Dallas (53-17) at LA Clippers (22-48) (March 26) Dallas was playing their 4th, and hopefully last, game without Michael Finley due to a strained left hamstring. Besides Elton Brand and Michael Olowokandi (who have been on IR for a while), the Clippers were missing Quentin Richardson due to a bruised left knee. The Mavs opened the game well in scoring the first 4 points while the Clippers struggled, but Dallas reverted to the sloppiness that has plagued the team in the past couple of games. Dallas did go up 12-5 with 7:30 remaining. Dallas led 20-13 with 3:20 to go, but would go scoreless the rest of the quarter as they missed 8 straight shots and the Clippers scored the next 10 points to go up 23-20 after 1. Corey Maggette had 11 points. Nick Van Exel ended Dallas' almost 4 1/2 minute drought a minute into the 2nd quarter. A 3-pointer by Eric Piatkowski gave the Clippers their largest lead at 36-30 with 8 minutes to go. Van Exel was carrying Dallas as he nailed a 3-pointer and jumper to pull Dallas within 1 point. Lamar Odom had a layup and Van Exel drained another 3 to tie the game at 38-38 with 7 minutes left. The game stayed close the rest of the quarter with Dallas mostly holding a small lead. Dallas scored the last 4 points of the quarter (with both teams going scoreless over the last 1 1/2 minutes) and Dallas led 56-52 at the half. Van Exel had 21 points on 9-11 FG and 3-3 3-pointers and 3 assists (2 of them for 3-pointers) in the quarter - he was responsible for 29 of Dallas' 36 points in the quarter. Dallas scored 6 straight points to go up 66-58 with 8 minutes to go, but could get their lead no larger than 8 points. A 3-pointer by Steve Nash gave Dallas a 73-66 lead with 4 minutes left, but Dallas would again go through another drought and not score again until 35 seconds left in the quarter. The Clippers scored the next 7 points to tie the game at 73-73 with 55 seconds left. Walt Williams drained the long 3-pointer with .2 seconds left to give Dallas a 78-75 lead after 3. The 4th quarter found Dallas still unable to put any distance between themselves and the Clippers. A 3-pointer by Marko Jaric tied the game at 94-94 with 4:20 remaining. Williams answered with a 3 to put Dallas back up. Piatkowski hit a jumper and Eduardo Najera hit 1 of 2 free throws with 3:15 left. The teams traded misses and Jaric was sent to the line, but missed both free throws. A jumper by Dirk Nowitzki gave Dallas a 100-96 lead with 2:30 remaining. The teams traded buckets and Odom went to the line and he missed both free throws, but the Clippers got the rebound [grumble]. Odom missed and the Clippers again got the rebound [grumble] and found Piatkowski in the corner, who drained the 3 to pull LA within 101-102 with 1:30 left. Nowitzki was fouled and he hit both free throws with 1:15 to go. Eduardo Najera forced Jaric deep in the corner and Nowitzki intercepted Jaric's pass and took it all the way for the dunk on the break to give Dallas a 106-101 lead with 55 seconds left. Jaric drove and Najera tipped Jaric's attempted dish to Piatkowski under the basket and the ball ended up in Nowitzki's hands and he was fouled with 49 seconds remaining. Nowitzki hit both free throws. Maggette converted the 3-point play with 39 seconds left, but Dallas hit 6-6 FT down the stretch to seal the win. Dallas won 114-107. It was yet another ugly win by Dallas (the 3rd straight). The key word, of course, is win. How the game was won doesn't matter in the long run. But the team has to step up its game (instead of playing down to the competition) with the playoffs just around the corner. Hopefully Michael Finley's return to action will will help with the team producing better performances. This tough win was won at the line. Dallas, the best free throw shooting team in the league, hit 10-10 FT in the last 3 minutes of the game while the Clippers shot just 2-8 FT (and the first 2 missed would have tied the game). For the game, Dallas shot 24-27 FT and the Clippers shot 15-25 FT. Dallas shot 47.7% (41-86) FG including 8-21 3-pointers and the Clippers shot 48.3% (43-89) FG including 6-18 3-pointers. The Clippers did out-rebound Dallas 50-43, but committed 6 more turnovers than Dallas, including 2 critical ones in the last minute of the game. It was a close game throughout as Dallas' largest lead was just 8 points and the Clippers' was 6 points. It was the last game for Dallas against the 6 teams in the league with the worst record. Dallas took care of business going a perfect 20-0 against the dregs of the league while all other teams stumbled at least 2 times against those teams. And again the hero and savior of the game was Nick Van Exel. The game would have been a blowout the wrong way without his stellar 2nd quarter performance and he added 6 more points in the 4th quarter. He finished with a game high 29 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists. Dirk Nowitzki struggled early (besides shooting free throws), but finished strong with 13 points in the 4th quarter. He had 36th double-double of the season with 27 points including 11-11 FT, 11 rebounds, and 4 steals. Steve Nash also had a double-double with 19 points and 12 assists. Eduardo Najera had 10 points and 8 rebounds, but it was his defense that resulted in 2 Clipper turnovers in the last minute of the game. Dallas got very little from their centers as Raef LaFrentz had just 6 points including 2-6 FG and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes and Shawn Bradley had just 6 points and 2 rebounds in 18 minutes. The Clippers had fairly balanced scoring and were lead by Eric Piatkowski with a season high 22 points including 3-7 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Corey Maggette had 21 points, but only 10 points after the 1st quarter, including 7-11 FG and 11 rebounds in 24 minutes. Lamar Odom had 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Former Mav Cherokee Parks had 13 points (and most of them on open outside looks). Andre Miller struggled with 10 points including 4-12 FG, but contributed 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Marko Jaric had 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists, but his 2 missed free throws with 3 minutes left and 2 turnovers in the last minute of the game were keys to the loss. Quotes Don Nelson: "We've gone from last in the league in defense to 11th, but you wouldn't know that by tonight because we couldn't guard anybody tonight. We have the best record in the league and we were beatable." Nelson on Van Exel: "He was very aggressive again and that's the way I want him to play. There will be people that will say there was an ill-advised shot occasionally, but you know what, that's his game and he's got my blessing. He's a great offensive player and we really need him to be aggressive. That's the way he's playing now and I love it." Nelson on playing without Finley: "It will be good for us to get Michael Finley back in practice soon. We've done a fantastic job without him. This team has responded and hung together and found a way to win most every night even though our leader and one of our best players has been out. I commend them for that. We're proud of the way the team has responded." Dirk Nowitzki: "It's pretty dangerous to let a team hang around. We just can't stop anyone. But we found a way to win and I don't think it's a lack of effort." Nowitzki on his interception: "I was just in the right place. We can't be proud of our defense tonight. The way we played defense, we were lucky to get the win. But down the stretch, we did make the stops we needed to and our free throws. And that's a plus." Nick Van Exel: "There are times when I just go out there and be aggressive and pass first and shoot second. But with this team, [Nelson] wants me to shoot first and pass second. I can do it, but a lot of times in my head I don't do it." Dennis Johnson: "Everyone played well tonight. We executed the game plan the way we wanted to and we shot the ball a lot better. It came down to the last 2 minutes and, unfortunately, we fell short. The difference was the missed free throws and the turnovers at the end." Johnson: "We executed the game plan the way we wanted to and we shot the ball a lot better." Johnson: "Our bench played really well tonight. Having Eric scoring 22 points and Marko with 13 made a big difference. I couldn't have asked for anything more from them." Lamar Odom: "Offensively we needed to make big plays and we didn't. We missed winning this game by missing free throws. We started the game well we just couldn't end it strong. They hit shots you think won't go in. We want to focus on winning games and keep the fans coming especially during these last few games of the season." Odom: "We just can't seem to get a stop when we really need them. We started the game well, we just couldn't end it strong." Odom: "We could have still won this game even with the missed free throws. We said before the game that how we start the game is how we'll end it. Tonight, we competed for 48 minutes." Eric Piatkowski: "I think the bench was key in tonight's game. Marko and Tremaine contributed. It was fun. NBA basketball should be played like this. It's good for the fans and players like to play in games like this. I felt good out there physically. They are a good offensive team." Dallas Mavericks 114, Los Angeles Clippers 107 at LA (March 26) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 20 36 22 36 - 114 .508 .381 .477 .889 LA Clippers 23 29 23 32 - 107 .521 .333 .483 .600 Halftime: Dallas 56-52 3rd Q: Dallas 78-75 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 9:47 2nd Refs: Joe DeRosa, Scott Wall, Sean Corbin Attendance: 19,595 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Michael Finley (strained left hamstring), Quentin Richardson (bruised left patella) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Eduardo Najera 37 4-6 0-0 2-4 10 4-8 2 0 4 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 37 7-16 2-6 11-11 27 2-11 4 0 2 4 0 Raef LaFrentz 19 2-6 0-0 2-3 6 1-3 0 3 1 0 0 Steve Nash 37 7-14 1-4 4-4 19 1-4 12 2 1 1 0 Adrian Griffin 24 4-7 0-0 1-1 9 1-5 4 0 4 0 0 Walt Williams 26 3-11 2-5 0-0 8 3-6 1 2 2 2 2 Nick Van_Exel 31 12-21 3-6 2-2 29 0-3 4 1 3 0 0 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 1 1 0 0 Raja Bell 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 18 2-3 0-0 2-2 6 1-2 0 0 2 1 1 Avery Johnson 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 41-86 8-21 24-27 114 14-43 27 9 21 8 3 Los Angeles Clippers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Lamar Odom 40 7-18 0-3 1-4 15 1-8 6 4 5 0 1 Cherokee Parks 35 6-10 0-0 1-2 13 1-4 1 0 3 2 1 Sean Rooks 22 3-7 0-0 1-2 7 2-3 1 2 2 0 0 Andre Miller 40 4-12 0-2 2-3 10 2-8 7 0 2 2 0 Corey Maggette 24 7-11 0-2 7-9 21 4-11 1 3 4 0 0 Eric Piatkowski 31 9-17 3-7 1-1 22 4-5 2 1 3 0 1 Marko Jaric 30 5-9 3-4 0-2 13 2-7 7 4 3 0 0 Tremaine Fowlkes 12 2-4 0-0 2-2 6 3-3 0 0 0 3 0 Wang Zhizhi 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 43-89 6-18 15-25 107 19-50 25 15 23 7 3 patricia