SIMULBLOG SONICS V. MAVS

Mavs 101 Sonics 98 FINAL SCORE
The Sonics choked. They simply played awful basketball late in the game.
The amount of mistakes were staggering.
So many things were done well tonight. The overall defense on Dirk. The play with Ray Allen on the bench. The use of Vlady as the 3. The ability to spread the floor again. Danny Fortson in control for the most part. The overall defense.
Instead it is another loss and another shot to a team that has no confidence.


Mavs 99 Sonics 95 with :08.2 seconds left.
Flip Murray just committed a complete bonehead play. He left Jason Terry to guard a covered cutter leaving Terry wide open for a three and the Sonics lose.
One team knew how to make plays late and the other didn’t.
This is another terrible loss. The Sonics have no confidence down the stretch.
The Mavericks knew how to play the game late and the Sonics didn’t.



Mavs 96 Sonics 95 with 34.3 seconds left in the 4th quarter
Lewis made a great block on Dirk but then Ridnour threw the ball away in the open court and the Mavs dunk for the lead.
Ridnour followed one mistake with another compounding the problem.
He airballed the next possession. He should never be shooting.


Sonics 89 Mavs 88 with 3:43 left in the 4th Quarter.
Sonics are closing with Ridnour, Allen, Lewis, Radman and Collison
Mavs are living at the free throw line.
Dirk has 10 in the Quarter


Sonics 89 Mavs 83 with 4:52 left in the 4th Quarter
When Vlady is at the 3, Flip has more room and can be more effective offensively.
Mavs score their first points of the Quarter at 7:28 mark
Mavs get their first field goal at the 6:28 mark. They had not scored a field goal since the 2:00 mark of the 3rd
Sonics go on a 13-0 run
Dirk is so good. He is simply unguardable. He has buried back to back 17 footers and the defense was as good as it can be.


Sonics 83 Mavs 75 with 10:01 left in the 4th Quarter
Great surge to open the 4th Quarter
Vlady is playing the 3 and getting great looks and is on fire.
7-0 run to open the Q
Nowitzki is on the bench to open the Quarter thus far in the game the Mavs are -17 when he is on the bench. In comparison, the Sonics are +2 with Ray on the bench.

Sonics 76 Mavs 75 at the end of the 3rd Quarter.
Another big play where Collison didn’t have the hand strength to hold the ball.
The more Stackhouse plays the better for the Sonics
Devin Harris is out with an upset stomach. This is bad for the Sonics because it leaves Howard at the 2.
Ray Allen went to the bench at 71-71 with 3:20 and the Sonics were +1 again.


Sonics 71 Mavs 71 with 3:20 left in the 3rd Quarter
The defense with Vitaly on the floor tonight has been very good
Dirk had no help in the first half, but Josh Howard has 13 points in the 3rd to help the Mavs
Keeping this game close is unnerving when Dirk plays for the other team.
Howard is taking Ridnour to the post and killing the Sonics.
Ray Allen just went on another one of his adventures and threw it away


Sonics 66 Mavs 56 with 6:37 left in the 3rd Quarter
Luke returns for the second half
Dallas has 3 team fouls at the 11:03 mark
Lewis is stepping in the passing lanes and getting a steal or two a night
Ray Allen gets the Sonics first three at 7:50 in the 3rd
The defensive effort is good tonight.
The Sonics are working hard.


Sonics 52 Mavs 46 at the half
Luke Ridnour went down after getting hit in the shoulder and was in considerable pain.
Flip Murray and Cleaves will be the point guards until he comes back.
Ray Allen is just 2 of 9.
Vlady has been terrific on both ends of the floor.
Valdy and Danny were the key to the second quarter.


Sonics 48 Mavs 39 with 2:44 in the 2nd Quarter
Danny Fortson has been able to stay on the floor which is enormous.
The ref made a poor call on Danny and I am convinced when they went the other way the official told Weiss “my bad.”
Sonics have been unreal on the offensive end. They have scored on all but 4 trips this quarter.


Sonics 41 Mavs 33 with 5:29 left in the 2nd Quarter
In the pre-game we mentioned the only time the Mavs struggle is with Dirk on the floor and the Sonics just went on a 14-4 run with Dirk on the bench.
Sonics scored on 10 straight possessions
The game changed the minute Dirk came back in the game.
Sonics were +10 with Dirk on the bench and the Sonics were +1 with Allen on the bench that is the difference in the game


Sonics 35 Mavs 24 with 7:30 left in the 2nd Quarter
The Sonics biggest defensive problem is they allow guys to just run their cuts. They never impede the cutters across the lane or around the baseline.
Vlady is in as the back-up three. I like this move.
Lewis enters at the 2 with Vlady at the 3 and Fortson and Collison up front
14-4 to open quarter

Sonics 21 Mavs 20 at the end of the 1st Quarter
Holding the Mavs to 20 points classifies as defense.
The Sonics stayed even with Allen on the bench.


Sonics 18 Mavs 16 with 1:18 left in the 1st Quarter
The weakness in Dirk’s game is defense. It was obvious when Vitaly drove at Dirk and he was too slow to react and reached. He was too slow on Vitaly.
Is there a better pick and roll then Terry and Nowitzki?
I have been watching Nick Collison’s hands and I am amazed at how often the ball is ripped out of his hands and how often he can’t keep the handle.
Ray Allen out with two fouls (3:22 and up 1). The Sonics have been a disaster when Allen is on the bench, in fact they with Allen on the bench no team has been worse then the Sonics.


Sonics 12 Mavs 6 with 7:17 left in the 1st Quarter
First 12 points all Sonics come in the paint. The sonics game plan was to get to the second line of defense. Ralph Lewis told us on the pre-game that the second line of defense is weak and it has shown to be.
Mavs are blasting the pick and roll with Allen, which means they are doubling Allen everytime he comes off the pick.
Reggie Evans has the match up on Dirk but he is not playing the systems the Sonics wanted in their game plan. Dirk has 4 points and has been left open twice.


Some interesting numbers.
SONICS
Reggie Evans continues to amaze -- career-high 21 points and season-high-tying 18 rebounds. Last 5 games he is averaging 12 points and 9 rebounds
Ray Allen last 5 games 28 points a game –22 of 42 from 3
Luke 3 of his last 15 from 3 and 19 of his last 60 from the field
Damien Wilkins is 1 of his last 10 over the past 4 games
5-1 on Fridays compared to 0-6 on Tuesdays

MAVERICKS
Dallas brings the toughest match-up in the NBA-Dirk (37-10 last night)
In wins Dirk averages 29 pts and in losses 19 pts in game and in wins he shots 49% and in losses he shots 37%
Jason Terry continues to prosper. 28 of his last 59 from 3.
The Mavericks are off to the second-best start in franchise history.
The Mavericks have won nine of their last 11 games
Last 6 games opponents are scoring 102 pts per game