Dallas exercised their 4th year option (2001-02) on Dirk Nowitzki's contract. They had until October 31 to exercise the option. Steve Nash will be switching his number from #13 to #7. He wore #7 in the Olympics. Reportedly the Loy Vaught-Dana Barros trade will occur today or tomorrow. I've always liked Vaught, but injuries have hindered him the past few years. I'll have more on this in the next report. San Antonio at Dallas (October 15) Well, the Mavs are obviously mainly interested in winning the games and playing the [healthy] players that will be seeing minutes during the regular season. None of the camp fodder (Ace Custis, Mike Jones, Bill Curley) has seen a second of pre-season game time. And bizarre of bizarre, Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki played 40+ minutes in the Spurs game. The game was much, much, much better than the first game looked and the second game sounded. The Mavs were playing defense and rebounding the ball. And most important, the helping defense was back - players were giving help when a teammate found himself in trouble or beat. The Mavs' offensive sets were working much better and there was more movement instead of just standing around - though the Mavs, led by Michael Finley, were having trouble finding the basket in the 1st half (only 40% FG while San Antonio shot 44% FG). The difference in the ball game in the 1st half was purely at the line. Don Nelson decided he had enough early in the 2nd quarter with the Spurs having attempted 17 free throws and Dallas 0. Nelson got a T and quickly got a 2nd one. It did help as the Mavs' got 2 quick whistles in their favor shortly after Nelson's ejection. The Mavs were committing more fouls than the Spurs, but not as lopsided as the officiating was calling it. San Antonio led 56-40 at the half (and it was a _long_ 2nd quarter due to all the whistles). As I said, the difference was free throws: San Antonio shot 21-27 FT while Dallas only shot 4-7 FT [you do the math]. All of Derek Anderson's 14 points came in the half and Tim Duncan had 11 points and 10 rebounds. No Mav was in double digits point wise. The Mavs had a monster 3rd quarter, sparked by 8 straight points (2 3s and a bucket) from Hubert Davis, as the Mavs shooting woos went away and Dallas out-scored San Antonio 38 to 19 in the quarter to lead 78-75 after 3. Despite what some newspaper articles incorrectly reported, Duncan was on the court during most of the Mavs' rally. Duncan collected his 5th foul late in the 3rd and left the game for good a short while later. The Mavs were able to hold on to the win in the 4th quarter as the Mavs continued to play mostly vets and the Spurs put some of their young guys on the court (including Samaki Walker). Dallas won 96-91. The star of the night was unquestionably Hubert Davis, who was stroking it and even took it inside a couple of times for layups and floaters. He finished with 19 points. Finley looked terrible offensively (3-17 FG) but contributed in other ways as seen by his 7 rebounds and 10 assists. Dirk Nowitzki was going after the rebounds aggressively in the 1st half (had 6) and was working on the defensive end (though Duncan ate him alive when Dirk found himself guarding Duncan). I thought he had more rebounds than the 7 total he was credited with. Courtney Alexander saw significant minutes and showed that he hasn't seen a shot he didn't like. 14 field goal attempts in 19 minutes. Ouch. If he keeps that up, Blackhole will become his knick name. Christian Laettner looked nice in the game and had the tough defensive assignment of guarding Duncan (both coaches kept Bradley off of the court when Duncan was in). His best move of the night came right after Duncan collected his 5th foul when Laettner took in strong at Duncan in the post and got the layup (though not the foul, but Duncan left almost immediately after that). Laettner did loose his temper a couple of times and it was only by the graces of the refs that he didn't collect a T [I would have given him one for slamming the ball on the court like that]. Donnell Harvey hardly played. John Celestand was a pleasant surprise, though still a long shot to make the team. Right after I told someone who he was and that he wouldn't be here Oct 31, he nailed a shot. Next time down the court, he nailed another. He was on the court during the Mavs' 3rd quarter run. As I said, Shawn Bradley's minutes were limited by the coaches. He did snag 9 rebounds in his 17 minutes. Greg Buckner wasn't active offensively but, as always, his defense was there. Steve Nash also struggled offensively, but the team's offense runs better when he is on the court. The Mavs used a 4 guard lineup a lot during the game, so expected to see that a lot during the season. Etan Thomas (sprained big toe), Gary Trent (strained hip), Howard Eisley (sprained ankle), and Eduardo Najera (sore ankle - much to some's disappointment as there was some chanting for him) did not play due to injury. Other non-action notes: The Mavs' new bench chairs arrived. The blue chairs have a higher back and only the Mavs' bench has them, not the visitors. You know how the shot clock has 3 faces - one on the front and 2 on the side in a triangle formation? Well, the front is always the 24 count, but the sides will sometimes do a 10 seconds count when a player is handed the ball on the free throw line and a 5 seconds count for inbounding the ball. Didn't notice whether or not this was just being done for the opponents. The refs have switched from the red jackets to a more subdued blue-gray. Dallas Mavericks 96, San Antonio Spurs 91 at Dallas (October 15) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 18 22 38 18 - 96 .451 .333 .430 .654 San Antonio 23 33 19 16 - 91 .466 .167 .414 .689 Halftime: San Antonio 56-40 3rd Q: Dallas 78-75 Technicals: Don Nelson 8:20 2nd, Don Nelson 8:20 2nd (ejected), Dallas Illegal D 4:47 2nd, Dallas Illegal D 9:45 4th Refs: Mike Callahan, Derek Richardson, Marc Davis Attendance: 11,198 (cap 18,042) Did not play due to injury: Gary Trent, Etan Thomas, Eduardo Najera, Howard Eisley, Jamal Kendrick, David Robinson, Avery Johnson, Jaren Jackson Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 43 3-17 1-2 6-8 13 1-7 10 5 4 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 40 7-13 0-1 5-6 19 1-7 4 2 4 2 2 Christian Laettner 23 6-9 0-0 2-4 14 2-6 0 1 4 1 0 Hubert Davis 31 8-12 3-5 0-0 19 0-2 0 2 3 0 0 Steve Nash 28 2-8 0-3 0-0 4 0-3 4 2 4 1 0 Courtney Alexander 19 5-14 0-1 0-0 10 1-1 1 1 2 2 0 Shawn Bradley 17 2-4 0-0 1-3 5 3-9 1 1 5 0 0 Greg Buckner 20 1-5 0-1 0-0 2 0-4 0 0 3 1 1 Donnell Harvey 7 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-3 0 0 3 0 0 John Celestand 12 3-4 1-2 2-3 9 0-2 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 48 37-86 5-15 17-26 96 8-44 20 14 35 9 3 San Antonio Spurs REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Sean Elliott 17 2-5 0-1 3-4 7 0-1 0 0 1 1 0 Malik Rose 29 4-12 0-1 1-2 9 2-10 1 4 2 0 3 Tim Duncan 27 3-5 0-0 6-10 12 2-16 3 5 5 0 1 Shandon Anderson 22 3-6 1-1 7-8 14 0-1 4 2 2 2 0 Antonio Daniels 29 4-9 0-2 1-3 9 0-0 1 2 0 2 0 Ira Newble 16 1-3 0-2 0-0 2 1-4 0 1 3 0 0 Samaki Walker 19 4-8 0-0 7-10 15 2-8 1 2 3 0 1 Terry Porter 9 2-4 0-1 1-2 5 0-0 2 0 1 0 0 Raja Bell 5 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 0 0 1 0 1 Danny Ferry 15 0-4 0-0 3-3 3 0-5 0 1 3 0 0 Chris Carrawell 15 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 1 1 3 0 0 Steve Kerr 13 1-3 0-1 2-3 4 0-2 0 1 0 0 0 Derrick Dial 18 2-5 1-3 0-0 5 1-2 0 4 5 0 0 Shawnelle Scott 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 29-70 2-12 31-45 91 9-53 13 23 31 5 6 patricia