The Mavs finished the pre-season with a record of 6-2. It was only the 4th time in team history that Dallas has had a winning record in pre-season (1981 5-1, 1982 5-1, 1983 3-2). [Dick Motta was never big on pre-season and the Mavs were terrible in the 90s]. The regular season starts Tuesday in Reunion vs Milwaukee. Wear your Halloween costume! Don Nelson announced his starting lineup and rotation for opening night. And a rookie that no one would have guess before training camp gets to start. With Gary Trent out injured, Dirk Nowitzki moves to power forward and Eduardo Najera starts at small forward. Nelson debated between Najera and Greg Buckner, but decided that he liked the defensive spark Buckner provides coming off the bench. Steve Nash won the point guard battle with Howard Eisley and Nash starts, though both will receive significant minutes. Christian Laettner starts at center (and I expect whether Laettner or Bradley starts during the season to be determined by matchups with the opponent) and, of course, Michael Finley starts at shooting guard. The rest of Nelson's 10-man rotation is Buckner, Bradley, Eisley, Loy Vaught, and Hubert Davis. Sitting on the bench are (a disappointed) Courtney Alexander and Donnell Harvey. Gary Trent (strained hip), Etan Thomas (turf toe), and Bill Curley ("back") will be on IR. Utah at Dallas (October 26) Gag! I hope this was just getting the garbage out of the Mavs' system before the season starts. This was a terrible game all around with the exception of 2 players. The Mavs' defense was non-existent for the 1st half and Dallas couldn't find the basket themselves. The only Mavs player to show up in the 1st half for Dallas was Shawn Bradley. Bradley had 11 of Dallas' 21 1st quarter points. Howard Eisley and Steve Nash, who both started, combined for 0 points in the half. Utah shot out to an early 19-9 lead. The game was over in the 1st. Utah led 31-21 while shooting 63% FG. John Starks was on fire (especially since Dallas was leaving him open) and had 14 points on 5-5 FG, 3-3 3-pointers, and 1-1 FT. Fortunately he had collected 3 fouls in the quarter and had to sit a while. Things got worse in the 2nd quarter as Utah opened the quarter with a 14-3 run to go up 45-24. Utah led 54-38 at the half. Utah shot 58% FG and Dallas shot 40% FG. The 2nd half was garbage time and Utah had a double-digit lead the rest of the way. A little bit of life was shown by the Mavs with Eduardo Najera starting the 3rd quarter (he didn't play in the 1st half) and showing his usual hustle. But Dallas was unable to substain a rally and none of Utah's starters played in the 4th quarter. Utah won 104-87. Yuch. As I said, only Shawn Bradley (19 points, 6 rebounds, 25 minutes) and Eduardo Najera (9 points, 4 rebounds, 18 minutes) showed up for Dallas. The Mavs could do nothing with Karl Malone (26 points including 10-12 FT). Nelson started with Bradley on Malone and Bradley was too worried about Malone driving past him that he gave him enough room to hit the open shots. John Starks did all his damage in the 1st quarter (16 points total), but that was enough. Michael Finley wasn't terrible, but wasn't great (13 points including 6-12 FG). Turns out that he had a great excuse. Finley had his wisdom teeth removed earlier in the day. He didn't tell anyone until Friday that he had his teeth pulled on Thursday. Gotta love the guy. More chair stories. The chairs were again the talk of the night for the opponent. Olden Polynice talked with Mark Cuban about them and then OP talked with 2 teammates about them. During the formal pre-game shoot around, Utah did their warmups at the Mavs' end and 2nd year man Quincy Lewis tried out the chairs. After he got up, he excitedly told his teammates (including gestures) that they had levers that raised and lowered the individual chairs. Utah Jazz 104, Dallas Mavericks 87 at Dallas (October 26) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Utah 31 23 28 22 - 104 .509 .538 .515 .744 Dallas 21 17 24 25 - 87 .508 .231 .458 .692 Halftime: Utah 54-38 3rd Q: Utah 82-62 Technicals: Dallas Illegal D 11:25 2nd, Don Nelson 7:09 2nd, Dallas Illegal D 11:42 3rd Refs: Dick Bavetta, Jim Clark, Jim Kinsey Attendance: 12,433 (cap 18,187) Did not play due to injury: Gary Trent (strained hip), Etan Thomas (sprained right big toe), John Crotty (right knee surgery) Utah Jazz REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Karl Malone 29 8-17 0-0 10-12 26 2-4 6 1 3 1 2 Bryon Russell 35 3-8 0-4 4-4 10 1-6 2 1 3 4 0 Olden Polynice 17 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 0 1 4 1 0 John Starks 17 6-8 3-3 1-1 16 0-0 1 4 4 0 0 John Stockton 21 2-4 0-0 5-6 9 0-1 6 0 2 3 1 Jacque Vaughn 27 6-11 3-3 2-3 17 0-4 1 3 2 2 0 Greg Ostertag 12 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-3 0 1 2 0 1 Quincy Lewis 21 5-5 0-0 0-1 10 2-4 1 4 3 1 1 Donyell Marshall 21 0-4 0-2 2-2 2 0-3 4 1 2 0 1 Danny Manning 17 1-2 0-0 5-8 7 1-3 1 1 4 2 0 David Benoit 6 1-1 1-1 0-0 3 0-2 0 0 2 0 0 Scott Padgett 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 1 1 DeShawn Stevenson 10 1-2 0-0 0-2 2 1-2 2 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 34-66 7-13 29-39 104 8-34 24 19 32 15 7 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 29 6-12 0-0 1-2 13 0-1 2 3 2 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 23 3-7 2-4 2-2 10 1-3 0 5 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 25 8-12 0-0 3-4 19 2-6 0 3 3 2 1 Howard Eisley 23 1-9 0-3 1-3 3 1-1 3 0 1 0 0 Steve Nash 27 1-7 0-3 0-0 2 1-5 7 1 3 0 0 Greg Buckner 22 3-5 0-1 2-3 8 1-4 0 3 3 1 0 Christian Laettner 14 4-5 0-0 3-4 11 1-4 0 0 4 0 2 Hubert Davis 20 3-4 1-1 0-0 7 0-0 1 2 2 0 0 Loy Vaught 13 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2-6 2 2 3 0 0 Eduardo Najera 18 2-3 0-0 5-6 9 2-4 1 2 2 0 0 Donnell Harvey 8 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 1-3 0 0 2 0 0 Courtney Alexander 8 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 0-1 1 1 0 0 0 John Celestand 5 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 1 2 0 1 0 Bill Curley 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 33-72 3-13 18-26 87 12-39 19 24 28 5 3 patricia