Injury update: Dirk Nowitzki's left knee started bothering him early Saturday morning and it started swelling. He is not sure exactly when the injury occurred. He missed the Houston and Toronto games due to a sprained left knee. He underwent an MRI on Monday and the results were negative. He hopes to return to the court for Thursday's game vs the Lakers. Michael Finley also missed both games with his bruised left calf and also hopes to return to action for the Lakers' game. On the down side, Jerry Stackhouse re-injured his strained right groin (which never fully healed) during the Houston game and is expected to be out for a little will and hopefully this time it will fully heal before he returns. The Mavs may put him on IR, which means he will miss at least 5 more games. Erick Dampier is at least a week (probably 2 weeks) away from returning with the stress fracture in his right foot. Keith Van Horn jammed his right ring finger twice during the Lakers game last Friday, but has been able to continue playing with the finger taped. Don Nelson's wife, Joy, is scheduled to undergo surgery (non-cancer) on Wednesday. Don will not travel with the team for Friday's game in Milwaukee or Sunday's game in Minnesota and he will likely also miss Thursday's game vs the Lakers in Dallas. Dallas at Houston (March 6) You wouldn't expect a pretty game from Dallas minus their 2 best scorers. Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley were out, which gave Dallas yet another new starting 5. And Dallas had many offensive struggles during the game. Houston led 6-2 with 9 minutes remaining and Dallas went on a 9-2 run to go up 11-8 with 6 minutes to go. Houston then scored the next 8 points to go back up at 16-11 with 4 minutes left and the Rockets held a small lead the rest of the quarter. Houston led 20-18 after 1. Tracy McGrady was accidentally popped in the chin and had to leave the game a short bit to get 6 stitches. A jumper by Marquis Daniels opened the 2nd quarter scoring and tied the game at 20-20 with 10:30 remaining. Houston then went on a 13-3 run to go up 33-23 with 6 minutes left. A dunk by McGrady gave the Rockets their largest lead at 37-24 with 3:25 to go. Dallas then went on a 9-2 run to pull within 33-39 with 1:21 left, but Jon Barry ended the run with a 3-pointer with a minute remaining. Houston led 35-44 at the half. It was the lowest scoring 1st half for Dallas this season. Houston shot 42.5% FG and Dallas shot 34.2% FG. Juwan Howard connected on a jumper to give Houston a 46-35 lead with 11:20 remaining. Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse then combined to go on a 12-0 run with 6 points apiece to put Dallas up 47-46 with 8 minutes to go (and Stackhouse's layup with 9:30 left snapped his string of 7 straight misses). But Houston again answered by scoring the next 8 points to go up 54-47 with 6:25 remaining. Dallas would pull within 2 points twice, but could not break even. Dallas got the ball under Houston's basket with a little over a second left, and Keith Van Horn made the baseball pass that went sailing across the court and out of bounds without being touched and Houston got to inbound the ball under their own basket. Dallas compounded the error by playing poor defense and the Rockets were able to inbound the ball to McGrady right under the basket and he got the easy layup as the quarter ended to give Houston a 61-55 lead after 3. Dallas completely collapsed and Houston piled it on by opening the 4th quarter with a 19-4 run [23-4 if you including the last 4 points of the 3rd quarter] to take a commanding lead at 80-59 with 5:40 to go. Dallas would get no closer than 18 points the rest of the way. Houston won 90-69. No surprise that Dallas struggled so much offensively without Dirk Nowitzki as they had been struggling offensively with him in the past few games. Not only was 69 points by far the lowest point total for Dallas this season, but it was also the lowest point total this decade as you have to go back to 1999 for the last time Dallas scored less than 70 points. Dallas did not play well in the 1st half, especially for a large chunk of the 2nd quarter, but were able to hang around as Houston was not playing particularly well either. Dallas did have a good 3rd quarter, except for the blunder at the end, where they actually out-scored Houston 20-17; but had nothing in the 4th quarter as the Rockets rolled in out-scoring Dallas 29-14. For the game, Dallas shot 37.2% (29-78) FG including 3-14 3-pointers and Houston shot 42.5% (34-80) FG [but 10-21 FG in the 4th quarter] including 4-12 3-pointers. Added to Dallas' woes was another poor rebounding game as Houston out-rebounded Dallas 54-37 including 15-6 offensive. If you shot less than 40% FG and only grab 6 offensive rebounds, you have little hope to win. From the line, Houston shot 18-25 FT and Dallas shot 8-14 FT. Dallas finished their 3 game road trip unvictorious, this after finishing their last road trip a perfect 5-0. Tracy McGrady led the way for Houston with 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. 11 of his points came in the 4th quarter. Jeff Van Gundy did annoy me by keeping McGrady and Yao Ming on the court during a good chunk of the garbage time - good players should never play in garbage time due to the risk of injury. Yao had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He did have 5 turnovers, though. Juwan Howard was the 3rd Rocket with a double-double. He had 11 points and 10 rebounds. David Wesley had 11 points and 3 steals and Mike James had 10 points including 3-12 FG, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists as all 5 starters were in double-digits. Dikembe Mutombo had 2 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks in 19 minutes. Jason Terry was the only starter to shoot above 50% FG. He had 20 points including 8-13 FG and 3 assists (not many assists in this game with all the bricks). The other 4 starters combined to shoot just 11-40 FG. Keith Van Horn had 12 points including 4-11 FG and 7 rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse had a miserable outing, except for a short stint in the 3rd quarter, with 9 points including 4-17 FG. He did have 4 rebounds and 3 steals in his 33 minutes. Josh Howard had just 1 point including 0-4 FG and 7 rebounds. Shawn Bradley had 6 points (3-8 FG), but just 1 rebound and no blocks in 27 minutes. Marquis Daniels was the 3rd Mav in double-digits with 10 points on 5-16 FG, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals. Alan Henderson had 4 points on 2-2 FG and 6 rebounds (and half of Dallas' offensive rebounds with 3) and 2 blocks in 21 minutes. Darrell Armstrong had 7 points on 3-4 FG, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, but also had 5 turnovers. Quotes Jeff Van Gundy: "When a team loses a player like Nowitzki, I thought we did a good job in just staying mentally ready knowing that Terry, Stackhouse, and Van Horn have all averaged 20 in this league. There's no exhaling or breathing a sigh of relief. I thought we had some good sequences defensively and rebounding. We were obviously sloppy with the ball on offense. You can not minimize them missing Nowitzki - he's that good - but at the same time, we did some good things." Van Gundy on rebounding: "Well, we need to rebound and when we rebound we win, and we know that. When we don't, we lose. It's pretty simple. I thought we did a much better job today going after the ball and obviously Tracy was a big part of that." Van Gundy on Wesley: "He's by far our best perimeter defender. He has a lot of toughness and has of versatility to be able to guard 2s and 1s. When Terry got rolling, he was on Terry then he played Stackhouse before that. He has toughness and quick feet that allows him to be a very good perimeter defender and he certainly is our best perimeter defender; it's not even close." Van Gundy on Mutombo in the 4th quarter: "Well, he had a good run - he certainly had a good stretch." Tracy McGrady: "Regardless of who was or wasn't playing, to win this one means a lot. It gives us confidence. It's a real crucial road trip for us." McGrady: "It helps when they've got 40 points sitting on the bench. They played us tough for 3 quarters. We got some transition points in the 4th quarter and made a little run on them." Yao Ming: "They're missing 2 of their key players and for them to also not have Eric Dampier takes a lot of pressure off of the inside so our strategy was to double-team on their shooters and then not let them throw the ball into the post." Yao: "I really didn't have a foul problem today other than the early fouls. I really didn't feel like I struggled with my fouls overall today." David Wesley: "There are 2 ways to approach that game - you definitely don't want it to be the other way where you come out and think this team isn't going to compete. That team competed and we found a way to get into a good rhythm and take care of this one, which is important because they didn't have 3 of their guys." Jon Barry: "We just needed to get this win regardless of how it happened. I thought we did some good things. We were a little careless with the ball, but overall, defensively I thought we were good. We just need to feel good about ourselves for the road trip." Barry: "This was a dangerous game. We let them hang around too long. But we did respond." Don Nelson: "We hung around for a long time. I was pleased with our play for 3 quarters and then we messed up the last play of the quarter. It just wasn't meant to be." Nelson: "We did that stupid play at the end of the [3rd] quarter, then it got away from us in the 4th. We played pretty well for 3 quarters, but we had our best offensive players in street clothes, and we couldn't make a shot." Nelson: "We had our best 2 offensive players in street clothes, so you make the decision on how it affected us. We played well for 3 quarters and if we had made some of our shots, it could have been a different game. We have to be ready to go for tomorrow." Nelson on the many injuries this season: "We wonder what in the world we have. We don't even know. We don't quite understand why we've even been able to have such a good record. I don't think we've been playing that great, either. That's the funny part. We have a pretty good record. We expected to have a bad month last month, and we came out great - 10-3." Dirk Nowitzki on his injury: "I wanted to play, but the doctor said no. Hopefully, it's just a bruise and I'll be back soon." Nowitzki: "You can always blame injuries, but we're still better than that. We just haven't been playing well, home or road, since the All-Star break. So we're a little concerned. There aren't even 25 games left. We have to get our act together." Nowitzki: "It hurts watching them struggling, especially to score. I thought our defense was pretty good. We just didn't have enough firepower and, obviously, that's my strength." Jerry Stackhouse: "Obviously, it didn't go how we wanted it to. The last couple of games we haven't made our shots. Houston came out and made a couple of baskets [in the 4th] and we couldn't get it going offensively. A couple of bad calls and we couldn't get a basket to break their momentum. We didn't get our shots to fall and it is hard to win games if you don't get to the free throw line." Stackhouse: "Everybody felt there were some opportunities and shots that we should have made that we didn't make, but at the same time there were a lot of bumps and no-calls that didn't go our way. That's the kind of game we expected on the road - but come on, man, that ain't right." Stackhouse: "We showed that we can play with the guys we have healthy. We had a chance but didn't get it done at the end. The injuries are no excuse." Stackhouse: "It doesn't matter who was out. We showed we can play. We've got enough guys that have been primary options and secondary options their whole career still in the lineup." Stackhouse: "This is the time for us to test ourselves and understand who we are. Every team goes through [a slump]. Everybody is kind of wondering a bit: Are we really as good as we are? We're definitely not as bad as we've played over the last couple of games. Winning is the key. We've got to find a way to get a win, and hopefully that will stop the slide." Keith Van Horn on the 4th quarter: "We had a couple of bad offensive possessions and then they got 2 steals, had a couple of blocks, and before you knew it, we were down by 14. They stepped up the defensive pressure and that led to their offensive surge." Van Horn on Houston getting Mike James: "It was a great fit for Mike James. He will really excel with this team. He is a very good spot up shooter and he can run the point. It was a great move on their part." Jason Terry: "We battled for 3 quarters. We were undermanned. Give Houston a lot of credit. They got stops and we didn't. They played very well. Houston made their shots and we didn't." Terry: "We try and be very aggressive, but you have to be careful because you can't overdo it. For 3 quarters we were in the game, but you have to remember, the game is 48 minutes long." Terry on missing Nowitzki: "He's an MVP, so it's a big void to fill." Terry on the 0-3 road trip: "This was one of our worst trips and we have to rebound and bounce back. Now we have to turn it around." Terry on the 0-3 road trip: "It's our worst trip of the year. We went 0-3, and we need to end it at 3 games. That's way too many." Houston Rockets 90, Dallas Mavericks 69 at Houston (March 6) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Houston 20 24 17 29 - 90 .441 .333 .425 .720 Dallas 18 17 20 14 - 69 .406 .214 .372 .571 Halftime: Houston 44-35 3rd Q: Houston 61-55 Technicals: Jerry Stackhouse 4:06 1st, Houston defensive 3 seconds 3:34 1st, Houston defensive 3 seconds 11:22 2nd Refs: Steve Javie, David Jones, Leroy Richardson Attendance: 18,195 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Dirk Nowitzki (sprained left knee), Michael Finley (bruised left calf) Houston Rockets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK David Wesley 36 5-11 0-2 1-1 11 0-3 2 2 2 3 0 Mike James 33 3-12 0-3 4-6 10 2-6 7 0 3 0 0 Tracy McGrady 40 11-22 3-3 7-9 32 1-10 5 2 4 1 0 Juwan Howard 33 4-10 0-0 3-5 11 5-10 2 4 1 0 0 Yao Ming 29 6-11 0-0 2-2 14 2-11 1 5 2 0 1 Jon Barry 25 2-7 1-3 0-0 5 0-3 4 3 0 3 0 Dikembe Mutombo 19 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 3-7 0 1 0 0 4 Scott Padgett 15 1-2 0-1 1-2 3 1-2 2 1 2 0 0 Ryan Bowen 8 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 0 0 2 0 0 Moochie Norris 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 34-80 4-12 18-25 90 15-54 24 18 17 7 5 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jason Terry 35 8-13 0-3 4-4 20 0-2 3 2 0 0 1 Jerry Stackhouse 33 4-17 0-3 1-2 9 0-4 1 2 1 3 0 Keith Van_Horn 38 4-11 2-3 2-4 12 1-7 1 4 4 0 0 Juwan Howard 31 0-4 0-1 1-2 1 1-7 3 1 3 2 0 Shawn Bradley 27 3-8 0-0 0-0 6 0-1 0 0 2 2 0 Marquis Daniels 26 5-16 0-0 0-0 10 1-4 0 1 2 4 0 Alan Henderson 21 2-2 0-0 0-2 4 3-6 0 0 2 0 2 Devin Harris 9 0-3 0-3 0-0 0 0-1 1 1 2 0 0 DJ Mbenga 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Darrell Armstrong 16 3-4 1-1 0-0 7 0-5 4 5 0 1 1 Totals 48 29-78 3-14 8-14 69 6-37 13 17 17 12 4 Toronto at Dallas (March 7) Not only were Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley out, but Jerry Stackhouse was also unable to go and Dallas trotted out their 16th different starting lineup this season. Surprisingly, despite lacking their top 3 scorers, the Mavs played well. Dallas did spot the Raptors an 8-2 lead with 9:30 left, but the Mavs then went on a 15-4 run to go up 17-12 with 4:45 remaining. Dallas had a 7 point lead a couple of times, but Donyell Marshall capped the quarter scoring with a 3-pointer. Dallas led 32-28 after 1. Keith Van Horn had 10 points and Jalen Rose had 10 points. Dallas shot 15-27 FG and Toronto shot 9-18 FG, but the Raptors were staying in the game thanks to friendly whistles as they shot 7-8 FT while Dallas shot just 1-1 FT. Dallas opened the 2nd quarter with a 13-2 run to go up 45-30 with 7:55 to go, but Toronto answered with a 17-4 run to pull within 47-49 with 3:15 remaining. Dallas held a small lead the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 57-53 at the half. For the half, both teams shot around 50% FG and Toronto had a big advantage at the line in shooting 11-14 FT while Dallas shot 3-3 FT. Jason Terry opened the 3rd quarter with a 3-pointer. Toronto went on a 7-1 mini-run to pull within 72-73 with 4:10 to go, but Dallas then scored the next 9 points to go up 82-72 with 1:55 left. Dallas led 84-76 after 3. Jalen Rose opened the 4th quarter with a 3-pointer, but Dallas then went on a 13-4 run to go up 97-82 with 6:50 remaining. Dallas led 101-86 with 4:45 left and started slacking off and playing stall ball while Toronto decided to make a final push by scoring the next 11 points to pull within 97-101 with 2:15 to go. Terry made jumper, the teams traded turnovers, and Milt Palacio got a layup to keep it a 4 point game with 1:35 left. Dallas stuck with stall ball and Marquis Daniels nailed a jumper as the shot clock was running out to put Dallas back up by 6 points. Toronto missed on 2 attempts and the Raptors started intentionally fouling with 31 seconds to go. Dallas hit their free throws and let Toronto get 2-point buckets on the other end (not wanting to foul or give up 3-pointers). Dallas shot 8-8 FT in the last 31 seconds. Dallas won 113-105. It was a very surprising win with the key players that Dallas was missing. The win was made possible by Dallas _finally_ hitting shots. After shotting a mere 40% over the pervious 3 games, Dallas shot 51% (46-90) FG in this game. They did allow Toronto to shot 52% (40-77) FG, but kept the Raptor's best player under control with the defense focusing on Chris Bosh. Toronto did have a large advantage at the line in shooting 21-26 FT while Dallas shot 9-10 FT before the intentional fouls at the end (which upped Dallas' total to 17-18 FT). The 3-game trend of getting killed on the boards (15.3 average deficit) ended as Dallas held a small rebounding edge most of the game and finished even at 38 apiece. Dallas out-scored Toronto by 4 points in the 1st and 3rd quarters and held even in the 2nd and 4th quarters. Dallas has 2 needed days off before the next game on Thursday. They better enjoy it as their next multi-day off (also 2 days) doesn't come until April 15. The twins had a great game and the Mavs definitely needed good games from them this night. Marquis Daniels was the high man with 32 points including 13-30 FG (and got razzed a little for 30 attempts), 4 rebounds (all offensive), 4 assists, and 4 steals in 46 minutes. 14 of his points came in the 4th quarter. Josh Howard also played 46 minutes and had 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals. Jason Terry had a nice outing with 23 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists. He should have stayed inside the arc, though, as he shot 7-8 2-pointers and 1-7 3-pointers. Keith Van Horn was the 4th high scorer with 19 points to go with his 6 rebounds. Shawn Bradley started, but only played 17 minutes as Don Nelson went with small ball most of the game. He had 2 points and 2 rebounds. Alan Henderson was solid with 9 points including 4-5 FG, 11 rebounds including 4 offensive, and 3 blocks in 31 minutes. Darrell Armstrong had 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals in 17 minutes and Devin Harris had 4 points on 2-7 FG, 1 rebound, and 1 assist in 14 minutes. And those were the 8 Mavs that played. Morris Peterson led the way for Toronto with 23 points on 7-10 FG and 9-11 FT. He also had 4 rebounds and 3 assists. He got whapped on the head early in the 3rd quarter and had to leave the game to get 3 stitches, but did return later. Dallas' defense focused on keeping the ball out of Chris Bosh's hands and double-teaming him when he got the ball. The young Bosh struggled with the way Dallas played him and he did not have a good outing. He had 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 turnovers in 46 minutes. 10 of Jalen Rose's 16 points came in the 1st quarter. Rafer Alston had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Milt Palacio chipped in 19 points and 5 rebounds off of the bench. Matt Bonner also came off the bench and contributed 13 points and 5 rebounds. It's rare that the crowd applauds a ref, especially with the free throw difference in this game, but it happened in this game. Ref Jim Clark got pegged by an inadvertent elbow to his head during the 2nd quarter and he went down and stayed down for a little while. The crowd applauded when he sat up and then when he stood up. He left the game for a little while, but was able to later return. Quotes Don Nelson: "This was a really good game to win. Hopefully we can regroup and get Dirk and Mike back for the next go. I'm happy about that. This was a game that we were very vulnerable and found a way to win. I told the team they had to find a way to win. It didn't matter how you do it, but you have to do it." Nelson: "It was a good win to stop the bleeding. The key to the game was Bosh. We double-teamed him every time he touched it, got the ball out of his hands and still covered their 3-point shooting." Nelson: "I thought the key to the game was Bosh. We double-teamed him every time he touched it, got the ball out of his hands. I thought that was the key to the game. We were a little vulnerable at the end because they tightened their defense up." Nelson: "It's been a long time since we shot 50%. I didn't know if this team was capable of scoring over 100 points. We had an outstanding game out of Marquis Daniels and Josh Howard. Those guys had to play a lot of minutes in a back-to-back. I thought Terry was outstanding. He made big shots when he had too." Nelson on Daniels: "Right now, he's trying to find his game. What we do need is more assists out of him. I know he can score and has the ability to get shots up. 30 shots for him is like a walk in the park. I know he has an all-around game and when he plays more and his game is on - hopefully in the playoffs he can be that all-around guy for us." Dirk Nowitzki on his knee: "I'm feeling better. The swelling went down, and I'm hopeful for Thursday." Keith Van Horn: "This was the best I've felt since I've been here. I was more active on both ends. But I had to because when you're missing All-Stars, somebody has to step up." Van Horn: "I'm just getting used to playing basketball the way Nellie likes to play. He allows me the freedom to push the ball up the court and make plays, which I haven't really done in a few years. It's a good process and I'm coming along." Jason Terry: "We had to have it tonight. Everybody stepped up and made plays. Our big guys were out so we needed it from everyone. Marquis and Josh really played well in the 4th." Terry: "By no means was it easy out there. Everything was tough. We really just stuck together on both ends of the floor; stuck to the game plan. We executed. On the offensive end, Marquis played a heck of a game; getting us big shots shot after shot. Drawing people and creating plays. We ran the offense through him in the 2nd half. He got the job done." Terry: "This is what it is supposed to look like. When you have guys out, when you have people hurt. We are such a deep team. That is what we hung our hat on at the beginning when we didn't know what type of team we were going to be. We knew one thing - we were going to be deep." Terry on Howard and Daniels: "Those 2 come to play every night. They play hard. They play aggressive and they play smart. Going into the playoffs, they are a key for us. They're our energy guys." Josh Howard on missing Nowitzki and Finley: "A lot of times in practice it's like that, so we go against the big guys a lot. We know how to work together. Me and Marquis have been playing together for 2 years now, so we know each other's game. It's just feeling everyone else out. We know when to get them the ball. We know what they can do on defense." Howard if the win gives them confidence: "I would say so. Toronto is a great team. They came in here trying to beat us and almost got us. We finished the game out and I think that gives coach a lot of confidence." Howard on Daniels shooting 30 shots: "Somebody had to take them. And he made a pretty good percentage." Marquis Daniels: "We were just trying come in and stop the bleeding. Everybody had to put a great effort forward. We got great play from the starting 5. Alan Henderson came in and gave us great play off the bench. Guys did good tonight." Daniels: "We focused on getting out and getting some easy baskets using our athleticism. It helped open up some plays for us. Our athleticism took over." Daniels: "I think (Nelson) is really trying to build my confidence because I haven't been playing that well. But I got a lot of opportunities tonight and everything just clicked." Daniels on shooting 30 shots: "We were undermanned at every position, so we knew we were going to have to play a lot of minutes. Coach usually looks for me to handle the ball and do a little of everything. But we needed scoring. And my percentage was okay." Sam Mitchell: "We had no answer for them tonight. We switched guys, we played zone, but they just penetrated our zone and beat us off the dribble. We didn't have an answer for them, they just beat us off the dribble. We needed some more defense. No one guarded anyone tonight." Mitchell: "We shot 52%, but we could of done a better job taking care of the ball. We had a lot of turnovers tonight and every time we turned it over, they went on a fast break while we were complaining to the referees. We have to give Dallas credit - they were shorthanded and they came right at us. We had no answer. We played zone, they beat us off the dribble. We played man, they beat us off the dribble. We switched guys around and they beat us off the dribble." Mitchell: "We've got to give them credit. They were short-handed but we had no answer for their athleticism. They had 54 points in the paint, but all of those points were putbacks and layups." Mitchell: "We were on our heels the whole night, even when we were in the game. Don Nelson, whenever he thinks you can't guard anybody, he's going to call isolation plays; you know it's coming." Chris Bosh: "They did a real good job of doubling me. Every time I caught the ball, they doubled me. I had never seen anything like that before. I struggled all night and you have to give Dallas credit. They played real good defense." Bosh on defense: "They're quick and they made shots. It's tough to guard them when they're moving the ball around and hitting outside shots and getting into the paint. You look at their roster and they have great depth. They didn't miss a beat, they made a lot of outside shots and took advantage of their quickness." Jalen Rose: "It's disappointing, to me it's a broken record. I'm tired of talking about the same old stuff. I want us to be a team that improves on the mistakes that we're doing and unfortunately right now we're not getting it done." Morris Peterson: "Dallas did a great job. They recognized a lot of different match-ups and they used them to their advantage to score. Nelson does a great job with his guys, without Dirk and Michael Finley. They had some guys step it up and come up big. I wish we could of made a few more stops." Peterson: "I told myself I was going to go out and play. I wasn't going to worry about scoring, I was going to let the game come to me. That's pretty much how I played tonight's game, under control and in the flow of the game. I attacked the basket some more and got some calls." Peterson on the play where he got cut: "I went up for a lay-up, I pump-faked Marquis Daniels and unfortunately I got an elbow to the head. It's nothing serious; it won't kill me. I've been cut before." Milt Palacio: "When guys get going like Howard and Daniels did and JT got going a little later, it's tough. It's hard to cover their shots from the perimeter." Dallas Mavericks 113, Toronto Raptors 105 at Dallas (March 7) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 32 25 27 29 - 113 .560 .267 .511 .944 Toronto 28 25 23 29 - 105 .563 .308 .519 .808 Halftime: Dallas 57-53 3rd Q: Dallas 84-76 Technicals: none Refs: Jim Clark, Anthony Jordan, Jess Kersey Attendance: 19,509 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Dirk Nowitzki (sore left knee), Michael Finley (left calf contusion), Jerry Stackhouse (strained right groin) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Marquis Daniels 46 13-30 0-0 6-6 32 4-4 4 3 2 4 1 Jason Terry 40 8-15 1-7 6-6 23 0-4 6 2 1 2 1 Josh Howard 46 10-18 1-1 1-1 22 2-8 1 2 1 5 2 Keith Van_Horn 29 8-13 2-3 1-1 19 0-6 3 1 4 0 0 Shawn Bradley 17 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 0 0 2 0 1 Alan Henderson 31 4-5 0-0 1-2 9 4-11 0 0 1 0 3 Darrell Armstrong 17 0-1 0-1 2-2 2 1-2 2 1 2 1 0 Devin Harris 14 2-7 0-3 0-0 4 1-1 1 1 2 1 0 Totals 48 46-90 4-15 17-18 113 12-38 17 11 15 13 8 Toronto Raptors REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rafer Alston 35 4-10 1-4 3-3 12 1-5 7 0 3 2 0 Jalen Rose 32 6-14 2-5 2-2 16 0-4 2 3 1 0 0 Chris Bosh 46 5-11 0-0 3-4 13 3-8 1 5 2 0 1 Morris Peterson 31 7-10 0-1 9-11 23 0-4 3 0 4 1 0 Rafael Araujo 14 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 0 1 3 1 1 Matt Bonner 33 6-10 0-2 1-1 13 2-5 0 1 1 0 0 Milt Palacio 25 8-15 0-0 3-5 19 2-5 2 6 4 2 1 Donyell Marshall 18 2-2 1-1 0-0 5 2-6 3 0 2 0 0 Pape Sow 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 1 0 Totals 48 40-77 4-13 21-26 105 10-38 18 18 20 7 3 patricia