Dallas at Minnesota (November 1) Dallas went with a change from opening night as Jerry Stackhouse started in place of Antoine Wright. Mike Miller hit a 3-pointer and 2 free throws to give Minnesota a 7-2 lead with 10:35 to go, but Dallas rattled off the next 13 points to go up 15-7 with 7:15 left as Minnesota missed 6 straight shots. Dirk Nowitzki converted a 3-point play and hit a 3-pointer to give Dallas their largest lead at 23-11 with 4:20 remaining. Dallas led 31-20 after 1. Minnesota only shot 35% FG in the quarter. Josh Howard continued his usual strong starts (and poor finishes) with 10 points in the quarter. A 3-pointer by J.J. Barea (seeing his first action of the season) gave Dallas a 37-26 lead with 9:40 left, but Minnesota went on a 13-5 run to pull within 35-39 with 7:50 remaining. Erick Dampier converted a 3-point play to push Dallas' lead back into double-digits at 47-37 with 5:20 to go, but Minnesota scored on their next 5 possessions to score 11 consecutive points and take a 48-47 lead with 2:50 remaining. Dallas did close the quarter with a 6-1 run to go up 53-49 at the half. Dallas shot 51% FG and Minnesota shot 43% FG in the half. Minnesota scored the first 7 points of the 3rd quarter before Nowitzki finally put Dallas on the board in the quarter with a jumper with 8:20 to go. Miller answered with a layup and then Minnesota went ice cold and Dallas was only slightly better. Dallas scored 9 straight points to take a 64-58 lead with 2:05 left as Minnesota went scoreless over a 6:10 period (the "run" included a stretch of 5 minutes where just 1 bucket was scored). Dallas led 67-64 after 3. Minnesota actually out-scored Dallas 15-14 in the ugly quarter where each team shot just 28% FG. Unlike Dallas' first game, the bench came alive and had some solid contributions in the 4th quarter. Gerald Green (after not playing in the first game) hit a 3-pointer, Brandon Bass hit 2 free throws, Green drove for 2, and DeSagana Diop got a layup (all bench players) as Dallas scored 9 straight points to take an 80-69 lead with 8:35 left. Minnesota did manage to hang around in the quarter as 11 points would be Dallas' largest lead in the quarter. Jason Kidd stole the ball and fed Josh Howard for the slam on the break to give Dallas an 88-77 lead with 4:35 remaining, but Minnesota scored the next 6 points to pull within 83-88 with 2:15 to go. Kidd missed a 3-point attempt, but on the other end he had a great steal when Al Jefferson turned in the post and Kidd simply snagged the ball out of Jefferson's hands. Nowitzki missed late in the shot clock, but Dallas got the ball back and Nowitzki missed again with a minute to go. Randy Foye missed and Dallas ran some time off the clock. Nowitzki had the ball in the corner and faked and McCants fouled him as the clock was winding down. He hit both free throws to give Dallas a 7 point lead with 27 seconds left. Miller missed a 3-point attempt and Dallas hit 3 free throws off of intentional fouls for the game's final points. Dallas won 95-85. Well, it wasn't the blowout it was looking like it might be early in the 1st quarter, but it was a nice team win. Unlike Dallas' first game, the Mavs had some nice performances off the bench and no player dominated the stats (where game 1 was the Nowitzki and Howard show through 3 quarters as the 2 scored 61 of Dallas' 86 points). For the numbers, Dallas shot 44.6% (37-83) FG including 5-16 3-pointers and Minnesota shot 39.2% (31-79) FG including 1-12 3-pointers. Dallas shot 16-20 FT and Minnesota shot 22-24 FT. Minnesota had a 42-38 rebounding edge including 10-7 offensive. Dallas had 12 turnovers and 10 steals and Minnesota had 16 turnovers and 4 steals. I'm going to start with the bench for Mavs performances as they're the ones built up a lead early in the 4th quarter and this game wouldn't have been won without their performances. Jason Terry led the way with 19 points (and much better shooting at 6-14 FG and 2-5 3-pointers) and 4 steals - he did play 32 minutes as the starting 2-guard continued to struggle. Gerald Green provided a very nice spark in the 4th quarter as he scored 7 of his 9 points in the first 5 minutes of the quarter. He shot 4-5 FG (no dunks) including 1-1 3-pointers and had 2 rebounds in 16 minutes. Brandon Bass and DeSagana Diop combined for the play of the night where Bass blocked a shot, Kidd tried to save the ball but it went to a Al Jefferson under the basket and Diop blocked the layup attempt. All of Bass' 6 points came in the 4th quarter on 2-3 FG and 2-2 FT (he missed 3 shots in the previous quarters). Diop only had 3 points, but he had 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, and stunning 4 assists. And J.J. Barea chipped in 5 points on 2-3 FG including 1-1 3-pointers. For the starters, Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 21 points. He also had 6 rebounds (but again no assists). Josh Howard had 14 points, but only 2 of them came in the 2nd half. He also had 3 rebounds and 2 assists. [Howard, Nowitzki, and Terry were the only Mavs in double-digits.] Jason Kidd again flirted with a triple-double with 9 points (just 4-11 FG and 0-3 3-pointers), 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. Most amazing was his key steals - 3 of his 4 steals came in the 4th quarter at key moments. Erick Dampier had 7 points and 8 rebounds. And the 2-guard starter had another poor outing as Jerry Stackhouse had just 2 points on 1-5 FG, 1 rebound, and 1 turnover for his only stats in 12 minutes (he didn't play in the 4th quarter). But he did play, unlike game 1 starter Antoine Wright, who did not play-coach's decision in this game. Minnesota also didn't have any stellar performances. Bench player Rashad McCants led the way with 18 points on 6-8 FG and 6-7 FT and had 4 rebounds in 27 minutes. Al Jefferson had 14 points, but struggled in shooting 5-15 FG. He did have a double-double with 12 rebounds and also had 3 steals (but also had 4 turnovers). Mike Miller was the only other T'wolve in double-digits scoring with 13 points including 4-11 FG. He hit his first 3-pointer (which came a minute into the game), but missed the other 4 he attempted. Starters Randy Foye had 8 points including 3-14 FG, Ryan Gomes had 6 points including 3-10 FG, and Corey Brewer had 4 points including 2-6 FG - the 5 starters combined to shot just 30% (17-56) FG. Foye also had 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Rookie Kevin Love had 9 points and 3 rebounds in 23 minutes and veteran Kevin Ollie had 7 points on a perfect 2-2 FG and 3-3 FT, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in 20 minutes. Craig Smith had 6 points and 3 rebounds in 14 minutes. Quotes Rick Carlisle: "The beginning of 4th quarters on the road are always really important. I thought our 2nd group's ability to get stops and execute offensively and open up a little bit of daylight was pivotal to the game. Those guys did a great job." Carlisle on the bench in the 4th: "Those guys earned the minutes in the 4th quarter. They were playing well and getting the job done." Carlisle on Kidd: "He had 4 steals, but it seemed like 7 or 8." Carlisle on Green: "Gerald Green showed that he was ready. He played a sensible game, he played smart, defensively he was solid. He played a big role in this." Dirk Nowitzki: "We know in basketball you can't win games with 1 or 2 guys - teams are too good now in this league. You have to have everyone playing at a high level." Nowitzki on Kidd's steals: "To me, he's still got the quickest hands in the league. Any time you're not careful with the ball around him, it's gone." Jason Terry: "It's good for coach to get his 1st win and on the road, where we struggled last season. It's good for us to get a good win for us, but it keeps coming." Brandon Bass: "That is key for a good team, to have the bench to rely on when everything isn't clicking with the starters. I think we did that tonight." DeSagana Diop on his 4 assists: "I don't know the next time you're going to see that." Gerald Green: "Like I said, I don't really care about what happens. Of course, I'd love to be in the rotation, but as long as we win that's all that matters to me and everybody on the team." J.J. Barea on the bench play: "It's really big for our confidence, for our 2nd group's confidence and big for our starters to get rest." Randy Wittman: "The problem with tonight's game at both ends of the floor is we don't have that trust factor. It's not a matter of effort, not a matter of trying. We did a lot of good things tonight too. When we're trusting each other at both ends of the floor, we're pretty good and when we don't, we look really, really bad." Kevin Love on Dallas: "They're the most talented team we've played so far." Ryan Gomes: "In the halfcourt we did a good job; then in transition, that's where we lost the game." Dallas Mavericks 95, Minnesota 85 at Minnesota (November 1) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 31 22 14 28 - 95 .478 .313 .446 .800 Minnesota 20 29 15 21 - 85 .448 .083 .392 .917 Halftime: Dallas 53-49 3rd Q: Dallas 67-64 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 3:30 2nd Refs: James Capers, Monty McCutchen, Ron Olesiak Attendance: 16,893 (cap 19,356) Did not play: Sebastian Telfair (Min, suspended) IL: Dallas - Devean George, Shawne Williams Minnesota - Calvin Booth Jason Collins, Mark Madsen Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 36 6-15 0-2 2-2 14 0-3 2 3 1 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 32 8-17 1-2 4-6 21 0-6 0 1 0 0 0 Erick Dampier 20 3-5 0-0 1-1 7 4-8 0 0 3 1 0 Jerry Stackhouse 12 1-5 0-2 0-0 2 0-1 0 1 0 0 0 Jason Kidd 32 4-11 0-3 1-1 9 1-9 7 1 2 4 0 DeSagana Diop 28 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 1-6 4 0 4 1 3 Jason Terry 32 6-14 2-5 5-6 19 1-2 3 2 1 4 0 J.J. Barea 16 2-3 1-1 0-0 5 0-0 1 1 4 0 0 Brandon Bass 16 2-6 0-0 2-2 6 0-1 1 1 2 0 1 Gerald Green 16 4-5 1-1 0-0 9 0-2 0 1 3 0 0 Totals 48 37-83 5-16 16-20 95 7-38 18 12 20 10 4 Minnesota Timberwolves REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Corey Brewer 24 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 2-4 1 2 3 0 1 Ryan Gomes 23 3-10 0-2 0-0 6 0-5 1 1 1 0 0 Al Jefferson 36 5-15 0-1 4-5 14 2-12 0 4 1 3 1 Mike Miller 41 4-11 1-5 4-4 13 2-3 1 1 4 0 1 Randy Foye 32 3-14 0-2 2-2 8 0-5 6 1 2 0 0 Kevin Ollie 20 2-2 0-0 3-3 7 1-3 3 1 3 0 1 Rashad McCants 27 6-8 0-0 6-7 18 0-4 1 3 3 1 0 Craig Smith 14 3-6 0-0 0-0 6 1-3 1 1 1 0 0 Kevin Love 23 3-7 0-2 3-3 9 2-3 1 1 2 0 0 Rodney Carney 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 31-79 1-12 22-24 85 10-42 15 16 20 4 4 patricia