Dallas at New York (November 16) A 3-pointer by Quentin Richardson capped a 14-5 New York run to give the Knicks a 23-13 lead with 5:45 remaining. New York's lead ranged between 8 and 13 points the rest of the quarter. New York led 35-26 after 1. Zach Randolph had 16 points. New York held a 9 to 13 point lead over the first 5 minutes of the 2nd quarter. A layup by David Lee gave the Knicks their largest lead at 50-35 with 6:50 to go. Jason Kidd hit a 3-pointer to kickoff a 13-4 run to pull Dallas within 48-54 with 3:10 left. A layup by Josh Howard pulled Dallas within 3 points, but Jamal Crawford hit 4 free throws to close the quarter scoring. New York led 64-57 at the half. Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points in the 2nd quarter. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with a layup and 3-pointer to pull within 2 points. A layup by Wilson Chandler and dunk by Richardson gave New York a 77-69 lead with 7:25 to go. Randolph converted a 3-point play to give New York a 82-73 lead with 5 minutes remaining and Dallas went went on a 13-4 run, capped by a 3-pointer by J.J. Barea, to tie the game at 86-86 with 1:30 left. Nate Robinson ended the run with a 3-pointer to give New York back the lead. New York led 91-89 after 3. A 3-pointer by Richardson and consecutive Knick buckets gave New York a 105-96 lead with 7:30 to go, but Howard hit a 3-pointer, got a layup, and Brandon Bass had a dunk to pull Dallas within 103-105 with 5:15 left. But Lee had a dunk, the teams traded misses, and Richardson hit a 3-pointer to give New York a 110-103 lead with 3:30 left. A pretty layup by Richardson gave the Knicks a 112-105 lead with 2:25 to go, but Howard converted a 3-point play, Nowitzki hit a jumper, and Jason Terry hit a shot to tie the game at 112-112 with 35 seconds remaining. New York missed on 3 attempts and Dallas called timeout with 19 seconds left. The Mavs ran the clock down and Terry's shot bounced off the rim and time expired. We had overtime at 112-112. New York missed their last 5 shots of the 4th quarter. Nowitzki hit 2 free throws 20 seconds into overtime to give Dallas only their second lead of the game (with the first coming just 2 minutes into the game). New York continued to miss shots and Nowitzki hit a jumper, Bass hit 1-2 FT, and a 3-pointer by Nowitzki (followed by a fist pump) gave Dallas a 120-112 lead with 3 minutes remaining. New York finally got on the scoreboard when Chris Duhon hit 2 free throws with 2:50 left, ending a period of 5:30 in which New York did not score. But Howard answered with a jumper and the Knicks continued to miss shots. Dallas wasn't much better over the rest of the overtime in connecting on just 1 jumper over the rest of overtime, but the Knicks didn't scoring and those 2 free throws ended up being the Knicks' only overtime points. Dallas won 124-114. Dallas finally got over their 4th quarter problems and the Knicks were absolutely dismal over the last 7 1/2 minutes of the game where they missed 14 straight shots, including all 8 of their overtime shots attempted. Dallas out-scored New York 12-2 in overtime and 19-2 over the last 7 1/2 minutes of the game. The Mavs won despite only leading 10 seconds in regulation. For the game, Dallas shot 43.9% (47-107) FG including 7-17 3-pointers and New York shot 43.3% (45-104) FG including 11-30 3-pointers. Dallas shot 23-31 FT and New York shot 13-16 FT. Dallas out-rebounded New York 58-54 including 18-15 offensive. Both teams were good at passing the ball with Dallas having 22 assists and New York with 30 assists. It was the Josh and Dirk show as Josh Howard and Dirk Nowitzki combined to score 27 of Dallas' last 32 points, including 9 of 10 in overtime. Nowitzki had 39 points including 7 in overtime. He shot 12-12 FT and had 15 rebounds and 4 assists in 44 minutes. Howard had 31 points, including 12 in the 4th quarter. He also had 14 rebounds including 6 offensive and 3 blocks. Jason Terry provided 20 points, including the game tying jumper with 35 seconds left in regulation. Terry was the head of a strong bench game for the Mavs. James Singleton had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds including 6 offensive in 27 minutes. He played center a lot of the game as Dallas went with smaller but more agile players to try to contain Zach Randolph. Brandon Bass had 12 points and 7 rebounds in 30 minutes. Jason Kidd didn't shoot well, but his passing played a key role in the game. Kidd had 3 points on 1-7 FG, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, and 4 steals. Erick Dampier started, but only played 4 minutes as he was ineffective against Randolph, and DeSagana Diop did not play at all. Gerald Green started, but only played 6 1/2 minutes as Terry got most of the 2-guard minutes. J.J. Barea again provided a nice spark when Kidd was out and had 7 points and 4 assists in 14 minutes. Antoine Wright played 14 minutes and missed all 5 of his shots. In a surprise move, Jerry Stackhouse was placed on IL with no injury. New York lost despite having 6 players in double-digit scoring. Zach Randolph led the way with 27 points and 18 rebounds including 7 offensive. Quentin Richardson had 17 points and 8 rebounds and Wilson Chandler had 14 points and 3 rebounds. Jamal Crawford had 16 points including 5-19 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Chris Duhon had a double-double with 16 points and 12 assists. David Lee also had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Nate Robinson had 8 points on 3-11 FG, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists. It was a short rotation for New York as those 7 played all but 5 1/2 minutes (which Mardy Collins played). Quotes Rick Carlisle: "They got some fight in them. They really do. It's been a tough stretch and they kept believing in each other." Carlisle: "It was just like, find a way. We hung in. The fact that it went to overtime was probably appropriate given the situation." Carlisle on Barea, Singleton, and Bass: "All those guys played big for us. It was a massive win for us." Carlisle on Barea: "He's a guy whose heart is in the right place and he's kept working and he's stayed ready. So I was happy for him. He made some very big plays in the game." Dirk Nowitzki: "We just told ourselves stay with it and get some big stops and offensively keep attacking. We had to get off this losing streak, so whatever I had to do, the team told me to keep shooting and play aggressively." Nowitzki: "We had to get off this losing streak, so whatever I had to do, stay aggressive, the team told me to keep shooting and stay aggressive. I was able to get a couple shots in there in overtime, so that was good." Nowitzki: "To a team that's used to winning, it felt like we hadn't won in 2 or 3 months. We had to stop the bleeding. We're happy to get this win and hopefully turn this thing around a little bit." Jason Kidd: "We've been playing some close games and the 4th quarter has been a problem for us. This is a veteran group so nobody's panicked. If we just stay together and understand that we've got to find a way to answer that 4th quarter, and tonight we did that." Kidd: "I enjoy the Garden. It was a perfect night for us to come here. We needed a win and I feel comfortable here. It's one of the best stages for an athlete to play on. And we all brought our A game tonight." Kidd: "I think maybe we were fed up with losing. The offensive [foul] call that Bass had when we were down by 2, I think in the past we might have folded tent; but guys just stayed the course, we got stops and rebounds and Josh and Dirk were great tonight." Jason Terry: "We knew we were better than how we were playing. We watched the film and were giving great effort out there; balls just weren't going our way. Tonight could have been the same situation. We get down 7 in the last 2 minutes, but we banded together." Terry on his shot with 40 seconds left in regulation that tied the game: "I had the same shot 2 nights ago to send us into overtime and couldn't get it down. I wasn't going to miss this one. I wanted to fly out of here like the JET and hit the game winner [at the end of regulation]. But when it missed, I didn't put my head down. I told Dirty [Nowitzki] we needed him." J.J. Barea on the win: "It's great for the team, the organization, for everything, from the top guy down to the little guy." James Singleton: "All the coaches kept telling me to stay ready, stay ready, stay ready. I was just patient and waited." Mike D'Antoni: "We played well enough to win. We should have won in regulation and we didn't. We gave them a little hope. Nowitzki and Howard are very good basketball players. You've got to give them credit. At the same time, we blew our chances. I thought we played pretty well for a long time. The 4th, we were just hesitant a little bit." D'Antoni: "We should have won it in regulation and we didn't. We blew our chances. We didn't hit the big shot to win the game." D'Antoni: "We are not close to where we want to be. But at the same time we can be competitive every night and we will win a lot of basketball games." Zach Randolph: "We could have won the game. We had a chance to win the game. But the ball won't fall for us. There's nights like this. We've just got to keep our head up and keep going." Randolph: "We should have won this damn game. We had it." Jamal Crawford: "This is a disheartening loss. It wasn't like we were only missing 3-point shots. We missed midrange jumpers and layups." Quentin Richardson on the loss: "Disappointment. Deep, hurting disappointment." Chris Duhon: "They just did a better job of executing at the end. We have to get used to winning games late when each possession is valuable." David Lee: "There was a lid on the basket. We couldn't buy one." Lee on Nowitzki in overtime: "I was forcing him to shoot tough, 17-foot fadeaways off one leg at 7-feet tall, but they went down. That's why he is an All-Star." Dallas Mavericks 124, New York Knicks 114 OT at New York (November 16) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 26 31 32 23 12 - 124 .444 .412 .439 .742 New York 35 29 27 21 2 - 114 .459 .367 .433 .813 Halftime: New York 64-57 3rd Q: New York 91-89 Technicals: Nate Robinson 1:43 2nd Refs: Joe DeRosa, Violet Palmer, Leon Wood Attendance: 19,271 (cap 19,763) IL: Dallas - Jerry Stackhouse, Shawne Williams New York - Eddy Curry, Stephon Marbury, Jared Jeffries Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 46 12-24 1-3 6-9 31 6-14 2 2 3 1 3 Dirk Nowitzki 44 13-27 1-1 12-12 39 2-15 4 0 1 1 1 Erick Dampier 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Gerald Green 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 Jason Kidd 40 1-7 1-3 0-0 3 1-6 9 2 2 4 0 Brandon Bass 30 5-11 0-0 2-4 12 2-7 0 3 5 0 0 James Singleton 27 6-10 0-2 0-1 12 6-10 0 0 2 0 0 Jason Terry 40 8-14 2-3 2-3 20 0-2 2 0 1 4 0 J.J. Barea 14 2-7 2-2 1-2 7 0-1 4 0 1 1 0 Antoine Wright 14 0-5 0-3 0-0 0 1-2 0 1 2 0 0 Totals 53 47-107 7-17 23-31 124 18-58 22 10 17 11 4 New York Knicks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Wilson Chandler 24 7-14 0-2 0-0 14 1-3 1 1 4 0 0 Quentin Richardson 36 7-14 3-6 0-0 17 1-8 1 3 1 0 0 Zach Randolph 47 10-20 2-4 5-7 27 7-18 2 0 5 0 0 Jamal Crawford 41 5-19 2-6 4-4 16 1-5 5 3 2 2 0 Chris Duhon 47 6-13 2-6 2-2 16 1-4 12 3 2 0 0 Mardy Collins 6 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Nate Robinson 28 3-11 2-6 0-0 8 2-4 6 2 5 1 0 David Lee 36 6-12 0-0 2-3 14 2-11 3 3 1 0 1 Totals 53 45-104 11-30 13-16 114 15-54 30 15 20 3 1 Dallas at Charlotte (November 18) Charlotte decided to be generous and spot Dallas a 15-point lead as the Bobcats missed their first 9 shots and committed 3 turnovers and Dallas jumped out to a 15-0 lead with 6:15 remaining. D.J. Augustin hit a jumper with 5:15 left to finally put Charlotte on the board. Dallas held a double-digit lead the rest of the quarter and Dirk Nowitzki's 3-pointer rattled in at the buzzer to give Dallas a 28-10 lead after 1. Charlotte shot just 5-19 FG in the quarter. Josh Howard had 11 points. Brandon Bass opened the 2nd quarter with a jumper to give Dallas a 20-point lead. The Bobcats did chip Dallas' lead down to 30-43 with 3:15 remaining as Raymond Felton converted a 3-point play. But Nowitzki scored 8 of Dallas' last 10 points (with only 3 points from Charlotte) and Dallas led 55-35 at the half. After Nowitzki hit a jumper to open the 3rd quarter, Charlotte scored 6 straight points to pull with in 41-57 with 9:25 to go. But Dallas then scored the next 6 points to keep control of the game. Augustin (the only bright point for Charlotte) hit a jumper near the end of the quarter. Dallas led 74-58 after 3. Dallas scored the first 9 points of the 4th quarter, with 6 of them from Howard, to take their largest lead at 83-58 with 9:45 to go. Charlotte did score the next 8 points, but Dallas remained in control. But Dallas was never comfortable enough with the lead to pull their stars. The Bobcats did cut Dallas' lead down to 11 points at 82-93 with 2 minutes left, but Dallas closed the game with a 7-1 run. Dallas won 100-83. It was a nice easy win for a change for the Mavs. It was also the first time this season that Dallas won consecutive games. Dallas' 15-0 opening to the game was just 2 off the team record for best start to the game. Charlotte's 10 points did tie Dallas' opponent record for fewest points in the 1st quarter. With the loss, the Bobcats remain winless (0-9) all time vs Dallas. For the game, Dallas shot 50% (38-76) FG including 4-17 3-pointers and Charlotte shot 38.8% (31-80) FG including 1-10 3-pointers. Dallas shot 20-27 FT and Charlotte shot 20-24 FT. Dallas continued their streak of winning the rebounding battle in out-rebounding Charlotte 50-34 including 12-9 offensive. Dallas had 20 assists and Charlotte had just 11 assists. It was a another strong outing for Dallas' top trio. Dirk Nowitzki had 32 points including 10-11 FT and 9 rebounds. Josh Howard had 21 points including 9-15 FG and 4 rebounds. And Jason Terry had 15 points. His numbers weren't stunning, but Jason Kidd was impressive in controlling the game at times without scoring. Kidd had 2 points on 1-2 FG, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists. He did turn the ball over 6 times, though. Erick Dampier got to play more minutes in this game and had 6 points on 3-3 FG, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 19 minutes. Gerald Green again started and had 5 points and 2 assists in 14 minutes. Brandon Bass had 7 points and 4 rebounds and James Singleton had 6 points and 4 rebounds. Shawne Williams had 4 points and 7 rebounds in 13 minutes. And J.J. Barea had 2 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in 15 minutes. Charlotte only got 26 points from their 5 starters as they shot just 23% FG. D.J. Augustin had a good game with 21 points including 9-15 FG, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Gerald Wallace had 8 points including 3-13 FG and 6 rebounds. Raymond Felton had 11 points including 3-14 FG and 3 steals. Emeka Okafor had 5 points on 2-6 FG and 1-4 FT, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 28 minutes. Sean May, looking out of shape, missed 2 shots and had 2 rebounds and 2 turnovers in just 12 minutes. Matt Carroll had 2 points on 1-4 FG and 2 rebounds and 3 turnovers in 12 minutes. Jared Dudley had 10 points and 3 rebounds. Shannon Brown had 11 points and 3 rebounds. Ryan Hollins had 9 points. Quotes Rick Carlisle on a stretch in the 4th quarter: "I'm not sure what we were doing out there. But you can't complain about a win. With the way it's been so far, it's just important to get the win and get out of here and get ready for tomorrow." Carlisle: "It just feels like our team is starting to get a feel for some of the new pieces to the puzzle, maybe what we're doing in terms of style that might be different than last year. But again, it all starts with defense. Stops create the great opportunities." Dirk Nowitzki: "It was a big win for us for sure." Jason Terry: "For us, tonight's game was a must win. We treated this game like a playoff game. The Bobcats have been struggling, and so have we." Gerald Green on continuing to start: "I'm very glad about the opportunity I'm getting. I don't want to blow it. I'm just trying to play hard and keep this winning streak going." Larry Brown on the start of the game: "I think Rick [Carlisle] was pretty generous in his substitutions. We were down 15-0 and we could have been down 30-0 the way it was going." Brown on Sean May: "It's obvious Sean is not ready to play. Nowitzki is a handful for anybody, but [May] is just not ready to play." Gerald Wallace: "It looked basically like the varsity scripting plays against a rec team out there. They did whatever they wanted to do." D.J. Augustin: "I think I just played tonight. Other nights I was thinking too much." Jared Dudley on the game: "If I was us, I wouldn't even watch that film. I'd throw it away." Dallas Mavericks 100, Charlotte Bobcats 83 at Charlotte (November 18) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 28 27 19 26 - 100 .576 .235 .500 .741 Charlotte 10 25 23 25 - 83 .429 .100 .388 .833 Halftime: Dallas 55-35 3rd Q: Dallas 74-58 Technicals: Gerald Wallace (Cha) 5:31 3rd Refs: Kevin Fehr, Scott Foster, Marc Davis Attendance: 10,935 (cap 19,077) IL: Dallas - Devean George, Jerry Stackhouse Charlotte - Andre Brown, Linton Johnson, Jason Richardson Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 35 9-15 2-4 1-4 21 1-4 0 4 5 2 1 Dirk Nowitzki 37 10-21 2-3 10-11 32 1-9 2 1 3 0 1 Erick Dampier 19 3-3 0-0 0-0 6 3-11 0 0 4 0 3 Gerald Green 14 2-6 0-1 1-2 5 0-0 2 0 2 0 0 Jason Kidd 33 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 1-5 10 6 1 1 1 Shawne Williams 13 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 3-7 0 0 0 0 1 Jason Terry 34 6-14 0-6 3-4 15 1-3 3 4 0 2 0 Brandon Bass 24 2-4 0-0 3-4 7 1-4 1 1 3 0 2 J.J. Barea 15 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 0-3 2 1 2 0 0 James Singleton 16 2-5 0-1 2-2 6 1-4 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 38-76 4-17 20-27 100 12-50 20 17 22 5 9 Charlotte Bobcats REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Gerald Wallace 32 3-13 0-2 2-2 8 3-6 3 0 2 2 1 Sean May 12 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 2 1 0 0 Emeka Okafor 28 2-6 0-0 1-4 5 2-9 0 2 1 1 3 Matt Carroll 12 1-4 0-1 0-0 2 0-2 0 3 3 0 0 Raymond Felton 36 3-14 0-1 5-5 11 0-2 3 2 1 3 0 Alexis Ajinca 9 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 0 0 2 1 0 D.J. Augustin 36 9-15 0-2 3-3 21 0-4 4 0 2 1 0 Nazr Mohammed 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 Jared Dudley 27 4-9 0-1 2-2 10 1-3 0 2 4 2 0 Adam Morrison 13 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Shannon Brown 19 4-8 1-2 2-2 11 1-3 1 2 3 1 0 Ryan Hollins 14 2-3 0-0 5-6 9 1-1 0 0 1 0 1 Totals 48 31-80 1-10 20-24 83 9-34 11 14 22 11 5 Dallas at Houston (November 19) Both teams were missing a star as Josh Howard (swollen left ankle) and Yao Ming (sore left foot) did not play. Dallas surprisingly started James Singleton in Howard's place. It was the 2nd night of a back-to-back for Dallas. Dallas once again got out to a strong start in scoring the first 8 points of the game. A 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki gave Dallas a 13-4 lead with 7:15 to go. Houston then went on a 12-3 run to tie the game at 16-16 with 4:30 remaining. A 3-pointer by Ron Artest gave Houston their first lead of the game at 21-20 with 3:20 left. The teams traded leads a couple of times and Dallas scored the last 7 points of the quarter to take a 31-25 lead after 1. Aaron Brooks scored Houston's first 4 points of the 2nd quarter and Jason Terry scored Dallas' first 6 points to give Dallas a 37-29 lead with 10:15 remaining. A layup by Terry gave Dallas a double-digit lead at 42-31 with 8 minutes to go. It got sloppy over the next few minutes as both teams had turnovers and missed shots. Houston did score the next 4 points, but Nowitzki answered with 4 straight points to give Dallas a 46-35 lead with 5:25 left. Dallas' lead ranged between 9 and 12 points over the next few minutes. Houston scored the last 4 points of the quarter as Dallas missed 4 straight shots over the last 2 minutes of the half. Dallas led 53-46 at the half. Dallas shot 58% FG and Houston shot 45% FG in the half. It was more of the same in the 3rd quarter as Dallas' lead seemed to be either 11 points or 9 points the entire quarter as Houston was unable to mount a run. J.J. Barea got a bucket near the quarter's end to give Dallas a 72-61 lead after 3. But Houston did have a run to open the 4th quarter as Brooks drained a 3-pointer, Von Wafer hit a 3, and after Terry hit 1-2 FT, Brooks hit another 3-pointer to pull Houston within 70-73 with 9:30 to go. But Dallas answered with a 7-1 mini-run, capped by a 3-pointer, to push their lead back up to 9 points. A 3-point play by Terry and a jumper by Nowitzki gave Dallas a 85-73 lead with 4:10 remaining. Houston did score the next 6 points, but Terry hit a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 9-point lead. Rafer Alston hit 2 free throws and Tracy McGrady hit a 3-pointer to pull Houston within 84-88 with 1:15 left. It was Terry again to the rescue as he drove for a layup and, after McGrady's 3-point attempt rattled out, Nowitzki was fouled on the rebound (in the penalty) and hit both free throws to give Dallas a 92-84 lead with 45 seconds left. Although Ron Artest had a layup 5 seconds later, Dallas was twice intentionally fouled and hit all 4 free throws for the game's final points. Dallas won 96-86. Despite both teams missing a key player, it was a good win for the Mavs against a talented team - plus it was the 2nd night of a back-to-back for Dallas. [It was also a rare win when Danny Crawford officiates.] Pure and simple, Dallas shot better than Houston. I don't think it was defense by either team, but more one team feeling it more than the other as Jason Terry was white hot and Dirk Nowitzki hit some tough shots that were well defended and Ron Artest missed too many shots inside to count. Dallas shot 45.5% (35-77) FG including 6-17 3-pointers and Houston shot 37.2% (29-78) FG including 6-25 3-pointers. Dallas shot 20-26 FT and Houston shot 22-31 FT. Dallas did out-rebounded Houston 46-40, but Houston had a slight edge on the offensive boards at 7-5. With the win, Dallas won all 3 games on their road trip. [Now to finally get a win at home...] Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki carried the offensive load as the two were the only Mavs in double-digit scoring. Terry hit his first 7 shots before his first miss - and then followed the miss with a steal and layup on the break. He had a game high 31 points including 13-21 FG, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Nowitzki had a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds. But it was a team effort as there were some nice (non stat stunning) performances from others. Jason Kidd had 8 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists, but his turnovers were again high with 5 turnovers. Erick Dampier had 3 points and 4 rebounds and an active DeSagana Diop had 4 points and 5 rebounds in 16 minutes (after not playing, coach's decision, in the last 2 games). Brandon Bass had a nice outing with 6 points and 6 rebounds. Shawne Williams played really well and was in the game late as his responsibility was defending Ron Artest. Williams had 5 points including a poor 1-7 FG - but it was his defense that deserved some praise. James Singleton started and had 5 points in 18 minutes. Gerald Green continued to be the 2-guard starter (as Rick Carlisle elects to keep Terry as the scoring punch off the bench, though Terry plays starters minutes). Green had 6 points. J.J. Barea had 4 points including 1-5 FG and 3 rebounds in 14 minutes. Jerry Stackhouse remained on IL, though it is now being called due to his plantar fascia instead of pure coach's decision. It was a balanced attack for Houston with 5 players in double-digits scoring, but they are used to having a dominate performance from their big 3 (though Yao Ming was out for this game). Tracy McGrady had 16 points including 5-14 FG in 29 minutes as his minutes are being watched due to his sore knee. Ron Artest had 14 points including 5-14 FG and 13 rebounds. Luis Scola did have a nice game and kept after Dirk Nowitzki (but Nowitzki did just hit some re-Dirk-ulous shots). Scola had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Rafer Alston had 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists (no other Rocket had more than 1 assist). Chuck Hayes, starting in place of Yao, was the only starter not in double-digits with just 2 points on 1-3 FG. He also had 5 rebounds. Off the bench, Aaron Brooks had 15 points. Carl Landry had 5 points including 1-4 FG and 7 rebounds. Von Wafer had 3 points on 1-5 FG and 0-2 FT and Brent Barry missed 3 3-pointers. Quotes Rick Carlisle on Terry: "We had to ride him tonight. We had other guys that obviously played well, but we were just looking to give him the ball to make plays and hit shots, and he did a good job." Carlisle on the play of the new players: "We needed them. If you look at the minutes, the fact that Dirk played only 37 and Jason Kidd and Jason Terry only played 34 tells you that those guys stepped up. Singleton and Green and Damp helped us get off to a real solid start. Shawne Williams played a very steady game, a very good floor game and a great defensive game. Even though he didn't shoot the ball well, he was involved in a lot of important plays." Carlisle on the 3-0 trip: "It was much needed and not an easy trip at all, starting at New York. Having to really gut that one out was huge. We've got to build on this, get home, and start concentrating on winning at home." Jason Kidd on missing Howard: "We just kept going. Who ever takes the floor has to step up and JET was big. The guys coming off the bench were huge for us." Jason Terry on his hot start: "When the coach calls the first play for you and the shot goes in you're like, man, it must be my night. And you try another one." Terry: "[Carlisle] called the play for me right out of the timeout. I'm like, 'Really? Is that for me?' I hadn't even run up and down or stretched on the scorer's table or nothing. But he had confidence in me and it felt great to hit the first shot." Terry: "It's a good shooting arena. I've heard others say it wasn't, but one man's trash is another man's treasure. I like the red background. It's like a bull's eye to me." Brandon Bass: "A week ago it was like there was nobody wanted to eat, nobody wanted to talk to each we were just frustrated. But you see how everybody is just talking to each other [in the locker room]. It just feels good to win." Rick Adelman: "When you don't have Yao, you've got to move the ball and you have to create situations. We don't have a lot of guys who can break you down off the dribble." Adelman: "We didn't have good movement. And if we did get shots, we didn't make them." Adelman: "I thought we were just discombobulated. Whether it was Yao being out, Ron missing practice yesterday, it just seemed we were out of sync completely in this game." Adelman on McGrady: "Right now, he's having a hard time. On the floor, we would play pick-and-roll. It used to be something he could do so easily, but right now, they're just jumping so hard so it's tough to come off and find people he used to find. That's something we have to live with right now." Tracy McGrady: "Throughout the game, we had some easy shots. Our offense was there, but we had some shots and we didn't make them." McGrady on his health: "I feel like I can get to the basket. I feel like in spurts I can go out there and play normal. I can't jump right now, but when I'm out there I really try not to think about it. If I felt like I was hurting my team and if the coaches felt like I was hurting the team, I wouldn't be out there. So while I'm out there, I don't even think about what I can and can't do. I just go out there and play." Dallas Mavericks 96, Houston Rockets 86 at Houston (November 19) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 31 22 19 24 - 96 .483 .353 .455 .769 Houston 25 21 15 25 - 86 .434 .240 .372 .710 Halftime: Dallas 53-46 3rd Q: Dallas 72-61 Technicals: Houston defensive 3 seconds 8:53 2nd, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 6:57 2nd, Houston defensive 3 seconds 3:38 3rd Refs: Danny Crawford, Leroy Richardson, Derrick Stafford Attendance: 18,203 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Yao Ming (Hou, sore left foot) IL: Dallas - Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse Houston - Shane Battier, Steve Francis Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK James Singleton 18 2-4 0-0 1-2 5 0-1 0 1 2 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 38 7-17 1-3 9-9 24 0-12 3 1 3 0 0 Erick Dampier 19 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 1-4 0 1 1 0 1 Gerald Green 14 3-5 0-0 0-1 6 0-1 2 1 3 1 1 Jason Kidd 35 3-8 2-5 0-0 8 2-9 7 5 0 1 0 Brandon Bass 22 2-4 0-0 2-2 6 1-6 0 3 3 0 1 Jason Terry 35 13-21 2-4 3-4 31 0-2 4 3 2 3 0 Shawne Williams 31 1-7 1-4 2-2 5 0-3 0 0 3 1 2 J.J. Barea 14 1-5 0-1 2-2 4 0-3 1 1 3 0 0 DeSagana Diop 16 2-4 0-0 0-2 4 1-5 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 35-77 6-17 20-26 96 5-46 17 16 22 7 5 Houston Rockets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Ron Artest 43 5-14 1-4 3-8 14 4-13 1 3 3 2 2 Luis Scola 41 6-12 0-0 3-4 15 2-7 1 3 4 2 1 Chuck Hayes 23 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-5 0 0 4 0 0 Tracy McGrady 29 5-14 2-6 4-4 16 0-1 1 2 2 1 1 Rafer Alston 37 6-13 0-3 4-4 16 1-5 8 0 1 1 0 Carl Landry 26 1-4 0-0 3-4 5 0-7 0 1 5 1 0 Aaron Brooks 21 4-10 2-6 5-5 15 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 Von Wafer 10 1-5 1-3 0-2 3 0-0 1 1 1 0 0 Brent Barry 9 0-3 0-3 0-0 0 0-2 1 2 0 1 0 Totals 48 29-78 6-25 22-31 86 7-40 14 12 21 9 4 patricia