Dallas at New York (December 21) Dallas jumped out to a 12-2 lead with 8:20 left as New York only shot 1-8 FG. A 3-pointer by Stephon Marbury pulled New York within 12-18 with 5:20 left, but Michael Finley answered with a 3-pointer to kick off an 11-3 run that put Dallas up 29-15 with 3 minutes to go. Dallas led 35-19 after 1. Dirk Nowitzki had 11 points and Tim Thomas had 10 points. Dallas shot 62% FG and New York shot 33% FG. The rout was on as Dallas used a 12-2 run to go up 58-31 with 4:45 remaining. After Jamal Crawford hit a 3-pointer, Dallas then closed the quarter with a 16-2 run to take an amazing 75-36 lead at the half. Nowitzki had 23 points including 7-11 FG, Finley had 17 points, and Josh Howard had 16 points and 8 rebounds in the half. Dallas shot 61.9% (26-42) FG and New York shot 29.5% (13-44) FG. Dallas out-rebounded New York 27-16 and out-scored New York 30-10 in the paint. Dallas didn't look quite as sharp early in the 3rd quarter, but even so they still held a monster lead. New York pulled "within" 47-81 with 7:30 to go and Dallas went on a 14-2 run to take their largest lead at 95-49 with 3:45 left. Dallas' starters started sitting during the run. Dallas led 101-64 after 3. Dallas led in the 30s and 40s until near the end of the game, with their largest lead of the 4th quarter being at 116-74 with 6:50 to go. New York's scrubs (including 7 points by Bruno Sundov) did out-score Dallas 20-7 the rest of the way to make the final margin a little smaller. Dallas won 123-94. Wow. Dallas simply dominated New York the entire game. Dallas played good defense early and then New York started settling for outside shots, which they were missing like crazy. And the Mavs were on fire in the 1st half. The 4th quarter slump did bring Dallas' numbers down some, but even so, they still were much better the Knicks' numbers. For the game, Dallas shot 48.2% (41-85) FG and New York shot 37.6% (35-93) FG. The 5 New York starters combined to shoot 13-53 FG while Dallas' starters shot 29-44 FG. Dallas out-rebounded New York 47-44 including 13-19 offensive. Because of the blowout, no Mav played more than 28 minutes. Josh Howard was stellar in the 3 quarters he played and was aggressive in going after the rebounds and playing defense. He had career highs with 26 points including 12-13 FT and 16 rebounds including 7 offensive. He also had 3 steals. All of Dirk Nowitzki's 23 points came in the 1st half (he missed 4 shots in 8 3rd quarter minutes). He shot 4-8 3-pointers and had 5 rebounds in 25 minutes. Michael Finley was the 3rd Mav with 20+ points with 21 points and had 4 assists. Erick Dampier had 11 points including 5-6 FG and 6 rebounds in 19 minutes. Jason Terry again enjoyed his starting role and had 6 points on 3-3 FG, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists in 24 minutes. Alan Henderson played well with 9 points and 6 rebounds. Devin Harris had 8 points on 1-4 FG and 6-6 FT, 3 assists, and 3 turnovers. Marquis Daniels was the only Mav to really struggle and he said he tweaked his ankle again. He had 4 points including 1-7 FG and 4 assists. Jerry Stackhouse did dress, but did not play due to his sore right hand and the Mavs not needing him this game. Needless to say, the Knicks had a lot of poor performances. Stephon Marbury had just 12 points including 3-13 FG, but did manage 7 assists. Jamal Crawford had a miserable outing with 7 points including 2-11 FG and 1-6 3-pointers and had 4 assists. Kurt Thomas was scoreless on 7 attempts and had 6 rebounds. Tim Thomas had 12 points including 4-11 FG and 5 rebounds - but 10 of his points came in the 1st quarter. Nazr Mohammed did have a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, but shot just 4-11 FG. Michael Sweetney had 10 points including 5-6 FG, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Quotes Don Nelson: "There a lot of things that go into having a good offensive night, but certainly the open court was good to us. It got us in rhythm and it got us feeling good about ourselves. Then we scored off our set offense almost every time down in the first 8 minutes of the game. I don't remember us missing a shot when we got to our half court offense." Nelson: "Our zone bothered them, I think. I'm not surprised. We've done a lot of research on them." Nelson: "You don't have a 40 point lead very often in this league. When you do, it's nice, you want to make sure that you don't somehow blow it. I thought the 3rd quarter was the key to the whole game." Nelson on Howard: "Josh has been one of my best players this year. If you were going to say one of the guys that were healthy and played every game, Josh Howard and Alan Henderson were two guys who I was most concerned about. Because Josh had a lot of history with his hamstring, I thought it would be nice if he could stay more healthy. I didn't expect him to play every game." Dirk Nowitzki: "We tried to set the tone in the 2nd half. We didn't let down. Defensively, we stayed solid." Nowitzki: "We did a really good job of pushing the ball up and that is where our strength is. We started knocking shots down. We have to get back to playing well on the glass and pushing the ball up." Nowitzki: "We really came out hard. We really want to set ourselves apart again with the best of the West." Nowitzki: "We all shoot the ball well and they have to leave someone open. It didn't really matter who they left open, we really stroked the ball good." Nowitzki on Howard: "He has been big for us all season long. He is our best defender. He is very long and active. He does a great job always cutting to the hoop and getting open. He sneaks in there and gets layups. He is also one of our best rebounders. He really had a good game tonight and he made things easier for us." Jason Terry: "That was a little different. It goes to show you where we stand after a week of practice." Josh Howard: "It was a great experience. We practiced hard the last couple of weeks. I think this is something we deserved. The Knicks are a great basketball team, but we went out there and wanted the game a little bit more than they did." Howard: "It was crazy. It was like an NBA video game. Some of their guys were playing as hard as they could. Some weren't. It happens." Howard: "I knew I was playing hard, I didn't know it was career best. But I knew I was playing hard." Lenny Wilkens: "It wasn't a very good game for us. We weren't there mentally in the beginning. We were there physically, but not mentally. We didn't do any of the things that we're capable of." Wilkens on the individual play: "We can't play that way. We're not that good a team. It's like I told the team, 'We can't just show up because we're home.' We've got to come out with the kind of energy we need to play with. And we didn't have any at the beginning of the game.'" Wilkens: "We weren't there mentally in the beginning. Guys were trying. We weren't happy with our effort. ... It's surprising we came out as lax as we were. You got to play with energy." Stephon Marbury: "We just got beat up bad today and there is nothing we can do about that. Dallas just came out smoking from the beginning. We just never got into the game." Marbury: "I just was saying, 'We're getting our butt kicked.' It was kind of like, you know, when your mother is giving you a spanking and you just can't wait for it to get over. And she's thinking about more things to spank you for, and you just keep getting whupped and whupped and whupped. And eventually it's over with and you just know not to do it again." Marbury: "We lost by 40 or whatever. Tomorrow we could win by 40. That's just the nature of the beast in the NBA." Allan Houston: "The best thing about it is that we play tomorrow. Tomorrow's game is big, and if anything should give you a kick in the butt, it's this." Jamal Crawford: "I don't even know why we came out like that." Tim Thomas: "When it got to be in that direction, where nothing was working for you offensively or defensively, you start to try to go to play individually and try to create things for yourself. But that's definitely not the way to go." Nazr Mohammed: "It's always frustrating when you get down 40 points. It's part of the game, technicals and double fouls. You just have to not get too down about it." Bruno Sundov, seldom used: "It felt good to be out there." Dallas Mavericks 123, New York Knicks 94 at New York (December 21) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 35 40 26 22 - 123 .485 .471 .482 .917 New York 19 17 28 30 - 94 .389 .333 .376 .850 Halftime: Dallas 75-38 3rd Q: Dallas 101-66 Technicals: Nazr Mohammed 6:56 3rd, Jamal Crawford 5:13 3rd Refs: Dick Bavetta, Gary Benson, Sean Corbin Attendance: 19,763 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Jerry Stackhouse (sore right hand) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 34 7-13 3-6 4-4 21 0-2 4 2 3 1 0 Jason Terry 24 3-3 0-0 0-0 6 0-6 7 1 1 0 0 Josh Howard 28 7-17 0-0 12-13 26 7-16 3 0 0 3 1 Dirk Nowitzki 25 7-15 4-8 5-6 23 0-5 1 0 1 1 0 Erick Dampier 19 5-6 0-0 1-2 11 1-6 0 1 2 0 0 Devin Harris 24 1-4 0-1 6-6 8 0-0 3 3 4 2 0 Alan Henderson 23 4-6 0-0 1-1 9 3-6 0 0 0 1 0 Marquis Daniels 20 1-7 0-1 2-2 4 1-2 4 2 4 0 0 Shawn Bradley 19 1-6 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 0 2 4 0 3 Calvin Booth 12 3-6 0-0 0-0 6 0-2 1 0 0 0 0 Darrell Armstrong 12 2-2 1-1 2-2 7 0-0 2 2 1 2 0 Totals 48 41-85 8-17 33-36 123 13-47 25 13 20 10 4 New York Knicks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Stephon Marbury 33 3-13 2-7 4-4 12 2-2 7 4 2 0 0 Jamal Crawford 28 2-11 1-6 2-4 7 1-2 4 0 4 0 0 Kurt Thomas 29 0-7 0-0 0-0 0 2-6 2 1 3 0 0 Tim Thomas 22 4-11 2-4 2-2 12 1-5 0 3 5 1 0 Nazr Mohammed 21 4-11 0-0 6-7 14 4-11 1 1 3 1 2 Allan Houston 22 3-6 1-2 0-0 7 0-0 1 1 1 0 0 Michael Sweetney 22 5-6 0-0 0-0 10 3-4 3 0 1 0 0 Jerome Williams 19 4-8 0-0 0-0 8 2-6 0 1 2 0 0 Moochie Norris 13 2-5 0-0 3-3 7 1-3 1 2 4 0 0 Trevor Ariza 12 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 1-3 3 0 1 0 0 Vin Baker 11 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 Bruno Sundov 8 3-8 1-2 0-0 7 2-2 1 1 1 2 0 Totals 48 35-93 7-21 17-20 94 19-44 24 16 27 4 2 patricia