Jerry Stackhouse (sore right knee) and Erick Dampier (strained right hip) did not play in the New York or Clippers games. Dallas released Erick Strickland after the New York game. [Samo Udrih was released back on Oct. 10.] Preseason: New York Knicks at Dallas (October 21) All that's ugly about preseason game to Dallas and, let me tell you, that 1st quarter was painful to watch. Both teams were shooting very poorly, with Dallas worse than New York (at one point Dallas was shooting 22% FG and New York 33% FG). The Knicks held a small lead most of the quarter and closed the quarter with an 8-2 run to go up 23-14 after 1. And the Mavs had to feel fortunate to be down just 9 points as Dallas shot 25% FG in the quarter and New York shot 44% FG and the Knicks out-rebounded Dallas 17-6. It was more bricks for Dallas in the 2nd quarter. New York used a 13-3 run to go up 40-21 with 7 minutes to go. There was an almost 3 minute frame where neither team could connect on a field goal. Dallas did string together a couple of shots (over a 2 minute period) to pull within 33-42 with 1:30 remaining. 2 New York free throws 20 seconds later were the last points scored in the quarter. New York led 44-33 at the half. After a halftime lecture, Dallas open the 3rd quarter with a much better effort and started hitting some shots, while New York fell apart and had a dismal quarter. Dallas scored the first 12 points of the quarter to go up 45-44 with 6:25 left as New York missed their first 6 shots, missed 2 free throws, and committed 4 turnovers. The Knicks finally scored in the quarter on a free throws 6 minutes into the quarter and didn't hit a field goal (their only of the quarter) until over 10 minutes into the quarter. After being down by 10 points at halftime, Dallas led 56-53 after 3 as Dallas out-scored New York 23-9 in the 3rd quarter. New York shot 1-12 FG and 7-14 FT in the quarter. Per preseason usual, Dirk Nowitzki sat the entire 4th quarter. New York re-found their shooting touch and started scoring again in the 4th quarter. Dallas did score 10 straight points to go up 68-61 with 7:25 to go, with 4 steals by Marquis Daniels during the run. New York went on an 11-3 run to tie the game at 78-78 with 2:15 left. Fresh out of a timeout, Trevor Ariza got a far too easy layup to give New York an 81-80 lead with 45 seconds remaining - and he was fouled on the drive, but missed the free throw, but Josh Powell was fouled on the rebound and he got 2 free throws and hit them both to put Dallas back up by 1. Jamal Crawford answered with a jumper and Devin Harris got a layup with 25 seconds to go. Harris blocked a layup attempt by Nate Robinson, but Robinson got the ball back and the layup to give New York an 85-84 lead with 12 seconds left. Harris missed a jumper, the rebound was tapped up, and Powell got the putback with 5 seconds remaining. After a New York timeout, Dallas played good defense and Crawford missed badly at the buzzer (and I didn't think he even got the shot off in time). Dallas won 86-85. It definitely wasn't pretty basketball, even though it got exciting at the end. Dallas' poor 1st quarter performance was mirrored by New York's poor 3rd quarter performance. Neither team has much to be proud of from this game. Dallas shot 43.7% (31-71) FG and a poor 19-29 FT. They were hitting 3-pointers, though, in shooting 5-11 3-pointers. New York shot well above the 42% FG Avery Johnson wants the Mavs to hold teams to. The Knicks shot 51.7% (30-58) FG and also missed 10 free throws in shooting 24-34 FT. The Knicks lost despite killing Dallas on the boards. New York out-rebounded Dallas 48-26 including 13-10 offensive. But the key to Dallas' win was probably the Knick's sloppy ball handling as they had a really high 30 turnovers (while Dallas had a decent number with 14 turnovers). Thank goodness I don't know the final points in the paint that New York scored, as I know it was a ton. All though he struggled some with his shot, Josh Howard did manage to shoot better than 50% FG at 8-15 FG and had a game high 21 points. He also had 8 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki also struggled shooting some and managed to shoot near 50% FG at 5-11 FG. He had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Jason Terry had 17 points, 3 assists, and 4 steals. 13 of Devin Harris' 15 points came in the 4th quarter. Marquis Daniels' string of steals during the 4th quarter was a thing of beauty. No one from New York really had a game worth mentioning. Dallas Mavericks 86, New York Knicks 85 at Dallas (October 21) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 14 19 23 30 - 86 .433 .455 .437 .655 New York 23 21 9 32 - 85 .537 .250 .517 .706 Halftime: New York 44-33 3rd Q: Dallas 56-53 Technicals: New York defensive 3 seconds Refs: Jeff Smith, Mike Callahan, Tony Greene Attendance: 19,697 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Jerry Stackhouse (sore right knee), Erick Dampier (strained right hip), Pavel Podkolzin (sprained right big toe), Quentin Richardson (strained left hamstring) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 35 8-15 2-2 3-4 21 4-8 2 0 4 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 28 5-11 0-1 4-5 14 0-8 4 1 3 2 3 DeSagana Diop 12 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 5 1 1 Doug Christie 25 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 2 0 2 1 0 Jason Terry 31 6-10 2-4 3-3 17 2-3 3 3 3 4 0 DJ Mbenga 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 3 0 0 Devin Harris 23 6-12 1-2 2-2 15 0-0 3 1 4 2 1 Marquis Daniels 26 2-6 0-0 2-4 6 1-1 3 1 1 6 1 Keith Van_Horn 29 1-7 0-1 0-2 2 1-2 2 4 3 1 1 Darrell Armstrong 5 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0-1 0 1 0 0 0 Josh Powell 21 2-2 0-0 5-7 9 2-3 0 1 4 0 0 Totals 48 31-71 5-11 19-29 86 10-26 19 14 32 19 7 New York Knicks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Anfernee Hardaway 20 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 0-3 0 0 1 0 0 Antonio Davis 15 1-4 0-0 4-6 6 4-7 0 0 4 0 1 Jerome James 15 0-5 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 1 1 0 1 Stephon Marbury 30 4-9 0-1 3-3 11 0-3 2 6 1 0 0 Jamal Crawford 37 3-9 1-3 4-4 11 1-8 4 1 1 1 0 Eddy Curry 17 3-3 0-0 4-8 10 0-1 1 5 4 1 2 Trevor Ariza 28 6-7 0-0 1-3 13 3-5 0 3 4 2 0 Nate Robinson 29 5-6 0-0 2-2 12 1-6 4 6 5 1 0 Maurice Taylor 17 5-6 0-0 1-2 11 0-5 0 3 4 1 0 Channing Frye 11 2-3 0-0 2-2 6 0-2 1 2 5 0 0 David Lee 19 1-5 0-0 1-2 3 4-5 1 2 3 0 0 Jackie Butler 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 30-58 1-4 24-34 85 13-48 13 30 34 6 4 Preseason: LA Clippers at Dallas (October 23) It was again a tale of 2 halves, with this time being the 2nd half where Dallas stunk up the joint. The game stayed close in the 1st quarter with the Clippers mostly holding small leads. A 3-pointer near the end of the quarter by Dirk Nowitzki gave Dallas a 17-16 lead after 1. Both teams shot 30% FG in the quarter. The game stayed close the first 10 minutes of the 2nd quarter with neither team holding more than a 4 point lead. Dallas scored the last 8 points of the quarter to go up 41-33 at the half. Dallas came out an laid an egg for the 3rd quarter, both defensively and offensively. Josh Howard did open the quarter with a jumper, but it was down hill from there as Sam Cassell went nuts and the Clippers went on an 18-2 run to go up 51-45 with 6:15 remaining - Cassell had 10 points during the run. After a Dallas timeout, the Mavs did briefly show some defense as the Clippers went a minute and a half without scoring and Dallas had 4 points, but it was back to poor play after that was the Clippers scored the next 9 points to go up 60-49 with 3 minutes to go. Elton Brand got a dunk at the quarter's end to give the Clippers a 70-58 lead after 3. The Clippers out-scored Dallas 37-17 in the quarter as the Clippers shot 14-20 FG and Dallas shot 5-19 FG. Cassell had 12 points and Brand had 13 points in the quarter. Dallas sent their youngsters in for the 4th quarter while the Clippers kept playing Cassell and subbed Cuttino Mobley and Brand in when Cassell went out midway through the quarter - and the results were predictable. The Clippers led in double-digits the last 9 minutes of the 4th quarter, taking their largest lead at 20 points with a minute left. The Clippers won 99-80. Once again Dallas' defense was lacking and their shots weren't falling, so it was a tough night, especially in the 2nd half when the Mavs' defense got worse and Sam Cassell and Elton Brand took advantage of all Dallas was giving them. The Clippers shot 48.1% (39-81) FG including 6-10 3-pointers while Dallas shot 38.8% (31-80) FG. And the teams were even on the boards, so Dallas didn't make up for their poor shooting night by going after the many rebounds. Surprising for a preseason game, both teams were fairly clean with the ball as Dallas had 14 turnovers and the Clippers had just 8 turnovers. The Mavs do get the nod for the most entertaining moment of the night. Fresh out of a timeout, the ref handed the ball on the side to Marquis Daniels. Daniels quickly passed the ball into Devin Harris and Harris streaked down the court the other way as whistles blew and shouts of "Our ball!" were heard and Harris went ahead and made the solo layup and then brought the ball back. It didn't count, of course, but it's always fun to see the refs fall for that old trick. Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard had terrible outings. Nowitzki had 10 points including 2-11 FG and 8 rebounds. Howard had 10 points including 4-14 FG and 5 rebounds. It was the first game this preseason that Howard has shot less than 50% FG. No Mav player really looked that good. Elton Brand, Sam Cassell, and Cuttino Mobley all had nice outings for the Clippers. Each had 21 points. Brand also had 10 rebounds. Mobley also had 6 rebounds and 7 assists. The ghost of Bubba Wells must have been present as James Singleton picked up 4 fouls in the first 3 minutes of the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Clippers 99, Dallas Mavericks 80 at Dallas (October 23) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% LA Clippers 16 17 37 29 - 99 .465 .600 .481 .833 Dallas 17 24 17 22 - 80 .384 .429 .388 .714 Halftime: Dallas 41-33 3rd Q: LA Clippers 70-58 Technicals: LA Clippers defensive 3 seconds Refs: Ed F. Rush, John Gobel, Leroy Richardson Attendance: 18,905 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Corey Maggette (strained left hamstring), Zeljko Rebraca (left knee patella tendinitis), Chris Kaman (bruised left hand), Shaun Livingston (sore lower back), Jerry Stackhouse (sore right knee), Erick Dampier (sore right hip) Los Angeles Clippers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Quinton Ross 32 2-5 0-0 1-2 5 2-6 1 0 2 2 2 Elton Brand 31 7-14 0-0 7-7 21 1-8 1 3 1 3 5 Chris Wilcox 34 3-10 0-0 0-0 6 2-10 3 1 4 0 0 Cuttino Mobley 34 7-16 4-5 3-3 21 2-6 7 0 2 1 0 Sam Cassell 25 9-13 0-0 3-4 21 0-4 4 2 3 0 2 Walter McCarty 31 1-5 0-3 0-0 2 0-5 2 0 2 1 1 James Singleton 14 1-1 0-0 1-1 3 1-1 0 1 4 0 0 Daniel Ewing 28 7-11 2-2 0-1 16 1-2 4 1 3 0 0 Rodney White 9 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 1-1 0 0 0 0 0 Yaroslav Korolev 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 39-81 6-10 15-18 99 10-43 22 8 21 7 10 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 30 4-14 0-0 2-3 10 2-5 2 2 4 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 29 2-11 1-2 5-5 10 0-8 3 2 3 1 2 DeSagana Diop 23 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 1-6 0 1 3 1 1 Doug Christie 24 6-10 0-1 0-0 12 0-2 2 0 0 0 1 Jason Terry 19 2-8 1-2 2-2 7 0-3 5 0 1 0 1 Keith Van_Horn 17 3-7 0-0 1-2 7 1-1 0 0 0 0 1 Devin Harris 23 0-4 0-0 2-4 2 0-1 3 1 3 0 0 Josh Powell 21 2-3 0-0 1-2 5 4-6 0 6 4 0 0 Marquis Daniels 21 6-9 0-0 0-0 12 1-4 1 1 0 1 1 DJ Mbenga 12 1-2 0-0 1-1 3 0-4 0 0 1 0 1 Rawle Marshall 9 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Darrell Armstrong 6 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Kaniel Dickens 6 2-4 1-1 1-2 6 1-1 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 31-80 3-7 15-21 80 10-43 18 13 19 4 8 patricia