Mavs' rookie Leon Smith was charged with criminal mischief and placed in the psychiatric ward of Parkland Hospital Sunday night. Smith had thrown a rock at the back window of a friends car and the friend called the police. When the police arrived, they found Smith unconscious on the floor and had green war paint on his face. The friend said that Smith had taken about 250 aspirin. As the police were taking Smith to the car, Smith said according to the police report that "he was an Indian and was fighting Columbus." The charge of criminal mischief carries a maximum fine of $500. It's easy to look at this as yet another problem player, but remember that this is just a 19 year-old who had a tough childhood and grew up in group homes. My hope is that he gets the help he needs and finds his way - this is not about basketball. Mavericks' statement: "Our only concern is the health and well-being of Leon. The Mavericks are doing what we can to help Leon. We are committed to respecting his privacy and ask that others do the same." Cedric Ceballos: "We all hope he's all right." Erick Strickland has drawn 12 offensive fouls in 7 games. Orlando at Dallas (Nov. 13) It was a running, gunning, fast paced affair (excluding the 2nd quarter). Orlando took an early 14-8 lead with 8:20 left, but Dallas went on a 9-2 run to go up 25-18 with 4:50 left. Orlando closed the quarter with a 10-1 run to go up 32-30 after 1. Continuing the former Mavs' revenge tour, Chris Gatling piled it on in the 2nd quarter as the Magic barreled ahead to a 52-41 lead with 5:30 left on a 3-pointer by Gatling. Gatling had 13 points during a 5 minutes span. The rest of the quarter was really boring as the refs kept blowing the whistle. Orlando led 67-56 at the half. Orlando shot 57.4% FG and the Mavs shot around 44% FG for the half. Orlando led 70-58 with 9:30 left in the 3rd when it became a different ball game. The Mavs' small lineup of Michael Finley, Dirk Nowitzki, Erick Strickland, Robert Pack, and Cedric Ceballos really started clicking. The Mavs went on a 15-6 run to pull within 3 points at 73-76 with 5:40 left on a slam dunk by Pack. Orlando pushed their lead up to 88-82, but the Mavs closed the quarter with 7-1 run and the game was all tied up at 89 after 3. The Mavs continued to roll with small-ball (with Steve Nash in place of Nowitzki) in the 4th as 6-3 Strickland and weak-side help took 6-10 Gatling completely out of the game. The game was tied at 98-98 with 9:30 left and the Mavs went on a 12-2 run to go up 110-100 with 7 minutes left. Orlando pulled within 6 points with 4 minutes left, but Finley nailed a jumper and Nash drained a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 11 points with 2:30 left. Darrell Armstrong hit a layup and 3-pointer to cut the Mavs' lead down to 118-112 with 1:20 left, but the Mavs hit 6 consecutive free throws and Orlando could not hit their shots. Armstrong hit a meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer. Dallas won 125-117. How about that Strick! With Erick Strickland on him most of the 4th quarter, Chris Gatling went scoreless in the 4th. The Mavs' small-ball really disrupted Orlando's offense as Orlando committed 19 turnovers in the 2nd half. For the game, 28 Orlando turnovers led to 40 Dallas points. It was also the first game this season where the Mavs had more offensive rebounds than their opponent (though Orlando still had more total rebounds than Dallas). All the guys who played in the 4th quarter did great. Steve Nash had his best performance of the season. He actually drove twice and _kept_ the ball and got two inside. Almost all the time when he drives, he passes out. He hit 3 key 3-pointers in the 4th quarter. Robert Pack was the speed demon point that controlled the pace of the game. Michael Finley led the way with 12 points in the 4th and 28 points overall. Cedric Ceballos, though he had a poor first half with a number of mistakes and some lackluster play, looked good in the second half and had 21 points. The Mavs had four players with 20+ points - Finely with 28, Pack with 21, Strickland with 21, and Ceballos with 21. The reffing in this game was terrible - even though the Mavs benefited from more mis-calls than Orlando. All the whistles being blown kept disrupting the flow of the game - the 2nd quarter was so boring to watch as every few seconds there would be a "tweet". Quotes Don Nelson: "We went with a smaller lineup. The end result was that we got into the open court. We moved the ball, passed the ball, drove it hard and got some fouls." Nelson: "The entire second half was quite emotional. I know I'm spent and I'm sure they are too." Nelson: "There wasn't anybody who didn't play well. I don't know how you can single one guy out." Michael Finley: "The whole team took it upon themselves to have energy tonight. We don't have a pretty team. We're not going to come down with traditional offensive sets. We've got a team that's got to do dirty work. We have to outscrape, outwork and outrun teams. If we do that, that's to our advantage." Finely: "We're not a pretty team. We're not going to come down the floor in traditional offensive sets. We've got to do the dirty work. But I think we can be a pretty good defensive team." Finley on the first half: "It was just a lack of effort." Erick Strickland: "As long as we rebounded and played defense and got after them, they had to guard us on the other end as well. We picked up the pace a little bit and it made them not be able to take advantage of our mismatches." Strickland: "We had to pick up the pace defensively. That's where we've been really struggling. We got after them and forced them to play our tempo." Strickland on defending bigger players (he saw extensive time vs Antawn Jamison (GS) and Chris Gatling (Orl) and saw a few minutes vs Shaquille O'Neal (LAL)): "Size ain't nothing but a number. It's all about heart. These guys are bigger than me. They're going to score. You just have to make them work for it." Robert Pack: "We played aggressive and forced the tempo. Tonight we trusted each other on defense, we rotated back and got into the passing lane and made things happen." Pack: "This is the way we have to play. We've got to be aggressive, force the action on defense, and that's what we did tonight. We have those type of players who like to get up and down the court." Pack: "We have to play this style of ball - this is what's best for us. We have to force the issue." Robert Pack: "It's one thing to create the turnovers, but to create them and try to make something happen on offense is big. That's what we have to do is force the action defensively, and hopefully it'll turn into a positive result on the other end." Steve Nash on his 3-pointer to give Dallas a 101-98 lead: "The guys had done some terrific work up until then. I was just sort of lucky enough to come in and add my two cents. I gave them all the credit. They're the ones who got the lead back." Nash: "This was huge. To lose this game would have put us in a hole. We've just got to stick around until the second half [of the season] and try to make a run at this thing. Our schedule is tough early, but if we can stick around and stay in this thing until the second half, who knows what can happen." Doc Rivers: "I don't know if I've ever heard of a game where you can shoot 53% and lose. They scored 40 points off turnovers. Our goal going into the game was to limit their easy layups, but they had a layup drill due to our turnovers. I thought we could outrun them and we did until we started turning the ball over." Rivers: "Our goal going into the game was to limit their easy layups, but they were scoring like they were in a layup drill out there. It was unbelievable how we fell apart. We started panicking, and we couldn't stop it." Chris Gatling: "I think we stopped being aggressive, they started making a run and we couldn't bounce back. We couldn't get ourselves back in the game. We tried shooting 3-pointers and putting pressure on defensively. I don't think we stuck to our game plan. We didn't play smart down the stretch. They got the best of us tonight." Gatling: "I think we stopped running, that was the key. We stopped being aggressive and we didn't play smart down the stretch. I don't think we stuck to our game plan." Gatling, who still has a home in Dallas: "I loved my time in Dallas, even if it was short. It was a great experience. It's where I call home now. There were no hard feelings about being traded. I understand this is a business, and that happens in this business." Dallas Mavericks 125, Orlando Magic 117 at Dallas (November 13) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 30 26 33 36 - 125 .486 .615 .506 .744 Orlando 32 35 22 28 - 117 .536 .500 .529 .731 Halftime: Orlando 67-56 3rd Q: 89-89 Orlando's largest lead: 69-56 11:17 3rd Dallas' largest lead: 124-112 0:54 4th Lead changes: 8 Technicals: Robert Pack 1:52 1st, Orlando Illegal D 9:41 2nd, Orlando Illegal D 9:46 3rd, Don Nelson 10:31 4th, Cedric Ceballos 5:06 4th Refs: Jim Clark, David Jones, Phil Robinson Attendance: 12,558 (cap 18.187) Did not play due to injury: Matt Harpring (peroneal tendon injury left ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 46 9-16 1-2 9-11 28 2-10 4 2 3 3 0 Dirk Nowitzki 25 4-6 0-0 5-6 13 0-3 3 1 4 0 0 Shawn Bradley 19 3-6 0-0 1-2 7 2-2 0 0 6 1 6 Robert Pack 36 7-16 1-2 6-9 21 0-1 10 6 3 4 1 Erick Strickland 39 8-16 2-3 3-3 21 1-6 2 2 3 4 1 Cedric Ceballos 36 8-15 1-1 4-6 21 4-12 0 3 4 1 1 Rick Hughes 2 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 1-2 0 0 1 0 0 Steve Nash 24 5-9 3-5 0-0 13 1-3 3 2 0 1 0 Hubert Davis 13 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 2 1 2 0 0 Totals 48 44-87 8-13 29-39 125 11-39 24 17 26 14 9 Orlando Magic REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Ben Wallace 15 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 2-9 1 1 1 0 2 Bo Outlaw 14 1-2 0-0 2-5 4 1-3 2 5 5 1 0 Michael Doleac 11 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 1 1 2 0 0 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 37 6-10 0-0 0-0 12 1-2 3 1 6 1 0 Darrell Armstrong 37 10-21 5-10 4-6 29 1-3 4 4 2 0 0 Monty Williams 39 9-13 0-0 0-0 18 3-8 5 4 5 1 1 Pat Garrity 25 2-5 2-2 1-1 7 0-5 3 1 4 1 0 Chris Gattling 31 9-11 1-1 12-14 31 1-10 2 5 2 2 0 Chucky Atkins 15 2-9 0-3 0-0 4 0-2 1 2 2 0 0 Corey Maggette 14 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 1-2 0 2 4 0 1 John Amaechi 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 2 0 0 1 Totals 48 45-85 8-16 19-26 117 10-45 22 28 33 6 5 patricia