According to Jackie McMullin on ESPN's the NBA Beat, the Shawn Bradley for Roy Tarpley deal was still being worked on prior to the trading deadline. The Mavs were shopping Doug Smith around trying to find someone to take his $2 million+ salary off their hands (and probably throwing a draft pick with him). If they had been able to unload Smith, it would have put the Mavs under the salary cap, at which point Tarpley would no longer be a base year player (ie, he would be worth $3 million in a trade instead of $800,000), making a Bradley for Tarpley trade possible under the salary cap rules. [Ducking under the cap eliminating base year status is one of those salary cap rules most people don't know about.] Of course, no one would take Doug off of our hands, but this trade still might occur in the off season after July 1 when Smith becomes an unrestricted free agent. Apparently the owner of the 76ers really wants to get rid of Bradley. [And it might be the best chance we get at getting a half way decent center.] Dallas at New Jersey (February 24) Benoit Benjamin did not play due to back spasms. 1st: Well, according to the scoreboard, it was 130-1 NJ. They had to have a _long_ official's timeout while they corrected the scoreboard to the correct score of 4-3 New Jersey. A 3-pointer by Jamal Mashburn put Dallas up 8-6. Dallas was up 13-10 with about 6 minutes left. Dallas was ahead 15-12 with 4:45 left when Jim Jackson rolled his ankle and left for the game (see after game summary for more details). He had 7 points on 3-4 FG in 7 minutes. Since Jackson was fouled and had left the game, New Jersey got to pick from any Mav who would attempt the free throws. They chose Terry Davis. And guess what? He made both. [They should have gone with Lorenzo Williams.] Dallas was up 21-18 and scored the next 7 points to go up 28-18 with about a minute left. After 1, 32-22 Dallas. Dallas was shooting 63% FG and Mashburn had 11 points. 2nd: New Jersey went on a 11-2 run early in the quarter, capped by a 3-pointer by Chris Childs to take the lead at 37-36 with 6:30 left. Dallas was only shooting 2-9 FG in the quarter so far. New Jersey was up 47-44 with 3:14 left. Dallas closed out the quarter with an 11-4 run to tie that game at 51-51. 4 of those 11 points came from Mashburn. Dallas was shooting 53% FG and New Jersey 38% FG. New Jersey was out-rebounding Dallas 24-21 including 12-3 offensive. Mashburn had 16 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds, Popeye Jones had 6 points and 5 rebounds, Lucious Harris had 6 points, and Donald Hodge had 5 points. Derrick Coleman had 14 points including 7-12 FG, Rex Walters had 9 points, Chris Morris had 6 points, Jayson Williams had 11 rebounds, and P.J. Brown had 6 points. 3rd: New Jersey had a 57-53 lead and a 60-57 lead. Dallas tied the game at 60-60 and the game went back and forth the rest of the quarter. The game was tied at 66-66. 3 consecutive baskets by New Jersey and 2 Dallas misses put New Jersey up 72-66. A jump hook by Popeye, a steal, basket, and foul for Harris, and a steal and two free throws for Kidd put Dallas back 73-72. A 3-pointer by Walters and a banker by Mashburn tied the game again at 75-75. New Jersey was up 80-79 with 1:43 left. The teams traded baskets and Dallas scored the last 4 points of the quarter to go up 85-82 after 3. There were 9 ties and 9 lead changes in the quarter. Harris had 10 points in the quarter and 16 for the game. Popeye had 10 points for the quarter and 16 for the game on 8-10 FG. Mashburn had 23 points and Coleman had 21 points. Lorenzo had 9 rebounds. 4th: Dallas built up a 92-86 lead with 9:53 left. New Jersey tied the game at 92-92 with 8:19 left and again at 94-94 with 6:56 left. It wasn't very pretty basketball. Morris made 2 free throws and hit a 3-pointer to give New Jersey a 99-94 lead. George McCloud missed a 3-pointer and Walters made one to put New Jersey up 102-94 with 5:15 left. New Jersey was up 106-96 with just under 3 minutes left when Mashburn nailed a 3-pointer, stole the ball, and Harris nailed a 3-pointer. 106-102 New Jersey 2:21. Brown made 2 free throws and Kenny Anderson followed up a Mashburn miss with a break away lay up to put the game back out of reach. 110-102 New Jersey. 4 free throws, an Armon Gilliam slam, and some missed shots later, New Jersey 114, Dallas 104. I'm so depressed. Who cares about the game. For something like this to happen to one of the Good Guys in the league is just sad. Jackson's injury is listed as a 3rd degree sprain of the left ankle with a displaced bone in the ankle (not broken). The bone is the sub-trailor joint which is on top of the ankle. The doctors say they will pop it back into place after they give him some medication to "make him more comfortable." The league defines a 3rd degree sprain as follows: 3rd Degree - A complete tear of a ligament. Depending upon ligament involved, bracing or even surgery may be required. Athlete is usually out from three weeks up to twelve months depending upon course of treatment. No official word yet as to how long he will be out. Jackson had a Mavs record 161 consecutive starts, all the games he has been in Dallas. This season, he has had 38 20+ point games, 15 30+ games, and scored in double figures in all (not including last night's) 50 games this season. Motta says that, with Jackson out, he will play Tony Dumas more. But, look for the Mavs to pick up another shooting guard as they now only have 4 healthy guards on the team (and they only had 3 in the game last night as Scott Brooks hadn't passed his physical yet). [Hmm, when does the season end for Greece?] Brooks will join the team in Indiana on Sunday and wear #1. Lorenzo Williams recorded his 17th double rebounding game and Popeye Jones got his 19th double-double for the season. Quotes Jayson Williams: "I just hope to God [Jackson's] not hurt bad. He's the heart and soul of their team and I hate to see anyone go down. I just hope it's a game-to-game injury, one game and he's back. I just thought he twisted his ankle. I just tried to step in the lane to keep him from going in. I thought he would stop and he just kept coming." Derrick Coleman: "You have to make the defense react. Sometimes, we hold the ball too long and the defense gets to stand still. We have to move the ball and get their defense out of the game. Now it's our time to make a run. And the defense will be the key." Butch Beard: "I thought in the second half, we played a little better. We were swinging the ball from the strong side to the weak side and getting better shots. We had a good assist-to-turnover ratio (30-8). When we have that, we usually win." Jamal Mashburn: ""We played hard tonight. It's not as though we were tired. They just came up with some really big shots. All I can say is that those big shots put the nail in our coffin." Dick Motta: "We were doing good near the end. I think we were up five, but we missed a few layups and they got back into it." Mashburn: "I'm sure people will step up and help out in Jimmy's absence. Nobody will replace him, but I'm sure that we will find a way to work things out until he gets back." 1 2 3 4 Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% New Jersey 22 29 31 32 - 114 .461 .381 .443 .909 Dallas 32 19 34 19 - 104 .508 .400 .487 .710 Halftime: 51-51 3rd Q: 85-82 Dallas Technicals: none Refs: Ronnie Nunn, Bernie Fryer, Mike Smith Attendance: 20,049 (sell-out) Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST PF STL TO BLK P.J. Brown 29 3-8 0-1 2-2 8 0-4 3 5 2 0 3 Derrick Coleman 40 10-15 1-2 2-2 23 3-9 6 4 0 2 2 Jayson Williams 18 2-9 0-0 1-2 5 8-14 1 2 0 0 0 Kenny Anderson 33 5-15 0-2 2-2 12 1-1 9 2 1 4 0 Chris Morris 43 6-20 2-8 6-6 20 4-7 3 3 0 1 1 Rex Walters 29 7-11 3-5 0-0 17 1-1 3 1 0 0 1 Armon Gilliam 26 7-15 0-0 3-4 17 2-6 1 4 2 1 3 Chris Childs 15 2-3 2-3 2-2 8 0-0 4 1 2 0 0 Rick Mahorn 7 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 1-1 0 2 0 0 0 Totals 240 43-97 8-21 20-22 114 20-43 30 24 7 8 10 Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST PF STL TO BLK Jamal Mashburn 45 10-24 3-7 9-12 32 4-7 8 4 2 2 0 Popeye Jones 37 10-12 0-0 1-1 21 3-11 2 4 0 3 1 Lorenzo Williams 34 1-5 0-0 1-4 3 2-10 2 3 0 2 1 Jason Kidd 40 2-6 0-1 4-6 8 2-5 7 2 2 4 0 Jim Jackson 7 3-4 1-1 0-0 7 0-0 1 1 1 0 0 Terry Davis 8 0-1 0-0 3-4 3 0-0 0 2 0 1 0 Lucious Harris 40 7-12 2-3 3-3 19 0-6 3 1 1 2 0 Tony Dumas 8 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 2 0 0 0 George McCloud 9 2-6 0-3 0-0 4 1-3 0 0 0 1 0 Donald Hodge 12 2-3 0-0 1-1 5 0-0 2 4 0 1 0 Totals 240 38-78 6-15 22-31 104 12-42 25 23 6 16 2 patricia