With the acquisition of Brendan Haywood from the Wizards last night it looks like Erick Dampier is now the second string center for the Mavericks. He has played in 38 games (all starts) for the Mavericks this season and he is averaging 7.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game. Haywood and Dampier will likely combine to give the Mavericks a very productive center for 48 minutes a night as long as Dampier doesn’t mope because he’s coming off the bench now.

UPDATE: Erick Dampier dislocated his right middle finger last night in his first game playing with Brendan Haywood. His injury will require surgery that will keep him out indefinitely.

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.

The Mavericks really need a healthy Josh Howard if they are going to really compete for a NBA title because he makes the team a really awesome offensive team with no weaknesses in the starting line-up when he is on the court. He has played in 13 games (3 starts) for the Mavericks this season and he is averaging 26.7 minutes, 13.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game. When Howard gets 100% healthy he will give Jason Kidd a second lethal player on the fast break along with Shawn Marion which will make the Mavericks one of the funnest and best basketball teams in the NBA.

Quinton Ross is currently the starting shooting guard for the Dallas Mavericks, and he did not have a good debut for the Mavs in their loss to the Washington Wizards last night.  Ross has never been a full-time starter, with 45 starts being his high for a season (05-06′ Clippers).  I get Jason Terry is a great spark off the bench and still gets his minutes, but Ross doesn’t really seem to bring much to the table.  He played 19 minutes last night and finished with 2 points, 0 assists, 0 rebounds, and 4 fouls.  Terry didn’t have a good game either, going 4-12 from the field (1-6 3FG), but he is a much better player than Ross, especially offensively.  Ross is basically in there to play defense, but he did a terrible job of that last night with 4 fouls in 19 minutes.  If Ross doesn’t step his play up, then the Mavs need to start the undersized but talented Terry.

The Mavericks shot 51.7% from the floor tonight and they got off to a great start as they led 66-44 at the half before cruising to a really easy victory. Dirk Nowitzki led the way for the Mavericks with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Josh Howard also had a nice game with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Devin Harris did a good job of running the show with 17 points, 2 rebounds and 8 assists. The Mavericks improved to 27-12 on the season with this win.

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