One thing I forgot to mention about Roy Tarpley in my last post was that
he is playing _without_ any form of knee support.  This is good news.
Tarpley injuried his knee while still with the Mavs about 4 years ago
and had been playing with a brace since - I don't know how long he has
been playing without the brace.


The Mavs were in Charlotte to play the Hornets last night.  I don't know
how anyone can not feel sorry for the Hornets.  Due to injuries and the
trade of Mike Gminski for Frank Brickowski, the Hornets only had 8 players
to play last night.  With the Hornets being small up front, Buckner decided
to go small as well and started Popeye Jones (yeeaaa!), Doug Smith, Jamal
Mashburn, Jim Jackson, and Fat Lever.

The first quarter was really fun to listen to and I only wish I could have
seen it.  Both teams were shooting incredibly and it was a high scoring
affair.  I believe both teams made 6 of their 8 first shoots.  Mashburn
was playing incredible!  He was hitting his shots, driving, and making
great passes.  Dallas was up 35-31 at the end of the quarter.  Dallas
shot an incredible 74% FG (not a typo) and Charlotte shot 59% FG.

The second quarter was a quarter of _long_ streaks.  The Hornets started
ice cold and went 1-16 to start the quarter.  Dallas was up by 14 at one
point.  Popeye Jones made a layup and was fouled - made the free throw.  
Don't ask me why, but I somehow knew (even though I was cheering Popeye 
and Jamal for the nice feed) that the momentum would change at that point.  
Some Hornet made a three and the Hornets started rocking and the Mavs fell 
to pieces.  David Wingate actually scored 7 straight points.  The Hornets'
run cut the Mavs lead down to 3 for the half.  Dallas 58, Charlotte 55.
Mashburn had 17 points in the first half.  Dallas shot 66% FG and Charlotte
shot 45% FG for the half.

Dallas played somewhat sloppy in the 3rd.  A large number of their 23 
turnovers came in the 3rd.  Charlotte took advantage of the Mavs poor
performance and had a 5 points lead after 3.  Charlotte 89, Dallas 84.

Dallas pulled it all together and finished strong in the fourth.  Of
course, it helped that Charlotte made several mistakes.  Lorenzo Williams
(Dal) was fouled with about a minute left and the Mavs up by 2.  His missed
them both.  Charlotte then returned the favor and missed their next
attempt.  Tony Campbell was fouled going for the rebound and for some
unexplainable reason Lorenzo Williams was sent to the line to shoot the
free throws (Campbell was supposed to shoot them).  Everything turned out
fine as Williams made both of them.  Mashburn made 1-2 free throws for
the final result.  Dallas outscored Charlotte 31-21 in the 4th.
Dallas 115, Charlotte 110.  

Dallas shot a season high 64% FG for the game.  Charlotte shot 47% FG.
Charlotte managed to stay in the game by scoring 35 points off of 23
Dallas turnovers.
The win gives Dallas a better road record than the Sacramento Kings.

For Charlotte:
Eddie Johnson had 23 points, but 0 in the 4th, and 10 rebounds.
Hersey Hawkins had a poor performance and shot 3-10 FG.
Muggsy Bogues played decent and had 16 points and 10 assists.
Dell Curry had 19 points including 8-22 FG.
Marty Conlon, who I believe is on a 10-day contract, had an incredible
game and had 16 points and 9 rebounds.


For Dallas:
This game goes down as a team win - almost all who played contributed
strongly to the victory.

Jamal Mashburn had one of his better all round games of the year.  He showed
what we'll see a lot more of in the future (he's not having the smoothest 
of rookie seasons, but he'll definitely be a star in this league).  He had
37 points (tied career high) including 15-21 FG (that's 71%!), 7 assists 
(including a few beauties), 6 rebounds, and 2 steals.  He did have 7 
turnovers though - but considering the rest of his game last night, I'll 
live with them.

Jim Jackson had a solid performance, but still turns the ball over too many
times.  He had 17 points and 10 assists.

Fat Lever continued his solid play with 14 points.  He is still playing 
far too many minutes and I'm beginning to accept the fact that he will 
retire after this season due to his knees and the Mavs will only get 
to use half of his salary slot.  (mumble, grumble, Buckner, grumble.)

Popeye Jones enjoyed returning to the starting lineup and played well
dishing out some nice assists, receiving some nice assists, and getting
some rebounds.  He had 11 points and 7 rebounds.

Tony Campbell continues to provide some instance offense off the bench
and had 14 points.

Doug Smith came slightly out of his three game slump and had 11 points and
6 rebounds.  I don't know his shooting percentage, but I believe it was
pretty good (he had been shooting poorly over the past three games).

I don't have any stats for Lorenzo Williams, but I have to mention him.
He has been a pleasant surprise.  Williams is the guy the Mavs signed
to his 2nd ten day contract yesterday while Sean Rooks is on IR.  He had
a couple of nice blocks, several rebounds, and just might earn himself
a contract for the rest of the season.  He has gotten several minutes in
each of the past few games and has performed well (he's taking minutes
away from Greg Dreiling and Donald Hodge - no problem there).


patricia