Don Nelson gave his team a quiz on Thursday. It was 10 questions and a missed answer costed a player $10. Nick Van Exel got all correct and Raef LaFrentz missed with most with 4 wrong. He gave the test on the ESPN 103.3 FM to the show hosts, subbing other questions (probably the nickname ones) for the ones that were diagrams. Here's the test he gave on the radio: 1. Where does Dallas rank in the league in points allowed? 2. Match up the zone type with the Mavs' nickname for it 1. 1-1-3 a. fist up 2. 1-3-1 b. fist side 3. 1-2-2 c. fist down 3. What is the Green defense? 4. What is the Blue screen-and-roll? 5. What is Gold low box? 6. What is Wang's nickname? 7. What is Abdul-Wahad's nickname? 8. Where is the center on Blast? 9. What does this team need to do to become a better team? 10. What is the team's ranking on defensive FG%? Answers 1. 29th (last) 2. 1-c, 2-a, 3-b 3. aggressive man-to-man 4. to push the ball to the baseline 5. front the low box 6. Dodger 7. T 8. high post middle 9. rebound 10. 22nd Miami at Dallas (March 2) Neither team held more than a 5 point lead in the 1st quarter. Miami went on an 11-3 run to take a 15-12 lead with 4:35 left. Miami led 28-25 after 1. Michael Finley had 10 points. Miami scored 6 straight points to take their first double-digit lead at 48-38 with 3:30 remaining. Dallas scored the next 8 points to pull within 46-48 with 2:30 to go, but Miami closed the quarter by scoring the last 9 points. Miami led 55-48 at the half. Miami shot 66% FG and Dallas only shot 46% FG. Chris Gatling had 13 points. Miami continued their run in the 3rd quarter as Dallas came out ice cold and Miami shot out to a 75-51 lead with 6:25 left - that's a 20-3 run to open the 3rd quarter as Dallas' only points came off free throws as Dallas missed 7 straight shots and committed 4 turnovers. Alonzo Mourning had 11 points during the run. Dirk Nowitzki hit Dallas' first field goal of the quarter with 5:49 left. Miami led in the 20s the rest of the quarter and led 84-63 after 3. Dallas only made 5 field goals in the 3rd quarter as Miami out-scored Dallas 29-15 during the quarter. Dallas pulled within 70-86 with 9:35 left, but Miami went on a 10-2 run and led in the 20s the rest of the way. The 2nd quickest whistle in the league Ken Mauer gave Dirk Nowitzki his 2nd technical in less than a 2 minute span as Nowitzki complained about getting called for his 6th foul with 6:18 left. And Don Nelson frustration with his team's poor play and the poor officiating overflowed as he grabbed the ball after Nowitzki's ejection and kicked it into the stands. Nelson received his 2nd technical and was ejected. Wang Zhizhi hit 3 3-pointers to close the game to make the final score not completely reflecting the blowout this game was. Miami won 109-95. Well, that was ugly. Dallas again showed that they have big problems when a team plays them physical. And the Mavs looked terrible on defense. Though the refs did make and not make some questionable calls, the refs had no affect on the outcome of this game - it was purely Miami playing well and Dallas playing poorly. Dallas was down by 23 points when Don Nelson and Dirk Nowitzki were ejected. Nelson's and Nowitzki's ejections in the 4th were from a combination of frustration over Dallas' play and the refs (Mourning threw an elbow that should have been called that seemed to ignite the Mavs' emotions). Miami shot 55.3% FG and Dallas shot just 40.7% FG and the Heat out-scored Dallas 52-30 in the paint. Eddie Jones was the high man for Miami with 26 points including 9-13 FG and 3-3 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Alonzo Mourning had 23 points including 10-16 FG, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks before fouling out in the 4th quarter. Chris Gatling had a good night against his former team with 19 points on 6-8 FG and 7-7 FT and 7 rebounds in just 19 minutes. Jim Jackson also had a good night against his former team with 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Rod Strickland was the 5th Heat in double-digits with 11 points and 5 assists. Michael Finley was the only Mav to have a good night and shot above 50% FG. Finley had 25 points including 11-17 FG and 7 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had 21 points and 6 rebounds before fouling out and being ejected. Steve Nash had 16 points and 7 assists. Wang Zhizhi had 12 points on 4-6 3-pointers (also missed 4 2-pointers), all in the 4th quarter. None of the new Mavs had a good night. Raef LaFrentz was extremely limited by fouls and only had 6 points and 4 rebounds in 19 minutes before fouling out. Nick Van Exel had just 3 points including 0-7 FG and 3 assists. Tariq Abdul-Wahad did not score and Avery Johnson had 2 points. Quotes Pat Riley: "We were just moving the ball and we have some guys that can make shots. We shot 65% in the 1st half, and that's unlike us. I thought Gatling had a great 1st half, Eddie got us off, and Rod played well. In the 3rd quarter, we were just committed. We were also committed not to give them comfort jumpers, all the comfort jumpers that they like." Riley on Dallas: "I think they have a lot of talent and it is going to take a little time to figure out how to play Nick, Nash, and LaFrentz. I think Shawn Bradley is somebody they miss size-wise. I think they are going to be fine; they just made a major trade, so its going to take a little time." Alonzo Mourning: "We started the game by making a concerted effort to put the pressure on them defensively. We fed off of our defense and when we did that good things happened on the offensive end. Effort and energy were one thing Coach Riley mentioned to us, especially the starting 5. The past few games we have been digging ourselves a hole. We've come back in the 2nd half in a lot of games, but we haven't been starting the game off strong enough. He just wanted us to make more of a concerted effort to get us all off on the right foot. I think the 5 of us tried to make a difference in the 1st half than we made in the previous games." Mourning: "We pounded the ball inside and took them out of their rhythm a little bit." Mourning on Miami's offense: "We've always been confident in knowing we had this in us. I had no doubts we could do this." Eddie Jones: "We're a team that likes to push people around. It seems like the teams out West don't like to be bumped around." Jones: "We have to go out and play the game defensively. It starts there and finishes there. The fact that we made shots tonight, wonderful. We knew coming in, this team can put points on the board. It would take an all out effort defensively. We wanted to make them put the ball on the floor than allowing them to be out there taking comfort shots. That is what they are used to. They can spread the floor. If you can take their comfort shots away, you can do some good things." Chris Gatling: "Whether we score 100 points or 50 points, we're just trying to be consistent and play tough defense." Donn Nelson: "We got beat inside, we got beat outside. On the offensive side, on the defensive side." [note: Don Nelson does not speak to the media after games he is ejected.] Nelson: "We just did not step up physically." Nelson on Miami's defense: "That's been their calling card. They have a coach that really stresses it. They make you pay defensively." Nelson: "It was just a good old-fashioned butt-whipping." Nelson on Don Nelson punting the ball: "Are the Cowboys looking for a punter? I thought he got some pretty good style points on that one. Obviously we are all frustrated. Nellie kind of put the exclamation point on the night. All jokes aside, we have to find a way, especially at home, to beat teams like this. We are heading into the playoff push. We did not physically step up to the challenge." Nelson on the poor performance: "I don't think it was anything specific. I think throughout the course of the game the game kind of took on a physical tone. I think [Nellie] was just trying to protect some of his players [when he was ejected]." Michael Finley: "We still have to find a way to win even if we're not hitting our shots." Nick Van Exel: "It started from the beginning. They set the tone early with their aggressiveness and we never responded to that." Van Exel: "They were a lot more physical than we were and with a team like that, you have to match their toughness. We definitely can't let them score 100 points and expect to win. We wanted to make it an up tempo game, but they were the ones pushing the ball and getting a lot of easy baskets on us. That made it difficult for us and we really never got it going the way we wanted to." Avery Johnson: "They were a lot more physical than we were. They had a presence about them physically. They were determined and they were the ones that made the aggressive moves. We were on our heals from the start and we never recovered." Johnson: "We're going to have to get tougher. There are ways to do it and each guy that played tonight knows exactly what I am talking about. We just have to keep plugging away. We gave up a lot of easy baskets tonight. They got into the paint and they broke us down and we fouled them, but we didn't foul them hard enough. If we want to get to that next level, then we need to play a little more physical than what we have played in the past." Miami Heat 109, Dallas Mavericks 95 at Dallas (March 2) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Miami 28 27 29 25 - 109 .549 .600 .553 .786 Dallas 25 23 15 32 - 95 .397 .444 .407 .778 Halftime: Miami 55-48 3rd Q: Miami 84-63 Technicals: Alonzo Mourning 6:13 1st, Miami defensive 3 seconds 9:27 2nd, Pat Riley 2:45 2nd, Chris Gatling 1:17 3rd, Don Nelson 6:56 4th, Dirk Nowitzki 6:18 4th, Dirk Nowitzki 7:35 4th (ejected), Don Nelson 7:35 4th (ejected) Refs: George Toliver, Ken Mauer, Scott Foster Attendance: 20,140 (sellout) Miami Heat REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Kendall Gill 23 3-6 0-1 1-2 7 0-4 2 1 1 1 1 Brian Grant 30 3-6 0-0 1-2 7 1-4 1 3 2 3 0 Alonzo Mourning 30 10-16 0-0 3-4 23 2-11 2 3 6 2 3 Rod Strickland 33 4-10 0-1 3-4 11 1-3 5 2 1 2 0 Eddie Jones 40 9-13 3-3 5-7 26 0-7 3 0 1 2 0 Chris Gatling 19 6-8 0-0 7-7 19 2-7 3 4 3 0 1 Anthony Carter 20 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 5 0 2 0 0 Jim Jackson 27 5-8 0-0 2-2 12 1-6 5 1 3 1 1 Vladmir Stepania 12 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 0 2 1 0 0 Mike James 2 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Sean Marks 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Malik Allen 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 42-76 3-5 22-28 109 7-45 26 17 20 11 6 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Johnny Newman 19 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 2 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 34 7-15 1-2 6-8 21 1-6 1 4 6 0 2 Evan Eschmeyer 12 0-0 0-0 2-2 2 0-1 0 0 3 1 0 Michael Finley 41 11-17 2-4 1-2 25 0-7 1 1 4 1 1 Steve Nash 29 6-13 1-2 3-3 16 0-1 7 3 1 0 0 Raef LaFrentz 19 2-7 0-1 2-4 6 3-4 0 1 6 2 1 Nick Van_Exel 27 0-7 0-2 3-4 3 0-2 3 1 0 0 0 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 2 1 1 1 1 Eduardo Najera 22 2-6 0-1 4-4 8 4-7 1 1 1 1 0 Wang Zhizhi 14 4-10 4-6 0-0 12 0-5 0 2 2 0 0 Avery Johnson 15 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 4 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 33-81 8-18 21-27 95 8-35 19 14 28 7 5 Dallas at Denver (March 3) Just 10 days after a major trade, Dallas and Denver faced each other with players on each team trying to prove something to their former team. Denver was up 8-7 with 9 minutes left and Dallas went on a 16-0 run to go up 23-8 with 5 minutes remaining as Denver missed 8 straight shots. Denver was able to cut some into Dallas lead and Dallas led 33-25 after 1. Dirk Nowitzki had 10 points and Michael Finley had 12 points. Denver opened the 2nd quarter with a 12-4 run to tie the game at 37-37 with 9 minutes to go. The game stayed close the rest of the quarter with neither team holding more than a 4 point lead. The game was tied 56-56 at the half. Antonio McDyess had 10 points in the quarter. Finley had 19 points and Juwan Howard had 15 points in the half. Denver led 62-58 with 10:20 left and Dallas went on a 15-3 run to go up 73-65 with 6 minutes to go. Dallas led 65-67 with 4:20 left and Denver went on a 9-1 run to tie the game at 76-76 with 1:15 remaining. Dallas scored the last 5 points of the quarter to take an 83-78 lead after 3. Eduardo Najera scored the first 4 points of the 4th quarter to give Dallas an 87-78 lead with 10:30 left. But Tim Hardaway and George McCloud 3-pointers surrounded a Najera jumper and McCloud hit a jumper to pull Denver within 86-89 with 8:20 remaining. Dallas led 93-89 with 6:25 to go and McDyess hit 2 free throws and McCloud nailed a 3-pointer to give Denver a 94-93 lead with 5:45 to go. The teams traded leads 4 times over the rest of the quarter. Denver scored 4 straight points to go up 102-99 with 2 minutes left. Raef LaFrentz hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1:35 left. Denver missed on 2 attempts and Finley hit a fade away jumper to tie the game at 102-102 with a minute to go. Denver missed on 2 attempts and Nowitzki missed with 30 seconds remaining. Hardaway overshot a baseline runner over LaFrentz, who had made the defensive switch, at the buzzer and we had overtime. Hardaway hit a jumper a minute into overtime and LaFrentz answered with a jumper. Voshon Lenard missed and Steve Nash nailed a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 107-104 lead with 3:15 left. Donnell Harvey slammed the ball home, but Nash answered with a jumper with 2 minutes remaining. Denver missed on 2 attempts, Nick Van Exel rebounded and passed to Finley, who was running up the court, Harvey grabbed Finley by the waist and Finley made the layup. He made the free throw to complete the 3-point play and give Dallas a 112-106 lead with 1:30 remaining. Howard hit 1 of 2 free throws, Van Exel missed, and Howard hit 1 of 2 free throws with 40 seconds to go. Finley had the monster power slam (oh ya!) with 20 seconds left to put the exclamation mark on the game. 2 Finley free throws and a Howard dunk capped the scoring. Dallas won 116-110. It was a very emotional game with 3 former Mavs with Denver and 4 former Nuggets with Dallas. It was also Antonio McDyess' 2nd game of the season. It wasn't a pretty game by Dallas, though. The team started strong and then faultered instead of crushing Denver and it was a tight game the rest of the way. Dallas nearly shot themselves in the foot by missing free throws (and Dallas is the best free throw shooting team in the league). Dallas missed 13 free throws in regulation. Denver returned the favor by missing 2 free throws in overtime (7 missed overall). Michael Finley had his 2nd consecutive strong game - this was the type of performance that we saw prior to Finley's injury in late December. Finley had 30 points including 7 points in overtime and 6 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki struggled shooting and had 19 points including 6-18 FG and 10 rebounds. Steve Nash nearly had a triple-double with 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. Eduardo Najera started and was a key component in this game with his hustle and energy and contributed 17 points including 6-9 FG and 7 rebounds. Raef LaFrentz did not have a good game and again fouled out. He had just 8 points and 3 rebounds in 26 minutes. Nick Van Exel was the spark off the bench, despite the constant boos from the fans (and playful boos from his former teammates). Van Exel had 20 points and 6 assists. Those 6 players received most of the minutes. Wang Zhizhi only played 9 minutes and had 5 points. Johnny Newman only played 14 points and had 1 point. Danny Manning (6 minutes) and Tariq Abdul-Wahad (2 minutes) did not score. Juwan Howard had a great game against his former team with 30 points including 14-17 FT, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Antonio McDyess looked good in limited minutes (limited by his coach and trainer as precautionary) with 16 points and 9 rebounds in 25 minutes. Tim Hardaway had 16 points and 9 assists. George McCloud came off the bench to chip in 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Donnell Harvey was a rebounding machine with 12 rebounds, but did not do much else. His grabbing Finley by the waist and not the arms which allowed for the 3-point play in overtime was a mistake that he needs to learn not to make. Quotes Don Nelson: "In a lot of ways, Denver deserved to win. We got a little lucky to win it in OT. All the traded players played extremely well. I thought it would be close and hard to win and that's exactly what it was." Nelson: "We are blessed with a lot of good offensive players, and we do a pretty good job on that end." Nelson: "I thought Nick played extremely well and was a big factor in the win." Nelson on Finley's power dunk: "Coach likes to see that. He rose above most everybody." Michael Finley: "It was a good game, we knew it was going to be a tough game because of the emotions involved." Finley: "I have been more aggressive, and had to tonight knowing we'd have a tough game because of the emotions involved." Finley: "In the overtime situation, I just had some good looks at the basket. The last shot I just wanted to be aggressive, get fouled, or something like that and I got a dunk out of it." Raef LaFrentz: "Antonio was a clown all night. He's a great guy and it's good to see him back." LaFrentz on his foul trouble: "If you're not on the floor, you're not going to score points. I couldn't stay on the floor. I'd have a cheap call here and there. It's not the ones that I'm challenging, but it's the cheap ones they're catching on me that are frustrating. I'm still trying to adjust to a new defensive scheme. I might have been out of position a little bit." Nick Van Exel on the booing: "I knew what to expect coming in and didn't feel any pressure going out to play. It was a pretty good game, the hecklers got their money's worth. In our situation, it was a big game and I'm glad we got the win. I'm going to miss the fellas." Van Exel: "Coming back was a lot easier than I expected, and I knew the kind of reception I was going to get coming in. I'm glad I won't have to come back here and listen to all those boos again." Van Exel: "I'm glad I don't have to come back here again. It was a good day for me. And a better night." Van Exel on good friend McDyess: "McDyess booed me. Every time he came by me said he was going to block my shot, but I didn't let that happen." Mike Evans: "This was a game we really wanted to win. We shot ourselves in the foot by missing key free throws down the stretch and not being able to contain Finley." Evans: "We shoot ourselves in the foot, we missed key free throws and shots down the stretch." Evans: "A very entertaining game to watch, the fans were really into it, this is what it should be like every night in the NBA." Evans on LaFrentz: "We were going right at him, we knew that. I though we had a good game plan. I thought [LaFrentz] contributed. We tried to take advantage of the weaknesses we thought they had. We went at the main guys they expect to get points from. We wanted to get fouls early on. That was the plan." Evans on limited McDyess' minutes: "That's a tough deal, but 25 minutes was enough for Mac. But we spot-played him and got him in some situations toward the end of the game, which was good. He got a little taste of that. But we're not going to overdo it for the sake of winning a ballgame." Juwan Howard on Hardaway's miss at the end of regulation: "Wow, that would have been special. If we had an opportunity again, I'd tell Tim to take the last shot because he's won so many big games throughout his career. I know I have the utmost confidence in Tim, and I know Coach and players who have watched Tim over the years know he's made that shot throughout his career. That was our game to win. At that time, we should've of won it in regulation because I knew in overtime they were going to definitely step it up. I've played with them before. I know them. And sure enough, they stepped up when they needed to." Tim Hardaway: "It would have been great to hit that shot at the end of regulation. It just didn't go down." Hardaway: "We play hard and on emotion, but that isn't enough. We still need some help." Dallas Mavericks 116, Denver 110 OT at Denver (March 3) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 33 23 27 19 14 - 116 .493 .348 .457 .649 Denver 25 31 22 24 8 - 110 .458 .263 .418 .806 Halftime: 56-56 3rd Q: Dallas 83-78 4th Q: 102-102 Technicals: Denver defensive 3 seconds 1:37 3rd, Steve Nash 6:46 4th, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 4:46 4th Flagrant fouls: Eduardo Najera 3:10 2nd Refs: David Jones, Derrick Stafford, Jason Phillips Attendance: 16,851 (cap 19,099) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Eduardo Najera 29 6-9 0-0 5-8 17 3-7 0 0 3 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 45 6-18 3-6 4-6 19 2-10 4 0 5 2 0 Raef LaFrentz 26 2-7 1-4 3-4 8 1-3 1 1 6 2 5 Michael Finley 50 12-21 2-3 4-5 30 0-6 3 1 2 1 0 Steve Nash 41 6-14 2-3 2-4 16 3-9 9 2 3 0 0 Wang Zhizhi 9 2-4 0-2 1-2 5 1-2 0 0 3 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 43 8-18 0-5 4-6 20 1-4 6 1 2 0 0 Johnny Newman 14 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-2 0 1 1 1 0 Danny Manning 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 0 1 0 1 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 53 42-92 8-23 24-37 116 13-46 23 7 27 7 6 Denver Nuggets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Juwan Howard 51 8-20 0-0 14-17 30 4-10 5 3 5 0 0 Calbert Cheaney 26 4-10 0-0 1-2 9 0-2 2 1 0 0 1 Antonio McDyess 25 4-9 0-0 8-8 16 5-9 1 0 2 1 1 Voshon Lenard 20 3-10 0-3 0-0 6 0-4 1 0 1 0 0 Tim Hardaway 36 7-14 2-7 0-0 16 0-1 9 5 3 1 0 Donnell Harvey 28 3-5 0-0 1-3 7 2-12 1 1 5 1 0 Ryan Bowen 32 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 2-2 1 0 1 1 3 George McCloud 33 6-11 3-6 5-6 20 1-5 7 0 4 0 0 James Posey 12 2-10 0-3 0-0 4 0-4 3 2 4 0 0 Mengke Batter 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 53 38-91 5-19 29-36 110 14-50 30 13 26 4 5 patricia