Mavs Pregame Preview - Mavs VS Pistons Early Tonight!

By Crystal Carroll

Detroit, Rock City and this afternoon the Mavs will be painting the town a new shade of blue as they rock the house against the Pistons hoping to take the second on the road and the first in a back to back with Detroit and Milwaukee before returning home.

Handily Taking Another Win? - Mavs took down their last opponent on the road, the Timberwolves, 89-77 despite the absence of Josh Howard who was pulled from the starting five only hours before tip off. Mavs outshot the T-Wolves 40% from the field to 32.6% with Dirk leading the way with a game high 20 points. Dirk also led in the defensive effort as the Mavs amassed 57 rebounds, 46 of which were defensive boards following the dismal San Antonio performance where defense was less than eventful.

A Blast From The Past - Dallas took full advantage of Chauncy Billup's departure last season which left the Pistons wounded without leadership. They took both the games against taking the series after splitting the previous 5 season series. Mavs have won 13 of the last 20 against Detroit.

Carlisle's Detroit Memories - You might recall that Coach Rick Carlisle could be seen as a part of the Pistons organization during the 2001-03 seasons. It was there that he led the Detroit team to two Central Division Championships and to the Eastern Conference Finals while earning a 100-64 record.

D-FENCE Key To Game - Poor shooting during any game can be a deal breaker but solid defense can make up ground for any team. In the past, 40% shooting would have knocked the Mavs out of the game, however with new focus on defense the game has changed for Dallas and when shooting is down, the team is able to turn on their defensive charm and make big plays happen to limit shooting opportunities for opposition. On nights they are having a bad defensive night, the only way to win ball games will be to step up shooting, both shooting and defense cannot be off but when both are on the Mavs are one of the toughest in the league.

JET's Flight To The Top - Jason Terry leads all players off the bench with 163 points in only 8 games. With such early success it is no wonder that he moved into the 8th overall scoring placement for the Mavs with 6,593 points as a Mav. Maintaining his averaged scoring percentage he should overtake the 7th place player (Sam Perkins) by December.

Board Breaking - Damp is already 3 double-doubles into the season and has been laying down the law under the bucket while rewriting the Mavs fate in numerous games. He has had at least 10 rebounds in 5 of the last 6 games and already has had 14 or more in 2 games. Since joining Dallas he has had only 29 14 or more rebound games with 6 of those a season ago, he looks to surpass last season as he is well on track to do so.

Did You Know? - Detroit was the first opponent for Dallas when they opened the doors to American Airlines Center...

Mavs Over 100 - Last season, Dallas had 100+ in each of the two games. They recorded a high of 112 in their January 23rd game in which they had 63 first half points and followed with 49 second half points. In each of those games Dirk had a game high point total with 26 in the 112 - 91 win and 30 in the 103 - 101 win in March.

Our Five For Tonight - Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion, Erick Dampier, Rodrigue Beaubois and Jason Kidd. For those wanting to see more of Roddy B tonight is their chance! Beaubois has averaged 7.6 minutes per game and will be making his 3rd start of the season tonight. It seems to be a common trait of Beaubois that when he starts he manages the first points of the game for the team as he did in Minnesota with the first 7 points and he did with New Orleans as he shot to the first 9 to get a little momentum rolling for the team.

Standings, Records & More - Mavs are 6-3 on the season and currently standing 1st in the Southwest Pistons could not be more different though, despite only a single game difference. Detroit is 5-4 but standing 5th in the Central Division. Mavs are coming off a 1 game win while Detroit has been moving through opponents as they have won the last 3.

Watch, Listen & Love - Game time is 5:00 so don't forget to tune in early to FSSW to watch or ESPN 103.3 FM and KFLC 1270 AM (Spanish) to hear the game