As expected, Dallas placed Gary Trent (left upper adductor muscle strain) and Etan Thomas (sprained right big toe) on IR, but not expected was the placement of Donnell Harvey ("bruised elbow") on IR instead of Bill Curley. Harvey isn't really injured - just stashing a player on IR. Curley hasn't played in a game so far. Not sure the reasoning behind this - maybe wanting a larger body on the bench. After further diagnosis, Trent's injury is more serious than first thought and he is expected to be out 1 to 2 months. Greg Buckner suffered a sprained right foot at the end of the Indiana game and has not played since. He is expected to be out 1 to 2 weeks (with Buckner aiming for 1 week). Milwaukee at Dallas (October 31) Dallas went on an 8-0 run to go up 20-9 with 6:30 to go. Dallas led 30-21 after 1. Michael Finley had 10 points. Dallas led 37-27 with 8:20 to go and Milwaukee scored the next 7 points to pull within 34-37 with 7:30 remaining. Dirk Nowitzki answered with a 3-pointer and Dallas was able to hold on to a single digit lead. Dallas led 53-46 at the half. Finley had 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists, Steve Nash had 11 points, and Ray Allen had 12 points. Eduardo Najera got a putback and Nash nailed a 3-pointer to open the 3rd quarter to give Dallas a 58-46 lead with 11 minutes left. Dallas led by 14 points at 70-56 with 7:30 to go and at 76-62 with 3:50 left. Milwaukee went on a 9-1 run to pull within 71-77 with a minute left. Dallas led 81-73 on a Finley putback with 1 second remaining in the quarter. Milwaukee scored he first 7 points of the 4th to make it a 1 point game at 80-81 with 8:50 to go. Finley finally put points on the board for Dallas on a jumper with 8:30 left and started an 8-2 Dallas run to put Dallas up 91-82 with 5:30 remaining. Milwaukee pulled within 88-94 with 2 minutes to go, but Nowitzki answered with a 3-pointer 20 seconds later. Tim Thomas nailed a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left and Dallas only led 97-93. Greg Buckner missed 2 free throws to give Milwaukee slight hope with 20 seconds left, but Glenn Robinson missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds remaining. Dallas won 97-93. It was an entertaining game with both teams showing some opening game jitters at points, with Dallas a little more composed at times. Sam Cassell spent a good chunk of time conversing with the refs and eventually fouled out. Dallas led the entire game and achieved a rare double of not only out-rebounding an opponent (52-51) but also shooting more free throws (27-26) [not much of an advantage, but these are rare things]. A couple of other shocking stats were that Dallas led the fast break points 16-3 and dominated in the paint (points in the paint: Dallas 42, Milwaukee 26). Michael Finley, as usual, led the way with a strong performance with 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. Dirk Nowitzki kicked in key 3-pointers and finished with 16 points including 4-8 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Steve Nash continued his strong pre-season performances in directing the team and had 20 points and 5 assists, but also committed 5 turnovers. He was really up for this game and his regained confidence was in full view (though he got a little too cocky at times which resulted in some of those turnovers). For Milwaukee, Ray Allen was a one-man show and didn't get much help. Allen finished with 26 points. Quotes Don Nelson: "I thought it was a real exciting game. It was real good for the NBA." Nelson: "It was really a good basketball game tonight. A lot of fun to be in it and coach in it. It's always a treat to coach against George Karl. He's always innovative, so it's kind of a chess match." Nelson: "We ended up playing small-ball - both teams - at the end. The big guys didn't play too much tonight." Nelson: "I thought we kind of folded up our tent a couple of times in the 4th quarter. And they made a comeback. But Dirk made some huge 3s. I thought Nash played brilliantly. And finally, Finley started making shots. He struggled a bit in the 1st half." Michael Finley: "It was a good team win. We knew Milwaukee was going to come in here and play the type of ball that they're capable of playing. We withstood their runs, made some key defensive stops down the stretch and ultimately came out with a win." Finley: "The funny thing for us is we didn't play well tonight and we still won. Games like this last year and the year before, we would play well throughout the 1st half, and, at the end, we would let the game get away. We learned that it's not going to happen on the offensive end down the stretch; it's going to happen on the defensive end. And we took it upon ourselves to stop them defensively and make them make tough shots if they were going to make them." Finley: "It was a good team win. We came out and played the type of ball that Milwaukee is capable of playing. We withstood their runs, made some key defensive stops down the stretch and ultimately came out with a win." Finley: "We're winning games. When we're winning, everyone looks good." Finley: "The first game is important to win, sure, but it's the entire first week that's important for us. We have to get off to a good start. Last year, we had the lead late in a lot of games, but let it get away. I think we learned from that. We didn't play well tonight, but still managed to win." Finley: "I think the first week for us is real important. Just to see where we are at. The good thing for us is we didn't play well tonight and we still won. If we can get something out of that then that's good. Hopefully, we can pick it up a little bit and come in here Thursday and play well." Finley: "It was intense, but its easy to be intense for the first game. We just have to stay consistent with that throughout the season. When you're going against the Milwaukee Bucks, a team that was in the playoffs and used to this atmosphere, it's not hard to get up for this game." Dirk Nowitzki on his 3s in the 4th: "That's my job; that's my strength. Going out there and spotting up and shooting the 3s. My teammates did a great job finding me, and that's my game." Nowitzki: "If I'm open, I'm going to shoot it every time, every game. I know I'm a shooter. That's what I do." Nowitzki: "My teammates did a great job of finding me. If I've got an open shot, I'm going to shoot it every time in any game. I know I'm a shooter. I'm going to take a shot whenever I'm open." Nowitzki: "It's a great start. We can play with 12, we can play with 10, we can play big ball or we can play small ball. That's going to be one of the strengths of this team." Steve Nash: "We played pretty well early, and that was big for us, because that gave us some confidence. The key was that we out-rebounded them when it counted. It's important to win your home games, especially at the start of the season. But we've got a long way, so we shouldn't get too excited." Nash: "Overall, we didn't play a very good game, and we still won." Nash on his improved play: "A lot of what happened before was just a lack of health. But I'm feeling fit and healthy now. It's been a long time coming." Nash: "I have to be aggressive out there. We're a lot better team if I'm playing aggressively." Shawn Bradley: "Cuban's tried to generate a lot of excitement. For us to have come out and to have laid an egg would have been really bad." Eduardo Najera on his rebounds and putbacks: "That's part of my game, that's my role. I think that I'm doing a good job so far, but I can still do better. I'm just going to work hard at it every day." Najera: "Most of the rookies, we think a lot during the game, instead of just playing the game. That's the hardest part. Later on, I was just like, 'Forget it, I'm just going to play as hard as I can and play to win. And everything is going to take care of itself.' And it did." Najera: "I was a little nervous. My legs felt a little heavy, but I calmed down and started playing with more confidence." George Karl: "We didn't play smart enough basketball to win. It will be a good game to learn from. It will wake us up knowing that we just can't go out there and play. We have to do the good stuff and make good decisions. Tonight we waited too long to do that." Karl: "They took away our pick-n-rolls and switching. They took away our post ups and double-teams, and took away a lot of disruption on our left side of the floor. We didn't play smart enough basketball to win." Karl: "A lot of stuff they did against us, we run every day in practice. Why, I don't have that answer. We didn't move the ball against the double-team. One more pass would have given us a softer play." Karl: "We made it a game, but then they made their 3s. There was a stretch there where it was a 4-point game, then it goes up to 9." Karl: "It will be a good game to learn from. I think it will take us knowing we just can't go out there and play. We have to do good stuff. We have to make good decisions, and tonight we waited too long to do that." Lindsey Hunter: "George said it best. They did what we like to do to teams." Glenn Robinson: "We've got to open up the game like we opened up the 4th quarter. We can't start the offense in the 4th quarter. We're not that good. We don't have a Shaquille O'Neal or a dominant guy we can go to. We've got to rebound and play together for the whole 48 minutes." Tim Thomas: "They executed towards the end, and that's what won them the game. That is the bottom line." Dallas Mavericks 97, Milwaukee Bucks 93 at Dallas (October 31) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 30 23 28 16 - 97 .413 .360 .398 .667 Milwaukee 21 25 27 20 - 93 .422 .316 .398 .808 Halftime: Dallas 53-46 3rd Q: Dallas 81-73 Dallas' largest lead: 14 points 3rd Milwaukee never led Technicals: Sam Cassell 3:44 4th Refs: Bob Delaney, Derrick Stafford, LeRoy Richardson Attendance: 16,600 (cap 18,187) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Eduardo Najera 23 4-7 0-0 2-4 10 3-4 1 0 3 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 34 5-12 4-8 2-2 16 1-7 2 1 4 2 0 Christian Laettner 19 2-9 0-0 1-2 5 3-4 2 3 2 1 1 Michael Finley 42 10-21 0-5 6-8 26 3-9 8 2 2 2 0 Steve Nash 37 7-15 3-6 3-3 20 1-4 5 5 3 1 1 Howard Eisley 24 2-7 2-5 1-2 7 0-4 3 1 3 0 1 Greg Buckner 27 2-7 0-0 3-6 7 8-11 0 0 4 1 0 Hubert Davis 14 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1-4 0 3 2 0 0 Shawn Bradley 20 3-8 0-0 0-0 6 0-5 1 2 3 0 6 Totals 48 35-88 9-25 18-27 97 20-52 22 18 26 9 9 Milwaukee Bucks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jason Caffey 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 1 1 0 0 0 Glenn Robinson 43 4-14 0-3 3-4 11 2-9 3 4 3 2 3 Ervin Johnson 18 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 2-5 0 3 2 0 1 Ray Allen 40 8-17 2-6 8-8 26 2-4 2 1 1 0 0 Sam Cassell 36 6-14 0-0 3-4 15 1-5 7 5 6 0 0 Tim Thomas 23 4-12 1-2 3-3 12 1-3 0 1 6 2 0 Scott Williams 13 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 2-5 0 0 1 0 1 Lindsey Hunter 31 4-9 3-7 1-2 12 1-4 2 1 5 2 0 Darvin Ham 28 2-9 0-1 3-5 7 4-13 1 2 3 0 2 Rafer Alston 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 33-83 6-19 21-26 93 17-51 16 20 27 6 7 Indiana at Dallas (November 2) Dallas went on a 14-2 run to go up 26-14 with 2:15 left. Dallas led 32-19 after 1. Dirk Nowitzki had 10 points. Dallas was unable to hold their strong lead due to the poor performance of the team's 2nd unit (Christian Laettner, Howard Eisley, Greg Buckner, Hubert Davis, Loy Vaught) and Dallas only led 38-34 with 7 minutes to go. Dallas led 47-43 at the half. Travis Best had 10 points in the 2nd quarter as Indiana out-scored Dallas 24-15 in the quarter. Dallas opened the 3rd by scoring the first 6 points, but could not get a lead larger than 10 points. Dallas led 68-63 after 3. A Steve Nash 3-pointer with 5:40 left gave Dallas an 80-72 lead, but Indiana scored the next 6 points to pull within 78-80 with 4:10 to go. Nowitzki answered with a 3-pointer. Al Harrington hit 2 free throws and then it was the Greg Buckner show. Buckner attacked Indiana on offense (specifically Austin Croshere and his 5 fouls) and drove for 3 straight short jump shots and gave Dallas an 89-81 lead with 54 seconds left (with 1 Reggie Miller free throw in between Buckner's 2nd and 3rd bucket). 5 Dallas free throws and 7 Indiana points capped the scoring. Dallas won 94-88. Wow! Our hero: Greg Buckner. Who'd have thunk it? Buck got the ball in the post, turned, drove into the paint, elevated, and nailed the short one-hand jumper over his defender. Next time down the court, same thing but over 2 defenders. Next time down the court, same thing, but over 3 defenders. Clutch, clutch, clutch shots. Buckner, who is known as a defensive player, finished with 13 points including 5-7 FG and 6 rebounds. Don Nelson again went with small-ball down the stretch. Howard Eisley was a key contributor in the 4th with 12 points (16 total). Steve Nash had another strong performance and finished with 18 points and 5 assists and had the tough defensive task of guarding Reggie Miller. Miller only had 13 points including 4-11 FG. Though they stopped Miller, the Mavs could do nothing with Travis Best and Best (for the 2nd time against Dallas) had a career high 30 points and had 11 rebounds and 8 assists. A fun sight was when Jonathan Bender came into the game with 3 minutes left in the 1st quarter. Every time Dallas had the ball on offense, whoever Bender was guarding got the ball and Dallas ran an isolation play. The result: Dallas baskets or Bender fouls. The end of the 1st was all the court time Bender saw. Though unable to pull away, Dallas led from 1:30 into the 1st on. Quotes Don Nelson: "You can't say enough about players like Najera and Buckner and what they mean to this team. It's just their presence on the team and how hard they work. They're just a pleasure to work with." Nelson: "Best got away from us. He really he kept them in the game. We wanted to do a good job on Reggie and Croshere, so 2 out of 3 ain't bad." Greg Buckner: "I had a mismatch and I wanted the ball. My role is usually to guard the other team's best guy, but I can also help out on the offensive end. If you play basketball, you like scoring. The coaches said the ball was coming to me so I was ready." Buckner: "I don't think I'm a scorer. We've got enough scorers. We don't have enough defenders, that's for sure. But, if you play basketball, you like to score." Buckner on the plays called for him in the last 2 minutes: "It's just part of basketball. You just have to be ready when Coach calls your number. You may not ever get the chance to produce again, so you have to take advantage of it." Michael Finley: "It's definitely all about confidence in each other at crunch time. I think the key was coming up with some defensive stops down the stretch." Finley: "The coaching staff and the team has confidence in Greg. We know what he's capable of doing. That particular matchup was to our advantage. Greg made the most of it with some big shots at the end. That's just the kind of player that he is." Finley on Miller: "We didn't shut him down, he just missed shots. We made it tough for him. That was our whole thing - limit his catches. That's one step in holding him down a little bit. You know Reggie's an All Star, he'll probably bounce back. Hopefully, not against us next time." Finley: "We're fortunate that we had 2 top-notch teams in here, and it's forced us to play hard from the first jump ball." Dirk Nowitzki: "This year we are starting off right. We've got one more home game which is winnable. Of course Utah is a pretty great team. If we come out with energy, we can beat anyone at home." Nowitzki on shooting 3s late in the game: "I feel pretty comfortable. That's my strength. I struggled early on in the game, but everybody said 'keep shooting.' It was good for me to make the shot. It gave me a lot of confidence." Steve Nash on defending Miller: "He's so great at flopping, so you can't get too close to him. You have to try not let him feel you. You have to make things a bit different for him and make him think a little bit." Isiah Thomas on the team's 0-2 start: "We're on the road against 2 pretty good teams. You expect the home team to win these games. This was a winnable game if we had made our free throws. I think that was the difference in the game. We got off to a slow start. I thought we had a chance to win the ballgame." Thomas: "These were games we could win. A little tweak here and a little tweak there, we could win this game. I like where we are. As the season progresses, these are things we can cure." Thomas: "We've got to concentrate more and work on it more in practice. This was a winnable game for us if we knock down our free throws." Thomas: "We have a good performance from the foul line, this was a game we win. That was the difference in the game." Reggie Miller's entire comments after the game: "0-2, that isn't worth talking about." Austin Croshere: "We're not the same team as last year. In particular it was my fault late in the game for not knowing the personnel. [Buckner's] strength is putting the ball on the floor and we made the mistake of playing up on him instead of him making a jump shot." Croshere: "Obviously we broke down defensively and gave them some good looks at the basket. Anytime you are down on the road you have to make stops at the end of the game. That is what cost us the game tonight." Croshere on Buckner's points: "There was a defensive breakdown on my part. Buckner's a 2 guard on the scouting report, and I didn't read [about him]. He's not a jump shooter so I should I have played off of him." Dallas Mavericks 94, Indiana Pacers 88 at Dallas (November 2) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 32 15 21 26 - 94 .483 .400 .467 .857 Indiana 19 24 20 25 - 88 .500 .313 .457 .655 Halftime: Dallas 47-43 3rd Q: Dallas 68-63 Dallas' largest lead: 15 points 2nd Indiana's largest lead: 2 points 1st Technicals: Shawn Bradley 6:52 1st, Jermaine O'Neal 6:52 1st, Reggie Miller 3:04 1st Flagrants: Al Harrington 4:45 1st Refs: Steve Javie, Ron Olesiak, Bennie Adams Attendance: 11,750 (cap 18,187) Did not play due to injury: Jalen Rose (fractured wrist) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Eduardo Najera 18 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 3-4 1 1 3 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 34 5-13 1-5 4-6 15 0-5 1 3 3 2 2 Shawn Bradley 31 2-10 0-0 2-2 6 2-7 2 3 3 0 5 Michael Finley 37 5-11 1-2 3-3 14 0-4 2 1 0 1 0 Steve Nash 33 7-13 3-5 1-1 18 2-3 5 2 4 1 0 Greg Buckner 30 5-7 0-0 3-3 13 0-6 3 0 4 1 0 Christian Laettner 9 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Howard Eisley 22 5-9 1-3 5-6 16 0-1 3 1 2 2 0 Loy Vaught 16 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 0 1 5 1 0 Hubert Davis 10 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 35-75 6-15 18-21 94 8-32 18 14 24 8 7 Indiana Pacers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jermaine O'Neal 20 0-4 0-0 2-2 2 2-4 1 1 2 1 1 Sam Perkins 20 1-4 1-3 0-0 3 2-3 0 0 1 0 0 Austin Croshere 22 4-11 0-3 3-4 11 0-4 0 2 5 0 0 Travis Best 45 12-20 2-5 4-4 30 1-11 8 4 2 2 0 Reggie Miller 40 4-11 2-4 3-3 13 1-3 2 4 5 2 1 Al Harrington 29 3-9 0-0 6-10 12 2-5 2 4 4 0 0 Zan Tabak 30 6-7 0-0 1-6 13 3-4 2 2 4 0 0 Jonathan Bender 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 Tyus Edney 3 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 2 0 0 1 0 Derrick McKey 28 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 1-6 1 2 3 1 1 Totals 48 32-70 5-16 19-29 88 12-40 18 20 28 7 3 Utah at Dallas (November 4) Dallas forgot to show up for the start of the game and Utah had a 12-2 lead with 8:30 left. Amazingly, that wasn't game over. The Mavs then woke up and scored the next 9 points and there was a very entertaining game. Utah held small leads for the rest of the quarter and led 30-24 after 1. Dallas tied the game at 34-34 with 9 minutes left, but were unable to take the lead as Utah clung to their small leads (no larger than 7 points in the quarter). Utah led 49-46 at the half. Utah led 59-57 with 6:45 to go and rattled off the next 8 points to go up 67-57 with 5:30 remaining. Dallas cut Utah's lead down to 6 points on a Michael Finley 3-pointers with 3:40 left. Utah led 77-72 with 1:30 remaining and it was time for hack-an-OP as Don Nelson gave orders to foul Olden Polynice when ever Utah had the ball for the rest of the quarter. Polynice had missed all 7 free throw attempts he had in the previous 2 games. Polynice shockingly hit his first free throw, but clanked the 2nd. After a Mavs miss, no one fouled Polynice and Nelson was yelling for someone to grab him. Stupidly, Dirk Nowitzki compiled. It was his 4th foul. Polynice missed both free throws and subbed out before Utah got the ball again. Not much affect on the game, but entertaining. Utah led 82-76 after 3. Hubert Davis had a layup and 3-pointer to open the 4th and pull Dallas within 81-82 with 10 minutes to go. A Steve Nash layup gave Dallas' their 1st lead at 86-85 with 8 minutes remaining. A 3-pointer by Howard Eisley gave Dallas a 93-89 lead with 5 minutes to go. Dallas then fell flat and allowed Utah a 10-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by John Stockton with 3 minutes left to put Utah up 99-93. Utah's lead switched between 6 points and 4 points as the teams traded 2 points on each possession (mostly free throws) over the next 2 1/2 minutes. The teams traded 1-2 free throw shooting and Utah led 108-104 with 25 seconds remaining. Karl Malone hit 2 free throws and Finley missed a 3-pointer and Malone hit 2 more free throws. 2 Nash free throws capped the scoring. Utah won 112-106. Well, it was a great game until the last 3 minutes when it became a free throw exhibition. There were 20 free throws (10 by each team) attempted during the last 3 minutes. Karl Malone benefited the most from the whistle happy refs as he shot 8 free throws (all made) during that span - add that with a layup and he scored 10 points in the last 2:25 of the game. Malone finished with 35 points on 9-18 FG and 17-22 FT. He ate up everything the Mavs threw at him and drew a number of fouls [and got star calls on a couple of the calls]. Utah shot 34-47 while Dallas only shot 25-29 FT. No home cooking here. Steve Nash again had a strong performance with 24 points and 12 assists (but 5 turnovers - he's normally not turnover prone). Both Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki had 20 points. With Greg Buckner out, Courtney Alexander made his NBA debut at the end of the 2nd quarter (he only played 4 minutes, though). Quotes Jerry Sloan: "Karl comes to play every day. It's a pleasure to have the opportunity to coach a guy like this." Sloan: "When you lose your concentration, you don't do what you're supposed to do. It's as simple as that. We got in a hurry out there, and that's when we started to make mistakes." Sloan: "Our team has a long way to go. We lost our concentration out there. They went to a smaller line-up and got a lead on us. Fortunately, we were able to get the lead back." Sloan: "It took us a while to get guys where they were supposed to be. Everybody has got to get used to playing with each other." Sloan: "Bryon is just going to keep hanging in there. That's why he's in the ballgame." Sloan on Dallas' defense on Malone: "It looked like they wanted to take him out of his rhythm. They went after him pretty hard." Karl Malone: "[The Mavs] are an up-and-coming team. In the beginning, they were off to a great start. No respect for us. Now, they're an up-and-coming team but they lost. We're an old team. Old and wily veterans again. But we just play our game and let you guys say what you need to say." John Stockton: "We came in knowing we needed to play hard to get the win. We made some mistakes out there and we're going to have to work on that part of our game. But the important thing was to win the ballgame." Stockton on his jumper to give Utah a 99-93 lead: "Karl threw me a nice little pass. I caught it in rhythm and it went in. That's about all you can say." John Starks: "We came in knowing we needed to play hard to get the win. We made some mistakes out there and we're going to have to work on that part of our game. But the important thing was to win the ballgame. The key to getting better for us comes once we're used to playing with each other and the new guys have learned the system." Bryon Russell: "The name of the game is execution and we executed more than they did down the stretch. We played calm and relaxed and that's what got us the win." Don Nelson: "I thought we really played pretty well, and we sure had a great effort from everybody. They're probably the best team in basketball early in the season. They've been together so long and they've been running the same stuff, that they really make you pay the price. No matter what you do they're going to find something to make you pay the price. They are a good team right now." Nelson: "Well, I sure was planning on going 82-0. They are a good team. They're probably the best team in basketball early in the season. They've been together so long and have been running the same stuff that they really make you pay the price." Nelson: "We had a great effort from everybody, I sure can't complain about anything. The free throws really hurt down the end. They shot a free throw on every possession. You're going to get into a lot of trouble." Michael Finley: "Well, we couldn't go 82-0. But after our first 3 games I think we've played pretty well. We came out tonight against what I think is the best team in basketball right now. It's definitely good to see, and we're going to keep our heads up and keep going." Finley: "You can't get down about it. It's the 3rd game of the year and we lost to the Utah Jazz. How many times have you looked in the Dallas Mavericks' locker room and people are upset because they've lost to Utah?" Finley: "When you're going against a top team like Utah you have to be on top of your game. There's not too many people who can play bad and beat Utah. We played OK and we went down to the last 2 minutes of the ball game. It's not a degrading thing for us where they're going to take our confidence away. This is only the 3rd game of the season and we're going to keep it rolling and put this game behind us." Steve Nash: "John and Karl have been playing together and running that offense for 16 years now. They're the best executing team and tandem maybe ever in the league. It's unbelievable how well they do it. They've been in that situation thousands of times, and it paid off tonight." Shawn Bradley: "I wish I could figure out how we let that one get away from us. It's not like we were playing bad defense. They just stepped up like they've been doing. Right now, they're playing as good as I've ever seen." Bradley: "I wish we could figure out what happened. We let it get away from us in the end." Bradley: "We thought we were in good position. Utah just stepped up like they can and turned it around. Bradley: "It kind of got away from us at the end. Only one of their players shot under 50% tonight. It wasn't like we played bad defense. Utah just stepped up like they can do and turned it around late in the 4th quarter." Bradley: "Malone is a great, great player. One of the best ever. He has proven that through the years. Not only is he great, but he has some great players around him that know the game really well. One of the things we tried to do is throw a bunch of different things at them tonight. They were able to adjust and take advantage of us." Bradley: "Right now they are playing as well as I've ever seen them play. And I've watched them for a number of years. They are a tough team to beat. I thought we played well tonight. But we just fell a little short." Utah Jazz 112, Dallas Mavericks 106 at Dallas (November 4) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Utah 30 19 33 30 - 112 .541 .571 .544 .723 Dallas 24 22 30 30 - 106 .444 .500 .461 .862 Halftime: Utah 49-46 3rd Q: Utah 82-76 Dallas' largest lead: 4 points 5:09 4th Utah's largest lead: 11 points 4:43 3rd Lead changes: 4 Technicals: Dallas Illegal D 0:59 1st, Utah Illegal D 9:00 2nd, Greg Ostertag 6:38 2nd, Dallas Illegal D 9:14 3rd, Karl Malone 7:34 3rd, Dallas Illegal D 5:00 3rd, Utah Illegal D 9:00 4th, Dallas Illegal D 4:53 4th Refs: Jack Nies, Tommy Nunez, Violet Palmer Attendance: 16,500 (cap 18,187) Did not play due to injury: Greg Buckner (sprained right foot) Utah Jazz REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Karl Malone 42 9-18 0-0 17-22 35 2-10 3 3 4 0 0 Bryon Russell 37 4-7 0-0 5-6 13 3-8 4 0 0 1 1 Olden Polynice 23 3-6 0-0 1-4 7 3-6 1 1 3 0 0 John Starks 32 5-8 2-4 2-2 14 1-1 2 0 3 1 0 John Stockton 33 5-6 1-1 3-5 14 0-1 9 1 4 4 0 Jacque Vaughn 19 3-6 0-0 2-2 8 0-2 5 0 2 2 0 Quincy Lewis 20 3-8 1-2 1-2 8 1-4 2 2 6 0 0 Donyell Marshall 11 2-4 0-0 1-2 5 0-2 0 2 2 0 0 Greg Ostertag 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 2 3 0 0 Danny Manning 15 3-5 0-0 2-2 8 0-2 0 1 3 0 0 Totals 48 37-68 4-7 34-47 112 10-37 27 14 30 8 1 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Eduardo Najera 29 3-6 0-0 0-1 6 2-3 0 1 4 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 34 8-14 4-8 0-0 20 1-7 1 1 4 0 1 Shawn Bradley 28 2-9 0-0 3-4 7 7-14 2 3 5 0 1 Michael Finley 45 7-16 2-5 4-4 20 0-3 2 4 5 2 1 Steve Nash 37 8-13 1-3 7-8 24 0-1 12 5 1 0 0 Howard Eisley 21 2-7 2-4 6-7 12 0-3 3 0 3 0 0 Hubert Davis 24 3-5 2-2 2-2 10 1-2 0 2 2 0 0 Christian Laettner 7 0-2 0-0 3-3 3 0-1 1 0 1 0 0 Courtney Alexander 4 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 Loy Vaught 11 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-3 0 0 3 0 1 Totals 48 35-76 11-22 25-29 106 12-37 21 17 30 2 4 Dallas at Denver (November 6) Denver briefly took the lead at 19-18 with 3:25 left and Dallas went on a 10-2 run to go up 28-21 on a Hubert Davis 3-pointer with a minute remaining. Denver connected on 2 baskets and Dallas led 28-25 after 1. Dallas scored 10 straight points to go up 41-33 with 6:45 to go. A 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki gave Dallas a 57-46 lead at the half. Nowitzki had 14 points and Michael Finley had 13 points. Raef LaFrentz showed up to start the 3rd quarter as he scored Denver's first 13 points and pull Denver within 59-64 with 6:45 left. Dallas led in single digits the rest of the quarter and led 75-69 after 3. Dallas led 86-78 with 7:50 to go and rattled off the next 8 points as Denver fell apart with offensive fouls, turnovers, and technicals and Dallas went up 94-78 with 5:45 remaining. Antonio McDyess received a taunting technical with 7:35 remaining for standing near Howard Eisley and glaring after a failed Eisley drive and then collected a 2nd T for tossing the ball into the stands in frustration with 5:45 left. Dallas held a double-digit lead the rest of the game (with Dallas making 8 straight free throws over the last minute of the game). Dallas won 108-96. Well, it wasn't a great game by Dallas, but they found a way to win, with a little help of Denver self-destructing in the 4th quarter. Courtney Alexander came off the bench and saw his first extended minutes of the season and played very well. He was nailing his shots and playing defense. His play on the courted earned him minutes in the key 4th quarter. He finished with 14 points on 7-12 FG in 23 minutes. The Mavs big men of Christian Laettner and Shawn Bradley were plagued by fouls. Laettner picked up 3 fouls midway through the 1st quarter (though he wasn't immediately pulled) and picked up his 5th late in the 3rd quarter and did not see action in the 4th. Bradley was subbed in with 7 1/2 minutes left in the 4th already having 5 fouls and looking like Nelson wanted to go big down the stretch. But Bradley picked up his 6 foul only 10 seconds later and Nelson then decided to go with small ball and having Dirk Nowitzki and Eduardo Najera handle Denver's big men (McDyess and LaFrentz - though McDyess was ejected 2 minutes later). Michael Finley had a quiet 26 points and 6 rebounds and has continued to play high minutes (44 in this game). Nowitzki chipped in 18 points and 6 rebounds and Howard Eisley had another nice game with 14 points and 8 assists. Steve Nash had his first off game of the season and only had 6 points (including 1-6 FG) and 5 assists in a season low 28 minutes. Quotes Don Nelson: "Everybody played pretty well in terms of having good shots and doing what they were supposed to. Howard had more patience, something that we worked with him on Sunday." Nelson: "Courtney got an opportunity, and as he told us, he's not going to blow it again if he ever got another chance. And he's made the best of it the last 2 games. He was playing so well at both ends of the court, really, and had a good understanding of what we were doing. He had more patience, and we worked on that with him [Sunday], trying to get him to have an understanding that when he has the ball, first of all he wants to create something for a teammate, and second of all he wants to score." Nelson on Alexander: "Courtney played so well on both ends." Nelson: "I played 2 rookies, and I didn't want to do that. I played 2 rookies at the same time, and they both did very well." Nelson: "I was really worried when Shawn fouled out, especially the way McDyess was playing. But we were successful for whatever reason." Michael Finley on Alexander and Najera: "Those two guys didn't play like rookies in the 4th quarter. If you didn't know they were rookies, you never would have guessed it. Courtney came in and hit some big shots and made some key stops. He did all the things we knew he could do. Eduardo came in with the energy that he always brings." Finley: "We are not getting rattled when adverse situations come up like in the past. We know that if we execute offensively and get a couple of defensive stops the momentum can change in our favor." Finley: "It's very important to get off to a good start. We're still coming together as a team and we still have a lot of games left so a good start always helps." Courtney Alexander: "Any true ball player wants to compete, wants to play. It's disheartening to sit there on the bench and not be in the rotation, or not be able to get out there to try and contribute. I've never sat on the bench my whole life, so it was very, very difficult. I've been through more difficult times so I think that helped. But it's hard. It's a gut-check." Alexander: "[Nelson] gave me an opportunity early in preseason and I didn't show him what he wanted, so he sat me. [Against Denver], I felt like I did some good things. The main thing is to try to build from that and not go backward, never go backward." Alexander: "Me and Eduardo are not your average rookies. We put in our years in college. I think we have a pretty good grasp of the game of basketball. We're not the average age of a rookie nowadays." Eduardo Najera on Alexander: "He really played his game tonight. I'm so glad to see a performance like that from him." Dirk Nowitzki: "We try to jump on people early and let them know we are ready to pay with a lot of energy. We had good starts in every game except against Utah, and it has got us going." Nowitzki: "Eisley and Finley stepped up in the 4th quarter. You can always rely on Michael, that's why he's our all-star." Dan Issel: "This was a big game for us. Not only are they in our division, if we have any designs on making the playoffs, this is one of the teams we've got to compete with. This was a tough loss." Issel: "We just need to put the other 3 periods together. It's like we're passive or afraid of getting in foul trouble or something. We have to play 48 minutes like we played the 3rd quarter tonight." Issel: "The 3rd period was good, but we were just so passive in the other 3 periods. We can't play 10 or 12 minutes a game." Robert Pack before the game: "They feel like they are better than us. They feel like they are going to make the playoffs. We have to come out and compete and show them that we are going to be right there in the hunt." Antonio McDyess before the game: "It's very important. That team feels that they are a step ahead of us. We feel we are a step ahead of them. On the court, we feel the tension between each other." McDyess on tossing the ball into the stands that earned him his 2nd T: "I hit the ball because of frustration of my back, frustration of the [refs' calls], and frustration of the way we were playing. I had all that built up in me. I saw the ball and I had no choice but to hit it. I'm going to tell it like it is. We are not having fun. It's like we come out real passive, real uptight and scared to play. I wish I knew why. I wish I knew." McDyess on Denver's defense: "We go and double and guys try to help, they still score on us. We go 1-on-1, guys still score on us. I think we got to dig down deep and get heart. We've been playing [badly]." Raef LaFrentz: "In the 4th quarter we had it back to 5 points. Then play after play after play, we make errors." LaFrentz: "It's frustrating, we got within 5 points then we fell apart. The same things keep happening. You always have to be aggressive on both sides of the court. [A record of] 1-3 is not going to cut it." LaFrentz: "Dallas just outworked us tonight. Last year, when I was playing against Dallas, they would outwork us. We need to find ourselves as a team. We need to find something that's our trademark." Nick Van Exel: "It's obvious we are playing selfish basketball. Not as far as everybody trying to shoot the ball or nothing like that. But if you get taken out of the game, you get upset. If somebody says something to you, you get upset. You don't set a screen. You don't rebound. You don't defend your man. Nobody in this room has ever won a damn thing, so we all need to get on the same page and try to win together, because we're not going to win it separately." Van Exel: "We're going to have a team meeting before practice." Dallas Mavericks 108, Denver Nuggets 96 at Denver (November 6) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 28 29 18 33 - 108 .517 .421 .494 .828 Denver 25 21 23 27 - 96 .516 .294 .468 .654 Halftime: Dallas 57-46 3rd Q: Dallas 75-69 Dallas' largest lead: 16 points 4:20 4th Denver's largest lead: 2 points 9:18 2nd Lead changes: 6 Technicals: Dallas Illegal D 0:43 3rd, Antonio McDyess 7:35 4th, Dan Issel 5:44 4th, Antonio McDyess 5:44 4th (ejected) Refs: Dick Bavetta, Jim Clark, Jim Kinsey Attendance: 11,190 (cap 19,309) Did not play due to injury: Greg Buckner (sprained right foot) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 44 9-17 1-2 7-7 26 1-6 4 1 2 1 1 Dirk Nowitzki 38 6-13 2-5 4-5 18 1-6 2 0 3 1 1 Christian Laettner 16 3-6 0-0 1-2 7 0-2 1 0 5 0 0 Hubert Davis 22 5-9 3-6 0-0 13 0-2 1 5 1 0 0 Steve Nash 28 1-6 0-1 4-4 6 1-3 5 3 2 0 0 Shawn Bradley 18 2-4 0-0 2-4 6 0-4 0 1 6 0 2 Howard Eisley 25 3-6 2-4 6-7 14 0-1 8 1 3 0 0 Eduardo Najera 19 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 3-5 1 0 1 1 0 Courtney Alexander 23 7-12 0-1 0-0 14 0-2 3 0 2 2 0 Loy Vaught 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-3 1 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 38-77 8-19 24-29 108 6-34 26 14 26 5 4 Denver Nuggets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antonio McDyess 31 5-10 0-0 2-4 12 2-11 0 5 4 1 2 James Posey 29 3-6 0-1 0-0 6 1-3 1 2 6 2 0 Raef LaFrentz 34 9-14 1-3 4-5 23 3-6 0 3 4 0 1 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 22 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 4 2 3 0 1 Nick Van_Exel 31 5-11 3-7 0-2 13 0-1 8 2 1 0 0 Keon Clark 21 2-5 0-0 3-6 7 0-7 1 2 4 0 1 Voshon Lenard 18 3-8 1-3 3-3 10 0-0 0 1 2 0 1 Robert Pack 21 6-11 0-0 5-6 17 1-3 4 1 2 0 0 Mark Strickland 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 1 0 1 1 0 George McCloud 19 2-5 0-2 0-0 4 3-3 2 0 4 0 1 Tracy Murray 8 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 0-1 2 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 37-79 5-17 17-26 96 12-38 23 18 32 4 7 patricia