Dallas at Detroit Well, we had our fun and hopes up for almost a day. At least we have a ton of excuses for the Detroit game. The Mavs were scheduled to fly out Saturday night after the game, but that flight got canceled due to mechanical difficulties. The team did not leave for Detroit until 9 am on Sunday. Hubert Davis and Kevin Ollie did not travel with the team due to the flu. Add to the loss of those two guards, Michael Finley missed the game due to a bruised heel that has been bothering him for some time. So the Mavs were really short at guard. The only good news about the game was that it wasn't televised - so I didn't have to watch the painful showing by the Mavs. The scored remained close in the first quarter with both teams having small leads. Dirk Nowitzki was called for 3 fouls in the first 4 minutes and Dallas was in the penalty with the game tied 14-14 with 7:18 left. Erick Strickland, who started for the injured Finley, drew 2 offensive fouls in the quarter. It was a high scoring quarter and Detroit led 34-33 after 1. Detroit shot 52% FG and Dallas shot 44% FG. The Mavs would have loved to see that percentage any time in the next 3 quarters. The game remained close over the first 6 minutes of the quarter. Steve Nash went down with a sprained ankle with 7 minutes remaining in the quarter and did not return. He will not play in the Milwaukee game on Tuesday and will be re-evaluated when the team returns to Dallas on Wednesday. With Nash out, the Mavs were down to just Strickland and Robert Pack as true guards for the game. Detroit closed the quarter with a 6-2 run to go up 62-57 at the half - 5 points was Detroit's largest lead of the game. Grant Hill was unstoppable and had 15 points and Christian Laettner had 10 points. Gary Trent had 10 points, Cedric Ceballos put up a lot of shots (4-16) to get 10 points, and Sean Rooks had 8 points and 10 rebounds. For the half, Detroit shot 54% FG and Dallas shot 40% FG. Detroit pulled away in the 3rd as the Mavs were struggling to find the basket and Detroit could not miss. Detroit went on an 11-0 run to go up 79-63 with 6 minutes left. They led 98-80 after 3. Detroit shot 76% (16-21) FG in the quarter while Dallas only shot 40% FG. The 4th quarter was completely garbage time and Detroit won 118-100. Detroit played all 18 available players while Dallas played all 11 available players (including Nash). Detroit shot 56.2% (50-89) FG and Dallas shot 38% (38-100). The Mavs did improve their rebounding in comparison to the Charlotte game, but with all the shots they missed, that is not surprising. Grant Hill had 24 points on 10-12 FG and 4-5 FT and 12 assists in 28 minutes. Detroit Pistons 118, Dallas Mavericks 100 - at Detroit (October 17) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Detroit 34 28 36 20 - 118 .582 .400 .562 .700 Dallas 33 24 23 20 - 100 .404 .182 .380 .657 Halftime: Detroit 62-57 3rd Q: Detroit 98-80 Technicals: Jerry Stackhouse 5:20 3rd Refs: Bennett Salvatore, Gary Benson, Ron Olesiak Attendance: 7,396 Did not play due to injury: Michael Finley (bruised heel), Hubert Davis (flu), Kevin Ollie (flu) Detroit Pistons REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Grant Hill 28 10-12 0-1 4-5 24 1-1 12 3 1 1 0 Christian Laettner 21 6-10 0-0 5-6 17 1-5 4 1 5 1 0 Don Reid 17 3-5 0-0 1-2 7 4-8 1 0 2 0 3 Lindsey Hunter 19 4-5 1-1 0-0 9 0-4 2 1 2 2 0 Jerry Stackhouse 17 4-11 0-0 0-1 8 0-1 4 5 3 0 0 Michael Curry 16 4-6 0-0 2-4 10 0-0 1 0 5 0 0 Jud Buechler 19 1-5 0-2 0-0 2 0-1 2 2 3 0 1 Khalid Reeves 10 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-4 1 1 1 0 0 Jerome Williams 11 4-4 0-0 0-0 8 0-5 1 0 0 0 0 Michael Hawkins 7 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Marcus Brown 14 4-8 2-3 0-0 10 0-1 1 2 1 0 0 Mikki Moore 13 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-5 0 2 3 0 3 Loy Vaught 10 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 1-3 1 0 1 1 0 Jermaine Jackson 9 2-3 0-0 2-2 6 0-1 2 0 1 0 0 Pooh Richardson 8 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 0-2 2 1 1 0 1 Eric Montross 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 1 2 1 0 0 Jimmy King 7 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 3 1 0 Willie Mitchell 6 2-4 1-1 0-0 5 0-1 0 0 1 1 0 Totals 48 50-89 4-10 14-20 118 7-46 35 20 34 7 8 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Dirk Nowitzki 36 5-17 0-3 3-3 13 0-8 2 2 4 1 0 Gary Trent 24 8-12 0-1 0-3 16 2-5 1 0 1 0 1 Sean Rooks 20 3-7 0-0 2-2 8 5-10 1 1 2 1 1 Robert Pack 30 3-8 0-0 6-8 12 0-2 7 4 0 1 0 Erick Strickland 37 3-14 1-3 8-10 15 2-6 5 2 4 2 1 Cedric Ceballos 31 8-23 0-2 2-2 18 7-11 1 2 3 1 0 Shawn Bradley 11 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-3 0 0 1 0 0 Steve Nash 6 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 2 2 0 1 0 Jason Sasser 19 3-9 1-2 0-2 7 2-4 1 1 2 0 0 Kebu Stewart 14 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 2-2 0 0 3 0 0 Bruno Sundov 12 2-5 0-0 1-4 5 0-3 0 1 2 1 1 Totals 48 38-100 2-11 22-34 100 20-54 20 16 22 8 4 patricia