Congratulations to Steve Nash on being named MVP! Stevie received 1066 points including 65 1st place votes. Shaquille O'Neal (Mia) finished 2nd with 1032 points including 58 1st places votes. Our Dirk Nowitzki finished a distant 3rd with 349 points (no 1st place votes). Houston at Dallas (Game 7) One of the most exciting and nerve-wracking games arrived in a do-or-die game 7 of Dallas vs Houston. A 3-pointer by David Wesley tied the game at 4-4 with 9:50 remaining, but Dallas then went on a 12-2 run, capped by a slam dunk by Erick Dampier, to go up 16-6 with 6 minutes to go. Houston then scored the next 8 points, capped by a 3-point play by Wesley, to pull within 14-16 with 4:30 left. But consecutive 3-pointers by Michael Finley kicked off a 14-4 Dallas run to put the Mavs up 30-18 with 1:10 to go. Dallas led 32-20 after 1. Finley had 9 points on 3 3-pointers, Dirk Nowitzki had 4 points and 5 rebounds, and Josh Howard had 8 points and 4 rebounds. Tracy McGrady had 7 points, Yao Ming had 7 points and 4 rebounds, and Wesley had 6 points - as the 3 comprised all of Houston's 1st quarter points. Houston started the game shooting 2-13 FG and only shot 8-25 FG in the quarter while Dallas shot 11-22 FG and Dallas was out-rebounding Houston 16-9. A 3-pointer by Jason Terry opened the 2nd quarter and kicked off a 17-5 Dallas run to put the Mavs up 49-25 with 6:40 left - Terry scored 13 points during the run. As the run ended, McGrady was upset with a non-call after a couple of misses inside and got in the ref's face while Dallas pushed the ball up the court. The ref waited for Dallas to complete their quick play - a 3-pointer by Terry in the corner - before blowing his whistle to call the technical. Houston pulled with in 19 points with 4:30 remaining, but Dallas scored the next 5 points to re-take a 24-point lead with 3:15 to go. Houston closed the quarter with an 11-2 run (including a bucket by Mike James with 2:30 left to become just the 4th Rocket to score [and it would remain just 4 at the half]). Dallas led 59-44 at the half. Terry had 15 points and McGrady had 12 points in the 2nd quarter. For the half, Dallas shot 50% FG including 6-9 3-pointers and Houston shot 41% FG including 2-10 3-pointers. Dallas was the aggressive team and shot 13-15 FT and Houston shot 6-7 FT. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter sluggish and making sloppy plays, but Houston also started by playing poorly. Dallas got their act together first, though, and proceeded to make the game a blowout. Houston pulled within 48-61 with 9:55 to go and Dallas went on a 17-5 run to go up 78-53 with 4:55 remaining. Yao scored the next 5 points, but consecutive buckets by Darrell Armstrong and 2 Mavs jumpers put Dallas up 86-58 with 2 minutes left. After Armstrong blocked Mike James on a fast break layup attempt, James bumped Terry as Terry brought the ball up the other way, was called for the foul, and then went nuts in getting in the ref's face, and was 2-T tossed. A Houston personnel member had to escort James off the court as he still wanted to get after the ref. Dallas led 92-64 after 3. Dallas shot 13-13 FT (including 4 off of James' late quarter actions) and Houston shot 3-3 FT in the 3rd quarter. The 4th quarter was pure blowout and McGrady sat the entire quarter (though surprisingly Yao played the entire quarter) as Houston got no closer than 26 points in the quarter. Dallas closed the game with a 10-2 run and the final margin was the Mavs' largest lead of the game. Dallas won 116-76. Wow! No one expected this. With an exciting, tight series (even game 6 was a 2-point game with 7:20 left in the 4th quarter before becoming a blowout), Dallas simply dominated this game from start to finish. Who would have thunk it. It was by far the largest margin of victory for Dallas in the playoffs (previous high 30 points). It was also the largest margin of victory in a game 7 in NBA history. Houston never led in the game and it was only tied at 0-0 and 4-4. Houston set the opponent team low for points in a playoff game (previous 77) and tied the lowest 2nd half opponent performance (32 points). Besides a spurt to end the 2nd quarter, Houston never got it going. Dallas let Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming get theirs (though both struggled) and shut down the rest of the team. Excluding those 2, the rest of the Rockets shot a mere 6-33 FG and scored just 16 points. In fact, Yao was the only Rocket to shoot better than 50% FG (56%) with the next highest shooter being McGrady at 38% FG. Not surprisingly with the blowout that Dallas dominated the stats. Dallas shot 51.3% (41-80) FG including 8-16 3-pointers. Houston shot 35.4% (29-82) FG including 3-18 3-pointers. Dallas was the more aggressive team and got to the free throw more than Houston (though Houston shot 6-8 FT in the 4th and Dallas didn't attempt a free throw in the quarter). Dallas shot 26-28 FT and Houston shot 15-18 FT. Dallas controlled the boards by out-rebounding Houston 52-33 including 16-13 offensive. Poor shooting and poor rebounding usually leads to the blowout. The Mavs became just the 3rd team to come back and win a series after losing the first 2 games at home. Dallas takes the series 4-3 and advances to the 2nd round where they will face Phoenix (and former Mav Steve Nash). Game 1 is Monday at 9:30 pm in Phoenix. Once again, Jason Terry was the surprise leader for the team. Terry played stellar, especially in the 1st half where he scored 21 of his 31 points. He shot 12-12 FT and had 3 assists, but did have 5 turnovers. Not wanting to risk any rookie errors in such a critical game, Avery Johnson went with vet Darrell Armstrong to play backup point guard. And, boy, did that move pay off. Armstrong had it going with scoring, defense (in finally someone stopping Mike James), and just over all energy. He had 9 points on 4-4 FG and 1-1 3-pointers, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists in 19 minutes, including 11 1/2 minutes in the 1st half. Josh Howard again enjoyed the home cooking (he has had solid games in the AAC and poor games in Houston) and had a double-double with 21 points including 8-13 FG and 11 rebounds. He also had 4 blocks and 2 steals. As he has all series, Dirk Nowitzki struggled with his offense. But he contributed in other ways in grabbing rebounds and generally playing good defense. He had 14 points including 5-14 FG (including 1-7 FG in the 1st half), 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Nowitzki was playing with a cold and needed an IV after the game to replenish fluids. Michael Finley provided a spark early with 9 (all 3s) of his 13 points coming in the 1st quarter. He also had 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Erick Dampier had 8 points and 8 rebounds in 24 minutes. Jerry Stackhouse had 9 points and 4 assists in 23 minutes. All Mavs available played and all scored with Alan Henderson having 4 points, Marquis Daniels having 3 points, Devin Harris having 2 points, and Shawn Bradley having 2 points. It was a tale of no help for Houston. Tracy McGrady struggled some in this game as his shot gave him problems - he even missed some layups. He did have a spectacular layup early in the game (his only bucket while starting the game 1-7 FG) and 2 dunks in the 3rd after the game got out of hand. McGrady finished with 27 points including 10-26 FG and 1-7 3-pointers. But he did contribute in other ways with 7 rebounds, 7 assists (most to Yao Ming), and 3 blocks. Yao was Houston's high man, but he did play the entire 4th quarter where he scored 9 of his points. For the game, he had 33 points including 13-23 FG, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Only 4 other Rockets scored. David Wesley had 7 points including 2-9 FG, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, no assists, and 2 turnovers in 41 minutes. Scott Padgett had 3 points on 1-6 FG and 1-3 3-pointers and 6 rebounds in 31 minutes. Mike James had 4 points on 2-7 FG before his ejection and played 17 minutes. Jon Barry's only bucket came with 50 seconds left in the game. He had 2 points on 1-6 FG and 0-4 3-pointers in 25 minutes. He also had 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Bob Sura (0-2 FG), Ryan Bowen (0-2 FG), Moochie Norris (0-1 FG), and Dikembe Mutombo (none attempted) did not score. Though it ended with a dud, it was a very entertaining series with games 2 through 5 decided by 4 or less points each. Each team had it's ups and downs. Dallas went on a 20-0 run in the 4th quarter of game 3 and Houston went on a 19-0 run in the 4th quarter of game 6. Dallas played lousy in game 1 and Houston played really lousy in game 7. No question that Jason Terry was the MVP for Dallas in the series. Terry averaged 18.3 points on 52% (39-75) FG, a team record for a 7-game series 60.6% (20-33) 3-pointers, and team record for a 7-game series 93.8% (30-32) FT. Dirk Nowitzki was Dallas' high man in averaging 21.3 points over the series, but he only shot 35.2% (45-128) FG and 4-14 3-pointers. He did shoot 55-65 FT, setting the team record for a 7-game series for free throws made and attempted. No questions who the stud for the series was. Tracy McGrady averaged 30.7 points on 45.6% (78-171) FG, 17-46 3-pointers, and 42-51 FT. He also averaged 7.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists. Yao Ming had an up and down series with battling foul trouble in some of the games (and his own struggles and coach's decision in game 6). He averaged 21.4 points including 65.5% (55-84) FG and 7.7 rebounds. Second Round Schedule vs Phoenix Mon. May 9 Game 1: Dallas at Phoenix at 9:30 pm on TNT and channel 21 Wed. May 11 Game 2: Dallas at Phoenix at 9:30 pm on TNT and channel 21 Fri. May 13 Game 3: Phoenix at Dallas at 8:30 pm on ESPN and channel 21 Sun. May 15 Game 4: Phoenix at Dallas at TBD *Mon. May 18 Game 5: Dallas at Phoenix at TBD *Fri. May 20 Game 6: Phoenix at Dallas at TBD *Sun. May 22 Game 7: Dallas at Phoenix at TBD *if necessary Quotes [Johnson's, Terry's, Van Gundy's, and McGrady's quotes and some of Nowitzki's, Finley's, and Howard's quotes transcribed by me] Avery Johnson: "Well this is definitely one of the greatest, the best series I've ever been a part of, and it's not just because we won. 2 teams that really went at it every game. And not just because we won. I really, for the guys on this team and the opportunity to coach this team, I really thank God for this opportunity, and a lot of you know kind of what my stand is there. So I'm really thankful right now, not just because we won. But just the opportunity to be a part of this series. I really learned a lot. I take my hat off to a great organization. Carroll Dawson, coach Jeff Van Gundy, they've done a phenomenal job. They've acquired the right players. They wouldn't have been in this spot had they not acquired Jon Barry and Mike James. They've just done a tremendous job with this team. And it's just unfortunately somebody had to lose. We're going to have a lot of battles throughout the years, but I take my hat off to them. They're one of the most prepared teams that I've seen all year. And we're fortunate enough to win this game." Johnson: "It stretched us, man it stretched us. We were bending, we didn't break. We were staggering early in the series - wow, we were staggering. You know, to drop 2 at home, and to win 3 games in a row, drop another one, and then to come have a performance like this. Defensively, this is the performance we have been looking for the whole series. But, man, it's right on time right now. This is a great feeling. I'm excited for our basketball team." Johnson on what he said before the game: "I just think more than anything I talked to them about 3 things. Don't let their confidence be contaminated, that's a big thing for them. Don't have cautious confidence. Just compete, that's it, just compete. And I'm not going to call many plays because they're sitting on all of our plays. I couldn't even run a play. That's how good their defense [is]. So we just wanted to run a lot of pick-and-rolls and move their defense a little bit and fortunately it worked for us." Johnson: "We almost had 7 guys in double-figures. Obviously we had 4, but Damp had 8 and Stackhouse and Armstrong had 9. And I know that some of them came when the game was over, but we thought if we can get 5 or 6 guys in double-figures, if they would have 3 guys in double-figures - we knew 2 of them were going to be in double-figures, that's guaranteed basically with Yao and McGrady. But the key to us winning this game - and we had it circled on our board, we watched film on these guys, I gave guys film to take home with them - the key to this game tonight was Barry and James not getting loose on us. And that was the key to the whole series." Johnson on Van Gundy: "He shook my hand. [question: he did shake it?] Yeah. See what you got to understand and like I've said all along, this wasn't anything personal. And if I had a problem with something he was doing or anybody, I would say it. This is the same guy after game 1 when I got my $10,000 fine, that came to my rescue. And that's what everybody failed to realize. I had a problem with the coverage and I had a problem with some of the things that was going on with my own team. All right, now you know the truth. So I was talking because sometimes my team don't listen to me the way I want them to, all right. So that was the problem. If I had a problem with anybody, I would have mentioned their name, all right." Johnson on the problem with his team: "No, we just tend to make excuses sometimes. And I just wanted to let them know that we don't make excuses. We lose, we lose. Don't talk about no picks, I don't want to hear no excuses. And that's the same thing was the message tonight. So it wasn't about anybody else. I told you, this is no shock TV, or what ever that drama stuff is called. No dramas here. I'm sorry, I'm not a good drama guy. I don't have personal vendettas or problems with coach - I haven't even been coaching long enough, all right. I just started coaching. Normally you got to be coaching for 10 or 15 years before you start not liking a guy." Johnson on Armstrong: "Huge, huge. I started to do it in the 2nd half of game 6, getting him some minutes. I thought I got him out there and got him a feel for it. There was certain times early in the series, maybe game 1, I thought about it. But man, he came in and did the job for us, because we didn't have any answers for Mike James. With the way Mike James blew through our defense, we didn't have anybody that could match up with him. Josh was next in line to guard him, but DA did a great job. And we're going to need DA in the next series also." Johnson on Terry: "He's been solid. Just, you know, doing what he does well, shoot the ball. He had a couple of turnovers, but I can live with that. He's my guy. I told him around the trading deadline when he was nervous. You know, I called him into my room to give him a tape and he was shaking, he was sweating. He said, 'Oh man, I thought you were about to trade me.' I'm like, 'Man, no, you're the quarterback. Just stay in there, all right.' Obviously we're excited about this win." Johnson on Phoenix and Nash: "Yeah, we're looking forward to it. You know, if we would have lost this series, it would have been a huge disappointment. We never really talked about getting past the first round. We got lofty goals for this team. We think what happened to us in this first round can be very beneficial for us. We're playing against an outstanding team. Obviously you guys know I spent a year and a half with Steve and enjoyed my time with him. I even scored a few buckets on him in practice, but not any more." Johnson on the next round: "That's okay, We'd rather be part of the circus. We just want to play basketball." Johnson: "I wasn't going to call many plays. Just play our game, move the ball, make their defense move. We hadn't made their defense move. So I thought the guys were really loose tonight." Dirk Nowitzki: "I think the energy was great. The whole building, the fans were right there with us. And from the beginning on, everyone was in to the game. I think we did a great job defensively. Yao and TMac got their numbers, but on the other guys we stuck out there with them. We contested every shot and that was a big key." Nowitzki on Terry: "He was amazing. That game 3 where he had 32 already and making big shots. And you know, he had made big shots for us all season long. He's one of the best shooting guards I've ever seen. Once in a while he makes some mistakes out there, but shooting-wise, he's one of the best." Nowitzki: "Yao and Tracy got their points, like they usually do. The key was that we stuck with the other guys, and that made the difference." Nowitzki: "It was a long series. We were down 0-2 and frustrated at the beginning. But we hung in with some tough play and were able to grind it out until we finally got here and let loose." Michael Finley on his start: "I just think it was important for the starters to come out and set the tone for the game by being aggressive offensively and defensively. For me, I just had some good looks at the basket and my teammates always encourage me to be aggressive. And sometimes when I start off real aggressive just from shooting the ball, whether I make it or miss, it seems to set the tone for the game. But just coming back home and to truly use this home court to our advantage, we had to come out early and strong and I think we did that." Finley on defense: "We kept watching the same tapes over and over and it was kind of getting monotonous at what they were doing. But we just had to stick with our game plan. And that was to make it tough for Tracy and Yao and pretty much shut down the other guys and I think for the most part we did that. Our bench came in and gave us a good lift. Kept their bench nearly scoreless, and I think that was a major contributor to us winning the ball game." Finley on being down 0-2 helping going into the Phoenix series: "It's a big difference. I think we learned a lot in this 7 game series. So for one, we're not going to take Phoenix lightly. We're opening up the series on their court. So we have no reason to come out over confident. Two, we're quote unquote the underdog in this series, so the pressure is off us and it's on them. So we just got to go out there and play. We've had a lot of days of preparation playing Houston, so we should be good and ready to go come Monday." Finley vs Nash and him being MVP: "It will be good. You know, I congratulated him the other day, left him a voice mail and a couple of text messages so that when I did get to Phoenix, I wouldn't have to congratulate him again. Because as much as I like Steve and love him as a teammate and a friend, it's business once we get between those lines. So I didn't want to be too happy and jolly and hugging and kissing him before [glitch] ... Now it's time to go to battle." Finley on none of that Magic-Isiah stuff: "No. I mean, maybe between him and Dirk. But for me, you know, I have to go in with a straight face and you know, he'll do the same thing, and try to win the ball game." Finley on Johnson after starting down 0-2: "For one, he stayed positive in all his comments and all his strategic talk, he stayed positive because he had confidence in us that we're a better team than we displayed in those first 2 games. And saying that we're a great road team. And he kept harping on our positives, not pretty much talking about being down 0-2. I think from a positive mindset that definitely helped the team to go into Houston and get those 2 games. And also you have to remember this is Avery's first series as a coach. So he took a lot of lumps from a head coaching stand point, he learned a lot in the 7 game series. It's just going to make him a better coach and hopefully us a better team." Finley on home court: "It was big. I mean, a lot of people don't put a lot of emphasis on the regular season. They say the real party starts in the playoffs. But if we hadn't had the home court advantage, it probably would have been real tough to win a game 7 in Houston. But since we did have it, we used it to our advantage. And for guys who haven't been in the playoffs in a long time or maybe for the first time, it's good to have that game 7 at home 'cause it gives you a sense of confidence, you can feed off the crowd, the energy, and I think our young guys did that as well as Jason Terry. It just worked definitely to our benefit tonight." Finley on if the off the court stuff hurt Houston: "I don't know, I think we're professional teams. Some coaches go into playoff situations and try to manipulate the referees through the media sometimes. Sometimes it works and sometimes it may back fire. But I don't think it had an over all affect on their team. I mean, they were over exuberant in game 6 when they won and Avery told us to look at them down on their end of the bench and see how they're celebrating as if they have won the series. And they had forgot that they had to come back to Dallas. So we still had that vision in our minds. So we want to go out and pretty much do our celebrating, but do it in a more professional way." Finley on the many contributions: "Yeah, depth. Everyone always said that one of our strong points in our team is our depth. And it definitely helped us tonight. Darrell came in and put pressure on Mike James. I think Mike James was a big key to them winning game 6. He was like their energizer bunny. So we went on our bench and got our energizer bunny and put them together and he made Mike James work a little bit. And he was more worried about DA not stealing the ball than being aggressive on the offensive end. I think it helped us. DA along with Alan Henderson and Stackhouse, I mean they've been giving us tremendous lift off the bench. It's going to continue to come down to the bench helping us to win games in the future." Finley on if he celebrated the impending win at some point during the game: "I was picturing going to the next round last night. It didn't happen in this game. But I'm not the kind of guy to go to the media and say I'm guaranteeing a win or this or that. I'm just going to lead by example and have my teammates do what we have to do to get to the next round. You know, even though we were up, I told the guys this is just one obstacle or one hurdle in our journey to the Championship. So we can get excited for a little while, but we have to get back, refocus, and think about Phoenix." Finley past game 7s: "I think the atmosphere and over all hype is similar, but I think being in those situations, I knew what to expect. I knew what to expect from their team. I knew what to expect from our crowd. And I just wanted to tell my teammates to use it to our advantage. I told them that our crowd would be into it. It won't be a factor where our crowd is sitting on their hands or not cheering. Our crowd would be into it. It's just up to us to use the crowd to our advantage, come out early, get the crowd excited by doing great things on the defensive end and offensively. And when you do that, you literally use the home court to your advantage. And that was definitely evident for us tonight." Finley on Nowitzki being sick: "No, Dirk's too young to be sick. You know, I have a daughter and when she gets sick, she cries and mopes around, but when I give her candy, she's ready to run around and play. That's all Dirk was. He just wanted somebody to pat him on the back and say, 'You'll be okay.' But when that buzzer went off and that ball starts bouncing, no one in the crowd could see that he was a little bit under the weather. But he played through it. He's a warrior. He's one of the leaders of this team. He's one of the best players in this league. And in this type of situation, I told him right before the game, 'No excuses.' And he said, 'All right.' And he went out there and played his heart out and one of the reasons we won tonight." Finley on not playing against McGrady any more: "Tracy had one of the unbelievable series. I mean, not just TMac, I'm anxious not to see Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo screens. I was dreaming of those things. They were coming up from me every which way and just nailing me. And chasing Tracy around for 48 minutes was definitely an experience that I will never forget. He's a great player. He did all he could do as a player to try to get his team over the hump. But I just think we were the better team this series." Finley: "It was important for us to come out and be the aggressor and use the home court to our advantage. We did that tonight right from the jump ball and we maintained throughout the game." Finley: "We knew that even if we played some of our better defense Tracy and Yao have the ability still to get decent numbers, so we just didn't want those guys to get huge numbers and the supporting cast to come in and have huge numbers as well. We gave as much focus on Tracy and Yao as we did the supporting cast." Finley: "Our bench was very important for us, not just from an offensive stand point, but also from a defensive stand point and their energy level. When we went to the bench we didn't want to lose anything and Darrell came in and gave us full court pressure and pretty much change the game and the momentum of the game for us. He kept our energy going and I'm just glad he's on our team." Finley on Nowitzki: "It's been a tough series for him because they were throwing different coverages at him whether it was double-teaming him or throwing small guys at him and just trying to take him out of his comfort zone. Tonight he was a distributor, he was a rebounder, and he was a defender. He did all the little things that super star players in order for their team to win and he did that for us tonight." Jerry Stackhouse: "We just pushed the ball up and made plays. We didn't try to over-complicate the game. We simplified it and we made plays and that's easy for our team." Stackhouse: "This was no time to come down and try to be methodical. We can do that and have success against other teams. Not this one. This is a team that we realized we had to keep on the move, keep them guessing. I think they were surprised at that. Yeah, we made history tonight." Stackhouse on Nowitzki: "We win as a team, and we lose as a team. Tonight everybody did it, and Dirk was a part of that. He got key rebounds and played good defense. If it's not doing one thing, it's doing something else." Jason Terry: "First of all, I just give glory to God because without him I wouldn't be here today. I feel my experience in Atlanta prepared me for what I'm facing with Dallas. I mean, all season long it's been about persevere. This series couldn't be a better example of perseverance. We're down 0-2. We comeback and win 2 games. Win another at home. And then drop game 6. But we came back here and I think more importantly is our fans. I mean the way they came out tonight and supported us to the end just shows you that we do have the greatest fans in basketball." Terry: "My mindset was to come out and set the tone for my team on both ends of the floor and I thought we were able to do that. Give credit to a guy like Darrell Armstrong who hadn't played pretty much all series long. And he comes in frustrates the heck out of Mike James. We limit their bench players, which was our game plan. And we pushed the ball all night. You hadn't seen us push it like that all series. And we continued to keep the pressure on them 94 feet. Terry on limiting Houston's bench: "The key to the series. If their bench players, if Barry and James and Padgett get off tonight, we lose the game. We didn't like our chances. But we're going through the scouting report and seeing what they did to us in the games that they won, their bench was killing us. I mean, we had no answer. They were hitting open shots and they were penetrating the heck out of us. But we persevered, man. And Avery Johnson did a great job with the game plan tonight. He changed it up, brought in DA off the bench to guard Mike James. Josh Howard was huge. And the MVP [Nowitzki], the MVP had to get IVs after the game and he had 14 rebounds, 4 blocks. And that's just huge when you're able to do something else to help your team." Terry on being down 0-2: "We strongly believe in our system and we believe in each other so much that 0-2 was nothing to us. We figured we had 2 bad games. You know, our road record was good all season long. We feel like we can go in to anyone's arena and pretty much we like our chances. So no way do we get down. I mean, in a series, they've told me now, I guess, I'm a veteran now, you know, 7 games is a lot. But they say you can't get too high or too low. And that's what we didn't do. We just stayed right at even keel and then tonight our fans really lifted us up." Terry on Phoenix and Nash: "It's not a one-on-one duel. It's the Mavericks vs the Suns. I take my hat off to him. He's the MVP. He's done a great job for his team. But it's all about the Mavericks. Our mindset coming in is we need to set the tone on defense and become a defensive team against them. We know they are a high scoring team. If we can limit their open shots and contest every shot, we like our chances." Terry on his performances: "That's fine. But if Jason Terry gets 2 points and we win the series and I average 2 points for those series and we win, I did my job. And that's all it's about is winning. At the end of the day, all the glory, like I said, goes to God." Terry on the short turnaround for game 1 vs Phoenix: "We like it. I mean, we're coming off a great game tonight, which we have to look at and go back to the film, but Phoenix is going to be ready. They've been sitting and waiting and watching, so I know they're going to be prepared. They're going to be full of energy at home. But like I said, we feel confident going in to any arena in the NBA." Terry on getting advice: "Actually my best friend is Mike Bibby, but also another Arizona guard Damon Stoudamire, I talked to him throughout the series. He's been at games in Houston and he's called me on the phone. And you know how deep they went with Portland. He has a great experience at it. So talking with him and he shared his experiences with me. The main thing he told me was to continue to be aggressive and lead by example. And I was able to do that tonight." Terry on going against former teammate Sura: "Not tough at all. I mean, this is the playoffs and we're trying to get to the next round regardless of who's out there, in between those lines it's a battle. It doesn't matter, put the friendship aside, but we'll be friends after the game." Josh Howard on how he feels: "Good right now. I want to start off by thanking the fans because if it weren't for them, we wouldn't of won this game. They came out and gave us great love and great support." Howard on Armstrong: "Great defensive energy, great offensive energy. He's a little spark plug for us. We love that guy when he's out there on the court." Howard: "We just came out there ready to play ball. I don't think the guys were nervous or anything. We just knew what we had to do." Howard on defending McGrady: "I just tried to contain him like I have the whole series. This time, it finally worked." Howard on the rest of the playoffs: "What do we have, 3 more series to win? We'll take them 1 by 1. But we feel good about how this team came back. We never lost faith." Darrell Armstrong: "I felt good to be able to contribute the way I did tonight. I knew I was going to get the call tonight because of Mike James. Avery wanted to match me up against Mike James. It just worked out for the best." Shawn Bradley: "It's a testament to the depth of our team when your star player maybe isn't doing what everyone knows he can. But everyone else steps in and fills the void." Jeff Van Gundy on Armstrong: "No, he's a good pro and great ball pressure player. They put him in the 2nd half the last game. That's the sign of a professional to be ready after not playing much the 2nd half of the year. You got to give him a lot of credit." Van Gundy: "They played great. They pounded us in every effort area. On the board, they were relentless. We were, you know, we didn't bring a physical presence that you need to win a game like that. In transition, they were obviously much quicker. But I think the thing that bothered me the most is we got beat by a team that played superior to us obviously tonight. But one, we cracked in every way, you know, composure on the floor. It was really not fitting of how we have played and conducted ourselves this year. And then I think our shot selection was very, very poor in the 1st half. We were trying to, our fast break shots were not selective enough. So we dug ourselves a hole and yet at halftime I thought we would get back into the game. We had some good possessions, but we just cracked. And that was disappointing because our team I thought had played well all year. And in the biggest game of the year to crack like that is disappointing.": Van Gundy on if Sura wore down: "I can't really, I don't know. Obviously Terry had a great night and a great series and you've got to give him a lot of credit. Bob had a very good year. Obviously no one had a game that, we did not play a game that we could be proud of tonight. But Bob had a tremendous year and Terry obviously had a huge series. Van Gundy on defending Nowitzki: "That's of little consolation right now. But he's a heck of a player. We have great respect for him. And I thought Tracy defended him as well as you can defend." Van Gundy on Yao being aggressive: "Well I think, I've said this often, I think Yao's play is over-analyzed on every possession - you know, not tough, not this, not that. I think he's developed very well. And I thought for the most part tonight he played very, very well. But we didn't play well. I also, with that being said, with us not playing well, you've got to give Dallas - they were so, so very aggressive on the board. That to me was the critical element in the game." Van Gundy: "I thought their ball pressure was good. I think when Armstrong came in that obviously went up. Obviously we've relied a lot on the 3-point shot this year, and didn't make tonight, but also I didn't think the quality of 3s were good either. So you have to give them credit for that." Van Gundy on the season: "Well I think certainly the way it ended does not reflect well on myself, on the team. But it doesn't detract from my pride in, my overall pride in the team and how they went about their business. But it does show just how very, very far we have to go. To play with a complete lack of poise and to crack like we did, it gives great, it gives you a clear picture. This game gives us a very clear picture of where we need to improve and where to go. And so, very disappointed in the result. More disappointed in how we played than I have been in a long time. But also I temper that with a great appreciation and pride in how our guys conducted themselves this year, went about their business and played. So that's how I look at it right now." Tracy McGrady: "I don't think none of us seened a picture like this. I definitely didn't see that picture, man. I think we came out a little bit flat. Those guys had a lot more speed. We couldn't defend anybody. They were driving right by us. And when everybody sinks in, they kick it out, guys are knocking down shots. So I don't think we were ready for that." McGrady: "I had great looks. It's been nights when I played great defense and had great scoring nights. So I don't think it caught up with me. I think in game 6 I played great defense and had a phenomenal game. So not at all. I just had some good looks tonight. It just didn't fall." McGrady: "You know what, I am disgusted. I'm mad. I'm angry, all that stuff. But at the same time, I'm not going to hang my head. You know, I'm 25 years old and I got a lot more years in this league. And I will be back next year, I will be back next year. You know, all this that I'm going through, it's only going to make me tougher. I will never fold regardless. I've been bounced out of the first round 4 or 5 years. I won't fold, I won't fold. And I will be back, my team will be back. And we will be back better and stronger. And what we're shooting for next year is to have game 7, if it ever came down to that, in Houston. So I'm not going to hang my head. I think we did a hell of a job. We started off this year in the hole. We started off in a hole. Made some great changes, got some guys in here that helped our team out, and we got on a roll. And coming into this playoff series, we were the underdogs. I think we pushed this team to the max. And tonight we just didn't have enough. I don't think we were prepared for this. But regardless if I got knocked out again, or whatever people want to say, I'm a loser whatever, I promise you I will be back next year. We will be back next year. So it's all good. Kenny and all them guys going fishing right now, [bleep], I might just go fishing. [laugh]" McGrady on if the series is the best he's ever played: "Absolutely, absolutely. I think this playoff series, I was strong at both ends for 7 straight games. Not only that but I felt good physically and mentally. As before I was pretty drained late in a series, I just didn't have what it took to be effective on either end of the basketball court. This year I was just pushing. I was real hungry. I was determined to try to make it happen because I felt like this was my year. But once again, hey, I fell short." McGrady if it's easier to take: "No, it doesn't. This is tough. It's tough to win in this league. It is tough. You know, you have a lot of great plyers that play this game. A lot of great players that play this game but don't have a ring to show for it. But by me pushing to try to get out of the first round is tough. Especially when you play a team like Dallas in the first round and you don't have home court. It's tough. But at the same time, I will be back. We will be back. It's going to make me stronger. All of this is just making me stronger, man. You know what, I love it. I love it, every bit of it. Because I will have the last laugh." McGrady: "I won't forget about this. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm a student of the game so I watch a lot of basketball. That's all I do. Right now I think I watch more basketball than I spend time with my daughters. But I will sit back and analyze this whole series. And I will just try to see some things over and see what I could have done better, see what my team could have done better. But I definitely won't forget about it, not at all." McGrady on next year: "With myself and Yao and the supporting cast that we have, it's only going to get better for us. It's only going to get better. We have a bright future, we have a bright future and it is a light at the end of the tunnel. And I know that and I hope my guys know that. Great coach. I'd like to thank him for what he's done for me this year. He's been phenomenal. It's just been a great run. Also I'd like to thank my teammates, man. You know, coming into this year, there was a lot of pressure put on myself. Just about those guys making a trade for me and trading 3 starters from last year's team. And you know, we started off in a hole at 6-11 and we made the turn around. Got some guys some new acquisitions for our team and made a miraculous turn around and everything started rolling for us. And all that talk about it was a bad trade was out the window. So I give thanks to my teammates, my coaching staff for sticking with me and helping me get through this. But it's a wrap for this year, man. It is a wrap, but we'll be back." Yao Ming: "We just didn't bring our energy to this arena from the first minutes. They look like a team getting to the 2nd round. We did not." David Wesley: "The feeling I'm left with now is not that we lost but how we lost. It felt like we weren't even out there." Wesley: "They did what they do. There was so much we weren't doing. Off the dribble, we couldn't guard anybody. That set the tone for the whole game. From the beginning, we couldn't guard them off the dribble. It seemed like we gave them everything they could possibly want." Wesley: "Even when they were up 20 in the 1st half, I was thinking, 'We're okay, we're okay.' We got it to 15 at halftime, came out, missed our first shot, got a stop, made our second shot, 13. I was feeling we were getting back in this game. I never would have expected it to get to the 20s, 30s, and certainly not 40." Wesley: "It looked like we lost our confidence." Jon Barry: "It was from when we got off the bus. It's tough to explain to get hammered like that in every aspect of the game. It's not the team we've been. It's just very disappointing. There's no easy way to lose a game. It's painful. It's frustrating." Barry: "Very disappointing. We lost our poise. It's painful." Scott Padgett: "Yao played great, but the thing is, you look back on it, and you won't remember Yao played great because we played terrible. He had a great game all series long. When he got the ball down deep, he killed them. Unfortunately, in the other games we lost excluding tonight, he didn't touch the ball enough probably." Dikembe Mutombo on Yao: "I'm just happy for him, just for the fact that he finished the season so strong, regardless of the loss tonight. He tried to give the team his best, and there's not much more we can ask of him. I think he was really aggressive, played extremely well on both ends. When they switched and went very small, there was not much he could do. But he was making them pay on the other end. To me, he played really well tonight." Game 7: Dallas Mavericks 116, Houston Rockets 76 at Dallas (May 7) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 32 27 33 24 - 116 .516 .500 .513 .929 Houston 20 24 20 12 - 76 .406 .167 .354 .833 Halftime: Dallas 59-44 3rd Q: Dallas 92-64 Technicals: Tracy McGrady 6:42 2nd, Mike James 0:31 3rd, Mike James (ejected) 0:31 3rd Refs: Bill Spooner, Ron Garretson, Steve Javie Attendance: 20,884 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Keith Van Horn (sprained left ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 38 8-13 0-2 5-5 21 1-11 3 2 5 2 4 Dirk Nowitzki 36 5-14 0-1 4-6 14 3-14 2 2 1 1 3 Erick Dampier 24 3-6 0-0 2-2 8 4-8 0 1 3 0 1 Michael Finley 37 5-13 3-6 0-0 13 3-7 3 1 3 0 0 Jason Terry 41 8-14 3-5 12-12 31 0-2 3 5 2 2 0 Jerry Stackhouse 23 4-10 0-0 1-1 9 1-2 4 1 0 1 0 Darrell Armstrong 19 4-4 1-1 0-0 9 1-2 4 0 3 1 1 Alan Henderson 9 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 2-3 0 1 1 0 1 Devin Harris 4 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 2 0 0 0 0 Marquis Daniels 6 1-1 1-1 0-0 3 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Shawn Bradley 3 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 41-80 8-16 26-28 116 16-52 21 14 19 7 10 Houston Rockets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Tracy McGrady 36 10-26 1-7 6-7 27 4-7 7 4 1 0 3 Scott Padgett 31 1-6 1-3 0-0 3 3-6 1 0 5 0 1 Yao Ming 43 13-23 0-0 7-8 33 4-10 1 2 4 1 5 Bob Sura 25 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 1 3 2 1 0 David Wesley 41 2-9 1-3 2-3 7 1-3 0 2 4 3 0 Jon Barry 25 1-6 0-4 0-0 2 0-5 3 0 3 0 0 Mike James 17 2-7 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 2 1 3 0 0 Dikembe Mutombo 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Ryan Bowen 12 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 1 1 3 0 0 Moochie Norris 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 29-82 3-18 15-18 76 13-33 16 13 25 5 9 patricia Go Mavs!