Former Mav update: Golden State signed Tim Legler to a 10-day contract. Denver at Dallas (March 7) 1st: The game stay close at the start with the game tied at 2-2, 4-4, and 6-6. Denver went up by 4 on a Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf jumper and a dunk by Rodney Rogers (and a lot of misses). The teams traded points and Lucious Harris made a 3-pointer. Jalen Rose hit a jumper and Mutombo tipped in a misses to put Denver up 16-11 half way through the quarter. Denver was still up by 5 at 20-15 and 27-22 with less than 3 minutes left. The teams traded points and misses, but Doug Smith got the last 2 points of the quarter. 33-30 Denver. Denver was shooting 63% FG and Dallas was shooting 54% FG. Roy Tarpley had 9 points. 2nd: The teams traded baskets, Tom Hammonds slam dunked, and Tony Dumas nailed a 3. 37-35 Denver. Dallas collected their 5th team foul with 8:30 to go and Denver up 41-38. Denver went on a 6-0 run to go up 47-40. George McCloud drove for the slam. 47-42 Denver 6:39. Denver again went on a 6-0 run as they were hitting everything and Dallas wasn't. Jamal Mashburn made 1 of 2 free throws and Denver was up 53-43 with 3:24 left. The teams traded baskets and Reggie Williams nailed a 3. Mashburn hit for 2 and Denver was up 58-47 with 2 minutes left in the half. Jason Kidd's drive for a layup and Mashburn's 2 free throws were the only points scored over those 2 minutes. At the half, Denver 58-51. Denver had colded off just a little bit and was shooting 53% (23-39) FG and Dallas was shooting 43% FG. Both teams shot 9-11 FT. Denver out-rebounded Dallas by 8. Tarpley had 13 points in 15 minutes, Mashburn had 11 points, Kidd had 6 points and 5 assists, and Harris had 7 points. Dikembe Mutombo had 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks, Abdul-Rauf had 12 points, and Dale Ellis had 9 points. 3rd: The teams traded baskets to start the quarter, then Denver scored the next 9 points. Harris finally made a jumper for Dallas and Denver was up 69-55 with 8:30 left. Then it was Denver's turn to go cold and commit turnovers. Dallas went on a 14-2 run and Denver's lead was just 71-69. Abdul-Rauf scored Denver's first basket in 3 minutes. The teams traded baskets and misses and Denver was up 75-71. Tarpley nailed his first 3 of the season. The teams traded possession over the next minute. Scott Brooks drove for the lay up and the Dallas lead. Ellis missed the half court heave. After 3, Dallas 76-75. Tarpley had 20 points and 9 rebounds and Abdul-Rauf had 20 points. Dallas had gone on a 23-6 run over the last 8:50 of the quarter. 4th: Dallas scored the first 4 points of the quarter quickly to go up 80-75 with 11:20 left. The teams traded misses and baskets and misses. Ellis made 1 of 2 free throws and Dallas led 82-78. Bryant Stith nailed a 3-pointer at the 24 second clock buzzer. Tarpley hit the baseline fade away to give Dallas an 84-81 lead with 7:45 left. The teams traded misses and baskets. Tarpley made 2 free throws to go up 90-85 with 3:45 left. Hammond hit the hook shot and Mashburn made 1 of 2 free throws. R Williams drove for 2 and Dallas led 91-89 with 2:44 left. Mashburn fed Kidd for the lay up and the foul. Kidd made the extra. Mutombo slammed it home. 94-91 Dallas 2:05. Brooks missed two 3 point attempts and Rogers made 1 of 2 free throws. 94-92 Dallas 1:20 left. Mashburn missed with 55 seconds left. Abdul-Rauf drained a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left to give Denver the lead at 95-94. Mashburn drove for a lay up, missed, and no foul was called. R Williams made 2 free throws. 97-94 Denver 12 seconds. Mashburn split the D and drove for the easy lay up. Abdul-Rauf was immediately fouled and made both free throws. 7 seconds. Kidd missed the 3 and Denver won. Denver 99, Dallas 96. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was unstoppable. Ted Davis described one basket by Abdul-Rauf in the 2nd quarter: "Man, Kidd had a hand up his nostril and Rauf still nailed it!" Abdul-Rauf had 29 points including 12-20 FG and 8 assists. Dikembe Mutombo was his usual intimidating self in the middle and had 16 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocks - but no blocks in the 2nd half. Jamal Mashburn had a solid game with 26 points and 8 assists. Roy Tarpley again showed what a talent he really is and how much we missed him with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Jason Kidd had a good all round game, despite the defensive problems with Abdul-Rauf, with 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Quotes: Dikembe Mutombo: "I think now we are playing together because we have a mission that we want to accomplish. Day by day we have to go out and try to win any game we can." Bernie Bickerstaff: "We wanted Abdul-Rauf to have the ball. We just let him make his own decisions and it makes you look good. He had one of those nights and his teammates were smart enough to go to him." Dick Motta: "We had a three-point lead with 3 1/2 minutes left and we can't control Abdul-Rauf. He was terrific tonight. I don't know how you hang on him any more than that." Jason Kidd: "Abdul-Rauf is deceiving. Everybody says he is too small but I think he has proven to everybody that he can play in this league. I was at his mercy. He could have done whatever he wanted." 1 2 3 4 Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Denver 33 25 17 24 - 99 .531 .455 .520 .762 Dallas 30 21 25 20 - 96 .486 .286 .453 .737 Halftime: 58-51 Denver 3rd Q: 76-75 Dallas Technicals: Illegal D Denver Refs: Ted Bernhardt, Hugh Evans, Ed Middleton Attendance: 14,954 (cap. 17,502) Denver REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST PF STL TO BLK Reggie Williams 32 4-8 2-4 2-2 12 2-8 4 3 2 1 0 Rodney Rogers 22 2-6 0-1 2-4 6 2-6 0 4 1 2 0 Dikembe Mutombo 44 7-13 0-0 2-2 16 4-16 4 2 0 3 4 Mahmoud Abdul Rauf 42 12-20 1-2 4-4 29 0-2 8 1 0 1 0 Jalen Rose 24 3-6 0-0 0-1 6 0-1 4 5 0 4 1 Dale Ellis 27 3-9 1-2 3-4 10 0-1 1 1 1 0 0 Bryant Stith 24 4-5 1-1 2-2 11 1-4 0 0 2 1 0 Tom Hammonds 19 4-5 0-0 1-2 9 0-4 1 3 0 2 1 Cliff Levingston 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 2 0 0 0 Eldridge Recasner 2 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 240 39-75 5-11 16-21 99 10-44 22 21 6 15 6 Dallas REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST PF STL TO BLK Jamal Mashburn 40 11-20 0-1 4-6 26 0-0 8 0 0 3 0 Popeye Jones 24 2-7 0-0 2-2 6 1-7 2 2 0 1 2 Lorenzo Williams 9 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 0 0 0 0 Jason Kidd 35 6-12 1-3 1-1 14 2-6 7 2 1 0 0 Lucious Harris 33 5-10 1-2 1-1 12 1-2 2 1 2 2 0 Roy Tarpley 39 10-19 1-2 5-6 26 3-12 1 3 1 4 1 Scott Brooks 21 2-9 0-3 1-3 5 0-1 5 3 1 0 1 Doug Smith 11 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-3 2 1 0 0 0 Tony Dumas 8 1-2 1-2 0-0 3 1-1 0 2 0 0 0 George McCloud 20 1-4 0-1 0-0 2 3-3 0 4 1 1 0 Totals 240 39-86 4-14 14-19 96 12-36 27 18 6 11 4 patricia