hard on Charlie.</span></p>
<p><span>But seriously, Dallas's defense really fell off late in the first half. <span>Steve Blake</span> was open from three seemingly the entire second quarter. It didn't help that Aldridge got hot. Fortunately, Dallas managed to tread water despite Portland's advances, and finished the half with a 56-51 lead. Portland actually had more rebounds and fewer turnovers, but Dallas shot 50% in the half.</span></p>
<p><span>Fortunately some excellent halftime entertainment got Dallas fired up. The Mavs started the half on a 15-0 run to take a 20-point lead. The offense was good. The defense was good. Dallas got steals, and fastbreaks, and pure awesomeness. Man it was fun. And Dallas really didn't let up all quarter. It was really the opposite of most Mavs third quarters. I loved it.</span></p>
<p>Dallas broke 100 points on an Amar'e putback with 7:13 left in the game. Felton, Barea, Sarge, Charlie V, and Dwight Powell finished off the game, and there still wasn't much drop off. The Mavs did a really great job of making you feel good heading into the playoffs, and they did it without <span>Chandler Parsons</span> and <span>Devin Harris</span>.</p>
<p>Mavs win 114-98. On to Houston.</p>
<p>Game Notes:</p>
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<li><span>Tyson Chandler is the <a href="https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Mavericks</a>' MVP this season. No one with a brain can argue this point. But he really showed it tonight. 22 points and 15 rebounds. 12-15 on free throws. Clutch. Can't wait to see playoff Tyson.</span></li>
<li><span>Monta and Dirk both look ready for the playoffs. Dirk had 16 in 27 minutes, and Monta had 15 in 28 minutes. While neither had eye-popping stat lines, both looked really comfortable tonight, and hit shots when they needed to.</span></li>
<li><span>Hopefully Chandler Parsons will be ready join Monta and Dirk to rain fire on Houston. Parsons was reportedly moving well before the game today, but sat out yet again (and looked sexy as hell while doing it, in case you were wondering). Parsons has quietly been Dallas's best offensive player the past month or so, and it will be a fantastic story if he can go off against his old team.</span></li>
<li><span>With Aminu, Amar'e, Jefferson, and hopefully Devin Harris, the Mavs' bench actually looks like it is in decent shape heading into the playoffs. I've given RJ a lot of crap this season, but he's been pretty solid while Parsons has been out. Tonight he was +25, if you're into that sort of thing.</span></li>
<li><span>Ray Felton has quietly made JJ Barea obsolete. He had 10 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds tonight (and did you guys SEE that buzzer beater to end the third quarter??). It'll be interesting to see how the backup guard rotation shakes out against Houston.</span></li>
<li><span>Speaking of guards, Rondo continued being quietly very solid tonight. 9 points, 7 assists, and 2 rebounds, plus some good defense on Damian Lillard. How will he handle <span>James Harden</span>?</span></li>
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<div>Everyone enjoy 50 wins, and prepare to hate on your friends from Houston even more in the coming weeks. The playoffs are here.</div>
https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2015/4/15/8424649/mavericks-vs-blazers-final-scoreBailey Grey2015-04-15T00:00:03-05:002015-04-15T00:00:03-05:00The last regular season game still has meaning
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<p><em>"We must go forward, not backward. Upward, not downward. And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom." - Kodos</em></p> <p><i></i>Well folks, we've reached the end of the regular season. And what a season it has been. This isn't the time or place to look back and reminisce about the season, though. No, we've still got one game left. Sure, the two teams are locked into their playoff seeds and the starters will likely not play but dammit, the 82nd game still means something. We need a sense of finality. Think about the universe for a second, won't you? It has no end. We all exist on a tiny speck of rock, orbiting a sun that will burn out in 10 billion years or so, in an infinite universe that will continue to exist long after we are gone. Mind esplode, right? That's why we need the 82nd game of an NBA season. We can grasp its finality. It's nice, neat, and tidy. Are you feeling better now? Good. Basketball makes us all feel better so let's talk about it. On with the last game preview of the regular season!</p>
<h4><b>Is Portland healthy?</b></h4>
<p>I'd imagine that the population of Portland is generally physically healthy. They are big on outdoor activities and like to ride bikes. But what about the Blazers? Their outlook isn't so great. The Blazers have been hit hard with injuries of late. <span>Wesley Matthews</span> suffered a torn Achilles last month and is out for the remainder of the season. <span>LaMarcus Aldridge</span> has missed the last two games with a foot injury and, at the time of this writing, is questionable to play Wednesday night. <span>Nicolas Batum</span> and <span>C.J. McCollum</span> both left Monday's game with injuries and are questionable. <span>Arron Afflalo</span> has a strained shoulder and is out for one to two weeks. <span>Dorell Wright</span> rounds out Portland's injury cavalcade with a broken bone in his left hand that is expected to sideline him for four-to-six weeks. Good thing they are all insured! Thanks, Obama.</p>
<p>You know who is healthy? Yup, it's our old friend Chris Kaman. That's reason enough to watch, isn't it? Yes. Yes, it is.</p>
<h4><b>Is Dallas healthy?</b></h4>
<p>No. Dallas is not a healthy place when certain city leaders still think putting a toll road in between the levee's of the Trinity River is a good idea. That level of mental health is concerning. And let me tell you another thing... Oh, right, I'm supposed to be talking about the <a href="https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Mavericks</a>. Whoops.</p>
<p>The Mavericks can best be described as heathly-ish. <span>Chandler Parsons</span> is still nursing a knee injury and has missed the last three games. He's probably not going to play Wednesday night and might not be ready to go for the first game of the playoffs. So, that's not promising. <span>Devin Harris</span> injured a toe against the <a href="https://www.slcdunk.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Jazz</a> on Monday and is officially listed as questionable to play against the Blazers.</p>
<p>Aside from those two, there aren't any other players on the roster who are officially injured. That said, THEY ARE ALL INJURED! Yes, that's right. Why else would they be getting rest before the playoffs. It's a long season and they get banged up. Who knows what kind of injuries they have played through? I don't. I'm not a doctor. I just play one on MMB when I write about injuries. At least Dallas is in better shape heading into the playoffs than Portland.</p>
<h4><b>Will the starters play? </b></h4>
<p>Based on the above information, I'm not sure the Blazers have any starters left. (Shh, yes I know, <span>Damian Lillard</span> and <span>Robin Lopez</span> aren't listed as injured.)</p>
<p>But no, there's really not any reason for either team to play their starters. Why take the risk? Besides, who doesn't want to see <span>Joel Freeland</span> battle with <span>Dwight Powell</span> in the post? I know I do.</p>
<h4><b>Are Mavs Man and Champ in danger?</b></h4>
<p>Yes, they are in extreme peril. Any time that notorious mascot-hating scoundrel Robin Lopez is in town, mascots should keep their heads on a swivel. I'm not sure why Lopez has a beef with mascots. It's not like they are snooty doctoral students with no prospect for future employment. Nonetheless, Lopez hates them. Of course, any person who idolizes Sideshow Bob's coiffure clearly has issues beyond a dislike of mascots.</p>
<h4><b>Should you watch this game?</b></h4>
<p>First, thanks for reading this far. It means a lot. Second, yes, you should watch this game. <span>Raymond Felton</span> is going to outplay <span>J.J. Barea</span> again and I think you really need to see that. Then you should re-evaluate everything you know about Rick Carlisle's rotation. I don't care if it's the last regular season game. Anything and everything up until now hasn't mattered because you demand results and frankly you aren't seeing any in a meaningless game such as this one. Change is the only option now! Felton for the present and Felton for the future!</p>
<h4><b>Is this game on T.V.?</b></h4>
<p>Yes it is. It's on FSSW at 7pm Central.</p>
<p>After this game, FSSW will just show Texas Rangers games. You'll want to avoid those unless you like playing "Name That Pitcher" and sweat-crying into your homemade ballpark nachos after yet another fruitless inning.</p>
https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/game-coverage/2015/4/15/8413567/previewing-portland-trail-blazers-at-dallas-mavericksDoyle Rader