12/20/10: Mavs Snap Miami’s 12-Game Win Streak.

Jason Terry scored all 19 of his points in the final 11 minutes as the Mavs killed another 12-game win streak.  You may recall that Dallas was also responsible for putting an end to San Antonio’s 12-gamer back in late November.  The Mavs have a pretty nice streak of their own going against Miami.  They’ve beaten the Heat 14 consecutive times in the regular season.  Miami’s rebuttal: regular season.  The Finals are a whole different story.

Random Observations:

• Highlight Recap: DeAndre Jordan throws down an angry slam.  Blake Griffin with a ridiculous oop slam from the Baron.  Griffin spins along the baseline and crams it with two hands.  Griffin with another alley-oop.  I’m going to refer you to the top 10 for the rest…  watch for sick plays by Nick Young and Jason Kidd.
• If you’ve watched any significant amount of NBA basketball in your life, you’ve heard some commentator use the “basketball is a game of runs” cliche.  That commonly used statement perfectly sums up what went down in South Beach last night.  Dallas opened the game on a 14-2 run.  Miami responded with a 16-0 run of their own covering the final three minutes of the first quarter and the first minute of the second quarter.  Dallas then went on a little 9-2 run, which caused Erik Spoelstra to call for a timeout with 6:50 left in the half.  Miami came out of the timeout and a James Jomes jumper immediately kick-started a 15-4 run for the Heat.  Mario Chalmers was key during this stretch, he dropped 11 in the second quarter.  The game got a lot less weird in the second half… both teams led, but never by more than seven.  LeBron James didn’t score his first point until the eight minute mark of the third, but he would finish the game with 19/10.  Jason Terry had been ice cold through three quarters, but ended up putting in 19 huge points of his own over the final 11 minutes.  Shawn Marion may have made the play of the game by simply being in the right place at the right time.  With Dallas leading 86-85 and the clock showing 1:25, Marion caught an airball launched by Dirk Nowitzki and fired it out to Terry who knocked down a dagger of a triple.  The Heat never got another lead, and ended up losing by two (98-96).  Dirk led Dallas with 26 points… Dwyane Wade was the main man for the Heat with 22.  Mike Miller made his season debut, but was unable to make a shot in four tries.  The Heat set an NBA record with three eigth-chance points in the loss.
• The Bobcats entered the lockerroom at the half trailing by just five to the Wizards… but ended up losing by 33.  The Kittens, who continue to show that they can take offensive suckiness to whole new levels, went basketless over the final 10 minutes of the third quarter, allowing the Wiz to build up a 25-point lead entering the final period.  Had Kwame Brown not been on fire from the stripe (8-11 in the game, 5-6 in the third) things could’ve gotten even uglier.  In addition to their major difficulties with putting the ball in the basket, the Bobcats gave the ball up before they could even get a shot off on 27 occasions.  Nick Young led the Wiz with 21… Captain Kirk had a nice double-double with 18/11.
• For the first time this season, the LA Clippers entered a game with a better record than their opponent.  There would be no upset.  Eric Gordon scored 36 big ones and Blake Griffin dunked all over the Timberwolves as the Sailboats extended their win streak to three games.  Blake Griffin, who had 22/10/7, completely owned Kevin Love, who put up just 12/10.  Ryan Gomes kind of gave Michael Beasley the business as well.  Gomes scored 22 on 7-11 while Beasley finished with 20 on 6-19.  Final score: 113-90.  If you’re wondering how the Clipps are winning these games all of a sudden, there’s nothing complex about it: they’re making shots.  In all three of these victories LA has shot 50+ percent from the floor.
• Monta Ellis loves it when the Rockets visit the Oracle Arena.  The Moped dropped a career high 46 on the H-Town boys on opening night, and tonight he lit them up for 44 more.  Unfortunately, the Warriors got absolutely nothing from anyone not named Ellis or Lee, and they lost 121-112.  Kevin Martin made all 13 of his freethrow attempts on his way to 30 points.  Luis Scola had 20/9/6.  The Rockets started off the season losing 11 of 15, but they’ve now won five of their last six and are just two games below .500.
• The Magic put three new players into action, but still dropped their third in a row.  Gilbert Arenas got off to the worst start with his new squad.  Agent 091 fired 11 shots–9 of them bricks–and turned the ball over twice in 26 minutes.  J-Rich (nine points) and Hedo (eight points) were… less bad.  Dwight Howard had his second 20-rebound game in a row, but was held to 19 points on 6-14 and turned the ball over six times.  The Magic shot just 35% in the game.  Al Horford recorded a double-double (24/11) for ATL.
• After a brief break from losing, it’s back to reality for Cleveland.  Boobie Gibson put in a career/game-high 29 points, but the Jazz got 16+ from five different players and picked up an 11-point W.  The Cavs were actually pretty hot from beyond the arc.  They knocked down 12 of 28 long-distance attempts, but clanked 26 of 44 two-pointers.
• The other games: Mike Dunleavy scored a game-winning tip in that hung on the rim for an unusually long time before finally dropping after the buzzer sounded.  The bucket lifted the Pacers to a 94-93 win over the Hornets.  Danny Granger went for 27 points… Emeka Okafor had 19/15 in a losing effort.  Jared Dudley exploded for 27 points, but the Suns lost by eight to the Spurs.  Tim Duncan had 20/15/6 and Gary Neal contributed big with 22 off the bench.  The Bucks played without Brandon Jennings and lost by 26 to the Frail Blazers, who played without a whole sh!tload of people.  Dante Cunningham, who’s starting at center in the absense of Oden/Camby/Przybilla, left with a turned ankle just four minutes into the game.  Looks like a heavy dosage of Sean Marks could be in order for a little while.  LaMarcus Aldridge managed to not get hurt and dropped 29/19.

Quote of the Day: Gilbert Arenas on Orlando’s struggles…

“For being together a couple hours, we did all right.”

Solid point.  Be patient with the Magic.  That means you, Stan… no panicking.

Photo of the Day: Having a 12-game win streak snapped can’t feel very good… I imagine it’s comparable to being kicked in the nuts while having a jumper drained in your grill.  Chris Bosh can tell you all about both of those feelings…