Detroit at Dallas (February 7) Dallas started sluggish and not playing much defense and Detroit hopped out to a 12-4 lead with 8 minutes left. Detroit could not get their lead larger than 10 points though, as Dallas finally started hitting some shots. Dallas scored 5 straight points to pull within 19-22 with 2:20 remaining. Detroit led 32-26 after 1. Detroit shot a very high 61% FG while Dallas shot 47% FG. Detroit led 35-30 with 10:40 left and went on a 12-2 run to go up 47-32 with 7 minutes to go. Dallas responded with an 11-2 run to pull within 43-49 with 4:15 left. After the teams traded 2 points the string of runs continued as Detroit scored the next 7 points to go up 58-45 with 1:50 remaining. But Dallas then closed the quarter by scoring the next 10 points. Detroit led 58-55 at the half. Detroit was still shooting well at 57% FG for the half while Dallas had crept up to 50% FG. Detroit out-rebounded Dallas 23-10 including 6-2 offensive. The teams traded leads early in the quarter. Detroit scored 6 straight points to go up 70-65 with 7:30 to go, but Dallas scored the next 6 points to go up 71-70 with 6:15 remaining. The game stayed close the rest of the quarter and a 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki with 50 seconds left gave Dallas a 78-77 lead after 3. There were 11 lead changes and 4 ties in the quarter. Dallas stepped up their rebounding (ie, actually started grabbing some) and out-rebounded Detroit 11-6 in the 3rd quarter. Nowitzki had 17 points including 7-8 FG in the 3rd quarter. A 3-pointer by Tayshaun Prince gave Detroit an 88-82 lead with 9:15 to go, but 6 points would be the largest lead of the quarter as both teams were playing very well and it became a game of punch and counter punch. A 3-pointer by Nowitzki gave Dallas a 99-98 lead with 3 minutes left. Chauncey Billups hit 2 free throws, Michael Finley missed a long attempt, but Antoine Walker stole the rebound and got the reverse layup to give Dallas a 101-100 lead with 2:25 to go. Richard Hamilton missed and Steve Nash drove baseline and got the high arcing layup with 1:53 remaining to give Dallas a 3 point lead. After a time out, Corliss Williamson got 2 off of a goaltend by Josh Howard and Nowitzki hit a jumper on the other end to give Dallas a 105-102 lead with 1:35 to go. Walker got a block, Billups missed, Nowitzki got a block, and Nowitzki got the rebound with 56 seconds left. Walker missed with 36 seconds remaining and Billups missed with 21 seconds to go and Detroit started intentionally fouling. Nash hit 6-6 FT in the last 18 seconds to seal the win. Billups got a meaningless layup with less than 2 seconds left for the game's final points. Dallas won 111-108. It was a tough, close game and fortunately Dallas picked up their game in the 2nd half and had stellar performances from Dirk Nowitzki and birthday boy Steve Nash. With some of the shots Nash made in the 4th quarter you could tell that he wanted a win for his birthday. After being out-rebounded 23-10 in the 1st half, Dallas out-rebounded Detroit 19-12 in the 2nd half. After shooting 50% FG in the 1st half, Dallas shot 61% FG in the 2nd half. Detroit's shooting dropped slightly from 57% FG in the 1st half to 53% FG in the 2nd half. A lot of the final boxscore numbers favor Detroit, but Dallas had the better 2nd half performance. Dirk Nowitzki was a stud in the 2nd half with 26 points and 7 rebounds [he only had 1 rebound in the 1st half and didn't get his 2nd until less than 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter]. After missing his first 5 shots of the game, he shot 15-19 FG the rest of the way. He even brought out the hook shot and hit 2 of them early in the 3rd quarter. Nowitzki finished with 40 points including 15-24 FG and 3-4 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals. Steve Nash celebrated his 30th birthday with 29 points on 9-11 FG and 9-9 FT and 11 assists. He had 16 points, including the last 6 free throws of the game, in the 4th quarter. Everyone else played 3rd fiddle to those 2. Antoine Walker had 11 points including 4-10 FG and 5 rebounds. Michael Finley struggled mightily with his shot and had 11 points including 4-15 FG, just 1 rebound, and just 1 assist in 39 minutes. Josh Howard had 10 points on 5-7 FG, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists in 24 minutes. Antawn Jamison was a rare non-factor in this game in going scoreless on 0-2 FG and 0-2 FT and had just 1 rebound in a mere 14 minutes as Don Nelson often went with a true center instead of Jamison in the 2nd half. He had tweaked an ankle in the previous game. The 3-headed center got some time in this game and Scott Williams had 2 points and 3 rebounds in 14 minutes, Danny Fortson got the 2nd half start and had no points and 5 rebounds in 7 minutes, and Shawn Bradley had 2 points and 1 rebound in 16 minutes. Travis Best had 6 points and 2 assists in 11 minutes in spelling Nash. Detroit had a very balanced attack with 7 players in double-digits. Richard Hamilton looked to be heading towards a nice game, but disappeared completely in the 2nd half. 12 of his 16 points came in the 1st half. He also had 5 rebounds and 6 assists (5 in the 1st half). Chauncey Billups was the high man for Detroit with 17 points and had 4 assists. Ben Wallace wasn't a monster in this game and had 10 points including 4-6 FG and "just" 8 rebounds. He also had 3 steals. Corliss Williamson had 15 points and 6 rebounds. Tayshaun Prince had 11 points, Elden Campbell had 12 points including 3-4 FG, and Bob Sura had 11 points including 5-7 FG. Quotes Don Nelson: "What a game. It was like a playoff game, very physical. Two heavyweights going at it. I was a little surprised that we were able to get 111 points. It looked like their defense was going to keep us well under 100, but we finally found some things that were working offensively and stayed with them. It helps when Dirk heats up and makes all his shots. It makes the coach look good when he's running plays. He was on the end of a lot the plays we were running. I felt really good about the win. I thought we were very vulnerable through the night and didn't know if we were going to get it." Nelson: "It was very much like a playoff game. It was like two heavyweights going at it. I told our guys at halftime to be ready to hang on and give it everything they had because Detroit was here to play." Nelson: "You wouldn't think in the 2nd half that we would be able to turn the situation around where we played much better defensively. Things we couldn't execute in the 1st half we were able to in the 2nd. I thought Nash was sensational the whole way. Scott Williams really helped us. His line doesn't look like it, but his big body really helped us. I don't think we could have won this game without him." Nelson on Walker's offensive rebound and layup: "One of the biggest shots of the game." Dirk Nowitzki: "I started off kind of slow - actually I felt great in warmup and I had a lot of energy, but the first couple of shots I kind of rushed them. I wasn't really taking my time and I was kind of over excited. I tried to drive a little bit and find my rhythm at the free throw line. I got a couple of free throws in and that really settled me down and gave me a little confidence. Once the first shot fell, I felt great throughout the whole game. I felt like I could take anyone off the dribble and pull up for a jumper and that's what I tried to do." Nowitzki on the improved defense in the 2nd half: "We stepped it up and played big in the 2nd half." Nowitzki on Nash's birthday: "It's funny, we talked about it at halftime. We made a run and were only down 3 [at the half]. We talked about having to get this for Steve. He turned 30 today and we can't go home losers. We made sure at the end that we were going to win it." Steve Nash: "Yeah, I thought it was a really good basketball game, definitely a playoff type game. They're a very good team so it was a good win for us." Nash: "When 2 good teams play and they play a close game in a fairly well played game, I think it's great preparation for the playoffs. It's kind of an exciting point in a long season to play a good close game like that." Nash: "Dirk was great. After somewhat of a slow start, he just put on a clinic out there and he really carried us for stretches. It's great to see him being real aggressive." Nash on turning 30: "You know what, I feel great. I was saying to the guys today, I came here when I think I was about 24 and I feel healthier and better physically now than I did then. I was facing a lot of injuries at that point of history. It's great to be here 6 years and to feel better now than when I got here." Nash on scoring 29 points on his 30th birthday: "Tony Delk said I was holding on to 29. I told him, 'So do you think if I had one more free throw I would have missed it?' He said, 'Yeah.' Hey, I'm happy to be 30." Antawn Jamison: "It was like a playoff game. Even though I've never played in one, I know what they look like and that looked like one." Josh Howard: "It was a physical game. We knew we couldn't go crying to the refs after every call. So we just prepared ourselves for a hard fought game." Larry Brown: "We had wide open looks. I was hoping one time a referee would blow the whistle, but it wasn't going to happen the way this game was going. We didn't get the rebound when it mattered. They made all the shots and we didn't make any down the stretch." Brown on the end of the 2nd quarter: "That's as bad as we've played all year. We turned the ball over, got selfish, and couldn't guard anyone." Brown on Nowitzki and Nash: "They couldn't have had 2 guys play any better, making any bigger shots. We had point blank shots down the stretch. We took it to the rim and couldn't get to the free throw line." Brown on Nowitzki and Nash: "They are not going to make all those shots all the time. It was just one of those nights where they did. You have to give them credit. A couple of times the ball was loose in Nowitzki's hands and he got it up and made it." Richard Hamilton: "We had it where we wanted to. There were times in the end where we should have maybe slowed it down a little bit, things like that. Dirk hit some tough shots. He hit some big shots for them." Chauncey Billups: "We turned the ball over a couple times and when you turn the ball over against them they are going to score. They got out and got a couple 3s, layups, and took away the lead. From then on, it was nip and tuck. It got away from us the last 2 1/2, 3 minutes." Billups: "The shots they weren't making in the 1st quarter they were making in the 3rd and 4th. That's why they're so good. When those guys get going, it's like pick your poison." Billups: "We've got nothing to show for it, but we played a good game. But for 2 stretches, we executed beautifully. We just couldn't close them out." Billups on Nowitzki: "We tried to make some adjustments in the 2nd half and try to stay with him more instead of switching the pick and letting a little guy like myself get on him where he would just turn around and shoot. We tried to stay with him and when we did that Steve started getting some looks and got going. It was like pick your poison." Dallas Mavericks 111, Detroit Pistons 108 at Dallas (February 7) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 26 29 23 33 - 111 .576 .467 .554 .880 Detroit 32 26 19 31 - 108 .576 .333 .556 .839 Halftime: Detroit 58-55 3rd Q: Dallas 78-77 Technicals: Detroit defensive 3 seconds 2:19 1st, Scott Williams 10:24 2nd, Chauncey Billups 4:45 2nd, Danny Fortson 6:16 3rd, Elden Campbell 6:16 3rd, Steve Nash 3:16 3rd, Darvin Ham 1:27 3rd Refs: Blane Reichelt, Ed Malloy, Michael Smith Attendance: 20,357 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Eduardo Najera (sore left knee) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 24 5-7 0-0 0-0 10 1-2 3 1 2 0 1 Antoine Walker 35 4-10 1-4 2-2 11 2-5 2 4 2 0 1 Dirk Nowitzki 42 15-24 3-4 7-8 40 0-8 3 2 3 4 1 Michael Finley 39 4-15 1-4 2-2 11 0-1 1 1 4 2 1 Steve Nash 37 9-11 2-3 9-9 29 0-3 11 4 2 0 1 Shawn Bradley 16 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 1 0 1 Travis Best 11 2-2 0-0 2-2 6 0-0 2 2 0 2 0 Antawn Jamison 14 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 1-1 0 0 0 0 0 Scott Williams 14 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-3 1 1 3 1 1 Marquis Daniels 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Danny Fortson 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 3-5 0 0 4 0 0 Totals 48 41-74 7-15 22-25 111 8-29 23 17 21 9 7 Detroit Pistons REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Ben Wallace 36 4-6 0-0 2-2 10 2-8 2 4 3 3 0 Tayshaun Prince 30 5-8 1-1 0-0 11 0-2 1 2 2 0 2 Mehmet Okur 17 3-4 0-0 2-2 8 1-4 0 2 2 0 0 Chauncey Billups 30 5-10 1-4 6-7 17 0-1 4 1 2 0 0 Richard Hamilton 36 7-19 0-0 2-2 16 2-5 6 2 2 2 0 Chucky Atkins 17 2-3 0-0 1-1 5 0-0 2 0 1 1 0 Elden Campbell 18 3-4 0-0 6-8 12 0-3 2 3 4 0 2 Darvin Ham 12 0-1 0-0 3-4 3 2-4 2 1 3 0 0 Bob Sura 14 5-7 0-1 1-2 11 0-2 2 0 2 1 0 Corliss Williamson 30 6-10 0-0 3-3 15 4-6 1 1 4 1 1 Totals 48 40-72 2-6 26-31 108 11-35 22 18 25 8 5 patricia