Dallas at Sacramento (November 12) The Mavs scored the first 6 points of the game and then went home. Well, not quite, but Sacramento then scored the next 11 points to go up 11-6 with 9 minutes to go and led in single digits the rest of the quarter. Sacramento led 29-24 after 1. The Mavs' offense continued to struggle and Dallas did not score in the 2nd quarter until almost 3 minutes had gone by (and the scoring came on 2 free throws - the Mavs' first basket of the quarter did not come until 7:30 remaining). Sacramento opened the quarter with an 11-2 run to go up 40-26 with 7:45 to go. Dallas briefly showed some life by scoring the next 8 points and pulling within 40-34 with 5:10 left. Dallas went back to sleep and Sacramento scored the next 9 points to go up 49-34 with 2:40 remaining. The Kings led in the teens the rest of the quarter and led 54-41 at the half. Dallas forgot to rejoin the game (not that they ever really were there) after halftime and didn't score their first point of the 3rd quarter until 3 1/2 minutes had gone by as Sacramento built up a 65-41 lead with 9:15 left. They led in the 20s the rest of the quarter. Sacramento led 82-59 after 3. Dallas scored 8 straight points early into the 4th quarter to pull within 67-84 with 9:45 to go, but the team went back to sleep and Sacramento went on a 17-4 run to make it a complete laugher at 101-71 with 4:15 left. Sacramento won 109-84. Sigh. Blown out by Vancouver on Wednesday, win a tight game vs San Antonio on Friday, blown out by Sacramento on Sunday. Wonder what will happen tonight vs the Clippers. Like Wednesday, the Mavs had no offense and no defense - and no surprise they were blown out with that type of performance. Dallas shot 43.8% FG including 1-9 3-pointers and Sacramento shot 58.2% FG. In addition, the calls were going Sacramento's way (not that it would have made _any_ difference in this game) as Sacramento shot 24-29 FT and Dallas shot 11-13 FT. Dallas was out-rebounded 37-46 and only gathered 10 offensive rebounds despite their poor shooting. I'll only mentioned the 2 players who had semi-nice games. Christian Laettner, though often off defensively, looked decent on offense and went after a number of boards and had 12 points and 6 rebounds. Loy Vaught looked nice in his limited minutes (18) and had 8 points (4-6 FG) and 8 rebounds. Everyone else stunk. Needless to say, I was completely underwhelmed by this game. Predrag Stojakovic was shooting lights out and Chris Webber was driving to the basket at every change (and there were lots of them). Quotes Rick Adelman: "This was a very good win for us. We were really active and aggressive the whole game. I'm pleased with our activity at both ends of the court." Adelman: "We thought if we moved the ball and moved people, we could get good shots against this team. They like to run at the post people and run at pick-and-rolls, and if you move the ball and people, you have 2-on-1 on the weak side." Lawrence Funderburke: "I think teams still look at us and think they are going to score a lot of points. Teams think we're still an inferior defensive team. But we're playing hard on defense and they still have to guard us at the other end." Predrag Stojakovic: "I feel real comfortable on the court this year, I'm letting the game come to me." Stojakovic: "They couldn't guard our big guys Chris and Vlade. Every time they doubled them, they would dish the ball and I'd knock down the open shot." Stojakovic: "It was a good effort for us. We knew Dallas was a good team and was going to play aggressive on both ends of the floor. We just approached this game just as aggressively and played good defense." Jon Barry: "They are a jump-shooting team. When you live by the jumper, you can die by it. And that's what happened to them." Don Nelson: "We had a poor performance, and when that happens against a good team, we're going to get blown out. I think the Kings have improved defensively. I know it's a higher priority for them. They are a better team than a year ago." Nelson: "They played, and we didn't. They are very good, and we were very bad tonight. We are a little better than that, I hope." Nelson: "They played and we didn't. They're very good and we were very bad tonight. We didn't have an answer for anything they did." Nelson: "We're never going to be an outstanding defensive team. But we can be better." Nelson: "Blowouts can happen on the road. I was, of course, very surprised about the one at home, but against a good team on the road that can happen. So I'm not going to make too much out of this one. We've got a game tomorrow, and let's see how we do. I'm expecting a lot more out of our team tomorrow." Steve Nash: "We didn't guard anybody. You're not going to win any games when you don't guard anybody - especially on the road." Nash: "We were poor defensively tonight, and didn't make any shots. Combine poor shooting with bad defense and you get a lot like this. We have to do a better job on the defensive end so that when we don't shoot the ball well we can stay in games." Greg Buckner: "They gave us an old-fashioned whupping." Buckner: "I know we're not playing real good defense right now. They've got a lot of guys that can score and it makes it tough on you when they're making all of their shots. Those guys made their shots and we didn't." Shawn Bradley: "I really was hoping and thought that we would come out with more zest. Down 13 at halftime on the road, we're not in a real bad situation. We just needed to come out with more energy and intensity, and it didn't happen and it just got worse." Loy Vaught: "It's a little disturbing that we've been blown out in 2 of the last 3 games." Sacramento Kings 109, Dallas Mavericks 84 at Sacramento (November 12) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Sacramento 29 25 28 27 - 109 .582 .389 .534 .828 Dallas 24 17 18 25 - 84 .438 .111 .404 .846 Halftime: Sacramento 54-41 3rd Q: Sacramento 82-59 Technicals: Don Nelson 11:38 3rd Refs: Tom Washington, Bennie Adams, Rodney Mott Attendance: 17,317 (sellout) Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Predrag Stojakovic 38 10-18 4-7 4-4 28 0-4 4 1 4 0 0 Chris Webber 32 9-12 0-0 5-9 23 0-13 2 1 3 0 1 Vlade Divac 31 1-3 0-0 1-2 3 2-10 7 2 2 1 0 Doug Christie 31 5-10 1-4 2-2 13 0-1 3 2 2 3 0 Jason Williams 30 5-10 0-2 2-2 12 0-0 7 3 3 1 0 Scot Pollard 17 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 3-8 1 0 1 0 1 Jon Barry 17 1-4 1-3 0-0 3 0-1 5 1 3 0 0 Bobby Jackson 14 2-4 1-1 4-4 9 1-2 1 2 0 0 0 Lawrence Funderburke 16 4-6 0-0 6-6 14 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 Nick Anderson 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-3 1 1 1 0 0 Hidayet Turkoglu 6 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 0-2 1 0 0 1 0 Darrick Martin 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 39-73 7-18 24-29 109 6-46 32 14 19 6 2 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 28 5-14 0-1 2-2 12 1-3 0 1 2 1 0 Christian Laettner 25 6-11 0-0 0-1 12 3-6 0 4 3 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 30 5-10 0-2 6-6 16 1-6 2 2 1 1 1 Courtney Alexander 12 0-5 0-0 2-2 2 1-2 1 0 3 1 0 Steve Nash 24 3-11 0-2 1-2 7 0-2 4 0 0 0 0 Hubert Davis 29 5-9 1-2 0-0 11 0-4 1 0 4 1 0 Shawn Bradley 13 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 1 0 2 0 0 Greg Buckner 20 5-9 0-0 0-0 10 2-3 1 1 1 1 1 Howard Eisley 24 1-8 0-2 0-0 2 0-1 3 1 2 0 0 Loy Vaught 18 4-6 0-0 0-0 8 1-8 2 0 0 1 0 Eduardo Najera 15 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 2 0 3 1 0 Bill Curley 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 36-89 1-9 11-13 84 10-37 17 10 21 7 2 patricia