Antoine Rigaudeau arrived in Dallas yesterday. The paper work is expected to be finalized today and he will officially be a Mavericks. He is believed to be signing to a 2 year contract with a 3rd year at Dallas' option. According the the Fort Worth Star Telegram, the contract is worth $600,000 for 02-03, $660,000 for 03-04, and $726,000 for 04-05 if Dallas picks the option up. He is not expected to be available for Friday's game, but will then join the team on Saturday and be available for Sunday's game. Rigaudeau will wear #17. Note that Friday's game in Phoenix has a start time of 8:00 pm, not the 9:00 pm that is listed in some of the schedules. The February 21 game in Houston has been changed from 7:30 pm to 7:00 pm and will now be shown on ESPN as well as channel 21 locally. Dallas (31-5) at Sacramento (28-10) (January 15) Dallas came out looking hesitant and unsure and the Kings came out with barrels o' fire and shot out to an early 11-1 lead with 8:30 left as Dallas missed their first 7 shots (and Michael Finley only went 1-2 at the line for Dallas' only point). Dallas finally made their first basket of the game with 8:17 left. Things got worse for Dallas as the Kings scored 7 straight points to take their largest lead at 35-18 with 2:10 remaining. Nick Van Exel got 2 at the buzzer and Sacramento led 39-26 after 1. Chris Webber had 11 points. Dallas scored the first 4 points of the 2nd quarter, but then reverted to their cold shooting ways in missing their next 9 shots. Sacramento scored 12 straight points to take their first 20+ point lead at 51-30 with 7 minutes to go. Dallas would get no closer than 16 points the rest of the half. Sacramento led 62-42 at the half. Peja Stojakovic had 18 points. Dallas could not mount a serious run during the 3rd quarter and could get no closer than 18 points. Every time Dallas cut the Kings' lead to less than 20 points, Sacramento would answer with a bucket or 3-pointer to push the lead back to 20 or more points. The big 3 sat most of the 4th quarter (Dirk Nowitzki sat 1 1/2 minutes in) as the blowout continued in the 4th quarter. For some reason, Webber stayed in the game until 4:30 left [never agree with leaving a star on the court during garbage time - you are just asking for an injury to occur]. The only thing Dallas could say was that the Kings' lead never reached 30 points. Sacramento did score the last 4 points of the game to take their largest lead. Sacramento won 123-94. Sacramento simply kicked Dallas' tail from start to finish. Dallas was never in the game and could do nothing right. Not only was Dallas' offense lacking, but their defense reverted to last year's form - their man-to-man left the middle wide open and their zone (they didn't run it much) left the 3-point shooters open, which Sacramento did a good job of finding. Dallas shot just 42.9% FG including 5-18 FG and Sacramento shot 55.2% FG including 13-20 3-pointers. Dallas also committed 17 turnovers, the 2nd most they've had this season. It was by far the largest loss margin for Dallas this season. Dallas 6 losses have margins of 29 points, 12 points (twice), 7 points, 3 points, and 2 points. Dick Motta used to say that he expected to have 3 or 4 stinkers like this per season and this was definitely one of them. Unfortunately, it came against the best team in the league and on national television. Chris Webber had a triple-double with 29 points including 12-20 FG, 15 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 11 assists (though 4 of them came during the 4th quarter). Peja Stojakovic had his stroke going as he stayed outside and waited for his teammates to find him and had 23 points including 6-9 3-pointers. Doug Christie was also deadeye with 18 points on 7-9 FG and 4-6 3-pointers and 6 assists. Mike Bibby was quiet but had 16 points and 6 assists. Vlade Divac had 23 points and 8 rebounds and Keon Clark had 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Only one player had a good game for Dallas - Nick Van Exel. Van Exel had 20 points in 31 minutes off the bench. Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points and 9 rebounds, but also had 6 turnovers. The Mavs needed much more from Steve Nash and Michael Finley. Nash had 11 points and 7 assists. Finley was horrendous in missing his first 8 shots and had just 8 points including 3-12 FG. He did have 5 rebounds. Shawn Bradley had 5 points including 2-8 FG and 2 rebounds and Raef LaFrentz had 9 points and 7 rebounds. Avery Johnson had 12 points including 5-6 FG and 4 assists in the 4th quarter. Quotes Rick Adelman: "I really can't give our guys enough credit for the way they approached this game. We went through a lot of things in the past 2 days that we thought we could do against Dallas and our concentration was terrific through the whole game. We got to people. We made them guard us at the other end. We were ready to play. It was really evident. We're moving the ball. I think we have a really good understanding about what we can do to try to make it difficult to guard us. It really didn't matter to us if they played man-to-man or zone. We were real comfortable with what we got. I thought Chris was just unbelievable the whole game - aggressive, getting to the basket. Peja got us going early. Doug's efficiency - I don't know - he was 7 for 9. It was just one of those games where the flow was going good." Adelman: "We played at a very high level. We've shown in a couple games now where we're playing 2 of the better teams that we have the ability to reach a level of play. Now the key for us is how often we get to that level. How consistent can we be?" Chris Webber: "We just passed a test. We know we're good and we were confident we could win here. It's been 4 to 5 years in the making. We let everybody else talk and build the game up. We just come out and calmly play the game." Webber: "Everybody's saying they've got great players - the best power forward, the best point guard - but you've still got to come out and play the game. It takes a while to develop what we've got. You can't just wake up one morning and say you're going to do something." Predrag Stojakovic: "It looked like the New Jersey game. I guess we approached the game really seriously, especially on the defensive end." Vlade Divac: "It was a big game. The Mavericks have the best record in the league. We knew it was important for us to jump on them early in the 1st quarter. Overall though, every game is a big game for us. It's just one game and it's the first we've played against them all year. We had an almost perfect night and they didn't shoot the ball well. They're a much better team than they showed today. We're good against the zone. We tried to be aggressive." Divac: "We were really aggressive from the tipoff. We made the first 5 points of the game and defensively we were solid." Doug Christie: "I think we came out focused but whether the shots will fall on a given night is tough to say. Some nights they go in and some nights they don't. Defense is where the focus was tonight. That helped us get going. We try to move the ball around and get open shots. Tonight the shots were just falling. The playoffs are yet to be played and that's where the statements need to be made. They're a fantastic team and we wanted to come out tonight and put on a good show. We did." Christie: "The level of competition is important. You try to play like it's not, but we were at our best tonight." Don Nelson: "This game doesn't say anything about where we are. We're having a great year. I think it says more about where they are. We've never said we were better than Sacramento. I've been saying along that I love watching the Kings play every night. I think they're the best team in the league. All we can do is try to forget as soon as possible, then go on and see if we can win our next game. Webber has been sensational all year." Nelson: "That was a pretty awesome display. They beat New Jersey like this and we came in and let the same thing happen. I was most surprised the score got so lopsided so quickly. This is the first real egg we've laid this season." Nelson: "I could take a game like this every once in a while, and usually there's more than one in a season. And this is the first time we've really laid an egg. But it was against an awful good team and they probably had an awful lot to do with that." Steve Nash: "We missed our assignments all over the place defensively and they made us pay for it. I'm not saying we would have beat them. The way they shot the ball tonight, you can't afford to play a team like that and miss your assignments." Nash: "We missed our assignments all over the place defensively and they made us pay for it. I'm surprised. We should know you can't play a good team like that and miss assignments." Nash: "They made shots and we didn't. We didn't defend very well, and that's disappointing, because this was one of the games that counts a lot to us in the regular season. We all know it's not the end of the world, but against a team like this, in a setting like this, we would like to have played much better than we did." Nick Van Exel: "I'm surprised they came out on fire, and we just didn't make shots. We had the shots that we normally get. It was just a tough night, but we still feel confident." Van Exel: "I thought Sacramento played well from the beginning. We let the officials get in our heads. That sort of took away from our game. In a game like this, you have to block things out, and just play basketball because it's not going to be a perfect game. I thought they did a good job at that. This was definitely a statement game. They won round 1." Van Exel: "It was definitely a statement game. They won this statement. We've got 3 more rounds to go. But we can't put this kind of effort out and expect to win in the West." Van Exel: "We're not where we thought we were as a team. They put a good whupping on us. They let us know we still have a ways to go." Van Exel: "This was just a good whupping for us. They outplayed us offensively, defensively, every which way. They had the whole package." Van Exel: "You can say we're not ready to make that jump [to the top of the league]. But you can build from this, too. We just know we have to improve in some areas, that we're not where we thought we were as a team." Avery Johnson: "You can't throw it out. We didn't give ourselves a chance coming out of the locker room to win this game. Nobody was on. Everybody had a bad night. This lets us know we have a long way to go." Johnson: "We haven't arrived yet. No matter what the deal is, we haven't arrived yet. It lets us know at pre-practice, at every shoot-around, at every film session, at everything that we're involved in, we've got to really pay close attention to detail to get where we're trying to go. That's a hungry basketball team over there [Sacramento]." Sacramento Kings 123, Dallas Mavericks 94 at Sacramento (January 15) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Sacramento 39 23 32 29 - 123 .522 .650 .552 .737 Dallas 26 16 29 23 - 94 .466 .278 .429 .688 Halftime: Sacramento 62-42 3rd Q: Sacramento 94-71 Technicals: Don Nelson 2:11 1st Refs: Bennett Salvatore, Jim Clark, Phil Robinson Attendance: 17,317 (sellout) Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Predrag Stojakovic 33 8-13 6-9 1-1 23 0-4 2 2 1 2 0 Chris Webber 40 12-20 0-0 5-8 29 6-15 11 4 2 0 2 Vlade Divac 27 4-10 0-1 3-4 11 1-8 4 1 4 1 0 Doug Christie 35 7-9 4-6 0-0 18 0-2 6 0 2 2 0 Mike Bibby 36 6-14 2-3 2-2 16 2-4 6 2 2 4 0 Keon Clark 21 6-9 0-0 1-2 13 1-5 1 2 3 0 3 Jim Jackson 18 0-5 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 2 1 2 0 0 Damon Jones 14 2-3 1-1 0-0 5 0-2 0 0 3 1 0 Gerald Wallace 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 Hidayet Turkoglu 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 1 0 1 0 0 Mateen Cleaves 4 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 0-1 1 3 2 1 0 Lawrence Funderburke 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 48-87 13-20 14-19 123 11-46 34 16 23 11 5 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 13 2-5 0-1 0-0 4 1-2 1 0 0 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 31 6-15 0-1 3-5 15 0-9 0 6 3 1 1 Shawn Bradley 19 2-8 0-0 1-1 5 1-2 0 0 3 1 1 Michael Finley 31 3-12 1-3 1-2 8 2-5 1 0 0 1 0 Steve Nash 31 4-9 1-3 2-2 11 0-2 7 2 0 0 0 Walt Williams 30 3-9 0-2 0-2 6 1-5 2 2 5 0 0 Raef LaFrentz 25 4-6 1-2 0-0 9 3-7 1 2 3 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 31 8-15 2-5 2-2 20 2-3 4 1 0 1 0 Avery Johnson 12 5-6 0-0 2-2 12 0-0 2 3 4 1 0 Popeye Jones 11 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 3-5 2 0 0 0 0 Raja Bell 6 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 48 39-91 5-18 11-16 94 13-40 20 17 18 6 2 patricia