Eduardo Najera returned to action last Tuesday - the first time he had played since Christmas. On Saturday Dallas activated Tony Delk and placed Travis Best on IR with inflammation in his right Achilles. Delk's ankle is still bothering him and he is not expected to be able to play for a little while. Del Harris was named as coach of the Chinese Men's Olympic team. It is the first time someone not from China will coach the team. The team will compete in this summer's Olympics. Harris will not assume his duties until after Dallas' season ends. Rolando Blackman will be one of Harris' assistants. Dallas at Memphis (February 17) Dallas came back from the All-Star break with a lack of focus and it was an ugly start to the "2nd half" of the season. Neither team shot well in the 1st quarter and Memphis mostly held a small lead - no larger than 5 points. Dallas scored the last 4 points of the quarter. Memphis led 21-20 after 1. Memphis shot 9-22 FG (40%) and Dallas shot 9-27 FG (33%). Dallas scored the first 5 points of the 2nd quarter to go up 25-21 with 10:50 remaining. Memphis scored the next 7 points to go up 28-25 with 8 minutes to go. The game stayed close over the next 4 minutes with Memphis holding a small lead. Memphis led 42-39 with 3:55 to go and went on an 8-2 run go to up 50-41 with 2:15 remaining. Memphis led 54-47 at the half. Dirk Nowitzki had 18 points in the half. Michael Finley's only 2 points came on free throws with 1:30 left in the half. Memphis led 59-51 with 9:40 to go and Finley finally got going in scoring the next 8 points (a jumper and 2 3-pointers) to tie the game at 59-59 with 8 minutes left. The game stayed close over the next 6 minutes, with Dallas even taking a 2 point lead twice. Memphis led 72-71 with 2 minutes left and went on a 9-1 run, including 5 free throws, to go up 81-72 with 10 seconds to go. Travis Best got a layup with a few seconds left. Memphis led 81-74 after 3. Finley had 11 points in the 3rd quarter. Dallas had lost focus in letting the lopsided officiating get to them and the Grizzlies took advantage by opening the 4th quarter with an 11-2 run to go up 92-76 with 9 minutes left. Dallas had no run left in them for this game and got no closer than 14 points the rest of the way. Memphis won 109-92. Yuch. Dallas never looked good in this game and deserved the loss. The Mavs have lost 3 of the last 4 games right after the All-Star break. I don't know if they just partied too hardy during the time off or if having such a long break between games (a full week off) caused their lack of focus. It didn't help that they let the refs distract them even further at the end of the 3rd quarter and into the 4th with a number of questionable non-calls while Memphis was getting those calls. Memphis had a big advantage in shooting 26-34 FT while Dallas shot 12-17 FT (Memphis shot 14-18 FT and Dallas shot 3-6 FT in the 2nd half). But the true culprit is that Dallas never got their shooting going. Dallas only shot 40.6% (39-96) FG including 2-11 3-pointers. Memphis shot 45.2% (38-84) FG including 7-19 3-pointers. Dallas committed 16 turnovers which Memphis turned into 21 points while Memphis committed 13 turnovers which Dallas turned into just 10 points. Memphis had balanced scoring with 6 players in double-digits. James Posey was the high man with 19 points including 7-10 FG and 7 rebounds. Pau Gasol had 17 points and Jason Williams had 11 points and 9 assists. The other 3 double-digit scorers came from the bench. Stromile Swift had 18 points including 7-11 FG and 7 rebounds. Shane Battier had 11 points including 4-11 FG and 9 rebounds. Earl Watson had 12 points. Mike Miller struggled when he was able to be out on the court in shooting 0-6 FG and 0-4 3-pointers, but he did have 5 assists in 12 minutes. He was seriously bothered by back spasms and was pulled a minute and a half into the 2nd half. He was placed on IR with back spasms on Friday. No Mav had a strong outing. 18 of Dirk Nowitzki's 24 points came in the 1st half. He also had 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. Michael Finley had 2 points in the 1st half and 2 points in the 4th quarter and 11 points in the 3rd quarter. He only had 3 rebounds and no assists in his 33 minutes. Josh Howard worked hard, as usual, but his shot wasn't falling. He had 10 points including 4-11 FG and 11 rebounds including 8 offensive. He also had 3 blocks. Antawn Jamison was the only other Mav in double-digits with 10 points. He also had 5 rebounds. Steve Nash had just 8 points on 4-11 FG to go with his 10 assists. Antawn Walker had just 6 points on 3-14 FG and 8 rebounds including 6 offensive. Eduardo Najera returned to action and had 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 fouls in 15 minutes. Quotes Hubie Brown: "We know that they set a solid tone early in the 1st half. In the 2nd half they went on a 9-0 run. We picked it up in the 2nd. We try to get 7 seven deflections a quarter and we had 19 in the 2nd half. Earl Watson and James Posey had 13. Where they hurt you is in 3s and that was a big priority in our game plan. When we have 5 or 6 guys in double figures we play our best. They got a lot of rebounds but we got a lot of passes that found open guys. We had 25 assists in the game and that was huge. We got to the line 34 times over all it was a complete game. We shot well and got assists." Brown: "The downside tonight is that we lost Mike Miller. We have to take a different look at this tomorrow. After the doctors check him out tomorrow we have a big consideration for us. He didn't get into the flow tonight, it is tough, we have so much respect for him, he plays with his heart, he plays for the team so badly that you cringe because he wants to play injured. We have to stop now. He is so talented and is such a great 3-point shooter, he is a playmaker. If you look at what he has done in the last month, he has shot 50 in 2s and 40 in 3s. He was just getting into his groove so this is a major negative for us." Brown: "We play 10 guys, develop talent, there is a fine line between our 9th and 10th man. This is how we play and we make no excuses for injuries, we believe that the next guy can step right in." Pau Gasol: "I think it was important for us coming out of the break. You always kind of lose something, and are not sharp enough [after the break]. It is important to come back as we did and have this win against Dallas, a team that is up there. So, it's just a good way to start this 2nd half of the season for us. We set the tone a little bit on how we wanted to play tonight. Hopefully we will keep this up and keep playing the way we played." James Posey: "We run fresh bodies in and out. And when you play an up-and-down style that's going to work a lot of nights." Posey: "We expect to win now. We have that little extra sense of urgency, and we need to play with that energy. We know if we are playing our style of basketball, we can beat anybody." Bonzi Wells: "It was just another game, another game in which we executed Coach Brown's game plan. We had to protect our home court." Wells: "We jumped on them a little a bit. Our 2 5w are really wearing guys down and giving people 2 different plays, so it's tough on a matchup. ... Steve Nash was really doing a lot of probing. They have a lot of fine guys, but we contained the penetration a little. Dirk hurt us a little bit, but we contained players like Antoine Walker and Michael Finley." Wells on Dallas: "You would think guys would be fresh with 4 or 5 days off. Maybe they haven't found their rhythm yet. But we jumped on them." Shane Battier: "We come in and we look at each other and know it's our role to make something happen. And we know it has to happen on the defensive end so that we can get out on the break and create easy baskets." Earl Watson: "I think we're playing well and every person is utilizing their minutes and skills as a team as one, instead of a couple players that have a good game. Everyone is playing and we're utilizing what they bring to the table. From top to bottom everyone is doing a great job and we're staying together. We're staying consistent mentally - we're not getting too up and we're not getting too down. No matter what the run is or what the score is, we still have a chance to win and that's the confidence we need to have." Watson: "I think the break helped everyone as far as coming back fresh mentally and physically. I think we were playing well before the break so it's a good thing we're still playing just as good, if not better. I can't really say if it helped us or hurt us - if anything we're still consistent." Watson: "It was definitely a game we thought we had to take advantage of. We're at home and it's after the break. A lot of teams after the break aren't really as sharp as they should be. We needed to take advantage of this game because this is a great team and we have to play the best we can play to get the chance to win. We have a lot of respect for them, I think that's why we played to win. I think Stromile's and-1 dunk changed the whole game - from that point on you could look at it and see the energy in this building." Watson: "I studied film of Steve Nash - I really admire him. In the 1st half, I noticed he was putting the ball where I could reach it and I managed to get my hand on a few balls in the 2nd half." Don Nelson: "It was pretty disappointing game after the All-Star break. We had an awful lot of players that just played awful. It was as bad as I've seen some of them play in a long time. To be quite honest with you, we didn't play well enough to win. It doesn't matter what the score was, I thought they out-played us most of the game. I felt fortunate when we had it tied up in the 3rd because I thought they had the game in hand and we struggled all night. We don't have much time to regroup, we have to turn this thing around against a hot team tomorrow in Cleveland. We had 15 turnovers which isn't like us. We couldn't get much going, when we had shots we didn't make them." Nelson: "Defensively they were good, they really moved up on us. The referees weren't calling much most of the time and I think that played into the more aggressive team. They reaped the benefits of all those types of situations. Their 2nd unit beat us but they also had good play out of their 1st unit. James Posey was terrific. Their 2nd unit certainly came in and put the killer on us." Dirk Nowitzki: "Every game you drop could be vital at the end. We know that. I just looked at the standings and Memphis is just 2 games behind us. Denver is right there. Minnesota is 5 games ahead. We can't let anyone run away from us." Michael Finley: "Outplayed. Simple as that. Nobody around here played a particularly good game. Their entire team contributed in one way or another." Steve Nash: "They played with a lot more energy than us tonight. This team is tough enough to beat on the road as it is. Then we came out and played flat. I thought they played better. I thought we did a good job of keeping ourselves in the game even though we had no rhythm. They went on a run in the 3rd quarter - they scored 11 points in 2 minutes. That's not good for us to win." Nash: "It's not really an excuse, but after the break, it's difficult to come out on the road. They had more energy, and they're hard enough to beat. ... A relaxed attitude on the road is not a winning formula." Nash on Brown: "Outstanding. I think I am a little too young to realize how good of a coach he is - I've seen first hand now. He has done a tremendous job. I'm incredibly impressed by what he has done to this team, this franchise, and yes I really admire him." Eduardo Najera: "They're good, but come on. We definitely have the talent and should be playing better." Najera on his return from injury: "The knee felt really good. It was the first time I could remember playing and not thinking about my knee. I was a step slow, but it felt great to get back out there." Josh Howard: "They came out and played harder than we did tonight. We didn't pick it up until late defensively. We tied it up in the 3rd quarter, then we let it go in the end. I think this should be a wake up call for us." Howard: "This is an eye-opener. On the break, everybody had a good time. But it's time to get back to ballin." Howard on Memphis' bench: "I think they come in and play better defense than the 1st unit. I always think that defense turns into offense, and that's what they do." Travis Best: "We never really had a grip on the game. I didn't have a feel for what would be the outcome. Normally, you have a feeling you're going to make a run, but they had a hold of the momentum." Memphis Grizzlies 109, Dallas Mavericks 92 at Memphis (February 17) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Memphis 21 33 27 28 - 109 .477 .368 .452 .765 Dallas 20 27 27 18 - 92 .435 .182 .406 .706 Halftime: Memphis 54-47 3rd Q: Memphis 81-74 Technicals: Danny Fortson 4:03 4th Refs: Bennett Salvatore, Courtney Kirkland, Nolan Fine Attendance: 14,742 (cap 19,351) Memphis Grizzlies REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK James Posey 29 7-10 3-4 2-2 19 3-7 1 2 3 2 1 Pau Gasol 24 6-11 0-0 5-6 17 1-4 1 2 4 0 0 Lorenzen Wright 25 3-8 0-0 1-2 7 1-7 1 0 2 0 3 Jason Williams 34 5-10 1-4 0-1 11 0-2 8 4 3 1 0 Mike Miller 12 0-6 0-4 2-4 2 0-0 5 0 2 0 0 Shane Battier 30 4-11 2-4 1-2 11 1-9 1 1 1 2 0 Stromile Swift 23 7-11 0-0 4-5 18 2-7 2 2 2 1 2 Bonzi Wells 24 2-7 0-1 4-4 8 1-1 0 1 2 1 0 Bo Outlaw 22 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 3-7 4 1 1 1 2 Earl Watson 14 3-5 1-2 5-6 12 2-4 2 0 1 1 0 Dahntay Jones 3 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-84 7-19 26-34 109 15-49 25 13 21 9 8 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 29 4-11 0-0 2-4 10 8-11 2 3 3 1 3 Antoine Walker 26 3-14 0-1 0-0 6 6-8 3 4 2 0 2 Dirk Nowitzki 36 9-19 0-2 6-6 24 2-9 0 1 2 1 3 Steve Nash 31 4-11 0-3 0-0 8 0-3 10 3 0 1 0 Michael Finley 33 5-13 2-4 3-4 15 1-3 0 1 2 0 0 Shawn Bradley 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 2 0 4 1 2 Antawn Jamison 30 5-11 0-1 0-2 10 1-5 0 0 2 0 0 Danny Fortson 15 3-7 0-0 1-1 7 2-5 0 1 3 1 0 Travis Best 11 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-2 2 0 1 0 0 Eduardo Najera 15 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 1-4 2 2 5 0 0 Marquis Daniels 7 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 48 39-96 2-11 12-17 92 21-51 21 16 24 6 10 Dallas at Cleveland (February 18) Fresh off a disappointing loss to Memphis (it was a back-to-back), Dallas came out strong against Cleveland in hitting their first 6 shots and went up 12-4 with 9 minutes left. Dallas took their largest lead of the quarter on a dunk by Shawn Bradley to go up 25-14 with 3:45 remaining. Dallas led 27-16 with 3 minutes to go and Cleveland came roaring back by scoring the last 13 points of the quarter to go up 29-27 after 1. Dallas missed their last 7 shots of the quarter. Cleveland out-scored Dallas 18-8 in the paint. Dallas scored the first 6 points of the 2nd quarter to go up 33-29 with 11 minutes to go. The game was either tied or Dallas held a small lead (4 points or less) for the next 9 minutes. Dallas scored the last 6 points of the quarter to go up 63-53 at the half. Dallas shot 59% FG and Cleveland shot 42% FG in the 2nd quarter. Dallas out-scored Cleveland 16-8 in the paint in the quarter. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with a 14-6 run to go up 77-59 with 7:50 left. Dallas' led was between 14 and 18 points the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 95-77 after 3. Cleveland actually shot better than Dallas in the 3rd quarter (10-16 FG for Cleveland, 13-24 FG for Dallas), but Dallas out-rebounded Cleveland 11-6 including 5-0 offensive. A 3-pointer by Josh Howard gave Dallas their largest lead at 104-83 with 9 minutes left. Cleveland then went on a 10-2 run to pull within 93-106 with 5:15 left, but could get no closer. Neither team scored over the last 2:45 of the game. Dallas won 114-98. Cleveland out-scored Dallas by 4 combined points in the 1st and 4th quarters but Dallas out-scored Cleveland by 20 combined points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Through 3 quarters, Dallas shot 52.8% (38-72) FG, Cleveland shot 52.5% (31-59) FG, and Dallas out-rebounded Cleveland 37-24 including 14-4 offensive. Neither team played well in the 4th quarter as Dallas shot 7-23 FG and Cleveland shot 8-25 FG - both teams had 16 rebounds each. For the game, Cleveland committed 12 turnovers which Dallas converted into 18 points while Dallas committed just 8 turnovers which Cleveland turned into 9 points. Dallas had 7 players in double-digits. Michael Finley was the high man with 23 points and 6 rebounds. Steve Nash was on fire with 20 points including 8-11 FG, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists. He has just 1 turnover. Dirk Nowitzki didn't shoot well with 5-15 FG, but did have 18 points and 10 rebounds. Antoine Walker shot worse with 5-18 FG, but played well in other ways with 11 points, 7 assists, and 4 blocks to go with his 11 points. The surprise hit of the night was Scott Williams, who took full advantage of his open looks with Cleveland focusing on Dallas' shooters. Williams had 16 points including 7-8 FG (his only miss came with 2 minutes left in the game) and also had 6 rebounds in his 21 minutes. Antawn Jamison had 12 points and 4 rebounds and Josh Howard had 10 points and 4 rebounds off the bench. Travis Best's right Achilles was bothering him and he only played 4 1st half minutes. The rookie showcase was quiet this night as LeBron James had just 16 points. He did have 9 assists, but also had 5 turnovers. Carlos Boozer played very well with 24 points including 10-16 FG and 14 rebounds. 8 of Zydrunas Ilgauskas' 11 points came in the 1st quarter. He shot just 4-11 FG and had just 3 rebounds in his 29 minutes. 8 of Eric Williams' 14 points came in the 4th quarter. He also had 6 rebounds. Jeff McInnis had 11 points and 7 assists. Quotes Don Nelson: "Well, it was a back-to-back situation and we re-grouped and found a way to play a lot better than we did yesterday. I thought everybody came, competed, and played hard. We still weren't as sharp as I hope we're going to be, but we were certainly sharp enough for 3 quarters and ended up limping in a little bit. I suppose that will happen." Nelson on the starters playing in the 4th: "Well, because I was afraid we were going to lose the game, that's why. We've given away leads and to attack their zone, I wanted to have my good players in the game." Nelson on Scott Williams: "Yes, envisioned and he followed through with a great performance. I loved the way he played. I thought he was a big factor in the win on both ends of the floor. He was hurt last night [sprained ankle in practice]. We needed him, we thought, more tonight than last night and if I had played him last night, I probably would not have had him tonight. So, we called him out and I think the extra day really helped the ankle." Nelson on Williams: "That's not going to happen very often with our team, to be honest. But he had a good all-around floor game. I was glad to see us regroup and play a lot better." Nelson: "We knew we had to get off to a fast start. This team is a scrappy team and we had lost our last 2 on the road. They are used to playing from behind, but we figured we'd play better with the lead, so we made an emphasis on getting out to a fast start and I think we did early in the 1st quarter. They ran us down and caught us at the end of the 1st quarter, but I think we set a tone for how the game was going to be played - an up tempo pace - and it worked to our advantage over the 48 minutes. It didn't seem like they could match our firepower. We have so many offensive weapons that it's tough for teams to match up against that. We played somewhat defense." Nelson on rebounding: "We knew they were the #1 percentage-rebounding team in the league coming in. Coach Harris made us well aware of that fact that we had to crash the glass and try to prevent some of that. That's how they get their buckets - they get on that glass, they push it, they run. And I think we did a good job on the [offensive] boards. We had a 2-to-1 margin and that definitely worked to our favor." Dirk Nowitzki on Williams: "Scott was a man. The center spot has been our trouble area for a lot of years. We've been making stuff up on the run there." Nowitzki on Williams: "Scott was the man. He played well. He started off hitting that 15-, 16-footer and for a big man it's hard to guard that. He gave us an inside presence and that's what we needed." Steve Nash: "It was big for us. It's a game we should win, I think. They are young and just getting started. After giving up one last night on the road, we put a little bit of pressure on ourselves tonight and we followed through and played well." Nash: "I think we just had a bad close to the 1st quarter. We had them up by 10 or 11 and all of a sudden we're down 2 at the end of the quarter. That was frustrating. But, then we picked it up in the 2nd, had a run, and we closed out the 2nd quarter. I think it was very important after we dropped that lead. We did a good job of closing quarters." Nash: "We have a pretty good rebounding team and when we put our minds to it, we can be really good. Tonight, I thought we had a great effort, a great passion for it and it was exciting to see us have such a well rounded game. " Nash: "We're not going to shoot poorly every night. When we find the open guy, I'll take our chances. Tonight, the shots were falling for us again. They usually do." Nash on Williams: "If Scott plays like that, he's going to be a huge part of our team. He's big and physical, defends, he's smart, he's a great teammate and when he's able to finish and knock shots down on the perimeter. He's very valuable." Scott Williams on rebounding: "We had to crash the glass and try to prevent some of that. We did a good job on the boards." Williams: "Sure I knocked down shots, when they forgot about me." Williams: "They were going to try to take away a lot of our strengths and leave me wide open for jump shots. I tried to make them pay if they were going to concentrate on our star players." Williams: "Coach told me at our breakfast that I was starting, so I prepared for it all afternoon. They were going to take away our strengths, and that left me alone. You can't be the weak link in those situations. I don't think anybody expects to hit 7 shots in a row, but I have confidence in my ability to make those shots when I'm open. I'd like to continue to get these kind of looks the rest of the season." Paul Silas: "Man, they were on fire. Last night they couldn't make a shot and tonight they made everything. When they're on fire like that, there's not much you can do. You can work and work, but they just have too many weapons out there." Silas: "They were on fire. Unlike last night when they couldn't make a shot, they made everything. When they're shooting like that, it's tough." Silas on Dallas out-rebounding Cleveland: "That hurt us. We've really got to work on that, but it happens. The first game after the break, it normally works that way. They felt it last night and we felt it tonight. We'll play better next game." Silas on matchups: "We were trying to find somebody that [Ilgauskas] could play and they were putting us in pick-and-roll situations. We started out with [James] on Nash and that was our best work, but then they posted Finley up. They just really looked for mismatches and we did the best we could. The 2nd unit came in the 4th quarter and really played super. I thought Battie was terrific. We really picked their zone apart. That didn't hurt us a lot tonight. That's going to be good for us because teams have been zoning so we have to take advantage." Carlos Boozer: "They're tough to guard when they're making everything. They've got weapons at every position. Whoever takes the shot, it's going to be a good, high percentage shot for that person. At the same time, it was very uncharacteristic of us to give up 18 offensive rebounds." Boozer: "They came in after having a tough game last night. They got the rust out last night. We had a little bit of rust today, but they made a lot of shots. They had a lot of offensive rebounds. That hurts a little bit, too." Boozer: "They just made shots. It was just plain and simple - they made shots and we didn't. We're missing shots, they're making shots, they're bound to get the lead." LeBron James: "I thought we played well. With a team like Dallas, all you can do is hope that they miss and they didn't tonight. They missed a lot last night when I watched the game. They missed so many shots they lost by 20." James on matchups: "Not just for us, they've caused matchup problems with the whole league. When you've got 5 guys on the floor at one time who can all shoot the 3, you just expand the defense." James: "We know we're not a top team yet. They have 4 All-Stars. They have guys coming off the bench who could play with anybody in the league." James: "We're going to get our wins. If we play the same way we did tonight against the smaller competition in the league, we're going to win. We put up 98 points; they just put up more. That's what Dallas does, they out-score you." James: "You know Josh Howard was the ACC Player of the Year last year averaging 24 points per game. Scott Williams has played on many championship teams. You can't underestimate those guys. Dallas isn't going to pick up any guy who can't put the ball in the hoop." Eric Williams: "They're a good offensive team. We were a little rusty and a little winded. This was one time when you're coming off a back-to-back and have a little advantage." Williams: "You can't take anything away from their great shooters like Nash. They come at you from all over the place: Canada, Germany, Chicago. What can you do?" Williams on Scott Williams: "Sometimes you just wish Shawn Bradley would have played the whole game." Tony Battie: "They countered everything we threw at them. When we played man-to-man, they spread us out. Dirk was able to shoot right over our guards. In the zone, they do a good job of swinging the ball and finding the open man. They killed us inside and outside. They killed us from mid-range. They killed whatever we threw at them. It was pick your poison." Battie on his flagrant: "I don't think it was excessive. I ran into [Nash] a little bit. I saw what was developing. He was trying to knock me off and give Dirk an open 3. I'll take a foul over that every time. I wasn't trying to hurt him. It was nothing serious [with Walker]. Actually, we joked about it after it happened at the free throw line." Jeff McInnis: "They just made everything. We felt like we played them tough in the 1st half. We felt they would start missing [in the 2nd half], but they never did." Ira Newble on Dallas: "They have a lot of weapons and they can create mismatches that they utilize, but at the same time they don't play any defense. When they're making their shots, of course they're going to look like All-Stars, but when it comes down to it, [they won't win a championship] because they don't play defense and that's why they're not a great team." Dallas Mavericks 114, Cleveland Cavaliers 98 at Cleveland (February 18) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 27 36 32 19 - 114 .506 .286 .474 .909 Memphis 29 24 24 21 - 98 .493 .222 .464 .857 Halftime: Dallas 63-53 3rd Q: Dallas 95-77 Technicals: Antoine Walker 4:18 4th Flagrant fouls: Tony Battie 4:18 4th Refs: Bernie Fryer, Bill Kennedy, Ken Mauer Attendance: 18,349 (cap 20,562) Did not play due to injury: DeSagana Diop (sprained right ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antoine Walker 35 5-18 0-2 1-2 11 4-11 7 3 1 2 4 Scott Williams 22 7-8 0-0 2-2 16 1-6 0 0 2 1 1 Dirk Nowitzki 39 5-15 0-3 8-8 18 2-10 4 0 1 2 1 Steve Nash 35 8-11 2-3 2-2 20 1-6 10 1 0 1 0 Michael Finley 43 9-20 1-4 4-4 23 1-6 2 0 3 1 0 Shawn Bradley 14 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 1-3 0 0 3 1 1 Travis Best 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 2 0 0 0 0 Antawn Jamison 23 6-12 0-1 0-0 12 4-4 1 1 2 1 0 Josh Howard 20 3-6 1-1 3-4 10 1-4 0 1 4 0 1 Eduardo Najera 4 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2-2 0 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 45-95 4-14 20-22 114 18-53 26 8 17 9 8 Cleveland Cavaliers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Eric Williams 37 4-9 1-3 5-6 14 0-6 2 1 2 0 0 Carlos Boozer 36 10-16 0-0 4-4 24 2-14 1 0 2 0 0 Zydrunas Ilgauskas 29 4-11 0-0 3-4 11 1-3 1 2 2 0 2 Jeff McInnis 31 5-10 1-3 0-0 11 0-0 7 2 1 0 0 LeBron James 34 6-12 0-0 4-4 16 2-4 9 5 2 0 1 Ira Newble 14 1-3 0-0 1-1 3 0-1 1 1 1 0 0 Kevin Ollie 17 2-3 0-0 1-1 5 0-3 4 1 2 1 1 Tony Battie 19 4-8 0-1 0-1 8 3-6 0 0 0 0 4 Dajuan Wagner 20 3-11 0-2 0-0 6 1-3 1 0 3 1 0 Jason Kapono 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 39-84 2-9 18-21 98 9-40 26 12 15 2 8 Houston at Dallas (February 21) The Mavs opened up really, really, really, really bad and Houston started white hot and the Mavs fans were wincing. Houston went up 19-3 with 7:45 left as Houston shot 8-9 FG and the Mavs shot 1-7 FG (and the only make happened when Antoine Walker got an offensive rebound and the ball squirted out of his hands and in). Houston then joined Dallas in the shooting misery as Dallas missed their next 7 shots and Houston missed their next 7 shots and neither team scored over the next 3 minutes. Dallas finally started hitting some shots, but couldn't make much of a dent in Houston's lead. Michael Finley hit a jumper at the quarter buzzer. Houston led 30-16 after 1. Dallas shot a mere 6-22 FG including 0-4 3-pointers in the quarter while Houston shot 13-24 FG including 3-6 3-pointers. Dallas was about to prove true the saying "If you're going to be down big, best to be down big early." Houston led 36-22 with 9:15 left and Dallas went on an 18-3 monster run, capped by a 3-pointer by Steve Nash, to go up 40-39 with 5 minutes. But Cuttino Mobley answered with a 3-pointer and Houston held a small lead the rest of the quarter. Houston led 51-47 at the half. Dallas shot 12-21 FG and Houston shot 8-19 FG in the 2nd quarter. The Mavs did have a big advantage at the line in shooting 8-11 FT while Houston shot just 1-1 FT for the half. Dallas had 13 fast break points and Houston had none. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with a 14-3 run, including a banked 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki, to go up 61-54 with 8:45 to go. In a scary moment, Steve Francis was hit in the face by a pass attempt by Nash and left the game with 7 minutes remaining (more on this later) - he was able to return with less than 2 minutes to go. Houston pulled within 63-66 with 4:40 left on a 3-pointer by Jim Jackson, but Dallas answered with consecutive 3-pointers to kick off a 12-1 run to go up 78-64 with 1 minute left. Dallas led 78-66 after 3. It was a miserable quarter for Houston as the Rockets shot a mere 5-17 FG and the Mavs out-scored them 31-15 in the 3rd quarter. Nowitzki scored 5 straight points to give Dallas their largest lead at 90-73 with 7:30 remaining. After the teams traded buckets, Houston went on a 13-2 run to pull within 88-94 with 32 seconds left as Dallas shot 1-11 FG during the run. Finley was intentionally fouled and hit 1-2 FT with 30 seconds left. Houston was having trouble getting a good look and turned the ball over and Finley was again fouled with 13 seconds left. His 2 made free throws were the games' final points. Dallas won 97-88. It was a rollercoaster of a game and sure wasn't pretty, but it goes down as a win. Both teams had stretches of very lousy play and very good play, often coinciding at the same time resulting in large runs. Both teams shot around 42.5% FG overall with Dallas shooting 37-87 FG including 8-18 3-pointers (5-8 3-pointers in the 2nd half) and Houston shooting 35-82 FG including 10-29 3-pointers (2-12 3-pointers in the 2nd half). Dallas had the advantage at the line in shooting 15-20 FT (but 4 attempts were from intentional fouls) and Houston shot 8-10 FT. The most stunning stat was that Dallas had 24 fast break points while Houston had just 4 fast break points. Dallas also out-scored Houston 40-36 in the paint. Dallas out-rebounded Houston 47-42 including 15-12 offensive. Dallas took advantage of Houston's turnovers in scoring 26 points off of Houston's 15 turnovers while Houston scored 12 points off of Dallas' 13 turnovers. Dallas is 6-0 in games that Yao Ming has played in. Dallas took Yao out of this game with the zone. The Mavs would use 2 players on Yao when ever he was on the strong side of the court and Houston was unable to post him up after the Mavs resorted to using the zone almost exclusively - even when Eduardo Najera was playing center. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 25 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 12 rebounds. Michael Finley had 19 points (but only had 1 rebound and 2 assists). Antoine Walker finally had a good shooting night with 7-14 FG for part of his 17 points. He also had 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Steve Nash wasn't looking to shoot (just 7 attempts) and had 10 points and 9 assists. The game changed when Josh Howard and Eduardo Najera came in and gave their energy and hustle. Numbers don't tell the story, but Howard had 14 points and 4 rebounds and Najera had 5 points and 3 rebounds. Antawn Jamison struggled with just 4 points on 2-11 FG, but did have 8 rebounds including 4 offensive. Jim Jackson led the way for Houston with 18 points including 5-9 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. Cuttino Mobley had 16 points, but shot a poor 6-21 FG including 4-12 3-pointers. Yao Ming had 6 points in the first 3 minutes of the game (when Dallas was playing man-to-man defense). He finished with just 14 points on 7-10 FG and 5 rebounds. In addition to getting whacked in the head by the ball, Steve Francis had a lousy birthday. He scored just 6 points on 3-11 FG. He also had 7 rebounds and 6 assists. More on the scary moment: Scott Williams was wide open in the paint, jumping up and down trying to get his teammates to see him. Steve Nash, behind the arc, finally saw him and whipped a pass to him. But the pass smacked into Steve Francis' face, not 7 feet in front of Nash. Francis' head snapped back and he crumpled down in pain. Nash jumped up to grab the ricocheted ball and Michael Finley was eventually fouled to stop the play. After a few minutes, Francis got up and was guided to the bench by the trainer. Quotes Don Nelson: "As a coach I was a little worried because of the 1st quarter. We couldn't do anything right. They couldn't do anything wrong. We had to go in there and tried to stay positive. I guess it's better to happen in the 1st quarter than the 4th quarter. We have had a few of those too. I thought we really battled back well. We just stayed in our zone. I liked what the zone did for us. You saw what the man-to-man did in the 1st quarter. We just couldn't stop them man-to-man. Even if it wasn't a pretty game to watch, it certainly was a great win. They are a good team and we have a lot of respect for them." Nelson on Howard and Najera: "Both of those guys were the only reason that we were close in the 1st half. They really stepped it up. Although Josh didn't have a great offensive game in the 2nd half, Najera just kept really anchoring our defense and he kept his consistency going. What I really liked about both of them was that they guarded in our zone and they always rebound." Nelson on the 1st quarter: "As bad as we were and the shots they were making, there wasn't any blame to pass around. I tried to make a couple of adjustments with some substitutions of guys I didn't think were playing very well. What I was really looking for was the Najera and Howard substitutions that really picked us up. It was hard to show confidence in my team when we were down 19 to 3. The biggest factor in the game was that I had to go to the zone 100%." Dirk Nowitzki on the slow start: "They were full of energy, we couldn't guard them and they made every shot. We knew they weren't going to stay hot for the whole game. We just tried to stay close, keep it in range. We wanted to stay close until we got our running game going. The zone was good for us. We packed it in and made it hard on Yao." Nowitzki on his banked 3-pointer: "Once that bank fell in the 3rd quarter, I felt better." Steve Nash: "It didn't look good to start. We were thinking it might not be our night. But we kept plugging away and gave ourselves a chance." Nash on the big hole early: "There's so much time. You know how an NBA game goes. It doesn't take a lot to get back in range, especially with this team." Nash: "We've got to pick up our man-to-man. When we do play it, we've got to get better at it. We can't afford to put that defense out there when we're so much weaker with it. Who cares about convention? [The zone] is all we really have." Antoine Walker: "This is the first time in my career that I've had to come in and, when my shot isn't dropping, spark my play some other way. It's been an adjustment. But I really like it. This is perfect. Hopefully, we can get even better offensively." Walker: "We just got off to a slow start. They came out very aggressive. They had a few days off." Antawn Jamison on the start of the game: "They did a good job of making their baskets and executing . They hit some tough shots. During that early stretch, it seemed like there was a lid on the goal. The one thing that I really have to compliment is how poised we stayed. We didn't try to get it all at once. We took our time and guys stayed positive, and that is the poise we needed in order to get a successful result." Jamison: "The biggest thing was that we didn't want Cuttino Mobley and Jim Jackson to be in the corner with open looks like they had in the 1st quarter. We really paid attention to that and got to those guys and made them drive. We didn't want Maurice Taylor to camp inside. We did a good job of scrambling and throwing different looks at them." Eduardo Najera: "Nothing was working for us early. So I knew we would make some adjustments because we were really bad." Josh Howard: "I just came out there ready to play. I knew that we would be able to get back into it. We just came out there to provide that spark." Howard: "We didn't expect to come out like we did, so I just wanted to give us some energy off the bench." Howard on the large fast break edge: "We stressed that a lot in the 2nd quarter. We had to run the ball to get Yao tired and that is what we did." Howard: "We didn't expect to play that much zone, but Yao started off the game real well and we had to stop him from getting the ball down low. We had to push them out and make them shoot jumpers." Jeff Van Gundy on Dallas: "Coming into the game, you knew about transition, but what people don't talk enough about is their rebounding. They just force turnovers - they scored 26 points off of our turnovers and they had 25 2nd chance points, so that's 51 of 97. You're not winning like that. They out-worked us in those 2 areas." Van Gundy on the zone: "There were certain possessions that we could have done better. We just have to make quicker decisions against zones. You're not going to isolate either in the post or in on the perimeter against zones. The help is loaded to the strong side. We have to do better there." Van Gundy on if the team is frustrated: "You'd have to ask them. I think we didn't play as well as we could have at times. Dallas had something to do with that, obviously. They are very good." Steve Francis: "I'm not personally worried about whether Yao Ming has ever beaten Dallas. He's played pretty well against them, so I don't think he's very worried about it either, if he beats Dallas or beats any other team. Of course you want to beat every team, but we can beat any other team, it's just like beating Dallas. There are teams that they haven't beaten, and this is just one of the teams we haven't beaten." Francis on the zone: "We settled too much for the long shots instead of taking it to the basket. We began the game driving and kicking, getting the ball inside and outside, but once they went into the zone, we just settled for 3s." Francis on getting hit by Nash's pass: "I don't know what the hell happened. I couldn't see for about 2 minutes. But once I got up, I was able to walk a couple of steps, I was all right. I was more dazed than anything. I've never been a professional boxer, but I know what they feel like when they get hit. That ball was coming pretty fast." Cuttino Mobley: "It wasn't their zone. We didn't get the loose balls. We had open shots, we just didn't knock them down. I had a lot of open shots in the 2nd half, but they just didn't fall. We had open shots, we just didn't knock them down. Sometimes if you don't knock them down in the zone. They are so spread out it is easy for them fast break and get easy shots." Mobley: "I'm a little frustrated with myself because I had a poor shooting night. I had a lot of open shots, but sometimes that is how the game goes." Jim Jackson: "Yeah, we learned something. We learned we continue to make the same mistakes. In big games against San Antonio and Dallas, it's always the same thing. We've done this all year. We get leads and we can't put a team away. We figured they would make a run. But we can't fold and hand them the game." Dallas Mavericks 97, Houston Rockets 88 at Dallas (February 21) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 16 31 31 19 - 97 .420 .444 .425 .750 Houston 30 21 15 22 - 88 .472 .345 .427 .800 Halftime: Houston 51-47 3rd Q: Dallas 78-66 Technicals: none Refs: Steve Javie, Derek Collins, James Capers Attendance: 20,431 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Tony Delk (left ankle injury) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antoine Walker 33 7-14 1-4 2-2 17 3-10 5 3 3 3 0 Dirk Nowitzki 41 9-17 3-4 4-5 25 3-12 3 2 3 1 2 Scott Williams 15 1-7 0-0 0-0 2 0-4 0 0 1 0 0 Michael Finley 39 6-15 1-4 6-8 19 1-1 2 0 1 2 0 Steve Nash 34 4-7 2-3 0-0 10 0-2 9 3 0 1 0 Shawn Bradley 5 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 1-3 0 0 1 0 0 Antawn Jamison 23 2-11 0-1 0-0 4 4-8 1 1 0 0 0 Josh Howard 28 6-11 1-2 1-2 14 2-4 1 2 3 0 1 Eduardo Najera 22 2-4 0-0 1-1 5 1-3 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 37-87 8-18 15-20 97 15-47 21 13 14 7 3 Houston Rockets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Kelvin Cato 18 3-5 0-0 2-3 8 2-5 1 0 3 1 1 Jim Jackson 42 6-13 5-9 1-2 18 1-8 2 2 2 1 0 Yao Ming 31 7-10 0-0 0-0 14 1-5 2 3 5 0 2 Steve Francis 38 3-11 0-3 0-0 6 2-7 6 4 3 1 0 Cuttino Mobley 45 6-21 4-12 0-0 16 1-2 3 1 3 2 1 Maurice Taylor 24 4-8 0-0 0-0 8 1-4 2 3 2 0 1 Clarence Weatherspoon 18 3-5 0-0 5-5 11 2-6 0 0 0 1 0 Mark Jackson 11 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 1-1 3 1 1 0 0 Adrian Griffin 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Eric Piatkowski 9 3-6 1-4 0-0 7 1-4 1 1 2 0 0 Scott Padgett 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 35-82 10-29 8-10 88 12-42 20 15 22 6 5 patricia