The original plan was to have Del Harris coach while Don Nelson is out recovering from prostate cancer surgery. After coaching the Mavs for 3 games (@ NJ, @ Cle, @ Ind - Mavs went 1-2), Harris decided to pass on the head coaching gig as he did not feel comfortable directing Nelson's system. He said that he felt he was thinking about reacting and hesitating during the games instead of just reacting. [Harris has a traditional and conservative coaching style and Nelson will try anything and goes for mismatches.] Thus, Donnie Nelson will assume the head coaching duties while his father is out. Harris will continue with his assistant coaching duties. Don Nelson's last game before undergoing surgery will be January 3rd vs Detroit. He will fly out on Mark Cuban's plane for Utah immediately after the game and has to report for surgery January 4th at 6 am. Best wishes, Nellie! With the Seattle win, Don Nelson passed Bill Fitch for 3rd most coaching wins in NBA history. Now only Lenny Wilkens and Pat Riley have more wins than Nelson. NBC picked up the January 13 game vs Phoenix as a regional game. With the game being nationally televised, the start time was changed from 7:00 to 4:30. [The Portland-New York game will be televised to most of the nation.] Loy Vaught missed Seattle and LA Clippers games with bruised right knee. Dallas finished December with a record of 10-6 and currently have a record of 20-12. It's the Mavs' best start since 87-88. Seattle at Dallas (December 26) It was a close 1st quarter with 5 ties and 3 lead changes. Seattle led 19-15 with 3 minutes to go and Dallas scored the last 11 points of the quarter to go up 26-19 after 1. Michael Finley had 10 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 11 points and 6 rebounds. Dallas led 37-27 on a 3-pointer by Finley with 8:15 left and Seattle then scored the next 11 points to briefly take a 1 point lead with 5:45 remaining. Dallas held small leads the rest of the quarter and led 57-51 at the half. Finley had 17 points including 7-7 FG in the 2nd quarter. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with an 11-2 run, started by 2 3-pointers and a layup by Howard Eisley, to go up 68-53 with 9:15 remaining. Seattle cut Dallas' lead down to 80-71 with 4:30 to go, but Steve Nash hit 2 3-pointers and a layup to give Dallas their largest lead at 88-71 with 2:15 remaining. Dallas led 92-80 after 3. Nash had 12 points and Gary Payton had 10 points in the 3rd. Seattle cut Dallas' lead down to 99-98 with 5:30 remaining, but Dallas scored the next 8 points to put the game away. Dallas won 114-93. It was an awesome game by Michael Finley, who finished with 38 points including 16-22 FG (but missed 4 free throws), 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. Dirk Nowitzki started strong (11 points, 6 rebounds in the 1st quarter), but fell off after the 1st as he only had 21 points and 11 rebounds total. Steve Nash had yet another strong performance with 22 points and 8 assists. And the Mavs actually shot many more free throws their opponent for a change - Dallas shot 22-33 FT (including 4 misses each for 80%+ shooters Finley and Nowitzki) and Seattle shot 16-19 FT. Gary Payton (23 points) and Brent Barry (20 points including 8-10 FG) were all alone out there for Seattle. Only 2 other Seattle players were in double-digits (Vin Baker 12 points and Patrick Ewing 10 points) and if you remove Payton's and Barry's field goals, the rest of the team only shot 35.2% FG. Rashard Lewis played limited minutes due to the stomach flu. Quotes Don Nelson: "The big three were all hitting and we're pretty good when that happens. We take nothing away from Seattle, they're a very fine team and they are going to be right there in the hunt for a playoff spot with us and probably a couple of other teams." Michael Finley: "I got good looks at the basket tonight. I attacked the basket and just made things happen and my teammates were finding me." Finley: "I have great teammates who are unselfish, and when I was in a rhythm they continued to give me the ball, and I was just knocking down shots. If I would have made a couple of free throws it would have been a pretty good night." Finley: "I had some good looks at the basket and my teammates found me. I got into a nice little rhythm early. As a team we played well tonight. It was a good win over a good club." Finley on his 38 points: "I had some good looks at the basket, my teammates found me, and it just went from there." Finley: "I had some good looks at the basket, and my teammates were finding me. If I would have made some free throws [4-8 FT], it could have been even better." Dirk Nowitzki on Finley: "He is the man, he is our All-Star. He really got us going early. He came out with a lot of energy and got the whole team rolling." Nowitzki on Finley: "He came through for us. He's our All-Star and he got us going early. He carried us and played with a lot of energy." Nowitzki: "Offensively we pretty much had it going in the 1st quarter. We got some rebounds and started running and hit a couple of easy layups and had some dunks and that was key." Nowitzki on rebounding: "That's always a big key for us. Everybody knows we're not a big rebounding team, so everybody's got to find a way to do it. Even though we lost the rebounding game, we kept it close [48-39]. As long as we do that I think we have a great chance to win the game." Steve Nash on Finley: "He was awesome, and he had an incredible game. I thought the numbers were secondary to the fact that he came out and played with a lot of energy; he made big shots and was demonstrative considering that we were somewhat sluggish at the start after a long break." Nash on Finley: "The thing about Michael is he can do either [post up or shoot the jumper]. When he gets it going like that, we try to get good spacing and just get out of his way. We know he's either going to find us or score." Nash: "I know we played well offensively, but more importantly we played well defensively. Every time we defend and rebound, we win." Nate McMillan: "It was just one of the worst displays of basketball I've seen. Dallas wanted it more than us on both ends of the floor. For 3 quarters as bad as our defense was, we didn't find anyone to reach down deep inside and find out a way to pull out that game. We just didn't come with the effort." McMillan: "We didn't display the type of energy that Dallas did and we didn't respond when we were down. Dallas wanted it more, and we gave them the game." McMillan: "I don't know what it was, but we didn't play well defensively. We've been playing well the last couple of weeks, but tonight for some reason, it wasn't there." McMillan on Finley: "You try to double team him and he's scoring over double teams. He's finding cutters through the double team. You play him straight up, and we didn't take enough pride to be physical and stand up and take this guy. You put different guys on him, but we just didn't come ready to play." McMillan: "We didn't take enough pride to get physical with [Finley] and stop that guy. We tried just about every defense we could and nothing worked so it's just effort. They're outworking you. We were soft in our traps, and they found every way [to score]. They hit guys cutting. They hit guys on the weak side. They penetrated. They did everything." Vin Baker: "Finley got off to a great start and they were able to ride him. He was their wild card." Brent Barry: "They came out fired up and it seemed like we had a little too much turkey in our bellies from yesterday and didn't come out with the kind of start we needed in this game. We let Dirk get off to a nice start and get them in a flow. They just played harder and more aggressive." Dallas Mavericks 114, Seattle Sonics 93 at Dallas (December 26) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 26 31 35 22 - 114 .525 .455 .506 .667 Seattle 19 32 29 13 - 93 .493 .250 .457 .842 Halftime: Dallas 57-51 3rd Q: Dallas 92-80 Technicals: Seattle Illegal D 4:09 2nd, Seattle Illegal D 3:01 2nd, Dallas Illegal D 7:00 3rd, Vin Baker 2:43 3rd, Michael Finley 2:43 3rd, Gary Payton 2:32 3rd, Christian Laettner 2:32 3rd Refs: Steve Javie, Derek Richardson, Courtney Kirkland Attendance: 13,655 (cap 18,187) Did not play due to injury: Loy Vaught (bruised right knee) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 45 16-22 2-2 4-8 38 1-9 8 3 3 1 2 Dirk Nowitzki 45 8-18 1-7 4-8 21 1-11 2 1 3 2 0 Shawn Bradley 18 3-4 0-0 1-1 7 2-7 0 1 5 0 5 Howard Eisley 36 4-13 3-6 1-2 12 1-3 8 1 2 0 0 Steve Nash 41 6-11 4-5 6-6 22 0-3 8 3 4 1 0 Christian Laettner 19 3-5 0-1 3-3 9 0-3 1 0 3 4 0 Hubert Davis 23 1-4 0-1 1-1 3 0-0 3 1 2 3 0 Gary Trent 7 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 0-2 0 0 1 0 0 Courtney Alexander 5 0-2 0-0 2-2 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Donnell Harvey 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 48 41-81 10-22 22-33 114 5-39 30 12 23 12 7 Seattle Sonics REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rashard Lewis 16 1-4 1-2 0-0 3 2-8 0 1 3 3 0 Jelani McCoy 24 4-8 0-0 1-2 9 2-7 1 3 4 0 0 Patrick Ewing 21 4-6 0-0 2-3 10 0-5 0 3 1 1 0 Emanual Davis 22 1-7 0-4 0-0 2 0-2 1 3 2 0 1 Gary Payton 44 10-17 0-0 3-3 23 0-3 9 4 2 0 1 Ruben Patterson 23 2-5 0-1 3-3 7 0-4 0 3 5 1 0 Shammond Williams 12 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 0-1 2 0 0 0 0 Vin Baker 30 4-13 0-0 4-4 12 2-8 1 1 3 0 0 Desmond Mason 22 3-7 0-0 1-2 7 2-3 1 1 4 0 0 Brent Barry 24 8-10 2-3 2-2 20 0-6 3 0 2 0 0 Olumide Oyedeji 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 37-81 3-12 16-19 93 8-48 18 20 27 5 2 LA Clippers at Dallas (December 28) The Clippers led 4-2 2 minutes in and Dallas then went on a 15-2 run to go up 17-6 with 5:15 to go. Dallas led 28-15 after 1 on a jumper by Howard Eisley with 2 seconds left. Dallas led 30-21 with 10:15 remaining and scored the next 7 points to go up 37-21 with 8 minutes left. Dallas scored 5 straight points for their largest lead at 47-29 with 3:30 to go. Dallas led 58-43 at the half. Rookie Darius Miles' athleticism was on display in the 2nd as he had 12 points. Steve Nash had 17 points in the 1st half. Dallas pushed their lead up to 20 at 71-51 with 5:30 remaining and led comfortably the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 86-64 after 3. Lamar Odom had 13 points and Michael Finley had 12 points in the 3rd quarter. Dallas led 98-82 with 6:40 left and the Clippers made a final push by scoring the next 10 points, while playing a strong trap on defense which gave the Mavs fits, to pull within 92-98 with 4:30 to go. But Howard Eisley found a backcutting Christian Laettner for the easy layup and Finley scored the next 5 points to give Dallas a 105-92 lead with 2:30 remaining. Dallas won 105-96. Well, the Mavs made it a little more interesting than it should have been with their lapse in the 4th quarter. Dirk Nowitzki struggle offensively (4-16 FG, but 17 points), but was a monster on the boards with 15. Shawn Bradley was also strong on the boards and had 12 boards to go with his 14 points before fouling out late in the 4th quarter. With Nowitzki's and Bradley's help, Dallas actually out-rebounded the Clippers 47-45. Michael Finley had a good game with 25 points and 7 rebounds and Steve Nash chipped in 20 points including 8-11 FG and 8 assists. Lamar Odom led the way for the Clippers with 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. You can see the potential in the kid Darius Miles. He's skinny as a rail, but has natural talent and hops. He finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Corey Maggette had a nice outing with 17 points in 22 minutes. Quotes Don Nelson: "We did what we were supposed to do. We took care of business at the beginning of the game." Nelson on the Clippers' trap in the 4th: "It was the change in tempo from that zone trap. Everybody wanted to spread out, but we didn't attack it. We settled for outside shots." Nelson: "We kind of let our guard down against their trap. We should have done a better job of handling that. We just basically turned the ball over too much and settled for outside shots. Teams will do that when they have a big lead, but we needed to penetrate and get the ball inside." Nelson on 20 wins: "That's sweet, isn't it? 20 wins, oh my. I hope we have 20 more to go." Michael Finley on allowing the Clippers back into the game in the 4th: "We lost our aggressiveness, and we had to find it again. We got it back and then we started getting some easy baskets again. When I'm aggressive, it opens up opportunities for other guys to make a play." Finley: "It comes down to defense, and I think defensively we made a stand on the first 3 quarters. We got an early lead, we played well for the first 3 quarters, and the 4th quarter they went to a little zone trap and it threw us off a little bit and made us stop being aggressive." Finley: "20 wins is monumental at this point, to see how far we've come and the direction we're headed." Finley: "From the time I've been here, with 20 wins you would think we would be in April. But for it to come this early in this season in December, and to be playing well, it is good just to see where we have come from and where we are going. It's just great to be a part of." Dirk Nowitzki on the Clippers' comeback in the 4th: "It's a big concern that they were able to come back against us at that point. It's a perfect situation to have 20 wins, but now it's time to pick it up a notch in all facets of the game." Nowitzki on his 15 rebounds and 4-16 FG: "I try to rebound every night but sometimes it works better and sometimes it doesn't. I had a couple of wide open looks but it wasn't my day, I guess." Nowitzki on reaching 20 wins: "I don't think we all expected to be that good. We expected to do well, and we expected to win a lot of games. But I think it's pretty impressive, especially after our tough schedule early." Alvin Gentry: "I thought we played hard, but that's a good team. I saw them almost beat the Lakers. When you've got that many weapons, you can beat any team in the league." Gentry: "They've turned the corner, they know how to win, and they've got confidence. They have a very good mix of talent and complementary players. When you do that, you usually are going to be pretty darn successful in this league." Gentry: "I don't see anybody who they're not capable of beating in a [playoff] series. When you've got that many weapons, and you've got a guy like Steve Nash running the team - who's smart as heck, who gets the ball to the right people and who can score himself - I think it gives you an opportunity to beat anybody in this league at any time." Gentry: "We don't get overly excited about the games we win and we are not going to get overly depressed about the games we lose. We are on a different agenda than most of the other teams in this league and we have got to understand what we are trying to get done." Gentry on the Clippers' trap in the 4th: "We tried to do it earlier but we weren't getting to the free throw line. We just decided to get into it anyway and extend it further because [of the score] at that stage of the game. Those 5 guys we had in there at the end did a great job." Gentry on Bradley: "He really affects the game. He was as big of a factor as anyone at the start of the game. He just changes so many shots." Lamar Odom: "They took the tempo away from us and that was it. They controlled the game. We are a better team playing up-tempo but you can't play a whole game like that. You have to be able to play [a halfcourt game and run]." Darius Miles: "We just didn't play hard in the 1st half. We just ran in [the 4th]. Every time we got the ball, we just ran with it. Time is going to be the key. Give us a year." Corey Maggette on their 4th quarter play: "We were just trying to plug away and we didn't want to get embarrassed. We were out there playing hard but they were making their shots." Dallas Mavericks 105, Los Angeles Clippers 96 at Dallas (December 28) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 28 30 28 19 - 105 .516 .500 .513 .840 LA Clippers 15 28 21 32 - 96 .459 .231 .425 .613 Halftime: Dallas 58-43 3rd Q: Dallas 86-64 Technicals: Lamar Odom 3:31 3rd, Dallas Illegal D 11:36 4th, Shawn Bradley 4:31 4th Refs: Jim Clark, Mark Wunderlich, Gary Benson Attendance: 14,260 (cap 18,187) Did not play due to injury: Loy Vaught (bruised right knee) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 45 9-18 2-2 5-7 25 4-7 4 6 4 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 36 4-16 1-4 8-8 17 2-15 4 2 2 2 2 Shawn Bradley 30 5-8 0-0 4-5 14 3-12 1 1 6 0 4 Howard Eisley 35 5-11 1-4 0-0 11 1-3 4 0 2 1 0 Steve Nash 41 8-11 2-2 2-2 20 0-1 8 2 4 3 0 Hubert Davis 17 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Christian Laettner 17 3-5 0-0 1-1 7 0-7 1 2 5 0 1 Gary Trent 12 3-5 0-0 1-2 7 0-2 0 3 1 0 0 Courtney Alexander 7 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 48 39-76 6-12 21-25 105 10-47 23 16 27 7 7 Los Angeles Clippers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Lamar Odom 31 8-12 1-1 4-6 21 2-6 5 4 2 0 2 Brian Skinner 21 3-7 0-0 1-3 7 3-8 2 3 1 2 0 Michael Olowokandi 18 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 2-2 1 1 3 1 0 Jeff McInnis 22 1-11 0-2 0-0 2 0-1 1 3 3 0 1 Quentin Richardson 14 1-4 0-2 0-0 2 0-3 1 0 0 1 0 Corey Maggette 22 6-11 0-1 5-5 17 2-4 1 1 1 1 0 Sean Rooks 14 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 4 0 2 0 1 Keyon Dooling 26 1-7 1-2 3-4 6 1-2 6 1 1 1 1 Eric Piatkowski 30 3-8 1-3 4-4 11 1-3 0 0 1 3 0 Darius Miles 24 8-15 0-1 2-6 18 6-10 3 0 4 1 1 Cherokee Parks 18 5-7 0-1 0-1 10 0-4 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 37-87 3-13 19-31 96 17-45 24 13 19 10 6 Houston at Dallas (December 30) Houston opened to a 16-6 lead with 6 minutes left as Dallas could not find the basket (2-8 FG). Houston led 25-14 after 1. Dallas only shot 6-19 FG in the quarter. Things got worse in the 2nd quarter as the Mavs showed that this was their usual nap time [it was a 2:00 start]. Houston opened the 2nd quarter with a 14-5 run to go up 39-19 with 6 minutes left. Don Nelson was throwing players out left and right trying to find a spark that would ignite the Mavs - including using seldom used rookie Donnell Harvey (nothing worked, though). Houston led 53-31 at the half. Houston shot 20-42 FG while Dallas only shot 9-34 FG. And things got worse in the 3rd quarter as Houston scored 9 straight points to go up 64-34 with 9:45 left capped by a thunder slam [and should have been offensive foul] by Maurice Taylor over Shawn Bradley. Houston took their largest lead at 69-38 with 7:50 to go before Dallas realized that there was a game being played. Dallas scored the next 13 points, including 11 by Michael Finley, to pull "within" 69-51 with 4:15 remaining. Dirk Nowitzki scored 5 straight points to pull Dallas within 60-73 with 1:30 to go. Houston led 76-61 after 3. Finley had 14 points and Nowitzki had 10 points in the quarter. Houston led 90-73 with 7 minutes and Dallas tried to make a final push. Dallas went on a 12-1 run, including 8 points by Steve Nash, and Houston only led 91-85 with 4:15 remaining. Cuttino Mobley got a layup and Michael Finley drained a 3-pointer to cut Houston's lead down to just 5 points [their highest was 31 points]. Courtney Alexander made a beautiful interception of a Houston pass, but then made a horrible pass that Kenny Thomas got and passed to Shandon Anderson who made the break away layup with 3 minutes left. Unfortunately, Dallas did not have a final run in them and Houston answered every challenge, including shooting 11-12 FT in the last 2 1/2 minutes of the game. Houston won 114-99. Ugh. What an ugly 1st half. I've always worried what would happened if the jumpshots were not falling for this team. The result was a 31 point deficit. Gag. I give the Mavs credit for not folding the tent and making a great comeback, but it was just too big of a hole against a team that gives the Mavs' fits. Steve Nash showed that it was just that kind of day for Dallas as he missed 3 free throws. Before the game he was leading the league in free throw shooting at 94% FT and had only missed 6 free throws all season. Nash gave his all in the 4th, where 20 of his 26 points came. Michael Finley was solid with 32 points and 9 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki again struggled with his shot (6-18 FG), but had 20 points and 8 rebounds. Besides the big 3, no other Maverick was in double digits and Nash was the only Maverick to shoot 50% FG. Cuttino Mobley led the way for Houston with 24 points, including 14 points in the 4th quarter. Steve Francis had a near triple-double with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists. Kenny Thomas had a nice game with 14 points including a surprising 3-5 3-pointers (one of which banked in) and 13 rebounds. Both teams scored 38 points in the 4th quarter. Quotes Rudy Tomjanovich: "The key word for today's game was defense. We've been struggling in that area and to hold a very potent offensive team under 40% on their court when they've been playing great and they are one of the hottest teams in the league, it's just a credit to our guys. We should build on this and realize that that is the key for us." Tomjanovich: "It was a very inspiring game. I thought our guys were more alert defensively, helping each other out. We talked about trying to take away their layups and everybody bought into it. I was proud of the way they applied the things we were talking about." Tomjanovich on Dallas' trap: "They get you to play in uncomfortable situations. At times, we got some real good shots and at times we missed some shots, but it is a good strategy to pick up the tempo of the game." Steve Francis on the team meeting Houston held on Thursday: "That meeting definitely sparked this victory. I saw guys with determination, focused on defense. Everybody was worried about winning, not scoring points. Those were some of those things we touched on. I was really happy we were able to address them in the meeting. Guys took it to heart." Francis: "That meeting sparked this victory for us. Guys weren't worrying about scoring points, we were worrying about winning. We had a lot better defensive help." Francis on Dallas' comeback: "It's really kind of hard trying to maintain a lead on the road. In the NBA, teams are going to have runs. They got a lot of momentum behind them." Francis: "I got a lot of respect for Dallas, with Michael Finley, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki. But I think with our team, we kind of match up good against them and I thought we took advantage of a lot of things, and our defense won the game for us." Francis on Houston's 6 game loosing streak: "It ended the long losing streak. I don't think I'd ever been on a team that's lost that many in a row, so it was something positive." Moochie Norris: "We just came out and played hard. We haven't been putting full games together, so that was our focus. We felt we weren't being aggressive enough on defense." Norris on Dallas' comeback: "That always seems to happen. The team that's behind always seems to make a run." Maurice Taylor on the team meeting: "Almost the only think we talked about was defense. We know we can score. We were only concerned with defense, and we stepped it up big time. It's scary what we can do when we play defense and help each other like that. That meeting had a lot to do with that." Taylor: "The big thing for us is we took the game from the beginning. We felt like we could beat this team. We felt like there was a lot of talk about them. But we didn't think they could beat us. There's 50 games left. Nobody is in the playoffs. Nobody is guaranteed anything. Now we have to keep it up." Don Nelson: "They're hard for us to play against. We couldn't shoot the ball and we got in a hole and we got beat. It's really that simple." Nelson: "I have no complaints about the game. It wasn't due to effort. We really tried hard, but we couldn't make shots." Nelson: "Maybe we took too many outside shots early, but the fact is that the lid was on the basket tonight for us and not for them. They played a terrific game and I give them all the credit." Dirk Nowitzki: "We didn't lose this game in the 4th quarter. We had our chances then, but we didn't lose it in the 4th quarter." Nowitzki: "As much as we were off, they were on." Nash: "They came out and played hard and made shots. We were able to come back in the 2nd half, but it wasn't enough. We dug ourselves in too big of a hole in the 1st half by not making shots. They deserve credit, but we also have to take some of the blame for not making shots." Nash on his 26 points: "It doesn't feel too great when we don't win." Houston Rockets 114, Dallas Mavericks 99 at Dallas (December 30) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Houston 25 28 23 38 - 114 .475 .476 .476 .788 Dallas 14 17 30 38 - 99 .379 .375 .378 .822 Halftime: Houston 53-31 3rd Q: Houston 76-61 Technicals: Don Nelson 10:16 3rd, Maurice Taylor (taunting) 9:46 3rd, Houston Illegal D 8:51 3rd, Dallas Illegal D 1:18 3rd, Kenny Thomas 1:08 4th, Shawn Bradley 1:08 4th Refs: Ed F. Rush, George Toliver, Bill Kennedy Attendance: 18,187 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Kelvin Cato (sprained left ankle) Houston Rockets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shandon Anderson 39 6-16 0-1 3-6 15 3-9 7 2 3 5 0 Maurice Taylor 24 6-10 0-0 0-0 12 4-8 1 4 6 0 0 Hakeem Olajuwon 15 4-10 0-0 0-0 8 1-3 2 1 1 0 0 Steve Francis 40 5-9 2-5 10-10 22 0-11 8 0 4 0 1 Moochie Norris 39 3-8 2-3 1-2 9 0-2 7 1 1 1 0 Kenny Thomas 27 5-12 3-5 1-3 14 4-13 5 1 6 2 0 Cuttino Mobley 32 6-11 1-3 11-12 24 0-2 0 4 4 0 1 Matt Bullard 11 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Walt Williams 13 4-4 2-2 0-0 10 0-0 0 1 6 0 1 Totals 48 39-82 10-21 26-33 114 12-49 30 15 32 8 3 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 44 10-22 3-5 9-10 32 3-9 2 3 3 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 33 6-18 0-2 8-10 20 0-8 0 1 5 0 0 Shawn Bradley 20 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 1-5 0 0 2 0 2 Howard Eisley 37 2-8 0-2 0-0 4 0-1 5 2 6 0 0 Steve Nash 39 8-16 2-5 8-11 26 1-3 6 4 3 2 0 Christian Laettner 8 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 2-3 0 0 2 0 0 Hubert Davis 25 1-4 1-2 6-6 9 0-3 2 2 4 0 0 Courtney Alexander 21 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-3 0 2 2 1 1 Gary Trent 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2-3 1 1 1 0 0 Donnell Harvey 8 0-0 0-0 3-4 3 1-3 0 1 3 0 0 Totals 48 28-74 6-16 37-45 99 10-41 16 16 31 5 3 patricia Happy New Year! [wanted to start the new millennium caught up]