Gary Trent has played in the last two games (Detroit and Sacramento) despite suffering from the stomach flu that has been going around. The Arena Group has announced that they have signed a contract with American Airlines for the naming rights to the new arena. The new arena will be called American Airlines Center and will contain numerous ads for American Airlines both inside and outside the arena. American is paying $195 million over 30 years. $150 million is for the naming rights which includes the name of the arena, exterior signs (including on the roof), interior signs (including on the court/ice and scoreboard), a luxury suite, and tickets. $45 million is for marketing opportunities which includes being the official airline of both the Mavs and Stars, TV and radio ad time, and logo on game programs and other promotional material. Well, with the game vs Detroit Friday night, the Mavs reached the halfway point of the season. As usual, it has been a disappointing season this far. Through 26 games (including the Sacramento game), the Mavs are 9-17. It breaks down to 7-5 at home and 2-12 on the road. If only the Mavs could play all their games at home. They have improved since their terrible 1-8 start, but they are not showing any consistency. Some games they look great (vs Orlando and Sacramento) and other games they look terrible. There are a lot of disappointments on the team. Surprisingly, Michael Finley is on that list. He usually puts up the points, but he has had some lousy games and is not yet the all-star he was looking to be last year. New point guard Steve Nash has struggled - the Sacramento game was the first one where he looked like a point guard you would want to lead your team. Samaki Walker has completely disappeared and found his way into Don Nelson's doghouse. He's racked up a number of DNPs-coaches decision. John Williams is a waste of $1.75 million and we gave him a 3 year contract. Yeah, he can play against the big boys, but he's a zero offensively and doesn't play except against the big boys. Dirk Nowitzki never got off the ground. He shows flashes that makes you think he will be all right once he gets some experience and some muscle, but short term, he's struggling. Add to that the injuries of Cedric Ceballos (out for the season) and Robert Pack (out 2 weeks - he had been playing very well as the backup point, providing a nice spark off the bench) and you have the makings of a very poor first half. Chris Anstey doesn't get much playing time, but gives his all when he is in there - his hustle often doesn't show up in the stats, but he's been part of energy of some of he Mavs' rallies. Erick Strickland was in the doghouse for most of the season, but has played well in the past few games subbing for Pack while he is injured. On the plus side, Hubert Davis has finally found his shots and is hitting the 3s again. The stars of the season have been Gary Trent, A.C. Green, and (surprisingly) Shawn Bradley. Trent is a monster inside and probably the strongest big man the Mavs' ever had. It's so nice having a player who can bang inside. Green (though I wish more of his minutes would go to Walker or Anstey) has been solid throughout the season. And Bradley has simply been playing well. He doesn't score much and he's not expected to. He is expected to focus on defense and has been doing so. Despite the Mavs' poor record, occasionally one of the players or coaching staff mentions playoffs. I just shake my head. The team has to show much more consistency and put together a good string of games (instead of a couple here and there surrounding a number of losses) if they are truly serious about making a run at that #8 spot. It's a long shot, but not out of the question (but they shouldn't even be talking about it until they do put together a good string of wins). They will have to perform better in the 2nd half. Some random stats comments from the 1st half. Finely, Nash, and Green have started all 26 games. Despite those 3, Nelson has switched around with the other 2 spots - 8 others have started games (only Pack and Strickland haven't started a game). The team is shooting a pathetic 41.6% FG, but the opponents aren't much better at 43.4% FG. Bradley is the closest to 50% FG at 49.2% FG. Strickland has only missed 1 free throw this season (17-18). Hubert Davis is shooting 42.6% for 3-pointers (23-54). As expected, Finley is leading the team in points (18.5), Trent at rebounds (7.2), and Nash at asssits (5.1). If you discount his poor shooting (42% FG), Finley's line looks good with 18.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.5 asssits. Besides Finley, only Trent (13.0) and Ceballos (12.5) are averaging more than 10 points. As a sign of Nelson's heavy and variety rotations, only Finley is averaging more than 30 minutes per game (39.6). That will probably change soon as Nelson has shortened his rotation in the past couple of games. Portland at Dallas (March 15) Rasheed Wallace left the game early in the 1st quarter and did not return after spraining his right ankle. It was a close 1st quarter with 4 ties. Dallas led most of the quarter and their largest lead was only 6 points. Dallas led 26-20 with 3 minutes left. Portland closed the quarter with a 7-2 run to go up 28-27 after 1. Isaiah Rider had 13 points in the quarter. It remained close in the 2nd quarter. Dallas led 38-37 with 5:30 remaining. Portland led 44-43 and closed the half with a 12-3 run to go up 56-46 at the half. Rider had 23 points in the half. Portland led 60-52 with 7:30 to go and went on a 13-5 run to go up 75-57 with 1:40 left. Dallas scored the last 5 points of the quarter. Portland led 75-62 after 3. Dallas opened the 4th quarter strong and pulled within 7 at 71-78 with 8:30 left. But Portland scored the next 7 points and won going away. Portland won 106-91. Well, the Mavs played well for 20 minutes - that was better than I was expecting against Portland, who always dominates Dallas. Shawn Bradley managed to keep out of foul trouble, despite defending Arvydas Sabonis in the 3rd quarter - he didn't pick up his first foul until after 5 minutes of defending Sabonis. Portland shot 9-16 3-pointers. Quotes Mike Dunleavy: "For us, every day is like Groundhog Day. What happens today will happen tomorrow. We're playing hard for 48 minutes, our defense has been good and we've been unselfish with the ball. We've done a good job all year long." Damon Stoudamire: ""We weren't really defending them well and came out flat. Then we kind of picked it up toward the end of the 1st quarter. Toward the end of the 2nd quarter we really turned it on." Stoudamire: "[Rider] established himself early and that's what we needed. He struggled against the Clippers but he was hitting tonight with his jumper and his post-up game." Don Nelson: "We played a very good team tonight and we gave it our all. The energy was there. I was very pleased with the energy. But the 3-point shot really hurt us. In the trapping defense we have, that is what we were giving up." Nelson: "Isaiah [Rider] had the big game and hurt our trapping situation [with his outside shooting], but we thought that was the best way to approach this game. I'd do it again." Michael Finley: "They're playing the best ball in the league right now, so we have to give them their credit. At the same time, we put ourselves in position where we could have won this ballgame and we let it slip away." Gary Trent on his former team: "They have matured. They have more players. They're better than when I was there." Portland Trailblazers 106, Dallas Mavericks 91 at Dallas (March 15) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Portland 28 28 19 31 - 106 .431 .563 .455 .773 Dallas 27 19 16 29 - 91 .500 .083 .440 .696 Halftime: Portland 56-46 3rd Q: Portland 75-62 Dallas' largest lead: 26-20 2:57 1st Dallas' last lead: 38-37 5:26 2nd Portland's largest lead: 102-83 1:12 4th Lead changes: 12 Technicals: Dallas Illegal D 4:54 4th, Dallas Illegal D 1:43 1st Refs: Ron Garretson, Mike Callahan, Bennie Adams Attendance: 14,046 (cap 18,042) Portland Trailblazers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rasheed Wallace 6 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 1 1 0 0 0 Brian Grant 34 4-8 0-0 2-2 10 2-9 0 1 2 1 1 Arvydas Sabonis 37 5-13 1-1 4-4 15 6-16 1 1 2 2 1 Damon Stoudamire 37 6-12 2-4 4-5 18 1-4 6 0 1 2 1 Isaiah Rider 35 12-22 3-5 3-4 30 1-4 4 3 1 0 0 Walt Williams 17 4-10 1-2 0-1 9 2-2 2 0 1 0 2 Jermaine O'Neal 12 2-5 0-0 2-2 6 2-3 0 1 1 0 1 Kelvin Cato 11 0-4 0-0 1-2 1 2-3 1 0 2 0 0 Jim Jackson 23 3-4 1-1 0-0 7 0-3 2 1 2 0 0 Greg Anthony 11 1-3 1-3 1-2 4 0-0 2 3 1 0 0 Stacey Augmon 15 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 2 0 3 2 1 Bonzi Wells 2 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 40-88 9-16 17-22 106 16-47 22 13 17 7 7 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Gary Trent 29 6-13 0-0 0-2 12 2-7 0 2 3 0 1 A.C. Green 26 4-9 0-1 2-2 10 3-8 0 0 1 0 1 John Williams 19 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 1 1 1 1 2 Michael Finley 40 8-17 0-1 5-6 21 2-5 6 3 0 1 0 Steve Nash 32 4-10 0-3 1-1 9 1-6 4 5 2 1 0 Samaki Walker 13 2-6 0-0 3-4 7 2-3 0 2 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 25 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 0 1 2 1 2 Hubert Davis 23 3-7 0-2 0-0 6 0-2 1 0 2 0 0 Erick Strickland 11 5-8 0-1 3-4 13 1-2 2 0 1 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 14 3-6 1-3 1-2 8 0-1 1 2 3 1 1 Chris Anstey 8 1-3 0-1 1-2 3 0-3 3 0 1 1 0 Totals 48 37-84 1-12 16-23 91 12-43 18 17 17 6 7 Dallas at New Jersey (March 17) It was a close 1st quarter with 3 ties and small Dallas leads. Dallas led 18-16 after 1. Dallas built up a 12 point lead t 35-23 with 5:30 remaining. New Jersey went on a 14-2 run to tie the game at 39-39 with 1 minute left. New Jersey led 42-39 at the half. The Nets opened the 3rd quarter with an 8-1 run to go up 50-40 with 9:30 remaining. They couldn't build on their lead and led 57-47 with 6:30 left. Dallas then went on a 9-1 run to make it a 2 point game at 56-58 with 3 minutes to go. New Jersey led 62-60 with 30 seconds left and Stephon Marbury closed the quarter with 2 free throws and a 3-pointer at the buzzer. New Jersey led 67-60 after 3. Marbury had 10 points in the 3rd. Dallas whittled away at New Jersey's lead and New Jersey led 72-70 with 7:20 remaining. Kerry Kittles hit a 3-pointer, but Hubert Davis nailed 3 consecutive 3-pointers in 72 seconds to give Dallas a 79-75 lead with 5 minutes left. The game was tied at 81-81 with 3:30 to go. A dunk by A.C. Green and a layup by Michael Finley gave Dallas a 85-81 lead with 2:30 left. New Jersey answered with a layup from Keith Van Horn and a layup from Marbury, who was also fouled on the play and hit the free throw. New Jersey led 86-85 with 1 minute to go. Gary Trent backed in for the short jumper with 38 seconds left. Kittles snatched the offensive rebounds off a miss by Marbury and was fouled. He hit both free throws and Detroit led 88-87 with 18 seconds to go. Detroit had a foul to give and committed it with 6 seconds left. Finley's long jumper rattled out and Green grabbed the rebound and threw it up and in, but it was after the buzzer. Detroit won 88-87. If you can't hit your free throws, you don't deserve to win. The Mavs missed 10 free throws in the game. Quotes Don Casey: "I don't know who needed this more, the players or the coaches. But they were really warriors down the end. It was a tough game and they really came through." Jayson Williams on Finley's last shot: "That last shot, I was under the basket and that ball was in. I don't know what made it come out. The ball was in, and I was saying 'Oh, lordy, here we go again.'" Williams: "It's a good win for us. Stephon bought everybody pizza, guys were high-fiving and slapping each other on their backs. It's been a rough week for everybody. It's tough with the new coach and new players. Today we came out and had more fun." Stephon Marbury: "When you win a game like that, it gives you confidence. Tonight, we had a game plan offensively and defensively. Tonight was a perfect homecoming game for us, a big win tonight, a big win." Marbury: "I was born to lead, and me being a leader helps Kerry and Keith because they could just go out and play their games. Tonight, I saw us talking and I saw people cutting. I knew what was going on because people were talking to each other. Our strategy was very good. We just need to knock down our shots. Guys will start getting the open shots and eventually they will go down. Tonight, we did what we had to do." Don Nelson: ""It was a hard loss. All I can tell you is we played good and bad. We didn't make our free throws. Maybe in the long scheme of things when you don't make your free throws and putbacks you don't deserve to win." Michael Finley: "It should not have come down to a last shot. We had a chance to put them away and we didn't do it. We missed too many free throws and didn't rebound. I got a decent look. What more can you ask for?" Finley: "I thought it was going in. I got a good look at the basket, but it just didn't fall. This one is hard to take." Hubert Davis: "It's hard. We kept hanging around but we couldn't make the big play down the end. It went back and forth but Marbury made the plays down the stretch and they won the game. We had them down the 1st half and we should have put them away, but we didn't and we're to blame." Shawn Bradley: "It's a tough loss. It's even tougher knowing they have one of the worst records in the league. That's like pouring salt in the wound." New Jersey Nets 88, Dallas Mavericks 87 at New Jersey (March 17) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% New Jersey 16 26 25 21 - 88 .366 .308 .357 .828 Dallas 18 21 21 27 - 87 .355 .462 .371 .600 Halftime: New Jersey 42-39 3rd Q: New Jersey 67-60 Dallas' largest lead: 35-23 5:33 2nd Dallas' last lead: 87-86 0:36 4th New Jersey's largest lead: 57-47 6:35 3rd Lead changes: 5 Technicals: Shawn Bradley 10:23 3rd, Keith Van Horn 10:23 3rd, Don Nelson 11:43 4th Refs: Tom Donaghy, Ronnie Nunn, Tom Washington Attendance: 14,976 (cap 20,029) New Jersey Nets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Kendall Gill 36 6-14 0-0 3-4 15 0-6 3 1 5 2 0 Keith Van_Horn 34 7-17 0-1 5-6 19 5-10 2 3 5 0 3 Jayson Williams 41 2-11 0-0 2-3 6 10-21 1 1 3 0 2 Kerry Kittles 32 2-8 2-5 2-2 8 2-5 3 2 0 0 0 Stephon Marbury 44 8-16 2-4 11-13 29 0-1 2 3 1 1 0 Scott Burrell 19 2-8 0-2 0-0 4 1-4 0 1 2 1 1 Jim McIlvaine 13 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 4-5 0 2 3 0 2 Doug Overton 6 1-2 0-0 1-1 3 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Lucious Harris 13 1-4 0-1 0-0 2 2-2 0 1 1 0 0 Chris Carr 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 30-84 4-13 24-29 88 24-55 12 15 20 4 8 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK A.C. Green 38 3-11 0-0 2-2 8 2-10 0 0 3 3 0 Gary Trent 37 8-23 0-0 5-8 21 7-16 0 3 4 0 0 Shawn Bradley 25 1-6 0-0 1-6 3 6-9 0 1 4 0 1 Michael Finley 44 9-27 0-6 3-4 21 2-4 4 1 2 2 0 Steve Nash 37 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 1-4 4 1 5 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 18 5-9 1-2 0-0 11 1-2 1 0 3 1 1 Hubert Davis 22 4-7 4-4 0-0 12 0-1 2 0 2 0 1 Samaki Walker 3 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Chris Anstey 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Erick Strickland 12 1-2 1-1 3-3 6 0-1 3 1 1 2 0 Totals 48 33-89 6-13 15-25 87 19-47 15 7 24 8 3 Dallas at Detroit (March 19) The game stayed close through the 1st half of the quarter with ties or small Detroit leads. Detroit led 14-12 with 5:40 left. Detroit scored 6 straight points, but couldn't get more than an 8 point lead. Detroit led 28-23 after 1. Dallas played well to open the 2nd quarter and led by 3 at 32-29 with 8:30 left. The game was tied at 35-35 with 7:10 remaining and Detroit went on a 14-2 run to go up 49-37 with 3 minutes left. A 3-pointer by Jerry Stackhouse at the buzzer gave Detroit a 57-41 lead at the half. Stackhouse had 11 points in the quarter. Detroit had an 18 point lead 15 seconds into the 3rd quarter, but Dallas came surging back with a 19-2 run to pull within 1 at 60-61 with 5:20 to go as Detroit missed 11 of 12 shots during the run. Joe Dumars hit 2 consecutive 3-pointers to push Detroit's lead back up to 7 with 4 minutes left, but Dallas scored the next 6 points. Detroit led 71-68 after 3. Dallas out-scored Detroit 27 to 14 in the quarter. It was a close 4th. Detroit led by 5 30 seconds into the quarter, but Dallas scored the next 8 points to go up 76-73 with 8:36 left. Dallas led by 1 or 3 points over the next 4 minutes. A 3-pointer by Jud Buechler tied the game at 82-82 with 4:40 left. The teams traded misses and Gary Trent hit 1-2 free throws with 3:40 to go. Buechler hit another 3-pointer to give Detroit an 85-83 lead with 2:45 left. Hubert Davis hit a short floater and Michael Finley hit a short jumper to give Dallas an 87-85 lead with 1:40 to go. Bison Dele's hook shot tied the game with 1:30 left. Buechler stole the ball and Dele hit 2 free throws with 1 minute left as Detroit led 89-87. Davis missed a 3-pointer and Buechler drained his 3rd 3 with 30 seconds left. Finley missed a 3-pointer and 2 Grant Hill free throws capped the scoring. Detroit won 94-87. If you can't rebound, you can't win. The Mavs only had a pathetic 3 offensive rebounds. Quotes Alvin Gentry: "First of all, it's a win and that's what we needed desperately. There's nothing but positives that can come out of it. There are some things we need to work on and holding a lead is one of them. It was kind of a double edged sword. We played so well and then we lost the lead. But the positive in that is that we were able to hang on, gut it out and come out with a win." Gentry: "We won the game, so we are going to take the positives out of this. Down the stretch, Dallas wasn't going to let Grant have the lane, so they had to help on him and leave Jud open. We got him the ball, and he stepped up and hit the shots." Gentry: "After the way we struggled this week, the win was the important thing. We played so well and we lost the lead, but the positive in that is that we were able to hang on and gut it out and come out with a win. The negative part of that obviously is that if we have a lead like that you have to build on it and close a team out. Other than losing the lead, I see nothing negative that could've happened." Jud Buechler: "I was pumped up. Sitting over there for a long time, coming in and hitting a shot like that. I haven't had a chance to make a lot of those in my career - being in there at crunch time, big shots like that. I wanted to enjoy it, get the crowd fired up and get my teammates fired up." Buechler: "Until this year, I was never the player to make the shot. In Chicago, we had Michael, Scottie and Toni who were the shooters. So it felt good to make the shots tonight. I would have liked to have had a couple more shots earlier in the game to warm up, but when I have the shot, I have to take it." Grant Hill: "The last one [Buechler's 3-pointer], I was just waiting on them to double. Jud and Joe were out there and I looked for whoever was open and Jud was open. He showed he can be out there on the court when it's crunch time." Hill: "Jud had hit two before that. He's showing he can be out there on the floor during crunch time." Hill: "I'll take a win right now. It wasn't perfect and it wasn't the way you want to close a game. When we got to the last couple of minutes, we were able to make some stops." Christian Laettner: "I think he showed what kind of professional he is. The guys on the bench were saying, 'We need to get Jud some shots.'" Don Nelson: "Buechler killed us. They found the open guy, and he delivered on the 3-point baskets. I give a lot of credit to my team for hanging in there and coming back to give us the chance to win." Nelson: "Dumars is the guy we were worried about the most. We made sure he was covered and they found the open guy." Nelson: "You do whatever that comes in life, then deal with it. At this point, having two of my veterans [Ceballos and Pack] out, and we're not winning these games." Nelson: "We're competing and fighting and hanging in there. I think it's all good for us." Gary Trent: "That's what they brought [Buechler] from Chicago for." Erick Strickland: "I thought we had it. I think we got too worried about Dumars. Jud is just as good a shooter if you give him the open look. It really does frustrate us to come this close and not win. When you're a team trying to get better, these are the games that frustrate the most. You really have to get down and lock on people to win the close games." Strickland: "I think we got too worried about Dumars. We didn't mix the rotations, and Jud is just as good a shooter if you give him open looks." Strickland: "When you're a team trying to grow and get better, these games hurt the most. That shows you've got to get that much more tougher." Shawn Bradley: "Maybe a little more mentally draining. We keep saying 'We're oh-so-close to winning,' but that can't happen very long. We have to say, 'We're winning the close ones.' There's games out there we know we should have won. 5 or 6 of them." Michael Finley: "These two games, we should have gone home with a sweep. We're not an 8-17 team. Record-wise, yeah, but we could easily be 17-8." Finley: "Personally, I've stunk the last two games when it came down to crunch time." I'm taking it upon myself to diagnose myself and figure out my individual problem before I can think about diagnosing the team's problems." Detroit Pistons 94, Dallas Mavericks 87 at Detroit (March 19) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Detroit 28 29 14 23 - 94 .441 .412 .435 .813 Dallas 23 18 27 19 - 87 .436 .250 .472 .789 Halftime: Detroit 57-41 3rd Q: Detroit 71-68 Dallas' largest lead: 82-79 4:57 4th Dallas' last lead: 87-85 1:39 4th Portland's largest lead: 59-41 11:46 3rd Lead changes: 6 Technicals: Don Reid 2:28 3rd, Shawn Bradley 2:28 3rd Refs: Joey Crawford, Nolan Fine, Michael Smith Attendance: 18,152 (cap 21,454) Detroit Pistons REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Grant Hill 40 5-11 0-0 4-4 14 0-6 9 4 2 1 0 Don Reid 30 4-5 0-0 3-5 11 1-4 0 1 2 0 1 Bison Dele 21 5-17 0-0 3-4 13 6-9 2 0 4 1 1 Joe Dumars 31 4-9 3-6 0-0 11 0-4 3 1 0 1 0 Lindsey Hunter 33 4-11 0-3 0-0 8 1-5 1 1 1 2 1 Jud Buechler 15 3-3 3-3 0-0 9 0-2 2 0 0 1 0 Christian Laettner 24 4-10 0-0 0-0 8 5-7 1 2 0 0 0 Eric Montross 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 2 0 0 Jerry Stackhouse 26 6-17 1-5 2-2 15 0-0 2 2 2 0 1 Jerome Williams 14 2-2 0-0 1-1 5 2-5 1 0 4 1 0 Totals 48 37-85 7-17 13-16 94 15-43 21 12 17 7 4 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Hubert Davis 40 5-12 1-5 2-2 13 0-1 5 1 0 3 0 A.C. Green 33 4-6 0-0 3-4 11 1-5 2 1 3 1 0 John Williams 16 2-3 0-0 1-2 5 0-2 0 1 2 0 2 Michael Finley 46 8-17 0-4 2-2 18 0-6 8 4 3 0 2 Steve Nash 25 2-8 2-4 2-2 8 0-3 4 3 2 2 0 Shawn Bradley 22 6-8 0-0 2-3 14 1-6 0 1 2 0 1 Dirk Nowitzki 7 1-4 0-2 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 2 0 2 Erick Strickland 28 5-7 1-1 2-2 13 1-6 5 0 4 0 0 Gary Trent 23 1-7 0-0 1-2 3 0-3 0 1 3 0 0 Totals 48 34-72 4-16 15-19 87 3-32 24 13 21 6 7 Sacramento at Dallas (March 20) The game started slow with both teams missing shots. After the teams started hitting, it stayed close with neither team able to build much of a lead. The game was tied 10-10 with 7 minutes left. Dallas had small leads, but was unable to pull away. Dallas led 21-20 with 3 minutes left and proceeded to score the last 8 points of the quarter to go up 29-20 after 1. Dallas scored the first 4 points of the 2nd quarter, but Sacramento responded by scoring the next 8 points including 2 3-pointers from Vernon Maxwell to pull within 28-33 with 8:45 left. It was Dallas' turn to score and the Mavs scored the next 6 points. Sacramento pulled within 4 at 38-41 with 5 minutes left, but Hubert Davis and Steve Nash drilled 3-pointers in the next 30 seconds. Dallas led 56-47 at the half. Steve Nash finally found his game and had 15 points and Gary Trent had 14 points in the half. Sacramento was unable to rally in the 3rd as Dallas maintained a 9 to 15 point lead (minus a 7 point lead with 15 seconds left). Dallas led 79-70 after 3. Sacramento pulled within 7 at 76-83 with 9 minutes left, but Dallas went on a 9-2 run to go up 92-78 with 6 minutes left. The Kings were unable to make a strong rally the rest of the way and could get no closer than 9 points. Dallas won 104-90. First I'd like to say that the refs did a good job in the game. Michael Finley only had 6 points in the first half (and looked terrible), but played strong in the 2nd half with 16 points. Steve Nash played strong and seriously out-played Jason Williams - who had 6 points on 3-11 FG. It was raining in Reunion as Nash shot 5-10 3-pointers and Hubert Davis shot 4-6 3-pointers. Trent also had a strong game posting up for 22 points on 10-14 FG and 11 rebounds. The coaching staff showed Trent a video on Charles Barkley posting up and Barkley's inside moves - it seemed to have a a good effect on Trent. Chris Webber got into foul trouble and struggled in the game - both Finley and Webber only had 6 points in the 1st half. Quotes Don Nelson: "It was good to see Steve shoot the ball well. He just needs to build up his confidence. He will be all right. This is more like we expect him to play." Nelson: "Nash was good. This is more like we expect him to play. Certainly not 22 points every night, but an all-around team game." Nelson: "If we had shot the ball in our first 15 games like this we would have had five more wins." Nelson: "We were a little disheartened after some close losses, but this was just what the doctor ordered. If we would've shot like that all season, we'd have five more wins." Gary Trent: "It's something I've done before, but tonight it worked better than ever. It's a way to really control the tempo." Steve Nash: "It was good to see the whole team shooting well. Now we have to try to build on our success at home. We've been playing well here." Nash: "Cedric pulled me aside earlier today and said, 'You don't look like the guy I played with in Phoenix.' He said, 'You're just putting too much pressure on yourself instead of just playing with reckless abandon.' Lately, I think I've been too concerned with running plays and getting my teammates involved. It takes more pressure off them if I play more aggressively, instead of being really passive like I've been." Nash: "I came out like it was all or nothing. I was going to take the open shots and not worry about it. I'm too good of a shooter to keep in this slump. Ced just told me to stop thinking and worrying and be more aggressive. After the 1st quarter he wanted a 15 percent finder's fee." Shawn Bradley: "We knew we could beat this team." Rick Adelman: "Each time we try to make a run they would hit a 3-pointer. Nash made a lot of shots early and got some confidence." Corliss Williamson: "Nash is a good player. I know he can shoot the ball, and he runs his team. That's all he needs to do." Dallas Mavericks 104, Sacramento Kings 90 at Dallas (March 20) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 29 27 23 25 - 104 .460 .450 .458 .905 Sacramento 20 27 23 20 - 90 .500 .286 .462 .700 Halftime: Dallas 56-47 3rd Q: Dallas 79-70 Sacramento's largest lead: 6-2 9:43 1st Sacramento's last lead: 8-7 7:27 1st Dallas' largest lead: 67-52 7:16 3rd Technicals: Jason Williams 3:07 3rd Refs: Tommy Nunez, Tommie Wood, Scott Foster Attendance: 16,161 (cap 18,042) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 41 9-22 0-1 4-4 22 2-7 9 1 0 1 0 A.C. Green 18 3-7 0-1 2-2 8 3-10 2 0 2 0 1 John Williams 24 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2-5 2 2 4 1 1 Steve Nash 42 7-16 5-10 3-3 22 1-2 4 1 2 1 0 Hubert Davis 41 6-9 4-6 1-2 17 0-3 0 2 1 0 0 Gary Trent 33 10-14 0-0 2-2 22 4-11 4 3 2 0 0 Erick Strickland 16 0-4 0-1 4-4 4 0-3 1 4 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 20 3-7 0-1 2-2 8 1-9 0 0 3 1 2 Dirk Nowitzki 5 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-83 9-20 19-21 104 13-50 22 14 15 4 4 Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Chris Webber 36 6-16 0-1 0-2 12 4-16 4 3 5 0 2 Corliss Williamson 31 4-11 0-0 5-6 13 0-4 1 2 2 0 0 Vlade Divac 39 7-13 0-1 1-3 15 0-6 6 1 1 0 2 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 32 6-7 0-0 4-4 16 1-3 0 1 2 1 0 Jason Williams 32 3-11 0-6 0-0 6 0-1 5 1 3 1 0 Jon Barry 17 1-1 0-0 1-1 3 0-0 3 1 1 1 0 Lawrence Funderburke 20 4-8 0-0 1-2 9 2-5 0 1 2 2 0 Vernon Maxwell 17 2-6 2-3 2-2 8 0-0 1 1 4 1 0 Predrag Stojakovic 16 3-5 2-3 0-0 8 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 36-78 4-14 14-20 90 7-35 21 13 20 6 4 patricia