LA Lakers at Dallas (February 20) The pre-game show had Don Nelson returning to the court about 3 minutes before game-time and the fans gave him a loud ovation and the cameras surrounded him. He jokingly put on a red clown nose (Shaquille O'Neal called him a clown after the last Dal-LAL game for hack-a-Shaq). O'Neal, whose team was shooting around, wove his way through the cameramen and gave Nelson a hug. O'Neal took the clown nose off Nelson and put it on his own. Shortly before game time, Nelson's wife put a white carnation on his jacket. It was really nice to have Nelson back [as much as small ball drives me nuts sometimes]. The Mavs started out hot and built up a 14-4 lead with 8 minutes left on 4 consecutive 3-pointers. Dallas led 24-16 with 3:25 to go and the Lakers made it a close game without Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal on the floor as the Lakers scored the next 9 points to go up 25-24 with 25 seconds remaining. Michael Finley had a monster slam over Mark Madsen with 6 seconds left and Dallas led 26-25 after 1. Steve Nash had 10 points and Rick Fox had 9 points. Neither team made much of a run in the 2nd quarter and the Lakers mostly held small leads. The Lakers led 53-50 with 1:45 remaining and the Mavs implemented hack-a-Shaq. It was obvious that the strategy was not going to work for this game as Shaquille O'Neal was taking his time at the line and concentrating on his free throws and hit them. He shot 5-6 FT at the end of the quarter and the Lakers led 59-55 at the half. Nash continued his strong performance with 11 points in the quarter. Dirk Nowitzki also had 9 points, O'Neal had 9 points, and Mike Penberthy hit 3 3-pointers over a 3 minute span early in the 2nd quarter. Both teams' leaders were not having good games as Kobe Bryant only had 5 points and Finley had 6 points. The Lakers scored the first 6 points of the 3rd quarter to go up 65-55 with 10:30 remaining. The Lakers led 78-67 with 4:15 to go and built up their lead to 18 points at 87-69 with 2:15 left. Dallas scored the last 7 points of the quarter and the Lakers led 89-78 after 3. The Lakers led 96-80 with 10:45 remaining and Dallas scored the next 9 points to pull within 89-96 with 8 minutes left as the Lakers missed 5 straight shots. A _monster_ one-handed slam over Bryant by Finley (wow!) pulled Dallas within 5 points at 94-99 with 5:30 to go. Finley drained a 3-pointer with 2:35 left and Dallas seemed to have the momentum as the Lakers only led 107-103. The Lakers took a timeout as Bryant was on the floor in pain as Finley made the shot. Bryant sprained his ankle chasing after Nash and was on the floor for a few minutes. After he got up, he walked over to coach Phil Jackson and said that he wanted to stay in. [I thought the trainer should have stepped in and make him sit - it's only 1 of 82 games and you don't want to risk further injury - he missed tonight's Spurs game due to the injury.] Bryant stayed in and drove to basket and nailed the short pull-up jumper with 2:15 left. The long timeout seemed to have killed Dallas' momentum as they didn't look as crisp and Nowitzki missed a 3-pointer - and Bryant got the rebound [the kid's got heart]. O'Neal got 2 inside and Nash missed a 3-pointer. 2 free throws by Fox put the game out of reach as the Lakers led 113-103 with 1:35 left. The Lakers hit 6 more free throws to preserve the win. The Lakers won 119-109. Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding. It was pathetic for this game. The Mavs can actually rebound if they think about it, but they have to think about it - it doesn't come naturally. I can't tell you how many times I saw a Mav shoot and not a single white shirt was within 15 feet of the basket. I said midway through the game that Dallas does not deserve to win with their pathetic board work. And the fact that they were able to make the game close despite such rebounding dominance is impressive, but it makes life so much more difficult for themselves. The Lakers out-rebounded Dallas 55-32, including 15-6 offensive. The loss put a damper on Steve Nash's outstanding 1st half performance. He was a madman against the Lakers - granted they were playing without a true point guard (Bryant played point). Nash had a career-high 31 points (21 in the 1st half) including 8-10 FT and 7 assists. Michael Finley was off in the 1st half, but finished with 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists and 2 monster, highlight-film slams. They still have me "ohhh"ing. Dirk Nowitzki had a quiet 25 points and 8 rebounds and Hubert Davis was the only other Mav in double digits with 10 points. This was one of Shawn Bradley's bad games - he did nothing worth while on the court. Christian Laettner did a decent job on O'Neal, but needed to work more on the rebounds. Shaquille O'Neal (22 points including 11-15 FT, 11 rebounds) and Kobe Bryant (19 points on 5-16 FG and 9-10 FT, 6 rebounds, 7 assists) had nice, but non-superstar games. I could tell from O'Neal's first 2 free throws that hack-a-Shaq was not going to work - and I wouldn't fouled him the next 2 times. He was taking his time at the line. In the past, he would walk up and quickly shoot the free throw as if he couldn't wait to get away from it. The Lakers got key lifts from outside their big 2. Rick Fox stepped up big with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Isaiah Rider had 20 points and Mike Penberthy chipped in 11 points. Quotes Phil Jackson: "They got off to a hot start in this ballgame and that really put us on our heels. Maybe it worked to our advantage that Steve Nash had so many points in the 1st half. It looked like he ran out of gas a little bit." Jackson on O'Neal's free throw shooting: "That's been my mantra during the year - that when Shaq starts making his free throws, we're a different ballclub. Tonight, he made them under duress. Really the strategy that fails is really a boost for him and his confidence on the foul line." Shaquille O'Neal: "That was game we needed, we need to pick up our defense. We were able to fight it through and win the game." O'Neal on hack-a-Shaq: "It doesn't work; nothing works. I'm the most dominant big man ever. I just want to hear Nellie say it one time. I know it. I just want to hear him say it: 'Shaq is the most dominant.'" Kobe Bryant on O'Neal making his free throws: "What happens, Shaq's confidence picks up in his all-around game. As a result, his enthusiasm for the game is a lot higher and he's able to play defense." Bryant on spraining his right ankle: "When I went to the ground, I felt like it popped. I just wanted to focus on the game and not think about the pain. Just focus on something else. You play through the pain, then you deal with the consequences later." Rick Fox: "Whenever you see Shaquille play as strong as he's been playing of late, it opens up everything for everyone that's on the court with him. That's the Shaq that we've missed for most of the season. And it's not that he hasn't been capable of doing that. I think he's dealt with a lot of frustrating things, from injuries to the scrutiny of he and Kobe. And it's a lot alone to defend the championship, but to have to deal with those outside distractions, I think wore on him, it's worn on all of us, and once we've turned the corner can put that behind us." Don Nelson: "We lost the game, but it's sure great to be back. I enjoyed the competitiveness of the game. I thought we played pretty darn hard, had a lot of energy. We needed to make a lot of shots from the outside, and I didn't think we shot the ball like we're capable of. They also were really good." Nelson on O'Neal's free throw shooting: "When Shaq makes his free throws like that, then the hack-a-Shaq goes right out the window. We were only able to use that tactic for a real short period of time in the 2nd quarter. Then we basically had to stay away from it and only foul him when he was in a dunk situation. But, to his credit, he's a competitive guy and he stepped up and made them and took us right out of that tactic." Michael Finley on O'Neal's free throw shooting: "He only concentrates against us. If he would concentrate against everyone else, he could shoot 75% and be averaging 45-50 points." Dirk Nowitzki: "Of course, it's a tough loss. We were right there. They just had a better day. We started off hot but you always know they are going to come back. They are the world champs and they had a good game." Steve Nash: "We came awfully close to beating the Lakers the first 2 times we played them. Tonight, we weren't as close. Shaq hit his free throws and that was a big part of the game." Nash: "We've got to be hot in a game like tonight. But I'd like to think that we had an off-night shooting tonight and that if we had a normal night, perhaps we'd have been a little closer. Maybe not won but come closer and anything could have happened." Nash on O'Neal's free throw shooting: "Give him his props, because he was fantastic at the free throw line." Shawn Bradley on LA out-rebounded Dallas 55-32: "It's tough to win when you get out-rebounded like that. Even getting out-rebounded like that we still had our opportunities and made a close game out of it." Los Angeles Lakers 119, Dallas Mavericks 109 at Dallas (February 20) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% LA Lakers 25 34 30 30 - 119 .457 .500 .463 .841 Dallas 26 29 23 31 - 109 .460 .414 .451 .750 Halftime: LA Lakers 59-55 3rd Q: LA Lakers 89-78 Technicals: None Refs: Ron Garretson, Jason Phillips, Nolan Fine Attendance: 18,287 (sellout) Los Angeles Lakers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rick Fox 36 8-12 2-4 4-4 22 1-11 2 0 3 2 1 Horace Grant 27 2-7 0-0 4-4 8 5-12 3 0 3 0 0 Shaquille O'Neal 35 9-17 0-0 11-15 29 4-11 2 1 4 1 2 Kobe Bryant 40 5-16 0-0 9-10 19 1-6 7 3 3 1 1 Isaiah Rider 31 8-14 0-0 4-6 20 1-4 5 1 3 0 0 Mark Madsen 10 1-1 0-0 1-1 3 1-2 1 1 2 0 0 Mike Penberthy 26 4-9 3-5 0-0 11 1-4 2 2 0 1 0 Robert Horry 14 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-3 2 0 0 0 0 Devean George 8 1-2 1-2 2-2 5 0-1 0 0 2 0 1 Tyronn Lue 5 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 0-0 0 0 3 0 0 Brian Shaw 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 2 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-82 6-12 37-44 119 15-55 26 10 23 5 5 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 44 9-22 2-7 2-3 22 3-5 5 1 3 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 41 10-18 2-4 3-3 25 1-8 0 1 3 1 2 Christian Laettner 28 4-7 0-0 1-2 9 1-6 2 0 4 0 2 Howard Eisley 32 3-8 3-6 0-0 9 0-2 2 1 2 0 0 Steve Nash 37 10-22 3-9 8-10 31 0-3 7 1 3 0 0 Hubert Davis 21 4-6 2-3 0-0 10 0-2 1 2 5 0 0 Loy Vaught 4 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 0 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 12 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 3 1 2 Greg Buckner 21 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 0-3 3 0 5 1 1 Totals 48 41-91 12-29 15-20 109 6-32 20 6 29 3 7 patricia