Mavs owner Mark Cuban has declared war on the refs and neither the refs or the NBA is taking too kindly to it. It is a public war that Cuban can not win and can hurt the team. The NBA fined Mark Cuban $5,000 for comments he made concerning the officiating after the Sacramento game and fined him $15,000 for confronting and verbally abusing the refs during and after the Phoenix game. The complaining seemed to have a negative affect in the Phoenix game as I saw lots of non-calls, especially on Dirk Nowitzki. After the Phoenix game, Cuban said that he was going to back off and returned to Dallas instead of remaining with the team for the next 3 road games. Of course, at the next home game, Cuban got caught up in the emotion of the game and yelled at the refs outside of their locker room about two calls Cuban disagreed with at the end of the game. The NBA fined him $25,000 for verbally abusing and publically criticizing the refs after the Seattle game. Cuban again said that he will lay off of the refs, but we'll see. The good news is that for each fine he receives, Cuban is sending a matching amount to charity. The bad news is that the refs talk to each other and have long memories - they are not people that you want to get on their bad side. Free agent Joe Smith signed with Detroit on Monday. Smith's first choice was to return to Minnesota, but went with his second choice when informed that the league would continue fighting Smith re-signing with Minnesota. Dallas was his third choice. Smith only visited Dallas and Detroit, despite other teams showing interest. Greg Buckner re-injured his right foot late in November 17's Seattle game and has not played since. They are looking to fit his sprained right foot with a brace so that he can continue playing on the injured foot. He says that he will have to have surgery on the foot during the off season. Dirk Nowitzki's strained left shoulder was re-aggravated during the Utah game when Karl Malone twice knocked his arm [no foul called either time - the refs should be ashamed]. Nowitzki left the game for a few minutes after the first hit and left the game for good after the 2nd late in the 4th quarter. He did not miss any other playing time due to the injury. The All-Star ballots are out. You can vote for Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki as Mavs games, selected movie theaters, and online at http://www.nba.com/news/allstar_balloting_001113.html and select the "Click here to launch the All-Star ballot" to vote (unfortunately, you have to have java ability to vote). Vote early and vote often. The Mavs have released the list of post-game concerts for this season. These concerts are free to those who attend the game and start about 20 minutes after the games end. The Beach Boys - Friday, December 8 [Chicago] TBA - Saturday, January 20 [Denver] Kool & the Gang - Saturday, February 17 [Washington] Pat Green - Friday, March 9 [Golden State] Son By 4 - Saturday, March 24 [Charlotte] KC & The Sunshine Band - Saturday, April 7 [Utah] Dallas at LA Clippers (November 13) Dallas opened the game with a 18-5 run over the first 4 minutes of the game. It didn't stay that easy as the Clippers scored 8 straight points to pull within 19-25 with a minute left. Dallas led 28-21 after 1. After a jumper by Lamar Odom to open the 2nd quarter, Dallas scored the next 11 points to go up 39-23 with 8 minutes remaining. The Mavs held their lead in the teens the rest of the quarter (with one slip down to 9 points) and led 50-38 at the half. Odom had 14 points and 8 rebounds and the Mavs had balanced scoring with no player in double digits. Dallas was greatful that the Clippers were pitiful from the line as they shot only 8-20 FT. Dallas led in the teens the entire 3rd quarter (low as 10 points, high as 17) and led 74-58 after 3. Shawn Bradley had 12 points and 7 rebounds in the quarter. The Clippers struggles from the line continued in the 4th quarter (4-11 - ouch) and the blowout was on. The Mavs' game over flag came in with 3 minutes left. Dallas won 90-76. Don't let the final score fool you, the Clippers scored the last 9 points of the game to make the result a little more respectable. Nice to see the Mavs blowout a team that they should have. And the blew them out despite playing a very poor game. The only one to have a good game was Shawn Bradley, who had a monster game against the youngsters with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had 16 points and 8 rebounds in 18 minutes, but shot 4-12 FG. Michael Finley was ice cold with 9 points on 4-19 FG. But, again, the Clippers made things easy by missing 20 free throws (13-33, 39.4% - an new Mavs opponent's record low). Eduardo Najera did not play due to a bruised right shin. Quotes Don Nelson: "Bradley was great, and it's about time. I've been waiting for him. He hasn't made shots very much this year, so we'll take it whenever it happens." Nelson: "I've been waiting for Shawn to have a breakout game like this. He was great tonight. He did what was asked of him. It's something that we need on a consistent basis." Nelson: "Mike Finley couldn't buy a basket. I don't have a clue why. It's one of the worst offensive games I've seen him have." Nelson: "When you have a bad game, you want to get right back to the court. When you have a good game, you want to play the next night. There's nothing wrong with back-to-back games." Michael Finley: "In the past, if I would have shot that way, we would have lost the game. That just shows the maturing of this team and the development of this team." Shawn Bradley: "I was part of second option tonight. So when they double-teamed, and because we were spaced, we were able to hit the open man for a jump shot or roll to the basket. It worked well for me." Bradley: "Each one of us needs to step up and come out with the energy we need to win. Los Angeles has been playing good basketball. They've played some good teams very close. We knew coming in here wouldn't be a cake walk. We needed to come out with energy, dictate and that's what we did." Dirk Nowitzki: "They tried to play without their big lineup at the beginning and we kind of got it going a little bit. They tried it with a small lineup, and Shawn and I had a size advantage in there, so we tried to use it as well as we could. Shawn really stepped it up and had a great game." Christian Laettner: "Of course this was an ugly win but we'll take it. You just have to be sure not to play a bad game when you come here because they can beat you." Steve Nash: "I'm glad the first back-to-back of the season is now. The lack of energy we showed [in Sunday's blowout to Sacramento] should be enough motivation to play harder, effort-wise." Nash: "The lesson we learned is that when we don't guard anybody, it puts a lot of pressure on our offense." Alvin Gentry: "Our problems came offensively and we didn't make free throws. We played terrible, but it's not the end of the world." Gentry: "We haven't played well in the last two games but it's not the end of the world. We knew coming in to the season when you're playing with a young team, you're going to go through situations like this. What we're looking at is how we handle the adversity. I don't think there is any reason to panic. It's just two games we haven't played well offensively. We have to find a way offensively to find some continuity and score some points." Sean Rooks: "We had to turn it up and we didn't. We're still just trying to find our identity." Rooks: "Dallas came out and dictated the tone and shot the ball well. They got off to a good start and we didn't execute. We're still just trying to find out our identity. We're trying to iron out the wrinkles but we haven't been able to do that yet." Quentin Richardson on the team meeting after the game: "There's a lot of frustration but we had a team meeting and we got a lot of things out. Things are going to be changing as far as people being a lot happier. The key is to address the issue and we were able to talk things out in front of everybody ... we talked about everything from execution of plays or the lack there of and how teams are playing us defensively harder than we are playing them." Lamar Odom: "We don't know each other and I think that's the problem now. We're unsure on what we're doing. I don't think we're confident. It's a mixture of things. Little things that amount to big things that become losses and that we have to correct." Odom: "We don't have our act together yet. This is definitely gut-check time. We had a good talk to go over where we're trying to go. We talked about having confidence in each other but it is more than just one thing. I could probably sit and talk to you all night about all the little things we are doing wrong." Odom on the missed free throws: "It became a mind game. We came in a little tight because we lost a game we should've won [in Denver]. Right now the little things are the big things with this team." Tyrone Nesby: "I don't know why we're struggling from the line. It's all in the mind. Free throws are free." Dallas Mavericks 90, Los Angeles Clippers 76 at Los Angeles (November 13) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 28 22 24 16 - 90 .391 .429 .397 .815 LA Clippers 21 17 20 18 - 76 .455 .125 .419 .394 Halftime: Dallas 50-38 3rd Q: Dallas 74-58 Clippers' only lead: 1-0 1st Technicals: None Refs: Joe DeRosa, David Jones, Michael Smith Attendance: 9,340 (cap 18,964) Did not play due to injury: Eduardo Najera (bruised right shin) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 39 4-19 1-3 0-0 9 1-5 5 0 1 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 18 4-12 0-1 8-9 16 2-8 0 1 4 0 1 Shawn Bradley 31 8-9 0-0 6-6 22 3-8 0 1 3 0 3 Greg Buckner 32 3-7 0-0 2-2 8 3-5 1 1 6 0 0 Steve Nash 24 2-6 2-2 2-2 8 1-2 4 2 0 1 0 Hubert Davis 35 4-9 2-5 0-0 10 0-1 1 0 3 1 0 Christian Laettner 16 3-5 0-0 3-4 9 1-4 0 2 1 2 1 Howard Eisley 28 1-4 1-2 0-0 3 0-2 4 1 4 0 1 Courtney Alexander 14 2-6 0-0 1-2 5 1-6 0 2 3 0 0 Bill Curley 3 0-1 0-1 0-2 0 0-0 0 0 1 1 0 Totals 48 31-78 6-14 22-27 90 12-41 15 10 26 7 6 Los Angeles Clippers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Lamar Odom 31 7-13 0-0 4-11 18 3-8 2 3 5 0 0 Brian Skinner 9 2-2 0-0 2-2 6 0-2 0 1 1 1 0 Michael Olowokandi 21 1-3 0-0 2-4 4 2-3 0 0 0 0 1 Jeff McInnis 30 3-10 1-1 0-0 7 1-4 2 2 1 0 0 Tyrone Nesby 17 0-5 0-5 1-2 1 0-2 0 1 1 0 0 Quentin Richardson 38 8-18 0-1 3-5 19 4-8 2 1 2 1 0 Darius Miles 26 4-9 0-1 1-4 9 3-7 3 5 4 1 3 Sean Rooks 22 3-7 0-0 0-0 6 2-8 0 1 4 1 0 Eric Piatkowski 16 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 2-5 1 1 2 0 0 Keyon Dooling 18 1-2 0-0 0-2 2 0-1 1 1 1 1 0 Corey Maggette 12 1-3 0-0 0-3 2 0-2 2 0 0 1 0 Totals 48 31-74 1-8 13-33 76 17-50 13 20 21 6 4 Dallas at Phoenix (November 15) It was a closely contested 1st quarter with 7 ties and 4 lead changes and neither team holding more than a 5 point lead. After 1, it was still knotted up at 22-22. And the game continued to go back and forth in the 2nd quarter with 6 ties and 4 lead changes and neither team holding more than a 4 point lead. Phoenix held the slight edge at halftime at 42-40. For the half, Phoenix shot 7-13 FT and Dallas shot 3-5 FT. Phoenix led 56-51 with 5 minutes left and Dallas went home as Phoenix went on a 12-2 run to go up 68-53 with a minute left. Phoenix led 70-58 after 3. Dallas pulled within 68-77 with 7:45 left, but Phoenix went on a 8-1 run to put their lead back into double digits at 85-69 with 5 minutes to go. Dallas would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way and Phoenix ended the game with a 8-1 run to make the final result look more lopsided than it was. Phoenix won 99-78. Shawn Marion was a monster in the game with 19 points, 19 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 4 steals. Jason Kidd did not go off against his former team like he usually does (only 15 points and 9 assists) and Michael Finley remained in his slump with only 7 points including 3-16 FG. Only Dirk Nowitzki (15 points) and Steve Nash (19 points) were in double-digits. Phoenix shot 51.8% (43-83) FG and Dallas shot 38.7% (29-75) FG. I felt that the Mavs had some backlash from the refs in this game as a result of Mark Cuban's comments about the refereeing in the league. Dirk Nowitzki could not buy a foul - no matter how obvious it was. Dallas only shot 7-9 FT through 3 quarters. Quotes Scott Skiles: "We'll never play a perfect game. But if I don't demand perfection, we'll never get close. That's my job." Skiles: "I haven't seen a game yet we shouldn't have won. It all centers around the defensive end for us. Then we get [Kidd] out in the open court, and things happen for Shawn in the open court." Skiles: "At this point, the way we play defense is what's carrying us." Skiles on Marion: "I know what's going to happen now. The more attention he gets, the more and more the other coaches are going to be talking about how to neutralize him, and that helps everybody else. We need other guys out there that people are focused in on besides Jason." Skiles on Marion: "I told him he probably could have had 30 rebounds if he could just catch the ball. He's unbelievable. How do you get 19 rebounds with his size and as thin as he is. It's just effort and athleticism and having a nose for the ball." Jason Kidd: "This team has a lot of talent and a lot of guys who love to play the game. Yes, we would like to have Penny and Googs back as soon as possible, but everybody is playing their role." Shawn Marion: "I just love playing basketball. I like going out there and making everybody cheer up, everybody excited. People want to see some fun and exciting basketball, so I give it to them a little bit." Marion: "We emphasized [defense] big in training camp. When we do it, we shut down people, get defensive rebounds and they get no second chances, so it's a big plus for us." Mario Elie on Marion: "Right now he's the best small forward in the West. Right now he's an All-Star to me." Don Nelson: "These have kind of turned into the dog days for us. We've really struggled with continuity, and we're not shooting the ball real well. Unfortunately it's the wrong time to do it when you're playing these teams in the West, because they are very good. We have to get it together here pretty soon and play a lot better than we have been." Nelson on Finley's slump: "I don't remember [a shooting slump] for 3 games. But it goes with the territory." Nelson: "I didn't think [Phoenix] played all that great. I thought we were really poor. We didn't give them much of a reason to play well." Nelson: "As bad as we were playing, I thought we were going to have a chance to win but it kept on getting worse and worse." Steve Nash: "This is as disappointing as any other loss. But considering we were only down 2 at the half, I felt like we were playing pretty well defensively, and that's usually when you feel pretty confident. Like you've got a crack at it. You've just got to make a few shots. To play poorly like that in the 2nd half was frustrating." Nash: "On the road you just want to be in it at the end of the game, and I thought we had a pretty good chance for that. Obviously we didn't shoot the ball that well, and I think we gave up too much on the offensive glass, and we gave up too many easy buckets. That can really hurt you on the road." Nash: "We've got to really figure out what we're trying to do out there. We allowed too many offensive rebounds, had too many defensive breakdowns. They were getting a lot of easy baskets. We were missing easy baskets." Dirk Nowitzki: "We didn't block out very well, we gave them too many second chances. Marion really killed us on the glass. We didn't really stop their break and had too many turnovers which they made into baskets. We made a lot of mistakes and when you want to stay in a game on the road, that shouldn't happen." Nowitzki on Marion: "He's an unbelievable athlete. He can get up there and not only rebound, but he can score, and he can block shots." Greg Buckner: "It's tough on us right now. It's tough on us finding a way to score. We're missing a lot of shots, a lot of easy shots. We're just not a good team right now." Phoenix Suns 99, Dallas Mavericks 78 at Phoenix (November 15) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Phoenix 22 20 28 29 - 99 .569 .182 .518 .611 Dallas 22 18 18 20 - 78 .419 .231 .387 .810 Halftime: Phoenix 42-40 3rd Q: Phoenix 70-58 Technicals: Dirk Nowitzki 9:50 2nd, Dallas Illegal D 10:14 4th Refs: Hue Hollins, Leon Wood, Hank Armstrong Attendance: 16,652 (cap 19,023) Phoenix Suns REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shawn Marion 42 9-18 0-0 1-1 19 6-19 0 3 4 4 5 Clifford Robinson 29 4-10 0-1 2-4 10 0-2 1 6 2 2 0 Chris Dudley 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 2 0 0 2 0 Mario Elie 31 2-5 0-3 0-0 4 1-3 3 2 3 2 1 Jason Kidd 37 5-10 0-1 5-6 15 0-3 9 4 4 1 1 Daniel Santiago 23 3-3 0-0 3-4 9 1-5 0 3 2 2 0 Tony Delk 28 8-14 1-3 0-1 17 0-4 5 1 4 1 0 Rodney Rogers 30 9-17 1-3 0-1 19 3-5 5 3 5 0 0 Paul McPherson 15 3-5 0-0 0-1 6 1-4 2 0 1 0 0 Ruben Garces 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 43-83 2-11 11-18 99 12-45 27 22 25 14 7 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 34 3-16 0-1 1-2 7 1-4 3 2 4 3 0 Dirk Nowitzki 35 5-16 1-5 4-4 15 2-6 2 4 2 0 1 Shawn Bradley 10 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 0 3 1 0 0 Greg Buckner 34 2-8 0-1 2-2 6 3-10 2 1 2 3 0 Steve Nash 37 6-11 2-3 5-6 19 0-2 6 3 2 0 0 Christian Laettner 10 2-2 0-0 0-1 4 0-1 1 4 4 0 0 Hubert Davis 25 2-6 0-1 0-0 4 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 Eduardo Najera 10 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 2-3 1 1 1 0 0 Howard Eisley 21 3-5 0-2 2-2 8 0-2 3 4 2 3 0 Loy Vaught 13 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 0 0 1 0 1 Courtney Alexander 9 0-2 0-0 2-2 2 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 Bill Curley 2 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 29-75 3-13 17-21 78 8-33 18 23 21 9 2 Dallas at Seattle (November 17) The game stayed close in the 1st quarter with neither team able to build a lead larger than 6 points. Dallas led 29-28 after 1. Michael Finley looked to finally be out of his slump as he had 10 points on 5-9 FG. Then came the 2nd quarter. Seattle led 36-34 with 8 minutes left and scored the next 15 points while Dallas committed 4 turnovers to go up 51-34 with 4:15. Seattle led 58-45 at the half as Seattle out-scored Dallas 30-14 in the 2nd quarter. Dallas only shot 5-19 FG and committed 8 turnovers on which Seattle scored each time in the 2nd quarter. Despite all expectations that this game was over, the Mavs came roaring back and pulled within 55-60 with 10 minutes to go. Seattle pushed their lead back up to 67-56 with 7 minutes left, but the Mavs kept whittling away and pulled within 72-76 with 5 seconds left. A Gary Payton 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Seattle a 79-72 lead after 3. Seattle scored 5 straight points to go up 86-76 with 9 minutes remaining. Seattle led 90-82 with 5:30 left and Dallas went on an 11-2 run that included a _monster_ dunk by a baseline driving Dirk Nowitzki over Vin Baker and Patrick Ewing [and how was that not a foul on Baker??? Dirk was so ticked about the non-call that the next time down the court he drained the quick 3-pointer] to give Dallas a 93-92 lead with 2:15 remaining. Baker got a layup and converted the 3-point play to give Seattle a 95-93 lead with 1:30 to go. Michael Finley nailed the fad-away jumper with 1:15 left to tie the game. Seattle missed on 3 shots and Nowitzki snagged the rebound on the last miss and dribbled to half court and made the sweet long bounce pass to a running Steve Nash, who pulled up and caused his defender to over-run him and squared up and drained the open jumper with 12.3 seconds left to give Dallas a 97-95 lead. Payton drove to the basket and was stripped and Finley went the other way and waited under the basket. He was going to hang on to the ball, but dunked it as a Sonic came at him with 2.4 seconds left. Dallas won 99-95. Wow. Where did this comeback come from? Despite the exciting game, it was a poorly played one by Dallas. Dallas out-scored Seattle 27-16 in the 4th while shooting 12-20 FG while Seattle only shot 5-18 FG. Michael Finley had 10 points in the quarter and Dirk Nowitzki had 7 points. Finley finished with 26 points and shot about 50% (12-23)!!! Nowitzki had a monster game, especially his play in the 4th, and finished with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Shawn Bradley had a nice game with 14 points and 12 rebounds and Steve Nash had 14 points including the game clincher and 9 assists. Gary Payton's near triple-double wasn't enough for Seattle. He had 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists. Vin Baker had 18 points and 8 rebounds and Rashard Lewis had 19 points, but Brent Barry (1-9 FG) and Patrick Ewing (3-13 FG) stunk up the joint. The good news was the win. The bad news was that the team lost Greg Buckner with 4:45 left in the 4th quarter with a strained right foot - it is the same injury that has bothered him in the past. He went down in pain under Seattle's basket and writhing on the floor as play went on around him. In one of the gutsiest plays I've seen, after being on the floor for a few seconds, he noticed Patrick Ewing wide open in the paint, so Buck got up and tried to intercept the pass to Ewing and was called for the foul. Buckner then hobbled over to the Mavs' bench and collapsed on the floor in pain. He has missed the 3 games since and says he will have to undergo surgery on the foot next summer but plans on continuing playing this season. Quotes Don Nelson: "We just got hot at the right time, and the defense really picked up. When you win a game like this on the road, being down, you've got to be good and you've got to be lucky. And we get 10's in both of those categories." Nelson on Nowitzki: "He's a nightmare to guard." Dirk Nowitzki: "We're a fast-break team and we need to play defense every night. I try to play hard every night. Sometimes, it doesn't work out every night. Tonight it did." Nowitzki: "It was a great ballgame. ... I don't really care about the points. We won. It was a team effort." Nowitzki: "I've got to play every game that aggressive. You are trying to play hard every game." Michael Finley: "Dirk played big. Though his numbers might not have been career highs, he was the difference in the game." Steve Nash on his jumper with 12 seconds left to put Dallas up 97-95: "Dirk found me and they over ran the play. I knew I wasn't going to get a better shot, so I got my balance and tried to stick it. That was a dream shot at that stage of the game." Nash: "They overran the play and we weren't going to get a better shot than a 12-footer. I felt good. I just knew it was going to be in. You're fortunate to get a look like that. I knew I couldn't pass that shot off, no matter how much time was left on the clock." Greg Buckner on his foot injury: "It's going to be like that the whole year. I'm going to have to have surgery at the end of the year." Paul Westphal: "That was a crying shame to let that game get away. In that 4th quarter, the last 6 minutes, we started turning the ball over and missing shots and they got hot. We let a nice effort get away." Westphal: "It's tough because this is a game we should have. We played well enough to take it, and we let it get away." Westphal: "Well, we know that we have to play 48 minutes. We have to play 48 minutes of defense and offensive execution. And we played about 42 minutes tonight." Westphal: "I thought our smaller lineup was bigger and more talented than theirs. They got us the lead. We decided to go with our starters down the stretch, and it didn't work." Patrick Ewing: "We have to regroup. We have to stay focused. The fortunate thing about being in the NBA is that if you have a tough loss, you have another game tomorrow." Ewing: "It's tough. I haven't been a part of a team that has struggled as much as we've been struggling in a long time. Hopefully we can rectify the situation and move on." Brent Barry: "We got complacent, got away from some of the things that gave us the early lead and started settling for shots, and they got the momentum back. You've got to give Dallas a lot of credit. Those guys did a great job and Dirk had a fantastic game." Barry: "I haven't had a night shooting this bad in a long time. I'm out there to keep shooting the ball, and I felt like those last couple shots I had at the basket were going to go in. Unfortunately they didn't, but it shouldn't have come down to those shots for us. It should have been a game that we should have had well in hand." Dallas Mavericks 99, Seattle Sonics 95 at Seattle (November 17) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 29 16 27 27 - 99 .507 .400 .494 .722 Seattle 28 30 21 16 - 95 .397 .308 .371 .840 Halftime: Seattle 58-45 3rd Q: Seattle 79-72 Technicals: Don Nelson 6:32 2nd, Seattle Illegal D 9:30 4th Refs: Bernie Fryer, Scott Foster, Jason Phillips Attendance: 12,285 (cap 17,072) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 43 12-23 1-2 1-2 26 1-5 1 5 1 2 1 Dirk Nowitzki 38 10-19 3-5 5-6 28 0-14 4 2 0 1 1 Shawn Bradley 36 6-10 0-0 2-2 14 7-12 1 2 4 0 5 Greg Buckner 31 3-7 0-0 2-4 8 2-6 2 3 5 2 1 Steve Nash 39 6-10 0-1 2-2 14 1-4 9 1 1 2 0 Hubert Davis 22 2-7 0-1 1-2 5 0-2 2 0 2 1 0 Howard Eisley 14 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 1 0 4 1 1 Eduardo Najera 10 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-3 0 2 1 0 0 Christian Laettner 3 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 1 0 0 0 Loy Vaught 4 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 2 1 0 Totals 48 41-83 4-10 13-18 99 13-47 20 16 20 10 9 Seattle Sonics REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Vin Baker 36 5-13 0-1 8-9 18 7-8 2 5 3 1 0 Rashard Lewis 34 7-13 4-8 1-1 19 3-5 1 2 3 2 1 Patrick Ewing 31 3-13 0-0 1-2 7 2-12 0 2 0 0 2 Ruben Patterson 38 6-11 0-1 1-2 13 3-5 4 3 3 4 0 Gary Payton 44 8-25 2-7 4-5 22 3-8 9 3 2 1 0 Brent Barry 21 1-9 1-8 0-0 3 0-0 2 0 1 1 0 Ruben Wolkowyski 18 1-2 0-0 5-5 7 1-3 1 0 4 0 0 Pervis Ellison 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Emanual Davis 6 2-2 1-1 1-1 6 0-3 1 1 0 1 0 Jelani McCoy 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Desmon Mason 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-3 1 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 33-89 8-26 21-25 95 19-47 21 16 17 10 3 Dallas at Vancouver (November 18) Shareef Abdur-Rahim missed this game due to his mother having suffered a stroke. So it should have been an easy one for Dallas, right? Not this up and down team. There were 5 ties and 5 leads changes and neither team held more than a 5 point lead in the 1st quarter. Vancouver led 25-23 after 1. Othella Harrington had 13 points and Hubert Davis, starting for the injured Greg Buckner, had 12 points. Vancouver built up small leads in the 2nd quarter, but were unable to pull away and still only led by 2 points at 49-47 at the half. Same story, second verse. After exchanging small leads in the first few minutes of the 3rd quarter, Vancouver held single digit leads the rest of the quarter and led 68-62 after 3. Michael Dickerson sprained his ankle with 2 minutes left in the 3rd and did not return. Despite having their 2 best players out, Vancouver led 80-72 with 7:40 remaining. Dallas scored the next 10 points to take a 82-80 lead with 4:35 to go. The teams traded 2 baskets and Dallas led 86-84 with 2:30 left. Steve Nash hit 1-2 free throws and Vancouver turned the ball over. Davis fed Shawn Bradley for a dunk with 1:15 remaining to give Dallas a 89-94 lead. Harrington drove for a layup and Dirk Nowitzki drained a long baseliner with 45 seconds left. Harrington go another layup with 37 seconds to go and Dallas led 91-88. Dallas missed and Vancouver went storming down the court with about 10 seconds left without calling a timeout and Damon Jones missed a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left. Dallas won 91-88. Well, another ugly looking game that Dallas managed to pull out a win. Hubert Davis was the man this night with 20 points and 5 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had another double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Michael Finley had 16 points, but only shot 5-14 FG. Othella Harrington led the way for Vancouver with 23 points and Michael Dickerson had 18 points before he left with his injury. Quotes Don Nelson on Abdur-Rahim being out and Dickerson getting injured in the 4th: "It's a situation where you've been handed a gift. You have to accept the gift. You don't play this team very often without their best player. And then to get an additional gift in the 4th quarter and have their two best players out of the lineup, you just don't want to not win that game." Nelson: "We were handed a very lucky break with Dickerson and Shareef out. Give them a lot of credit for the way they played with two key players out." Nelson: "That was still a hard-fought game. We were lucky to win this game, and we had to make some huge long shots to do it, and that's not going to happen all the time." Nelson: "Winning two games in a row on the road is pretty exciting. We're doing very well as of right now." Dirk Nowitzki: "We all have to take it to another level. For me, it's rebounding, scoring when I can and just playing harder on defense." Nowitzki: "I feel good about my game, it's my role to score. As a team, we're not playing very well but we're winning." Steve Nash: "I think we struggled for large parts of both [Sea and Van] games but we stuck with it and our perseverance paid off both times. We were fortunate that Shareef could not play, unfortunately the reason he can't is upsetting to all of us." Nash: "Our strong 4th quarter play of late, that comes with experience." Hubert Davis: "They kicked our butts in Dallas. It wasn't a thing of trying to get it back. We thought we were better. We just wanted to play better this time around and I thought we did that." Sidney Lowe: "I'm not sure if we're tired, but we're not shooting the ball well in the 4th quarter. We have wide open shots and that's what you work for. You just have to knock them down. Part of it is not executing properly, but some of it is just not shooting the ball well. There's not much you can do about that except stay in the gym and shoot the ball." Lowe on a timeout not being called to setup a last play: "Once we got over halfcourt, that's when we were going to call the timeout. But they said they didn't hear me or see me and we ended up taking a 3." Lowe: "We didn't execute in the last 5 minutes, we didn't get the shots we wanted." Othella Harrington: "Shareef's our franchise player, with a guy like him on the floor, it gives the team one more option to go to." Dallas Mavericks 91, Vancouver Grizzlies 88 at Vancouver (November 18) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 23 24 15 29 - 91 .456 .438 .452 .720 Vancouver 25 24 19 20 - 88 .478 .364 .462 .667 Halftime: Vancouver 49-47 3rd Q: Vancouver 68-62 Technicals: Dallas Illegal D 8:22 4th Refs: Sean Corbin, Danny Crawford, Dee Kantner Attendance: 13,301 (cap 19,193) Did not play due to injury: Greg Buckner (sprained right foot), Shareef Abdur-Rahim (personal reasons - mother had a stroke) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 37 5-14 2-3 4-4 16 0-6 3 5 4 2 1 Dirk Nowitzki 42 8-13 0-2 4-5 20 1-10 3 2 3 0 0 Shawn Bradley 25 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 2-8 0 2 4 0 5 Hubert Davis 39 8-14 2-5 2-2 20 1-5 3 2 2 1 0 Steve Nash 43 4-12 2-4 2-4 12 1-6 4 3 2 0 0 Christian Laettner 19 3-7 0-0 2-4 8 3-5 0 0 3 0 0 Howard Eisley 17 2-6 1-2 0-0 5 0-1 1 2 1 1 0 Eduardo Najera 14 1-2 0-0 4-6 6 1-3 2 0 0 2 0 Courtney Alexander 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 33-73 7-16 18-25 91 9-44 16 16 19 6 6 Vancouver Grizzlies REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Grant Long 33 5-7 0-0 0-0 10 1-4 2 2 2 3 0 Othella Harrington 38 8-20 0-0 7-8 23 1-6 3 3 3 1 0 Bryant Reeves 16 1-3 0-0 1-2 3 1-5 0 2 2 0 0 Michael Dickerson 27 7-12 1-2 3-5 18 4-6 1 1 1 3 1 Mike Bibby 42 3-11 1-3 0-1 7 2-2 11 3 2 2 0 Isaac Austin 26 2-8 0-0 0-0 4 0-10 3 1 0 0 1 Kevin Edwards 22 6-7 0-0 1-2 13 0-0 2 2 2 2 1 Damon Jones 26 3-8 2-6 0-0 8 0-0 6 1 1 0 0 Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf 5 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 3 1 0 Stromile Swift 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 2 0 0 Tony Massenburg 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 36-78 4-11 12-18 88 9-36 28 15 19 12 3 Dallas at Utah (November 20) I know what you're thinking - the last game of a tough 6 games in 9 nights road trip and versus one of the best teams in the league in a venue where Dallas has only one once (the last time) - no way Dallas even competes in this game. Way. The game stayed close in the 1st quarter and Dallas led 17-11 with 7 minutes to go. Utah scored the next 7 points and the game went back and forth and was tied 22-22 after 1. Karl Malone received a technical in the middle of the quarter for swinging his elbows at Christian Laettner [Malone was later suspended for this incident]. The teams traded leads over the first 3 minutes of the 2nd quarter and Dallas held single digit leads the rest of the way (with 2 brief 10 point leads). Bryon Russell missed a 3-pointer at the end of the quarter, but the long rebound bounced out to John Stockton who nailed the long jumper at the buzzer. Dallas led 56-48 at the half. Steve Nash had 13 points and 7 assists, Dirk Nowitzki had 12 points and 7 rebounds, Michael Finley had 11 points and 5 rebounds, and Russell had 11 points. Dallas shot 60% FG and Utah shot 39.1% (but collect 8 offensive rebounds). Dallas scored the first 5 points of the 3rd quarter to push their lead into double digits. Twice Utah would pull within 9 points, but each time Dallas answered and again had a double digit lead. Dallas led 73-86 after 3. With a minute left in the 3rd, Nowitzki had the ball and Malone slapped at it, hitting Nowitzki's forearm and causing it to swing ackwardly and hurt his injured shoulder. Nowitzki left the game in pain and went to the locker room, but did return in the 4th quarter. No foul was called. Dallas led 96-84 with 5:30 left on a 3-pointer by Hubert Davis after Utah pulled within 9 points. Utah scored the next 5 points to pull within 89-96 with 3:45 left as Malone continued his thug ball and did the exact same thing to Nowitzki with 3:50 left with still no foul called and Nowitzki left the game for good. The Mavs pushed their lead back up with a 7-1 run capped by another 3-pointer by Davis to give Dallas a 103-90 lead with 2 minutes left. Utah tried to get back in it with 2 3-pointers, but Dallas made their free throws down the stretch and won 107-98. This was an unexpected win. The Mavs have won their last 3 road games. Though never comfortable with their lead against Utah (even at 15 points), the Mavs were in control from midway through the 2nd on. Unlike past games where Dallas won despite playing poorly, the Mavs played very well in this game. They shot 53.5% while Utah only shot 40.4%. Michael Finley led the way with 29 points and 7 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had another double-double before leaving the game for good with 20 points and 14 rebounds. And Steve Nash was awesome running the team and finished with 17 points and an incredible 17 assists. Though the numbers don't show their contributions, Christian Laettner and Shawn Bradley did solid jobs defending Karl Malone. Malone only had 13 points including 4-14 FG and 11 rebounds. Bryon Russell led the way for Utah with 17 points and Jacque Vaughn had 15 points including 3-3 3-pointers. Quotes Don Nelson: "It was our best game of the season. Who would ever think here in Utah, where we've only won once in 26 games, that we would be able to play with a lead for a long period of time? All you can do really is try to prepare your team and hope that they play well, and we did tonight." Nelson: "We were either getting blown out of games or winning close ones. Who ever thought we'd win in Utah?" Nelson Nowitzki's injury: "He may have a bit of a separation there, but I'm not really sure. He couldn't re-injure it anymore. We'll get a report tomorrow and see." Michael Finley: "Offensively, things have been going well but tonight we picked up the defense and it ultimately got us the win. We knew if we played hard and aggressive against Utah, we'd be able to win." Finley: "We knew the Jazz would make a run. For every big shot they made, we made one, too. To beat a team like Utah, that's what you've got to do." Finley: "It was a total team effort. Everybody who played in the game played hard and well. I think we picked it up on the defensive end, which went a long ways to give us the win." Finley: "We just came out and had our A game on and came away with the win." Finley: "This was a total team effort. Everybody who participated in the game had it going." Steve Nash: "That's one of those nights where everything is going for you. That's the way it has to be to win in a building like this." Nash: "We put together a solid 48 minutes tonight. That's something we haven't been able to do before tonight. Tonight we played a lot closer to our expectations than we have all year." Nash: "It was one of those nights when everything is going right for you." Nash: "I owe a lot of credit to my teammates. They put it in the basket when I gave it to them. For us to get a win here is huge. Hopefully we'll look back at the end of the year and this will be one of the games that's pivotal in our chances of getting to the playoffs." Dirk Nowitzki on his injury: "The trainers said I couldn't hurt it any more so I went back into the game. But when it was hit the second time, I came out for treatment. But if I feel good tomorrow, I will play against Seattle." Christian Laettner, who defended Malone: "It might have been my best defensive game. It came at a good time against a very good player. But more importantly, it's one of our best games as a team." Shawn Bradley: "We knew we could play well against them. We wanted to come in with energy and finish this road trip off right. We were able to make shot after shot and take them out of things that they were doing. For us to step up to the next level, winning on the road is something we needed to do." Bradley: "We were able to make shots, and hit shots - and take them out of the things they were doing." Jerry Sloan: "They're a very good team. We were outcoached and outplayed all the way through." Sloan: "They beat us right from the beginning. They never let up on us all night long. They shot the ball well; they pushed it right down our throats." Sloan: "I don't think there was a time we had a hand in a guy's face all night. We never came close to guarding anyone." Sloan: "They beat us every way you can. We didn't have much of a response for anything they were trying to do." Sloan: "They has us on roller skates all night, trying to get back to some semblance of guarding people." Sloan: "They just took us out of our offense, and we tried to outscore them. That's why we didn't get anything. We were playing catch-up the whole time and never did get into any kind of rhythm." Sloan: "This is a very, very good basketball team. They'll be right at the top at the end of the year. If they aren't, I'll be surprised, because they have a lot of weapons, they've got a lot of pieces, they have a lot of players who can come in and hurt you, or hurt your team." John Stockton: "Nash is very good. He had a great game. He was very good out there, drawing people to him. When you don't do things right defensively, I guess you overreact to certain things. You're out of position to help yourself." Stockton: "They came out defensively and stopped us. We didn't do that to them." Karl Malone: "We had some looks, so it's not all about them. We had our opportunities. We just didn't make our shots." Malone: "It's one of those games where they came out ready to play and maybe we didn't. But give them credit. They did everything they needed to do to win and we didn't. And we could just never get nothing going all night. They came ready to play from the start." Bryon Russell: "They were hitting everything and we weren't. That's the way the game goes sometimes." Russell: "We knew what Dallas could do. They came out and played their game and we didn't do anything at all to get them out of their game." Dallas Mavericks 107, Utah Jazz 98 at Utah (November 20) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 22 34 30 21 - 107 .547 .500 .535 .880 Utah 22 26 25 25 - 98 .413 .357 .404 .700 Halftime: Dallas 56-48 3rd Q: Dallas 86-72 Utah's largest lead: 22-19 1st Dallas' largest lead: 77-61 3rd Technicals: Karl Malone 6:56 1st, Dallas Illegal D 4:21 2nd, Dallas Illegal D 6:23 3rd Refs: Ron Garretson, George Toliver, Greg Willard Attendance: 18,869 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Greg Buckner (sprained right foot), John Starks (personal reasons - mother ill) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 44 11-20 2-5 5-6 29 0-7 2 1 1 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 35 6-11 3-4 5-6 20 1-14 1 2 1 1 0 Christian Laettner 31 3-8 0-0 0-0 6 1-4 0 3 6 0 1 Howard Eisley 27 2-4 1-1 3-3 8 0-1 1 1 2 2 1 Steve Nash 41 5-13 1-5 6-6 17 0-5 17 7 2 2 0 Hubert Davis 25 3-6 2-3 0-0 8 0-2 2 1 3 0 0 Shawn Bradley 25 4-5 0-0 3-4 11 1-4 0 1 5 1 6 Eduardo Najera 12 4-4 0-0 0-0 8 1-2 0 0 1 0 1 Totals 48 38-71 9-18 22-25 107 4-39 23 16 21 6 9 Utah Jazz REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Karl Malone 41 4-14 0-0 5-9 13 2-11 5 2 2 2 0 Bryon Russell 34 7-13 2-7 1-3 17 2-2 1 1 3 3 0 Olden Polynice 16 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 0-2 0 0 1 1 1 DeShawn Stevenson 20 2-7 0-2 3-4 7 1-4 0 1 1 0 0 John Stockton 31 5-13 0-1 4-4 14 1-5 8 4 2 1 1 Jacque Vaughn 27 6-9 3-3 0-0 15 0-2 6 2 4 1 0 Donyell Marshall 16 2-10 0-1 0-0 4 1-5 1 0 2 0 1 Quincy Lewis 19 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 1-2 0 0 3 0 2 Danny Manning 6 2-4 0-0 2-2 6 2-2 1 0 0 0 0 Greg Ostertag 19 1-7 0-0 4-6 6 4-5 0 1 2 0 0 David Benoit 11 3-3 0-0 2-2 8 1-3 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 36-89 5-14 21-30 98 15-43 22 11 22 8 5 Seattle at Dallas (November 21) A back-to-back game after a 6 games in 9 days road trip and having gotten in about 3 am didn't look good for Dallas and it showed in their play. The first quarter stayed close with neither team holding more than a 4 point lead. Dallas led 28-25 after 1. Then came the 2nd quarter. Seattle was on fire and the Mavs were not defending anything - I couldn't tell you how many layups they gave up. The game was tied 35-35 with 8 minutes left and Seattle went on an 11-1 run to go up 46-36 with 5:15 left. A 16-4 run gave Seattle a 62-46 lead with less than a minute left. Seattle led 64-50 at the half. Seattle's only miss in the quarter came when Ruben Patterson missed a 3-pointer with less than a second left in the quarter. Seattle shot 16-17 FG. But the Mavs didn't roll over and play dead. Dallas scored 9 straight points to pull within 67-74 with 6:30 left on a 3-pointer by Hubert Davis. Seattle led 90-80 with 2 minutes to go and Dallas went on a 10-3 run to pull within 1 point. But a 3-pointer by Patterson bounced up high off the back of the rim and in at the buzzer. Seattle led 94-90 after 3. The Mavs comeback came from small ball - Nelson even had 5 guards on the court for the last 2 minutes of the quarter. It was the Hubert Davis show as he had 20 points in the quarter. Neither team scored for the first few minutes of the 4th quarter before Hubert Davis nailed another 3-pointer with 9:40 left to pull Dallas within 1 point at 93-94. It was a game that was going to go down to the wire as neither team would hold larger than a 3 point lead over the next 9 minutes. Another Hubert Davis 3-pointer gave Dallas their first lead since early in the 2nd quarter at 100-98 with 7:15 left. Dallas led 107-104 with 4:30 left and Seattle scored the next 6 points to go up 110-107 with 2:25 remaining. Michael Finley nailed a 3-pointer with 2:15 to go to tie the game, but Gary Payton drove for a layup with 2 minutes left and Seattle led 112-110. The teams traded misses and Patterson was called for an offensive foul with 1:15 left. Shawn Bradley missed a short shot with a minute to go. Payton missed with 44 seconds left and Bradley rebound, but Bradley swung his elbows after snagging the board and was called for the foul. Desmond Mason missed, but grabbed his own rebound with 20 seconds remaining. Mason made 2 free throws with 16.8 seconds to go. Nowitzki missed and a needless Patterson dunk just before the buzzer capped the scoring. Seattle won 116-110. A great comeback by Dallas, they just came up a little short. But, if you miss 10 free throws (20-30) and get out-rebounded by 17 boards (33-50), you don't deserve to win. Hubert Davis had a career (tying) night with 32 points including 7-12 3-pointers. Steve Nash had another double-double with 16 points and 12 assists. Michael Finley had 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Dirk Nowitzki only had 12 points and 6 rebounds. Don Nelson went with small ball mostly in the 2nd half and Paul Westphal opted to match the smaller lineup. This apparently resulted in a confrontation between Westphal and Gary Payton. With 8:30 left in the 4th during a timeout, Payton told Westphal to put Vin Baker and Patrick Ewing back in and Westphal responded with "You play, I coach." Payton had to be restrained by his teammates from going after Westphal. Some confusion followed as Westphal subbed Payton out, yet Payton was unaware and went on the court after the timeout. Eventually he sat after a little bit of a delay. Payton returned with 5 minutes left. Payton finished with 28 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists. Ruben Patterson had a nice game with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Quotes Paul Westphal: "I thought we kept our composure real well. We really needed that win. We feel they owed it to us after coming into our place and taking that win." Westphal: "He went with his smalls and we went with our smalls. I'd have to say that even though the Mavericks lost, I am sure the Mavericks fans enjoyed the game." Westphal: "We needed that win. We owed them one for beating us at our place. Everybody played well to win this game." Gary Payton: "They got us last week in Seattle so this time it was our turn. But we've been losing a lot, so it didn't matter. We wanted a road win against anybody." Payton: "In the 4th quarter they went with small people and we don't know what to do with it. We finally got some shots and we got some rebounds." Payton on his verbal feud with Westphal in the 4th quarter: "He's going to respect me or I'm not going to play for him. Period. If he say something bad to me, and I think it's bad, he's going to respect me before that or he won't have me playing for him. That's all I've got to say about it. I'm going to be a professional about it and leave it alone. He's going to respect me on the bench. If I respect him, he's going to respect me. It doesn't matter about what he said to me but it was a disrespectful thing that he did. If I disrespect him, then he can disrespect me back. But don't disrespect me when I'm trying to help. If he does that again, then it's going to be a problem." Payton: "The guys had to calm me down and then I thought about it and I said. 'I'm not playing for him, I'm playing for these guys.' Once I calmed down and got into it, it's over with. I don't care. I don't give a [bleep] if we don't have to talk anymore or see each other anymore. I'm playing for these dudes, these other 12 guys and I don't give a damn about him." Payton on Westphal: "I'm not worried about him. I'm worried about these 12 guys on my basketball team. I don't give a [bleep] about him. I'm going to go play for them. That's it. I'm not going to make any trouble. I'm just going to let y'all know, if he does it again, he won't have me playing for him." Ruben Patterson: "We did the same thing at home. We were up by 17 at halftime and they came back to beat us. But tonight we kept our composure. This was real important to go out and win a game on the road like this." Desmond Mason, who's from Waxahachie: "It was nice to play in front of your family and friends. But more importantly we got the win on the road." Don Nelson: "It's what you worry about as a coach when you come back home from a long road trip and a real special win, that you might very well have tired legs. This is just like another road game, really. We actually went ahead for a while, but just didn't have a lot of legs left right at the end. But I really give the team a lot of credit in the 2nd half. They could have folded their tent. It didn't look good, but they found a way to get back in the game and to compete and hustle. That's why we're going to be a good team." Nelson: "You can't ever have just one guy get hot. It's a team effort. Only one guy ever scored 100 points - Wilt Chamberlain - and even he needed more help than that from teammates." Michael Finley on Davis: "Any guy in a zone, you give him the ball. I know I personally was looking for him, and it caused me one turnover down the stretch." Steve Nash: "We had a shot at winning tonight, and you can't ask for much more than that, and we let it get away from us. Would of, could of, should of; that hurts you, but you've got to let it go and try to enjoy our holidays and come back fresh on Saturday." Nash on Davis: "When a guy like that gets hot, it's silly not to get him the ball. He really kept us in the game." Hubert Davis: "When you get into a rhythm like that, the basket looks as big as the arena. Guys are jumping at you and it doesn't matter. That's the way it was tonight." Davis: "I started to feel comfortable with my shots in the 3rd quarter when I made a couple of quick shots off the bat. They were giving me that shot so I had to take it because we were down by 14 points." Davis: "I started feeling comfortable in the 3rd quarter. You want to put it up as soon as you catch it. Guys are coming at you, but it doesn't matter. The basket looks as big as the ocean. We had to get something generated and fortunately my shots were going in." Davis: "We should have won this game. But Seattle played a great game. You've got to give your hats off to them." Davis: "I don't want to take anything away from Seattle because they're a great ball club. But we just felt a little tired. It's hard when you come back at 2-3 in the morning and the opponent is already here waiting for you." Seattle Sonics 116, Dallas Mavericks 110 at Dallas (November 21) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Seattle 25 39 30 22 - 116 .506 .308 .478 .897 Dallas 28 22 40 20 - 110 .519 .462 .500 .667 Halftime: Seattle 64-50 3rd Q: Seattle 94-90 Dallas' largest lead: 30-25 2nd Seattle's largest lead: 64-48 2nd Technicals: None Refs: Don Vaden, Mark Wunderlich, Gary Benson Attendance: 15,100 (cap 18,187) Did not play due to injury: Greg Buckner (sprained right foot) Seattle Sonics REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Vin Baker 25 4-11 0-0 4-4 12 2-5 0 1 2 0 0 Rashard Lewis 28 4-9 0-2 4-4 12 2-9 1 3 6 0 0 Patrick Ewing 20 4-8 0-0 1-2 9 5-7 0 2 2 1 0 Ruben Patterson 43 9-15 1-4 4-6 23 3-11 2 2 3 1 1 Gary Payton 39 10-25 0-1 8-8 28 4-8 9 2 5 1 2 Desmon Mason 34 5-9 1-2 3-3 14 1-2 0 2 1 0 1 Ruben Wolkowyski 12 0-2 0-0 2-2 2 2-3 0 1 0 0 0 Brent Barry 18 4-5 1-1 0-0 9 0-2 2 0 2 0 0 Emanual Davis 21 3-6 1-3 0-0 7 0-3 3 1 1 2 0 Totals 48 43-90 4-13 26-29 116 19-50 17 15 22 5 4 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 43 8-17 1-4 6-8 23 1-5 5 1 4 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 34 4-7 0-0 4-5 12 2-6 0 2 2 0 1 Shawn Bradley 24 3-7 0-0 4-6 10 3-8 0 5 5 1 5 Hubert Davis 40 11-20 7-12 3-4 32 0-4 1 1 5 2 0 Steve Nash 39 6-9 2-5 2-2 16 1-4 12 2 1 1 0 Eduardo Najera 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 0 2 0 0 Christian Laettner 9 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 2 1 0 0 0 Howard Eisley 18 3-5 1-3 0-1 7 0-1 1 1 4 0 0 Courtney Alexander 25 3-8 1-2 1-4 8 2-4 0 1 4 0 0 Totals 48 39-78 12-26 20-30 110 10-33 21 14 27 5 6 patricia