The Lead: Dirk Nowitzki made his return for the Mavericks but didn’t look good early on, moving gingerly and getting exploited defensively. Four minutes into the third quarter, his team down 53-41, Nowitzki was called for a foul while trying to check Zach Randolph on the block and decided he’d had enough, talking himself into two technical fouls and getting a much-desired ticket back to the locker room.
Nowitzki finished with seven points on 2-7 shooting. No one else was able to step up for a struggling Mavs team that has now lost five straight games and eight of its past 10, while the Grizzlies took care of the ball (nine turnovers through three quarters), shared it (20 assists on 36 made field-goals), and were focused defensively. The result was a fairly dominating buzzer-to-buzzer performance for the Grizzlies, who built a 10-point lead midway through the first quarter and never had less than a three-possession cushion the rest of the way before turning the game into a route in the third quarter.
Man of the Match: Before the game, Grizzlies general Manager Chris Wallace recognized Zach Randolph for dual recent accolades, being named the Western Conference Player of the Week and getting the NBA’s Community Assist Award for the month of December. Then Randolph went out and continued his streak of gaudy performances, slicing up the Mavericks’ depleted frontcourt to the tune of 23 points and 20 rebounds, his fourth 20-20 game of the season his sixth in two seasons with the Grizzlies. Randolph is averaging 26 and 14 on 54% shooting so far this month. After a somewhat rocky summer, Z-Bo is back in beast mode — in the best possible way — both on and off the court.
