This is sweet revenge from 2006. The Mavericks played with determination, with the help of Tyson Chandler and JJ Barea, two of the main factors we need to keep on the roster for possible repeats, that’s if the NBA lockout doesn’t destroy a whole season.

I know I’ve been sort of lacking the updates to this site but trust me, I’d rather be watching the Mavs than updating my site about them.

Let’s go Mavs in 2012 and beyond.

The Mavericks have also gone on their own 12 game win streak until the Bucks stopped them in their tracks, a game they easily controlled but allowed the Bucks to regain late in the game.

Nevertheless, it’s 1/3 into the season, how well are the Mavs doing. Here’s a quick look at some of the numbers, which their defense is top notch thus far this season:

Defense: 5th; 93.2 Points allowed per game
Opponent FG %: 4th; 43.5% from the field
Opponent FT Attempts: 4th;  22.2 FTA per game
Opponent Adjusted FG %: 5th; 47.3%

With all the talk about the Spurs, Heat, Celtics and Lakers, the Mavericks are slightly going unnoticed which to me, is a good thing. They’re essentially not the talk of the NBA of the team to beat. Although the Spurs are having a very good season so far, they don’t worry me. The Mavs can beat them, which they already have this season and I hope their match up against the Spurs on December 30th results in another streak bust (which is highly likely as it’s a home game for the Mavs, they’ve already beat them on the road this season) as the Spurs have won 10 straight again this season.

But then again, the Mavs are also going unnoticed again this season like last as one of the best road teams. Currently they hold the best road record at 10-1, the Spurs behind them at 9-1.

They put a stop to the Spurs 12 game win streak. Then they hosted the Heat who have lost 17 of the last 18 regular season meetings. Makes one wonder about those Finals where the Heat won 4 straight after down 2 games. That’s another story we won’t get into though.

As for that super team, what’s up with them? They’re now 9-8 and have lost 4 of their last 5 games. Seems to me, money might not buy a championship team when you can’t afford a supporting bench cast and you got superstars complaining they have to play 44 minutes a game.

The Mavs are now 12-4, with a top ten defensive team in the league and it doesn’t look like they’ll be slowing down any time soon hopefully. Tyson Chandler is also now the go to guy for technical free throws.

The Mavs were up at the end of the 1st quarter but started to slip behind until the 4th quarter as the Hornets surged ahead in the 2nd, outscoring the Mavs 28-20 and by 2 points in the 3rd to keep a 10 or so point lead.

The Mavs took control in the 4th, behind Terry’s 26 points on 9-19 shooting with 3 three pointers. Nowitzki added 25 points with 10 boards.

Chris Paul lead the Hornets in the first half with 20 points but was limited to just 2 points in the second half.

The Mavs and the Hornets meet again Wednesday night in a back to back match up, this time in New Orleans. Let’s hope the Mavs can keep up the pace against this surprise team this year.

As for the Mavericks, I think this could be one of their better teams in years. Keeping the core players from last season after picking up Butler and Haywood, we’ll see what they can’t accomplish with these players for a full season, or at least starting out the season with them instead of half way through it.

The Mavericks got thumped against the Wizards for their opening preseason game but Nowitzki played a little more minutes in game 2 against the Bulls and they came out on top. But remember, this is only the preseason, it really means nothing as it’s a chance to rotate the guys in and off the bench to see who makes the cut for the regular season.

So far though, the Mavs looking decent. Chandler put up some good numbers in their first game. Jones put up some decent numbers in the second game against the Bulls, if you compare the amount of minutes he played. Of course, if Nowitzki, Butler, Haywood and Terry keep doing what they do best, we can definitely count on the Mavs on top in their division at the end of the season.

A few notes though, it’s good to see Dampier replaced by Chandler as the backup center and Haywood our primary starting center. Seems to have more heart and drive to win and accomplish more out on the court than Dampier did.

Dirk got into foul trouble early in the game with two quick fouls and never really played to his potential like in Game 1.

Terry had 27 points, with a few 3 pointers. Kidd was pretty much a non-factor in this game, not scoring his first field goal til the second half.

I hope this is a wake up call to the Mavs who need to come out with the type of defense they started to display in the second half, where they went on a 12-0 run to cut the 20 point lead in half.

Game 3 is Friday in San Antonio. I knew this would be a tough matchup for the Mavs, as everyone in the West are so close in their regular season records, anything could happen. The one thing that stands out and I think that isn’t mentioned much is, this Dallas team has turned around from the past and became road warriors this past season. Out of all the teams in the West, the Mavs had the best road record of any of them. They had 27 road wins, the next team was Portland with 24 wins on the road. Actually, they had more road wins than any other team in the whole league.

Dirk went 12-14 for field goals while going perfect on his free throws, 12-12, getting 36 points and grabbing 7 boards. Seems he went into playoff mode a week before the end of the season and is definitely extending this type of play now that they are in the first round.

Butler contributed 22 points while Kidd contributed 13 points and 11 assists.

With the Spurs taking a late lead though, Dirk helped spark a 7-0 run on his own. With Dirk killing the Spurs defense, only missing two shots the whole game, the Spurs even tried to foul Dampier 3 times in hopes he would start missing free throws. Unfortunately, Dampier is no Shaq and can make most of his.

Ginobili, Parker and Duncan showed up for the game for the Spurs, which isn’t enough. Their bench went 10-26, which doesn’t win games. The Spurs took a flight home so they can regroup for Game 2 which is in Dallas on Wednesday.

Let’s hope the Mavs can bring back this intensity, with Dirk playing the way he is, I’m sure he’s going to get more defense pressure in Game 2 so the rest of our guys need to step up, which should not be a problem with the talent this team now carries with them.

Of course we get to play the Spurs once again and hopefully we can knock them out of the first round. I feel we have the advantage and there’s no other team I’d rather face right now in the West. The Spurs are old, injured prone right now and just aren’t the same team they use to be.

Dirk seems to already be in playoff mode, grabbing another Western Conference player of the week.  Marion had a small injury but he’s back and seems to be in full form. The rest of the guys seem to be healthy so I’m expecting a first round pass and hope the Mavs do not have to face the Trailblazers or Thunder at all during this playoff race. It’s sad to think that out of all the teams, one would likely fear the Lakers or Nuggets but I feel more confident against those teams than the lower seeded teams.

Game 1 is Sunday April 18th. Let’s go Mavs!

Congratulations Dirk, go for a third week in a row by keeping the streak alive.