INDEPENDENCE — Ben Wallace didn’t score a point Monday in the Cavaliers’ impressive 100-81 victory in Dallas, but coach Mike Brown could not have been happier with his power forward’s performance.
Wallace not only pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds in just 22 minutes, he combined with Anderson Varejao to hold high-scoring Dirk Nowitzki to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.
“Ben was a monster,†Brown said. “He was a monster on the boards. That was great to see. It was great to see his activeness.â€
The way Wallace sees it, that’s the key to his success. When he’s energized and making plays all over the court — whether it’s pressuring opposing guards in the backcourt or crashing the boards at both ends of the floor — he’s productive. When he’s not, the 6-foot-9, 240-pounder is merely taking up space on the court.
That will be a key once again when the Cavs host former teammate Drew Gooden and the Chicago Bulls — Larry Hughes is out with a dislocated shoulder — tonight at 8 o’clock at Quicken Loans Arena.
“I just have to stay active,†Wallace said. “I don’t want to run back every time and just stand under the basket. I want to be in the action. I’m a basketball player.â€
Acquired from Chicago last season in the blockbuster trade-deadline deal that also brought Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and the since-traded Joe Smith to Cleveland, Wallace’s activity level has been up and down with the Cavaliers.
He’s a non-factor offensively and an awful free throw shooter — he entered the season with a .418 mark at the line over 12 previous seasons — so Wallace has to make an impact on the boards and with his defense.
The veteran played decently against Boston’s Kevin Garnett in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season and, so far at least, seems to have picked up where he left off.
Wallace has scored just eight points in four games and is 0-of-2 at the line, but he’s been huge in both of Cleveland’s victories this season. The 34-year-old had 10 rebounds and five blocks in a 96-79 win over Charlotte and stepped up big once again against the Mavericks.
Wallace, who is averaging 8.8 rebounds on the season, including 10.3 over the last three games, was part of a defensive effort that held the Mavericks to 39 points in the second half, including 15 in the decisive fourth quarter.
Though the Cavs were actually outscored by three points during the 22 minutes Wallace was on the floor, his coach liked what he got from the veteran power forward.
“You’re not going to stop a guy like Dirk Nowitzki all the time,†Brown said. “There’s no way you can stop him, but the combination of Ben Wallace and Anderson Varejao did about as good a job on Dirk as I’ve seen since Dirk’s been in the league. You’ve got to give those guys credit.â€
Wallace, who will be paid $28.5 million over this season and next, wants to be that kind of factor on a regular basis. In fact, the man who helped the Detroit Pistons win an NBA championship in 2003-04 even has dreams of winning a fifth Defensive Player of the Year award.
“I can definitely be Defensive Player of the Year again,†Wallace said in the preseason. “In fact, just the other day, my wife told me she wanted one more trophy.â€
(thats why we got outrebounded 30-44 
