Dallas at Phoenix (April 21) Dallas coach Dick Motta said before the game that everyone was going to play and that's exactly what he did. Just 2 minutes into the 2nd quarter, all 12 Mavs had seen some playing time. 1st: Phoenix was up 8-7 when Mashburn hit a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 10-8 lead. The teams traded 4 points and Charles Barkley made a basket to tie the game at 14-14 with about 7 minutes left. The game remained close and Phoenix was up 21-20 with 3:29 remaining and Dallas was up 26-23 with 1:08 left. After 1, Dallas led 28-27. There were 9 lead changes in the quarter. Lucious Harris had 7 points, Barkley had 9 points, and Kevin Johnson had 9 points. Both teams were shooting over 50% FG. Phoenix opened the 2nd with a 10-0 run to go up 37-28 with 8:20 left. Jason Kidd finally scored for the Mavs with a 3-pointer. Phoenix was up 41-33 with 6:53 left and 46-38 with 4:55 left. Dan Majerle converted the 3-pointer play and the teams traded points. Phoenix was up 55-42 with 3:15 to go. The teams traded 4 more points. Barkley made 1 free throw and Danny Ainge got the layup on the break. The teams traded 2 baskets and K Johnson hit a long jumper. Kidd closed the scoring by making a free throw. At the half, Phoenix 64-49. Phoenix shot 65% FG in the quarter while Dallas shot just 28% (7-23). For the half, Phoenix was shot 57% FG and Dallas shot 38% FG. Dallas was out-rebounding Phoenix 26-19. Barkley had 14 points and 8 reounds, K Johnson had 11 points, Ainge had 11 points, and Majerle had 9 points. Harris had 11 points, Mashburn had 11 points, and Kidd had 10 points and 5 assists. At the end of halftime, a guy hit a half court shot granny style to win a mini-van. Kidd hit a jumper. Wesley Person and A.C. Green hit two 3-pointers. Kidd got 2 off the friendly bounce. Phoenix led 70-53. Person hit another 3 to give Phoenix a 73-53 lead with 8:30 left. Phoenix Phoenix was up 83-58 as they were shooting 14-18 FG and I went to bed. The rest is from wire reports. Phoenix had a 27 point lead at 87-60 with 3:06 remaining. Dallas closed the quarter with a 10-3 run. After 3, Phoenix 90-70. Charles Barkley had 19 points and 14 rebounds. Dallas continued their rally with 20-9 run to cut Phoenix's lead to 99-90 midway through the 4th. Doug Smith's tip in cut Phoenix's lead further to 106-99 with just 1:17 left. But Phoenix closed the game with a dunk from Wayman Tisdale and a layup from Ainge. Phoenix 110-99. Quotes Kevin Johnson: "We think its important [to win the division] after all the things we went through all year long. I don't think it's going to determine how far we're going to go in the playoffs, but I think it's something this team has taken pride in. We just want to be able to say at the end of the year, with all the adversity we went through, we still managed to win the Pacific." Charles Barkley: "I think we have played well. You have to beat the good teams, but the most important thing is you just want to be at home the first two rounds." Wayman Tisdale: "It was a good game to be in control the whole game. It's what we wanted to do, just come in and take them out of it and not give them any life." Paul Westphal: "We did what we had to do. We went in and rooted for Sacramento to ruin everybody's Sunday. I want to congratulate Dallas. They made a tremendous turnaround this year and the fact that they didn't quit tonight was symbolic of the hard work and effort they displayed all season long." Dick Motta: "We treated it like an exhibition game." Motta: "Well, we came back and made a decent game out of it. Tonight was just good entertainment. I mean, somebody won a car and you can't beat that. We wanted to play hard and substitute like it was an exhibition game. The first guys didn't play hard, so we had to get them out of there." Motta: "All we wanted to do was play hard. We made a decent game out of it, gave some entertainment." Motta on the Suns' 38 bench points: "They are as good as money can buy. They really don't have a second team. If you can bring in Dan Majerle, Ainge and Tisdale, you can't call that a second team." Jamal Mashburn on his 23 minutes: "I enjoy going out and playing, but I think [Motta] wanted to give some of these other guys some playing time. That's only right because they've practiced all season, like we have." Jason Kidd: "We have come a long way. Nobody expected us to win 36-37 games. We wanted to get respect around the league, and hopefully we will that in the next couple years." 1 2 3 4 Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Phoenix 27 37 26 20 - 110 .537 .412 .512 .773 Dallas 28 21 21 29 - 99 .447 .273 .404 .840 Halftime: Phoenix 64-49 3rd Q: Phoenix 90-70 Phoenix's largest lead: 87-60 3:07 3rd Dallas' largest lead: 28-23 0:52 1st Dallas' last lead: 28-27 after 1 Lead changes: 10 Technicals: none Refs: Dick Bavetta, Terry Durham, Ron Olesiak Attendance: 19,023 (sell-out) Phoenix Reb Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Pts O-T Ast TO F Stl Blk Charles Barkley 36 7-15 0-2 8-12 22 2-17 5 6 4 4 1 A.C. Green 18 2-3 2-3 0-0 6 0-4 0 1 2 0 1 Joe Kleine 23 3-8 0-0 2-2 8 1-2 1 1 5 0 0 Kevin Johnson 26 6-7 0-0 3-3 15 2-4 7 1 2 1 1 Wesley Person 24 2-9 2-3 0-0 6 2-4 1 2 1 0 0 Dan Majerle 27 4-10 2-6 2-3 12 1-4 7 2 3 1 1 Wayman Tisdale 25 6-11 0-0 2-2 14 0-5 0 0 2 0 1 Danny Ainge 19 6-8 1-3 0-0 13 0-1 1 2 2 1 0 Elliot Perry 22 4-7 0-0 0-0 8 0-1 4 2 1 0 0 Dan Schayes 13 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 2-4 1 2 4 0 2 Richard Dumas 7 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 2-2 1 1 1 0 0 Totals 240 43-84 7-17 17-22 110 12-48 28 20 27 7 7 Dallas Reb Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Pts O-T Ast TO F Stl Blk Popeye Jones 16 3-6 0-0 0-0 6 2-6 3 1 0 1 0 Jamal Mashburn 23 4-10 1-3 2-2 11 1-3 3 0 2 1 0 Lorenzo Williams 17 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 1-4 2 1 2 0 0 Lucious Harris 21 4-7 1-3 2-2 11 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 Jason Kidd 20 6-14 1-7 1-2 14 2-3 5 4 2 1 0 Scott Brooks 28 5-11 1-1 0-0 11 0-2 7 4 2 2 0 Tony Dumas 27 1-11 1-4 4-4 7 4-5 3 3 3 0 0 Doug Smith 25 6-8 0-1 2-2 14 1-3 1 1 2 2 1 Roy Tarpley 22 4-8 0-0 0-0 8 1-8 2 0 1 2 2 George McCloud 13 1-5 1-2 6-6 9 0-1 0 2 2 1 0 Terry Davis 12 0-1 0-0 3-4 3 0-1 0 0 2 1 0 Donald Hodge 16 2-8 0-1 1-1 5 1-5 0 0 5 0 0 Totals 240 36-89 6-22 21-25 99 13-41 27 16 24 11 3 Dallas at LA Clippers (April 23 - last game of the season) Jamal Mashburn did not play due to a stomach virus. Dallas was up 30-24 after 1. The teams traded points and Dallas was up 32-26. The Clippers then went on a 16-0 run to go up 42-32. The Clippers were up 51-37 and were shooting 12-15 FG in the quarter. The Clippers went on a 6-2 run to go up 57-39. Jason Kidd hit a 3-pointer to cut the Clippers' lead to 57-42 with 2:05 left. And Dallas closed the quarter with a 8-3 run. At the half, the Clippers 60-50. The Clippers shot 16-22 and Dallas shot 7-25 in the 2nd quarter. For the half, the Clippers were shot 59% FG and Dallas shot 34% FG. The Clippers were out-rebounding Dallas 28-25. Loy Vaught had 14 points on 7-10 FG and 12 rebounds and Terry Dehere had 12 points. Kidd had 12 points, Lucious Harris had 11 points, and George McCloud had 7 points. The Clippers were still up by 10 at 64-54. The Clippers lead 69-54 with 9:20 left when Dallas went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 69-61 with 7:50 remaining. The Clippers were up 76-67 with 5:28 left. The Clippers closed the quarter with a 10-4 run to go up 93-77 after 3. Vaught had 24 points and 18 rebounds, Kidd had 21 points, and Harris had 17 points. The Clippers were up 98-81 with 10:40 left and at 108-89 with 6:37. They had their largest lead at 124-95 with 2:12 left. Dallas scored the final 7 points of the game. The Clippers won 124-95. Quotes Bill Fitch: "The right team got the win. It was good to get a win, regardless of when it came. But no one is truly happy because everyone wants to be a playoff team. The team did not progress as much as they could have due to injuries, but there were a lot of strides made. It's hard to build from 17 wins." Fitch: "We had problems, but we never had one that was bigger than the team or one that made us think we were going in different directions. I give a lot of credit to the guys. They made it easier." Gary Grant: "I think we had a pretty good year because we tried as a team to come together. I think as far as next year, our team needs to stay healthy so we can make those basic adjustments." Loy Vaught: "Some good did come out of this year. We were a very, very young team and inexperienced, but one thing you can say, every night we took the floor as underdogs, we were never lackadasical and we gave our best every night." Dick Motta: "We came a long way this year, but we slipped a little at the end. I think we'll go a lot further next year." Jason Kidd "It was a good first season, I learned a lot. I think everyone here is ready for some rest." Kidd: "First thing I'm going to do is get some rest. I'm going to watch the playoffs, maybe go to Seattle and see Gary Payton play." 1 2 3 4 Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Team Reb LA Clippers 24 36 33 31 - 124 .517 .636 .531 .650 9 Dallas 30 20 27 25 - 102 .388 .231 .349 .815 8 Halftime: LA Clippers 60-50 3rd Q: LA Clippers 93-77 Technicals: none Refs: Bill Spooner, Joe Forte, Tommy Nunez Attendance: 16,021 LA Clippers Reb Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Pts O-T Ast PF Stl TO Blk Loy Vaught 43 13-22 0-1 0-0 26 3-21 4 1 2 2 0 Lamond Murray 32 7-20 0-0 3-3 17 5-13 1 1 2 0 4 Tony Massenburg 30 4-12 0-0 3-4 11 4-8 1 4 1 0 1 Terry Dehere 24 6-10 2-2 1-1 15 0-0 3 1 0 4 0 Pooh Richardson 32 6-8 3-4 0-0 15 0-5 10 3 1 6 0 Eric Piatkowski 24 6-7 2-3 0-0 14 1-5 2 1 0 3 0 Gary Grant 29 6-8 0-0 4-4 16 0-2 9 4 1 1 1 Charles Outlaw 18 4-7 0-0 1-6 9 1-3 1 2 1 1 2 Harold Ellis 4 0-2 0-1 1-2 1 1-1 0 0 0 2 0 Eric Riley 4 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 240 52-98 7-11 13-20 124 15-60 31 17 9 19 8 Dallas Reb Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Pts O-T Ast PF Stl TO Blk Popeye Jones 25 4-11 0-2 2-2 10 4-12 2 2 0 0 1 George McCloud 26 4-13 0-0 3-3 11 5-6 1 1 2 2 1 Lorenzo Williams 31 1-1 0-0 0-2 2 1-4 2 4 1 1 2 Jason Kidd 28 9-21 2-8 5-6 25 0-3 4 0 0 0 0 Lucious Harris 36 7-23 1-6 2-2 17 3-6 1 0 2 2 1 Roy Tarpley 12 1-6 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 0 1 2 3 0 Scott Brooks 25 2-7 0-3 8-10 12 1-2 2 2 1 2 0 Doug Smith 22 3-9 1-2 0-0 7 2-3 2 2 0 2 0 Tony Dumas 7 2-5 1-2 0-0 5 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Donald Hodge 17 3-9 1-3 0-0 7 2-6 0 3 1 1 1 Terry Davis 11 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 2-4 0 4 0 1 0 Totals 240 37-106 6-26 22-27 102 21-50 15 19 9 14 6 patricia