Jason Kidd will go down as one of the best point guards to ever play in the NBA, and even though he has been in the league for over 15 years he is still one of the best point guards currently in the league.  Although Kidd is averaging a career low in points, he is still a stat sheet filler that sets his teammates up perfectly and plays great defense.  Kidd is averaging 8.9 points, 9.2 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.6 steals.  The knock on Kidd has always been his lack of an outside shot but he has been very effective from three point land, hitting 41% of his threes.  His 9.2 assists per game average is good enough for 5th best in the league and he still makes things difficult for opposing guards with his strength and great anticipation on defense.  Kidd is one of the main reasons why the Mavericks have the second best record in the Western Conference and they will need his strong play and leadership come playoff time.

Jason Terry was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year winner last season, and although he is still one of the best in the NBA in that role, his numbers have dropped in nearly every category this season.  Last year Terry shot 46% from the field and 37% from three, while averaging 19.6 points, 3.4 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals.  Well, this season all of those numbers (except assists) have dropped.  This season he is shooting only 43% from the field and 34% from three, averaging 16.3 points, 3.5 assists, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.1 steals.  Terry can’t blame playing time for his diminished play as he is getting nearly the exact amount of playing time this year (33.5 mpg) as last year (33.7 mpg).  The Mavericks are going to need Terry to step it up, especially shooting the ball.

Early in the 4th quarter of the Dallas Mavericks’ 100-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers last night, Dirk Nowitzki hit a baseline-jumper to put his career point total to 20,001.  Nowitzki was part of the first big wave of European players to come to the NBA in the 1990′s, and the German-native was drafted 9th overall in the 1998 draft.  A lot of people questioned this pick at the time and the 7-foot lanky German did not play well his rookie year.  Nowitzki was not used to the physicality of the NBA, as well as the supreme athletes he had to face night-in and night-out.  Nowitzki has even stated he contemplated quitting the NBA and going back to Germany.  Nowitzki and the Mavericks sure are glad he decided against that.  He put in the hard work, got stronger and learned the NBA game so his great skill-set could finally emerge.  He is a perennial All-Star and is the best European player to ever play in the NBA.  He became the first European player to win the NBA MVP Award in 2007 and now has become the first to score 20,000 points in his career.

The Mavericks have acquired 33-year old forward Eduardo Najera from the Nets for 24-year old forward Kris Humphries and 23-year old small forward Shawne Williams. Najera played in 13 games (2 starts) for the Nets this season and he averaged 15.7 minutes, 3.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He has now played in 533 games (82 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 18.9 minutes, 5.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Najera is back to where he started his NBA career as he played for the Mavericks from 2000-2004. Kris Humphries played in 25 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks this season and he averaged 12.6 minutes, 5.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Mavericks’ coaches were upset with Humphries who sometimes runs the wrong plays. Shawne Williams has not played in any games this season for the Mavericks. Last year he played in 15 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks in which he averaged 11.3 minutes, 2.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game on only 28.6% shooting from the floor. The Mavericks are really happy with this trade as it gets rid of a couple of problems while bringing in a player they have always liked.

Dirk Nowitzki had a great night, leading the Dallas Mavericks (19-7) to an easy win over the Oklahoma City Thunder (12-12).  Dirk hit 13-18 shots on his way to 35 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.  Josh Howard had a solid game off the bench with 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal while helping keep Kevin Durant in check.  The Mav’s held Durant to 12 points and a season-worst 4-18 shooting.  The Mavs do need to do a better job on the boards, as they were outrebounded by five and gave up 15 offensive rebounds.  It was a good all-around effort though, and a strong defensive game for the Mavericks.

The Dallas Mavericks (14-5) did not want to become the first team to lose to the New Jersey Nets (0-18) this season, and a 49-point second quarter assured that they wouldn’t.  With the Mavs win the Nets made history for the most consecutive losses to start a season (18).  Dirk Nowitzki once again led the way for the Mavs, finishing the game with 24 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal.  It was nice to see Nowitzki getting others involved as the 8 assists were a season high for Dirk.  Jason Kidd filled up the stat sheet with a near triple-double of 16 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, 5 steals, and 1 block.  Chris Douglas-Roberts led the Nets with 24 points.  It was a great shooting night for the Mavs, shooting 59% from the field as a team, but the Nets are barely worthy of being an NBA team this year so the Mavs need to stay focused next game against the

With only seconds left in the game, Jason Terry hit a fade-away jumper from the baseline to put the Dallas Mavericks (13-5) ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers (5-13) for good.  Terry didn’t have a great game, only scoring 7 points, but he came through in the clutch when the Mavs needed him most.  The Mavs need to do a better job rebounding the ball though, as the Sixers out-rebounded them 60-37.  Against better teams, the Mavs wont win if they get out-rebounded by that much.  Dirk Nowitzki had another good night for the Mavs, leading them with 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.  Jason Kidd was everywhere for the Mavs, finishing with 22 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks.  Willie Green led the Sixers with 23 points and 8 rebounds.

The Mavericks will be without starting shooting guard Josh Howard for a while as his ankle is still bothering him. Howard will be on the inactive list indefinately until he starts to feel better. Howard has played in 3 games (all starts) for the Mavericks this season and he is averaging 22.3 minutes, 12.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. The Mavericks will miss him big time while he is out.

The Dallas Mavericks (4-2) found themselves down early against the Houston Rockets (4-2), giving up 37 points in the first quarter.  The Mavericks defense woke up after that and they went on to outscore the Rockets in every quarter from then on.  Eric Dampier was a force for the Mavericks, giving them 14 points, 20 rebounds, and 3 blocks.  He did pick up 5 fouls, but he was the main reason the Mavericks out-rebounded the Rockets 46-37.

Dirk Nowitzki had an off night from the field, going 6 for 15, but he was a perfect 10-10 from the line.  He had a good all around night, getting 23 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 blocked shot.  Jason Kidd did what he has always done in his career, dishing it out and finishing with 5 points, 11 assists, 1 steal, and 1 blocked shot.  The Mavericks did a good job bouncing back after that bad first quarter, and their defense settled in very well in the second half.  They gave up only 13 points in the 3rd quarter and cruised to an easy win in the 4th quarter.  The Mavericks cannot make a habit out of slow starts though, especially defensively.

The Mavericks have traded 23-year old center Nathan Jawai to the Timberwolves for a future 2nd round pick in the NBA Draft. Jawai was going to play in the D-League for the Mavericks this season as he was buried on the depth chart. This was a good move for everyone involved as a 2nd round pick might be more valuable than Jawai. It gives Jawai a chance to play in the NBA and show what he can do as the T-Wovles have a lot of injuries in the frontcourt.