Walking away a loser, for once It's interesting because it's pretty clear they haven't watched a lot of Mavericks so far, yet, they talk enough jibberish and generic points to overcome their lack of knowledge on what's been happening. It's cute.
Anyway, on cue, the Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 109-100. A Dora the Explorer Band-Aid on a gushing jugular wound.
It's better to win than lose. However, it's the next 40-odd games that you have to worry about. Beating the Lakers is always fun. But the Mavericks are in a dark place right now and, frankly, I see no difference -- in terms of who can beat the Mavericks -- between the Lakers or Grizzlies or Bulls or Clippers.
All four, on any given night, could dispatch with the Mavericks easily in this current funk of all funks.
Why did the Mavericks win? Finally, someone not named "Dirk" showed up and helped carry the offensive load.
I would daresay the last four months have been the worst in Jason Kidd's career. He showed up last night with a nice 8-12 and 21 points. Shawn Marion and Jason Terry chipped in 22 apiece off the bench.
This is why I don't think Caron Butler's season-ending injury would necessarily sink the Mavericks. There are guys currently employed by the Mavericks that can allegedly score. Unfortunately, you compounded absences from Butler, Dirk and Tyson Chandler with the worst month of basketball in the careers of Jason Terry and Kidd.
Otherwise, we should temper things following beating the Lakers. It's a Lakers team that has breezed through this season. It's also a Lakers team with Kobe Bryant who is either A) keeping things steady as he slowly gears up for another Finals run; or B) he's really hurt.
Bryant got his 21 points, but he took 18 shots to get it. A trade-off every team in the league is willing to make.
The Lakers are like Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life. When the stock market was crashing, he was begging folks to not freak out. Ride it out. It'll turn around. Mr. Potter later in the film acknowledges that he and George Bailey were the only ones to not freak out.
The Lakers have enough bumps in the road for outsiders to think they're not championship-worthy. They never freak out and things turn around.
The Mavericks have to take on this George Bailey persona. If for no other reason, it's the only thing they can really do right now.
