Brendan Maloney-US PRESSWIRE
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich and guard Tony Parker have sped things up en route to a 18-3 mark.
2. Matthews Bringing It For Portland
ESPN.com
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Cancel the funeral dirges. It appears the Portland Trail Blazers may contest the rest of the season after all.
Portland played its most complete game of the season on Thursday, coming from an early 14-point deficit to topple the Orlando Magic 97-83, for its third straight win. The Blazers have clawed their way back to .500 at 11-11, and find themselves tied with Phoenix for the coveted eighth position in the Western Conference.
And for that, they can thank that rarest of rarities: a midlevel-exception player who has proven to be worth his money. While the Curse of the MLE has claimed victims far and wide, Portland's Wesley Matthews -- who signed a front-loaded five-year, $33 million deal with the Blazers this past summer -- has instead been a revelation.
Matthews scored 20 points in the victory Thursday and is averaging 21.1 points per game in nine outings as a starter. Moreover, his contributions are exactly of the variety the Blazers had been missing. He's proven a jack-of-all trades scorer who can hit 3-pointers off the catch, attack off the dribble and get out in transition -- all areas where the post-up heavy Blazers have struggled to produce points, especially with Brandon Roy's gimpiness.
Portland, meanwhile, is starting to figure out how to play through Roy's limitations ... partly because Matthews has proven so capable at creating offense on the wings. For the season, in fact, he leads the Blazers in points per minute and shooting percentage -- even though he's had virtually no plays called for him.
When the Blazers signed him, they thought they were getting a defensive stopper who would hit a few 3s. He's done that -- witness the sequence in which he fought off the bigger Rashard Lewis in the post before drawing a charge -- but has proven to be much more as well.
As a result, this is one midlevel deal in which the signing team doesn't have buyer's remorse. The Blazers still will land shy of the lofty goals they had entering the season, but as long as Matthews keeps delivering, they may not fall as far as originally feared.
4. Extreme Behavior
ESPN.com
THURSDAY'S BEST
Andre Miller, Blazers: At least something good came out of Miller's one-game suspension. His fresh legs delivered 22 points, eight dimes and seven boards in a win over the Magic. His consecutive-games played streak is now at 1.
THURSDAY'S WORST
Travis Outlaw, Nets: Hey, haven't we seen you in this space already this week? Yup. Four days after going 0-7 from the field in a loss to Boston, Outlaw went out and did likewise against the Mavs. That's six straight L's for the Nyets.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
a year ago, the C's wouldn't even consider a lob to KG. this year, they felt it couldn't be stopped. http://es.pn/LOBtoKG [#celtics story]
Chris Forsberg
ESPNForsberg
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
"The crazy part about all that is that I messed that play up so many times in practice. It's only right that the basketball gods gave it to me tonight."
-- Celtics forward Kevin Garnett after taking a lob from Rajon Rondo for the winning basket. Proof that KG's back?
6. How Dallas Does It
ESPN Dallas.com
DALLAS -- Jason Terry picked off a pass with 5.9 seconds left in the first half, and Caron Butler had the ball at the right wing with the clock ticking down. He could have launched a 3-pointer with a defender running at him, and no one would have thought twice about his decision.
But Butler spotted Jason Kidd wide open to his right, tossed it underneath the oncoming defender and Kidd splashed the 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 55-40 lead. Butler raised both arms in the air as the Mavs jogged off to the locker room.
It was one of four assists for Butler and one of a season-high 31 on 41 baskets for the Dallas Mavericks as they won for the 11th time in a row, 102-89, over Avery Johnson's young and struggling New Jersey Nets.
Butler's extra pass seemed to define what this win streak that started Nov. 20 has been all about: A bunch of veterans coming together under one common belief.
"It's the way our season's been going. It's the identity of our team, making the extra pass and playing unselfish basketball," said Butler, who had 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting in 27 minutes. "We're doing a great job, and it's rubbing off on everybody."
The team concept is in full bloom for the Mavs (18-4), but the petals nearly came off in the third quarter after the Nets turned a 21-point laugher into a five-point ballgame with 2:13 to go in the period. But yet another aggressive drive by Jason Terry, a 19-foot jumper by Dirk Nowitzki and an 18-footer from Terry put the Mavs back up 10 heading into the fourth quarter.
7. Going Past Eleven?
(Glenn James /Getty Images)8. Quick Dish Recipe
Jose Juan Barea came off the bench and was credited with 13 assists in 27 minutes in Dallas' victory over the Nets. Only three other Mavericks players ever recorded that many assists in one game with as little playing time as Barea: Brad Davis in 1986 (17 assists in 24 minutes), Derek Harper in 1987 (13 in 22) and Jason Kidd in 2009 (13 in 27).
Barea's 13 assists were the most in one game by a Mavericks substitute since Derek Harper's baker's dozen in 22 minutes on Feb. 27, 1987.
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