Keith Grant gave a breif update on Deon Thomas (Mavs 2nd round draft pick last season who is playing in Europe). He is averaging 16 points and 7 rebounds. He started the season strong, but his level of play has slipped some. Dallas at Charlotte (March 30) Scott Burrell torn his Achilles tendon Wednesday night and is out for the season. Dell Curry did not play. 1st: Charlotte was up 8-6. Dallas went up 14-10 on a 3-pointer by Lucious Harris. Dallas continued their 16-3 run to go up 22-11. Charlotte then scored the next 6 points. Dallas 22-17. Roy Tarpley hit a short jumper to give Dallas a 24-17 lead with 2:45 remaining. The teams traded 4 points and Tarpley scored the last 2 points of the quarter. After 1, Dallas 30-21. 2nd: Tarpley scored the first 4 points of the 2nd and Scott Brooks hit a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 37-21 lead with 10:35 to go. The teams traded baskets and Charlotte scored the next 8 points. Dallas then scored the next 9 points. Dallas 27-29 with 6:20 remaining. It was then Charlotte's turn to go on a run and they scored the next 14 points over 2 1/2 minutes to cut Dallas' lead down to 47-43. The teams traded a lot of points and Dallas was still up by 4 at 55-51. Dallas scored the last 4 points of the half to go up 59-51 at the half. Dallas shot 54% FG and Charlotte shot 40% FG. Dallas out-rebounded Charlotte 28-20. Popeye Jones had 12 points on 6-8 FG, Jamal Mashburn had 12 points and 4 rebounds, Harris had 9 points, and Tarpley had 10 points and 5 rebounds. Hersey Hawkins had 15 points, Larry Johnson had 11 points, Muggsy Bogues had 10 points, and Alonzo Mourning had 9 points including 2-10 FG and 8 rebounds. 3rd: Dallas was up 71-66 with 7:05 to go and was still up by 5 at 79-72. Mashburn converted the 3-point play to give Dallas a 86-76 lead. After 3, Dallas led 89-79. Both teams shot lights out in the quarter with Dallas shooting 62% FG and Charlotte shooting 65% FG. 4th: The lead stayed relatively the same over the first few minutes of the 4th and Dallas was up 95-86 with 9 minutes left. George McCloud scored the next 6 points for Dallas, David Wingate hit a banker, and Johnson got the put back. Dallas 101-90 with 6:57 remaining. Johnson missed a 3-pointer, Dallas ran, and Popeye got the layup. The teams traded baskets and free throws. Dallas 107-94. The play of the night: McCloud went for the loose ball, tapped it inbounds while in flight going out of bounds; the ball bounced in front of Wingate and Wingate decided to let the ball go out of bounds; McCloud stepped back in bounds and reached around Wingate and tapped the ball over to Tarpley who drove to the basket for 2. The teams traded baskets and Dallas was up 111-96 with 4:15 remaining. McCloud fed Tarpley for the finger roll and McCloud fed Kidd for the layup. Bogues hit a jumpber and Brooks nailed the 3-pointer. Dallas was up 118-98 with 2:42 left and the coaches cleared the bench. Dallas won 125-107. Dallas shot about 70% FG in the 4th and 58% FG for the game. Charlotte shot 45.5% FG for the game. Dallas out-rebounded Charlotte 50-34. The star of the game: George McCloud. He played all 12 minutes of the 4th quarter and scored 10 points in the quarter. Due to McCloud's play, Jamal Mashburn got to rest the entire 4th quarter. McCloud had 14 points and 5 rebounds for the game. Roy Tarpley had a solid game with 22 points, 10 of which came in the 4th, including 10-16 FG and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes. Popeye Jones also had 22 points on 11-13 FG and 11 rebounds. Roy Tarpley scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter. For Charlotte, Hersey Hawkins was shooting lights out. He had 31 points including 12-19 FG and 4-8 3-pointers, 9 rebounds, and 5 assits. Larry Johnson contributed 19 points including 6-16 FG and 5 rebounds and Alonzo Mourning had 19 points on 5-21 FG and 9-12 FT, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Dallas has won 9 of their last 10 games, 6 consecutive games, and 4 consecutive road games. The last time Dallas won 6 consecutive games was in March, 1990. Quotes Popeye Jones: "It's hard to explain but we have been playing well. I think the reason why we beat up on the Hornets tonight is the fatigue after they played in Philadelphia last night. It really showed in the 4th quarter." George McCloud: "As a team we're starting to discuss [the playoffs] a lot more now. We're looking forward to the playoff race and just having fun in the process. We're confident. We're going out thinking we can win every game now." McCloud: "We've got Tarpley back, and the guys are responding off the bench. It's our job. When the starters are struggling, we come in to give them a lift. Our bench has been our strong point the second half of the season. If you get some experience, guys get the feeling they can play." Jason Kidd: "We have been playing well lately, including our starting five and our bench. We still have a long way to go, but that is what it takes to be an elite team in this league. I do not feel we are a playoff team yet because we are still learning." Muggsy Bogues: "We need to get it back defensively. Teams are scoring too easily. We have to go out and play smarter basketball." Allan Bristow: "It seemed like everything they threw up, it was like a drain up there. 'Zo and Larry had numerous opportunities to get their games going early, but it just seemed like we didn't get any rolls on the ball and that sort of set the tone." Allan Bristow: "Right now we just don't seem to have any legs under us. We just don't seem to have the bounce in our legs and hopefully we can get that back." 1 2 3 4 Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 30 29 30 36 - 125 .644 .267 .580 .792 Charlotte 21 30 28 28 - 107 .467 .385 .455 .759 Halftime: 59-51 Dallas 3rd Q: 89-79 Dallas Tehcnicals: none Refs: Jake O'Donnell, Woody Mayfield, Derrick Stafford Attendance: 23,698 (sell-out) Dallas REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST STL PF TO BLK Jamal Mashburn 30 5-13 0-3 6-7 16 0-5 7 0 1 1 1 Popeye Jones 39 11-13 0-0 0-0 22 3-11 3 1 3 2 0 Lorenzo Williams 24 2-2 0-0 2-4 6 2-5 4 0 4 1 0 Jason Kidd 33 6-11 0-2 1-2 13 1-3 4 1 0 7 1 Lucious Harris 25 6-9 1-2 2-2 15 3-6 2 0 2 0 0 Roy Tarpley 27 10-16 0-0 2-2 22 2-10 2 0 4 2 1 Scott Brooks 22 3-4 1-2 3-3 10 0-4 6 0 1 0 0 Tony Dumas 16 2-4 1-1 0-0 5 0-1 0 0 3 0 0 George McCloud 18 5-12 1-4 3-4 14 2-5 2 1 1 1 1 Doug Smith 3 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Donald Hodge 3 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 240 51-88 4-15 19-24 125 13-50 30 3 19 15 4 Charlotte REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST STL PF TO BLK Larry Johnson 41 6-16 1-3 5-6 18 4-5 2 0 2 1 0 Joe Wolf 10 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-3 0 0 0 2 0 Alonzo Mourning 41 5-21 0-1 9-12 19 4-9 0 0 3 2 3 Muggsy Bogues 37 7-13 0-1 2-2 16 0-3 13 2 2 3 0 Hersey Hawkins 40 12-19 4-8 3-3 31 2-9 5 4 2 2 0 David Wingate 21 4-8 0-0 2-2 10 0-2 4 1 1 2 0 Greg Sutton 11 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 2 2 2 1 1 Kenny Gattison 17 1-4 0-0 1-2 3 0-0 1 0 3 1 0 Robert Parish 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Darrin Hancock 19 4-5 0-0 0-2 8 1-3 3 1 1 0 0 Totals 240 40-88 5-13 22-29 107 12-34 30 10 16 15 4 Phoenix beat Sacramento last night, so the Mavs are now 2 games behind for the 8th playoff spot. patricia