The
only team that really believed in him was the Dallas Mavericks, who
sent him to their summer-league team in Las Vegas hoping that someday,
he'd have an international following and an electric presence and would
be as ready for a high-profile game as he was Tuesday when the Knicks
visited the Mavs.
No, not Jeremy Lin, though the Mavs
prospect-turned-Knicks standout was in that very same gym at the very
same time. That electric young guard was Roddy Beaubois, whose 18 points
on 6-for-11 shooting sparked the Mavs to a 95-85 win.
"We were
kind of sad and mad at the way we lost last night,'' Beaubois said,
reflecting on a Monday night disappointment in Oklahoma City. "So today
we wanted to do everything to win this game. And we did.''
We are three years into the Beaubois era, and most think the jury is still out on what the Mavericks have in the 24-year-old.
Maybe
he turns into the dynamic, game-changing guard that GM Donnie Nelson
thought he could be when he acquired him at the end of the first round
of the 2009 draft. It's also possible that a spotty basketball IQ, or
physical fragility, or a laissez-faire approach to life prevents him
from ever being more than a thrilling-yet-erratic contributor.
But
this is the kind of night that shows why Beaubois is an asset to this
team. The Mavs, despite the all-world presence of Dirk Nowitzki, often
struggle to generate easy baskets and go through stretches where they
depend heavily on jump shots.
One cure for that? Rodrigue Beaubois.
His
spark off the bench, as Jason Kidd's backup at the point and then
alongside him at the 2, was needed throughout for a Dallas team on the
second night of a back-to-back, in the midst of five losses in six
games, and prepping for three games in three nights this weekend.
Oh,
and as Beaubois noted, a team still miffed about not getting calls in a
95-91 loss at Oklahoma City. "We had a tough game last night which we
felt we should have won,'' Kidd said.
In the first half of this
one, the Mavs offense was clanking to the tune of 41 percent shooting,
including a ghastly 2 of 13 for seven points between Dirk and Vince
Carter. Beaubois was the ballast during that offensive malaise, tallying
12 points on 4-of-7 shooting and attacking the rim with athletic
abandon as the Mavs opened a 19-point lead.
The slender, 6-foot-2
guard has a gear that no else on the roster has, and it's evident in the
way he glides down the floor. It's the type of athleticism that can
play anywhere — and might play somewhere else, depending on how Dallas
manipulates its cap flexibility next summer.
Nowitzki eventually
got on track, scoring 24 of his 28 in the second half. Kidd filled the
box score, too, with 15 points and six assists. And after falling behind
momentarily in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks mounted a 14-0 run to
take charge and put the game out of reach.
Dallas' ability to
control Linsanity was part of the success. Lin, the rookie sensation who
was once a Mavericks Summer Leaguer, managed to contribute 14 points
and seven assists, but missed 9 of 13 shots. The Mavs also did a job on
Tyson Chandler, who was so pivotal to Dallas' title run last season but
had just six points and eight rebounds Tuesday.
In a pregame
ceremony to present Chandler with his championship ring, Mavs coach Rick
Carlisle called him "a guy that will go down as one of the all-time
legendary Maverick players," and the fans roared with appreciation.
''To
us, he was that missing piece last year that took us over the top,''
Nowitzki said. ''I was happy to see him get a great ovation by the
crowd. That was a special moment for him and for us. I'm glad everything
got their ring now and we can focus on getting to the playoffs.''
