Mavs Lose Barea, Win 'Dirty' Dozen

The final few minutes of the fourth quarter on Monday night in Minneapolis provided some of the most awkward yet entertaining basketball the Mavericks have been involved in all year long. The final frame included a blatant cheap head shot and resulting ejection, the rare NBA double dribble call, a tweaked ankle and injury substitution to shoot free throws, and too few players on the floor at the 29 second mark. It was a lengthy twelve minutes of basketball time, but there was never a dull moment on either end of the floor as Dallas went continued its winning ways, defeating the Timberwolves 125-112 to win the season series.

Shawn Marion had his best game as a Maverick, posting a team high 29 points and 14 rebounds to go along with three steals. Said Coach Carlisle of Marion, "Every week I tell him how important he is to us, how much...I appreciate what he's done for us this year." And Marion seemed to do a little of everything, on both ends of the floor. He created several of Minnesota's 26 turnovers and broke away for a few fast break baskets. The Mavs scored an incredible 31 fast break points off Minnesota's turnovers.

"Everyone's been contributing," Marion said. "That's the sign of a great team." And the shorthanded Mavericks needed all the help they could get, as they again were only able to dress nine players due to injury. to top it off, Dirk picked up two quick fouls less than two minutes into the first quarter and was forced to take an early seat, which allowed Minnesota's Al Jefferson to have his way inside, leading the Timberwolves to an early double digit lead. However, due primarily to an excellent effort by Marion and the fact that all nine Mavericks that played scored during the first half, the Mavs ended the opening quarter up 34-27.

Despite his lack of playing time early on, Dirk really made his presence felt in the second half, finishing the game with 24 points, three assists, a steal and a blocked shot. Caron Butler added 23 points, including a pair of consecutive three pointers in the 4th quarter as the Mavs pulled away. And the legendary Jason Kidd again earned a double-double, boasting 12 points and 10 assists. Rookie Roddy Beaubois, although he had an off shooting night, contributed five boards, four assists, a steal, a block and 11 points while only turning the ball over once, another sign that the rookie is really improving under the tutelage of Jason Kidd.

Former Maverick Ryan Hollins caused a stir early on when he threw a punch (although the officials did not catch it at the time) at DeShawn Stevenson under the basket. Stevenson got pissed and exchanged words and intimidating looks with Hollins (which, of course, the refs DID see) and Stevenson was called for a technical foul. It was a feisty and dirty night for Hollins again as with less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter, he swiped at Dirk’s head, never even aiming for the basketball, as Dirk went up for a shot, which resulted in a flagrant-2 foul on Hollins, an automatic ejection.

Just over a minute later, Mavs’ guard JJ Barea cam down on Darko Milicic’s foot, spraining his ankle. With roughly 2:30 minutes to play and the Mavs clearly in the drivers’ seat, Dirk talked to Barea and told him to go on back to the locker room and get checked out, not to worry about shooting his two free throws. Barea obliged, and league rules allowed the Wolves’ coach, Kurt Rambis, to choose any other available Maverick to shoot Barea’s free throws. After reviewing the stat sheets, Rambis elected for Eduardo Najera, a 55% FT shooter, to fill in for the injured Barea. Najera hit the first free throw, looked up and smiled, and then nailed the second free throw as well.

The Wolves’ recovered the ball and as rookie Jonny Flynn came across the midcourt line, he double dribbled, a call made first by Jason Kidd and then the officiating staff. With thirty seconds of play remaining, the Mavs’ coaching staff started substituting the bench into the game to replace the starters and as the starters exited the floor, officials realized that there were only four Mavs still on the court. Caron Butler quickly hurried back in for the final two plays of the game, and the Mavs went on to beat Minnesota 125-112, their only double-digit margin of victory during this incredible winning streak.