No one can probably wipe the smile of Don Nelson’s face after beating his old team in Dallas last night. The Mavericks just couldn’t play any defense and it hurt them last night. Dirk Nowitzki led the way with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Devin Harris really filled up the boxscore with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots. Jason Terry was real active with 15 points, 6 assists and 3 steals. Josh Howard (13 points) & Greg Buckner (13 points) each pitched in on offense.

The Mavericks need to snap out of it and start playing basketball like they can.

The Mavericks looked completely horrible on Saurday night in Houston. The Mavs couldn’t stop Yao, who put 36 points on them and was scoring at will. The Rockets shot a blistering 53.6% from the field. Dirk Nowitzki (24 points), Josh Howard (16 points) and Anthony Johnson (11 points) were the only players that came to play on offense.

The Mavericks need to forget this game and move on.

Dirk Nowitzki is the most versatile power forward in the NBA. Dirk averaged 26.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists last season as he led his team to the NBA Finals. The thing that makes Nowitzki so tough is that he can shoot well from anywhere on the court. Nowitzki is a career shooter of 37.9% from three-point range, but yet, he’s tough enough to play around the basket also. Nowitzki has averaged 22.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.1 blocks per game for his career. Nowitzki is quite simply, the best player on the Mavericks and one of the best players in the whole NBA. His skill set reminds me of Larry Bird.

Austin Croshere will be the back-up. Croshere is a tough player that can also shoot well for a big guy. Croshere has averaged 7.5 points & 4.3 rebounds per game over his career despite only averaging 18.9 minutes per game.

The Mavericks were leading the game 75-72 heading into the 4th quarter, but the Spurs outscored the Mavs 25-16 in the 4th quarter. The Mavericks need to be more aggressive on offense as the Spurs shot 21 more free-throws than the Mavs, and that hurt. Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Josh Howard had a good all-around game scoring 20 points, grabbing 6 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists. Jason Terry (14 points) and Austin Croshere (12 points) helped out on offense.

Not a good way to start there defense of the Western Conference Crown.