Eduardo Najera underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Friday and is expected to be out 6 to 8 weeks. Adam Harrington is now eligible to come off of IR (wasn't Saturday) and he'll likely be activated and Najera placed on IR [with the small chance that Harrington is released and a free agent who plays in the front court picked up (Harrington is popular with the team, so I don't really see that happening)]. Walt Williams missed the Golden State game on Saturday due to tendinitis in his right elbow. He hopes the rest between last Friday's game and Tuesday will allow him to recover. The tendinitis was not allowing him to fully extend his arm. Williams prior to the Golden State game: "I definitely wouldn't have been any use tonight. It started hurting worse after the Laker game. I must have done something to it, because it started to swell up, and today I can't even extend my arm." Steve Nash has been bothered with a hip injury, but has been playing through it. He could be seen wincing during the Golden State game and the injury seemed to have affected his game during that game. He also hopes that the rest before Tuesday's game will help him recover. Dallas at LA Lakers (December 6) Dallas hopped out to a 16-6 lead with 8:20 remaining after connecting on 4 3-pointers. Dallas led 22-10 with 4:15 left and the Lakers scored the next 9 points to pull within 19-22 with 2:15 to go. Dallas led 29-24 after 1. Shaquille O'Neal had 10 points. A jumper by Kareem Rush pulled the Lakers within 30-31 with 9:45 left, but Dallas then went on a 16-1 run to go up 47-31 with 4:40 remaining. Dallas led 49-36 with 2 minutes left and capped the quarter with a flurish with 3 3-pointers and 2 3-point plays to take an amazing 64-36 lead at the half. Dallas shot 51% FG including 10-14 3-pointers and the Lakers shot 38% FG including 0-8 3-pointers. The Lakers had 14 turnovers while Dallas had just 3 turnovers. Dirk Nowitzki had 16 points and Nick Van Exel had 15 points. A layup by Adrian Griffin gave Dallas their largest lead at 66-36 40 seconds into the 3rd quarter. The Lakers used a 10-2 run to pull within 56-75 with 3:10 left, but Dallas responded with a 13-5 run that including 3 3-pointers to close the quarter. Dallas led 88-61 after 3. Dallas led 92-69 with 9:30 to go and the Lakers proceed to make mincemeat of the large lead by scoring the next 15 points as Dallas missed 5 shots and had 3 turnovers (only had 3 turnovers through 3 quarters prior to this disaster). Momentum had swung and it was going to be a battle to the finish. Dallas led 96-86 with 5 minutes left and Kobe Bryant drained a 3-pointer, Bryant drove for 2, and O'Neal got 2 inside to pull the Lakers within 93-96 with 3 minutes to go. Steve Nash drove for 2, Bryant got 2 inside, Nash hit 2 free throws, and Bryant got yet another layup as the Mavs' porous defense continued to be ineffective. O'Neal blocked Nash's layup attempt and, as the defense collapsed on him inside, Bryant kicked out to an open Brian Shaw who drained the 3-pointer to tie the game at 100-100 with 1:30 left. Nowitzki missed and Robert Horry was fouled on the rebound (both teams in the penalty). Horry missed the 1st, but hit the 2nd to give the Lakers their first lead of the game with 1:20 remaining. Van Exel answered with a 3-pointer, but Shaw hit a jumper to tie the game again with a minute left. Nash missed and there was a jumpball off the rebound. Dallas controlled the jump, but Nash turned the ball over with 30 seconds left. As the shot clock was winding down, Bryant nailed the turn around jumper to put the Lakers up 105-103 with 8 seconds left. Dallas called timeout. Michael Finley's 3-point attempted clanked just before the buzzer. The Lakers won 105-103. The Mavs were no question the better team for 3 quarters, but oh what a major meltdown that 4th quarter was. It was painful to watch as Dallas could do nothing right offensively and even less defensively. It was a pathetic performance for 12 minutes. Yes, the LA Lakers did everything they needed to do to snatch the win, but you don't come back from 27 points down in 1 quarter without a _lot_ of help from your opponent. The Lakers shot 16-18 FG and 8-11 FT in the 4th quarter while Dallas shot just 4-18 FG and 6-6 FT and the Lakers out-rebounded Dallas 12-4 as the Lakers disgustingly out-scored Dallas 44-15 in the 4th. And 4 of Dallas' 7 turnovers came in the 4th quarter. As disgusting as Dallas' defense was during the 4th quarter (and it really wasn't all that great in the first 3 quarters), the thing that drove me nuts was the lack of rebounds. There is no excuse for getting out-rebounded by 19 boards and only getting 4 offensive rebounds. The Mavs had been averaging 45 rebounds (including 11 offensive) prior to this game, yet only managed to get a season low 31 rebounds. There must be a curse on the Mavs when playing the Lakers in LA as this was the 24th consecutive loss in LA vs the Lakers - and last season also included a 4th quarter collapse (no where near as bad, though) where Dallas shot 4-19 FG in the 4th quarter in a 4 point loss in December. Kobe Bryant only had 6 points through 3 quarters, but shifted his game into overdrive in the 4th with 21 points that included a good number of layups as Dallas could not stop him. He finished with 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assist (and also had 6 turnovers). Shaquille O'Neal was the only Laker who played well for the first 3 quarters with 19 points and 9 rebounds through 3 quarters, and he also had 7 points in the 4th quarter. He finished with 26 points including 10-18 FT, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks. All of Brian Shaw's 8 points came in the 4th quarter. Robert Horry was the only other Laker in double-digits with 11 points including 4-5 FG. He also had 8 rebounds and 6 assists. I have trouble giving praise to any Mav with the bitter taste still in my mouth from this game. But, Nick Van Exel did play great as he still shows no after effects from his return from IR. He had 25 points including 5-8 3-pointers. Steve Nash had 22 points and 7 assists, but tried to do things himself in the 4th quarter. Dirk Nowitzki had 21 points including 4-4 3-pointers and 12 rebounds, but only had 2 points (free throws) in the 4th quarter and only attempted 11 shots for the game. Michael Finley had a terrible shooting game throughout the game and finished with just 11 points including 4-19 FG and 5 rebounds. On the plus side, he did play 46 minutes without a turnover. Adrian Griffin had 11 points including 3-4 FG in just 16 minutes, but he and fellow defensive ace Raja Bell were both sitting on the bench during the 4th quarter when the Mavs could not stop Kobe Bryant. But, as bad and as painful as this loss was, it was only the 2nd loss of the season for Dallas. It only counts as 1 loss and there was a major lesson to be learned in it. How the Mavs respond over the next several games (I expected a let down for the Golden State game, being the next night) could show the growth and character of the team - or could indicate that they really do still have a ways to go. Quotes Phil Jackson: "I told them after they had a little flurry to finish the 3rd quarter not to hang their heads, they still had won the quarter that's how you build momentum, you just go out and keep playing and they believed or something happened, the Mavericks started missing shots that was part of it too. It was nice to have a team believe that they have the ability to overcome insurmountable odds, and it certainly looked insurmountable. We stopped turning the ball over and that was really our nemesis in the 1st half." Jackson on halftime: "I just told them not to look at the score because it won't do any good. At the end of the 3rd I just told them they had won the quarter and it was some advantage to us to get some momentum back on our end of the court. I like the unit that played out there, they had confidence and played with a little freer head, some of our starters I felt were pushing and rushing their shots." Jackson: "Undoubtedly, it's an emotional lift. And a team that's been playing under duress, and as I told them, ridicule actually, from sportscasters and from fans alike, for our ineptitude to start the season. It's a good win. It's a notable win." Shaquille O'Neal: "It was an exciting game. We got into a hole, but we never gave up, we fought. That is the type of performance I know we are capable of doing. We just have to maintain and keep this going. We always get up for the big teams, now we just have to get up for everybody because everybody gets tough for us." O'Neal: "We played better defense. We had a lot of intensity and we never gave up. The first 20 games have been really bad. It really couldn't get any worse. We just kept playing, kept fighting, kept shooting." Kobe Bryant: "We could have easily just rolled over and I don't think anybody would have really been too surprised at that because we've been playing so bad." Bryant: "It shows that the heart of a champion still beats inside of us. Same thing we did to Sacramento in the playoffs. We're fighters." Bryant: "We had to rely on our experience and our toughness. We're a tough group of guys, man. We don't give up on anything." Bryant: "We just wanted take steps and continue to play hard. At the start of the 4th quarter I looked at Brian and said, 'All we have to do is just play hard. That is all. Just play hard.' Sometimes things happen. As soon as we got it down to 10, with 8:36 to go, then it is a whole new ballgame. From that point on it is just a matter of taking our time and really, really executing because it is a whole new game then." Bryant on playing with a pulled groin: "Gary [Vitti, trainer] was going to rat me out. I had to jerk his arm out of the socket and say, 'I'm all right, man. Don't snitch on me. Let me play.'" Rick Fox: "At about 27-down, going into the 4th quarter, we talked about having some pride, and showing some respectability by going out and making our defense show focus like we have been screaming about. They just shot a high percentage in the 1st half. It was amazing the percentage they shot from behind the arc, and they got into a good lead, and we played catch-up for most of the game." Fox: "You cannot think about coming back from 27. You have to think about what we can do that is better than what we have been doing? On our defensive approach we started to switch a little bit more instead of cutting off on middle penetration and you saw it, they were not going to shoot the highest percentage ever in league history tonight they were on pace to do that but they started missing shots." Devean George: "We just kept saying never quit, never quit. We didn't know what was going to happen, but we knew we had to keep playing. It wasn't a time to hit home runs. The Mavericks are a team that lives on the 3-pointer, and sometimes you can die that way too." Don Nelson: "This is indeed one of the toughest losses I can remember as a coach. Having that big of a lead and losing it, but I've also been on the other end of a few. It's a tough loss for our team, but we don't normally lose games when were ahead, this is an exception to the rule by an exceptional team. I give the Lakers a lot of credit for coming back and out-scoring us like no one else has done. We have only lost 3 games in 3 years that we had the lead throughout the game, the end result was they got momentum. We gave it to them by not being smart, by running a few turnovers and they got momentum, seized the moment and took advantage of it and they end up beating us. It's a great effort by a great team in the 4th quarter." Nelson: "I think they did a good job of taking Nowitzki out of the game. I also wasn't running enough plays in his direction because we were playing very successful going into the 4th quarter and I thought we could regain that if we stayed with what had been working for 3 quarters. They made some adjustments and covered what was working in the first 3 quarters and the momentum changed. I think we need to go through this experience as a team. It's going to be good for us - hurts like hell right now - but you also grow when you go through tough situations together and this is definitely a tough time for us." Steve Nash: "It's a difficult position to be in sometimes but it's one you like to be in. We stopped playing, I don't know what happened. We had a hard time scoring and we were terrible defensively in the 4th quarter. It was too easy in the 1st half and too difficult in the 4th quarter. I can't explain it." Nick Van Exel: "We choked, just flat out choked. They played like the world champs and we played scared. We played tentative and we just choked, choked." Van Exel: "Choked. We didn't make any shots late and they kept attacking and attacking. I guess the best thing about this is we play again tomorrow. We can get this taste out of our mouths." Van Exel on if this was his toughest loss: "Definitely the toughest. Being up how many, 25, 27? It was a lot of points. To give up 44 points in the 4th quarter when you give up way less than that in the 1st half is just ridiculous." Van Exel: "Its very surprising. Never would I have thought we would be out-scored by that many points, especially in the 4th quarter with that big of a lead. We just didn't have the killer instinct tonight." Raef LaFrentz: "They got hot. Kobe got a little more aggressive, started taking it to the hole. We gave up a lot of layups and that swung the momentum so we couldn't quite recover." LaFrentz: "It's tough. You don't for see getting a 27 point lead and then losing it. Its shocking. You just look at it, learn from it and move on." Los Angeles Lakers 105, Dallas Mavericks 103 at LA Lakers (December 6) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% LA Lakers 24 12 25 44 - 105 .564 .368 .514 .647 Dallas 29 35 24 15 - 103 .327 .600 .413 .917 Halftime: Dallas 64-36 3rd Q: Dallas 68-61 Technicals: Don Nelson 2:18 1st Refs: Joey Crawford, Bennie Adams, Ron Olesiak Attendance: 18,997 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Eduardo Najera (left knee surgery) Los Angeles Lakers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rick Fox 29 3-8 1-4 1-1 8 2-4 5 1 3 1 0 Stanislav Medvedenko 7 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 0 1 1 0 0 Shaquille O'Neal 40 8-12 0-0 10-18 26 3-11 2 4 5 1 3 Kobe Bryant 42 10-19 1-2 6-6 27 1-9 7 6 3 1 1 Derek Fisher 27 3-12 1-5 1-1 8 0-5 2 4 3 0 0 Brian Shaw 23 3-5 2-4 0-0 8 0-3 3 0 2 0 0 Robert Horry 32 4-5 1-1 2-6 11 3-8 6 0 3 1 0 Kareem Rush 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 1 1 1 0 0 Samaki Walker 4 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 Devean George 19 3-4 1-1 0-0 7 0-2 0 0 2 0 0 Tracy Murray 13 1-4 0-2 2-2 4 0-4 2 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-74 7-19 22-34 105 11-50 28 18 23 4 4 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 16 3-4 1-1 4-4 11 0-1 1 0 4 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 43 6-11 4-4 5-7 21 0-12 3 2 2 2 1 Raef LaFrentz 18 2-3 1-2 0-0 5 0-1 1 0 4 0 1 Michael Finley 46 4-19 2-7 1-1 11 2-5 4 0 1 2 1 Steve Nash 41 7-18 2-3 6-6 22 0-1 7 3 1 1 0 Popeye Jones 4 0-0 0-0 2-2 2 0-0 0 0 3 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 35 9-17 5-8 2-2 25 0-4 4 2 3 0 0 Shawn Bradley 17 0-3 0-0 2-2 2 0-3 1 0 3 0 0 Walt Williams 17 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 2-4 0 0 2 1 0 Raja Bell 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 33-80 15-25 22-24 103 4-31 21 7 24 7 3 Dallas at Golden State (December 7) Dallas was still stinging from the collapse in LA and it showed in the 1st quarter as Golden State went up 10-3 3 minutes in. Dallas responded with a 11-2 run to go up 14-12 with 6:45 left. Golden State scored the next 8 points and held on to a small lead the rest of the quarter. Golden State led 25-21 after 1. And Dallas had to be happy to be just down by 4 points as they shot a mere 28% FG in the quarter. Golden State remained ahead the entire 2nd quarter, but could not get their lead larger than 9 points. Earl Boykins hit a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left and Golden State led 62-54 at the half. Boykins had 18 points in the quarter. Don Nelson was ejected 2 1/2 minutes into the 3rd quarter for arguing a non-call when Dirk Nowitzki was fouled on a break. Golden State scored 7 straight points to take their largest led at 80-65 with 6:40 remaining. Dallas cut Golden State's lead into single-digits a couple of times, but each time the Warriors would respond and push their lead back into double-digits. Boykins hit another 3-pointer with 5 seconds left, but Antawn Jamison stupidly fouled Nick Van Exel behind the arc with a fraction of a second left in the quarter and Van Exel hit all 3 3-pointers. Golden State led 94-85 after 3. Golden State led 100-90 with 9:10 left and Dallas finally started to play team basketball and used a 15-4 run to go up 105-104 with 6 minutes remaining. Gilbert Arenas hit a 3-pointer, but Dallas went on a 10-2 run to go up 115-109 with 2:15 left. Neither team scored over the next 1 1/2 minutes and Jamison hit a jumper with 35 seconds left. But Dallas hit 6-8 FT down the stretch to hang on to the win. Dallas won 121-116. Though not to the same extreme, this was the opposite of the Lakers game. Golden State was the better team through 3 quarters and Dallas turned it up a notch in the 4th quarter to steal the win. It wasn't a pretty game as neither team shot all that well (don't know how Dallas managed to reach 48.8% FG) and there were lots of free throws. And Dallas' defense again looked dismal for 3 quarters. They need to rediscover the good defense they had been playing or else they will eventually fall from the top of the pack. And they need to rediscover their rebounding ability as they were again out-rebounded by 19 boards and only had 9 offensive while allowing Golden State to get a very high 22 offensive rebounds (opponent season high (was 19)). Despite 4 quarters of poor performances over the last 2 games, Dallas still has the league's best record at 18-2 and finished the 3 game West coast road trip 2-1. Seeing his team struggle, Dirk Nowitzki stepped up and took the team on his back and carried them to the win. 14 of Nowitzki's 35 points came in the 4th quarter. He shot 11-19 FG and 12-13 FT and had 8 rebounds. Nick Van Exel again played well and I credit him with the team finally playing some team ball during the 4th quarter as 2 of his 5 assists came early in the quarter. He had 19 points. Michael Finley's offensive game still is MIA as he had 12 points including 4-12 FG, and only had 2 rebounds and 2 assists (hadn't had 2 rebounds or less since 3 games into the season and hasn't had a game with 20+ points in the last 6 games). Steve Nash looked to be bothered by his sore right hip during this game, but did play 36 minutes and had 14 points and 4 assists. Shawn Bradley had a very nice game with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Raef LaFrentz was the 6th Mav in double-digits with 12 points and 5 rebounds. And Adrian Griffin had 9 points and 5 rebounds. The Mavs once again tried to make a superstar out of a non-name. All 5-5 of Earl Boykins went nuts and had 23 points including 4-4 3-pointers and 7 assists. Antawn Jamison was the high man with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Jason Richardson had 22 points. Gilbert Arenas had a well balanced game with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 11 assists. Troy Murphy had 10 points including 3-11 FG and 13 rebounds and Mike Dunleavy had 10 points on 4-11 FG and 5 assists. Golden State is a young team and still needs to learn how to put a team away. Quotes Donn Nelson: "Mentally, it just took us a while to get into it. Our energy was a little lacking in the 1st half and certainly our focus was, because we missed all kinds of defensive assignments." [Don Nelson usual doesn't talk to the press following games in which he was ejected.] Nelson: "We understand how important this game was. We lacked a little energy after the Lakers game, but to win 2 out of 3 on this trip is fabulous, no matter how you cut it." Dirk Nowitzki: "Yesterday, I only had 11 shots. I wanted this win pretty bad after that tough loss yesterday. I still don't know how we lost that game, so we just had to show we're a good team, and come out and recover." Steve Nash: "This was a huge win after an abysmal night in LA. It doesn't make up for that game, but it helps us regroup and put it behind us." Nick Van Exel: "Our will put us over the top in this game, just like the Lakers' will put them over the top in our game there." Eric Musselman: "There's not too much negative to discuss tonight. Are we happy with the result? Of course not. However, you're talking about a team that came in 17-2. We controlled the game for 3 1/2 quarters." Musselman: "Sure Dallas scored 121 points, but they can do that on a lot of nights. I thought our defensive intensity was pretty doggone good tonight. Not too often when Dallas plays are you able to look up at the shot clock and it's winding down to 2 seconds or less. We were able to do that a few times tonight." Musselman: "We knew we'd have to keep up the scoring pace for the entire 48 minutes. One thing we'll talk to the guys about is the need to not get down just because the other team has a little run. We called a timeout when Dallas tied up the game and I saw a few faces getting down. Regardless of who just made the run, when the score is tied with 7 minutes to go, you are still very much in the game. We need to maintain that energy." Musselman: "I'm not saying we quit. It's being more mentally tough. It's okay that we're down or tied. We've got to think we're still going to get a shot to go down." Musselman: "We got a nice lift from the bench tonight. Mike [Dunleavy] came in and played very well, especially in the 1st half. Obviously Earl game us a big lift. Even Chris Mills, despite a short stint, allowed somebody a rest. The bench did a great job of limiting their turnovers tonight." Gilbert Arenas: "There's nothing positive about this game. We're up the whole game and we let up in the 4th quarter. That's not positive. It would have been fantastic if we won this game." Earl Boykins: "It was an up-and-down game and that is how I like to play. I was able to come in, hit a few shots and get us going." Boykins: "We just have to learn how to finish games. We're going to have to learn that when teams make runs we can't put our heads down. Tonight we let ourselves get discouraged when they came back." Dallas Mavericks 121, Golden State Warriors 116 at Golden State (December 7) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 21 33 31 36 - 121 .507 .385 .488 .878 Golden State 25 37 32 22 - 116 .426 .440 .430 .781 Halftime: Golden State 62-54 3rd Q: Golden State 94-85 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 2:38 1st, Don Nelson 9:30 3rd, Don Nelson (ejected) 9:30 3rd, Golden State defensive 3 seconds 3:47 3rd Refs: Danny Crawford, Monty McCutchen, Anthony Jordan Attendance: Did not play due to injury: Eduardo Najera (left knee surgery), Walt Williams (tendinitis right elbow) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Dirk Nowitzki 46 11-19 1-3 12-13 35 0-8 4 4 2 2 2 Adrian Griffin 25 4-7 0-3 1-1 9 4-5 1 1 4 1 0 Shawn Bradley 33 5-9 0-0 3-3 13 2-11 0 0 5 1 3 Michael Finley 32 4-12 1-1 3-4 12 1-2 2 0 0 2 1 Steve Nash 36 5-12 2-2 2-2 14 0-1 4 2 4 1 0 Raef LaFrentz 21 4-7 0-0 4-4 12 2-5 0 0 3 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 35 6-15 1-4 6-7 19 0-2 5 2 3 2 0 Avery Johnson 6 1-1 0-0 3-3 5 0-0 2 1 2 0 0 Popeye Jones 4 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Raja Bell 2 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 40-82 5-13 36-41 121 9-36 18 10 24 9 6 Golden State Warriors REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Troy Murphy 38 3-11 0-0 4-4 10 4-13 0 1 5 0 0 Antawn Jamison 42 9-22 1-6 7-10 26 4-14 3 2 2 0 0 Erick Dampier 18 2-4 0-0 2-4 6 2-6 1 5 2 0 2 Jason Richardson 31 8-14 3-6 3-3 22 2-4 2 0 5 1 0 Gilbert Arenas 35 5-13 1-4 2-3 13 4-6 11 3 3 1 0 Adonal Foyle 15 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 3-8 1 0 1 0 1 Mike Dunleavy 24 4-11 2-5 0-0 10 0-1 5 1 4 1 0 Chris Mills 6 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 2-2 0 1 2 0 0 Earl Boykins 26 7-13 4-4 5-6 23 1-1 7 2 3 2 0 Danny Fortson 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 40-93 11-25 25-32 116 22-55 30 15 29 5 3 patricia