Chickens on the Run: Game 53: Mavs vs. Nets

The Mavericks have gone 11-8 (31-21 overall) since my last post. They are ranked seventh in the West and wouldn't be considered a power team right now. They are ranked fourth in their division, which is led by San Antonio, followed by Houston, and then you find New Orleans in the middle, followed by this Mavericks team. The Nets are 24-29 and share the division with the Boston Celtics, which are having a superb season. Everyone is expecting a Lakers/Celtics NBA Finals again. I believe it could also have a Spurs and Cavaliers in the mix somewhere. Any four of those teams can make it to the Finals. But that doesn't have anything to do with this game.

**Maverick Stats 08-09**
Name	Dirk Nowitzki	Jason Terry	Josh Howard	Jason Kidd
Points Per Game	25.9	19.9	17.9	8.8
Rebounds Per Game	8.3	2.5	4.9	6.3
Assists Per Game	2.3	3.7	1.7	8.4
Blocks Per Game	0.75	0.32	0.57	0.58

It is interesting to see that majority of these numbers have slipped since the last post. Not much, really, but they have.

**Net Stats 08-09**
Name	Devin Harris	Vince Carter	Brook Lopez	Yi Jianlian
Points Per Game	21.8	20.8	12.3	10.5
Rebounds Per Game	3.2	5.1	8.1	6.2
Assists Per Game	6.5	4.9	0.8	1.2
Blocks Per Game	0.21	0.42	1.85	0.59

With this team being five games under, I can't believe they will hold up against the Mavericks. When I last posted on the Nets, most of these guys have slipped on their stats with the exception of Lopez. The Nets dropped two in a row and play the Rockets before they play the Mavericks. Playing back-to-back games is always tough for a team. And playing the Rockets followed by the Mavericks, well that doesn't sound easy at all.