Dirk Nowitzki missed the practice Thursday with a stomach virus, but did travel with the team to Sacramento. The NBA named Dirk Nowitzki as the winner for February's Community Assist Award. The award recognizes NBA players' charitable efforts. Prior to the San Antonio game, Dallas activated Travis Best and placed Tony Delk on IR with a sprained left ankle. Dallas at San Antonio (March 5) Tim Duncan was still out and Steve Nash returned for Dallas. Despite those advantages, the Mavs came out playing like crap and never really got better. San Antonio scored 7 straight points to go up 20-13 with 4:45 left. 7 more straight points gave the Spurs a 29-17 lead with 1:30 remaining. San Antonio led 29-18 after 1. Hedo Turkoglu had 10 points and Rasho Nesterovic had 6 points and 9 rebounds including 6 offensive. Dallas shot 7-20 FG and San Antonio shot 13-26 FG (and 0-4 FT). And the Mavs were getting killed on the boards as San Antonio out-rebounded Dallas 19-7 including 8-1 offensive. Dallas' game remained subpar and San Antonio opened the quarter with a 15-2 run to go up 44-20 with 6:30 to go. San Antonio led in the 20s the rest of the quarter and led 59-33 at the half. Dallas shot worse in the 2nd quarter at 5-21 FG and San Antonio shot well at 12-21 FG. Dallas got a few more rebounds and were only out-rebounded 9-13 in the quarter. A Mav player finally showed up in the 3rd quarter as Michael Finley got hot. He wasn't able to make much of a dent in the Spurs' large lead as the Mavs were unable to get closer than 18 points at 55-73 with 3:45 left. The game was getting physical (and the refs were not taking control) and took a nasty turn when after Dirk Nowitzki missed a layup, Finley turned and was running up the court when Bruce Bowen, who was jogging towards the towards the Mavs' basket, leaned in and lowered his shoulder and leveled the unsuspecting Finley on his right side rib cage. The refs didn't call anything and Finley got up off the floor and ran down the court to where Bowen was and gave him a blatant forearm shiver. The refs blew their whistles, conferred, and tossed Finley with a flagrant foul level 2 (level 2 is an automatic ejection) with 2:20 to go. Don Nelson went nuts with the call and got tossed with 2 technicals. San Antonio got 4 free throws (only made 2, though) and possession and got rid of the Mavs' hot player - Finley had scored 13 points including 5-6 FG in the last 6 minutes prior to his ejection. San Antonio's lead remained in the 20s the rest of the quarter. San Antonio led 86-60 after 3. Dallas finally broke 40% shooting for a quarter (8-19 FG) and rebounded well with 14 rebounds including 7 offensive. With the way the game had gone, you would think that the 4th quarter would have been purely garbage time. But Dirk Nowitzki finally showed up (just 4 points including 1-10 FG in the 1st 3 quarters) and the Mavs made a run. Dallas opened the quarter with a 26-7 run, including 13 points by Nowitzki, to pull within 86-93 with 4:40 remaining. And a jumper by Nowitzki brought Dallas within 90-95 with 3 minutes to go. But San Antonio scored the next 4 points. The 2 teams traded buckets, Rasho Nesterovic blocked Antawn Jamison's layup attempt, and Dallas started intentionally fouling. San Antonio shot 12-16 FT over the last 1 1/2 minutes of the game to hang on for the win. San Antonio won 113-100. It was an absolutely disgusting performance by Dallas. You can't just show up for 1 quarter. The Mavs had no excuse for this dismal performance - Tim Duncan did not play and Steve Nash was back (whose absence was the excuse for the poor previous game at Minnesota). In the 1st half, Dallas could not shot or rebound and San Antonio went up big as the Mavs had just 33 points. No Mav had more than 7 points or 3 rebounds in the half. The team did finally start playing basketball in the 4th quarter and outscored the Spurs 32-15 in the first 10 1/2 minutes of the quarter - but that's not near enough when you are down 26 points heading in to the quarter. For the game, San Antonio shot 50% (38-76) FG including 6-10 3-pointers and Dallas shot 37.8% (34-90) FG. San Antonio shot 31-45 FT and Dallas shot 29-35 FT. After having such a large advantage early, San Antonio only ended up out-rebounding Dallas 49-41 and both teams had 16 offensive rebounds. Both teams had turnover problems as San Antonio had 21 turnovers and Dallas had 16 turnovers. The refs need to take some of the blame for the interaction between Bruce Bowen and Michael Finley. If they had been calling a cleaner game, the incidents may not have occurred. And if they had called Bowen's clothesline on Finley, Finley's retaliatory forearm shiver definitely wouldn't have occurred. It was a very dumb thing for Finley to do, but I've never seen him lose it like that. The league did review the incidents and assessed Bowen a flagrant foul level 1. The Spurs had 6 players in double-digits - including all 5 starters. Rasho Nesterovic had a very nice outing in Tim Duncan's absence. He had 13 points, 15 rebounds including 8 offensive, 5 assists, and 7 blocks in his 38 minutes. Tony Parker was the high man with 27 points including 8-10 FT and 5 assists. Malik Rose had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He also had 3 steals. Hedo Turkoglu had 21 points and 5 rebounds. Bruce Bowen, the thug, had 11 points and Manu Ginobili had 11 points and 6 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had a monster 4th quarter with 17 points including 7-9 FG and 4 rebounds. But he only had 4 points including 1-10 FG and 5 rebounds through 3 quarters. Steve Nash also had a nice 4th quarter with 9 points and 7 assists. But he only had 4 points including 1-5 FG and 5 assists through 3 quarters. 13 of Michael Finley's 19 points came in the 3rd quarter. But he only had 2 rebounds and had 0 assists. Antawn Jamison was the only other Mav in double-digits with 12 points, but he only shot 4-12 FG. Antawn Walker had a poor outing with 7 points including 2-11 FG. He also had 7 rebounds. Eduardo Najera got the nod in the 2nd half and came in and provided good energy. He had 4 points and 4 rebounds before fouling out late in the game in 15 2nd half minutes. The Spurs fans do not like Eddie - I was surprised when he was booed when he came on the floor in the 2nd half. And one of the people on the post game show called him the dirtiest player in the league (which gave me a laugh since the Spurs have Bowen). Quotes Popovich: "It was a wonderful game for us. We had to have a lot of people step up and play. Rasho continues to play so well, blocking shots, and rebounding. Tony competed really well and made some good decisions. A lot of guys participated. It was a wonderful win." Popovich on rebounding: "The 3 big guys did a wonderful job being aggressive and going after the ball. Dallas is a good rebounding team. It was a big effort for us. We did a good job." Popovich on winning without Duncan being a confidence booster: "That's a little overstated. Teams know when you play a team and people are gone. Winning the game might improve them. It's especially tough in the West. When it boils down to common denominator, all that matters is the win." Tony Parker: "We ended up with a win. We're happy." Parker on Dallas: "They were frustrated, but they still came back." Parker on the 4th quarter: "We knew they would make some runs. They're a good team. We weren't as aggressive and they got back in the game. Malik and Manu made some great plays to help us and we pulled it out." Parker on Nesterovic's block late in the game: "Awesome. He and Hedo are playing great. If they continue to play like that and get comfortable, it's going to be good for us in the playoffs." Parker: "Rasho and Hedo have been playing great these last few games. They are really getting comfortable with everything. Hedo has really been finding his shot lately and Rasho has been great on D and blocking lots of shots." Bruce Bowen: "We played real hard tonight. We made a concerted effort on defense and we were able to limit their opportunities. Usually when we do that everything seems to fall into place and tonight that was the case." Bowen on his interaction with Finley: "We both bumped one another. He hit me and I hit him, it was all in the heat of battle. That's the gist of it. I saw him coming, but I didn't know he was going to do anything right in front of the official." Donn Nelson: "We didn't come out ready to play in the 1st half. The only guy who came out with effort and energy was Danny Fortson. When you go against the likes of these guys, even without Tim Duncan, and don't bring your A game, you are going to leave this city with a loss. That's exactly what happened tonight." [Don Nelson does not address the media after games in which he is ejected.] Nelson: "Sometimes when you are without your best player it kind of galvanizes your team, like it did with San Antonio tonight. Every one of them knew they had to have a good performance and they did. We reacted the exact opposite way." Nelson: "I didn't see what happened with the Bruce Bowen-Michael Finley incident. I can just say that Mike doesn't respond like that. There must have been a reason. I don't think I've ever seen him react like that in my 5+ years here." Michael Finley on Bowen: "A coward guy made a coward play. He gave me a cheap shot from behind and I retaliated. I deserved a technical foul. I don't know about the ejection, but obviously they missed the first one because it was away from the play. I was just going back down the court and he came up from behind and leveled an elbow to the ribs. I'm a man first. I went down and let him know it's not going to be like that." Finley: "Hopefully the league will see it. I might have been wrong about going back and elbowing him. But if they look at it, they'll know I had a reason." Finley on Bowen: "That's not his reputation. His reputation is as a physical defender, and you have to give him his due on that. But when you have to start giving people cheap shots, that's not basketball, especially away from the play. I'm a man before I'm a basketball player. He can't disrespect my manhood by giving me a cheap shot. I'm going to retaliate every time." Steve Nash: "It's frustrating to have been playing well at home and then go out and get thumped twice on the road. We're going to have to figure something out or we'll be watching our seeding drop, not rise." Nash: "We came out in the 1st half like it was unimportant. It was like we were just punching the clock instead of trying to get somewhere. That's unacceptable, especially this time of year." Nash: "I wish I could tell you why we got off to a slow start. I just have no idea." Nash on his health: "I don't feel great. That's to be expected I think after 4 or 5 days off." Danny Fortson: "I though Bowen knocking down Finley was a dirty play and I think he meant it. I think that play was a little worse than the play I had against Phoenix [where Fortson was suspended for 3 games for his flagrant against Zarko Cabarkapa in which Cabarkapa suffered a broken wrist]. Thing is that Mike just has stronger bones than that kid in Phoenix. If Mike would have broke something then it would have been like a 3 game suspension or something. But it still don't make it right. Mike was our hot guy. For him to come in there and nail him just isn't right." San Antonio Spurs 113, Dallas Mavericks 100 at San Antonio (March 5) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% San Antonio 29 30 27 27 - 113 .485 .600 .500 .689 Dallas 18 15 27 40 - 100 .392 .273 .378 .829 Halftime: San Antonio 59-33 3rd Q: San Antonio 86-60 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 11:13 2nd Technicals: Gregg Popovich 8:06 1st, Dirk Nowitzki 0:39 3rd, Don Nelson 2:18 3rd, Don Nelson (ejected) 2:18 3rd, Robert Horry 8:20 4th Flagrant fouls: Michael Finley (level 2 - ejected) 2:18 3rd Refs: Danny Crawford, James Capers, Zak Zarba Attendance: 18,797 (sellout) San Antonio Spurs REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Bruce Bowen 33 4-10 1-2 2-2 11 1-3 2 1 2 1 1 Malik Rose 33 6-10 0-0 6-9 18 4-10 2 3 5 3 1 R. Nesterovic 38 6-12 0-0 1-4 13 8-15 5 1 3 1 7 Tony Parker 36 9-17 1-1 8-10 27 0-0 5 3 5 1 0 Hidayet Turkoglu 38 7-12 4-5 3-6 21 0-5 3 3 4 2 0 Emanuel Ginobili 27 3-7 0-2 5-6 11 1-6 3 4 4 2 0 Robert Horry 19 3-5 0-0 1-2 7 2-3 2 2 0 0 2 Devin Brown 11 0-3 0-0 5-6 5 0-6 1 0 2 0 0 Kevin Willis 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 2 1 0 0 Jason Hart 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Charlie Ward 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-76 6-10 31-45 113 16-49 23 21 26 10 11 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antoine Walker 25 2-11 1-3 2-2 7 3-7 3 0 0 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 39 8-19 1-2 4-4 21 1-9 1 2 4 4 0 Scott Williams 9 1-4 0-1 0-0 2 0-2 0 1 3 0 0 Steve Nash 34 3-9 0-1 7-8 13 1-3 12 4 1 2 0 Michael Finley 29 8-16 1-2 2-3 19 1-2 0 0 3 0 0 Shawn Bradley 8 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 0 0 0 0 1 Antawn Jamison 28 4-12 0-1 4-6 12 1-2 0 2 4 1 1 Marquis Daniels 15 1-8 0-1 2-2 4 3-4 2 1 0 1 0 Josh Howard 27 3-5 0-0 1-2 7 1-3 0 2 6 3 1 Danny Fortson 10 2-2 0-0 5-6 9 1-4 1 2 4 1 0 Eduardo Najera 15 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 3-4 0 1 6 1 0 Travis Best 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 34-90 3-11 29-35 100 16-41 19 16 31 13 3 Dallas at Houston (March 7) The Mavs held a players only meeting on Saturday and talked about emphasizing defense. Then they go and allow Houston to shoot 65% FG in the 1st quarter on Sunday (grumble). Despite Houston's hot shooting and Yao Ming's early dominance, the game stayed close in the 1st quarter with neither team holding more than a 4 point lead. The game was tied at 26-26 after 1. Yao had 14 points including 6-7 FG and 5 rebounds. It was a really sloppy game as Dallas had 5 turnovers and Houston had an incredible 10 turnovers. Dallas led 32-31 with 9:15 remaining and Houston went on an 11-2 run to go up 42-34 with 5 minutes left. A jumper by Scott Williams and 3-pointer by Steve Nash pulled Dallas within 43-46 with 3 minutes to go. Houston led 50-47 at the half. Dallas pulled within 1 point twice, but was unable to pull ahead. Houston went on an 8-2 mini-run to go back up by 8 points at 68-60 with 4 minutes left. Josh Howard scored the last 4 points of the quarter (and the only points scored in the last 2 1/2 minutes of the quarter). Houston led 70-68 after 3. After shooting 52% FG in the 1st half, Houston cooled off and only shot 7-18 FG in the 3rd quarter - but Dallas wasn't any better in shooting 7-19 FG. Houston scored the first 4 points of the 4th quarter to go up 74-68 with 9:25 remaining as Dallas missed their first 4 shots. A 3-pointer by Michael Finley and dunk by Antawn Jamison pulled Dallas within 75-76 with 6:50 left. The teams traded 2 points and Houston scored the next 6 points, including a very pretty reverse layup by Steve Francis, to go up 84-77 with 4:40 to go. Houston again had an 8 point lead at 88-80 with 2:30 left, but Dallas then went on a 10-2 run, capped by 5 straight free throws by Nash, to tie the game at 90-90 with a minute remaining. Yao got a putback and Nash found Eduardo Najera for a layup and it was tied again with 34 seconds to go. After the timeout, Houston was having trouble finding a look and as Francis went up, he spotted Yao inside and passed to him and Yao put the layup attempt up as 3 Mavs converged on him, got the bucket, and was fouled. He hit the extra to give Houston a 95-92 lead with 15 seconds remaining. Dallas called timeout and moved the ball to half court. But Antoine Walker made the lazy inbounds pass which Jim Jackson stole and Francis was intentionally fouled. He only hit 1 of 2 and Dallas called another timeout with 11 seconds left. This time Dallas got the ball inbounded and Dirk Nowitzki got the quick dunk and Cuttino Mobley was intentionally fouled. He hit both to give Houston a 98-94 lead with 8 seconds remaining. Dallas used their final timeout and Walker drained a 3-pointer and Clarence Weatherspoon was intentionally fouled. He hit both free throws with 3.6 seconds left. And Houston intentionally fouled instead of giving Dallas a shot attempt. Nash hit the first and intentionally missed the 2nd, but was called for a lane violation in breaking the plane (free throw line) before the ball hit the rim. Mobley was fouled with 2 seconds left and only hit 1 of 2 to give Dallas a slight chance. The long inbounds went to Finley at half court and he turned and flung the ball (before Houston could intentionally foul), but it was way off. Houston won 101-98. Though it was a much better performance by Dallas than their last 2 games, the team still struggles on the road for some strange reason. They whiffed on this tough road trip in going 0-3 and are just 11-19 on the road (thank goodness they are strong at home). It was a close game throughout as Houston's largest lead was 8 points and Dallas' was 4 points. But Dallas only shot 41.7% (35-84) FG and it is very hard for this team to win when they don't shot well [Dallas is 10-17 when they shoot less than 44% FG and 30-6 when they shoot better than 44% FG; 6-13 when they shoot less than 42% FG and 34-10 when they shoot better than 42% FG]. Houston shot 48.8% (39-80) FG. Houston out-rebounded Dallas 48-35 including 16-12 offensive. Houston was terribly sloppy with the ball and committed 30 turnovers while Dallas had 20 steals - both are Mavs records. Not as bad, but Dallas also played a sloppy game and had 17 turnovers. Houston killed Dallas inside in out-scoring the Mavs 48-28 in the paint. Yao Ming had a stellar game with 29 points including 13-19 FG, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. 10 of Jim Jackson's 24 points came in the 4th quarter (and all of his 4-7 3-pointers came in the 1st 3 quarters). He also had 6 rebounds and 5 assists, but did commit 6 turnovers. Though he did have 2 spectacular layups, Steve Francis was pretty quiet with just 11 points including 4-10 FG before fouling out on an intentional foul late in the game. He also had 6 rebounds, and 8 assists, and 5 turnovers. Cuttino Mobley had 13 points including 4-12 FG, 9 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Clarence Weatherspoon chipped in 10 points including 3-10 FG and 10 rebounds including 5 offensive off the bench. Steve Nash was the high man with 22 points including 7-9 FG and 9 assists. Michael Finley had 16 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals, but also had 5 turnovers. Dirk Nowitzki did have 18 points and a career high 9 steals, but only had 1 rebound and 1 assist. The only other Mav in double-digits was Antawn Jamison with 14 points, 8 of which came in the 4th quarter. He also had 5 rebounds. Antoine Walker had 9 points on 3-10 FG, 3 rebounds, and 5 turnovers and only played 2 minutes in the 4th quarter. Scott Williams and Shawn Bradley could not do anything against Yao Ming, but 6-8 Eduardo Najera could. Though he wasn't able to shut down Yao, Najera was able to sometimes prevent Houston from passing to Yao or sneak around and tap away the pass attempt. Najera had 2 points including 1-6 FG, 3 rebounds, and 4 steals in 15 minutes. Quotes Jeff Van Gundy: "Obviously the ballhandling was suspect, but we were a lot tougher today. A lot of things were going wrong. Our guys found a way to win tonight." Van Gundy: "At times we were discombobulated. But I think the biggest factor to winning in this league comes down many times to just having enough toughness and courage and discipline to just make 1 or 2 more plays than the other team. That's what we did." Van Gundy on Yao's 3-point play: "Most times when that [pass] was not being completed, the angle was bad. The pass was bad and Yao was falling backward. He was leaning back, trying to seal [defenders] by leaning back instead of just coming to meet the ball. We'll worry about that tomorrow. Today was about having that toughness to win." Van Gundy: "They've got big goals. So do we. It's hard to win in this league. It's hard to beat quality when you make mistakes like we did. To have the toughness to hold that team to 41% is hard to do, and it's really hard when it's not going well on offense, so I'm really proud of them. We have things we need to correct, but I'm proud we hung tough." Yao Ming: "The past couple of losses, they've all been thrown away in the 4th quarter. With that experience we don't want to repeat that experience." Yao: "I think we had the advantage in some areas of this game and my teammates were full of energy and they were able to carry me through it. We had great morale towards the end and we just kept it up. It wasn't that bad." Yao on his 3-point play: "I saw everybody focusing on Steve [Francis] because he was trying to break down their defense, so I thought I would help out. That's just the most obvious play. There were a lot of big plays in the game." Yao on his first win vs Dallas: "There is a phrase in Chinese: 'Resolve is victory'." Steve Francis on Yao's 3-point player: "He bailed me out. The clock was going down and as I was going up to shoot. Yao's man came up a little bit. I threw it over to him. I think that was one of the most crucial plays of the game. I put it up high, toward the corner of the backboard. Coach has been telling us all year to put it up." Francis: "We didn't lose track when things weren't going well for us." Cuttino Mobley: "There was 1:01 left in the game. It was tied up. And it went our way. We stayed tough. [In the past], we would have probably lost it. We probably would have lost our temper with the calls. That just shows our maturity level. Any other time we would have lost. Like that key shot [Weatherspoon] hit at the top of the key in Minnesota. That type of shot would have gotten us to the playoffs before. But we always missed it. Then we would have come down and foul or something silly always happened. But now we knock down the shot, play good D, game's over. We beat them." Jim Jackson: "It feels good because they beat us 2 times in Dallas rather handily. We just came off a big win against Minnesota and we had to follow it up with another big win. It's important for us, especially while we are at home, to beat the teams we need to beat." Jackson on his steal late in the game: "We were going to switch everything and I saw Steve [Francis] underneath Steve Nash and I knew he was going off the flat. Luckily, I made the switch and stepped out and got it because if they didn't throw that pass that way, Dirk could have sprang open for the 3 on the opposite wing. I'm glad they threw the pass but I read the play when I saw Steve Nash going down and cutting off the flat." Jackson on layups late in the game: "What happened is they extended the zone a lot more, so that allowed us to drive a lot more and get in some gaps, and that's what I was trying to do. Because if they are going to give us the lane, why take 3-pointers? Exploit the defense, and if you can get the ball up on the glass, you may be able to get a 2nd or 3rd try." Jackson: "A team that plays zone, you know you're going to have open shots. It's just a matter of when and where and how you're going to get them. You have to be patient, but you have to know too that you can't just rely on the jump shots. You have to exploit that D by putting the ball on the ground and making those guys play you." Jackson: "I think I played a pretty good game. I had some turnovers I shouldn't have made, but for me it was just a matter of trying to get the team to win the basketball game and also to prepare ourselves to get into the playoffs." Don Nelson: "I thought we missed too many baskets around the rim that we normally convert. We must have had 7 or 8 missed layups tonight. That really hurt us - you can't do that against a good defensive team. When you get the ball there you have to score. Maybe Ming had something to do with that, I'm not sure. Anyway, we had too many misses around the goal." Nelson: "Maybe we'll do it next time. We have another game at the end of the year. We played mostly zone the 2nd half - actually, for 3 quarters. But you have to mix it up. If you play mostly zone, they get used to playing against the zone. We had a record number of steals. Too bad we had these franchise records and not able to win the game. But we were really active with our hands. And they laid them out there for us a few time, they had way too many turnovers." Nelson on Najera on Yao: "I thought Eddie did a lot better job on Yao than our other big men." Nelson on Yao's 3-point play: "That was the play of the game." Nelson: "I thought [Jim] Jackson had the big game. When you give up a lot of points to one guy, then you have to hold everyone else down. And I thought he and Weatherspoon did a good job of keeping them in there when I thought we could have taken control." Dirk Nowitzki: "It was a tough road trip for us and we were right there and now we have to recover. We are not playing that well on the road. If we want to do anything in the playoffs, we have to start winning on the road." Nowitzki: "It was a tough road trip. We were right there in 3rd [in the conference] when we left and we dropped 3 straight games against Western Conference teams. If we want to do something in the playoffs, we're going to have to get back to doing something on the road." Nowitzki: "Yao ate us alive when we started the game in a man-to-man. Eddie did a nice job coming off the bench. Yao won the game for Houston and he is rapidly becoming a great player." Nowitzki on Yao: "He's tough. He's 7-5. He's got strong legs. He's going to be a dominant player for a lot of years to come." Michael Finley on the last 3-point attempt: "They were saying 'Foul him, foul him.' So I thought if I got the shot up they may not have time to react. It didn't work out." Steve Nash: "We competed. We certainly didn't compete in the 1st half at San Antonio, so, for us to get that taste back in our mouth, that hunger, that desire of what it's going to take for us to win, to get that playoff positioning we want, I give ourselves a decent grade on that. But we just didn't play well enough. We didn't make some shots we should have made, made some key mistakes, so maybe we didn't deserve it." Nash on the lane violation: "It's over with now. There was no guarantee what would have happened if the violation wasn't called, but it was very frustrating." Nash on Yao: "He is a great player. He can do so many things on the court and he's improving every day. It doesn't look good for the rest of the league. He is becoming a dominant player." Antoine Walker on his turnover on the inbounds late in the game: "The play was for Steve [Nash] and I didn't expect them to step out on him. Jim Jackson read the play well." Scott Williams: "Everybody is going to go through periods where they're not going to shoot the ball extremely well. It's like a baseball player. You bat .300 for your career and you have a couple of series where you can't hit the ball out of the infield." Houston Rockets 101, Dallas Mavericks 98 at Houston (March 7) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Houston 26 24 20 31 - 101 .508 .400 .488 .773 Dallas 26 21 21 30 - 98 .409 .444 .417 .741 Halftime: Houston 50-47 3rd Q: Houston 70-68 Technicals: None Refs: Gary Zielinski, Jim Clark, Ron Olesiak Attendance: 18,134 (sellout) Houston Rockets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jim Jackson 45 9-17 4-7 2-2 24 2-6 5 6 4 2 0 Kelvin Cato 17 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 1-3 2 2 1 1 0 Yao Ming 39 13-19 0-0 3-3 29 2-10 1 4 2 2 3 Steve Francis 41 4-10 0-2 3-7 11 3-6 8 5 6 2 1 Cuttino Mobley 39 4-12 2-6 3-4 13 1-9 1 5 1 1 0 Maurice Taylor 20 2-4 0-0 2-2 6 1-1 2 2 3 1 0 Clarence Weatherspoon 22 3-10 0-0 4-4 10 5-10 0 2 1 1 0 Mark Jackson 15 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 1-3 4 2 3 0 0 Adrian Griffin 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 39-80 6-15 17-22 101 16-48 23 30 22 10 4 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Scott Williams 15 3-9 0-0 2-2 8 2-5 0 0 3 0 0 Antoine Walker 22 3-10 3-7 0-2 9 0-3 2 5 2 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 45 7-19 2-4 2-2 18 1-1 1 2 2 9 2 Steve Nash 39 7-9 1-2 7-9 22 1-4 9 4 3 0 0 Michael Finley 40 6-12 2-3 2-2 16 4-7 7 5 1 3 1 Shawn Bradley 16 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 0 4 1 2 Antawn Jamison 27 6-12 0-1 2-2 14 1-5 0 0 3 1 1 Marquis Daniels 8 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 1-2 0 0 0 1 0 Josh Howard 13 1-4 0-1 3-6 5 1-3 0 1 1 0 0 Eduardo Najera 15 1-6 0-0 0-0 2 1-3 2 0 0 4 0 Totals 48 35-84 8-18 20-27 98 12-35 21 17 19 20 6 Phoenix at Dallas (March 8) Just what the Mavs needed after that dismal road trip - a home game. But home wasn't so friendly early on as Phoenix went on a 9-2 run to go up 11-5 with 7:50 remaining. A layup by Jake Voskuhl and 3-point play by Shawn Marion gave Phoenix their largest lead at 19-9 with 5:30 left. But Dallas finally got into the game and then went on an 18-4 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Michael Finley, to close the quarter and go up 27-23 after 1. Dirk Nowitzki had 10 points. Dallas only shot 35% FG, but had 5 offensive rebounds and shot 10-10 FT. Phoenix shot 50% FG and 3-6 FT. Dallas scored 6 straight points to go up 37-28 with 6:45 to go. Phoenix pulled within 33-39 with 5:45 left and Dallas went on a 15-4 run to go up 54-37 with 1:20 remaining. Dallas led 56-41 at the half. Dallas was out-rebounding Phoenix 31-18 including 14-6 offensive. Dallas went on a 7-1 run to take their first 20 point lead at 71-51 with 8 minutes to go. Phoenix would get no closer than 13 points the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 79-66 after 3. Phoenix hit 3 straight 3-pointers (while Dallas had 2-pointers between them) and Marion got a put back to pull Phoenix within 77-85 with 9:30 remaining. But Dallas then went on a 13-3 run to go up 98-80 with 3:35 left. Phoenix would get no closer than the final margin. Dallas won 103-90. Home sweet home. Dallas is a league best 29-4 at home. The Mavs won this game despite again shooting poorly. They won thanks to their rebounding and Phoenix not being that good of a team. Dallas out-rebounded Phoenix 50-41 including 24-13 offensive. Phoenix committed 20 turnovers while Dallas had just 7. Dallas shot just 41.7% (40-96) including 3-15 3-pointers and Phoenix shot 44.9% (31-69) FG including 5-17 3-pointers. Dallas shot 20-21 FT and Phoenix shot 23-31 FT. Dallas had just 15 assists. Next up is another 3 game road trip starting with a tough one at Sacramento tonight. Dirk Nowitzki was white hot in this game - in fact I thought he should have shot the ball much more than he did, he had the stroke going. He had 26 points including 11-13 FG (and didn't attempt a 3-pointer) and 6 rebounds in his 28 minutes. Antawn Jamison played well off the bench and, thus, got a lot of minutes. He had 21 points and 8 rebounds in his 34 minutes. Michael Finley had his first poor outing in a while with 13 points including 5-20 FG and 1-7 3-pointers. he also had 3 rebounds and 5 assists. Steve Nash only played 25 minutes and had 12 points and just 3 assists. Eduardo Najera continues to earn minutes as he had 8 points, 9 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 5 steals. Josh Howard had an up and down game as he couldn't shoot worth a darn - he had 10 points including 4-14 FG - but also had 8 rebounds including 4 offensive. Antoine Walker had yet another poor outing with just 6 points including 2-9 FG. He did have 8 rebounds including 5 offensive. Because of his struggles, he only player 18 minutes. Unfortunately, his frustration with his performances and playing time came out in talking to the media after the game. Though he also said things like he's playing with a great group of guys, he's never been on a team 16 games above .500, and a couple of other more positive things, his frustration can be seen in the comments below and he should have kept his mouth shut. The comments did not do anything to improve his performances and only created controversy. His minutes will increase when his performances increase - with as deep and good as the Mavs team is, a struggling player won't be left on the court to work through his problems. Shawn Marion was flirting with a triple-double for most of the 4th quarter, but for some reason the ball hardly went through him during that quarter. Marion had 29 points including 10-18 FG, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists (none in the last 9 minutes of the game). Amare Stoudemire had 19 points including 6-9 FG and 8 rebounds. And Joe Johnson had 17 points and 5 rebounds, but did have 6 turnovers. Phoenix doesn't have much besides those 3. Antonio McDyess only played 4 minutes and scored 2 points. Casey Jacobsen had 9 points including 3-10 FG and Donnell Harvey got some rare minutes and had 8 points and 7 rebounds. Quotes Don Nelson: "This is a good win to have in the fact that we didn't shoot the ball very well. It was a fairly decisive win. I was able to rest some guys and Steve told me he wasn't feeling very well tonight. I was glad to not play him in the 3rd quarter and still have a big enough lead to be able to not overplay him and some of the other guys." Nelson: "That is the Najera we used to know. He's helped us all the games that I've played him. He's been a zone guy for us. [I think the next are refering to Walker] He's in a slump right now. When a guy's in a slump, you try to encourage him and you don't play him as much until he works his way out of it. Hard work will get him out of it. I liked the fact that he rebounded and tried to do some other things. He hasn't made shots in quite a while. We'll figure it out together." Nelson on Nowitzki: "We are trying to post him a little bit more. He had an incredible night. He hasn't been making the easy ones, but he's been making the hard ones. They aren't as easy to beat as people think. Phoenix has some nice pieces. We have a lot of respect for them. They beat us early in the year by 30 points." Nelson on Nowitzki: "He's not getting the same shots. They have played a small forward on him all year and that's going to have an effect on him being open. He's not getting the same looks." Nelson on Walker: "He'll play his way out of this. He gives me no choice. I have to do something for his good, for my good, for the team's good. He's in a slump right now and when a guy is in a slump, you try to encourage him to come out of it and you don't play him as much until he works his way out of it. Hard work will get him out of it. We can't fool around with 20 games left. We're jockeying for position here. It's really the same with anybody, he just happens to be the guy that hasn't been playing the last few games, so I don't want to blow a game because of it. Other guys are playing very well." [Said Wednesday] Nelson on Walker: "He's my starter. he's going to continue to start. But he's no different than anybody else. If a player's not playing well and somebody is playing better behind him, then that guy is going to play. I'm not going to be intimidated by someone yelling and screaming and whatever. It doesn't affect me. I'm going to do what's right as a coach." Dirk Nowitzki: "We know we can execute and win games at home. We've got to get that feeling on the road. We've got to show we can win big games on the road." Nowitzki: "We talked about this being a huge game for us to kind of get back on the winning track. We're more confident at home. I don't think we have that confidence in ourselves on the road. We've got a nice road stand coming up where we can improve in that area and show that we can win big games on the road." Nowitzki: "We struggled early on. We had no rhythm, we had no energy. We started playing better defensively and that was the key." Michael Finley on Walker's frustration: "It's not about being captain or a teammate. It's about being a friend. I'll call him - if not tonight, first thing tomorrow. He may need somebody within the organization just to bounce off his concerns. I'll be there for him." Steve Nash: "It was a big win for us. We've been playing so inconsistently on the road that it's nice to come home and get this one. Obviously we realize for us to be the team we want to be we're going to have to at some point become a good road team." Nash: "If we're going to be the team we want to be, we've got to be a better road team. But if we look at it as daunting, it's only going to make it worse." Nash: "I thought we played with a lot more energy after the deficit and that was the key. It was an energy game for us tonight and if we played hard and wanted it more, we were going to win." Nash on Walker: "I suppose it's always difficult when things aren't going your way and you can't really find your rhythm or your confidence. We just have to support him and hopefully he'll continue to battle and it will come around for him." Antoine Walker: "I'm not going to make an issue of it. I'm going to continue to work hard. But I can't give you anything in 18 minutes. That's not my makeup. I'm not that type of ballplayer." Walker: "It's tough to do anything in 18 minutes. This is the first time I've dealt with this in my 8 year career. I can't give you what you want in 18 minutes. It's not going to happen. It's not in my makeup. I have to be able to play." Walker: "To be honest, it's been a tough year since I got traded. I'm happy we stopped the bleeding and I'm happy the team is 16 or 18 games over .500. We're a deep team and I know some guys are going to suffer." Walker on turning his game around: "I couldn't give you a straight answer. I just want to get through these 19 games and then the playoffs start. I refuse to have controversy around me." Walker: "I can't work my way through nothing, man. I'm trying to play every day. It's too late for that. I'm just out here playing. It's tough to do anything in 18 minutes, so whatever the situation is, hopefully it works out the best for this team. It's the first time I've dealt with this in my career. I've never played 18 minutes in my life. It's hard for me to adjust to it. It's kind of late in the season, so I'm just going to have to deal with it. My goal has to be to try to keep focused and help this team win. It's tough, man. I'm trying to grind through it." Walker: "I'm trying my best. I'm not perfect. I've got to be able to play through mistakes just like anybody else in the league, in the NBA. Right now it's unfortunate. It's a frustrating situation for myself. I've never been in it, so it's something I have to deal with. It's hard for me to play mistake free basketball. It's hard for me to shoot the basketball and then have to worry about if I turn the ball over ... if I'm coming in and out of the game. It's hard for me to do that." Antawn Jamison: "It was very big. We knew coming in that Phoenix didn't have anything to lose. They were going to come in relaxed and feeling like they had an opportunity to win. We just wanted to come in and defend our home court like we've been doing the last couple of weeks. Guys did a good job as far as recuperating and staying focused after the loss yesterday." Jamison on doing the same on the road: "We need to. Sacramento hasn't forgot about what happened the last 2 games against us and they're playing at home and they got Chris Webber back. Then we've got to turnaround and face Phoenix again so it's going to be tough, but we just have to continue to work hard. We just have got to find a way to get it done on the road. Guys are still staying positive, still believe we can get things situated." Jamison on Stoudemire: "We didn't want him to get into the flow of the game. He's one of those guys, especially when he gets down on the low post, he can be very deadly. He demands a lot of double-teams and he can create shots for others so we just wanted to put a body on him. You can not let a guy like that roam around the basket or he's really going to hurt you." Mike D'Antoni: "Not good passing and we let them get way too many offensive rebounds. They zoned it up and you have to be able to pass the ball real well against that. We didn't attack. We got tentative in that disastrous 2nd quarter. Our 2nd half was a lot better. We ran the ball a lot better and just attacked. It took us a while to figure that out and we paid for it." D'Antoni: "We couldn't get over the hump and we didn't make enough good plays consecutively. We dug ourselves too big of a hole and we paid the price for that." D'Antoni: "If we don't run and attack, we get tentative. When you're not good passers, it hurts." D'Antoni on Dallas' zone: "They can't come out of it because they can't do the other thing. That's what the have, so they are going to stay in it no matter what. They want to out-score you and they do a good job at it. But that shouldn't determine what we do. We threw the ball sideways; we didn't go north and south. You can't do that." Shawn Marion: "We were playing defense on Nowitzki when he hit those jump shots. At times, he is the only one that is 7-foot on the court, so he should be able to get his shot off. At the same time, he was taking tough shots and he was hitting them." Amare Stoudemire: "What's disappointing is the way we played. We didn't do anything well out there and that's frustrating." Joe Johnson: "Instead of taking the ball out quick and running, we were taking it out slow and walking the ball up, playing their game and not attacking. We started doing that and made a run, then they made a run and that was the game." Dallas Mavericks 103, Phoenix Suns 90 at Dallas (March 8) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 27 29 23 24 - 103 .457 .200 .417 .952 Phoenix 23 18 25 24 - 90 .500 .294 .449 .742 Halftime: Dallas 56-41 3rd Q: Dallas 79-66 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds :1:09 2nd, Danny Fortson 12:00 3rd Refs: Joe Forte, Phil Robinson, Tony Brothers Attendance: 20,357 (sellout) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antoine Walker 18 2-9 0-1 2-2 6 5-8 1 2 1 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 28 11-13 0-0 4-4 26 1-6 1 1 4 0 0 Scott Williams 8 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 0 2 0 0 Michael Finley 38 5-20 1-7 2-2 13 1-3 5 2 3 2 0 Steve Nash 25 4-9 2-5 2-2 12 0-0 3 0 0 1 0 Shawn Bradley 3 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Antawn Jamison 34 8-12 0-0 5-6 21 3-8 2 0 2 1 1 Eduardo Najera 28 3-5 0-0 2-2 8 5-9 1 1 1 5 2 Josh Howard 33 4-14 0-2 2-2 10 4-8 2 1 1 2 2 Marquis Daniels 16 1-4 0-0 1-1 3 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 Danny Fortson 9 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 3-4 0 0 4 0 0 Totals 48 40-96 3-15 20-21 103 24-50 15 7 19 12 5 Phoenix Suns REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shawn Marion 43 10-18 2-3 7-8 29 5-13 8 4 3 3 0 Amare Stoudemire 46 6-9 0-1 7-8 19 3-8 4 3 2 1 2 Jake Voskuhl 14 1-2 0-0 2-3 4 0-1 1 0 4 0 0 Joe Johnson 42 6-14 1-3 4-6 17 1-5 4 6 3 1 0 Leandro Barbosa 18 1-5 0-2 0-0 2 0-1 1 0 2 0 0 Antonio McDyess 4 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Casey Jacobsen 31 3-10 2-6 1-2 9 1-3 1 4 2 0 0 Howard Eisley 10 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Zarko Cabarkapa 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 1 0 0 0 Maciej Lampe 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Donnell Harvey 20 3-5 0-0 2-4 8 3-7 0 1 2 0 2 Totals 48 31-69 5-17 23-31 90 13-41 21 20 19 5 4 patricia