It's been almost a month since I last wrote a Mavs News report and the
team has changed some since I last wrote.
 
The NBA trade deadline came and went with only one trade for Dallas this
year.  The Mavs sent Dennis Scott to Phoenix for Cedric Ceballos.  This
was a very good move for the Mavs.  In Ceballos we finally have a player 
who knows how to take the ball inside and draw the foul.  This was 
extremely evident in the Detroit game on March 2 where Ced went 17-18 from
the line - and all those trips to the line were earned by Ceballos driving 
to the basket.  In the 7 games that Ceballos has started for Dallas (he 
didn't start in his first 3 Mavs games), he has averaged 21 points and 7.6
rebounds and the Mavs have won 4 of 7.  His performances are drawing the
attention of opponents and are freeing up Finley a little more.  Ceballos
has much more of an inside game (though he can hit from the outside) than
Scott.  When the trade first occurred, there were some questions about his
attitude - mainly left over from his stint with the Lakers where he left
the team for a week during the season and was found water skiing in 
Phoenix.  Word out of Phoenix is that he was a good citizen for the team 
and not griping about the lack of playing time he was getting.  Based on 
what I've seen of Ceballos, I have to wonder if Phoenix coach Danny Ainge 
had a personal problem with Ceballos or why Ainge wasn't playing him.  
Ceballos (like Dennis Scott) is a free agent this summer.  The talk from 
Don Nelson a few days after the trade was that the Mavs would get a chance
to take a look at Ceballos and see if they wanted to keep him - if the 
price was right - or let him move on.  A few days ago, I heard Nelson say 
that the Mavs will try to keep him.  Keeping him (if the price is not 
ridiculous) would be a good move.
 
Nelson also added yet another assistant to the bench - scouting director
Scott Roth is now an assistant coach.  The Mavs currently have six
assistants.  But one or more are often out scouting other teams or college
players.  Nelson originally stated that Roth was going to move from his
scouting position to the bench next season, but decided to go ahead and
make the move this season.
 
Speaking of scouting, Nelson and son took a little bit of flack last week
when they showed up shortly before halftime of the Miami game.  The two
were scouting a college tournament in Kansas and their flight back to
Dallas was delayed by two hours causing them to be late to the Mavs game.
 
The Mavs and Half Price Books are sponsoring a book drive as part of NBA
Reading Month.  Anyone who brings 4 or more new or used kids books to Mavs
home games March 14 or 17 or to any of the 13 Half Price Books locations
through March 19 will receive a voucher for 2 for 1 admission ($9 - $21
seats) to the March 19 Golden State game or, if you are a season ticket
holder, 2 free tickets to the Golden State game.  The books will be
donated to 3 libraries in the Dallas area.
 
The Mavs have set up an e-mail address where fans can e-mail Don Nelson and
ask him questions.  Selected questions will be read during Mavs broadcasts
on TV and answered by Nelson. The address is asknellie@dallasmavs.com.
 
Samaki Walker is still out with a stress fracture in his right foot and
there is no time table for his return.  He seems to be doing better as he
was out shooting around before the Miami game, but the Mavs want to bring
him along slowly and make sure it is fully healed.  There even has been
talk about not playing him the rest of the season (I'm against that - you
only learn how to play in the NBA when you are on the court).
 
During the Minnesota game on March 3, Shawn Bradley received a knee from
Cherokee Parks in a sensitive area.  Bradley missed the next 3 games with
testicular trauma and only played limited minutes in the Chicago game.  My
guess is that it is still bothering him some as he did not play in the 2nd
half of the Chicago game despite playing well in the 2nd quarter.  Nelson
did bring him in for the start of the overtime for the jumpball (which he
won and the Mavs got a quick 2 points) and Anstey was sent to the scorers
table right after the jumpball to sub for Bradley (though Bradley played
for about 2 minutes before there was a dead ball).
 
 
As for the games, as I mention above, the Mavs are playing much better
with Ceballos.  There has been some talk about Nelson tanking games to 
get a better draft pick, but there have only been a few cases where that 
may have occurred [he is the GM after all].  (Plus there is the usual talk
about how wins hurt the team right now - I've never bought that crap.  You 
play games to win.)  After playing tight games against Philly, Indiana, 
and Minnesota in mid-February, the Mavs had a terrible home stand where 
they lost to Phoenix (95-77), San Antonio without David Robinson (87-81), 
and Detroit (94-82).  They then got blown out on the road at Orlando 
(100-79) and Miami (91-72).  Then Nelson made his lineup change and 
inserted Ceballos as a starter.  A good sign towards the team's better 
play is the increase in assists.  Before the last 7 games, the Mavs were 
on pace to shatter the team record for fewest assists in a season as they 
were averaging a mere 17.3 assists - the team record is 19.9 (17.3 would 
have also tied the 2nd lowest assist average in NBA history).  In the last
7 games, the Mavs have averaged 22.9 assists.
 
With what seemed to be a little bit of revenge for Nelson against Chris
Webber considering Nelson played Finley, Ceballos, and Green for 40+
minutes, the Mavs blew out Washington on March 28.  The Mavs led 54-39 at
halftime and never looked back.  Dallas won 103-77.  A.C. had a season
high 25 points on 8-13 FG and 9-12 FT and had 11 rebounds.  Finley had 27 
points and 9 assists and Ceballos had 21 points and 10 rebounds.  For 
Washington, Rod Strickland had 27 points including 11-18 FG and 9 assists
and Webber has 17 points including 6-19 FG and 15 rebounds.  The win gave 
Dallas a record of 3-10 for February.
 
The Detroit game on March 2 was a tightly contested match.  The Mavs built
up a 12 point lead in the 2nd quarter, but that lead was cut to 47-42 at
the half.  The game was all tied up at 72-72 after 3.  Detroit open the 4th
with an 8-0 run to go up 80-72.  The Mavs pulled within 2 several times,
with the last being 86-84 with 5:30 left.  After that, the Mavs were not
able to get closer than 5.  Detroit won 100-94.  Grant Hill led the way 
with 35 points and 9 rebounds and Jerry Stackhouse had 20 points.  
Ceballos had 21 points on 2-8 FG and 17-18 FT, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists 
and Finley had 21 points.
 
The Mavs controlled most of the Minnesota game March 3.  Though not able
to blow them out, the Mavs held a double digit lead the entire 2nd half
(except for one 9 point lead early in the 4th).  The Mavs won 110-99.
Ceballos led the way with 22 points and 6 rebounds, Hubert Davis had 19 
points including 6-8 FG, Finley had 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists,
and Shawn Bradley had 16 points and 9 rebounds.  Kevin Garnett had 22 
points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists and Stephon Marbury had 17 points and
7 assists.
 
If you want to see signs of tanking, look no further than the Clippers
game March 5.  Nelson's plan was to play the starters in the 1st and 3rd
quarters and the bench in the 2nd and 4th quarters.  And he stuck with his
plan.  The starters took a 7 point lead at halftime and built a 22 point
lead to go up 94-72 after 3.  The bench played all 12 minutes of the 4th
and proceeded to blow most of that lead.  The Clippers went on a 23-6 run
to get within 106-100 with 4:45 left.  Despite the Mavs' best effort, the
Clippers just couldn't win and Dallas won 119-109.  Martin Muursepp had
his best game of his career with 24 points and 8 rebounds.  Ceballos had
17 points and 7 rebounds and Davis had 24 points and 8 rebounds.  Lamond 
Murray had 24 points including 9-13 FG and 9 rebounds and Maurice Taylor
had 21 points and 5 rebounds.
 
The March 10 game at Houston was one where the final score was deceiving.
Houston led 60-45 at the half and 79-64 after 3.  Houston led 96-78 with
just under 5 minutes left.  The Mavs tried to come back by going on a 13-1
run (Houston's starters were in the game), but there was not enough time
left.  Houston won 97-91.  Kevin Willis had 20 points including 9-13 FG 
and 12 rebounds, Clyde Drexler had 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, 
and Charles Barkley had 14 points and 17 rebounds.  Ceballos had 24 points
and 5 rebounds and Finley had 25 points.
 
And for the game of the year for the Mavs - Chicago at Dallas March 12.
What a crazy, wild game.  It was an ugly, ugly game through 3 quarters as
neither team played well.  It was a true sellout - Reunion Arena was
jammed pack with people wanting to see Michael Jordan (and there were a
lot of Bulls fans).  I got a kick of watching the flashes from cameras go
of when ever Jordan attempted a free throw.  As I said, neither team
played well and Chicago led 48-40 at the half (and the Mavs shot 0-5 FT
in the first half) and led 71-60 after 3.  Then it got ugly for the Mavs as
Chicago pulled ahead 79-60 with less than 9 minutes left.  Their lead was
17 at 85-68 with 5:43 and they led 89-74 with a mere 3:44 left and "fans" 
were starting to leave the Arena.  Then the earth shifted or something
miraculous happened - I still can't believe it.  A.C. Green started the
Mavs' comeback by hitting two free throws with 3:20 left.  Neither team
scored for a minute of playing time.  Cedric Ceballos tipped in a Finley
miss with 2:16 left and Chicago led 89-78.  The teams traded misses and
Scottie Pippen turned the ball over.  Hubert Davis hit a jumper with 1:40
left.  Jordan was fouled, but only hit 1-2 FT.  Chicago 90-80 with 1:19
remaining.  The Mavs missed and Pippen again turned the ball over.
Ceballos was fouled with 52 seconds left and hit both free throws.  Pippen
turned the ball over and Ceballos drove for the layup to pull the Mavs
with in 90-84 with 31 seconds left.  Steve Kerr was fouled and probably the
2nd most shocking thing of the night occurred.  Kerr, a 94% FT shooter 
(31-33), missed _both_ free throws and Ceballos got the rebound and Dallas
called timeout with 22.5 seconds left.  Instead of going for 3, Nelson set
up the play for 2 and Ceballos drove for the dunk with 16.1 seconds left.
Chicago inbounded the ball to Jordan and Finley fouled him.  Jordan only
hit 1-2 FT and Anstey got the rebound with 15.2 seconds left as the Mavs
called timeout.  Chicago's lead was only 91-86, but little time was left.
Nelson again went for 2 [and I was thinking he was tanking since going for
3 made more sense to me] and Hubert drove for the short jumper with 10
seconds left.  Pippen was trying to inbound the ball, but the Mavs were
defending well and as he went to call timeout, the ref called a 5 seconds
inbounds violation.  Mavs ball on their own baseline.  The Mavs took their
last timeout.  Ceballos couldn't inbound the ball to Hubert in the far
corner so he got it to A.C.  A.C. then handed the ball back to Ceballos in
the near corner and A.C.'s defender (Buechler) and Pippen got right in
Ceballos' face; Ceballos jumped back and up and flung the ball at the
basket over the two players' out stretched hands and it went swish!  Holy
cow!!!  Tie game at 91-91 with 3.9 seconds left.  Timeout Chicago.  The
Bulls inbounded the ball to Kukoc and the seas parted as he drove to the
basket, but he missed the wide open (I couldn't believe he was so wide
open) 2-foot finger roll and we had overtime.  Wow.  The Mavs went on a
17-2 run to tie the game.  Nelson inserted Shawn Bradley, who hadn't seen
action since the 2nd quarter, for the opening tip of overtime.  Bradley
tipped the jump to A.C. and A.C. passed the ball to Ceballos for the quick
dunk a mere 5 seconds into the overtime.  It was Dallas' first lead of the
game.  Jordan missed a jumper.  Finley nailed the 3-pointer with 4:30 left
to give Dallas a 96-91 lead.  But Kerr answered with a 3 of his own.  Both
teams traded shots for a minute.  Chris Anstey drilled the open 18-foot
baseliner with 2:50 left.  Jordan hit a jumper to pull Chicago within
98-96 with 2:25 remaining.  Ceballos drove for 2 at the 2 minute mark.
Chicago missed on 3 attempts before Anstey snagged the rebound.  Dennis
Rodman and Anstey did a little jawing and both received technicals.  Anstey
turned the ball over and Jordan was fouled shooting.  He hit 1-2 FT with
1:08 left.  Finley made the nice pass inside to Anstey for the dunk to
give Dallas a 102-97 led with 53 seconds left - and the place continued to
go nuts.  Pippen missed a 3-pointer.  The Mavs missed twice and there was
only 20 seconds left.  Chicago mised two 3-pointers and A.C. got the
rebound and was fouled.  He hit both free throws for the final margin of
Dallas 104, Chicago 97.  Wow!!!  What a wild game!  [Yes, I went nuts from
about a minute left in regulation on.]


patricia