Dallas at New York (January 24) It was a close game with 2 ties and 9 lead changes in the 1st quarter. New York scored 7 straight points to go up 27-19 with 3 minutes left. A free throw by Dirk Nowitzki and 2 3-pointers by Nick Van Exel closed the quarter and it was all tied up at 29-29 after 1. Nowitzki had 14 points and Latrell Sprewell had 13 points. The game stayed close early in the 2nd quarter with neither team holding more than a 5 point lead. New York scored 8 consecutive points to take their largest lead at 53-44 with 50 seconds to go. New York led 53-46 at the half. Both teams shot 44% FG, but New York out-rebounded Dallas 23-16, including a good number of offensive rebounds. Shawn Bradley had the first 4 points of the 3rd quarter and the game remained close. A putback by Adrian Griffin gave Dallas back the lead at 66-65 with 3:40 remaining. The teams traded leads over the end of the quarter and a jumper by Griffin at the buzzer left it all tied up at 74-74 after 3. Dallas scored the first 6 points of the 4th quarter to go up 80-74 with 11 minutes left. A 3-pointer by Allan Houston pulled New York within 80-83 with 9:20 remaining, but Dallas scored the next 9 points to take their first double-digit lead at 92-90 with 6:35 to go. New York stayed in the game by scoring the next 6 points. Charlie Ward missed a 3-pointer and Clarence Weatherspoon missed the putback under the basket and Dallas ended New York's run with a 3-pointer by Michael Finley followed by a 3-pointer by Nowitzki to give Dallas a 98-86 lead with 3:15 left. New York would get no closer than 8 points the rest of the way. Dallas won 101-90. It wasn't a pretty win, but it goes in the books as a W and that is all that counts in the long run. The win snapped a 12 year drought of Dallas not winning in New York - a string of 10 consecutive losses (didn't play in New York during the lockout season) and the last Dallas win at Madison Square Garden was 11/6/90. Unliked the Philadelphia game, Dallas benefited from the refs with lopsided free throw numbers. With New York being an outside shooting team and Dallas opting to let them blow by on those occasions when they took the ball inside (matador defense in full effect), New York's low free throws wasn't too surprising. Dallas shot 24-30 FT while New York shot 8-9 FG. New York started shooting well, including 3-4 3-pointers, but quickly cooled down and stayed cold the rest of the game (shot 5-22 3-pointers the rest of the game). Dallas shot 44.2% (34-77) FG and New York shot 41.6% (37-89) FG. New York out-rebounded Dallas 43-37, but Dallas did have 6 more steals and 5 fewer turnovers. The Mavs won despite seeming sluggish for good chunks of time (they did play the night before) and drove me nuts in that they didn't take the ball inside enough, despite New York having a weak front court, especially when Kurt Thomas got into foul trouble. Dirk Nowitzki led the way for Dallas with 30 points including 10-11 FT and 9 rebounds. Michael Finley had a solid game with 20 points and a season high 9 assists. The big 3 this night consisted of Nowitzki, Finley, and Nick Van Exel, instead of Steve Nash. Van Exel again had his shooting touch and finished with 17 points including 5-9 3-pointers. Nash had a dismal outing that started with him missing a technical free throw to snap his streak of consecutive free throws made at 47 and the game never got any better for him. Nash only had 4 points on 0-9 FG, 0-3 3-pointers, and 4-5 FT and 5 assists in 29 minutes. Shawn Bradley and Raef LaFrentz did an effective job of manning the middle and did see some time together on the court. Bradley had 7 points on a perfect 2-2 FG and 3-3 FT and 4 rebounds and LaFrentz had 9 points including 3-4 FG and 6 rebounds. Adrian Griffin helped in hitting some shots when the Mavs were slumping and finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in 21 minutes. Antoine Rigaudeau continues not to perform, but Don Nelson continues to put him out on the court for a handful of minutes in the middle of the game. Latrell Sprewell was the high man for New York with 21 points. Allan Houston only had 14 points including 5-15 FG. Howard Eisley also had 14 points, but did more in his time on the court with 5 rebounds and 8 assists in 27 minutes. Kurt Thomas picked up 2 fouls in the first 3 minutes of the game and was limited by foul trouble throughout the game. 2 of his 5 fouls were for trying to barrel through Shawn Bradley and then Raef LaFrentz, who were setting screens for an outside shooter, and he complained bitterly about both (correct) calls. Despite only playing 24 minutes, Thomas did have a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds including 6 offensive. Quotes Don Nelson: "All we really talked about at halftime was ball movement, getting shots off the weak side, which we did just a great job of doing, and tightening up our defense and getting more rebounds. Once we moved the ball, we made shots ... which we can do." Nelson: "We're getting pretty used to 'Nowitzki and 30' around here. Also, his numbers may not be great, but Raef LaFrentz did a good job of catching the ball and moving it to the weak side. Simply said, that gave us a lot of good looks. That was the difference in our 2nd half offense looking so good." Nelson on winning in New York: "We've set a lot of records and this is a negative one that we can dust off and get rid of." Michael Finley: "When our assists are high, it shows we're moving the ball, and we usually win." Finley: "This gives us a chance to forget about that last road trip. We won here for the first time in a long time and we have a little momentum back on our side." Dirk Nowitzki on the 4th: "We chased them off the 3-point shot. Houston and Sprewell didn't have any open looks in the 4th quarter. Offensively, we just kept moving the ball and knocked down big shots." Nick Van Exel: "Steve [Nash] was having a little bit of an off night. I thought we had a lot of guys open, we were just missing them. I came to the bench and said, 'If we just swing the ball, we can get guys open.' Michael Finley was the guy on the food chain ... and ended up making shots." Van Exel on playing in New York: "I love it. I love the bright lights, just the atmosphere. The crowd is a basketball crowd. They really understand basketball and know basketball, and I really appreciate that." Raef LaFrentz: "It's just basic basketball, really. They doubled Nick, then they'd rotate to me to honor my shot, and we had a heyday with Michael and Griff. They downed just about every shot they had. Getting those 2 guys against 1 defender, I'll definitely take those odds." Don Chaney: "They present problems simply because their able to put pressure on you on the perimeter. They have Bradley, Nowitzki, and those other big guys like LaFrentz back there to protect them. The zone is a great weapon for them because they're such a scoring team. They can match your scoring, but if you stop shooting, they continue to score. They have a lot of weapons. They have great shooters." Chaney: "That team takes a lot of outside shots. Rebounding is the key. I thought we were in the game, simply because we were up at halftime. As long as you get the ball back, you have a chance to match scores with them. If you don't get it back, you're going to be in trouble. We have to do a lot of things correctly, and rebounding is one of them." Chaney on Thomas: "Kurt is such an integral part of what we do. We rely on him for rebounding, for defense, and for blocking shots. He's our best big guy in terms of team rotation. He's our strength inside. To have him in foul trouble or to have him on the bench hurts us." Chaney one subbing Thomas out after he picked up his 4th foul early in the 4th: : "I've tried it before and he's gotten [his 5th]. In situations like that, a player has to have a track record of playing with 4 fouls." Allan Houston on the 4th: "The turnovers hurt us and we missed some shots. That is what it comes down to. We had to execute. We did a good job against the zone most of the game, but the last 6, 7 minutes of the 4th quarter, we were out of sync. We let the zone bother us a little bit." Houston: "They just put so much pressure on you. They do some many things. They run, they spread you out, they got so many weapons that can score, and they can shoot. They are a scoring machine. They have 3 or 4 guys that can really hurt you." Houston: "They're a great team. They spread us out on defense. You can't give them an inch, they'll take a mile. It bothers you because you do everything you can. They capitalize on every little mistake you make. That's why have the record they do." Houston on Thomas' foul troubles: "It's frustrating. I think he's starting to get a reputation. He has a short leash now, and it's unfortunate. I think that's what's happening with Kurt. They're not giving him any leeway at all, and anything that he does, he's going to get noticed for. I think their natural reaction now is that they're going to try to call fouls on him." Latrell Sprewell: "We weren't good with our rotations. It's tough when you have big guys rotating to smaller guys and you have two on the ball. That's the way we try to play - get two on the ball and try to find the open guy. Nellie is the best at creating situations like that." Sprewell: "We were there. If we were better on defense in the 4th, we could have found a way to win." Sprewell: "I feel good for the effort, except for the 4th. I don't think we had the 100% effort in the 4th that we needed to give ourselves a shot at winning. I'm disappointed in the way we finished the game. This was a great chance for us to steal one, or at least get one at home. We should win here, so it was just a missed opportunity." Sprewell on Ward's missed 3-pointer and Finley's made 3-pointer: "That was pretty much the game at that point. If we get that shot to go down, we're sitting with an opportunity to win the game. But unfortunately it didn't go for us, and then Mike hits one and gives them the cushion they need to go ahead and win the game." Sprewell on Dallas: "We haven't faced everyone, we haven't faced the Lakers. I'll give them credit. Their record is what it is because they have played well." Sprewell on Thomas: "He is such a big part of what we do. We need him on the floor. He is constant for us. Taking him away hurts us. He can score inside and he can split the defense with his jumper." Kurt Thomas on the 4th: "They have a lot of great shooters out there and stretch the defense to get some wide open 3-point shots and create a lot of mismatches. You have to give the Mavericks credit. They are a great team, they had a great game plan, and they executed it very well." Thomas: "It was a great game. It was going both ways. We had some tough calls against us down the stretch, but it is like that some nights." Thomas: "They have a lot of great shooters out there, they really stretch the defense, they create a lot of mismatches. Give the Mavs credit, they have a great team and they execute very well." Thomas on his foul troubles: "I felt that [Chaney] could have left me in the game. That's the frustrating thing. But that's the coach's decision and I can live with whatever he says." Thomas on his foul troubles: "3 of the 5 fouls were questionable. But I'm getting used to it. It's been going on all season. I'm starting to look forward to it." Clarence Weatherspoon: "Look at it like this, they take those shots and miss them, you're asking me about a great win. But they take those same shots and knock them down, you ask, 'What happened?' It's 50-50, really." Dallas Mavericks 101, New York Knicks 90 at New York (January 24) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 29 17 28 27 - 101 .463 .391 .442 .800 New York 29 24 21 16 - 90 .460 .308 .416 .889 Halftime: New York 53-46 3rd Q: 74-74 Technicals: New York defensive 3 seconds 4:57 1st, Don Nelson 2:59 1st, Flagrant foul: Othella Harrington 3:51 3rd Refs: Jim Clark, Leon wood, Mark Wunderlich Attendance: 19,763 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Travis Knight (upper respiratory infection) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 39 8-17 2-6 2-2 20 0-3 9 0 1 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 38 9-20 2-4 10-11 30 2-9 2 1 1 3 0 Shawn Bradley 24 2-2 0-0 3-3 7 1-4 0 2 3 0 1 Raja Bell 13 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 2-4 0 0 1 0 0 Steve Nash 29 0-9 0-3 4-5 4 0-3 5 2 0 2 0 Raef LaFrentz 30 3-4 0-0 3-5 9 2-6 1 1 4 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 32 6-14 5-9 0-0 17 0-3 1 2 0 1 0 Adrian Griffin 21 5-8 0-0 1-2 11 1-4 3 0 2 1 0 Antoine Rigaudeau 9 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 Walt Williams 5 0-1 0-1 1-2 1 0-1 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 34-77 9-23 24-30 101 8-37 21 11 15 9 1 New York Knicks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Othella Harrington 27 3-7 0-0 0-0 6 2-6 1 0 2 0 1 Latrell Sprewell 38 8-17 2-6 3-3 21 0-2 4 3 1 2 0 Kurt Thomas 24 8-14 0-0 1-1 17 6-12 3 2 5 0 0 Howard Eisley 27 6-12 2-5 0-0 14 1-5 8 2 4 1 2 Allan Houston 42 5-15 3-8 1-1 14 0-2 0 3 2 0 0 Michael Doleac 15 0-5 0-0 2-2 2 1-4 1 1 0 0 0 Clarence Weatherspoon 30 4-8 0-0 0-0 8 3-7 1 1 3 0 1 Charlie Ward 21 0-6 0-6 0-0 0 0-3 5 2 2 0 0 Shandon Anderson 16 3-5 1-1 1-2 8 1-2 1 2 2 0 0 Totals 48 37-89 8-26 8-9 90 14-43 24 16 21 3 4 patricia