Reports from Avery Johnson are that he and the Mavs have reached an agreement on a new coaching contract. The deal has not been signed and, thus, Mark Cuban refuses to comment on the deal. Reports are that it is a 3 year guaranteed contract with a 4th year that would become guaranteed if Dallas achieved certain incentives, such as 2 conference finals or reaching the NBA finals. The contract starts with next season and Johnson will receive a bonus for this season - he is currently coaching under the $1.1 million player contract he signed last summer. Reports are that his salary is around the average for NBA coaches and is $10 million for the 4 years. Orlando at Dallas Grant Hill was again out with a sore left shin. Dallas welcomed Erick Dampier back to the starting lineup [even though the PA messed up and announced Shawn Bradley as the starter, which resulted in Del Harris going over to the Orlando bench and explaining Dampier was starting and apologizing for the mistake]. A 3-pointer by Josh Howard and a jumper by Michael Finley gave Dallas a 7-4 lead with 9 minutes remaining and Dallas slowly built on their lead. Dirk Nowitzki converted a 3-point play and, after Dwight Howard hit a free throw, Nowitzki nailed a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 22-11 lead with 5 minutes left. Dallas led 28-17 with 1:39 to go and Orlando closed the quarter with a 6-2 mini-run. Dallas led 30-23 after 1. Nowitzki had 10 points. Dallas shot 13-20 FG and 2-3 FT and Orlando shot 8-19 FG and 6-10 FT. Dallas scored the first 6 points of the 2nd quarter to go up 36-23 with 10:30 remaining. After the teams traded buckets (with Dallas' being on a thunder dunk by Devin Harris after a nice steal by Harris), Orlando then scored 8 straight points to pull within 33-38 with 6:10 to go as Dallas missed 7 straight shots. Dallas re-found their shot and went on a 16-6 run, including 3 3-pointers by Jason Terry and a 3-pointer by Nowitzki, to go up 54-39 with 1:30 left. Dallas led 57-44 at the half. DeShawn Stevenson had 19 points in the half. Dallas shot 51% FG including 6-11 3-pointers and Orlando shot 47% FG including 1-3 3-pointers. Orlando scored the first 7 points of the 3rd quarter to pull within 51-57 with 10:45 to go as Dallas started sloppy in committing 3 turnovers in response to the Magic's full court press. Dampier converted consecutive 3-point plays around a DHoward free throw to put Dallas up 72-61 with 7:20 left. 6 straight points by Dallas, capped by a driving layup by Dampier, gave Dallas a 78-64 lead with 6:15 to go. Orlando did score the next 5 points and Dallas' lead hovered around 10 points over the next 3 minutes. Dallas scored 7 straight points to go up 96-80 with 40 seconds remaining. Jameer Nelson scored the last 3 points of the quarter. Dallas led 96-83 after 3. Dampier had 10 points in the 3rd quarter. Both teams scored 39 points in the 3rd quarter. Orlando scored the first 3 points of the 4th quarter, Jerry Stackhouse hit a 3, and Steve Francis answered with a 3-pointer and Dallas led 99-89 with 9:35 to go. Dallas then went on a 9-2 run to go up 108-91 with 6 minutes left. A 3-pointer by Nowitzki gave Dallas their largest lead at 113-95 with 4:10 remaining. Orlando did close the game with a 10-1 run to make the final margin closer (and tick off Avery Johnson). Dallas won 114-105. Dallas played a solid game against a team fighting for its playoff life. They did have lapses, such as the turnovers against Orlando's press to start the 3rd quarter and letting the Magic hang around for longer than they should. Both teams shot well for the game, but Dallas made more free throws and 3-pointers [Orlando made 1 more field goal, but 5 field goals came after Dallas was up by 18 with less than 4 minutes left]. Dallas shot 52.6% (41-78) FG including 9-20 3-pointers. Orlando shot 53.2% (42-79) FG including 6-12 3-pointers. Dallas shot 23-27 FT and Orlando shot 15-22 FT (and started out shooting 1-5 FT). After getting out-rebounded by 30 in the previous game, Dallas got back on the board work and out-rebounded Orlando 40-35 including 12-10 offensive. Dallas had 29 assists (tied the 4th most this season) and Orlando had 18 assists. It was the 50th win of the season for Dallas, the 5th straight season with 50+ wins. It was also Dallas' last regular season game vs an Eastern Conference team. Dallas finished the season 23-7 vs the East. It was a balanced attack by Dallas with no one player dominating and 6 players, including all 5 starters, were in double-digits. Jason Terry had a great game with a double-double. He had 18 points including 4-7 3-pointers, 13 assists, and 4 steals - good enough not to give him grief for just 1 rebound. :) Dirk Nowitzki was Dallas' high man with 21 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 9 rebounds. He got beat up in this game, though. He tweaked his right ankle in the 1st half and played through the pain. He got popped in the mouth with the refs not seeing it. He got hit hard a couple of times with calls. And he was dangerously undercut when Andre Barrett backed into him while Nowitzki was in the air and he landed hard - even though Barrett didn't intent it, it should have been called a flagrant, but was just called a normal foul (flagrant is for dangerous and has nothing to do with intent). Afterwards, Nowitzki was seen fiddling with his right knee and holding his back. He came out of the game less than a minute later and then went immediately to the locker room. He is scheduled to undergo an MRI today on the knee. Josh Howard was a perfect 7-7 FG before missing his last 2 shots. He had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Erick Dampier had a nice return to the starting lineup with 16 points on 5-6 FG and 6-7 FT (showing how really hot he was in only missing 1 free throw), 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Michael Finley had 10 points including 4-11 FG, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in a team high 36 minutes. Jerry Stackhouse had 17 points off the bench, but just 2 rebounds (both offensive) and 2 assists in 21 minutes. Keith Van Horn struggled with just 8 points including 3-10 FG, 1 rebound, and 1 assist. Devin Harris' only bucket was his dunk and he made 2 free throws for 4 points. He also had 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in 17 minutes. DeShawn Stevenson had a career night and was on fire. He did take a couple of heat-check shots in the 2nd half. He had a game high 29 points including 13-23 FG. Steve Francis had his passing working for this game, but not his scoring (and didn't attempt many shots). He only had 9 points through 3 quarters, but did score 7 in the 4th quarter. He had 16 points on 6-10 FG and 3-4 FT, 4 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals, and 4 turnovers. Tony Battie had 14 points on 7-10 FG and 9 rebounds. Dwight Howard had 8 points including 2-6 FG and 8 rebounds including 5 offensive. Rookie Jameer Nelson returned after missing 2 games with a torn rib muscle. He had 18 points off the bench. Quotes Avery Johnson: "This was a win we had to gut out against a team that is really battling and scrambling right now. What an awesome display of offense that both teams had in the 3rd quarter. Giving up 39 points in the 3rd quarter is something I am not happy with. We've had 2 games where we have given up 40 points in the 4th against Cleveland and 39 tonight. In the playoffs, that just cannot happen. We'll take a look at it. It's kind of uncharacteristic of our team." Johnson on the 4th quarter: "We're just trying to finish games. We had a real lackadaisical attitude the last 3 minutes of the game. I'm trying to get some of our young guys to grow. It's like pulling teeth sometimes. We don't have much time, but we've got to get there soon. We cannot give up 39 points in a quarter during the playoffs. We can not do that." Johnson: "The guys really worked hard. I thought Damp gave us a big lift tonight. Stack also gave us a big lift. Jason Terry probably had one of his best games this year. I think it was just a good overall game." Johnson on Dampier: "Coming into this game we were going to give him somewhere around 24 or 25 minutes. I went 4 minutes over. He said he felt good. He didn't rebound the ball well tonight. He battled in there and we could have gotten killed on the boards if Damp hadn't played tonight because he took up so much space and allowed other guys to get rebounds." Johnson on his time with San Antonio in playing the next game after a bad game: "We always won the next one. And that's what I want this team to do. I like our [game day] shootarounds to be quiet and focused, and that's the way it was before this game." Johnson on 50 wins: "It's tough to win 50 games in this league. I think sometimes when you're on teams like ours, teams that haven't won championships, you think at the end of the year that it's not a great season. We're not satisfied, especially playing out here in the Western Conference." Dirk Nowitzki on his ankle: "The last play of the half when I drove on [Dwight] Howard, I kind of got fouled and landed a little awkward. The bone spurs began to hit each other. For the whole 2nd half, it wasn't really getting loose. I just tried to coast through it and get the win." Nowitzki: "I'm just glad we got the win. I don't think the knee is anything special. We're going to check it out tomorrow, but I'll be all right. At least with the ankle, we know what it is and know it isn't going to get any worse. I'll ice it a couple of times tonight, come in tomorrow and see how it feels and get a little MRI. I sure hope nothing shows up on it." Nowitzki on his health: "The knee felt weird." Nowitzki on his health: "I don't doubt that I'll be able to play Thursday. We're doing the MRI, but I don't think it's anything special." Jerry Stackhouse on everyone being healthy: "It looked good getting everybody back in the flow of things and having Damp clogging up the middle." Stackhouse on everyone being healthy: "Getting everybody back, getting everybody back in the flow of things, especially Damp, is great. It's good to have him back clogging up the middle like that." Stackhouse on Johnson's timeout during the 4th quarter: "It's about building that mentality of not being satisfied. We're up 18 and we kind of relax. It's easy to talk about having a killer instinct, but to really have it is when you're up 18 and you say, 'Let's get it to 20.' Instead, they get a basket and we know we're still going to win by 10. That's what he's trying to get across. Guys are starting to get it." Stackhouse on Nowitzki's health: "The bone spurs in his ankle are something he pretty much has dealt with all year. He tries to make real little of it, but it's something that he deals with. He said he is fine, so I know he'll be ready to play next time out." Jason Terry: "It was a good win for us. We had a great 1st half defensively. 2nd half, we gave up 39 points in the 3rd quarter and we can not do that, but the 50th win is good. We still have some things to improve on and San Antonio is a big game coming up. We've got to get focused and get prepared." Terry: "Dampier for us changes the game because he's a presence on both ends. On offense he can finish inside and he runs the court well. On defense he blocks shots and rebounds and he gets our transition game started. He's a key for us and we need him to stay healthy." Terry: "I have to be dissecting the defense, getting into creases, and making the game easier for us in transition. That's the way I have to play. We always seem to play well when I can get into the lane and kick out to open shooters." Erick Dampier: "I think we really came out tonight with the defensive intensity that we needed at the begining, but we kind of let up in that 3rd quarter. When we have teams down like that we have to bury those teams and let them know that they don't have a chance of coming back." Dampier on his foot: "We're going to gradually increase the minutes and see how it responds to it." Dampier: "I just have got to get back to the way I was playing before I got injured. However I can get myself back involved in the game, whether it's getting post-ups or just getting close to the basket. I think the guys are looking for me now, and we went through a stretch of 20 games where they didn't even play with me, so I just need to try to get myself back into the rhythm of the game." Dampier: "I want to be consistent with my play. Some games I'm not really going to get a lot of touches, but I can go get my points off the glass. I just got to go out there and work hard and good things are going to happen for me." Josh Howard on Johnson: "Coach is very passionate about the game. We understand when he's yelling what's going on in his head." Chris Jent: "The guys that they have screening on the ball really create a dilemma for you - how much do you help or how much do you not help? We did not do a good job showing help to our guards in the high pick-and-roll situations. We can not allow [Terry] to get into the lane and do what he wishes to do. Looking back, we probably would have changed up our defense on that pick-and-roll, but he played very well tonight also." Steve Francis: "They were hitting a lot of shots. I thought our press really puzzled them. We were able to get up and down the court, but I don't know if we got enough shots up. We normally out-shoot our opponents. They did a good job of finding the open man and hitting shots when they counted." Francis on the playoff race: "We're not giving up. Tonight, they just played better. They got more shots than we did and made more." DeShawn Stevenson: "We started off pretty slow and got ourselves into a hole. We tried to come back in the 3rd quarter, but they kept making shots." Stevenson on if their defense didn't work well or Dallas' offense played well: "I would say it is both, but give them credit because they went out there and attacked us and made shots. They took it to the hole. Dampier got a lot of and-1s and Dirk's shot was falling. It's pretty hard when you let them get off to a good start in the 1st half." Stevenson on his career high: "I'd rather have 5 points and win. We're just trying to get to the playoffs." Stevenson: "It was a good night for me but we've got to get a win. We're trying to get into the playoffs. We're in a situation where we've got to win a lot of games. Tonight was a chance. We've got to keep working hard and keep trying to win." Dallas Mavericks 114, Orlando Magic 105 at Dallas (April 5) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 30 27 39 18 - 114 .552 .450 .526 .852 Orlando 23 21 39 22 - 105 .537 .500 .532 .682 Halftime: Dallas 57-44 3rd Q: Dallas 96-83 Technicals: Kelvin Cato 3:08 3rd, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 0:30 3rd, Orlando defensive 3 seconds 9:24 4th Refs: Dick Bavetta, Mark Wunderlich, Eric Lewis Attendance: 19,969 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Grant Hill (sore left shin) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 36 4-11 0-2 2-2 10 0-6 3 0 1 0 0 Jason Terry 33 6-11 4-7 2-4 18 0-1 13 3 2 4 0 Josh Howard 30 7-9 1-2 0-0 15 3-7 3 4 4 1 1 Dirk Nowitzki 29 8-13 3-4 2-3 21 1-9 3 3 4 1 1 Erick Dampier 29 5-6 0-0 6-7 16 1-5 2 2 4 0 3 Keith Van_Horn 24 3-10 0-2 2-2 8 0-1 1 1 3 0 0 Jerry Stackhouse 21 5-8 1-1 6-6 17 2-2 2 1 1 0 0 Devin Harris 17 1-3 0-2 2-2 4 2-5 2 1 3 2 0 Marquis Daniels 10 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 2-2 0 0 0 0 0 Shawn Bradley 8 1-2 0-0 1-1 3 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 Alan Henderson 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 41-78 9-20 23-27 114 12-40 29 15 22 8 5 Orlando Magic REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Steve Francis 37 6-10 1-1 3-4 16 2-4 11 4 4 4 0 DeShawn Stevenson 35 13-23 2-3 1-2 29 0-2 2 1 3 0 0 Dwight Howard 34 2-6 0-0 4-6 8 5-8 1 1 3 2 1 Stacey Augmon 19 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 1 1 0 0 0 Tony Battie 33 7-10 0-0 0-2 14 3-9 0 0 2 1 1 Jameer Nelson 30 7-15 2-5 2-3 18 0-0 1 3 4 0 0 Pat Garrity 19 1-3 0-2 1-1 3 0-3 0 1 2 0 0 Kelvin Cato 14 1-2 0-0 2-2 4 0-3 0 1 2 0 1 Andre Barrett 13 2-3 1-1 2-2 7 0-2 2 1 2 0 1 Brandon Hunter 4 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 0 1 0 0 0 Mario Kasun 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 42-79 6-12 15-22 105 10-35 18 14 22 7 4 patricia