The real world has been keeping me busy (in fact, I should be working right now), so I haven't had time to keep up with all the Mavs notes and game writeups (though I was meaning to). Hopefully things will slow down for me once the new millennium comes around. :) The big news surrounding the Mavs is, of course, the announcement that Don Nelson has prostate cancer. Nelson underwent a biopsy on his swollen prostate on November 30 and missed the Portland game. The results came back a few days later and he informed the team that he has cancer following December 5th's Houston game. He left the team December 9 to get a second opinion and undergo more tests and missed the New Jersey, Cleveland, and Indiana games. Nelson will undergo surgery for his prostate cancer January 4 and will then be out 6 to 8 weeks. He re-joined the team for the Philadelphia game and will continue coaching the team through December (not sure if it will be up to January 3 or if he'll miss the January 3rd game). You can send Nelson best wishes at http://www.nba.com/mavericks/nelson_mailbox_001206.html In the middle of his health concerns, Nelson did reach a significant coaching milestone. With the win versus Chicago, Don Nelson passed Red Auerbach for 4th place on the most NBA coaching wins list (939). Lenny Wilkens (1189), Pat Riley (1009), and Bill Fitch (944) are ahead of Nelson on the all-time list. Gary Trent flew with Nelson from Dallas to Philadelphia and participated in his first practice on Saturday. He is doubtful for tonight's game, but should return to action in the next week. Howard Eisley and Steve Nash have been playing with minor injuries. Nash missed the Houston and Lakers games due to a bruised right calf. Eduardo Najera missed the Houston and Lakers games due to a strained right groin. Hubert Davis missed the Lakers, Golden State, and Portland games due to a strained left groin On December 7, Dallas activated Donnell Harvey and placed Greg Buckner on IR with a sprained right foot. Buckner was scheduled to undergo surgery on his right foot (never heard if he underwent it - word was that it was scheduled for Tuesday) to remove a cracked bone spur. He is expected to be out 6 to 8 weeks. The Mavs hired Woody Mayfield as a consultant. Mayfield is a former NBA ref who retired after the 97-98 season due to knee problems. Mayfield: "I'll be talking to them about things like how to approach an official, how to talk to an official, things not to say. These things are very important." Mayfield: "I've got to do some research. I don't know exactly what my role will be. A big part of it will be educating the players and staff on how to respond to officials during games." Don Nelson: "I thought for a long time retired NBA referees should help educate players, coaches and owners on the complicated NBA rules and tendencies. As far as I know, we're the first organization to do this kind of hiring. It will be a positive move for the team. You have to give Mark Cuban credit in being the first to recognize how important this is and how it can help our organization." On November 28 Dallas signed Mark Bryant and released Bill Curley. Etan Thomas is wearing a cast on his right foot to protect a fractured sesamoid bone under his right big toe. He'll be wearing it for a while. Don't forget to vote for Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki for the All-Star game at http://www.nba.com/news/allstar_balloting_001113.html and select the "Click here to launch the All-Star ballot" to vote. The games (real brief and no quotes or boxscores (boxscores are available on my web page at http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html) as I'm so behind on the games - and this would be _huge_ if I included boxscores and quotes as I'm so far behind). Denver at Dallas (November 25) It was a shoot-em up 1st quarter and Dallas led 31-25 after 1. Dallas went on a 16-4 run to go up 49-34 with 3:25 left and led 52-43 at the half. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter by scoring the first 7 points and led in the teens the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 80-62 after 3 and won 108-84. Toronto at Dallas (November 28) Vince Carter and Greg Buckner did not play. Toronto started strong without their leader and led 23-20 after 1. Dallas used a 10-0 run to take a 34-27 lead with 9:15 left in the 2nd and led 53-48 at the half as Michael Finley had 18 points. Toronto briefly took the lead in the 3rd quarter, but Dallas re-gained the lead by scoring 7 straight points to go up 62-56 with 7 minutes left and led 73-68 after 3. Dallas led 92-86 with 3 minutes to go and went on a 5-1 run to make it a 10 points game with 2:15 left. Toronto was unable to rally and Dallas won 107-93. Dallas at Portland (November 30) Don Nelson did not coach as he was in Dallas undergoing tests for his prostate. Greg Buckner, Hubert Davis, Arvydas Sabonis, and Bonzi Wells did not play. Dallas was able to keep the game close in the 1st half and Portland led 52-45 at the half. Portland pushed their lead up to 75-63 with 2 minutes left in the 3rd and led 79-68 after 3. Dallas was unable to build a rally in the 4th as Portland's lead fluctuated between 9 and 13 points. Portland won 107-93. Rasheed Wallace, who did not start but entered the game 2 minutes in, had 28 points including 12-17 FG. Portland shot 51.4% FG and Dallas shot 40.8% FG. Dallas at Golden State (December 2) Don Nelson returned to coach. Greg Buckner and Hubert Davis did not play. Dallas led 13-9 8 minutes in and closed the quarter with a 17-4 run to go up 30-13 after 1. The game was over early as Golden State could get no closer than 14 points the rest of the game. Dallas won 97-78. Michael Finley had an ugly triple-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. Dallas shot 45.2% FG and Golden State shot 33% FG. Dallas at LA Lakers (December 3) Steve Nash did not play. The Lakers led 47-37 at the half. Dallas kept the Lakers' lead around 10 points and LA led 71-63 after 3. The Lakers led 83-71 with 6:45 left and Dallas started intentionally fouling Shaquille O'Neal (who was shooting terrible from the line). O'Neal missed 4 straight free throws before taking a seat on the bench with 5:20 to go. Dallas scored 11 straight points to cut the Lakers' lead down to 83-82 with 4 minutes left. Then the refs started affecting the game with their non-calls. LA was up by 3 with 3:25 left and Greg Buckner drove to the hoop, was tripped, and the ball went out of bounds. No call and Lakers' ball. LA was up 89-88 with 1:35 left when Howard Eisley drove, was hammered by 2 Lakers, and the ball went out of bounds. No call and Lakers' ball. With the Lakers up by 3 and 6 seconds left, Courtney Alexander drove, was hit by 2 Lakers and no call [he should have gone for the 3, though]. Isaiah Rider hit 2 free throws and Dirk Nowitzki hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cap the scoring The LA Lakers won 99-97. It's a shame when the refs have that much of negative affect on the game. NBA fine hander-out Stu Jackson did review the 4th quarter at the Mavs' request and did admit that there were 2 incorrect calls, though he wouldn't say which ones (my guess is the Buckner trip (which was obvious) and the Eisley drive). The Lakers shot 22-39 FT and Dallas shot 9-11 FT. Even taking out O'Neal's 5-19 FT, it's still lopsided for the Lakers. Dallas at Houston (December 5) It was a close game with Dallas' largest lead being only 3 points and Houston's only 10 points. Houston led 54-51 at the half as Steve Francis had 23 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 18 points. Houston led 85-76 after 3. Houston led 98-88 with 2:18 left, but 2 Dallas' 3-pointers and a free throw cut Houston's lead down to 102-99 with a 1 minute left. But Moochie Norris got a layup with 50 seconds left and Dallas missed. Houston won 109-102. Francis went for a dunk with 7 seconds left and the game out of reach (he was fouled) and was called for taunting the Mavs' bench. He also got a lecture from Don Nelson about how that is not how professionals act. Nelson informed his team after the game that he had prostate cancer. New York at Dallas (December 6) Dallas surged ahead and was up 32-11 after 1 and led 56-35 at the half. It was a blowout early as Dallas led 70-58 after 3. New York scored the last 10 points of the game to make the final score a little more respectable (though anyone who saw the game could tell you that it was a blowout). Dallas won 94-85. Dallas shot 54.8% FG and New York shot 37.8% FG. It was blanced scoring for Dallas as 6 players were in double-digits. Chicago at Dallas (December 8) Dallas led 53-40 at the half and scored the first 16 points of the 3rd quarter to go up 69-40 with 7 minutes remaining. Dallas 84-58 led after 3 and won the laugher 105-86. Steve Nash led the way for Dallas with 22 points including 10-12 FG. The win gave Don Nelson 939 career coaching wins, moving him into sole possession of 4th on the all-time NBA coaching wins list. Dallas at New Jersey (December 10) Don Nelson left the team to undergo more tests for his prostate cancer and Del Harris coached. Stephon Marbury and Kendall Gill did not play. Dallas only led 51-43 at the half, but used a strong 3rd quarter to go ahead 78-62 after 3. Dallas continued their strong 2nd half performance and out-scored New Jersey 21-11 in the 4th, including scoring the first 10 points of the quarter. Dallas won another blowout 99-73. Dallas shot 52.9% FG and New Jersey shot 32.9% FG. Dirk Nowitzki was on fire with 31 points on 9-13 FG, 4-6 3-pointers, and 9-11 and had 8 rebounds. Dallas at Cleveland (December 12) Dallas went to Cleveland and played at the Cavs' pace - a half court game. The Mavs were up 24-23 after 1 and led 49-46 at the half despite being _killed_ on the boards. The game stayed close and Cleveland led 65-63 after 3. Dallas used a 10-0 run to go up 73-67 with 7 minutes to go. Dallas went by up 10 points on a 3-pointer by Hubert Davis with 5:30 left, but then fell to pieces. Cleveland went on an 11-0 run, as Dallas could do nothing with Zydrunas Ilgauskas, to go up 82-81 with 2:30 to go. Cleveland led 86-85 with 40 seconds left and a weak floater by Steve Nash was easily swatted away by Ilgauskas with 30 seconds remaining. Cleveland hit their free throws to hang on for the win. Cleveland won 92-87. This was a game Dallas should have won despite being out-rebounded 29-59 including 23-8 offensive. So, how were the Mavs able to stay in the game despite such a terrible rebounding difference? 3-pointers and turnovers. Dallas shot 10-27 3s while Cleveland only shot 1-6 3s and Dallas committed only 7 turnovers while Cleveland committed 18. Ilgauskas finished with 24 points, most of them inside, and 12 rebounds. Dallas at Indiana (December 13) Dallas went to Indiana and again played a stagnant half court game. Despite the slower pace and more traditional line-up, Dallas led 30-24 after 1 and 45-43 at the half. Indiana led 72-67 after 3. The game was tied 79-79 with 8:45 left and Indiana rattled off the next 10 points to go up 89-79 with 4:30 remaining. Dallas was unable to recover. Indiana won 97-92. Dirk Nowitzki had a _terrible_ game with only 5 points including 1-10 FG. Dallas at Philadelphia (December 15) Don Nelson re-joined the team and seemed to give them an emotional boost. It was a high scoring affair as both teams like to run. Philadelphia led 30-27 after 1 and Dallas led 62-57 at the half. Philadelphia had been praised for their defense in the past, but it wasn't there against Dallas. The Mavs pulled way in the 3rd as Dirk Nowitzki was on fire and the Mavs were getting him the ball. Dirk was so hot that the Philly fans actually cheered when he finally missed a shot late in the 3rd quarter. He was so hot that when Michael Finley passed him the ball at the end of the 3rd quarter, his shot-put 3-pointer (no time for a clean catch) banked in at the buzzer to give Dallas a 92-80 lead after 3. Nowitzki nailed a jumper to open the 4th and drained the quick 3-pointer behind a Steve Nash screen (heat check) to put Dallas up 97-80 and Philly was never a threat the rest of the way. Dallas won 112-94. Dirk finished with a career high 36 points on 13-19 FG, 5-8 3-pointers, and 5-5 FT. Steve Nash also had a strong game with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 13 assists. patricia