Brady's Legacy check: Pre Super Bowl 49

Typically when a Super Bowl is played, legacies are on the line.

Super Bowl 49 is no different. The player with the most to gain? The quarterback for the AFC champions, Tom Brady. Opponent? The Seattle Seahawks and the Legion of Boom.

If that sounds familiar, it should. It was the same scene last year when the AFC champions Denver Broncos were led by their quarterback Peyton Manning and he had the chance to become the first quarterback to lead two franchises to NFL supremacy, which along with all of his records would put him in a class of his own. To say he came up short is an understatement. The 43-8 drubbing was just an embarrassment.

Tom Brady hopes to have a different result. With a win here, Brady would have four super bowl trophies to his name.

FOUR.

Only two guys, Terry Bradshaw and Brady’s childhood idol Joe Montana, have won four times at the grandest stage. But Brady is different; he’s been to the top stage six times, more than any quarterback ever.

Brady already has the NFL record for most playoff wins in history with 20. To put into perspective, that is more playoff wins he has alone than 21 of the 32 franchises in the NFL have in their entire history. Tom Brady also holds the record for most passing yards in playoff history with 7,017 and most passing touchdowns with 49.

Brady’s dominance through the playoffs has been nothing short of spectacular. Though he has had a few bad games, mostly to the Baltimore Ravens, his good far outweighs his bad. He’s had clutch performances, such as Super Bowl 36 and 38 when he led his team to the game-winning points on the final drive. He has had the statistical dominance; such as in 2011 against the Broncos when he tied an NFL record with six touchdown passes, including five in the first half. The man has shown it all.

But for some reason, there are some people that hold Brady’s two super bowl losses against him in elevating him to the greatest of all time status. That’s not fair to Brady.

Now this is assuming he wins on Sunday, Brady would have the same amount of rings as Montana, widely regarded as the best ever, but would have two losses to the Giants while Montana never lost in the super bowl. By saying this, people are penalizing Brady for WINNING. The reason Brady has two losses while still having the same amount of rings as Montana is because Brady went further in the playoffs all the way to the Super Bowl two times while Montana, other than the four seasons he won it all, was ousted earlier in the playoffs so he never had the opportunity to lose a Super Bowl on top of his four wins.

Also, the way one loses has an impact. Peyton Manning got blown out by a record margin in one loss and threw a game-ending pick 6 in the other. That’s not a good look when you can point straight at the quarterback for the loss. With Brady, it’s different.

When people remember Brady’s first Super Bowl loss, most people will point to the luckiest play in NFL history: The helmet catch when the ball stuck to David Tyree’s helmet after an unreal escape by Eli Manning.

When people remember Brady’s second Super Bowl loss, there will be a clear image of Wes Welker dropping a pass that hit him in both of his hands. Neither time can you really pin it on Brady.

Many young fans won’t remember, but Montana nearly didn’t go unblemished. Unlike Brady, luck was on his side instead of against him. In 1988, when Montana led the legendary drive to beat the Cincinnati Bengals, he almost cost them the game earlier. Montana threw a pass in the middle of the end zone that landed right in the hands of Bengals defensive back Lewis Billups. Billups straight up dropped the pass on his own, with no impact from any 49er. The 49ers, who were trailing 13-6 at that point, may not have recovered from that. Instead, Montana threw a touchdown to Super Bowl MVP Jerry Rice on the very next play.

You think Bradshaw got his four without some luck on his side? Not so fast.

In Super Bowl 13, Roger Staubach stepped up in the pocket on a 3^rd down in the third quarter and fired a pass to a WIDE OPEN Jackie Smith. The Hall-of-Fame tight end dropped the ball and the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal, losing four points on the drive. How much did the Steelers win by on that night? That’s right, four points, 35-31.

The point is, nobody gets to greatness without a little luck. Heck, even Tom Brady had it when he was winning. Remember the “Tuck Rule” in 2001 that propelled the Patriots to a Super Bowl win that year? Remember John Kasay, the Panthers kicker who kicked the kickoff out of bounds with a little over a minute left in the Super Bowl in 2003? That field position gave Brady a short field to set up Adam Vinateri for the game-winner.

If Brady wins his fourth ring on Sunday, his four wins and an additional two appearances should be a plus for him, not something held against him. And him doing it without the like of Jerry Rice or Lynn Swann just drives the point home even more.

The Brady vs. Manning is over. The Brady vs. Montana debate is now in full force.

The Argument is Sealed: Tom Brady reigns over Peyton Manning

This past weekend in the Divisional round of the playoffs, the number 1 seed New England Patriots took on the Baltimore Ravens, a game that many thought was the toughest matchup for the Patriots.

In the other AFC game, Peyton Manning and the Broncos hosted the Indianapolis Colts, a game the Broncos were favored in. It was a matchup of one of the all-time greats in Peyton Manning playing his former team, led by a third year star, at home.

If the outcomes had came out the way everybody predicted, the AFC Championship game would be hyped to the max with Brady vs. Manning Part 17.

Brady took care of business. Manning faltered.

And with that, the Brady vs. Manning debate came to a close. Tom Brady will start in his NINTH conference championship game this upcoming weekend. Peyton Manning will watch comfortably from his home after being bounced for the NINTH time in his first playoff game of the postseason.

Nine conference championships. Nine one-and-dones.

Many Manning apologist want to say that winning is a team game. And they would be completely on the money. The thing they don't take into account is that the quarterback position has more of a weight of who wins and loses the game than arguably any other position in team sports. Want proof? Just look at this past weekend.

Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns and also ran one in himself as the Patriots put up 35 points on the vaunted Ravens defense. Brady and the offense had to do that because the usually-reliable Patriots defense let January-Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense score 31 points.
On the other side, Peyton Manning threw one touchdown and scored a total of 13 points at home in a loss to the Colts. The Colts defense definitely showed up, but there is no doubt that Manning was way off of his game. He was missing short throws, deep throws and everything in between. But as a viewer, it would be easy to give Manning a pass on the game, because as Manning apologist will point out, Manning has been playing on a strained/partially torn quad for the last month of the season.

Okay, fine. Manning gets a pass on his NFL-record 13th postseason loss.
But what about the other 12? Manning has been one-and-done NINE times. Eight of those times his team was favored. Six of those times he was at home. His team has scored less than 20 points in 11 of the 13 losses, including being shutout in 2002 by the Jets 41-0.

The thing is, Manning is so dominant in the regular season that his playoff struggles really raise some eyebrows. Nine times his teams have won 12 or more games int he regular season (four 12-4, four 13-3, one 14-2). He has a 179-77 record in the regular season. He has 51 game-winning drives in the regular season.
But somehow that translates to 11-13 in the playoffs with just one game-winning drive in his entire postseason career.

To put into perspective, Tom Brady has had two game-winning drives in Super Bowls alone, and just had another one this past weekend.

So yes, while winning is a team accomplishment, quarterback play is a huge part of the team. There is a reason why the Cowboys gave Tony Romo over 100 million dollars even though he had one playoff win under his belt. There is a reason why the Bears made Jay Cutler the highest paid quarterback in the NFL even though he had one playoff win under his belt. There is a reason why the Bengals gave Andy Dalton over 100 million dollars and he has yet to win a playoff game (though he has got to the playoffs every year of his career). The reason is simple. When a team realizes they have even a decent quarterback, they lock him up because of the importance of the position.

And while winning is a team accomplishment, so is breaking records. Want proof of that?
When Peyton Manning broke nearly every quarterback record known to mankind in 2013, he was throwing to Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Wes Welker, and Julius Thomas and had a phenomenal offensive line.
When Tom Brady had his best statistical season in 2007, he was throwing to Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, and Wes Welker and also had an amazing offensive line.

For their respective careers, Tom Brady has had a better defense for the most part, especially int he Super Bowl winning days but Peyton Manning has had a far superior offense. But when you actually look at the talent the two quarterbacks have played with, the equality is mind-boggling.

Since Tom Brady started in 2001, he has had a total of 59 pro bowlers around him.
Since 2001, Peyton Manning has also had exactly 59 pro bowlers to work with.
Tom Brady has played with 17 1st team All-Pros in his career.
Peyton Manning? You guessed it, 17 All-Pros as well.

With the combination of playing with a stronger offensive arsenal for much of his career, as well as playing in a dome stadium for much of his career as opposed to frigid Foxboro like Brady, Manning does edge Brady is career stats for a lot of categories.
However Brady has statistical dominance even in the playoffs as he has the most passing yards, most passing touchdowns and ultimately the most wins ever by a quarterback in NFL postseason history.

There are many other factors that tilt the argument to Brady's side, and to read them you can check out the article I wrote just a couple of months back at http://sportstation126.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-war-of-1812-legacy-check.html

At the end of the day, we are talking about two first-ballot Hall of Famers, two quarterbacks that are widely regarded as top 5 in NFL history and are extremely celebrated. In no way am I disrespecting Manning or diminishing his greatness. He is an all-time great, arguably third all-time behind Joe Montana and Brady.
But of course, many Manning supporters won't waver in his support, no matter how much evidence is put in front of them, and that's understandable. But as a neutral viewer that knows the game, it's hard to put Manning in front of Brady.

And this weekend just may have iced it.

Sorry quarterbacks, Watt is the real MVP

The 2014 regular season has come to a close, which means it is time to start thinking about who gets the most coveted awards in football. The biggest individual honor when it comes to the regular season alone is the MVP, Most Valuable Player. This award has recently turned into the MVQ, the Most Valuable Quarterback, but this year there is a player who is the most deserving and he doesn't even play offense....or kinda doesn't play offense....Well, he plays defense, but plays offense too. He kinda just does everything.

His name: J.J. Watt, listed as the defensive tackle for the Houston Texans but also plays some tight end.

Before I make my case for him, I'll run through some other candidates and why they fall just a tad bit short of him.

Aaron Rodgers- Aaron Rodgers, the best quarterback in the NFL in my opinion, once again had a phenomenal year. His stats were great, as they always are but I've always been one that doesn't just go by the stat line. There is much more than that. Let's start in the opener, a game in Seattle in which the Packers got drubbed by the Seahawks and Rodgers could not find it in him to target Richard Sherman even once.
Then came a game in Detroit. The Packers lost 19-7 and Rodgers threw for just 162 yards. Now, I do realize that is a top notch defense and a road game, but Rodgers didn't play his best.
Last, a game in Buffalo against the Bills in mid-December that should be fresh in the memories of many. Aaron Rodgers for the first time in his career threw multiple interceptions, two, without a single touchdown. He completed a miserable 40.4% of his passes for a quarterback rating of 34.3 and a QBR of 17.2.
Rodgers finished second in the league in QBR at 82.6, just barely behind Tony Romo's 82.8.
A very superb season. Just not the best season.

Tom Brady- Tom Brady had an excellent season, especially considering what most people and "experts" were saying about him four weeks into the season. Brady pretty much stunk for the first four weeks of the season, which started with the opener against the Miami Dolphins. Brady and the Patriots offense were shutout in the second half of a opening day road loss to a division rival. After a decent game against the Adrian Peterson-less Vikings and escaping Oakland with a seven point win (thanks to the defense), Brady played a putrid game on Monday Night Football against the Chiefs, a game in which things so out of hand he got benched and head coach Bill Belichick was asked if there was a quarterback change to be made in New England.
To Brady's credit, he probably has had the least amount of star power in his offensive arsenal out of any superstar quarterback. But since week 5, he played at a spectacular level and climbed all the way up to fourth in QBR for the season at 74.3.
He really got going when tight end Rob Gronkowski was back to full strength. Some Patriots supporters can make a case for Gronk as the puzzle piece on the team that really kick-started the team this year. If Brady isn't even undoubtedly THE guy on his team, how can he be THE guy of the NFL?
Again, a great season, but not enough to merit a league MVP.

Tony Romo- Tony Romo had a sensational year, arguably the best quarterback in the NFL, just talking about the 2014 season alone. He showed great toughness battling through his well-documented back pain and reportedly some issues with his ribs. He finished on top in the league in QBR at 82.8 and quarterback rating 113.2 as well as the best completion percentage in the NFL at 69.9. Statistically, the MVP is Tony Romo, hands down. However, there is more to the story than the stats. Romo had a great year, but the guy behind him, Demarco Murray, just happened to be the leading rusher in the NFL and a guy who broke Emmitt Smith's team record for rushing yards. Smith by the way is the all-time leading rusher and a hall of famer, so that is no small feat. As a result, Romo faced a lot more eight man boxes, which opened up his pass game. When he was throwing, he was throwing to arguably the best receiver in the game in Dez Bryant, who by the way set the team mark by catching 16 touchdown passes. A lot of Bryant's success is because of Romo and his accurate and prolific passing, no doubt, but throwing against an eight man box is much easier than when a defense is gearing up to stop the pass.
Like Brady, Romo can't be the MVP in my opinion because arguably he isn't even the MVP of his own team. Demarco Murray has something to say about that. Many Cowboys fans will point to the game against the Arizona Cardinals to point to Romo's value, but that was against a great defense and the Cardinals were still at their top quarterback at the time. There is some debate if the Cowboys would have won the game even with Romo. But the bottom line with Romo is this: Great season, maybe the best quarterbacking season, but he isn't even the unquestioned MVP on his team, so how can he be the MVP of the NFL?

Demarco Murray- Demarco Murray had the best season as a runner of any running back int he NFL, which is shown by him leading the NFL in rushing yards. Not only that, but as mentioned earlier, he passed the great Emmitt Smith for most yards and carries in a season in franchise history. Murray started the season with eight consecutive games running for triple digit yardage, an NFL record and ended up hitting at least 100 in 12 of the 16 games.
Even Murray's "bad" games weren't all because of his lack of ability. He had a season-low 58 yards against the Indianapolis Colts, but that was because the Cowboys blew them out of Jerry World and plus, Murray had broke a bone in his hand the week prior. He rushed for just 79 yards against the Cardinals, but that was with Weeden at quarterback and against a great, great Cardinals run defense.
Which leads to my point as to why he isn't the league MVP. Murray has one of his teammates on this list of MVP candidates, so in my opinion he can't really be the MVP of the NFL, even though he had a great season.

***Point of Note: The thing with Brady, Romo, and Murray not being the most valuable on their own team so they shouldn't be MVP is only because I believe J.J. Watt was so dominant with so little help, he gets the edge. There are definitely scenarios in which the MVP is not the undoubted most valuable player on his team, but he either sets big-time NFL records or there isn't another dominant force in the league that year like Watt is this year. If Watt is taken out of the equation, my MVP would be Tony Romo.***

Now let's get to the REAL MVP in my book: J.J. Watt-
    J.J. Watt had one of the best season by a defensive player in recent memory. In recent years, Watt has had the likes of Connor Barwin and Antonio Smith to help him dominate the opposing offensive line, but this year he had just a bunch of no-namers. Jadeveon Clowney barely played this year so that made Watt not only the focal point of the defensive line, but of the whole defense and almost the whole team pretty much. His impact has been profound.
Watt finished the year with 20.5 sacks, just two shy of the single-season NFL record. He became the first player with back-to-back 20+ sacks seasons, showing that even after teams knew of his dominance, they still couldn't stop him. He had an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown, another fumble recovery for a touchdown, a sack for a safety in the final game... just to signify a few key big-time defensive plays. He also had three receiving touchdowns as a tight end this year and tallied 59 total tackles on the season. Watt also played every single game this season and as of early December, when he was on the field, the opposing QBR was 48. When he came off, the QBR rose to 71. When he was on the field, opposing runners ran for 3.9 yards per carry. With him off, the number rose to 5.1 yards per carry.
Since 1986 when Lawrence Taylor won MVP, only quarterbacks and running backs have been recipients of the award. That needs to change this year.

J.J. Watt, you da real MVP.

Tim MacMahon- ESPN Dallas

As Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle was about to take the podium for his scheduled pregame press conference before the Mavs took the court to face off against the Miami Heat, a host of media members patiently waited. Most of them had their smartphones out, and some were dressed in a suit.

But in the very front row on the left side sat Tim MacMahon, in his usual spot, with his usual attire of jeans and a nice shirt, and his usual pen and notebook to go along with his smartphone.

The 38-year-old ESPN Dallas reporter has a unique approach to his job and is well respected by fellow media members he works with, as well as personnel he interviews and reports on.

“He dresses comfortable,” said Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News when asked about what impresses him the most about MacMahon’s approach to work. “Nice jeans, every once in a while he’ll break out a suit, which throws everybody off, but usually nice jeans and a good shirt”

Other than just his attire, Sefko went on to praise MacMahon’s work, saying “he’s got a nose for what people want to read. He’s good at digging through the BS and getting to stuff that will grab readers”

MacMahon prepares to ask Coach Carlisle questions prior to a Dallas Mavericks game

MacMahon grew up locally in the metropolis of Flower Mound, Texas. He was the third of seven children to Paul and B.J. MacMahon.

His father Paul was an advertiser while his mother was a stay-at-home mom and looked after Tim and his three brothers and three sisters.

MacMahon went to Marcus High School in Flower Mound for 12 weeks before switching over to a boarding school in Bath, Maine. Over there, MacMahon excelled in sports, playing quarterback and safety on the football team, center on the basketball team, and ran track.

MacMahon enjoyed playing multiple sports and said, “The one good thing about getting sent to this little prep school in Maine is that I was able to go both ways (in football), which obviously would not happen playing for a 5A school like Marcus.”

Though MacMahon enjoyed football and basketball, there was one sport he despised.

“Track is terrible,” said MacMahon.

Following his high school graduation in 1995, MacMahon took his basketball talents to St. Petersburg, Florida where he played basketball for Division 2 program Eckerd College. After playing there for a semester and focusing his studies in business, he decided to move in another direction.

“I took a couple of economic classes, figured out that wasn’t my thing,” said MacMahon. “I figured out I didn’t want to be in business my whole life.”

MacMahon figured he wanted to be involved in sports and the best way he thought of was the media. That, along with his then-girlfriend now wife Tida being in North Texas, led to Tim packing his bags and moving from tropical Florida back near home and becoming part of the Mean Green.

At UNT, MacMahon was advised to do broadcast journalism as opposed to radio television because it “gives you more options.”

While at UNT, MacMahon engaged himself in the school newspaper, the North Texas Daily while also taking part in the school radio station, KNTU.

Soon, MacMahon met the late Richard Durrett, a TCU grad who was the editor for the Denton Record Chronicle at the time. MacMahon recalled them meeting in the Super Pit before a UNT basketball game, where Durrett interviewed him for a part-time position at the Chronicle, working about 12 hours a week at seven dollars per hour.

“He[Durrett] was really good to me,” said MacMahon.

That part-time job turned into a 39-hours-a-week job, which led to MacMahon senior year being stretched out into what he called a “senior era.”

“I was working full time at Denton Record Chronicle, wasn’t taking many classes, so it took me four or five years to finish up what would have been my senior year,” said MacMahon.

After finally finishing his classes, MacMahon graduated in 2003 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism.

When speaking on the academic side of college, MacMahon said it’s “the most overrated part of college. Nobody has ever asked me about my GPA.”

MacMahon continued working for the Chronicle while soon also taking a position at the Dallas Morning News for the North Texas beat. After a few years, MacMahon went to the Dallas Morning News in the Collin County Bureau and did that for a few months.

After that, MacMahon got promoted to cover high school sports in the area and did that for three years.

Following his three-year stint doing that, MacMahon got elevated to the college ranks, covering schools such as Baylor and Texas Tech.

After nine months doing that gig, the blog position came open and MacMahon worked with people like Sefko and covered the Dallas Cowboys and Mavericks extensively, while mixing in a little bit of Texas Rangers as well.

Then, in 2009, ESPN Dallas.com was launched and MacMahon transitioned there along with his editor, and has been there since.

MacMahon works in the media room following a contest between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers

 At ESPN Dallas, MacMahon made a positive impression on many, including columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor, who primarily covers the Cowboys.

When asked about MacMahon, Taylor pointed to why he believes MacMahon has been so successful.

“The best thing about Tim is that he is unafraid,” said Taylor. “He doesn’t let players, coaches or members of the front office intimidate him and you can’t say that about every journalist. Sometimes you have to ask tough questions and it’s not always easy because a lot of times the people you are talking to don’t want to provide answers.”

Taylor went on to specifically talk about MacMahon’s work ethic.

“The job is about grinding,” said Taylor. “It’s about working nights and weekends and holidays without complaint. It’s a job of inconvenience and you have to accept that if you’re going to succeed. Tim doesn’t have any problem grinding.”

When talking about an inspiration, MacMahon pointed to a couple of guys.

“David Moore, was covering the Cowboys with the Morning News when I was in school and he was a North Texas alum,” said MacMahon. “Phil Rogers, who’s with MLB.com now was another one. I never met him but he was with Chicago Tribune at the time and a big time baseball writer. I saw those clips and said “Hey if they can make it big time out here, so can I.”

MacMahon has definitely won over his respect with the people he works with too. Before almost every Mavericks game, MacMahon and other reporters talk to Mark Cuban in the locker room. Cuban spoke glowingly about MacMahon and his work.

“He’s an expert at headline porn, he knows how to have fun with it,” said Cuban. “He makes it fun for me and makes it interesting.”

MacMahon (right) interviews Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki following a game between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers, in which Nowitzki moved to 8th on the all-time NBA scoring list

 Though MacMahon is well respected and loves his work, it doesn’t come without a major challenge. He says his biggest challenge is to manage his job and family time.

“My schedule is determined by the Mavs schedule, Cowboys schedule, whatever my radio schedule is, which is also unpredictable,” said MacMahon. “My wife and kids need to understand there will be times I don’t have too much time. I just maximize the down time, and in the busy time just do what I can.”

MacMahon said in his down time, he likes to hang out with his daughters Baylee, 8, and Finlee, 5, and play with them and just watch sports.

“I don’t have very exciting life,” said MacMahon.

MacMahon acknowledged that he is very happy with where he is right now.

“My hobby is what I get paid to do,” said MacMahon. “If I wasn’t working I’d be looking for excuses to watch sports on the weekends and at night. Now I have a legitimate excuse, I can tell my wife I have to do this for work.”

MacMahon says he likes where he’s at and “doesn’t have any great goals to check off the list.”

“I’d like to continue advancing and that crap, but I love what I’m doing,” said MacMahon. “I want to keep doing this, and do it well for next 30 years and then retire. That’d be nice.” 

Post-game Power Points: Mavs 109, Knicks 102 (OT)

Monta Ellis struggles, then saves Mavs- Monta Ellis had arguably his worst game in a Dallas Maverick uniform.... Until it mattered most. Ellis was 1-9 from the field with just 2 points and 3 turnovers with 4:28 left in regulation. He had picked up his 5th foul with seven minutes left in the 4th quarter, but head coach Rick Carlisle kept him in the game.
And boy did that pay off. Monta Ellis hit a couple of free throws with 4:56 left in the 4th quarter and then hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Mavs a one-point edge. In overtime, Ellis missed a shot but saved the ball from going out of bounds and threw it in to Tyson Chandler, who gave the Mavs a two point lead that they would not relinquish.
Ellis finished with 8 points on 3-13 shooting, six assists, three steals, and a couple of rebounds.

Three point struggles continue- Though it was a tough win, it was very ugly from behind the arc for the Mavs. They finished 4-31 from three-point range, a putrid 12.9%.
When Dirk was asked about it, he could not provide a definite answer, just saying "I don't know."
The Mavs also struggled defending the three-point line, allowing the Knicks to shoot 50%, including former Maverick Jose Calderon going 7-9 from downtown.

Tyson Chandler explodes on his former team, Calderon does the same for the Knicks- Tyson Chandler definitely had this date circled on his calendar. He posted season-highs in both points (17) and rebounds (25) for a very impressive double-double. His impact goes beyond the stat lines though as he probably had two of the top five momentum-shifting plays, one being an alley-oop and the other being a punctuating dunk in overtime to give the Mavs the lead in the waning minute.
Jose Calderon wasn't too shabby for the Knicks either. Ironically on a night the Mavs were short-handed at the point guard position because of injuries to starter Jameer Nelson and former Knick Raymond Felton, Calderon exploded for 7 three-pointers and a team-high 21 points. Unlike Chandler though obviously, he came up on the losing end.

Dirk plays big in the second half- Dirk had four points at halftime, but finished with a game-high 30 points. He was an absolute monster in the second half and overtime, scoring clutch basket after clutch basket. He also put the game away effectively, scoring a basket with 43.9 seconds left in the game to give the Mavs a four-point lead. The Knicks started playing the foul game after that and never caught up.
Dirk finished with 30 points on 11-24 shooting, six rebounds, two assists, and three steals. He also played a season-high 39 minutes.

What's next?- The Mavs kick off their four game road trip on Friday at Toronto to face off against the Raptors at 6:30 p.m.

Post-game Power Points: Miami Heat at Dallas Mavericks

Miami Heat 105, Dallas Mavericks 96

Lackluster first half on both ends- The defensive deficiencies have been somewhat of a problem all season and the first half of this game wasn’t much better. The Mavs allowed the Heat to shoot 60 percent from the field while they shot a measly 36.6 percent. Dirk had 16 points in the first half, but he was the only Maverick to break double digits as he got minimal help from his supporting cast.

At the other end, Chris Bosh and Luol Deng had 15 points each, with Mario Chalmers pitching in 10 points of his own. Deng especially had a very efficient first half as he made seven of his eight shot attempts.

Heat offense dictates- The Miami Heat scored all over the floor, but they especially dominated the closer they got to the rim. It wasn’t even the big men for the Heat that were scoring down low, actually it was their ability to shoot from the perimeter that brought Tyson Chandler and the Mavs big men to the perimeter and opened up easy lay in opportunities for the Heat guards to attack the rim.

Monta Ellis rocks the third quarter-  Monta Ellis sent the AAC in an uproar as he came out of the gate after halftime and scored 10 very quick points for the Mavs. He had two quick shots and then followed it up with back-to-back three pointers. Ellis finished with 14 points in the third and had 23 for the game.

However, the Mavs defensive struggles carried over from the first half as they allowed 28 points in the third period to scoring 23 of their own.

Aside from just giving up points, they were giving up shots that drained any momentum they had built, such as three pointers to Wade and Chalmers at different points in the period as the shot clock expired.

Tale of the two newcomers- The Miami Heat added Luol Deng to their arsenal on a two-year 19.9 million dollars deal. The Mavs added Chandler Parsons on a three-year 46 million dollar deal. The stat lines for each?

Deng went 13-17 for 30 points, including four from downtown. He added five rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Parsons went 1-9 for four points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and a turnover.

Statistically notable-

Luol Deng finished with 30 points on 13-18 shooting, five rebounds and three assists.

After 16 first half points for Dirk, he scored one more point the rest of the way and finished with 17 points on 6-15 shooting, six rebounds and three assists.

Notable quote- Mark Cuban said before the game: "I hated them before LeBron got there. He didn’t impact my feelings for them at all.''