Tough loss in NOLA
Hornets 114 Mavericks 107 Record: 3-2 Starting Lineups: Jason Kidd, Rodrigue Beaubois, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Erick Dampier Chris Paul, Morris Peterson, Julian Wright, David West, Emeka Okafor Observations: - Damp 5 for 5 on starts; Gooden and Ross sitting out with injuries. - The rookie Rodrigue “Roddy” Beaubois is filling in for Ross at starting shooting guard. – This moves keeps Jason Terry and JJ Barea coming off the bench. - A possible called play on the first possession…Kidd throws an alley-oop to a streaking Roddy for the first bucke

I am a Nowitness
Mavericks 96-85 Record:  3-1 Starting Lineups: Jason Kidd, Quinton Ross, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Erick Dampier Deron Williams, Ronnie Brewer, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur Observations: - Damp now 4 for 4 in the start count; Still no Gooden with a rib cage muscle strain - Jason Kidd actually had a driving layup in the first…refreshing. - Quinton Ross leaves the game with a bruised lower back.  Only JJ Barea and Jason Terry left to play the two guard. - 20-17 Utah leads after one quarter…ugly performance by both teams. - The

Mavs sweep Los Angeles
Mavericks 93 Clippers 84 Record: 2-1 Starting Lineups: Kidd, Ross, Marion, Dirk, Damp Davis, Gordon, Thornton, Kaman, Camby Observations: - Damp is now 3 for 3 on starts; Gooden is sitting out with a rib cage muscle strain. - Dirk getting involved early unlike Friday night with 12 first half points. - Clippers big man Chris Kaman scored eight points in the first six minutes and finished the first half with 19 points. Defending the opposition down low continues to be an issue. - Damp scores first transition bucket ever…well, maybe not ever. - Carroll enters late in the f

Mavs down the Champs
Mavericks 94 Lakers 80 Record:  1-1 Starting Lineups: Kidd, Ross, Marion, Dirk, Damp Fisher, Kobe, Artest, Odom, Bynum Observations: - Erick Dampier is two for two this season in terms of starts.  Co-starter?  Hasn’t happened yet. - The Mavs debuted their royal blue alternate jerseys last night.  I’m not going to lie…I really like them.  It seems like they will last longer than the infamous grey alternates from a few years ago that appeared in only one game. - Quinton Ross guarded Kobe for the majority of the first quarter with moderate success. - JJ Barea is

Opening Night Observations
Wizards 102 Mavericks 91 Record:  0-1 Starting Lineups: Kidd, Ross, Marion, Dirk, Dampier Arenas, Miller, Butler, Oberto, Heywood - The first basket of the Mavs season was made by none other than Quinton Ross - The first substitution of the season:  Jason Terry for Ross - Second subsitution:  Gooden for Dirk - When Marion checked out, we saw a lot of rotations with three guards.  Some with Dirk and Gooden at the four and five.  Kris Humphries saw some time at center as well. - Picking up where he left off last year, JJ Barea provided a nice spark off the bench.  He had 13 points in 23 minutes.