Game 39/82: Dallas (26-14) @ C’s (27-11)

Posted by Brian Robb on Jan 18, 2010 54554 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F01%2F18%2Fgame-3982-dallas-26-14-cs-27-11%2FGame+39%2F82%3A+Dallas+%2826-14%29+%40+C%27s+%2827-11%292010-01-18+20%3A00%3A52Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D5455

Dallas at Boston
8 p.m. EST
TD Garden
Local TV/Radio: CSN/WEEI

Opposing viewpoint: The Two Man Game

Offensive Efficiency:

Boston: 108.9 points/100 possessions (10th)

Dallas: 107.5 points/100 possessions (13th)

Defensive Efficiency:

Boston: 101.5 points allowed/100 possessions (3rd)

Dallas: 105.2 points allowed/100 possessions (11th)

Probable Dallas Starters:

Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion, Erick Dampier

Injury Report

Dallas: QUESTIONABLE: Tim Thomas, Eduardo Najera

Boston: OUT: Marquis Daniels, Kevin Garnett

WHAT THE MAVS DO WELL:

Take Care of the Ball

The Mavericks are a fairly run of the mill offensive team when you look at their overall shooting numbers but one thing they take care of the little things quite well when they have the ball and that includes not turning over the ball. They rank 3rd in the league in turnover percentage with no one in their rotation averaging more than 2 a game. A strong contingent of guards with Jason Kidd, J.J Barea, and Jason Terry help a lot in this area.

Keeping Opponents off the line

Dallas has been deceptively strong on the defensive end this year and one of the main reasons why is their ability to keep their opponents off the charity stripe. Ranking 2nd in the league in fewest Free Throws allowed per FG attempt for their opponent. Given the C’s success in this department offensively (6th in the league) will be very interesting to see what side wins that battle this evening.

WHAT THE MAVS DO POORLY

Offensive Rebounding

The Mavs aren’t extremely poor in this department but do rank in the bottom 3rd of the league in Offensive Rebound percentage. Outside of Erick Dampier and Drew Gooden, they don’t have a lot of guys that like to get their hands dirty down low on a regular basis, which is a relief for the C’s tonight as they will once again be shorthanded without KG with reports having Rasheed Wallace being ready to return.

PLAYERS WHO MAKES ME WORRY

Dirk

No need to get into this too much but thank god Sheed is back so we don’t have to see Scal foul out in 20 minutes trying to guard him. Sheed will have to bring his A defensive game tonight in order to help contain the 7 footer.

PLAYERS WHO DO NOT MAKE ME WORRY

Drew Gooden

His numbers have actually been fairly solid this year (9 points and 9 boards a contest in last 10 games) but I don’t trust him or his facial hair to be much of a factor tonight.

WHAT WE WANT TO SEE FROM THE C’S TONIGHT

Energy

Coming off of a nice 3 day respite, the C’s should have regained their legs after their brutal stretch of 5 games in 7 nights. With the return of Rasheed, they will have the manpower to match up with a deep Dallas team that don’t shoot particularly well from the field (15th in league) or deep (14th). The C’s have had their struggles at home this year so it will be nice to see them come out aggressive tonight and jump on the Mavs early, much like they did last year too when they cruised to a 124-100 win over Dallas at the Garden.

PREDICTION

Three games in the row here that I’ve been off in my predictions. With that in mind, we are going with the reverse jinx again tonight since I like the C’s. The good guys are coming off of 3 day of rest, while the Mavs are going off of a back to back loss yesterday afternoon in Toronto. So on that note:

Mavs 97, C’s 92