Mavs to keep James for rest of the season

By Dwain Price

dprice@star-telegram.com

DALLAS -- The Dallas Mavericks have guaranteed point guard Mike James' contract for the remainder of the season.

The Mavs made that decision after Sunday's 110-95 victory over the Phoenix Suns at American Airlines Center.

James' second 10-day contract with the Mavs expired Sunday at midnight, and Dallas had the option of signing him for the rest of the season or waiving him. The Mavs like the calming influence James has brought and the way he's helped young point guards Darren Collison and Rodrigue Beaubois.

"He's done a really terrific, solid job since he's been here," coach Rick Carlisle said. "So it's good news for us."

It's good news for James, too, since he doesn't have to worry about pulling up stakes and changing addresses again.

"I'm just going to continue to keep working," said James, who only played 1 minute, 28 seconds Sunday. "We've got a good chance to still do something special this season and I've just got to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that Coach gives me."

James played two games for the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League before signing his initial 10-day contract with the Mavs on Jan. 8

"It's not easy coming in off the street and playing two D-League games and then going to an NBA team and trying to establish yourself in a 20-day period," Carlisle said. "We're familiar with him because we've seen him play over the years.

"I talked to a couple of people that had him in previous stops before we signed him and they had positive things to say about him, and I found that everything they said to be true. He's helped us win some games."

Since James signed his first 10-day contract, the Mavs are 6-3 and playing their best basketball of the season.

"I've been able to contribute in some of the games," James said. "And the other games that I didn't contribute, I was able to just be supportive of Darren and Rodrigue and just constantly stay in their ear.

"That's one of my jobs, also. Not just to be ready to play, but at the same time be a help to the point guards."

Scoring spree for Mavs

The Mavs were 5-2 in their past seven games and averaging 110.1 points in that span before scoring 110 on Sunday. Rick Carlisle had an unorthodox way of explaining the surge.

"It's like if you have water in your basement, usually if you delve into it you'll find that it's getting there from a variety of different places," Carlisle said. "And so what you've got to do is if it's coming from five different places you've got to address the little ones and then there might be one big one, and then you've got to figure out what to do with it.

"But it's got to be done systematically; it's got to be done in a process-oriented way. You don't just go downstairs and all of a sudden click your fingers and say we're going to keep the water from coming in."

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