The Mavs are cursed. The injury plagued pre-season continued as the team lost two more players during the Phoenix games. Rookie free agent signee Ace Custis, who had a legitimate shot at making the team, went down during the 2nd quarter with what is currently being called a sprained right knee. He will undergo an MRI today and there is concern that it may be a tear in the ACL. Worse, late in the 4th quarter, Robert Pack broke the ring finger on his right hand scrambling after a loose ball. He will undergo surgery on the finger probably Tuesday and will be out at least 4 weeks. Cleamons had been praising Pack with having an excellent training camp. With both Pack and Erick Strickland out for most/all of November, look for the team to sign a free agent point guard (Spud Webb and Gary Grant are available and have been mentioned by the Dallas Morning News as possibilities). Pack: "I heard a snap and when I ran I could feel the bone moving around. I know there are a lot worse things happening to people around this world, but I've worked too hard to break my hand in pre-season. This is devastating." As for the game, ugly, ugly, ugly. Phoenix rested Kevin Johnson, Danny Manning, Cedric Ceballos, Antonio McDyess, and John Williams (George McCloud also did not play due to injury). The Mavs didn't have Samaki Walker and Dennis Scott. Phoenix seemed to be having their way with the Mavs in the first quarter. The Mavs were playing right into their hand by keeping to the outside on offense and Phoenix's 3 guard line-up of Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, and Rex Chapman did a good job of getting shoots off of screens [my complaint about Robert Pack needing to work on getting through screens better is a mute point now]. I'm not sure how Phoenix was only up 28-21 after 1. The Mavs' free throw shooting was a disgusting 3-10 for the 1st quarter. Phoenix shot about 55% FG and Dallas shot about 45% FG. Phoenix also had about 9 more rebounds than Dallas. In the second the Mavs got smart and kept feeding the ball inside or driving to the basket against the much smaller Phoenix. And it showed in the field goal percentage as Dallas had increased their shooting percentage to about 55% for the half. Ref Ed Middleton started making his stamp on the game. Shawn Bradley was set and standing still inside of the no-charge area. One of the Phoenix players drove right into him and the baseline ref called an offensive foul. Middleton, who was the outside ref on the weakside of the court came in and, pointing at the semi-circle changed it to a blocking foul on Bradley. Is that the way the new rule reads? I thought it was simply a no-charge area and a charge taken in the area would be a no-call, not a blocking (especially since the other player initiated the contact). If the rule is that it is a block foul, then I really don't like the new rule as it severely hinders weak-side helping. With a few minutes left in the 2nd quarter, Bradley and Horacio Llamas were battling for position on the block and Middleton whistled Bradley for a flagrant foul-ejection for throwing an elbow. After Bradley had left the court, the refs huddled and changed it to a non-ejection flagrant. Cleamons let Bradley, who was very upset, cool down on the bench for the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 51-50 at the half. Dallas shot about 55% FG and Phoenix shot about 45% FG. Phoenix was only out-rebounding Dallas by a couple. Bradley had 13 points, Michael Finley had 11 points and Kidd had 9 points. And then it got really ugly. A few minutes into the 3rd, Bradley got ejected with his second flagrant foul on a nice acting job by Llamas and a terrible call by Middleton (does he have a past history with Bradley??). The Mavs were in the 25 second offense and couldn't do nothing. Completely nothing. Phoenix rattled off 15 points over the first 5 1/2 minutes of the quarter while Dallas had none. During the quarter, I looked at the hustle board and nearly gagged - Dallas has 28 rebounds while Phoenix had 45. The Mavs were getting whipped on the boards by a very short Phoenix team. As the Mavs started slowly rallying back, I mentioned to my dad that Phoenix should be disgusted with themselves if they lose the game as pathetically as Dallas was playing. Behind Finley and Pack, the Mavs scored the last 8 points of the quarter. Phoenix led 73-70 after 3. The slow down offense continued in the 4th, but the Mavs regained the lead and started building on it as several individuals would hit shots with a couple of seconds left on the shot clock and bailout the team. Most of the rallying was done with Jason Kidd on the bench. Ainge brought Kidd back in when Dallas was up by about 5, but the Mavs continued to build on their lead and Kidd sat back down after about 4 minutes. Hubert Davis was the hero of the quarter and had a lot of the bailout baskets scoring 12 points in the 4th. Dallas won 99-86. Even discounting the injuries, this was not a win the Mavs can be proud of. The Mavericks looked terrible on offense. The running game I saw in the Houston game a week ago was completely gone. The triangle was even more ineffective - especially when Bradley wasn't on the court. Most of the shots in the 4th quarter did come with only a few seconds on the shot clock and not as a results of the offensive setup. If it wasn't for several players stepping up and hitting the tough shoots and Phoenix's poor play, Dallas would not have won this game - and you just can not count on those things occurring to consistently win games. I'm still puzzled about how the Mavs could not run yet they were playing a running team. Before the game, I have to mention that Phoenix assistant coach Frank Johnson entertained the crowd by shooting (and making most) one-handed 3-pointers. Dallas Mavericks 99, Phoenix Suns 86 at Dallas (October 17) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 21 30 19 29 - 99 .469 .750 .482 .583 Phoenix 28 22 23 13 - 86 .413 .231 .382 .781 Halftime: Dallas 51-50 3rd Q: Phoenix 73-70 Technicals: none Flagrant Fouls: Shawn Bradley 2nd, Shawn Bradley 3rd (ejected) Refs: Dan Crawford, Ed Middleton, Rashan Michel Attendance: 11,011 Cedric Ceballos, Kevin Johnson, Danny Manning, John Williams, George McCloud, Antonio McDyess, Dennis Scott, Samaki Walker, and Erick Strickland did not play Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 44 8-20 2-2 3-5 21 2-7 5 1 3 4 1 A.C. Green 40 2-5 0-0 2-6 6 3-17 2 0 4 2 0 Shawn Bradley 19 6-11 0-0 1-3 13 1-3 1 3 4 0 1 Khalid Reeves 19 3-5 0-1 1-1 7 0-0 0 1 4 1 1 Robert Pack 38 8-16 0-0 3-4 19 1-4 7 3 3 0 0 Ace Custis 8 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-3 1 1 0 0 0 Hubert Davis 32 8-11 1-1 2-3 19 0-0 7 0 2 1 0 Bubba Wells 9 3-6 0-0 0-0 6 0-0 0 1 0 1 0 Carlos Strong 8 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 1 1 0 0 Malcolm Mackey 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 2 0 1 Kevin Whitted 12 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 Kevin Ollie 7 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 41-85 3-4 14-24 99 8-38 24 12 24 9 4 Phoenix Suns REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Steve Nash 39 5-12 1-3 2-2 13 1-5 5 5 2 1 0 Clifford Robinson 30 2-6 0-0 2-4 6 2-10 2 0 3 0 3 Horacio Llamas 24 3-5 0-0 6-6 12 0-4 0 1 5 1 1 Rex Chapman 37 4-9 1-3 6-8 15 0-4 2 2 0 0 0 Jason Kidd 29 8-21 1-3 2-2 19 3-8 4 2 3 1 0 Tom Chambers 23 4-10 0-0 0-0 8 6-10 2 5 2 0 2 Mark Bryant 17 2-6 0-0 2-2 6 2-5 0 1 2 1 0 Shawn Dirden 15 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 2-2 1 4 1 0 0 Russ Millard 25 1-4 0-1 5-8 7 2-6 0 1 5 0 0 Stephen Jackson 1 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 29-76 3-13 25-32 86 18-54 16 22 24 4 6 Other news: SE Melbourne defeated Perth 96-69 to take the series 2-0 and advance the the Australian National Basketball League finals. Chris Anstey had 0 points (0-5 FG), a team high 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks (he played 3 quarters with 4 fouls). SE Melbourne will face the winner of the North Melbourne Giants-Melbourne Tigers series - the Tigers currently lead the series 1-0. The finals are tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 25; Wednesday, October 29; and (if necessary) Saturday, November 1. Anstey will join the Mavs after the Australian playoffs are over. patricia