Flaming the rumors: Prior to the Dallas-Philadelphia game, Dick Motta and John Lucas met at halfcourt and talked for about 10 minutes with Lucas keeping an eye on Tarpley most of the time. Lucas introduced Motta to Shawn Bradley. After Motta left, Lucas went and talked with Tarpley for about 5 minutes. Lucas then introduced him to Dana Barros. With Dallas then being a very long shot at making the playoffs, GM Norm Sonju sent out a letter to season ticket holders telling them to enjoy the rest of the season and they would not be sending out order forms of playoff tickets. When Dallas won 5 of the next 6 games after the letter went out, the Mavs came up with a contingency plan. If the Mavs are still within playoff range a week or so into April, another letter (and form, I assume) will be sent to the ticket holders. If a ticket holder choices to get playoff tickets, the tickets will be sent and the amount due will not be until after the Mavs' playoffs end and the ticket holder will only have to pay for those tickets playoff games that actually occurred. Normally playoff tickets have to be paid in advanced for all possible playoff games, with a refund for non-played games after the playoffs are over. Jim Jackson and the team have set a tentative return date of April 1. He was cleared for light jogging over a week ago and has started harder running and cutting last week. This week he will participate in selected team practices. Team doctor Souryal: "Once he resumes basketball activities, it's a matter of how long it takes him to get his timing back." Joked Jimmy: "Maybe I don't want to come back. I don't want to mess them up." Former Mav update: Golden State signed Tim Legler for the rest of the season. Dallas at Detroit (March 23) Terry Mills (injured foot) and Joe Dumars (pulled groin) did not play. 1st: Detroit was up 17-15 with 5 minutes left. Dallas went on to score the next 8 points, including 5 by Jason Kidd. Dallas was ahead 27-25 after 1. Dallas was shooting 41% FG and Detroit was shooting 50% FG. 2nd: Dallas completed a 10-2 run to go up 39-29 with 7:53 left. George McCloud hit a 3-pointer to give Dallas an 11 point lead at 42-31 with 7:33 remaining. The teams traded baskets. Detroit went on a 12-2 run, including 7 points by Grant Hill, to cut Dallas' lead down to 1 at 46-45. The teams traded leads. Lucious Harris picked up the loose rebound and hit the quick turnaround jumper at the buzzer. At the half, Dallas 55-51. Roy Tarpley had 8 points and 5 rebounds, Kidd had 13 points, Harris had 9 points, and Hill had 16 points. 3rd: Dallas was up 67-66 with 5:45 left. Detroit took the lead and was ahead for the rest of the quarter including 74-69. Hill hit a jumper at the buzzer to give Detroit a 83-77 lead after 3. Hill had 16 points in the quarter, Lindsey Hunter had 10 points in the quarter. Popeye Jones kept Dallas in the game with 10 points and 8 rebounds in the 3rd. Jamal Mashburn only had 4 points in the first 3 quarters. 4th: Detroit scored the first 4 points of the quarter to go up by 10 at 87-77 with 11 minutes left. Detroit was up 83-77 with 7:09 left and 91-85 with 6:01 remaining. Dallas then scored the next 9 points, capped by a 3-pointer by Scott Brooks, to take the lead at 92-91 with 4:35 to go. Popeye made 1 of 2 free throws and Hunter hit a 3-pointers to put Detroit up 94-93. The teams traded a lot of possessions before Jamal Mashburn made 2 free throws to put Dallas back up at 95-94 with 2:55 left. The teams traded several misses as the 2 minute warning came and went. Popeye got the offensive rebound and Mashburn hit the 3-pointer to put Dallas up by 4 at 98-94 with 1:09 to go. Detroit turned the ball over. Popeye missed, but the ball went out of bounds off of Detroit. 31 seconds. Dallas ran the clock down and McCloud was fouled. He made both free throws with 15.6 seconds left. Allan Houston missed a 3-pointer, Mashburn made a layup, and Houston missed another 3. Dallas won 102-94. Jamal Mashburn had 9 points in the 17-3 Dallas run that ended the game. Grant Hill shot 0-6 FG in 4th and Detroit did not score in the last 4 minutes of the game. Popeye Jones had a great game with 21 points and 18 rebounds. Grant Hill had a season high 32 points in the first 3 quarters, but did not score in the 4th. Quotes Dick Motta: "They were isolating [Hill] more [in the 3rd Q]. We tried to give Jamal a little help. They didn't sub for him in the second half at all." Motta: "Our defense was out of kilter the whole night until it counted. I don't think we get discouraged when we get behind." Motta: "Our offense went south all night, but then it came north when we got down in the 4th. These guys never get discouraged, and they are starting to do this a lot. If it were up to me, we'd always be leading by 10 points in the fourth, but they've shown a lot of character." Motta: "I think we're looser. I think we play better on the road. And it's hard to figure out because my teams have always been better at home." Jason Kidd: "In all three of these games, we've come back in the 4th quarter. I guess we want to make it exciting for the fans, but we know we can't do this forever." Kidd: "It seems like we've done this the last 3 games. We try to make it exciting for the fans. I don't think we like playing until we get down 10 points." Popeye Jones: "It seems like we're getting a lot more active when the game's on the line. We start helping and rotating and causing havoc." Don Chaney: "We just couldn't get Grant to the hoop in the 4th quarter, because they were collapsing. So he ended up taking outside shots, and they just wouldn't fall for him." Chaney: "We had a very difficult time scoring down the stretch and I thought that was the difference in the game. It was ours to win, we just didn't capitalize." Oliver Miller: "This one really hurts, and I take the full responsibility for this loss. I didn't get the rebounds on the defensive end, and I didn't make some easy shots on the offense end. I relaxed instead of picking up the tempo. We are better than this." Lindsey Hunter: "That was a strange fourth quarter. We got the ball inside, but we just couldn't get the shots to fall. On other nights, they will." 1 2 3 4 Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 27 28 22 25 - 102 .461 .300 .427 .737 Detroit 25 26 32 11 - 94 .447 .333 .435 .810 Halftime: 55-51 Dallas 3rd Q: 83-77 Detroit Technicals: none Refs:: Bernie Fryer, Bill Oakes, Jim Kinsey Attendance: 15,861 (cap. 21,454) Dallas Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST PF STL TO BLK Jamal Mashburn 35 5-15 1-3 2-2 13 1-3 9 3 0 4 0 Popeye Jones 30 8-17 0-0 5-7 21 7-18 1 2 0 0 0 Lorenzo Williams 31 1-6 0-0 0-0 2 5-12 3 2 0 4 2 Jason Kidd 31 6-12 3-8 0-0 15 2-3 7 1 1 3 1 Lucious Harris 27 6-8 0-2 3-4 15 1-4 1 1 1 0 0 Roy Tarpley 22 4-13 0-0 0-0 8 2-6 0 2 2 1 0 Scott Brooks 23 5-10 1-2 2-2 13 0-1 2 2 3 1 0 George McCloud 25 4-10 1-4 2-2 11 4-5 0 3 0 0 0 Tony Dumas 7 1-1 0-0 0-2 2 0-0 1 0 0 1 0 Doug Smith 9 1-4 0-1 0-0 2 1-2 2 1 0 2 0 Totals 240 41-96 6-20 14-19 102 23-54 26 17 7 16 3 Detroit Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST PF STL TO BLK Grant Hill 42 12-25 0-0 8-10 32 3-9 4 0 3 4 0 Oliver Miller 39 4-13 0-0 3-4 11 7-11 3 3 0 0 3 Mark West 25 2-8 0-0 2-2 6 3-7 0 1 0 4 1 Lindsey Hunter 42 7-12 3-4 2-3 19 0-1 9 4 2 4 1 Allan Houston 36 5-12 0-5 2-2 12 0-3 2 5 0 3 0 Ivano Newbill 19 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 2-7 1 3 2 0 1 Rafael Addison 26 4-9 0-0 0-0 8 0-1 2 3 2 1 0 Negele Knight 11 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 2 1 1 1 0 Totals 240 37-85 3-9 17-21 94 15-40 23 20 10 17 6 Utah at Dallas (March 25) 1st: Dallas built up a 15-10 lead on a 3-point play by Jamal Mashburn with 7:35 remaining. Utah responded by going on a 6-0 run to take the lead on a slam my Karl Malone. Utah 16-15 with 6:25 left. Lucious Harris hit a 3-pointer to put Dallas back up at 18-16 with 5:25 left. Bryon Russell tipped the ball in to tie the game at 18-18. Harris made 2 free throws and Jason Kidd took it coast-to-coast for the layup and foul. Dallas 25-20 with 3:50 remaining. The teams traded 4 points. Roy Tarpley tipped in a miss and made 2 free throws. Antoine Carr's baseliner was the last points of the quarter. After 1, Dallas 33-26. Dallas shot 52% FG and Utah shot 59% FG. Mashburn had 12 points including 4-5 FG and Malone had 10 points on 5-8 FG. 2nd: Tarpley made a 20-footer to give Dallas a 37-26 lead with 10:45 remaining. John Stockton converted the 3-point play. One of the more interesting "plays": Scott Brooks stole the ball near Utah's basket, Stockton stripped Tony Dumas as he was going up for a basket, and Brooks intercepted a pass near Utah's basket and passed the ball ahead to Tarpley for the easy slam. Dallas 39-29 with 9:43 left. The teams traded baskets, Utah scored 4 points, and Dumas converted the 3-point play to put the score at Dallas 44-35 with 7:53 left. Both teams made 1 of 2 free throws and Tarpley worked in for the slam. 47-36 Dallas with 6:16 left. Malone hit a fade away and Kidd hit a turn around baseliner. The play of the night: Kidd cleanly stole the ball from Stockton and streaked down the court for the open slam. Dallas 51-38 with 5:20 remaining. Tom Chambers scored 4 points and Dumas got 2. Kidd made the nifty toss up and in. Dumas controlled the loose ball and passed to the open Mashburn for the easy jam. 57-42 Dallas with 3:25 to go. Chambers spun baseline for 2 and Malone made 1 of 2 free throws. The teams traded points and Mashburn made 1 of 2 free throws. Dallas 60-47 with 1:30 remaining. Jeff Hornacek made 1 of 2 free throws. George McCloud made the catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. The half ended a couple possessions later. Dallas 63-48. Dallas shot 57% (24-42) FG and Utah shot 56% (22-39) FG. Dallas shot 11-13 FT and Utah shot 4-9 FT. Dallas out-rebounded Utah 26-17. Dallas had 14 turnovers. Tarpley had 14 points in the half. 3rd: Utah opened the quarter by scoring the first 6 points to cut Dallas' lead to 63-54 with 10 minutes remaining. Harris scored Dallas' first points of the quarter on a 3-pointer. Malone hit a jumper, Chambers made 1 of 2 free throws, and Lorenzo Williams tipped in a basket and Dallas was up 68-57 with 8:20 left. Malone made 2 and the teams traded several possessions. Harris hit another 3. 71-59 Dallas with 6:11 to go. Jeez, Malone hit the flat "hook". Mashburn and Hornacek made 2 free throws each. Russell drove for 2 on the break to bring Utah with 77-70 with 3:33 remaining. The teams traded 3 points. Brooks hit the 18-footer and Harris made 2 free throws. Crotty made 2 free throws, Harris hit a jumper, and Malone got the putback. Crotty made 2 free throws and Brooks converted the 3-point play. Hornacek hit the 3-point banker at the buzzer. Dallas 89-82. Dallas shot 54% FG and Utah shot 59% FG. Dallas had made 6-13 3-pointers and Utah 1-2 3-pointers. Malone had 28 points including 13-19 FG and 5 rebounds. 4th: Utah opened the quarter again by scoring the first 6 points. Dallas 89-88 with 10:30 remaining. Dumas finally scored for Dallas on a jumper. Carr converted the 3-point play to tie the game at 91-91 with 9:20 left. Blue Edwards drove for 2 and the lead. Brooks responded with a 12-footer. David Benoit made 1 of 2 free throws. Utah 94-93 with 8:04 to go. Dumas made 1 of 2 free throws. Stockton drove and made the scoop shot. Chambers got 2 inside. Utah 98-94 with 7:06 left. Mashburn hit the 10 foot baseliner and Hornacek made 2 free throws. Utah 100-96 with 6:30 remaining. The teams traded missed 3-pointers. Popeye Jones made 1 of 2 free throws. Chambers missed, Dallas ran, and Kidd fed Harris for the layup. Stockton missed inside and Kidd made 2 free throws. Dallas 101-100 with 4:37 remaining. Malone missed and, oh wow, Kidd with the crossover through the legs leaving Stockton in his dust drove for the layup and was fouled. He missed the extra, but it was Dallas' ball out of bounds. Mashburn made 2 free throws. Dallas 105-100 with 4:10 to go. Hornacek made the T on Dallas' quick 2nd illegal D. Malone hit the hook. Mashburn made 1 of 2 free throws. Dallas 106-103 with 3:21 left. Malone got 2 on the goaltending call on Lorenzo. Kidd made 1 of 2 free throws, got the rebounds, but missed the putback. Dallas 107-105 with 2:40 left. Hornacek hit the running floater. Kidd missed the 3 as the shot clock ran down. Malone missed both free throw attempts and Lorenzo was fouled on the rebounds. And Lorenzo made _both_ free throws! [Lo is an awful free throw shooter.] Dallas 109-107 with 2 minutes left. An offensive foul on Adam Keefe. Harris hit the running jumper. Malone nailed the clutch 3. Dallas 111-110 with 1:05 to go. Dallas turned the ball over and Chambers collected his 6th foul on an offensive foul. 34 seconds. Popeye into the open Kidd for the drop in. Dallas 113-110 with 20.6 seconds remaining. Hornacek missed the open 3-pointer badly and Kidd was immediately fouled. He made both free throws. 17 seconds. Stockton missed the 3 and Hornacek missed a 3. Tarpley made both free throws for the final margin. Dallas 117-110. Dallas has won 4 games in a row for the first time since November, 1990. They beat Utah despite Utah shooting 58.7% FG. Dallas also shot well at 52% FG. Jason Kidd, Jamal Mashburn, and Lucious Harris led the team to victory. Mash had 28 points including 13-18 FT; Harris had 23 points, and Kidd had 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Karl Malone and Jeff Hornacek led the Jazz with 35 points including 16-23 FG and 8 rebounds and 18 points respectively. Stockton also chipped in with 11 points, 14 assists, and 6 steals. Quotes Jamal Mashburn: "We just try to look for victories, no matter who the opponent is. We took it at them, and we were very confident. We had to pay them back for last time from when we were up there and they really blew us out." Jason Kidd: "We showed up today. It feels great to win against the best team in the West and also to win at home." Kidd: "We might not be ready to start thinking about the playoffs. But if the playoffs happen, that's icing on the cake. At this point we have nothing to lose." Dick Motta: "They made a run at us and we got down, but we didn't get out. We just don't seem to be affected when we are behind with 3 or 4 minutes to go. We played great defense and executed when it counted." Motta: "We get down but we don't get out. We responded to their run. We don't ever seem to get discouraged." Motta: "They needed it more than we did. We're the spoiler. We're a lot looser than they are. The pressure isn't on us like it is on Utah." Motta on the possible playoffs: "If we just play, whatever happens, happens. I don't think we'd turn down a playoff spot. I need the extra money." Popeye Jones: "I think we want to keep [the playoff run] low-key and keep playing. I'll tell you one thing, though: I finally see how it feels to be on a winning streak in the NBA and see the locker room atmosphere. It's the kind of feeling you want to last forever." Jerry Sloan: "We dug too big a hole for ourselves and we couldn't stop them. They outplayed us pretty much the whole game except for some of the second half. We weren't as ready to play as I thought we should have been to start the game. They just outworked us." Sloan: "We were very lethargic in the first part of the game. They just outworked us. We couldn't keep up with them on defense. We dug too big a hole for ourselves and couldn't dig out." Karl Malone: "I played terrible. Every game that we have now is a big game. Obviously this game means a lot. When you lose a game like this, it hurts." Malone: "Every game we have now is a big game. When you lose a game like this, it hurts. But we're not going to panic." 1 2 3 4 Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 33 30 26 28 - 117 .569 .353 .520 .786 Utah 26 22 34 28 - 110 .627 .250 .587 .667 Halftime: 83-48 Dallas 3rd Q: 89-82 Dallas Utah's largest lead: 100-96 6:26 4th Dallas' largest lead: 63-48 halftime Lead changes: 4 Technicals: Dallas illegal D 3:46 4th Refs: Jess Kersey, Ronnie Nunn, Hank Armstrong Attendance: 17,502 (sell-out) Dallas Reb Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Pts O-T Ast TO F Stl Blk Jamal Mashburn 36 7-14 1-3 13-18 28 1-3 3 3 3 2 0 Popeye Jones 32 1-5 0-0 1-2 3 3-7 2 1 3 0 0 Lorenzo Williams 36 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 7-15 2 1 5 1 0 Jason Kidd 33 7-16 1-5 6-8 21 3-5 7 3 0 2 0 Lucious Harris 30 8-14 3-4 4-4 23 0-0 2 4 3 1 0 Roy Tarpley 25 6-9 0-0 4-4 16 2-8 0 3 2 1 0 Scott Brooks 15 3-5 0-1 1-1 7 1-2 3 1 3 2 0 George McCloud 12 2-3 1-2 0-0 5 0-2 0 2 3 0 0 Tony Dumas 18 4-6 0-2 2-3 10 0-0 4 1 2 1 0 Doug Smith 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 240 39-75 6-17 33-42 117 17-42 23 19 24 10 0 Utah Reb Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Pts O-T Ast TO F Stl Blk David Benoit 13 2-3 0-0 1-2 5 0-5 0 1 3 0 1 Karl Malone 38 16-23 1-1 2-6 35 2-8 2 3 4 2 0 James Donaldson 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 0 0 0 John Stockton 37 4-7 0-2 3-3 11 2-5 14 5 3 6 0 Jeff Hornacek 37 5-13 1-4 7-9 18 2-3 4 4 3 2 0 Bryon Russell 15 3-5 0-1 0-0 6 1-3 0 0 4 1 1 John Crotty 11 1-2 0-0 4-4 6 1-1 4 0 0 1 0 Antione Carr 22 5-8 0-0 2-3 12 0-1 1 1 3 0 0 Adam Keefe 18 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 2-3 0 2 3 0 0 Blue Edwards 11 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 2 1 1 0 0 Tom Chambers 30 6-8 0-0 1-3 13 0-6 0 1 6 0 1 Totals 240 44-75 2-8 20-30 110 10-36 27 19 30 12 3 With the Mavs winning 7 of 8, the amazing talk of playoffs has caught the fans attention. The Mavs are 3 games behind Sacramento for the 8th spot in the Western Conference. Denver is also challenging Sacramento for that spot. If you want to start a debate amongst fans, ask whether the Mavs should go for the playoffs or for the lottery pick. Just don't ask the players, 'cause they haven't given up. Here are the remaining games for the 3 teams. Sacramento (33-35) Denver (32-36) Dallas (29-37) 3/28 Orl at SAC 9:30 pm 3/26 DEN at Por 7:00 pm 3/28 Mil at DAL 7:30 pm 3/30 Pho at SAC 9:30 pm 3/27 LAC at DEN 8:00 pm 3/30 DAL at Cha 6:30 pm 3/31 SAC at Sea 9:00 pm 3/31 DEN at Ind 6:30 pm 3/31 DAL at NY 6:30 pm 4/4 Hou at SAC 9:30 pm 4/2 DEN at Cle 3:00 pm 4/2 DAL at Bos 3:00 pm 4/6 SA at SAC 9:30 pm 4/4 LAL at DEN 8:00 pm 4/5 LAL at DAL 7:30 pm 4/8 LAC at SAC 9:30 pm 4/6 Sea at DEN 7:00 pm 4/7 Min at DAL 7:30 pm 4/11 SAC at LAC 9:30 pm 4/9 Hou at DEN 2:30 pm 4/8 Sea at DAL 7:30 pm 4/12 LAL at SAC 9:30 pm 4/10 DEN at Min 7:00 pm 4/10 GS at DAL 7:30 pm 4/14 SAC at SA 7:30 pm 4/13 DEN at LAC 9:30 pm 4/11 DAL at Hou 7:30 pm 4/15 SAC at Hou 7:30 pm 4/14 Pho at DEN 8:00 pm 4/13 DAL at Sea 9:00 pm 4/18 SAC at Pho 8:00 pm 4/16 SA at DEN 2:00 pm 4/15 DAL at Por 9:00 pm 4/20 SAC at GS 7:30 pm 4/18 DEN at SA 7:00 pm 4/16 DAL at LAL 9:00 pm 4/21 Sea at SAC 9:30 pm 4/19 Min at DEN 8:00 pm 4/18 LAC at DAL 7:30 pm 4/23 SAC at Den 8:00 pm 4/22 DEN at GS 2:30 pm 4/20 SA at DAL 7:30 pm 4/23 Sac at DEN 8:00 pm 4/21 DAL at Pho 8:00 pm 4/23 DAL at LAC 5:00 pm patricia