Dallas at Denver (January 12) Jamal Mashburn and Jim Jackson continued their shooting slump and Dallas really missed Popeye Jones (get well, Popeye, we need you!). The Mavs shoot horrendously in the first half. Roy Tarpley was butter fingers in the first half and caused some sloppy play. Dikembe Mutombo was affecting the Mavs' shoots right and left. Popeye Jones (back spasms) and Robert Pack (lower back strain) did not play. Denver was up 23-15 after 1. Dallas only shot 32% FG in the 1st quarter. Dallas cut Denver's lead to just 33-30 with 6:15 left in the half. Denver went on a 12-2 run in the last 3:30 of the quarter to go up 47-34 at the half. Dallas only made 1 field goal in the last 7 minutes of the half. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf had 8 of those 12 points, including 2 3-pointers. Dallas shot 31% FG (13-42) in the half and Denver shot 54% FG. Denver was also out-rebounding Dallas by something like 13. Mutombo had 6 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks, Mashburn had 9 points, Jason Kidd had 11 points including 4-5 FG and 4 assist, and Jackson had 4 points on 2-8 FG. Denver started the 2nd half strong and built up a 20 point lead. Dallas managed to whittle away the lead down to 13 points midway through the 3rd quarter, but could get no closer. Denver was up 69-54. Motta cleared the bench 3 minutes into the 4th. The invisible man returned and Donald Hodge scored 9 points in garbage time. Denver 94, Dallas 78. Quotes Dick Motta: "We blew the game in the last two minutes of the first half." Dan Issel: "Dikembe showed up again tonight and played great. He's doing a nice job with his footwork and his moves underneath the basket. Offensively, he's on the upside and defensively, he's the best in the league." Mashburn: "The best way to play Dikembe is to get him in foul trouble and we didn't do that. Our effort was very good but our shooting wasn't." "When the jumper's not going, the tendency is to take it inside, and that's where Dikembe is a much bigger force." Motta: "Mutombo makes you change your shots." Reggie Williams: "Defensively, it was our best game of the year." 1 2 3 4 Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Denver 23 24 22 25 - 94 .485 .389 .465 .583 Dallas 15 19 20 24 - 78 .403 .167 .369 .737 Halftime: 47-34 Denver 3rd Q: 69-54 Denver Technical: Denver illegal D 5:21 3rd; Denver illegal D 5:14 3rd Refs: Joe Crawford, Terry Durham, Gary Benson Attendance: 17,171 (sell-out) Denver Rebounds Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS OFF TOT AST PF STL TO BLK Reggie Williams 29 3-9 1-3 0-0 7 0 5 2 2 1 1 3 Rodney Rogers 28 7-12 1-1 1-1 16 3 5 2 2 1 0 2 Dikembe Mutombo 36 7-12 0-0 1-2 15 1 12 0 3 1 2 7 Mahmoud Abdul Rauf 31 5-14 2-5 1-2 13 0 5 5 1 1 2 0 Bryant Stith 35 4-10 0-1 0-0 8 1 3 3 2 3 2 1 Jalen Rose 19 5-7 3-4 0-0 13 0 0 5 2 0 2 0 Dale Ellis 26 3-10 0-4 0-0 6 4 8 2 0 0 1 0 Cliff Levingston 9 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 2 2 0 3 0 1 0 Brian Williams 20 3-4 0-0 2-4 8 1 3 0 2 2 3 0 Reggie Slater 4 1-2 0-0 2-2 4 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 Tom Hammonds 3 1-2 0-0 0-1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 240 40-86 7-18 7-12 94 14 46 19 18 9 14 13 Dallas Rebounds Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS OFF TOT AST PF STL TO BLK Jamal Mashburn 37 6-21 1-4 2-3 15 0 4 3 1 1 2 0 Terry Davis 25 0-6 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 Lorenzo Williams 17 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 2 6 0 3 0 2 2 Jason Kidd 29 4-7 1-3 2-3 11 1 4 5 0 2 3 0 Jim Jackson 36 5-14 0-2 5-7 15 1 6 2 1 0 2 1 Roy Tarpley 27 3-10 0-0 2-2 8 3 9 2 4 1 3 5 Doug Smith 28 6-11 0-1 2-2 14 1 3 0 6 0 2 1 Morlon Wiley 15 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 3 1 0 0 1 Lucious Harris 10 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 Tony Dumas 8 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 Donald Hodge 8 4-4 0-0 1-2 9 0 4 0 0 0 1 1 Totals 240 31-84 2-12 14-19 78 10 41 20 17 4 16 11 patricia