Dallas at Houston (April 14) It was a meaningless game and Dallas got what they wanted out of it - spread the minutes out and no one get injured. Houston sat Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley with injuries (but they'll play in the playoffs). Dallas did come out with their recent starting 5. Dallas hit 3 straight 3-pointers (with a Houston jumper between this last 2 3s) to go up 13-10 with 7:35 left and Dallas held a small lead most of the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 26-25 after 1. It was an ugly start to the 2nd quarter as each team had just a bucket over the first 4 minutes of the quarter [Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki sat the entire quarter]. Dallas held a single-digit lead the entire quarter (from 3 to 9 points) and led 47-36 at the half. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with an 8-2 run to go up 55-41 with 9:20 remaining. Houston did score 6 straight points to pull within 52-59 with 4:55 to go, but Dallas responded by scoring the next 7 points to go up 66-52 with 2:50 left. Bostjan Nachbar drained a 3-pointer at the quarter buzzer. Dallas led 68-59 after 3. Nowitzki and Nash sat out the entire 4th quarter (but Michael Finley continued to play as Don Nelson wanted him to get his rhythm back after missing 2 games last weekend). Dallas opened the quarter with a 10-4 run to go up 78-63 with 7:10 to go. Mike Wilks hit a jumper and a 3-pointer to pull Houston within 73-80 with 5:15 left, but Marquis Daniels answered with a jumper and a 3-pointer to give Dallas an 85-73 lead with 3:25 remaining. Dallas seemed disinterested the rest of the way and Houston took advantage with a 7-1 mini-run to pull within 80-86 with 1:40 to go. But neither team scored over the next minute and Antawn Jamison got a layup with 40 seconds left. Houston still did not give up and scored on their end and intentionally fouled when Dallas got the ball. Dallas only hit 2-4 FT in the last 16 seconds and had a 5 point lead with 6 seconds left. Wilks got a quick layup with a second left, but Dallas was able to inbound the ball and time expired. Dallas won 92-89. Since it was a meaningless game, I won't spend much time on the writeup. Dallas only shot 40.8% (31-76) FG, but shot 23-34 FT while Houston shot 45.6% (36-79) and 8-15 FT. Dallas shot 13-16 FT in the 4th quarter while Houston shot 0-2 FT. Marquis Daniels was the high man with 21 points and also had 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals and played 48 minutes for the second game in a row - especially notable since it was a back-to-back game. Michael Finley had 16 points on a poor 5-15 FG (getting it out of his system) and 7 rebounds in 42 minutes. Antawn Jamison had 18 points including 7-10 FT in 27 minutes. No other Mav played more than 23 minutes. For Houston, Scott Padgett had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Mike Wilks had 13 points, including 9 in the 4th quarter, and 5 assists. Bostjan Nachbar had 12 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Jim Jackson had 12 points including 5-14 FG and Yao Ming had 12 points including 5-7 FG and 7 rebounds. Dallas finished the 03-04 regular season with a record of 52-30, the 6th best record in team history. They were awesome at home with a record of 36-5 and terrible on the road with a record of 16-25. Chemistry seemed to have been a problem the whole year as the team struggled to integrate their new players, especially Antoine Walker. The play picked up over the last 10 games, but that included just 4 road games and they lost 2 over the weekend (but Michael Finley did not play). Dallas finished the season averaging 105.2 points including 45.9% FG while allowing 100.8 points including 45.9% FG. Dallas did improve on rebounding as they averaged 45.2 rebounds and allowed 43.5 rebounds and in 02-03 they averaged 42.1 rebounds and allowed 45.5 rebounds. Steve Nash was 3rd in the league in free throw percentage at 91.6% (also a team record for highest free throw percentage in a season) and was 3rd in the league in assists at 8.8. Antawn Jamison was 3rd in the league in field goal percentage at 53.5% FG. The big question for Dallas on Wednesday night was who the Mavs would face in the first round. Minnesota and San Antonio both won their games which locked both into the #1 and #3 seeds. The LA Lakers-Portland game started at 9:00 pm and the Sacramento-Golden State game started at 9:30 pm. Kobe Bryant hit an incredible 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer to send the Lakers game into overtime and things were still not resolved as Sacramento lost while the Lakers game was still going on [a King win would have given them the #2 seed]. The Lakers game went into a 2nd overtime and at the stroke of midnight, the Lakers were inbounding the ball with .7 seconds left and down by 2. Bryant caught the inbound, spun, and swished the 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Lakers the win and the #2 seed. That meant that Sacramento got the #4 seed and Dallas will face them in the playoffs. Dallas won the regular season series against Sacramento 3-1: 12/25 Dallas 111, Sacramento 103 at Sacramento 1/25 Dallas 108, Sacramento 99 at Dallas 3/11 Sacramento 120, Dallas 102 at Sacramento 4/1 Dallas 127, Sacramento 117 at Dallas But that doesn't mean much as in 02-03 Sacramento won the regular season series 3-1 but lost to Dallas in the playoffs and in 01-02 Dallas won the regular season series 3-1 but lost to Sacramento in the playoffs. It is normally a very entertaining game when these 2 teams meet and it should be a fun series to watch. The Kings are slumping in to the playoffs as they are 11-12 since Chris Webber returned from injury. While Dallas is 8-2 in their last 10 games (but again, have struggled on the road in going 2-2 during that span [with one of the 2 wins against the worst team in the league and the other in a meaningless game]). The playoffs are a whole new story and it will be interesting which Jekyll or Hyde will show up for both teams. First Round schedule (*if necessary) Game 1: Dallas at Sacramento, Sunday April 18 at 2:30 pm on ABC Game 2: Dallas at Sacramento, Tuesday April 20 at 9:30 pm on TNT Game 3: Sacramento at Dallas, Saturday April 24 at 6:00 pm on ESPN Game 4: Sacramento at Dallas, Monday April 26 at 8:30 pm on TNT *Game 5: Dallas at Sacramento, Thursday April 29 at TBD *Game 6: Sacramento at Dallas, Sunday May 2 at TBD *Game 7: Dallas at Sacramento, Tuesday May 4 at TBD Quotes [not surprisingly, not too much on the actual game] Don Nelson on the game: "It was perfect. I wanted to get a lot of minutes for Mike to get him back in rhythm and I wanted to play a lot of players and also get Delk into the game and I was very pleased with his play. I thought for not playing for 2 months, he was very aggressive and did some good things. It's never easy to tell someone that they are not on the playoff roster and we'll make that decision tomorrow." Nelson: "We accomplished a lot tonight. We got a lot of minutes for Michael so he could get that bad game out of his system." Nelson: "We played Marquis a lot of minutes. I wanted to get a lot of players in the game. We didn't get anybody hurt, so it was perfect." Nelson on Daniels: "I'm in love with him and I think he is going to be a sensational player." Dirk Nowitzki: "It was one of those games that it was important nobody get hurt. So it was mission accomplished. We got the win. Now we have to move on." Michael Finley on the playoffs: "There's no pressure on us. We're the 5th seed. We're expected to go out in the 1st round. It's a position that I kind of like a little bit. Nobody's talking about us. All the hype is on the other 4 teams. It's good for us to be the silent assassin, so to speak. We've played well against Sacramento this year. We beat them out there once. It'll be a good series." Steve Nash on the win: "It's a lot better than a loss. It was a game we had to play and we got out of it with the win and no one got hurt. It was a game no one really wanted to play." Nash on Daniels: "We saw early that he was going to be a heck of a player. He is a tremendous player and a heck of a talent. It's been fun playing with him." Nash on the playoffs (before the Sac and LAL games ended): "Both teams [Sac and LAL] have their perks and we just have to be ready and go out and play. We are a difficult team to stop in transition and we put a lot of pressure on teams. I just want to win a championship and you have to beat them all if you want to do that. Our team has been there and now wants to take it to the next level." Antoine Walker on the playoffs: "It's going to be fun. It's a new season now; everybody's 0-0. We've just got to come out now and take it one game at a time. We open up on the road, and we've got to go there and get one." Antawn Jamison on the playoffs: "This is going to be an interesting playoff run. I want to see exactly what can happen and what doesn't happen, who loses their cool and who finds a way to fight through adversity. It's going to be interesting to see a lot of things and the participation of a lot of teams." Marquis Daniels on his play: "I really didn't expect this and I'm just taking things as they come. I am playing hard. I wanted to finish strong and maybe I could do a little better. It's nice to win the last game." Daniels on the playoffs: "I'm a little nervous but I am looking forward to it. I will have a chance to step up and help the team." Daniels on not being drafted: "It made me hungry and I think that I wanted it even more. It was a blessing in disguise. A lot of players kept telling me to stay patient and be ready and things will come to you. I'm just taking advantage of the situation." Jeff Van Gundy: "It's called talent. When they had their best players in, we struggled to guard them. When they had their lesser offensive players in, we guarded them a lot better." Van Gundy: "Mike Wilks did a real good job. Other than that, I don't think we played well. There could have been a lot accomplished tonight, but we didn't gain much." Van Gundy on positives he takes into the playoffs: "That we're in it. It's not a positive/negative thing. You've got to be ready to play. The regular season, one thing it does, it establishes home court. Whoever we play, if there's a 7th game, gets an extra home game, but other than that, you line up and play whoever's in front of you and play as best you can." Van Gundy on preparing for the playoffs: "I would say that the guys that have been there, which is few, they have a better understanding. The regular season's intensity is better than most people would suspect. But most teams have a different level of intensity in the playoffs. What is really tested in the playoffs is your mental strength and basketball intelligence. Every possession is vital and your ability to handle that is what separates teams. Obviously, at times, one of our great weakness is the ability to play without being fragile." Yao Ming: "I think as long as I have an opportunity to get the ball, they'll pass to me. " Yao on playing high minutes in the playoffs: "I think I'll be okay. As long as I don't have foul trouble, it shouldn't be a problem." Steve Francis on the playoffs: "I think the most important thing is to treat every game as a 1 game series. And that's what we look to do. Regardless of whoever we're playing, we just want to focus on them and not try to overlook the situation, which is, every game is important to win." Scott Padgett on if the game meant anything: "Ask Jeff. He wants to win every game. That's the problem with some teams in the league. In a 82 game season, they play some like they don't matter." Padgett: "For guys that don't play much, it was a valuable experience. For a large part of the game, they had their big players in. For most of the 1st half, I was matched up with Nowitzki. Jamison is no slouch. Michael Finley is no slouch. We were not playing a chump team." Mike Wilks: "It was a great opportunity for guys like me who don't get a lot of minutes. I appreciate the coach giving me the opportunity to play. I think we played with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. We really wanted to win this game, and I think everyone played hard and with a lot of intensity. We just came up short." Dallas Mavericks 92, Houston Rockets 89 at Houston (April 14) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 26 21 21 24 - 92 .414 .389 .408 .676 Houston 25 14 20 30 - 89 .466 .429 .456 .533 Halftime: Dallas 47-39 3rd Q: Dallas 68-59 Technicals: none Refs: Ed F. Rush, Ken Mauer, Nolan Fine Attendance: 18,169 (cap 18,500) Did not play due to injury: Steve Francis (left elbow injury), Cuttino Mobley (left shoulder injury) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 42 5-15 1-4 5-6 16 0-7 3 1 0 3 0 Antoine Walker 21 4-8 2-4 0-0 10 0-2 1 0 3 1 1 Dirk Nowitzki 23 3-10 0-3 4-6 10 1-6 1 1 3 0 1 Steve Nash 20 2-4 1-1 0-0 5 0-3 8 0 1 0 0 Marquis Daniels 48 8-16 2-3 3-4 21 2-8 7 3 2 3 1 Shawn Bradley 13 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 0-2 0 1 0 1 1 Antawn Jamison 28 5-8 1-1 7-10 18 0-4 0 0 1 2 0 Danny Fortson 8 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 0 3 0 0 Tony Delk 19 2-6 0-2 1-2 5 0-1 2 1 3 3 2 Eduardo Najera 12 1-1 0-0 2-4 4 0-4 0 0 0 0 2 Scott Williams 6 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 0 0 1 0 1 Totals 48 31-76 7-18 23-34 92 5-40 22 7 17 13 9 Houston Rockets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Bostjan Nachbar 39 5-10 1-3 1-2 12 1-5 6 4 6 3 0 Scott Padgett 32 8-13 2-6 0-0 18 1-11 1 0 3 0 1 Yao Ming 22 5-7 0-0 2-5 12 3-7 1 3 4 0 1 Mark Jackson 29 1-4 1-1 0-0 3 1-5 2 2 2 0 0 Jim Jackson 30 5-14 2-4 0-0 12 1-3 3 3 2 1 0 Eric Piatkowski 18 2-5 2-5 0-0 6 0-2 3 1 1 1 0 Maurice Taylor 20 2-9 0-0 3-4 7 0-5 1 1 1 0 0 Clarence Weatherspoon 25 3-6 0-0 0-0 6 2-8 2 4 2 0 1 Mike Wilks 25 5-11 1-2 2-4 13 0-4 5 1 3 1 0 Totals 48 36-79 9-21 8-15 89 9-50 24 19 24 6 3 patricia Go Mavs!