A tale of 2 centers

Shortly after giving up a 15-0 run to start the 3rd quarter, the Mavericks found themselves down 64-45 to the Nuggets. Erick Dampier's line to this point is astounding: 11 minutes, no points, no shots, no rebounds, no blocks or steals -- the only non-zeroes on his sheet were 4 turnovers and 4 fouls. That has to rank as one of the most jaw-droppingly inefficient stinkbombs ever laid on an NBA court. 11 minutes, 8 negative plays, 0 positive ones. My goodness.

Dampier didn't set foot on the floor the rest of the night, so you can see that line in the boxscore. You might also notice this one from DeSagana Diop: 37 minutes, 4 points on 2-5 shooting, 16 rebounds, 6 blocks, 2 steals, an assist, and no turnovers.

Any guesses as to how the Mavs were able to fight back for an ugly 83-80 win?

For one night, at least, Diop gave Dallas their own version of Ben Wallace. He's been playing well all year in short bursts, so the quality of his play isn't totally shocking, but can he keep it up in extended minutes? Surely Avery has to recognize how much harm Dampier's been doing to the team, and after this comeback, maybe the Little General will give his newest big guy a shot at the starting job.

Play of the game
With 10 seconds left and the Nugs down 1 with the ball, Denver isolates Carmelo on Daniels. Anthony gets past Daniels, and Dirk is waiting. Dirk goes straight up, but 'Melo uses the patented Karl Malone knee to clear space. He double-clutches and puts up the layup... and Diop flys in for a totally clean block that lands in the hands of Devin Harris with 1 second left. Fitting end to the best game of his life.

I kept a running diary of the game. Some tidbits:

With 1:42 left in the first quarter, I wrote: "All 5 Nuggets touch the ball for at least the fourth time this quarter, each of them leading to easy looks. Coach Dale would be proud." Unfortunately for the Nugs, they completely abandoned ball movement in the 4th quarter. Every call was a Miller or 'Melo iso play, and too much standing around killed their momentum. F***ing Shooter must've gotten ahold of the coaching wallet.

3 minutes into the 3rd, the Nugs are 13 points into their 15 point run when Dirk delivers a hard foul to recent neck-breakee DerMarr Johnson on a fast break off a Terry miss. After the smackdown, Dirk makes his constipated tantrum face, slams his hands together, and shouts loud enough for the mikes to pick it up. Mavs color guy Bob Ortegel chimes in, "We've been around Dirk long enough to be able to read his body language and facial expressions -- and I'll tell ya, he's a little frustrated right now." I have no idea why Cuban's complaining about the quality of NBA commentary these days.

As much as this game was all about Diop, here's a taste of the domination Nowitzki can bring...
7:40, Q4: Dirk abuses some guy from Holland on a sick spin and fade. 72-68, DEN.
7:24, Q4: Dirk switches onto Andre Miller and shuts him down.
7:02, Q4: Dirk pump fakes the 3 and steps in for a swish from 20. 72-70, DEN.
6:11, Q4: Dirk buries the 3 for the lead at last. 73-72, DAL.
That's 7 points and a key stop in the critical 90 seconds during which the Mavs made that extra-difficult push to get over the hump against a team that had held a big lead only minutes before.

For the entire second-half comeback (Dallas outscored Denver 38-16 after being down 19), the Mavs used Nowitzki, Diop, Harris, and Daniels. Armstrong and Terry alternated in and out. Josh Howard nowhere to be found after looking like mini-Dampier in the first half.

I have to give AJ credit: there were few times in this game he made a substitution or play call that stood out negatively. I guess that's why he now owns a 21-4 regular season coaching record.