Don Nelson will coach in the January 3 game vs Detroit. After the game he will fly to Salt Lake City, where the prepartion for his prostate cancer surgery will begin at 6 am January 4. With the win vs Portland, Nelson tied Bill Fitch for 3rd place on the all-time NBA coaching wins list (944). Lenny Wilkens (1193) and Pat Riley (1012) are 1st and 2nd on the all-time win list. Etan Thomas had the walking cast removed from his foot. There is no projection for his return date. 12/17 Dallas activated Gary Trent and placed Eduardo Najera on IR with a strained right groin. Trent played limited minutes in the Detroit game. Najera suffered the injury this summer and has been playing through it. Greg Buckner, who underwent surgery on his right ankle December 12, had his cast remove and is now wearing a walking boot and does not need crutches. He will be out about 7 more weeks. The Mavs announced that they will be picking up all extra charges for the $8, $15, and $21 tickets for Mavs games. If you purchase those tickets via Ticketmaster or 214-747-MAVS, they will cost just $8, $15, or $21 - you won't have to pay for service charges, handling fees, or credit card charges. The Mavs announced that the Commodores will be in concert following January 20's game vs Denver. 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. Dallas at Detroit (December 17) Dirk Nowitzki was suffering from the stomach flu. He looked paler than usual and hadn't eaten much of anything in 2 days. You couldn't tell that by the way he performed in this game. Howard Eisley was given the tough tasking of guarding Piston high-scorer Jerry Stackhouse and did a great job. Stackhouse did not have a single point in the 1st quarter. Dallas scored 9 straight points to go up 15-5 half way through the 1st quarter and pushed their lead up to 15 after 1 at 31-16. Dallas shot 11-19 FG while Detroit only shot 6-20 FG. Dirk Nowitzki had 11 points. However, Dallas' large lead did not hold as the usual 2nd quarter blues hit. Dallas led 40-24 with 8 minutes to go and Detroit scored 10 straight points to pull within 34-40 with 5 minutes remaining. A 3-pointer by Chucky Atkins cut Dallas' lead down to 2 at the half. Dallas led 47-45 at the half. Stackhouse had 12 points in the quarter in helping Detroit out-scoured Dallas 29-16 in the 2nd quarter. Detroit continued to roll to open the 3rd and scored the first 8 points to go up 53-47 with 8:20 remaining. Dallas scored 6 straight points to go up 62-60 with 3 minutes to go. Dallas led 66-65 after 3. It was a close, exciting 4th quarter as the teams answered each challenge and Detroit held no larger than a 1 point lead and Dallas had no more than a 4 point lead over the first 8 minutes of the quarter. A goaltending call on Ben Wallace gave Dallas a 89-84 led with 3:30 left. Dana Barros hit a jumper and Joe Smith hit 2 free throws to cut Dallas' lead down to 89-88 with 1:50 remaining. The teams traded misses and Nowitzki drained a 3-pointer behind a beautiful screen by Christian Laettner with 1:05 left. Smith missed a jumper and Nowitzki hit 2 free throws to put Dallas up 94-88 with 55 seconds to go. Stackhouse hit a jumper, but Howard Eisley sealed the game with a 3-pointer with 25 seconds remaining. 2 Laettner free throws capped the scoring. Dallas won 99-90. Despite being sick, Dirk Nowitzki finished with 25 points including 5-9 FG and had 7 rebounds. Christian Laettner played a strong game - lots of what he did does not show in the numbers - and finished with 16 points including 7-9 FG and 5 rebounds in 16 minutes. Steve Nash had another solid game with 16 points and 9 assists. Dallas' jumpers and 3-pointers reigned supreme in this game as they shot 46.8% (36-77) FG and 10-24 3-pointers while Detroit shot just 36.6% (30-82) FG and 6-13 3-pointers. Detroit was led by Jerry Stackhouse's 24 points including just 7-22 FG and Joe Smith chipped in 20 points including 7-20 FG. Quotes Don Nelson on the Mavs' 4th quarter play: "Talk about a bunch of big shots. I think everyone on the floor made one." Nelson: "Everyone was making big shots, but none of them were bigger than Dirk's 3 off that screen. That came right when we needed it the most." Nelson on Nowitzki playing despite suffering the stomach flu: "We didn't even know if he could play. I didn't know how much energy he would have, but he was really resilient. He was able to play a lot more minutes than I ever thought, and still have enough to make that big shot and get some big rebounds for us." Nelson on Nowitzki's flu: "We didn't even know if he could play. He has been ill. He got sick on the plane ride and had not eaten until right before the game. I didn't know how much energy he would have, but he was able to play a lot more minutes than I ever thought and still had enough to make that big shot." Nelson on Trent's return to action: "He got his nose wet tonight and made a couple of hoops and mixed it up a little bit. We'll just bring him along slowly, and he shouldn't worry about anything until I feel as though he's ready to play consistent minutes, and the team is ready to put his particular talent into our mix." Dirk Nowitzki: "All I ate the last couple of days was crackers and bread, and I tried to eat some pasta today, but I couldn't really handle it." Nowitzki: "I was sick yesterday and had a stomach flu. It was good today, I took a lot of medicine yesterday and I felt fine. It was a tough game, Detroit is a tough team to beat, especially at home. I thought we did a great job on defense, that was the key." Nowitzki on his 3: "I didn't really think about the fact that I was sick. I didn't really think about it at all. I just wanted to win the game." Nowitzki on his 3: "I just took the shot, I was wide open and I took it." Steve Nash: "This is one of those games where we would have been really disappointed to lose. We didn't play great and we won, and that's a good sign for us." Nash: "Christian was just tremendous. He played with a lot of energy and heart." Howard Eisley shrugging off praise for his defense on Stackhouse: "It was a team thing. Our team defense did the job." Christian Laettner: "There's always a little extra when you come back and play one of your old teams. Dirk's been doing a great job for us all year. He's a great shooter. We do a good job of getting him the ball. It felt good the way it happened. I'm not deaf. You hear the boos - you just want to make sure you walk out a winner." George Irvine: "We didn't shoot the ball well and Dallas is a difficult team to defend. I thought Christian played very well. He wasn't in one of those moods to bump-fake before shooting. Nellie asked me about that before the game. I told him he did the same thing with me." Irvine: "We got good shots all night long, and we just didn't knock them down. Most nights, we'll hit those shots." Irvine on Barros' missed 3 and Dirk's 3: "That was the game. Dana gets a great look and he'd hit that shot 2 out of 3 times. Dirk gets a good screen from Christian, Joe tries to fight through it, and Dirk makes the shot. It would be a great 3-point contest between those 2." Irvine on Dirk's 3: "That 3 was a huge 3. It was a great screen set by Christian. Joe tried to get there and Nowitzki buried a big shot." Dana Barros on his missed 3: "I was open and I had a good look. It just didn't fall." Barros: "[Nelson] exploits matchups, and he'll put a crazy lineup on the floor just to get you to do things that you don't want to do. Then he puts Dirk on the perimeter and makes you guard him with a big guy. Those guys aren't used to covering 3-point shooters." Jerry Stackhouse on his 7-20 shooting: "Nobody's out there trying to miss shots, we just had a tough time during this homestand against some good teams." Stackhouse: "This was a tough one. We've got to go on the road now and do a lot better than we did on this homestand." Dallas Mavericks 99, Detroit Pistons 90 at Detroit (December 17) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 31 16 19 33 - 99 .491 .417 .468 .944 Detroit 16 29 20 25 - 90 .348 .462 .366 .727 Halftime: Dallas 47-45 3rd Q: Dallas 66-65 Technicals: Detroit Assistant Mo McHone 5:58 1st, Jerry Stackhouse 5:37 1st, Detroit Illegal D 8:22 4th Refs: Luis Grillo, Mark Wunderlich, Rodney Mott Attendance: 11,389 (cap 22,076) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 41 5-17 0-4 3-3 13 1-5 8 3 4 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 38 9-17 5-9 2-2 25 1-7 1 1 3 0 0 Shawn Bradley 25 1-3 0-0 6-6 8 0-8 0 1 2 0 3 Howard Eisley 32 4-8 3-4 0-0 11 0-2 2 1 3 2 0 Steve Nash 41 5-10 2-5 4-5 16 1-2 9 4 0 1 0 Christian Laettner 16 7-9 0-0 2-2 16 1-5 1 2 5 0 1 Courtney Alexander 12 3-7 0-0 0-0 6 0-2 2 0 4 0 0 Loy Vaught 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 1 2 0 0 Hubert Davis 18 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 0-2 0 2 3 0 0 Gary Trent 9 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 1-2 0 1 4 0 0 Totals 48 36-77 10-24 17-18 99 6-36 23 17 30 3 4 Detroit Pistons REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Curry 19 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 3 1 4 0 0 Joe Smith 33 7-20 0-0 6-9 20 8-13 0 1 3 2 0 Ben Wallace 40 2-4 0-0 2-6 6 2-10 1 1 1 0 4 Chucky Atkins 33 8-15 3-6 0-0 19 0-4 1 2 3 0 0 Jerry Stackhouse 43 7-22 2-4 8-8 24 2-7 7 1 4 2 1 Dana Barros 23 2-7 1-2 2-2 7 0-0 2 4 1 1 0 Mikki Moore 19 1-1 0-0 6-6 8 2-5 1 1 2 0 1 Mateen Cleaves 15 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 3 1 3 1 0 Brian Cardinal 5 0-1 0-0 0-2 0 1-2 0 1 4 0 1 Billy Owens 10 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 1 0 1 1 0 Totals 48 30-82 6-13 24-33 90 16-45 19 14 26 7 7 Dallas at Boston (December 18) Boston led 8-6 with 8 minutes remaining and Dallas scored the next 8 points to go up 14-8 with 4:30 left. Dallas closed the quarter by scoring the last 10 points, capped by a 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki with 3 seconds left, to go up 32-15 after 1. Nowitzki had 11 points on 5-6 FG and Steve Nash had 7 points and 7 assists. Dallas shot 13-19 FG while Boston only shot 7-25 FG. The usual poor play in the 2nd quarter allowed Boston to cut into Dallas' lead. Dallas led 41-24 with 8 minutes to go and Boston scored the next 7 points. Dallas led 59-50 at the half. Paul Pierce was a monster in the quarter and had 18 points on 5-5 FG and 8-9 FT. Boston continued to eat away at Dallas' lead in the 3rd quarter. Dallas led 69-63 on a 3-pointer by Steve Nash with 7:30 left, but Boston went on an 11-4 run to go up 74-71 with 4 minutes left. Dallas closed the quarter with an 11-3 run to lead 84-79 after 3. The 4th quarter saw Dallas' lead fluctuate between 5 and 11 points. Dallas led 91-86 with 8 minutes to go and then scored the next 6 points to go up 97-86 with 6:20 remaining. Boston pulled within 6 points at 96-102 with a minute left on a slam dunk by Tony Battie, but Nash ansered with a jumper and Michael Finley got a layup on the break with 29 seconds left. A layup by Antoine Walker capped the scoring. Dallas won 106-98. It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win is a win. And the Mavs are winning the ugly ones - games where they are not playing well. In the past, they would have lost these types of games. It would be nice, though, if they could maintain those early double-digit leads against poorer teams. Dirk Nowitzki had another monster game with 31 points including 10-16 FG and 5-7 3-pointers. Steve Nash was incredible with 20 points on 6-7 FG and 7-7 FT, 5 rebounds, 14 assists, and 5 steals. And Michael Finley chipped in 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. When the big 3 have games like that, this is a hard team to beat. Paul Pierce was strong for Boston with 30 points including 12-13 FT and Antoine Walker had 20 points, 17 rebounds, and 6 assists. The play of the night (and week) was when Nash was running on the break, drove the paint at two Celtic defenders, and flipped the ball behind his back without looking to Nowitzki, who was flying in from the wing, and Nowitzki slammed the ball home. Dallas finished 4-2 on the Eastern road trip. Quotes Don Nelson: "We're a pretty good team, not a great team. Just guys playing well together." Nelson: "It's a perfect ending to an outstanding road trip. We played very well and I am just happy with their performance." Michael Finley on Nowitzki: "Not to put any pressure on Dirk, but everybody's talking about the coming of the next Michael Jordan and who would it be. But Dirk reminds me of Larry Bird. The way he hits the boards; the way he'll take off and go coast to coast. He hits the mid-range jumper. It seems as if it's easy to compare them." Finley on Nowitzki: "A lot of people are talking about the next coming of Jordan, who would it be. But if you look at Dirk and what he does on the court, it's ironic that we're in Boston, because he reminds me of Larry Bird - a guy who can take it off the board, take it coast to coast, and has a deadly 3-point jumper. He's just coming into his own. His size and everything is easy to compare to [Bird]." Dirk Nowitzki: "It was a tough trip. We are glad to go home. We're playing very well, so I wouldn't have minded if it had lasted a little longer." Nowitzki: "We all like to play for Don Nelson. He's a great coach and he put the team together. We really picked it up since our two losses and we made it a nice trip for us." Nowitzki: "I don't see myself as a leader. There are a lot of good players on this team. There are a lot of role players and leaders. ... My strength is outside. I credit my teammates for finding me open shots." Nowitzki on scoring 30 points: "Every time, it's something special. Scoring in this league is not a very easy thing. When you get 30, it means something." Nowitzki: "Since my jumper was off in Indianapolis, I found my rhythm in Philly and was able to carry it on for the last 3 games. I just hope that it continues like that." Nowitzki: "Steve is our leader, he runs the offense. He's been unreal this year." Steve Nash: "There are unselfish players. Guys are fighting to rebound and defend down the stretch, which were never our strengths but are now our strong suits." Nash: "It was a very successful road trip, but we're never satisfied. Most of this group of guys have played together for 2 1/2 season. But the difference between now and then is that we didn't have the confidence we have now. Before we were going through growing pains and now we feel as though we have the experience and down the stretch we can make a few mistakes and still win games." Nash on the end of the 6 game road trip: "It will feel good to be back in your own bed. I don't even know where I am right now. I'm so lost." Rick Pitino: "We just don't do smart things offensively when we have to. In close ball games in the 4th quarter, we've got to do real intelligent things and we didn't. Guys are playing really hard. We're going against good basketball teams. As long as they keep their attitude and play this hard, we'll keep working at it, keep trying to give it our all." Pitino: "We fought back, we had a shot to win, but sometimes when you fight back like this and you play your guys so many minutes like this it takes a lot out of you." Pitino on Dallas: "They're one of the better shooting teams. Sacramento was one of the best passing teams I've seen. This is one of the best shooting teams. On their free throws, they don't even hit iron. I'd like to teach that. They're a terrific team." Pitino: "They have a lot of answers. They're a good old-fashioned one-on-one basketball team, and if you can't guard them one-on-one, a young man in the corner at 6-10 [Nowitzki] may have the best stroke I've seen since Bird. He's a terrific basketball player." Paul Pierce: "I'm frustrated, but the great thing is [it's] easy to be frustrated one day and on the bright side the next day. All we have to do is get a win." Pierce: "They came out scorching, but we didn't defend them well. They got easy buckets, they got wide-open looks, and they were just doing anything they wanted." Pierce: "I thought we were there in the game. Regardless of the hole, we had the lead. We had momentum and that's when we just let down - gave them a lot of open looks from 3 and they're a great shooting ball club. You give them that many open looks and it's going to be tough, especially when they're hot." Antoine Walker: "We've got to step up. We're starving for a win. We have one day to prepare for New Jersey. That's our biggest game of the season right now. We have to get a win before we really put ourselves out of contention early on." Bryant Stith: "Maybe we expended a lot of energy trying to get back in the game and our legs weren't there in the 4th quarter. Whatever the case was, we couldn't contain dribble penetration. Guys were forced to help and we fell through on major rotations to probably one of the premier young forwards in the league [Nowitzki]." Dallas Mavericks 106, Boston Celtics 98 at Boston (December 18) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 32 27 25 22 - 106 .534 .438 .514 .885 Boston 15 35 29 19 - 98 .492 .278 .444 .840 Halftime: Dallas 59-50 3rd Q: Dallas 84-79 Technicals: None Refs: Ron Garretson, Derrick Stafford, Jason Phillips Attendance: 11,327 (cap 18,624) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 44 8-17 0-1 2-3 18 2-5 6 3 1 2 1 Dirk Nowitzki 39 10-16 5-7 6-7 31 0-4 2 2 3 0 0 Shawn Bradley 32 5-9 0-0 3-4 13 3-6 0 2 5 1 3 Howard Eisley 33 2-8 1-3 2-2 7 0-2 4 2 3 0 0 Steve Nash 41 6-7 1-2 7-7 20 0-5 14 2 2 5 0 Hubert Davis 24 0-4 0-3 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 2 0 0 Loy Vaught 5 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 0 0 2 0 0 Christian Laettner 6 2-3 0-0 2-2 6 0-0 0 0 2 0 1 Gary Trent 12 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 1-3 0 1 1 0 0 Courtney Alexander 4 2-5 0-0 1-1 5 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-74 7-16 23-26 106 8-32 26 12 21 8 5 Boston Celtics REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Paul Pierce 41 9-20 0-3 12-13 30 1-3 2 0 2 4 1 Antoine Walker 44 9-21 1-7 1-3 20 5-17 6 3 1 2 0 Tony Battie 20 5-7 0-0 2-2 12 2-6 0 2 4 0 2 Kenny Anderson 25 2-7 0-1 0-0 4 0-0 2 2 3 0 0 Bryant Stith 38 4-9 3-5 0-0 11 2-4 4 2 4 0 0 Randy Brown 9 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 2 0 0 0 Adrian Griffin 16 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 3-6 2 1 2 1 0 Vitaly Potapenko 26 5-6 0-0 4-5 14 3-7 1 0 4 0 0 Walter McCarty 7 1-2 1-1 0-0 3 0-1 1 0 1 1 1 Milt Palacio 14 0-4 0-1 2-2 2 0-0 5 0 3 1 0 Totals 48 36-81 5-18 21-25 98 16-44 24 12 24 9 4 Portland at Dallas (December 20) It was a closely contested game the whole way with Portland's largest lead only 6 points and Dallas' only 9 points. There were 2 ties and Portland held small leads the entire 1st quarter. Portland led 28-26 after 1. Both teams continued their strong play in the 2nd quarter and there were no rallies. Portland led by 6 points a couple of times and Dallas at 2 twice. Portland led 51-50 at the half. The shock of the night was that Dallas was out-rebounding Portland by a couple most of the night. Shawn Bradley had 10 points and 7 rebounds in the 2nd quarter. The 3rd quarter continued this closely contested match and Portland led 78-76 after 3. Dirk Nowitzki had 11 points in the quarter. Rasheed Wallace opened the 4th with a dunk and then Dallas scored the next 6 points, as Michael Finley hit a jumper and Howard Eisley scored two buckets, to go up 82-80 with 10 minutes to go. The teams traded baskets and then it started to get really ugly as Portland's frustration came through. Bonzi Wells was called for fouling Nowitzki and did not agree with the call. After Nowitzki made the first free throw, Wells was hitted with a technical for complaining. Nowitzki went on to make technical and the second free throw to put Dallas up 87-82 with 7:33 left. Wells missed a layup and as Finley was heading up the court with the ball, Wells went over and tripped him. It was an ugly leg-to-leg trip that fortunately did not result in Finley being injured. Finley got up and got in Wells face. After the players had been separated, the refs announced their crazy calls. Personal foul on Wells, technical on Finley, and technical on Stacey Augmon. Wells intentionally (and dangerously) trips a play and just gets a personal foul??? And then with 6 minutes left and Dallas up by 3, Scottie Pippen intentionally trips Shawn Bradley and Bradley is jogging down the court. Bradley gets up and gets in Pippen's face. The call? Again, personal foul Pippen, technical foul Bradley, and technical foul Portland coach Mike Dunleavy (who claimed he saw Bradley throw a punch - other reports had it listed as Bradley waving his finger at Pippen). Add that to the ridiculous hanging on the rim technicals the refs called earlier in the game and all the hacking they were allowing and the refs had no control of this game. However, the Mavs did not let the Blazers' thuggary or the refs lack of attention affect their game, while Portland crumbled. Finley hit a jump hook in the lane to put Dallas up 89-84 with 5:40 left. Dallas hit 4 straight free throws to go up 98-89 with 2:30 remaining. Wallace got a slam dunk and Damon Stoudamire nailed a 3-pointer to pull Portland within 94-98 with 1:40 to go. Nowitzki answered with a layup and jumper to put Dallas up 102-94 with 51 seconds left. Dallas hit 4 free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Dallas won 106-101. Well, it was a great game until the 4th quarter. That take down of Finley was really ugly and ticked me off. You just don't do things like that. Add to that all the hacking in the paint that the refs were allowing and Pippen's trip and I was not a happy camper. I still can not believe that there were no fines or suspensions from this game - at the very least Gary Trent should have been suspended for leaving the bench after Well's tripped Finley. The reffing in this game was _terrible_. Portland's complaining about the game had me and my friend, who attended the game and is not a Mavs' fan, laughing. At least it didn't affect the out come of the game. It was another monster game for Dirk Nowitzki with 29 points (including 12 in the 4th) on 11-19 FG and 6-6 FT and 12 rebounds. Michael Finley had 20 points and Steve Nash had 18 points and 8 assists. Shawn Bradley had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. He and Nowitzki were part of the reason that Dallas out-rebounded Portland 47-34 including 17-12 offensive - I had thought going into this game that Dallas would be killed on the boards. For Portland, Damon Stoudamire had 22 points and 5 assists and Rasheed Wallace had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Play of the night: Finley missed a 3-pointer, but Nowitzki was there for the monster rebound, spun, nailed the layup, and was fouled. He hit the free throw to give Dallas a 94-86 lead with 3 minutes left. Shawn Kemp did not play-coach's decision. Kemp had missed a team practice the day before. He was fined by the team for missing practice, but not suspended. Quotes Don Nelson: "That was about as crazy a ballgame as I've ever been involved in. I know it was a hard game for the referees to referee because of the antics of the Trailblazers. We tried to keep our cool the best we could, and I thought the guys did a good job of that. It probably cost them the game, all the technicals, and somehow we fought through it." Nelson: "The playoffs are this intense, but not this emotionally unstable. But, you have to find a way to play through that, and we did." Nelson on the team's 18-10 record: "I didn't expect this record. Are you kidding me? If you had told me that we would have all these road games and we would have this record at this time of year, I would have called you foolish." Nelson on Nowitzki: "I don't know how to keep talking about him. He's just 22 and the sky's the limit." Michael Finley: "This is the closest thing to a playoff game I've ever been in. As far as the crowd, it was a definite playoff atmosphere." Finley: "This was the closest thing to a playoff game that I have ever been in as far as the crowd and the intensity of both teams." Finley on the game: "As a team we took a little step toward being the team we need to be." Finley on the Wells' trip: "Bonzi didn't have anything going his way at the time, and I knew he was going to foul somebody hard or do something, but I never thought it would be me. I have respect for him, and we're friends off the court, but in that type of situation, all friendships go out the door." Finley: "The coaching staff had said that Portland thought we were soft, but when there were confrontations we stood our ground and didn't back down." Dirk Nowitzki: "I was just letting the game come to me. My teammates always gave me the ball in the right spot and I was just playing with the flow of the team. I was open and just did my thing." Nowitzki: "Normally [technicals are] not very good for the flow of the game, but somehow we always got together and said, 'Let's stay focused, let's try to win this game.' That's what we did. We did a great job." Mike Dunleavy: "A disappointing game in a lot of ways for us. We lost our composure. Some of the calls were tough calls but we didn't stay disciplined enough. Both teams mixed it up and got into it. We took the brunt of it and we let them take the game from us." Dunleavy: "No tone needs to be set. They are an excellent team. They have got the ability to beat us. That's enough incentive as it is. We have to come on strong and be ready to play 48 minutes against this team. We played 48 minutes the last time and we got a good win. Tonight we had lapses. We let our emotions get to us and they took the game away." Dunleavy: "I thought we lost the game in the 3rd quarter. We let them off the hook. We had them in foul trouble and we were in the bonus, and we didn't stay disciplined enough to pound the ball inside and make them either double-team or foul us." Dunleavy on his ejection: "I saw Bradley throw a punch and they T'd him up on it. To me, I think that is an altercation and I thought I was allowed to come out on the floor basically as a peacemaker. Then, all of a sudden, [the ref] comes quietly over to me and says, 'You're gone.'" Dunleavy on Nowitzki: "Dirk's having a great year for sure. He's a unique type of player. He's got the ability to score from the outside, pick up the dribble. He's an excellent shooter. He's an excellent competitor." Steve Smith: "The game got ugly and ragged, and they took advantage of it. If it had stayed the way it was, we had a pretty good rhythm and we would have had a better chance. Once it got ugly, they got up 3 or 4, then we were playing catch-up." Smith: "The game got ugly and ragged and they took advantage. It used to take a lot to get a technical. Now, you better not blink. Dale Davis can barely dunk and he gets a technical for hanging on the rim." Scottie Pippen: "If we could have gotten a few calls to go our way, it would have made a difference. But they got all the calls, they got all the breaks, and it was a game that was hard to figure from the start." Bonzi Wells, who obviously didn't pay too close attention to Dirk: "All he can do is really just shoot." Wells on the physicalness of the game: "It got out of hand, but it was still a competitive game. It was still close. We just have to beat them the next time we play them." Wells: "Well, it really didn't have anything to do with the Mavericks. This game just kind of got out of hand. A lot of technical fouls were being called, a lot of fouls were being called, so both teams didn't really get into a groove. There's no bitter blood, no bad blood. We respect Dallas as a team, all their players. It just kind of got out of hand." Wells on the officiating: "It's us against the world. A lot of guys probably give us that bad-boy image, and maybe a lot of people don't like us. I don't want to say anything about the refereeing. I won't. But when the momentum goes their way, everything goes their way - calls, calls, calls." Greg Anthony: "This is an emotional game. This is what we do for a living, and we are out there trying to win. When things start going awry, it can have a negative impact. Unfortunately, it did tonight in our case." Dallas Mavericks 106, Portland Trailblazers 101 at Dallas (December 20) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 26 24 26 30 - 106 .514 .286 .494 .923 Portland 28 23 27 23 - 101 .492 .412 .475 .783 Halftime: Portland 51-50 3rd Q: Portland 78-76 Technicals: Rasheed Wallace (hanging on the rim) 8:07 1st, Howard Eisley 3:12 2nd, Mike Dunleavy 10:02 3rd, Dale Davis (hanging on the rim) 8:07 3rd, Dale Davis 4:32 3rd, Bonzi Wells 7:33 4th, Michael Finley 7:17 4th, Shawn Bradley 5:49 4th, Mike Dunleavy (2nd - ejected) 5:45 4th, Dallas Illegal D 5:18 4th, Shawn Bradley (2nd - ejected) 0:51 4th Refs: Joe Forte, Ron Olesiak, Marc Davis Attendance: 17,750 (cap 18,187) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 44 8-18 0-3 4-4 20 2-4 0 3 3 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 38 11-19 1-2 6-6 29 5-12 2 3 5 1 2 Christian Laettner 16 3-6 0-0 1-2 7 0-4 1 1 1 0 1 Howard Eisley 37 5-9 1-2 0-0 11 0-1 6 2 4 1 0 Steve Nash 37 5-10 0-0 8-8 18 1-4 8 5 2 1 1 Gary Trent 15 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 4-6 0 1 0 2 0 Shawn Bradley 24 4-6 0-0 5-6 13 4-12 1 1 1 0 1 Hubert Davis 19 3-5 0-0 0-0 6 1-3 2 0 2 0 0 Courtney Alexander 10 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 40-81 2-7 24-26 106 17-47 20 17 19 5 5 Portland Trailblazers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Scottie Pippen 35 3-5 1-1 4-4 11 3-4 9 3 5 2 0 Rasheed Wallace 45 8-20 1-3 3-6 20 3-7 4 2 4 4 0 Arvydas Sabonis 24 2-6 0-0 2-2 6 2-7 4 2 1 1 1 Steve Smith 37 4-10 1-5 5-5 14 0-2 2 0 1 2 0 Damon Stoudamire 36 9-19 3-5 1-1 22 2-4 5 5 4 3 0 Dale Davis 20 6-8 0-0 2-3 14 1-5 1 0 2 1 1 Greg Anthony 18 3-6 1-2 1-2 8 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Bonzi Wells 14 2-5 0-1 0-0 4 0-3 0 2 3 1 0 Stacey Augmon 11 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 1 1 3 0 0 Totals 48 38-80 7-17 18-23 101 12-34 26 16 23 14 2 LA Lakers at Dallas (December 22) It was a closely contested 1st quarter with 4 ties and 6 lead changes. The Lakers scored 6 straight points to go up 27-21 with less than a minute left and led 29-23 after 1. Rick Fox had 12 points. The Lakers led 31-29 with 10 minutes to go and scored the next 7 points, capped by a 3-pointer by Kobe Bryant, to go up 38-29 with 8:50 left. The Lakers scored the last 8 points of the quarter to take a 61-41 lead into halftime. Shaquille O'Neal had 19 points and Bryant had 19 points. But these Mavs were not yet ready to go home. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with a 14-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Howard Eisley, to pull within 55-63 with 7:50 left. But the Lakers responded by scoring the next 8 points to go up 71-55 with 5:20 remaining. A layup by Michael Finley cut the Lakers' lead down to 80-68 after 3. Steve Nash had 10 points in the 3rd quarter. The Lakers led 86-70 with 9:30 to go and Dallas scored the next 9 points to pull within 79-86 with 7:15 remaining. Robert Horry answered with a 3-pointer to curve Dallas' momentum. The Lakers led 96-84 with 4:45 remaining and Dallas scored the next 7 points, capped by a 3-pointer by Nash, to pull within 91-96 with 2:35 left. O'Neal hit 1 of 2 free throws and Dirk Nowitzki hit 2 free throws with 2:15 to go. Ron Harper converted a 3-point play with 2 minutes left to put the Lakers up 100-93. Nowitzki hit 2 free throws and Hubert Davis drained a 3-pointer to pull Dallas within 98-100 with 1:35 remaining. Bryant hit a tough jumper over 2 defenders with 1:11 to go. Finley hit 2 free throws and Bryant hit 2 free throws with 45 seconds left. Eisley drove and missed the layup with 38 seconds left. And that was game as the Lakers hit 4 free throws to hang on to the win. The Lakers won 108-103. It was a wonderful comeback by Dallas, but they dug themselves a near impossible hole by going down by 20 at halftime - they missed a ton of easy shots and free throws - and they got creamed on the boards (30-50). The rebounding focus that was there in the Portland game was no where to be found in this game. I think the team's focusing on O'Neal caused them to lose sight of how important rebounds are and the effort it takes to get them. Dallas only committed 5 turnovers in the game. The Mavs had no answer for Kobe Bryant. He was hitting tough shots all night and finished with 35 points on 12-20 FG and 10-10 FT. The Mavs did have an answer for Shaquille O'Neal. He was dominating (28 points on 9-14 FG and 10-20 FT), but not as dominating as he can be. And, the Mavs' use of Hack-a-Shaq, causes the O'Neal to sit on the bench during key moments in the game. The Mavs threw every big man they had at O'Neal. Rick Fox also had a nice game with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki, as is becoming the norm, lead the team with 29 points (14 in the 4th quarter) on 9-15 FG and 11-15 FT and 10 rebounds. Michael Finley had an all-round game with 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. Steve Nash had 18 points and 8 assists and Howard Eisley had 16 points including 4-7 3-pointers. Quotes Phil Jackson on O'Neal: "He was very aggressive. We knew that it was going to be a decoy, try and invite the ball to go to Shaq and make a free throw situation. But he prevailed, even from the free throw line tonight." Shaquille O'Neal: "We're tired but we're doing okay. We've had a pretty good road trip. We had a couple of close ones but we did what we had to do to get the win." O'Neal on Hack-a-Shaq: "It seemed to me none of their guys wanted to play anyway. Either they were trying to foul me the whole time or they didn't want to play. That's clown basketball. It should be clown basketball coming from a clown guy like Don Nelson." O'Neal: "They're nothing but clown basketball, and they're coached by a clown." O'Neal: "It never seems to work against me. The percentages are always in my favor." O'Neal: "The league has to do something about that before someone gets hurt. Anyone who tries to get dirty with me, they'll get hurt before I do." O'Neal: "They know who the baddest big man is." Kobe Bryant on playing Dallas: "It's always interesting playing them. You don't really know what kind of defense they're going to play." Rick Fox: "We're doing what we didn't do early in the season, which is find a way to win and close out games. That's going to be a confidence builder." Don Nelson on Bryant: "We double-teamed him, we triple-teamed him, we tried everything. We're seeing a very special player in Kobe Bryant. We've seen them all and at this particular time, he is the best player in the league. I know he has all those comparisons with Michael Jordan, but at this stage of his career at his age, I've never seen a player better." Nelson on Bryant: "We were double-teaming him, triple-teaming him, denying him, fronting him. You name it, and still he got 35. He's truly an amazing player." Nelson on Bryant's jumper in the last minute of the game: "It was an incredible shot. Not only did he rise up and shoot it with 2 players on him, I thought we were leaning into his body and probably fouled him. I don't even know how he got it off. Not only did he get it off, he made it. That was a big-time shot. We've got a chance to win the game had he not made that shot." Nelson on Dallas' poor shooting in the 1st half: "We have to make shots. We have to make shots for it to work." Nelson: "We just didn't play well enough in the 1st half to give ourselves a good shot although I am real proud of them to get back in it and played an outstanding 2nd half and really showed a lot of heart. But if you spot the World Champs too many points, its real difficult." Nelson on Dallas' poor free throw shooting: "They should have Hack-a-Shaqed us the way we were shooting free throws. I hoped we're not tight in a game like this." Nelson on Hack-a-Shaq: "We were going to do it as much as we thought necessary. We'll do it early, late, whatever we think is good." Michael Finley on Dallas' poor 1st half: "I think we were just trying to, like coach said, play a perfect game. And by that we were taking shots that we normally don't take, over-penetrating, over-passing - just doing things that we really don't do in game situations. But in the 2nd half, we played more of our game, and it was very evident on the board." Finley on Hack-a-Shaq: "It's the norm for us now. Coach prepares us for it a couple of days before. It's about odds. We think it's better odds to not make him dunk and make 2 free throws instead. But, tonight, our strategy backfired." Dirk Nowitzki: "I think it was a great effort. It's always a big game when the defending champions come in. They bring a lot of hype with them. It was a big game for us, and they were ready to play. They knew we were going after them and they came ready to play in the 1st half." Hubert Davis: "You'd almost rather get blown out than to get so close." Courtney Alexander: "If we would have put forth the same effort in the 1st half as we did in the 2nd half, I think the outcome of the game would have been a little different. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do that and we suffered." Los Angeles Lakers 108, Dallas Mavericks 103 at Dallas (December 22) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% LA Lakers 29 32 19 28 - 108 .564 .438 .535 .641 Dallas 23 18 27 35 - 103 .477 .333 .446 .742 Halftime: LA Lakers 61-41 3rd Q: LA Lakers 80-68 Technicals: None Refs: Dick Bavetta, Jim Kinsey, Sean Corbin Attendance: 18,201 (sellout) Los Angeles Lakers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rick Fox 34 6-11 3-5 0-0 15 4-12 2 2 3 0 0 Horace Grant 25 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 1-6 2 1 2 1 0 Shaquille O'Neal 41 9-14 0-0 10-20 28 1-9 2 4 5 2 0 Kobe Bryant 46 12-20 1-1 10-10 35 1-4 4 5 5 0 0 Ron Harper 30 3-5 0-2 2-3 8 2-8 2 4 2 0 1 Robert Horry 21 1-4 1-3 3-4 6 4-8 3 1 5 0 0 Isaiah Rider 18 3-7 1-2 0-0 7 0-1 5 1 1 0 0 Mike Penberthy 8 2-4 1-3 0-0 5 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 Brian Shaw 17 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 0-2 3 0 1 1 0 Totals 48 38-71 7-16 25-39 108 13-50 24 19 25 4 1 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 48 8-19 0-2 6-9 22 4-8 8 1 2 4 0 Dirk Nowitzki 46 9-15 0-3 11-15 29 0-10 2 1 5 0 0 Christian Laettner 14 2-5 0-0 3-4 7 0-1 1 0 3 1 0 Howard Eisley 33 6-14 4-7 0-0 16 0-3 2 0 2 1 0 Steve Nash 42 7-14 1-4 3-3 18 0-2 8 1 3 0 0 Mark Bryant 5 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 6 0 0 Shawn Bradley 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 1 1 0 0 Hubert Davis 18 1-4 1-2 0-0 3 1-1 0 1 2 0 0 Donnell Harvey 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Loy Vaught 5 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 0 0 3 0 0 Gary Trent 6 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 1 0 3 0 0 Courtney Alexander 14 0-5 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 1 0 1 1 0 Totals 48 37-83 6-18 23-31 103 6-30 23 5 32 7 0 patricia