NBA Capsules: Nowitzki, Howard lead Mavericks past Raptors

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks had a perfect night, welcoming back swingman Josh Howard in a blowout win.

Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points and nine rebounds, and Howard scored 16 points in his season debut in the Mavericks' 129-101 victory over Toronto on Saturday night.

Howard was in the starting lineup after missing all of the preseason and the first five games while recovering from surgery on his left ankle and left wrist in May.

He was a little jittery at the beginning, but he quickly settled down with some aggressive moves to the basket.

"I was nervous as heck out there," he said. "But after I made my first couple free throws, I was fine."

He admitted he'll be sore for a while, but he was pleased with his performance after adding four rebounds, two assists and three steals in 24 minutes.

"It's something I have to keep working through," Howard said. "Of course I'm fatigued and I have to work through the process of getting back to 100 percent, which I'm not. But I felt pretty good, getting back in the swing of things. I had a good time out there."

Jason Terry added 19 points, and Shawn Marion had 18 points and eight rebounds for Dallas, hitting his last nine attempts from the field.

Marion saw flashes of the Mavericks' offensive potential in his first game with Howard. Marion joined the Mavericks from the Raptors in a multiple-team trade in July.

"It felt good, but a little weird because we haven't been out there," Marion said. "It's always good to have another weapon out there."

Dallas native Chris Bosh had 26 points and 12 rebounds for Toronto, and Andrea Bargnani added 22 points.

Toronto opened a three-game trip Friday night with a 107-90 victory at New Orleans, but the Raptors were lethargic on the second night of the back-to-back.

"It was our first back-to-back, and they got off to a track meet," Bosh said. "We kind of played into their game. We settled for too many jump shots. They got long rebounds and were off to the races."

The Raptors set a club record with eight 3-pointers in the third quarter against the Hornets, but Toronto made only 8 of 22 from long range against Dallas.

"They went past us, and they shot over us," Toronto coach Jay Triano said. "They had more movement and energy and had confidence in their shooting. Our energy level was low."

Howard got off to a fast start, contributing seven points and two rebounds while playing the entire first quarter as Dallas carried a 26-25 lead into the second quarter.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was impressed with Howard's first-quarter effort.

"He's definitely one of the high-energy guys," Carlisle said. "Josh was aggressive, which is his nature."

"You've got to be ready when the lights go on," said Howard, who was counted on to provide first-quarter offense for the Mavericks last season. "I want to be the guy who gets things going. I don't want to lose that job. The one person besides myself who does a great job in the first quarter is LeBron James."

Nowitzki had 16 points in the half to lead Dallas to a 55-48 lead. Bosh had 15 points and 10 points at the break.

The Mavericks broke the game open with a 15-4 run to start the third quarter, giving Dallas a 70-52 advantage.

Nowitzki converted his first three 3-pointers and his first four field goal attempts of the third quarter to help Dallas to an 85-70 edge entering the final quarter.

Terry had 12 points in the fourth quarter and the Mavericks shot 74 percent from the floor in the second half (29-for-39).

Dallas had 24 fastbreak points to Toronto's 12 and the Mavericks generated 21 points off 14 Raptor turnovers.

"It all starts with defense," Marion said. "The more we play defense and get stops, the better our offense will be. We've got to keep that going."

NOTES: The Mavericks have won 10 in a row at home against the Raptors. ... Dallas had been off since Wednesday night when the Mavericks were beaten at New Orleans, 114-107. ... The Mavericks set a season high for points ... Bosh already has four double-doubles.

Howard makes season debut for Mavs

DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks swingman Josh Howard was in the starting lineup against the Toronto Raptors in his season debut Saturday night.

Howard missed all of the preseason and the first five games while recovering from surgery on his left ankle and left wrist on May 22.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said he doesn’t want to set unrealistic expectations for Howard, who has had limited practice time. Carlisle knows it’s especially important for Howard to develop chemistry with forward Shawn Marion, acquired from Toronto in a three-team deal in July.

"The most important thing about this is he’s gone through one process, having two surgeries in one day and a six-month rehab, and this starts another process, getting back to being on the floor," Carlisle said. "It’s important to understand that what he’s been through, expectations are somewhat tempered. This is a day we’ve been looking forward to for a while and we’re excited he’s available."

Howard averaged 18 points and 5.1 rebounds last season.

NBA

Q Rating: Richardson fitting in nicely with Heat

MIAMI — When scouting the Miami Heat, Denver coach George Karl noticed one glaring difference from last season.

"Scary," he said.

Quentin Richardson will take that as a compliment.

Perhaps the biggest surprise within Miami’s eye-catching 5-1 start, Richardson is averaging 10.5 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting nearly 50 percent. But most importantly, Miami’s new starter at small forward has found a way to seamlessly join a rotation composed of players who spent a year together before he arrived.

Count Karl among the impressed.

"He has the defensive maturity and rebounding maturity to him that I don’t remember in his past years," Karl said. "He just seems like he’s kind of recommitted, regrouped."

Some of the changes are obvious: He lost 30 pounds entering the season, getting down to 224, the lightest he’s been since his teens.

Some are more subtle: He’s regularly taking charges, matches up on opponents’ best scorers, and is simply enjoying the game again.

"Feels good when people take notice and things like that," Richardson said. "But it’s not really about me, man. If we were 1-5, nobody would be saying anything about me. It’s about the team and how well we’re playing together."

It’s been a long time since he could say anything like that.

Richardson played in 241 games over the previous four seasons with the New York Knicks, winning a mere 81 of those contests. Throughout that tenure, he was involved in a run of five-wins-in-six-games only twice.

So starting this season 5-1, it’s been a long time coming for the former 1st-round pick.

"We’re definitely excited and we definitely see we can be pretty good," Richardson said. "But it’s all about continuously working and trying to get better. ... It just feels good to know that we’re going out there and getting some tough wins."

He’s one of the reasons why, for certain. Which makes this offseason seem even more strange.

The Knicks traded him to Memphis for Darko Milicic on June 25. Less than four weeks later, Memphis traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers for Zach Randolph. Three days after that, the Clippers shipped him to Minnesota for Craig Smith, Mark Madsen and Sebastian Telfair.

And while working out with his longtime friend Dwyane Wade in their hometown of Chicago, the phone rang again about a month later. The Timberwolves traded him yet again, sending him to Miami for Mark Blount.

Wade was overjoyed.

"Very, very, very important," Wade said. "Q has shotmaking ability. You just know that every night, he’s going to bring us toughness and he’s going to guard the other team’s best player. And there’s going to be nights where guys are going to score some points, but they’re not going to be easy points. He wants that challenge and it’s great for this team."

Still, Q was the Question Mark entering camp. Could the new guy pick up Miami’s sophisticated defensive schemes, especially after four years with the Knicks and their very different style on that end of the court?

The Heat didn’t wait long before getting that answer.

"We have a defensive drill and he took four charges," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "As a staff afterward, we were stunned. We didn’t remember any of our players ever getting four charges in the same drill before."

That set the tone for Miami’s biggest move: Putting Richardson in the starting lineup at small forward, shifting Michael Beasley to the first-string spot at power forward, and asking longtime starter Udonis Haslem to come off the bench.

It’s early, but it also seems to be working. Miami is tied with Orlando for the Southeast Division lead, and Richardson, Beasley and Haslem are all doing exactly what the Heat hoped.

"Like you said, it’s early, but you’ve got to start," Richardson said. "It’s good to be there early. Now we’ve got to sustain it and maintain it throughout the whole way."

-- Tim Reynolds

Iverson leaves Grizzlies with permission

LOS ANGELES — Disgruntled Memphis guard Allen Iverson returned to his home in Atlanta after receiving permission to leave the team to attend to personal business.

Team owner Michael Heisley gave the four-time NBA scoring leader permission to skip the Grizzlies’ game Saturday night against the Los Angeles Clippers following a 114-98 loss to the Lakers the night before.

According to a team spokesman, Iverson participated in a walkthrough at the team’s hotel in the morning and then hopped a flight in the afternoon after he and personal manager Gary Moore met with Heisley.

Iverson has played in three games since returning from a hamstring injury, averaging 12.3 points, 3.7 assists and 22.3 minutes. Coach Lionel Hollins spoke to him briefly before he left, but would not elaborate on the conversation.

"It’s a personal issue that they asked for permission to go attend to," Hollins said. "It was granted, and it’s indefinite. I have no other information."

Iverson played 21 minutes against the Lakers, making two of five shots and finishing with eight points and three assists. In the postgame dressing room, the 10-time All-Star reiterated his displeasure about coming off the bench for the first time in his 14-year career.

"It’s something that I never did in my life, so obviously it’s a big adjustment," he said. "I’m so tired of discussing that, talking about that, every single day. It’s just not something that I want to discuss. That’s something you’ve got to ask the coach. He makes all the decisions around here. Obviously, they signed me for a reason. They’ve been watching me play this game for 13 years, and they know what I do on the basketball court."

Iverson also acknowledged that he had become a distraction.

"When I hear anything about the Memphis Grizzlies, I don’t hear you guys talk about anything other than the situation with me coming off the bench," he said Friday. "I mean, there’s got to be something else with this team to talk about besides that. But I guess that sells a lot better than anything else when it comes to this team."

The worst part of his situation, Iverson said, was that he and Hollins have not discussed the situation in private.

"That’s probably why it’s at this point right now," Iverson said. "It’s probably going to always be hard for me and him to see eye-to-eye, because we’ve never even talked to each other. Obviously that’s what you do if you’re trying to accomplish the same goal."

When asked before Saturday’s game to respond, Hollins bluntly: "If Allen wants to talk to me, my door is open. I talk to him during the game before the game and after the game.

"I understand star power, and that’s to be expected," Hollins added. "I wouldn’t mind even talking about Allen’s star power if it was about the game and his performance during the game, versus what Allen has said and what he will or won’t do."

The Grizzlies used Marcus Williams as the backup point guard against the Clippers.

"It’s the way we’d been going since training camp, until the last three games," Hollins said.

Asked if he had any timetable as to when Iverson might start for the Grizzlies, Hollins said: "I have no comment about that."

Nets forward Chris Douglas-Roberts has swine flu

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Chris Douglas-Roberts has tested positive for swine flu, another blow to a New Jersey Nets team that is losing players as quickly as games.

Douglas-Roberts had started every game for the winless Nets until missing a loss at Philadelphia on Friday with flu-like symptoms. Nets president Rod Thorn confirmed on Saturday that Douglas-Roberts tested positive for the H1N1 virus.

Thorn said the player has been treated and the Nets are following all precautionary measures called for by the NBA.

Nets coach Lawrence Frank said he had spoken Saturday to Douglas-Roberts, saying, "He doesn’t sound very good." Frank said he believed Douglas-Roberts was no longer contagious, but doesn’t know when he will return.

"All the measures are taken, now it’s a matter of when he feels better," Frank said.

The diagnosis is the latest blow to a team that has been hit by a wave of injuries. Guard Courtney Lee also was sidelined Saturday with a strained left groin, leaving New Jersey with only eight players in uniform, the minimum allowed, for its game against Boston.

The Nets are the only team in the league without a victory and at 0-6 are off to the worst start in franchise history.

Douglas-Roberts has been averaging 15.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in five games.

Pistons’ Prince out indefinitely with disc rupture

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The Pistons say forward Tayshaun Prince will be out of the lineup indefinitely due to a small rupture of a disc in his lower back.

The team said Saturday that the injury was confirmed following an MRI exam and evaluation by team doctors this week. The Pistons say Prince will continue to receive treatment for the injury.

Prince had been sidelined since earlier this month with a back injury.

The 6-foot-9 Prince has appeared in three games this season averaging 12.3 points, 5 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

Bulls forward Thomas has surgery

CHICAGO — Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas had surgery on his left forearm Saturday, a day after he broke it during a weight-training session.

Coach Vinny Del Negro says the operation went well and that Thomas will be re-evaluated Tuesday. Thomas is expected to miss four to six weeks, leaving the Bulls with just 10 healthy players.

His absence could create an opportunity for rookie James Johnson, who had appeared in just one of the first five games. Del Negro says the Bulls also are discussing whether to sign another player.

Thomas is averaging 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Elsewhere

Spanish basketball game off because of swine flu

MADRID — Swine flu has forced the Spanish basketball league to postpone a game for the second time this season.

The league said Saturday that four players on the team Bizkaia Bilbao Basket were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus and several others were showing symptoms.

The club was to have played Lagun Aro GBC on Sunday. The game has not yet been rescheduled.

Last month, a league game was called off when at least seven players from one team were diagnosed with swine flu.