Dallas at Seattle (December 20) It was a game of key injuries as Ray Allen did not play and the Sonics lost Rashard Lewis a mere minute into the game. Dallas led 12-6 with 7:55 remaining, but Seattle then scored the next 16 points to go up 22-12 with 3:35 to go as Dallas missed 5 straight shots and committed 4 turnovers. Dallas suffered a loss themselves when Dirk Nowitzki went down (and out) with a scary looking sprained ankle with 2 minutes left in the quarter (he was able to return to action for the next game). A dunk by Chris Wilcox gave Seattle their largest lead at 31-20 with 45 seconds to go. Dallas scored the last 4 points of the quarter. Seattle led 31-24 after 1. Seattle shot 15-21 FG, but didn't attempt a free throw and Dallas shot 9-21 FG and 5-7 FT. Seattle's lead hovered around 9 points for the first several minutes of the 2nd quarter. A layup by Damien Wilkins gave Seattle a 46-33 lead with 6:10 to go. A jumper by Earl Watson gave Seattle their largest lead at 55-41 with 1:35 remaining. Seattle led 56-45 at the half. Seattle shot 68% FG and Dallas shot 42% FG in the half. Seattle started missing some shots in the 2nd half. Seattle led 64-52 with 7:45 left and Dallas scored the next 12 points to tie the game at 64-64 with 4:50 to go. Dallas was able to take a few leads over the rest of the quarter, but so was Seattle as the game went back and forth. Dallas led 73-72 after 3. Seattle shot 8-24 FG in the quarter as Dallas out-scored Seattle 28-16. Dallas scored the first 4 points of the 4th quarter to go up 77-72 with 10:25 to go. A 3-pointer by Watson tied the game at 85-85 with 6:15 left. Dallas then went on a 16-2 run to go up 101-87 with 1:20 left. Seattle did score the next 6 points, but ran out of time and 2 free throws by Devin Harris capped the scoring. Dallas won 103-95. It was a gutty win by the Mavs in winning the game minus their best player - okay, so Seattle was hurting more in playing without Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, but still. It was a tale of 2 halves as Seattle shot 68% FG in the 1st half shot 36% FG in the 2nd half. Dallas shot 42% FG in the 1st half and shot 57% FG in the 2nd half. Dallas out-scored Seattle 58-39 in the 2nd half. For the game, Dallas shot 47.9% (35-73) FG including 4-14 3-pointers. Seattle shot 51.2% (42-82) FG including 4-9 3-pointers. Dallas had a huge edge at the line in shooting 29-34 FT while Seattle shot 7-10 FT. Dallas out-rebounded Seattle 39-28 including 15-10 offensive. Erick Dampier had a stellar game. He had 22 points on 7-11 FG and 8-9 FT and 16 rebounds including 9 offensive. In the 4th quarter, Dampier had 9 points and 4 rebounds. Josh Howard had 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Jason Terry had 17 points and 6 assists. Devin Harris had 13 points and 5 assists. Devean George was the 5th Mav in double-digits with 13 points. He shot 5-6 FG. Jerry Stackhouse had 7 points including 3-9 FG, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Seattle had 3 players pick up the slack with their stars out. Luke Ridnour led the way with 21 points. He also had 9 assists before fouling out in the last minute of the game. Chris Wilcox had 18 points and 9 rebounds. Earl Watson had 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Andreas Glyniadakis had 11 points and Mickael Gelabale had 10 points. Quotes Avery Johnson: "We got off to a slow start tonight. Even without their 2 best players, they came out and really put it on us. We turned the ball over in the 1st quarter and we missed shots. We didn't know what plays we were running. We acted like we never practiced before. That carried on throughout most of the 1st half. They were aggressive and they made their shots. Every time they got the ball the ball was automatically going in.: Johnson: "Sometimes the game is a tale of 2 halves. We really got our defense short in the 3rd quarter. Devean George helped us out quite a bit. Dampier had a monster half for us. We challenged him to have a strong 2nd half and he did. Then we just had efforts from everybody. We got some stops and we were really aggressive at going to the basket. Fortunately for us we were able to win." Dirk Nowitzki on his sprained ankle: "Whenever this happens, at first it scares you, but I've done this before. The docs have told me it's just a sprain and that I'll be okay." Jerry Stackhouse: "That was an aggressive win for us tonight. We struggled a little bit in the 1st half. They are a front running team and they have done that every year we come up and play. We had to claw back into the game but I think we just had a good 2nd half. We really did a good job of putting defensive pressure on them. We made them take bad shots and they got a little bit tighter as the game went on." Jerry Stackhouse: "I didn't see Dirk go down but I am just coming off an ankle sprain myself. It was a bad little series right there." Erick Dampier: "I think everyone took the defensive challenge to go out in the 2nd half and got the job done." Bob Hill: "Let's see we have Ray [Allen], Rashard [Lewis], Wilcox, Robert Swift, Danny Fortson, who else? I mean, they're all out. And I couldn't be prouder. They fought tooth and nail for a long time. We got great effort from everyone who stepped on the floor. I thought Gelabale was special. He had to come out, he was too tired. I'm proud of them." Hill on the free throw difference: "That's where you're playing a team and you're not allowed to touch them. There are a bunch of calls I'm going to send [to the league]. I'm not sure how much good it will do." Hill: "We just got tired. Gelabale got tired. Luke [Ridnour] played a lot of minutes and got tired. I thought Weezy [Wilcox] got tired. We just didn't have any depth." Hill: "I have to say this because I know everyone was upset that we lost 5 games on the road, but we were 3 possessions from winning 3 of those games. I was disappointed but I wasn't discouraged by any stretch of the imagination. Tonight gives you a good indication of why I'm not discouraged. We've got good guys on this team, they work hard, they're competing. They hung in there tonight against the 2nd best team in the West with 5 or 6 guys out. You've got to give them credit. I'm proud of them." Earl Watson: "I think the only thing you can take out of this is this builds character as a team. I was just saying that every thing that can possibly happen always happens. It builds character and we'll see if we can overcome obstacles like this and do the best we can from where we are at." Watson: "When it happens so much it can only get better. That's the kind of attitude that you have to have that it can only get better." Watson on the free throw difference: "We can't control certain calls on the court. We just have to find a way to get to the line and stay in the game. We played hard. No one can question how hard we play. Even the guys that went out there tonight played hard and tried to make plays." Dallas Mavericks 103, Seattle Sonics 95 at Seattle (December 20) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 24 21 28 30 - 103 .525 .286 .479 .853 Seattle 31 25 16 23 - 95 .521 .444 .512 .700 Halftime: Seattle 56-45 3rd Q: Dallas 73-72 Technicals: Bob Hill 5:08 3rd Refs: Gary Zielinski, Tim Dounaghy, Derrick Stafford Attendance: 16,867 (cap 17,072) IL: Dallas - Jose Juan Barea, Maurice Ager, Pops Mensah-Bonsu Seattle - Ray Allen, Danny Fortson, Robert Swift Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Devin Harris 35 3-6 0-0 7-8 13 1-3 5 3 4 0 1 Jason Terry 38 5-12 1-4 6-7 17 2-3 6 2 3 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 10 2-6 0-1 2-2 6 0-3 2 1 1 0 0 Josh Howard 39 6-15 1-4 2-2 15 0-6 4 3 2 2 2 Erick Dampier 35 7-11 0-0 8-9 22 9-16 0 2 1 0 1 Devean George 25 5-6 1-1 2-2 13 0-2 0 2 3 0 2 Jerry Stackhouse 20 3-9 0-1 1-2 7 2-4 4 3 1 2 0 Greg Buckner 14 1-3 1-1 0-0 3 1-1 1 0 0 1 1 DeSagana Diop 13 1-1 0-0 1-2 3 0-1 0 1 5 0 1 Austin Croshere 5 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Anthony Johnson 5 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 DJ Mbenga 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 35-73 4-14 29-34 103 15-39 23 17 20 6 8 Seattle Sonics REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Luke Ridnour 41 9-17 2-3 1-2 21 0-3 9 2 6 1 1 Damien Wilkins 29 4-9 1-2 2-2 11 1-2 3 2 5 2 0 Chris Wilcox 32 9-18 0-0 0-0 18 4-9 1 3 3 0 0 Rashard Lewis 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 Andreas Glyniadakis 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 4 0 0 Mickael Gelabale 42 5-9 0-1 0-0 10 1-2 1 0 1 0 1 Earl Watson 36 8-17 1-3 1-2 18 2-6 5 2 2 4 0 Johan Petro 26 3-6 0-0 1-1 7 0-1 0 3 5 1 0 Nick Collison 19 3-5 0-0 1-2 7 2-4 1 1 2 0 0 Mike Wilks 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 2 2 0 0 Desmon Farmer 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Mouhamed Sene 1 1-1 0-0 1-1 3 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 42-82 4-9 7-10 95 10-28 21 16 30 8 3 patricia