Dallas at LA Lakers (March 30) The game stayed close in the first quarter with the Lakers mostly holding single-digit leads (with a couple of 1 point Dallas leads tossed in). The Lakers led 31-26 after 1. Shaquille O'Neal had a monster 1st quarter with 12 points as the Mavs' big men could do nothing defensively with O'Neal, besides get in foul trouble (Shawn Bradley picked up 2 fouls in the first 2:15 of the game). The game remained close in the 2nd quarter with the Lakers mostly holding small leads. The Mavs took a small 1 point lead at 48-47 with 4 minutes remaining. The Lakers scored the next 7 points to go up 54-48 with 2:43 left. Brian Shaw nailed a 3-pointer with 3 seconds to go and the Lakers led 59-52 at the half. O'Neal had 20 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 16 points in the half. The Lakers scored the first 4 points of the quarter to take their first double-digit lead of the game at 63-52 with 10:30 remaining. The Lakers led by 6 to 11 points the rest of the quarter. The Lakers led 76-68 after 3. Both team struggle from the field in the quarter at 6-18 FG. Neither team had a run in them where either the Lakers could pull away or the Mavs make it a close game as the Lakers' lead ranged from 8 points to 13 points in the 4th quarter. The Lakers won 98-89. The Mavs still have no answer to Shaquille O'Neal. Shawn Bradley was ineffective defending O'Neal and Calvin Booth didn't do much better. Booth picked up his 5th foul late in the 3rd quarter (the only reason he didn't foul out was that the Lakers, as they sometimes strangely do, went away from O'Neal for good chunks of the 4th). I've felt for a while that the _only_ team I don't want the Mavs to face in the first round of the playoffs is the Lakers - purely because the Mavs can do nothing with O'Neal. And if they double-team O'Neal, the Mavs' rotation defense always seems sloppy and slow and the Lakers get easy baskets. O'Neal won this game for the Lakers. O'Neal finished with 35 points on 11-19 FG and 13-17 FT [zero hack-a-Shaq took place] and 13 rebounds. O'Neal did get some support (a lot of it from the Mavs' defensive lapses of focusing too much on O'Neal) as 3 Lakers had 12 points and Brian Shaw had 14 points along with 9 rebounds. Horace Grant had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Derek Fisher had 12 points and Isaiah Rider had 12 points. The Mavs didn't help themselves by missing 8 free throws [9-17 FT shooting - terrible for this generally good free throw shooting team, especially considering Nowitzki (84% FT) missed 5 free throws and Finley (78% FT) missed 3 free throws. The Mavs also hurt themselves by not going after rebounds - all went running to get back on defense after a shot went up and no one went aggressively after defensive rebounds. The Lakers out-rebounded Dallas 44-27 and Dallas only had a pathetic 5 offensive rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 24 points (only 8 in the 2nd half) including 7-12 FT and 9 rebounds. Michael Finley finished with 18 points and that was it. 12 points (Nash) was the next highest point man. Juwan Howard had a terrible night and you could tell that his dislocated left ring finger was bothering him. Howard only had 6 points (only 5 field goals attempted) and 2 rebounds in 37 minutes. There was a Howard Eisley sighting in this game, though. Eisley, who has looked terrible lately, had 7 consecutive points in a 3 minute span in the 2nd quarter [that was it for him, though]. I still have to question Mark Bryant being on the injured list instead of available for this game. I know that the Mavs have to have an active roster space available for Wang Zhizhi and that by putting Bryant on IR on the 28th he will be available to be activated before the Utah game, but I would have much rather had Bryant available to bang with O'Neal than Obinna Ekezie sitting on the bench. [And, no, I don't believe that even if Bryant really has a sprained left thumb that he wouldn't be able to play.] Quotes Phil Jackson: "We had much better purpose. We had some outside shooting." Jackson on O'Neal's free throw shooting: "He feels very confident about playing the game and not worrying about having to get off a shot before he gets fouled. He takes the foul and makes them pay for it." Shaquille O'Neal: "I'm proud of our guys. They hit some shots when we needed them. We got a lot of balance in our scoring. I'm going to kick it out when I'm double-teamed and we made those shots." O'Neal: "They were hot earlier in the game but then they kind of cooled off." Brian Shaw: "Shaq established himself early on in the game. He did a great job softening up the middle for drives, cuts and open shots. He just dominated and opened up the floor." Shaw: "We executed our offense better tonight and did a great job distributing the ball." Derek Fisher: "We believe in ourselves. It's amazing how much a good win could give us a boost of confidence." Don Nelson: "We knew we weren't going to [hack-a-Shaq]. We can't when he's shooting 70% from the line. We don't have an answer for Shaq. We never have, and we never will, probably." Nelson on when he uses the intentional fouling tactic: "If it gets below 50%, then that can be a tactic, but no more [than 50%]." Nelson on the playoff race: "We're hanging on for our lives, and you [media] guys keep talking about getting playoff advantage. You better see what Phoenix is doing right below us. You should put the schedule down for the other teams, and you might not be talking about getting 4th." Steve Nash: "Shaq was what he usually is - bigger, stronger and better than everyone else." Shawn Bradley: "They're pretty hard to beat when [O'Neal's] making free throws. We did what we wanted to do, but they just played better." Bradley on O'Neal: "He's big, he's strong. He knows how to position his body so that he can counter whatever way you decide to guard him." Los Angeles Lakers 98, Dallas Mavericks 89 at Los Angeles (March 30) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% LA Lakers 31 28 17 22 - 98 .545 .292 .468 .810 Dallas 26 26 16 21 - 89 .540 .308 .500 .529 Halftime: LA Lakers 59-52 3rd Q: LA Lakers 76-68 Technicals: LA Lakers Illegal D 8:01 2nd, Dallas Illegal D 0:59 3rd, Dallas Illegal D 10:08 4th, Robert Horry 1:22 4th Refs: Bob Delaney, Mike Callahan, Derek Richardson Attendance: 18,997 (cap 19,282) Did not play due to injury: Kobe Bryant (sore left foot) Los Angeles Lakers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rick Fox 31 2-7 1-2 0-0 5 0-2 8 3 4 0 0 Horace Grant 37 5-11 0-0 2-2 12 3-10 0 0 2 0 0 Shaquille O'Neal 40 11-19 0-0 13-17 35 3-13 4 5 4 1 2 Brian Shaw 30 6-15 2-3 0-0 14 4-9 3 1 1 0 2 Derek Fisher 43 5-10 2-3 0-0 12 0-2 2 3 0 1 0 Mark Madsen 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 0 2 0 0 Isaiah Rider 17 5-9 1-1 1-1 12 0-2 1 1 1 0 0 Robert Horry 23 2-5 0-1 0-0 4 3-3 4 0 1 0 1 Devean George 10 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 3 3 1 0 0 Mike Penberthy 5 1-1 1-1 1-1 4 0-1 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 48 37-79 7-11 17-21 98 14-44 26 18 16 3 5 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Juwan Howard 37 3-5 0-0 0-0 6 0-2 4 1 3 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 40 7-13 3-5 7-12 24 3-9 3 0 2 2 1 Shawn Bradley 23 6-10 0-0 0-0 12 0-3 0 0 4 2 1 Michael Finley 41 8-18 0-3 2-5 18 1-4 3 1 1 0 0 Steve Nash 28 5-13 0-2 0-0 10 0-2 4 5 1 0 0 Calvin Booth 28 5-9 0-0 0-0 10 1-4 2 0 5 3 3 Howard Eisley 23 3-7 1-3 0-0 7 0-1 6 1 1 2 0 Greg Buckner 18 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 0 2 4 0 0 Obinna Ekezie 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Eduardo Najera 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-76 4-13 9-17 89 5-27 22 11 21 10 5 Dallas at Sacramento (April 1) The game stayed really close over the first 6 minutes of the game as neither team held more than a 2 point lead. Sacramento scored 7 straight points to take a small 22-16 lead with 5:15 left and led in single-digits the rest of the quarter. Sacramento led 33-28 after 1. Predrag Stojakovic had 10 points. Sacramento led 43-35 with 8:30 remaining and Dallas used a 13-2 run to take a 48-45 lead with 5:40 left. Dallas led in single-digits the rest of the quarter. Juwan Howard's dunk on the break with a second left gave Dallas a 64-58 lead at the half. Howard had 17 points in the quarter including 8-10 FG and 25 points for the half including 12-18 FG. Dallas out-scored Sacramento 36-25 in the 2nd quarter while shooting 15-26 FG while the Kings shot 12-23 FG. Sacramento scored 6 consecutive points to pull within 64-66 with 10 minutes to go and Dallas answered with a 21-5 monster run, including 4 3-pointers, to take a 87-69 lead with 5:15 remaining. The Mavs led in the teens the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 98-83 after 3. Dirk Nowitzki had 11 points, Michael Finley had 11 points, and Vlade Divac had 10 points in the quarter. Dallas led in the teens for most of the 4th quarter. Dallas led 112-94 with 6:30 remaining and Sacramento scored the next 9 points to pull within 103-112 with 3:30 to go. Dallas scored the next 3 points and the Kings were not able to reduce Dallas' lead to single-digits the rest of the way. Dallas won 119-107. Juwan Howard stepped up after his dismal performance in the Lakers game and the Mavs played a solid game. This time it was the Kings that were frustrated by their inability to stop their opponent's offense and went away from playing sound defense as the game wore on. Howard and Chris Webber were matched up against each other and Howard came away with the better game in the first half, outscoring Webber 25-18. Vernon Maxwell had a rare appearance and helped with 7 points over the end of the 1st quarter and into the 2nd quarter. Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley picked where Howard left off in the 3rd quarter with their combined 22 points and the team road it home in the 4th. Howard was the player of the game, but this was a team win. Howard finished with 32 points including 15-27 FG, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Nowitzki had 25 points including 9-15 FG and 5-7 3-pointers and 11 rebounds and Finley had 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Steve Nash also had a double-double with 18 points and 12 assists. The Mavs out-scored, out-rebounded, had more assists, had fewer turnovers, and won despite the Kings shooting 15 more free throws than Dallas. For the Kings, Webber was high man with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists in playing all 48 minutes, but only had 2 points in the 4th quarter. Predrag Stojakovic had 24 points and 8 rebounds. Doug Christie was the 5th player in this high scoring affair with a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Mavs now have 47 wins (!!!) with 9 games remaining in the season. They should clinch a playoff spot this week. The Magic Number is 2. In fact, they can clinch with a win tonight vs Houston and if Seattle losses their game vs San Antonio. It is still completely up in the air for the order of the top 7 teams in the West. The Mavs, currently tied for 5th, are 4 games out of 1st place and Phoenix, currently at #7, is only 5 1/2 games out of first. [Minnesota, at #8, is 8 games out of 1st - so they will likely stay at 8.] With the loss to the Lakers and the win against the Kings, Dallas has won a game against every team in the league expect for the Lakers. The Lakers are the only team that gets a sweep against Dallas. The Mavs only have 1 game left on the road trip from hell (at Utah, Portland, Lakers, Sacramento, and Houston) and have gone an amazing 3-1 so far in the trip. Go Mavs! Quotes Don Nelson: "What a game. That was a good NBA game with a lot of excitement and 2 good teams going at it. We had some things that were working and we nursed them and ran them and put them in a bit of a bind." Nelson: "Juwan really established the low post for us, and I went back to him when I needed some clutch baskets." Steve Nash on going 3-1 so far in the road trip: "Well, it's a success considering the buildings that we've gone into and won. But obviously, we're not done. Everything's really a 1 game season now." Juwan Howard: "This was a big win for us. This is one of the teams that's going to make a lot of noise in the Western Conference playoffs. Who knows, we might meet them in the playoffs." Howard on playing against Webber: "As a competitor I look forward to the challenge. I tried not to make it a one-on-one thing. I just tried to go out there and compete and do it within the system, and not try to go out there and do anything different. I took the aggressive attitude that I was going to go out there and I was going to compete. And I got the hot hand and they kept feeding me." Howard: "I just tried to play hard and take what was there. A lot of people don't give [Webber] credit for his defense that much, but he's got huge hands and long arms. He's very athletic." Howard: "I put it out there on the line tonight because I felt like I let the team down against the Lakers." Calvin Booth on starting: "It was nice to go out there and be there at the beginning of the game. I think I played pretty well." Rick Adelman: "I don't have much to say. We just got our tails kicked. Dallas played great. After the 1st quarter, they just controlled the game. We just couldn't stop them. We didn't do a good job all night defensively. Every time down, they pretty much got what they wanted, offensively." Bobby Jackson: "Our defense has to get better every night, and it wasn't there tonight. [Nelson] did a great job. He had us all discombobulated out there." Dallas Mavericks 119, Sacramento Kings 107 at Sacramento (April 1) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 28 36 34 21 - 119 .506 .500 .505 .857 Sacramento 33 25 25 24 - 107 .521 .308 .488 .724 Halftime: Dallas 64-58 3rd Q: Dallas 98-83 Technicals: Vlade Divac 9:18 3rd Refs: Tim Donaghy, Ron Garretson, Tony Brothers Attendance: 17,317 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Hidayet Turkoglu (sprained left ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Juwan Howard 46 15-27 0-0 2-3 32 2-12 5 4 2 3 0 Dirk Nowitzki 47 9-15 5-7 2-2 25 1-11 3 1 4 0 1 Calvin Booth 15 5-9 0-0 0-0 10 1-4 0 1 5 2 3 Michael Finley 45 8-21 2-5 5-6 23 1-6 5 3 2 1 1 Steve Nash 40 7-14 1-4 3-3 18 0-1 12 4 3 4 0 Vernon Maxwell 11 3-4 1-2 0-0 7 1-1 1 0 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 10 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 4-5 0 0 3 0 1 Howard Eisley 11 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 2 0 0 1 0 Greg Buckner 15 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 2-4 1 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 49-97 9-18 12-14 119 12-45 29 13 21 11 6 Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Predrag Stojakovic 47 8-16 2-3 6-7 24 3-8 1 4 4 1 0 Chris Webber 48 12-24 0-0 3-6 27 2-10 5 1 3 0 1 Vlade Divac 21 4-7 0-0 8-10 16 2-5 1 3 1 0 1 Doug Christie 42 6-13 1-3 2-4 15 1-10 6 5 4 6 0 Jason Williams 28 5-11 1-5 0-0 11 0-3 3 0 0 1 0 Jon Barry 24 1-4 0-2 0-0 2 0-1 1 1 2 0 0 Scot Pollard 7 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 1 1 1 Bobby Jackson 23 4-7 0-0 2-2 10 0-2 4 2 2 0 0 Totals 48 41-84 4-13 21-29 107 8-39 21 16 17 9 3 patricia