The Mavs have to reduce their roster to 12 active players (with up to 3 on IR) by 5 pm Friday. They are expected to release Khalid Reeves (who they have been unable to trade - which means they will eat his $2 million salary) and another player will come up with an "injury" and join Ansu Sesay on IR. The Mavs are holding a Spring Break basketball camp March 8 - 12 from 9 am to 4 pm at UTD [in UTD's new facility]. The camp costs $175 and is for boys and girls ages 8 to 18. Call 972-988-DUNK or e-mail hoopcamp@dallasmavs.com for more information. Dallas at Vancouver (February 14) It definitely wasn't a pretty game. Vancouver opened up a 17-10 lead early in the game before the Mavs responded with an 8-0 run. The game remained close the rest of the quarter and was tied after 1 at 26-26. The game was again tied at 33-33 at 7:22 when the Mavs scored 6 consecutive points to go up 39-33 with 4 minutes remaining [6 points in 3 1/2 minutes - gag]. Vancouver whittled away at the Mavs' small lead and the Mavs led 45-44 at the half. Dallas led 60-59 with 6 minutes left before falling to pieces. Dallas missed 4 consecutive shots and Vancouver took full advantage of it to score the next 12 points. Vancouver led 76-67 after 3. Vancouver led 86-75 and Dallas rallied back with a 10-2 run that started with a 3-pointer from Cedric Ceballos. Vancouver led 88-85 with 3 minutes to go. Shareef Abdur-Rahim hit a short jumper to give Vancouver a 92-86 lead with 1:40 left. A.C. Green was fouled after getting an offensive rebound. He hit the first, but missed the second, but Michael Finley got the rebound and the dunk. Vancouver led 92-89 with 1:21 left. Mike Bibby missed a shot and Robert Pack turned the ball over. Abdur-Rahim was fouled with 33 seconds left. He hit both free throws. Steve Nash drained a 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining and Vancouver led 94-92. The Mavs foolishly led Vancouver run the clock down and then fouled Doug West with only 4.3 seconds left. He hit both and that was game. Vancouver won 96-92. Quotes Brian Hill: "I thought we found a rhythm a bit in the 3rd quarter and combined it with some good defensive work. With all the opportunities we had, there were a lot of open 3-pointers and fortunately today, Sam had a great shooting day. We made the plays we needed to." Sam Mack: "Sometimes you get in a zone like that and think you can make everything that you throw up. It's just a question of following through and playing hard. The basket looked huge. It was one of those things where it looked like the ocean out there." Don Nelson: ""We need a win more than anything. I thought we played well enough to win and followed our game plan. The 3-ball beat us tonight, and in some regards that's what we were giving up, although we wanted to cover Mack better than we did. We left him open too much." Shawn Bradley: "It's such a crazy season right now. As a team we need to continue to work and come together. We have to understand our rotations and how to play defensively with one another. It's crazy with all these games coming so fast." Vancouver Grizzlies 96, Dallas Mavericks 92 at Vancouver (February 14) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Vancouver 26 18 32 20 - 96 .413 .500 .432 .944 Dallas 26 19 22 25 - 92 .451 .556 .463 .650 Halftime: Dallas 45-44 3rd Q: Vancouver 76-67 Technicals: Vancouver Illegal D 9:14 3rd Refs: Jim Capers, Bob Delaney, Jim Kinsey Attendance: 16,059 (cap 19,193) Did not play due to injury: Cherokee Parks (flu) Vancouver Grizzlies REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shareef Abdur-Rahim 42 9-17 0-0 6-6 24 2-6 2 4 3 3 3 Michael Smith 21 0-0 0-0 5-6 5 4-8 1 1 1 1 1 Tony Massenburg 25 5-8 0-0 0-0 10 3-5 1 2 0 1 0 Sam Mack 34 9-19 8-13 0-0 26 0-1 1 1 4 4 0 Mike Bibby 34 4-11 0-1 2-2 10 2-5 10 2 0 2 0 Doug West 23 0-3 0-0 2-2 2 0-3 2 0 3 1 0 Bryant Reeves 23 2-8 0-0 2-2 6 1-2 0 3 4 0 1 DeJuan Wheat 14 4-8 1-3 0-0 9 0-0 5 0 1 1 0 Pete Chilcutt 9 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 2-6 0 1 1 0 0 Jason Sasser 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Carl Herrera 12 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 2-2 0 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 35-81 9-18 17-18 96 16-39 22 15 18 13 5 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Dirk Nowitzki 12 2-7 0-0 2-2 6 0-1 0 1 0 1 0 A.C. Green 34 4-9 0-0 1-3 9 5-7 0 0 3 1 0 Samaki Walker 19 7-9 0-0 0-0 14 4-7 1 2 2 0 1 Michael Finley 33 4-13 0-3 1-2 9 0-3 3 2 1 0 1 Steve Nash 32 7-11 4-5 0-1 18 1-1 9 2 4 0 0 Gary Trent 14 4-8 0-0 1-2 9 3-6 1 2 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 27 2-5 0-0 6-8 10 3-10 0 4 3 2 4 Robert Pack 20 3-5 0-0 0-0 6 1-2 0 2 2 0 0 Hubert Davis 8 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Cedric Ceballos 23 3-6 1-1 0-0 7 1-4 1 2 2 0 0 John Williams 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 1 0 1 0 Erick Strickland 7 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 37-80 5-9 13-20 92 18-43 18 18 18 5 6 Dallas at Portland (February 15) And things got really ugly when the Mavs visited Portland. It made the past two games look like good games. Portland led 10-8 early in the 1st quarter and decided to make an early blowout of it. The Mavs were happy to oblige. Portland went on a 21-10 run and led 31-18 after 1. The fun continued in the 2nd quarter as the Mavs couldn't find the basket (and were settling for outside shots instead of working the ball inside) and Portland led 41-22 midway through the quarter. Portland 51-28 at the half. The Mavs shot merely 10-40 FG while Portland shot 23-53 and out-rebounded the pathetic Mavs 31-21. Surprisingly the Mavs did not continue playing dead in the 3rd quarter. Dallas opened the 3rd with a 11-2 run including 7 points from Dirk Nowitzki to pull within 39-53 with 7 minutes remaining. Portland led by about 13 points the rest of the quarter and held a 71-58 lead after 3. The Mavs shot 11-18 FG in the quarter. Dallas again opened the next quarter strong by scoring the first 7 points. Portland led 88-80 with less than 3 minutes and scored the next 8 points to put the game away. Portland won 99-84. Quotes Mike Dunleavy: "We just weren't ready in the 2nd half and I wasn't pleased with our shot selection. Sometimes, this is still a work in progress, but we've got to make smarter plays. I'm pleased with our work ethic, but we've got to be able to learn better from our mistakes. I guess we just didn't take them seriously, and they're an explosive team." Dunleavy: "I wasn't pleased with the way we played in the 2nd half. We just weren't ready in the 2nd half, but the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half are really important. They're an explosive team and you've got to take them seriously." Damon Stoudamire: "We didn't play well, but we won the game. That's all that counts. We've got to play our 2nd half as well as we played the 1st half. If we did that, we'd be 5-0 right now." Don Nelson: "It was a terrible start. We shot ourselves in the foot and then had to work like heck to get back in the game and finally got within 7 points. But we're starting to find the pieces as we go around the league." Michael Finley: "The 1st half, for some odd reason, we just came out and basically just turned over dead. And in the 2nd half, it made it tougher to get out of that hole that we dug ourselves in and we just ran out of time." Steve Nash: "We had two weeks of practices before we saw what was going to happen in a game, and then it's like wildfire. The bottom line is that we've got to compete, talk, and communicate defensively and offensively." Portland Trailblazers 99, Dallas Mavericks 84 at Portland (February 15) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Portland 31 20 20 28 - 99 .507 .250 .471 .667 Dallas 18 10 30 26 - 84 .397 .500 .410 .789 Halftime: Portland 51-28 3rd Q: Portland 71-58 Dallas never led Portland's largest lead: 51-28 halftime Technicals: none Refs: Jeff Kersey, Bill Spooner, Violet Palmer Attendance: 18,231 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Carlos Rogers (sprained right ankle) Portland Trailblazers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Walt Williams 26 5-7 1-2 3-4 14 2-5 1 2 4 1 2 Brian Grant 23 3-9 0-0 3-5 9 4-11 0 1 1 2 0 Arvydas Sabonis 38 8-13 0-0 0-0 16 3-10 9 2 2 1 0 Isaiah Rider 22 4-11 0-2 2-3 10 1-3 0 1 1 0 0 Damon Stoudamire 35 6-16 1-2 1-2 14 1-2 9 1 1 1 0 Rasheed Wallace 25 5-5 0-0 5-7 15 0-0 0 1 4 0 2 Stacey Augmon 30 2-5 0-1 0-0 4 3-5 3 0 2 3 0 Jim Jackson 18 5-11 0-1 0-0 10 2-3 1 3 1 0 0 Kelvin Cato 7 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Greg Anthony 13 3-7 1-4 0-0 7 0-3 4 2 1 0 0 Jermaine O'Neal 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 41-87 3-12 14-21 99 16-43 27 13 18 8 4 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Dirk Nowitzki 18 3-6 0-1 2-3 8 1-2 0 4 0 0 1 A.C. Green 16 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 2 0 0 0 0 John Williams 25 3-5 0-0 0-0 6 1-3 1 0 2 0 2 Michael Finley 40 6-14 1-2 8-8 21 1-5 2 0 2 0 0 Steve Nash 34 7-10 4-5 1-1 19 0-1 4 3 3 2 0 Samaki Walker 24 2-12 0-0 1-3 5 3-6 0 1 5 0 1 Cedric Ceballos 10 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 0-4 0 1 0 0 0 Shawn Bradley 11 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 1-5 0 3 0 0 3 Gary Trent 23 6-10 0-0 2-2 14 2-5 1 2 2 0 1 Robert Pack 14 1-4 0-0 1-2 3 0-1 1 2 1 1 0 Erick Strickland 6 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 1 1 0 1 0 Hubert Davis 14 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 0 1 3 0 0 Chris Anstey 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 32-78 5-10 15-19 84 10-37 12 19 18 4 8 patricia