Donuts: Hawks 80, Mavs 75, As I Stand Upside-Down

    Unfortunate personal revelation: Since about midnight Sunday morning, I’ve been vomiting and otherwise occupying myself in my bathroom dealing with assorted gastrointestinal horrors. Ten straight hours of this! Bleechh! It is something I ate? Something I drank?

   Something I watched?

   Hawks-at-Mavs Donuts and more … from a night at the AAC in which the Mavs lost, 80-75, to register their first two-game losing streak of the year:

DONUT 1: Was there a sense of desperation here, and is that why ex-Hawk Jason Terry made his first start of the season? Terry made his first Mavs start since March 9 of last season at Cleveland (in place of Roddy Beaubois, who had made 12 consecutive starts.) I thought it odd; when the Mavs do get off to fast starts, isn’t it often because French Cuffs goes and gets him seven or nine first-quarter points?

 Well, if the purpose was to send a desperate memo to themselves, they didn’t get the memo. Terry finished the game with 17 points … but it took him 16 shots to make his five baskets. And after one quarter the Mavs were down 27-19 … so what was the point again?

   DONUT 2: The Mavs did play some defense here. Atlanta missed 20 straight shots!

  But, said Shawn Marion, "if you aren’t making shots, what difference does it make?’’

   DONUT 3: Maybe it’s because I’ve spend the last 12 hours standing upside-down, but I’m having a hard time pinning this on anyone.

   Consider Dirk Nowitzki, who after Friday’s loss at Memphis said the lack of easy offense, “That’s on me.’’ The UberMan poured 44 minutes of effort into this one to total 32 points (for his sixth 30-point-plus game of the year) with nine rebounds, two assists and a steal.

    Or consider Erick Dampier, who some might suggest isn’t the right center to oppose the “athletic’’ Hawks. His 12 rebounds kept Dallas competitive in that department, and late in the game, Damp was still flying around, sprinting to the perimeter to contest outside jumpers.

    Or consider them together: Dirk and Damp each blocked four shots ... and Dallas totaled a season-high 14.

    So it's not lack of effort ...

    DONUT 4: OK, I feel like crap. Let’s lighten this up: Can you name all the NBA All-Star selections of the 2000’s? Ready … go!

   DONUT 5: OK, nothing I can do about the way I feel so let’s darken it back up: Tonight on “60 Minutes”: Tim Donaghy.

    I wish I was kidding.

   DONUT 6: Hey, it could be worse: Portland’s Greg Oden just shattered his knee cap. 

   DONUT 7: Dallas shot 19 percent in the fourth quarter?! The game's tied at 64 with 11:21 to go ... and then the Hawks go on a 10-1 run?! With 82 points on Friday and 75 here, the Mavs keep setting new season-lows for scoring. ...

    DONUT 8: The DB.com Store is at your service! Let “The UberMan’’ keep you warm! ... Visit The DB.com Store: ...

    DONUT 9: A sad lesson in how the internet media works: Some blogger pretends Notre Dame has chosen a coach, says so (as a test) … and then the sports media world fails said test. 

    DONUT 10: David Stern says he sees a woman playing in the NBA in the next 10 years.   

    DONUT 11: I mentioned the LeBron-vs.-Noah exchange yesterday. Here’s the video:  

     And really, if this is anybody but LeBron, does all of America not cite him for being a “bitch,’’ as Noah called him?

   DONUT 12: Here’s a good look at John Wall, next year’s NBA No. 1 draft pick.

   DONUT 13: Kidd keeps climbing up the charts, including the 3-Pointers Made Chart. With his one 3-pointer against the Hawks, J-Kidd has now moved into eighth place among NBA leaders for 3-pointers made. He passes former Mav Nick Van Exel (1,528) and has 1,529 3s for his career.

    And that’s about all the happy news I can muster this morning. I’m going back to bed.