Game 54: Mavs at Rockets

I wanted to give an update to some teams listed on this site:

Texas Tornados: 1 Year off for facility rebuilding
Dallas Desperados: League stopped. Future unknown.
Austin Ice Bats: 1 year off for facility rebuilding
Dallas Diamonds: Season starts April 11th
Texas Wildcatters: I don’t know what in the world is going on with them. Disbanded?

Houston Comets: Disbanded from league.

The Mavericks are coming into this game winners of three of their last four games, with the last game coming against the Nets in which they won 113-98. Jason Terry is out with an injury dating back to February 7th and will be out six weeks from that date, which is March 21st. Houston has a 1/2 game lead over the Mavericks in their division. This game has a direct impact on the standings.

Mavericks Stats 08-09

Name	Dirk Nowitzki	Josh Howard	Jason Kidd	Brandon Bass
Points Per Game	25.9	17.9	9.1	8.3
Rebounds Per Game	8.3	5.1	6.3	4.4
Assists Per Game	2.3	1.8	8.5	0.5
Blocks Per Game	0.8	0.6	0.6	0.7

It looks weird without Terry on this list. Still, having Brandon Bass listed on here does show that this team has some strength beyond the top four. Still, missing a guy who brings 19.9 points a game hurts.

Rockets Stats 08-09

Name	Yao Ming	Ron Artest	Luis Scola	Rafer Alston
Points Per Game	19.8	15.9	12.3	11.5
Rebounds Per Game	9.6	5.2	8.1	3.0
Assists Per Game	1.7	3.1	1.3	5.4
Blocks Per Game	1.7	0.3	0.1	0.2

The Rockets are missing Tracy McGrady. In comparison to the Mavericks Terry, Terry averages more points a game than Yao Ming. Still, McGrady puts up 15.6 points a game and averages 5 assists a game. I'm not really sure who I would prefer to have on my team, comparing the two. I know I would want Yao Ming over any center the Mavericks have right now. But that is beside the point.

Forecast: These two teams are 1-1 against each other this season. Both teams have won three of their last four, with the Mavericks loss coming against Boston and Houston's loss coming against Milwaukee. Boston has the #2 record in the NBA. Milwaukee is three games under 500 and seeded 8th in the Eastern Conference right now. The edge goes to Mavericks there. For whatever reason, my gut is saying the home team on this one. Houston has the fourth best home record in the West and seventh in the NBA. Not bad. Rockets take this one, 99-96.

Home Court