The NBA suspended Vlade Divac (LAL) for 2 games for his intentionally thrown elbow that connected with Shawn Bradley's chin during Sunday's Dallas-LA Lakers game. Dallas' first round opponent will be Houston. Game 1 is Saturday in Dallas at 4:30 pm (it is a best of 7 series). Game 2 is going to be on Monday, with the time still to be determined. The rest of the schedule is still to be announced. Seattle at Dallas (April 19) Seattle was in Dallas for the Mavs final home regular season game and a game that had little meaning to either team. Dallas rested Jason Terry with a sore ankle [even though he looked to be limping to me, he said that he will play in tonight's game] and Seattle rested Antonio Daniels. Dallas spotted Seattle the first 5 points of the game as the Mavs did not get on the board until 2 1/2 minutes into the game. Dallas then scored the next 12 points to go up 12-5 with 5 minutes to go as Seattle missed 9 straight shots and committed 6 turnovers. Dallas held a single-digit lead the rest of the quarter and a jumper by Devin Harris and layup by Shawn Bradley capped the quarter scoring to give Dallas a 23-14 lead after 1. Dallas shot 10-23 FG and Seattle shot on 5-21 FG in the quarter. Dallas continued their run by scoring the first 6 points of the 2nd quarter to go up 29-14 with 10:25 remaining. Seattle did pull within 24-33 with 6:05 left, but Dallas then went on a 14-3 run to go up 47-27 with 2:45 remaining. Dallas led 51-32 at the half. Dallas shot 48% FG and Seattle shot 29% FG. Seattle took a lecture during halftime and found their offense during the break and scored 9 points in the first 4 minutes of the 3rd quarter, but Dallas scored 8 points and the Mavs led 59-41 with 8:05 to go. Seattle then went on a 23-4 monster run, that included 4 3-pointers and 10 points by Rashard Lewis, to go up 64-63 with 2:50 left. Dallas did scored the next 4 points to re-take the lead. Harris drained a 3-pointer at the quarter buzzer to give Dallas a 74-70 lead after 3. Lewis had 12 points, Luke Ridnour had 10 points, and Ray Allen had 8 points in the 3rd quarter. Seattle shot 14-20 FG (3 more made field goals than they had in the entire 1st half) including 5-5 3-pointers in out-scoring Dallas 38-23 in the quarter. Almost 2 minutes went by in the 4th quarter without either team scoring. Damien Wilkins hit 2 free throws with 10:10 left. Marquis Daniels hit a jumper and then stole the ball and fed Jerry Stackhouse for the dunk on the break to give Dallas a 78-72 lead with 8:50 to go. Dallas held a single-digit lead over the next 5 minutes as Seattle could get no closer than 4 points. A 9-2 run gave Dallas a 95-84 lead with 3:25 remaining. Allen nailed a 3-pointer to pull Seattle within 89-97 with 2:15 left, but Stackhouse answered with a dunk and Seattle would get no closer than 8 points until their final bucket - a 3-pointer by Allen with 8 seconds to go. Dallas won 101-96. Even though the game had almost no meaning in the standings, the game left neither coach too happy about his team's performance. Nate McMillan was clearly unhappy with Seattle's 1st half performance and Avery Johnson had to be unhappy with allowing Seattle to score 38 points in the 3rd quarter. The good news for both teams is that they achieved their goal for the game - no one got hurt. Both teams play their final game of the regular season tonight and both will likely be resting some key players. Seattle had a lousy 1st half, but were able to pick it up in the 2nd half - they shot 29% FG including 2-11 3-pointers in the 1st half and 63% FG including 8-10 3-pointers in the 2nd half. Dallas was consistent offensively throughout as they made 10 field goals in each quarter. For the game, Dallas shot 50.6% (40-79) FG including 4-11 3-pointers and Seattle shot 45.2% (33-73) FG including 10-21 3-pointers. Dallas shot 17-24 FT and Seattle shot 20-26 FT. Dallas had a season tying high 32 assists while Seattle had just 14 assists (and just 3 in the 1st half). The win extended Dallas home winning streak to 9 games [tied 6th longest home winning streak] and their overall winning streak to 8 games. The regular season ends tonight. Once again, there was not a single dominating performance, but a couple of surprising ones. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 21 points including 9-13 FG, but he only had 2 rebounds. He played a team high 33 minutes as Avery Johnson was able to spread the minutes around. You can argue whether Marquis Daniels or Shawn Bradley was the player of the game. Both played very good, well rounded games. Daniels had 9 points including 4-6 FG, 4 rebounds, and 9 assists in 24 minutes off the bench, including playing point guard some in the 4th quarter. Bradley had 12 points including 5-6 FG and 7 rebounds in 17 minutes. Darrell Armstrong started in Jason Terry's absence and did not have many stats, but did provide the energy and effort early in the game. He had 2 points on 1-3 FG, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 4 steals in 18 minutes. Michael Finley had 12 points on 5-7 FG and 2-3 3-pointers, but just 1 rebound and 2 assists in 27 minutes. Josh Howard had 13 points including 4-14 FG and 6 rebounds including 5 offensive in 26 minutes. Erick Dampier had 6 points on 3-6 FG and 8 rebounds in 28 minutes. Jerry Stackhouse had 12 points including 4-14 FG (including 2 slam dunks), 3 rebounds, and 5 assists in 25 minutes. Devin Harris had 8 points on 3-4 FG and 2-2 3-pointers and 5 assists and Keith Van Horn had 6 points and 6 rebounds. Both Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis had 21 points. Allen shot 5-11 3-pointers and had 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 39 minutes. Lewis had 5 rebounds in 27 minutes. Luke Ridnour had 15 points and 8 assists in a game high 42 minutes. No other Sonic was in double-digits. Reggie Evans had 8 points and 9 rebounds including 4 offensive. Nick Collison had 9 points and 9 rebounds and Damien Wilkins had 9 points including 3-9 3-pointers. Quotes Avery Johnson: "Tonight we pretty much accomplished what we wanted. We got everybody some playing time. I thought the guys had a terrific 1st half defensively. Obviously, Seattle came back and showed us what a great team they are offensively. They have a lot of pride, are well coached, and they torched us in the 3rd quarter. We had a better 4th quarter defensively and were lucky to win this game." Johnson on the 3rd quarter: "We left our concentration, effort, and everything in the locker room. But we regrouped in the 4th quarter - had a little bit better 4th quarter defense - and [were] fortunate to win this game and finish up a pretty nice homestand before we go into the playoffs." Johnson on Daniels: "Marquis gave us a huge effort tonight. He played a little bit at point guard, which we wanted to look at, and I thought he did a nice job." Johnson on Dallas' depth: "It's an asset especially if you can make it work for you. I don't think many teams will be playing 10 people. Marquis Daniels and Shawn Bradley stepped up big for us tonight. We continue to get bench production. We didn't use Henderson tonight, but he will play in Memphis tomorrow." Dirk Nowitzki: "If we win tomorrow, we'll have 58 wins, and that's a very, very special season. And I thought we had an unbelievable season 2 years ago when we won 60 games." Nowitzki on the playoffs: "Houston is a very tough team for the 1st round. They play extremely well, like we do. It's going to be a battle and we need everyone to play on a very high level to win this series." Michael Finley on the 9 game home winning streak: "In the past, sometimes we started out hot and fizzled toward the end or start out terrible, got hot in the middle, and fizzled at the end. This year, for the first time in a long time, we ended on a positive note and that's a good mind set to have going into the playoffs." Finley on facing Houston: "Well at this point, I'm happy just to be in the playoffs. Before the season even started a lot of people were writing us off. Houston is a hot team as well, but if we play the way we have been playing these last couple weeks, I think we'll still come out on top." Marquis Daniels: I'm just trying to be ready whenever. You always want to play more, but we're winning. I just want to keep helping the team." Daniels: "It's been kind of hard ... lately to get some playing time on this team. So, whenever he calls my name, I just want to go out and be productive and help out as much as possible without hurting the team." Shawn Bradley on Dallas depth: "I think that anyone that has analyzed playoffs in the past has realized that you have the main 6 or 7 or 8 players that do what they are suppose to do. The differences often become the role players, the 8 through 12 players that step in and step their game up. That often times becomes the difference in a game and a series." Bradley: "I'm just playing hard. Everyone is. Everyone is focused on trying to contribute in a positive way." Bradley: "If everyone can do that in the 2, 3, 10, or 20 minutes they get, it will bode well for us." Nate McMillan on the 2nd half: "It was exactly what I wanted to see. I'll take the blame for the 1st half. For some reason, they misunderstood what I meant about playing tonight - and I didn't say this was a night off, I said we were going to try and cut guys minutes. But the time that you are on that court, you give 100%. If you don't do that I don't care what the situation is, I am going to play the guys that are playing. I thought some of us came out here, because the playoffs are wrapped up and we have home court, that this was a preseason game and we could just go through the motions. Nobody's spot is guaranteed for the playoffs. If you don't earn your right on that floor, you won't play." McMillan: "By no means was I saying we are going to come in here and lay down and [screw up] this game. We came in here with absolutely no focus. Every time you step on that hardwood, you play to win, you play the game the right way - and we didn't do that the 1st half." McMillan: "I want to [rest guys]. It's hard to do that when you are seeing that type of effort. I won't sit around and watch that type of basketball. I won't." McMillan: "This was not a night off; we wanted to try to give minutes and cut our minutes by playing more guys. But if guys are not going to play, then I'm going to play the guys who are playing. Because you're in the lineup or you're in the rotation doesn't mean that you will be there on Saturday, and it's as simple as that." McMillan on Murray only playing 3 minutes in the 2nd half: "This was an opportunity for Ronald. But you got to come out there with a sense of urgency. You won't play ... if I don't see a sense of urgency. You are not given anything here. We will get beat by 50 if those guys [Allen, Lewis, Ridnour] come out and play like they did." Ray Allen: "Before the game started, I think everybody did something that we probably shouldn't do: set your mind toward playing a certain amount of minutes. I think that translated to the effort that we gave in the 1st half." Allen: "I did go into the situation thinking I wasn't going to play as much as I played. I was only going to play the 1st quarter. Then they went up by 20 or 30 and he wasn't happy with who was out there on the floor. He looked down the bench and put me back in the game." Allen on McMillan playing him 39 minutes: "I know he didn't want to play me the way he had to play me. But he felt he had to play me because he didn't want to get embarrassed. But at the same time, we are playing for something more." Allen: "I'm not sure on whether I'm going to play tomorrow night. I strongly recommend that for myself, just so when Thursday or Friday comes at least I'll have had a day of rest and I can focus on getting my body taken care of. We'll talk about it." Allen on wanting to sit out the final game: "I don't want anything freaky to happen out there on the floor. We all talk about we have something greater at stake here." Rashard Lewis: "I most definitely feel like my rhythm is coming back, but at the same time, my knee hurts. It was killing me in the Minnesota game, but I felt like I had to get myself back into game shape." Lewis: "It was hurting tonight and I only played 27 minutes. So I was thinking, how I am going to handle this when we have a 7-game series every round and we have games night in and night out?" Lewis: "I won't play tomorrow night. Ain't no way possible. I need to rest now because in the playoffs, I'm going to be playing 40 to 48 minutes." Luke Ridnour: "We didn't want to come out like that. We wanted to come out and put a good effort out; try to win this game from the start. We didn't do that. In the 2nd half, we got it going, but we didn't come out with the energy and the focus we needed." Ridnour on playing 42 minutes: "I come to play every game. I would rather play every game anyway. I am not really worried about getting rest or anything like that. We have a couple days after tomorrow's game, so we'll be good." Jerome James: "I wouldn't say we came out coasting, but we didn't think Dallas would come out so aggressively. We had overheard that they were going to save guys and limit guys minutes. Give Avery Johnson credit, he did exactly the opposite of what everyone expected him to do. He played his starters and he came out to win the game. We got back on our heels somewhat. We regrouped at halftime and came out to prove we are as good or a better team than them. We ran out of gas. To come back from 20 points down in 12 minutes is pretty impressive, but you have to keep in mind that you expend a lot of energy coming back from such a great deficit. Unfortunately for us, we weren't able to maintain the lead for the 4th quarter." James on McMillan being upset: "He was right to be very upset with us because we underestimated this team. We thought they were going to come out and basically lie down because everything was set in the West." Dallas Mavericks 101, Seattle Sonics 96 at Dallas (April 19) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 23 28 23 27 - 101 .529 .364 .506 .708 Seattle 14 18 38 26 - 96 .442 .476 .452 .769 Halftime: Dallas 51-32 3rd Q: Dallas 74-70 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 6:21 4th Refs: Joe DeRosa, Jess Kersey, Zach Zarba Attendance: 20,534 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Jason Terry (sprained right ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 27 5-7 2-3 0-0 12 0-1 2 0 2 1 1 Darrell Armstrong 18 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 1-1 1 2 2 4 0 Dirk Nowitzki 33 9-13 0-0 3-3 21 1-2 3 1 2 0 1 Josh Howard 26 4-14 0-2 5-7 13 5-6 4 2 2 2 0 Erick Dampier 28 3-6 0-0 0-1 6 2-8 1 1 4 1 1 Jerry Stackhouse 25 4-14 0-3 4-4 12 0-3 5 1 0 0 0 Marquis Daniels 24 4-6 0-0 1-2 9 0-4 9 3 3 2 1 Devin Harris 22 3-4 2-2 0-0 8 0-0 5 0 3 0 0 Keith Van_Horn 20 2-6 0-0 2-4 6 2-6 1 3 0 0 0 Shawn Bradley 17 5-6 0-0 2-3 12 2-7 1 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 40-79 4-11 17-24 101 13-38 32 13 19 10 4 Seattle Sonics REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Luke Ridnour 42 4-9 2-3 5-5 15 0-3 8 2 2 1 1 Ray Allen 39 7-17 5-11 2-2 21 0-4 3 3 2 2 0 Rashard Lewis 27 7-12 2-3 5-5 21 3-5 0 1 3 2 0 Reggie Evans 24 4-7 0-0 0-0 8 4-9 0 2 2 1 1 Jerome James 18 1-3 0-0 0-2 2 0-4 0 3 4 1 3 Nick Collison 29 4-6 0-0 1-4 9 3-9 0 1 4 1 1 Damien Wilkins 26 3-9 1-3 2-2 9 1-1 2 0 1 1 0 Vitaly Potapenko 22 1-5 0-0 5-6 7 1-4 1 0 2 2 0 Ronald Murray 11 2-5 0-1 0-0 4 0-2 0 4 1 0 0 Danny Fortson 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 33-73 10-21 20-26 96 12-41 14 17 21 11 6 Go Mavs! patricia