And You Thought the Pacers Game Was Uptempo Starting Lineups:
Charlotte Bobcats -- vs -- Dallas Mavericks
Kemba Walker --- vs -- Darren Collison
Jeffery Taylor --- vs -- O.J. Mayo
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist -- vs -- Shawn Marion
Andrei Kirilenko -- vs -- Dirk Nowitzki
Byron Mullens -- vs -- Chris Kaman
Huge numbers all around in Dallas tonight were a product of quite possibly the worst defensive battle you'll see all season. Monster statlines were expected in the 131-127 win for the Mavericks, who were led by Shawn Marion who apparently forgot it wasn't 2004, going off for 20 points and 17 rebounds, but also forgot he was supposed to play defense, allowing rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to get within a single rebound of a triple-double in only his second career game. Both teams were very erratic on both ends of the court, but both teams wound up shooting well over 50% for the game.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist followed up his debut with a near-triple-double against the Mavs. Had MKG had one more rebound, he would have been the youngest player to ever record a triple-double in the NBA, beating the current record holder, Lebron James, by nearly a full year. Kemba Walker once again led the Cats in scoring with 22 points, while Chase Budinger scored 17 off the bench, all in the second half, in which he converted all eight of his field goal attempts. The story and the deciding factor for the Bobcats was the fact they were pounded on the boards as Byron Mullens and Bismack Biyombo combined for just five rebounds on the night. "It was a disappointing night," said coach Mike Dunlap. "We spent the whole game down about 5-10 points and could rarely get back within reach, but every time we did, we'd lose a couple rebounding battles, give up some 2nd chance points, and turn the ball over. We're a young team, but there's no excuse for playing as out of control as we did tonight."
The Mavericks saw balanced play all around, including particularly spectacular play from Brandan Wright, Darren Collison, and Shawn Marion. Wright scored 18 of the Mavs' 25 points in the third quarter and Darren Collison flirted with a triple-double, while Shawn Marion turned into The Matrix of old. Elton Brand also turned back the clock a bit, to chip in a double-double despite a sprained wrist suffered in the first quarter. The Mavericks led for the final 34 minutes of the game, despite never leading by more than 11 points and never allowing the Cats to even tie the score at all. Coach Rick Carlisle said after the game that he does not intend to play at tonight's breakneck pace, but that he was impressed at Collison's ability to run an uptempo offense. However, he does not think the 34-year-old Dirk Nowitzki can play big minutes in a running-heavy offense.
The Bobcats will return to Charlotte to play the Phoenix Suns next game.