Josh Howard was named as Player of the Week for the Western Conference for the week ending December 24. Howard averaged 23 points as Dallas went 3-0. LA Clippers at Dallas (December 22) After suffering a scary looking sprained ankle 2 nights before, everyone was happy to see Dirk Nowitzki play [anyone who still questions his toughness has not been paying attention over the past 5 years]. But Jerry Stackhouse also sprained an ankle during that game (he did continue playing in the game) and sat out this game due to the injury. The other sight of the night besides seeing Nowitzki take the court was seeing Chris Kaman with his new short hair cut - the stringy long hair is gone. The Clippers went up 8-9 with 7 minutes left, but Dallas then went on an 8-4 mini-run to go up 16-11 with 5 minutes remaining. Dallas did lead the rest of the quarter, but 5 points would be the largest lead of the quarter. Dallas led 26-22 after 1. Elton Brand had 12 points including 5-6 FG. The Clippers should have gone home then. Dallas scored the first 7 points of the 2nd quarter to go up 33-22 with 10 minutes remaining. The Clippers pulled within 34-43 with 6 minutes left, but Dallas steadily built on their lead in closing the quarter with a 20-11 run to go up 63-45 at the half. Dirk Nowitzki and Devean George had 11 points each in the 2nd quarter. Dallas out-scored the Clippers 37-23 in the quarter as Dallas shot 7-12 3-pointers. A layup by Chris Kaman pulled the Clippers within 49-63 with 9:45 to go, but Dallas then went on a 21-4 run to go up 84-53 with 4 minutes left and put the game away really early. The Mavs continued to roll and a 3-pointer by Josh Howard with a second left gave Dallas a 97-59 lead after 3. Howard had 17 points in the quarter (out-scoring the entire Clippers team). Dallas out-scored the Clippers 34-14 in the 3rd quarter and the Mavs were again hot behind the arc in shooting 5-7 3-pointers. The 4th quarter was pure garbage time as consecutive buckets (including a 3-pointer) by George opened the quarter to give Dallas their largest lead at 102-59 with 10:25 remaining. The Clippers did score the next 7 points, but Dallas' lead would remain in the 30s the rest of the game. Dallas won 115-83. It was a surprisingly easy win for the Mavs. Dallas out-scored the Clippers 71-37 in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. It was raining in the AAC as Dallas shot an amazing 15-27 3-pointers. Dallas shot 51.2% (42-82) FG and the LA Clippers shot 41.2% (28-68) FG including 2-9 3-pointers. Add to that the fact that the Clippers only had 4 offensive rebounds and it's easy to see why this was a blowout. Dallas out-rebounded the Clippers 44-33 including 10-4 offensive. The only thing the Clippers had going for themselves was from the line. Dallas shot 16-21 FT and the Clippers shot 25-27 FT. Dallas had 25 assists. The hero of the night was Devean George with his sharp shooting behind the arc. He had 21 points including 5-6 3-pointers. He also had 5 rebounds. Josh Howard had a game high 25 points. Dirk Nowitzki had a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. He also had 4 assists. Jason Terry had 15 points including 5-6 FG and 3-4 3-pointers. He also had 7 assists and 4 rebounds. Devin Harris had a quiet 9 points and 4 assists. Erick Dampier had 9 points including 3-3 FG and 6 rebounds. DeSagana Diop had another quiet night with just 3 points and 2 rebounds in 17 minutes. Greg Buckner had 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists in 23 minutes. Anthony Johnson had 7 points and 5 rebounds. Austin Croshere missed 4 shots and had 6 rebounds in playing all of the 4th quarter. JJ Barea had 2 points and DJ Mbenga had 2 points in 6 1/2 minutes in the 4th. Corey Maggette was the Clippers' high man with 19 points, but 11 of his points came in the 4th quarter. Elton Brand had 18 points, but just 3 rebounds - he had averaged 10 rebounds coming in to this game. Chris Kaman was the only other Clipper in double-digits with 11 points. He also had 6 rebounds. Shaun Livingston had 8 points including 2-7 FG, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Sam Cassell, who has been limited with an injury, played just 9 minutes and had 5 points and 4 rebounds. Quotes Avery Johnson: "Tonight we played a pretty strong game from start to finish. You did not see the real Clipper basketball team tonight. They are a much better team than what they showed. You caught us on a hot night where we made some incredible shots. Some of those shots that we made tonight, we know that we can not live on those shots. But at the same time, the ball moved. We had some good execution. Thought our defense got a little bit better as the game went on. I wasn't really too pleased with our 1st half defense. But the guys came out. We mixed up our defense a little bit, fortunately they missed some shots. We had a lot of contributors tonight to this effort. We just caught the Clippers on a bad night, but at the same time our guys had some carry over from our practice this morning." Johnson on the 1st quarter: "The ball was moving and we didn't get off to a good start. We shot 3 3-pointers to start that quarter, 2 of them were bad 3s. We weren't really looking to get the ball inside like I wanted to. Again, we got in gear and Josh Howard kind of carried us there for a minute. We got back on track. The main thing about the Clippers, you have to rebound the basketball - that was our theme coming in. You have to be physical against them. The guys that stepped on the floor tonight, they played some pretty decent basketball." Johnson on the bench playing: "You can see that they sorely needed it. We tried to get [Anthony] Johnson back into full strength after his ankle injury. Croshere needed some minutes tonight. Diop always needs to play. George did a nice job for us again tonight being in the right spots, mixing his game up, and that is what we need. JJ Barea got some minutes tonight. He's been working very hard at practice. He's really been a joy to coach this year. It was good. We were really concerned to not have Stackhouse tonight. Stackhouse is one of our top players but we were fortunate to get past the Clippers, and hopefully we will have him back right after Christmas." Johnson: "We tried to build this team on defense. We said it from day 1 that we knew we had to be a good defensive ball club. Maybe not top in the league - you want to be number 1 - but we thought we would have to be one of the top teams in the league in defense and one of the top clubs in rebounding to have a chance to win a Championship. At the same time, my theme this year has been you have a more balanced offense. There were periods last year where I did not like where we got stuck offensively. That is an area where we try to be a more balanced team." Dirk Nowitzki on playing on his sprained ankle: "I actually decided right before the game. I worked out this morning and felt okay. Before the game the ankle was a little stiff so I wasn't sure, but it felt good during the warm up. I know a lot about ankle injuries by now. I've had so many over the years so I knew nothing worse could happen to my ankle by playing tonight. It was a little stiff after the 1st quarter, but I'm glad I played and glad for the win." Josh Howard on when he knew the game was over: "Yeah, when coach took out all the starters at the end of the 3rd quarter. It was nice for guys on the bench to get some minutes tonight. It's fun for the starters to cheer them on from the bench like they do for us." Howard on how the Clippers looked: "Yeah, you can tell the mood of the game in the 1st 5 minutes. They're a good team. We just got really hot during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. I'm glad we got this win over them tonight." Howard on Nowitzki: "He's our leader. We follow him. He a guy we always need out on the court regardless of the situation. He's going to keep fighting and we're going to keep fighting for him. It's good for the young guys to see him play in a little bit of pain." Jason Terry: "We were disappointed they beat us handily in LA. There was a focus and a mindset to put this team away early and we did." Devean George: "We didn't want Dirk to carry us tonight. He needed help so we all had to step up. He looked okay at the shootaround, but he's still not running right and planting right. Hopefully with a few days off he'll be ready to go full strength." George: "We had to take this team seriously. They have a lot of good players and can catch fire at any time. They're trying to find themselves right now." Mike Dunleavy: "Right now our inability to make shots and defend is just killing us. In the 1st quarter I thought we came in playing the right tempo and were putting ourselves in a position to stay in the game. But they put a big run on us in the 2nd quarter. We just didn't do the job at either end. We didn't make shots when we'd get the ball and had good shots [to take] and didn't get stops where we needed them." Dunleavy on the blowout: "Well, any time that happens it's going to catch you by surprise. You don't figure something like that to happen. The crazy part about it is catchy - for them to make 15-27 3-pointers. You could make a bet and put somebody in the gym and give them 27 wide open 3-pointers with no defense on them and they would struggle to make 15 of them. But teams right now are just raining [shots] on us. Our rotations are slow in some cases but the reality of it is our individual defenders need to get better. They can't get beaten as easily to force the issue where we have to help out. That's the point I try to make to our guys in the locker room, you have to have individual pride as far as your defense is concerned. This was our staple last year when we were one of the best defensive teams in this league. And now, individually, we're breaking down and relying on help so much that it's creating 3-point opportunities for teams if they move the basketball and they're making those shots. It starts with the individual defenders, guys playing their own man and not requiring teammates to help out as much." Dunleavy: "It's baffling. We've proven we can defend the last couple of years. Right now, for some reason, our guys are a step slow. It's hard to put your finger on it. We're just searching." Elton Brand: "This isn't our first game like this. It's the 2nd or 3rd game badly out-played like this. We just have to bond together, band together, and have some pride in playing defense. You know offense will always come around. We have enough threats offensively, it was just defense, layups, open 3s, open shots. We just have to play hard and get a victory under our belt and start feeling good about ourselves and get some confidence." Sam Cassell: "They have a lot of weapons, no doubt about it. Tonight they used them. They did whatever they wanted to do, when they wanted to do it, and how they wanted to do it, and it worked. When you make a shot, everything is good. When you miss a shot, that's when the coach starts searching. And right now we're missing shots and not defending right now. That's where our failures are transpiring right now." Cassell on Dallas: "They made shots. That's all you can say. They got an opportunity to make shots and they made shots. What can you do?" Dallas Mavericks 115, Los Angeles Clippers 83 at Dallas (December 22) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 26 37 34 18 - 115 .491 .556 .512 .762 LA Clippers 22 23 14 24 - 83 .441 .222 .412 .926 Halftime: Dallas 63-45 3rd Q: Dallas 97-59 Technicals: none Refs: Bennie Adams, Bernie Fryer, Derek Richardson Attendance: 20,311 (sellout) IL: Dallas - Jerry Stackhouse, Maurice Ager, Pops Mensah-Bonsu LA Clippers - Yaroslav Korolev, Zeljko Rebraca Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Devin Harris 22 4-8 0-0 1-2 9 0-1 4 0 2 1 0 Jason Terry 29 5-6 3-4 2-3 15 1-4 7 3 1 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 27 7-15 3-5 3-3 20 2-12 4 2 1 1 0 Josh Howard 30 9-18 3-5 4-4 25 0-1 2 0 1 1 2 Erick Dampier 24 3-3 0-0 3-4 9 2-6 0 1 3 1 0 Greg Buckner 23 1-4 0-3 0-0 2 0-2 3 1 1 1 0 Anthony Johnson 21 3-5 1-2 0-0 7 3-5 1 0 3 0 0 Devean George 21 7-12 5-6 2-2 21 1-5 1 1 1 0 1 DeSagana Diop 17 1-1 0-0 1-3 3 1-2 0 0 2 0 1 Austin Croshere 12 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 0-6 2 1 1 0 0 DJ Mbenga 6 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 J.J. Barea 6 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 1 3 0 0 Totals 48 42-82 15-27 16-21 115 10-44 25 11 20 5 4 Los Angeles Clippers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shaun Livingston 29 2-7 0-0 4-4 8 0-5 5 2 3 1 0 Cuttino Mobley 30 3-9 0-3 2-2 8 0-1 4 2 0 0 0 Elton Brand 28 6-10 0-0 6-7 18 1-3 0 1 3 0 0 Quinton Ross 17 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 1 0 2 1 0 Chris Kaman 31 5-9 0-0 1-1 11 1-6 1 3 3 1 0 Corey Maggette 30 6-12 1-1 6-7 19 0-1 0 1 3 1 0 Tim Thomas 21 2-6 1-4 0-0 5 0-4 1 1 0 1 1 James Singleton 18 1-3 0-1 4-4 6 1-7 2 0 2 0 0 Daniel Ewing 15 1-4 0-0 2-2 4 0-2 1 0 0 1 0 Paul Davis 12 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 1 1 1 1 Sam Cassell 9 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 1 1 2 0 0 Totals 48 28-68 2-9 25-27 83 4-33 16 14 19 7 2 Charlotte at Dallas (December 26) Jerry Stackhouse missed his 2nd game with a sprained ankle. Dallas took 2 days off for Christmas and opened the game like they still were on holiday. The game stayed close in the 1st quarter with Dallas mostly holding small leads, none larger than 4 points. Melvin Ely hit a jumper near the quarter's end to give Charlotte a 26-24 lead after 1. Gerald Wallace had 11 points. Charlotte shot 12-18 FG. Dallas opened the 2nd quarter by scoring the first 7 points to go up 31-26 with 9 minutes to go. 4 straight free throws by Derek Anderson pulled Charlotte within 30-31 with 7:25 left, but Dallas then went on an 11-5 run to go up 44-35 with 3 minutes remaining. Dallas led 49-41 at the half. Charlotte only shot 4-21 FG in the 2nd quarter. Consecutive buckets by Erick Dampier gave Dallas a 55-43 lead with 8:45 left. The teams traded buckets an Charlotte then scored the next 8 points to pull within 53-57 with 5:20 remaining. Dallas answered with a 10-2 run, including an impressive block by Dampier, to take a 69-56 lead with 2:35 left. Dallas held a low double-digit lead the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 78-65 after 3. Josh Howard had 11 points. Dallas led 80-69 with 10:30 to go and put the game away by scoring the next 9 points to take a 20-point lead with 7 minutes left. Charlotte scored the last 6 points of the game to make the final score a little closer. Dallas won 97-84. Don't let the Bobcats' record fool you - they are not an easy win. They have defeated some of the better teams in the league as part of their 7 wins. Fortunately, Dallas does not fall in that category. Though not easy, the Mavs did take care of business and came out with their 7th straight win. Dallas shot 48.7% (37-76) FG and 5-16 3-pointers and Charlotte shot 40.8% (31-76) FG and 4-11 3-pointers. Dallas shot 18-24 FT and Charlotte shot 18-27 FT. The boards were even at 43 a piece, but Charlotte out-rebounded Dallas 16-9 on the offensive boards. Dallas had 20 assists and Charlotte had 17 assists. Josh Howard and Dirk Nowitzki were the 1-2 punch. Howard had a game high 27 points to go with 8 rebounds and 3 assists. On one of his misses, he followed the shot and got the slam dunk on the miss. Nowitzki had 23 points including 9-15 FG and 7 rebounds. Erick Dampier had a very nice game with 9 points including 4-5 FG (okay, his free throws weren't good at 1-4 FT), 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Jason Terry and Devin Harris were the 1-2 punch for bricks. Terry shot just 1-7 FG as part of his 4 points, but he also had 7 assists. Harris shot 4-11 FG as part of his 9 points and he had 4 assists. Devean George was the 3rd Mav in double-digits with 12 points and 3 rebounds. Greg Buckner had 6 points and 4 rebounds in 22 minutes. DeSagana Diop didn't do much with 1 point, 3 rebounds, and 3 turnovers in 22 minutes. Anthony Johnson had 6 points and 2 assists in 12 minutes. Austin Croshere didn't score and had 3 rebounds in 7 minutes. DJ Mbenga and Jose Barea didn't score in playing the last 2 minutes. The Mavs were helped by Emeka Okafor having a poor outing. He was averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds coming into this game, but had just 7 points and 7 rebounds in this game. Adam Morrison scored 15 of his 17 points in the 2nd half. He also had 6 rebounds. Gerald Wallace scores 13 of his 16 points in the 1st half. He also had 6 rebounds. Matt Carroll had 14 points. Raymond Felton had 11 points including a poor 5-15 FG, but also had 5 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals. Quotes Avery Johnson: "Tonight we were fortunate to get out of this game with a win. We had a tough 1st quarter. They came out and jumped on us; shooting a high percentage early in the game. We got it back going a little in the 2nd quarter. For the rest of the game, we pretty much just held them at bay. We were a little rusty in some areas for some reason. We had a couple of different decisions with turnovers and travels, but we are glad we came out with a win. We did not win the rebound game like we wanted to. We will get back to practice tomorrow. Charlotte has beaten a lot of really good teams this year. Bernie [Bickerstaff], under the circumstances, it is not easy doing what he is doing. I really think a lot of him and what he has done with that team, trying to help a lot of these young players develop. Morrison got going there late in the game. We had a hard time guarding him. He made some tough shots. We did not play as well as I thought we would, but we will get back to practice and we know we have to play much better the next game and the next game after that." Johnson on Dampier in the 3rd quarter: "That was huge. That was big for us. Those blocks and Dampier was close to another double-double tonight. He was just active. He was going after balls. I am glad we did not have to over-use him. He played just 24 minutes tonight. We tried to use a lot of our bench tonight on purpose and we had some good contributions. Devean George continued to be solid for us off the bench. Anthony Johnson made some key passes for us at key times. Buckner made a timely shot. We got those guys going a little bit better than they were earlier in the season." Johnson on George: "He's been good. He's been working really hard behind the scenes. I am not going to over do it, but we expect him to do what he is doing. Right now he's just mixing up his game. One of the things I told him when we signed him was that I really looked at him as a guy that could slash and get to the basket and be able to make open shots. I think for a minute stretch there, he was just looking for the outside shot. Now he is mixing it up and he's sprinkling in an assist or 2. I think that could go up a little more, but he's playing tough on defense." Johnson on Howard: "Josh has been steady. He's been solid. We don't have any fluctuations there. He does what he does. He pretty much fulfilled 3 out of 4 of his areas where we need him tonight. We are just going to keep hoping for 4 out of 4. He's out playing really tough. That pass he made along the baseline, you didn't see that last year. You didn't see 3 assists, 4 assists, and 5 assists. He is stepping it up." Dirk Nowitzki: "They don't have a great record, but they beat teams like Utah, Detroit, and San Antonio, so we knew coming in that we would have to play hard if we wanted to win. I thought we started off a little sluggish and didn't get the stops on the defensive end that we needed. Finally we got in rhythm in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Defensively, we tried to work hard and keep them out of the lane and just push the ball offensively. It was an overall good effort tonight. We had 2 days off over Christmas, so it's not always easy to come ready to play after 2 days off. We have a big practice tomorrow and get ready for Phoenix. They're probably one of the hottest teams right now. It should be a great game." Nowitzki on Howard: "Josh has just been phenomenal. He's shooting the ball well, slashing to the bucket and he's really doing it all for us. He's one of our best defenders on the perimeter and he's really took his game to another level. It's been fun to watch. He's been playing at an All-Star level. He's making his shots, making his floaters, and he's hard to guard." Nowitzki on if Howard playing well opens things up for Nowitzki: "Well, we still need everyone to play aggressive, and that opens up a lot of things. I had a lot of open jumpers tonight just by Josh and JET [Terry] penetrating. That's what we need from everyone every game, to be aggressive and get in the lane." Josh Howard on being named Player of the Week: "It's a great accomplishment for me. Just to be recognized is a great thing and I've been able to go out there on the court and do the things that I'm capable of doing." Howard: "With me handling the ball more, I'm able to take pressure off some of the guys. I'm able to distribute the ball more and get more assists. Even though I'm not always going to have the ball in my hands, I can still cause problems for the defense on the wing. Defensively, I've been able to block more shots from the weak side and been really trying to put more pressure on the guys I'm guarding on the wings. It's been fun so far." Howard: "I was just out there taking the right shots. I try to be in the right position. It's timing, it's decisions. I know I can't chuck up everything. I've matured as a player." Howard on Charlotte pulling within 4 points in the 3rd: "We lost our focus as a team the first few minutes of the 3rd quarter and we just went out and started playing better basketball." Howard on the All-Star game: "That's a kid's dream always. If the fans and coaches want me, I'll want to play. But I'm not going to cry if I don't make it because there are a lot of good guys out there." Greg Buckner on Howard: "No doubt he's an All-Star. He's doing everything, playing the best ball on our team. We know Dirk's an All-Star. We'd like to have 2. We think we're the best team in the league." Bernie Bickerstaff: "Our problem is real simple. It's putting the ball in the basket." Bickerstaff on the 2nd half run: "We had 6 possessions late where you were trying to make a run for it. So you get the crowd into it, you get them into it, they get a few dunks, they get out in the open court. You've got Nowitzki or you've got Harris or you've got all these guys that are going to make a play in that situation. Our problem is real simple: putting the ball in the basket and making sure we maximize our possessions in that situation, which we did get done. But I thought all the other things were good. The tempo was good, and that's what we wanted in that situation. But it's hard to hold on for 48 minutes against a team of that caliber." Bickerstaff on Howard: "He's just a terrific player with his versatility. Like that one shot he threw it up and he knew where it was going. He threw it up with the intent of going to get it if he missed it, and it went in. And those were big plays to get the crowd back into the game in those situations. Guys, he's terrific. Gerald [Wallace] was defending him, but he's a terrific player." Gerald Wallace on Howard: "He started making shots and got his offense going. Just like any NBA player, once they get going they're hard to stop no matter who it is. I think he single handedly was able to run the offense by himself against us. He got the crowd involved, got his teammates going, and basically just took the air out of us." Wallace on his shot: "I think so. That's one of the main problems. The ball isn't going in the hoop. We're not getting good shots and we're forcing shots. It has a lot to do a lot with guys' games being off right now, so guys are forcing shots and guys are missing shots that are normally not there for them. It's all good, though. I think as a team we'll pull out of this and get it together. Once everybody gets it going, everybody's games will come back and everybody will get an understanding of what they need to do out on the court and shots will start falling. I think that's the solution to any offense. People say the offense is struggling because we only had 84 points. If more of the shots went down tonight we wouldn't have had that question about the offense struggling. Shots are going to fall. Some nights they don't and some nights they do. It was just a bad night for us and we were still in the game into the middle of the 3rd quarter." Adam Morrison on if his shot got going better: "Yeah, towards the end of the game. But we just have to start taking care of business as a team, because we're in every game. The majority of the games - I'd say it's 65-75% of the games we've lost - we've been right in it. It's just frustrating when we get these lulls all the time and we let teams separate from us. Not to take anything away from Dallas - they're a great basketball team - but we just have to come out and play better." Morrison on Howard: "He's a great player. Coach gave us a stat before the game that he's the leading scorer since he's been back [from injury] on this team. He's obviously a great player. He makes athletic plays, he's got a great midrange game, he's a great defender, and he's defends well, which is definitely going to help him even more." Dallas Mavericks 97, Charlotte Bobcats 84 at Dallas (December 26) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 24 25 29 19 - 97 .533 .313 .487 .750 Charlotte 26 15 24 19 - 84 .415 .364 .408 .667 Halftime: Dallas 49-41 3rd Q: Dallas 78-65 Technicals: Jake Voskuhl 3:09 3rd Refs: Ron Garretson, Michael Smith, Jason Phillips Attendance: 20,423 (sellout) IL: Dal - Jerry Stackhouse, Maurice Ager, Pops Mensah-Bonsu Cha - Brevin Knight, Sean May, Ryan Hollins Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Devin Harris 27 4-11 0-3 1-1 9 1-2 4 1 0 2 1 Jason Terry 29 1-7 0-2 2-2 4 0-2 7 3 2 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 36 9-15 0-1 5-5 23 1-7 0 1 3 1 0 Josh Howard 35 10-19 1-3 6-8 27 3-8 3 2 4 1 0 Erick Dampier 24 4-5 0-0 1-4 9 1-10 1 1 2 1 3 Devean George 23 5-9 2-4 0-0 12 1-3 1 1 2 0 0 DeSagana Diop 22 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 1-3 0 3 2 1 0 Greg Buckner 22 2-5 0-0 2-2 6 1-4 1 1 4 0 0 Anthony Johnson 12 2-2 2-2 0-0 6 0-1 2 0 1 0 0 Austin Croshere 7 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-3 0 1 1 0 0 DJ Mbenga 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 J.J. Barea 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 37-76 5-16 18-24 97 9-43 20 14 22 6 4 Charlotte Bobcats REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Raymond Felton 39 5-15 0-2 1-2 11 1-5 9 3 0 3 0 Matt Carroll 24 5-10 2-3 2-2 14 0-1 0 2 3 2 0 Emeka Okafor 36 2-6 0-0 3-6 7 4-7 1 2 2 1 2 Gerald Wallace 35 7-13 0-1 2-4 16 3-6 1 3 3 1 1 Primoz Brezec 14 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 2-6 0 1 4 0 1 Adam Morrison 28 7-14 1-2 2-2 17 1-6 2 1 1 0 0 Melvin Ely 23 1-6 0-0 3-4 5 1-5 2 1 4 0 1 Jake Voskuhl 22 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 4-6 0 0 5 1 0 Derek Anderson 13 0-3 0-1 4-4 4 0-1 2 1 1 0 0 Walter Herrmann 5 2-3 1-2 1-3 6 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Bernard Robinson 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 31-76 4-11 18-27 84 16-43 17 14 23 8 5 Phoenix at Dallas (December 28) Easily the game of the week pitted the team with the best record in the league (Dallas) vs the team with the 3rd best record (Phoenix). Jerry Stackhouse missed his 3rd straight game due to a sprained ankle. The game stayed close early on with both teams holding small leads, none larger than 3 points. Phoenix got in the penalty with 6:15 left and Dallas kept attacking the basket and was reward with lots of free throws. Phoenix led 18-16 with 3:45 remaining and Dallas closed the quarter with a 14-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Jason Terry, to go up 30-20 after 1. Terry had 13 points. Dallas shot 12-14 FT and Phoenix shot 2-2 FT in the quarter. A 3-point play by Boris Diaw pulled Phoenix within 25-32 with 10:45 left, but Dallas answered with consecutive 3-pointers to again go up by 13 points with 10 minutes left. A 3-point play by Amare Stoudemire kicked off a 15-4 Phoenix run to pull the Suns within 40-42 with 5:20 to go. Dallas got in the penalty with 8:40 left and Phoenix got a lot of free throws in the quarter, opposite of the 1st quarter. A jumper by Raja Bell tied the game at 47-47 with 2 minutes remaining, but Dirk Nowitzki answered with consecutive buckets to put Dallas back ahead. Dallas led 52-49 at the half. Phoenix shot 8-9 FT and Dallas shot 1-2 FT (with the only Sun foul called in the quarter coming with 14 seconds left) in the 2nd quarter. For the half, Dallas shot 41% FG and Phoenix shot 51% FG. Fortunately the lopsided free throws ended in the 2nd half. A jumper by Bell pulled Phoenix within 57-58 with 9 minutes to go and Dallas scored the next 12 points, including 10 by Terry, to go up 70-57 with 6:35 left. The teams traded 3-pointers (with Dallas' 3 coming from Terry) and Phoenix then went on a 12-2 run to pull within 75-72 with 1:10 remaining. Dallas led 78-76 after 3. Terry had 13 points and Stoudemire had 10 points in the 3rd quarter. Dallas was asleep to open the 4th quarter and Phoenix scored the first 10 points of the quarter (with Nash on the bench), capped by consecutive 3-pointers by Jumaine Jones, to go up 86-78 with 10 minutes to go. A 3-pointer by Shawn Marion gave Phoenix their largest lead at 89-80 with 8:45 left. Dallas got their act together behind Nowitzki and an attacking Devin Harris as the Mavs went on a 12-2 run to go up 92-91 with 3:50 remaining and the game stayed tight until the final buzzer. A bucket by Nash put Phoenix ahead and Stoudemire hit 1-2 FT as Nowitzki missed 3 shots for Dallas. A 3-pointer by Terry gave Dallas the lead back with 2:10 to go. Terry stole the ball, missed a shot, and Nowitzki was fouled on the rebound (both teams in the penalty). He hit both free throws to give Dallas a 97-94 lead with 1:40 left. Stoudemire was fouled at the other end, but shot 1-2 FT. Harris was called for traveling and Nash made the pretty lob off the pick-and-roll to Stoudemire for the dunk to tie the game at 97-97 with 1:10 remaining. Harris missed and Josh Howard got the rebound, but he was out of bounds. Bell had a turnover as a player cut instead of drifted. Terry made the nice pass to Howard underneath and Howard got the reverse layup and was fouled with 22 seconds to go. He missed the extra free throw. The pick-and-roll again worked for Phoenix as Nash found Marion for 2 to tie the game at 99-99 with 6.3 seconds left. After a Dallas timeout, the Mavs got the ball to Nowitzki high on the elbow with Marion on him and Nowitzki rose and drained the fade-away 20-footer with 1.3 seconds remaining. After a Phoenix timeout, the Mavs defense did a good job defending the inbounds and the ball went to Stoudemire and his forced 3-pointer was not close. Dallas won 101-99. The game lived up to the hype and the last team to score won. Though the score wasn't as high as you might have thought it would be, it was an entertaining game and NBA fans have to look forward to the next matchup between these 2 teams, especially since neither team had their best game. Dallas' defense was pretty good, but the Mavs struggled against Phoenix's stellar pick-and-rolls. The Mavs, as they have most of the season, struggled on offense when Phoenix brought out the zone defense. The Mavs won despite shooting just 41.2% (35-85) FG while Phoenix shot 51.4% (37-72) FG. Dallas shot 8-19 3-pointers and Phoenix shot 9-14 3-pointers. Dallas shot 23-29 FT and Phoenix shot 16-21 FT. Dallas got more shot attempts than the Suns due to rebounds and turnovers. Dallas out-rebounded Phoenix 41-37 including 15-5 offensive. Dallas had a high 18 turnovers, but Phoenix had a higher 22 turnovers. Dallas has won 8 straight games. Jason Terry had an outstanding game. Terry had a game high 35 points including 12-20 FG and 5-8 3-pointers. He also had 8 assists, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals. Dirk Nowitzki also had a solid outing in hitting the game winner as part of his 27 points. He shot 8-20 FG and 10-11 FT and had 10 rebounds. I was a little concerned when he left time on the clock for the last shot (you normally want to leave no time on the clock and not give the other team a last shot), but it worked out anyways. Josh Howard had a double-double with 16 points (including 7-17 FG) and 12 rebounds. He also had 3 steals, but turned the ball over 6 times. Devin Harris had 2 key drives to the basket against Steve Nash to help Dallas get back in the game in the 4th quarter - they could have both been 3-point plays, but he missed both free throws. Harris had 13 points and 5 assists. Not surprisingly with the smaller lineups Phoenix tends to use, Dallas centers were not much of a factor in this game. Erick Dampier had 1 point (0-2 FG, 1-2 FT) and 4 rebounds in 23 minutes. DeSagana Diop got hit in the head 3 minutes into the 4th quarter and left with dizziness and did not return. He had 1 point (0-1 FG, 1-2 FT) and 5 rebounds in 14 minutes. Devean George played down the stretch as Nowitzki played center. His numbers weren't much, but his defense was good and he had a couple of good steals. He had 3 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals in 26 minutes. Greg Buckner had 5 points in 14 minutes and Anthony Johnson did not score in 7 minutes. Phoenix went basically with a 6-man rotation, though Jumaine Jones did hit 2 3-pointers as part of their 4th quarter run. Amare Stoudemire was the Suns' high man with 25 points on 8-16 FG and 9-13 FT. He also had 13 rebounds. Steve Nash had his shot going as well as his passing game going good. He had 24 points on 10-14 FG, 3-4 3-pointers, and 1-2 FT and 13 assists. Shawn Marion's shot was off as he shot 4-12 FG. He had 12 points and 6 rebounds. Raja Bell had 11 points. Boris Diaw was limited by foul trouble and played just 26 minutes before fouling out. He had 7 points and 6 rebounds. Leandro Barbosa kicked in 14 points and 5 assists off the bench. Jones had 6 points and 3 rebounds in 13 minutes and Kurt Thomas missed his only shot and had 2 rebounds in 11 minutes. Quotes Avery Johnson: "Tonight was a really great basketball game. Two heavyweight teams going at it. We got off to a really good start in the 1st quarter. We were really aggressive, taking the ball strong, trying to get to the free throw line. It changed in the 2nd quarter. They dominated the line, they were the aggressor. We were pretty much going back-and-forth in the 3rd, but we hit a bad patch in the 4th quarter. They got a 9 point lead on us. The guys stuck together and we went small. Our small lineup was pretty good the first time we played them, so decided to go small and take the centers out of it. It was just a tough game for our centers. It is a tough game for any big guys against this team because of the way they play. Devean George came in and played some 4 for us, Dirk played some 5. We mixed Buckner in with Devin there and it helped get us some energy. Not because he scored tonight, but Jason Terry was special. I really liked that we challenged him. We didn't like the way he played the last game. He wasn't playing like himself; he wasn't aggressive enough and we challenged him and he responded. It wasn't perfect, but we needed a close game and fortunately, we won it." Johnson on the end of the game: "We were small in there for a minute. Guys were switching and talking. We put Josh Howard on Nash a little bit to get him just to give him a different look. We said before the game it is all about trying to give different looks. For them not to score 100 and for us to shot 41% and to win and they shoot 51% - I would have thought I had been dreaming. We got some turnovers and we had some active fans and we were fortunately able to win." Johnson on if Nowitzki was the first option for taking the last shot: "Oh yeah - he was the only option. We didn't have a plan B. Maybe we will work on that next. We were trying to get him the ball. We told Jason Terry that if he couldn't get it to him; just jokingly, we told Jason to try. We really tried to get Dirk the ball - he had a good set up. Last year, I don't know if he would catch that ball. He set up to get open and fortunately it worked out for us." Dirk Nowitzki on his game winner: "I heard my number called. Shawn [Marion] was guarding me and I was going to hold it a little longer, but I think he was a little surprised that I quick-shot it. I wasn't shooting the ball well all night, so I'm happy it went in." Josh Howard: "I just think it's important to win the game no matter the opponent, even though they're a great opponent. We just came out and ran our game plan. Dirk came through big." Howard: "All respect goes to JT [Terry]. He came out lights-out shooting the ball, getting us into our offense and just running the team. He was our general. Dirk and myself struggled; but at key plays, he found both guys and we finished the basket for him." Howard: "I think the main thing we did well was play defense, controlling them on the pick-and-roll. Amare [Stoudemire] got his baskets, Nash got his baskets, but I think we held everybody else in check. We just concentrated on ourselves. I know we had some big runs and I think if we would have concentrated a little bit harder we could have got the [lead] to go big. But they snuck back in and we made it a nail biter for the fans to finish it off." Jason Terry on if the team is a work in progress: "Definitely. We've got a long way to go. Definitely inspired by the defensive performance we put out there tonight against a great Phoenix team. To hold them to 99 points tonight was tremendous by our defense. But, like I said, we've still got a long way to go." Terry on Johnson challenging the team: "I thought he challenged us defensively to just stay within our system. Against Phoenix, you can't allow them to get in transition and get easy baskets. We had a sizable lead there in the 3rd, but for some reason we came out in the 4th really flat and defensively we gave away some easy 3-point baskets, which is not our system. Just goes to show you when we play the way we're supposed to it makes the game a lot easier." Mike D'Antoni: "Dirk hit the big shot. We had about 4 chances at the basket and we just didn't get a good look at it." D'Antoni: "We just came down and squandered it [the lead]. We lost the ball a couple of times we shouldn't have. We just didn't do great things, but again it's a good measuring stick for both of us and we're both right there and we'll see who gets better by the time we finish the season up." D'Antoni on if coming back from 13 down takes a lot out of the team: "I don't think so. If we were up by 13 it would have come down to the last 2 possessions anyway. Both teams are not going to let the other go away most of the time, sometimes you do but I thought our defense was good all night and we shot the ball well. We had a bad 1st quarter by fouling way too much and couldn't get the rhythm we liked. Once we got the rhythm established then we were pretty good." Steve Nash on the difference in the 4th quarter: "I think it's easy to pinpoint to that little stretch where we didn't score and maybe took some quick shots or turned the ball over. I think we gave them some offensive rebounds that killed us, and just some little plays. Whether it's missing an assignment or forgetting the game plan or easy turnovers, I think you can point to a lot of things. Having said that, we fought hard to get back in the game after they must have shot 14 free throws or more in the 1st quarter. I'd say it was a great game in that the last bucket won it. What can you say, it could have gone either way." Nash: "It was a great game, the last bucket won it. Dirk's a clutch player and he made a big shot. ... It was pretty evenly matched teams. Little mistakes here and there cost us the game." Nash on what the game tells him: "It tells us we're okay. We've improved since the start of the year, and I think we've got a lot of improving to do. I think we're pretty evenly matched with this team and we've just got to go out and get some wins." Amare Stoudemire on his last shot: "It was about the best we could have expected in that situation." Dallas Mavericks 101, Phoenix Suns 99 at Dallas (December 28) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 30 22 26 23 - 101 .409 .421 .412 .793 Phoenix 20 29 27 23 - 99 .483 .643 .514 .762 Halftime: Dallas 52-49 3rd Q: Dallas 78-76 Technicals: Mike D'Antoni 6:14 1st Refs: Kevin Fehr, Rodney Mott, Greg Willard Attendance: 20,483 (sellout) IL: Dallas - Jerry Stackhouse, Maurice Ager, Pops Mensah-Bonsu Phoenix - Eric Piatkowski, Sean Marks Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Devin Harris 30 6-15 0-1 1-3 13 1-2 5 3 4 1 0 Jason Terry 42 12-20 5-8 6-6 35 1-3 8 1 0 3 0 Dirk Nowitzki 41 8-20 1-1 10-11 27 3-10 3 2 2 1 0 Josh Howard 44 7-17 0-2 2-3 16 4-12 2 6 3 3 1 Erick Dampier 23 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 3-4 0 2 3 0 0 Devean George 26 1-3 1-3 0-0 3 1-4 1 2 2 2 1 DeSagana Diop 14 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 2-5 0 1 5 1 0 Greg Buckner 14 1-5 1-3 2-2 5 0-1 1 1 2 1 0 Anthony Johnson 7 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 35-85 8-19 23-29 101 15-41 21 18 22 12 2 Phoenix Suns REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Steve Nash 37 10-14 3-4 1-2 24 0-4 13 3 1 0 0 Raja Bell 43 4-8 1-2 2-2 11 0-1 1 3 3 0 0 Boris Diaw 26 3-7 0-1 1-1 7 2-6 3 3 6 0 0 Shawn Marion 42 4-12 2-2 2-2 12 1-6 2 1 5 1 0 Amare Stoudemire 39 8-16 0-0 9-13 25 2-13 0 4 4 0 2 Leandro Barbosa 31 6-11 1-2 1-1 14 0-2 5 4 3 0 0 Jumaine Jones 13 2-3 2-3 0-0 6 0-3 0 3 2 2 0 Kurt Thomas 11 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 48 37-72 9-14 16-21 99 5-37 24 22 27 3 2 patricia