Gary Trent's strained hip muscle is still bothering him and word is now that he will not be ready for opening day next Tuesday. It is possible that he will start the season on IR (then he will have to miss the first 5 games). Etan Thomas' sprained big toe is still keeping him out of games and it has been described as similar with happened with Deon Sander's toe problem. He'll start the season on IR. Don Nelson surprised me today by saying that he'll probably spend most of the season on IR. Nelson also said that Courtney Alexander will not receive many minutes as he is just not ready yet and has lots to learn. The flu bug has hit Dallas. Hubert Davis missed Friday's game due to the stomach flu and Steve Nash and Greg Buckner played despite suffering flu symptoms. Nash, Davis, and Dirk Nowitzki missed Saturday's practice due to the flu. Dirk was still suffering for Tuesday's game, but played (don't know who else was still suffering). In no surprise, Dallas released Ace Custis, Mike Jones, and Jamal Kendrick on Saturday. The Mavs still have to released one more player to get down to the maximum 15 (12 active, 3 on IR). Either John Celestand or Bill Curley will be cut. Steve Nash is back to wearing #13. He wore #7 for the Toronto game in honor of that being the number he wore with the Canadian Olympic team. He was not allowed to wear that number for the season due to the deadline for changing a number being the end of August. [kinda brief on the game notes, else I'll never get them out - the Miami game is already 5 days old] Dallas at Denver (October 24) The game was close in the 1st half with Dallas holding mostly small leads. Antonio McDyess left the game late in the 1st quarter with back spasms and did not return. Dallas led 56-53 at the half. The Mavs overwhelmed the Nuggets in the 3rd quarter and the Mavs' realed off a 20-4 run to take a commanding 83-68 lead after 3. The 4th was entirely garbage time and even Bill Curley saw time on the court (his first of the pre-season). Dallas won 104-88. The blowout meant low minutes for all the players (all with less than 30) and no dominating numbers. Loy Vaught again had a nice game and (if his good games continue - it is still early) it looks like the Mavs' gamble really paid off. Shockingly the Mavs actually out-rebounded a team (the first time all pre-season). Dallas had 44 rebounds and Denver only 36. Dallas Mavericks 104, Denver Nuggets 88 at Denver (October 24) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 33 23 27 21 - 104 .493 .364 .477 .857 Denver 28 25 15 20 - 88 .403 .364 .397 .765 Halftime: Dallas 56-53 3rd Q: Dallas 83-68 Technicals: None Refs: Terry Durham, Bill Spooner, Marc Davis Attendance: 10,024 (cap 19,309) Did not play due to injury: Gary Trent (strained hip), Etan Thomas (sprained toe), George McCloud Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 21 5-9 1-1 0-0 11 0-1 3 2 4 1 1 Dirk Nowitzki 21 3-8 1-4 5-5 12 0-6 2 0 1 0 1 Shawn Bradley 10 3-3 0-0 0-0 6 2-5 0 1 2 0 0 Greg Buckner 22 6-13 0-1 4-5 16 1-3 0 1 3 1 1 Steve Nash 20 2-6 0-1 0-0 4 1-4 5 2 0 0 0 Howard Eisley 29 2-7 1-2 2-2 7 0-0 6 0 3 2 0 Eduardo Najera 20 5-11 0-0 1-2 11 1-5 1 2 5 1 0 Christian Laettner 26 5-9 0-0 4-5 14 3-7 3 1 2 1 3 Hubert Davis 21 3-5 0-1 0-0 6 0-1 3 0 1 0 0 Loy Vaught 21 4-5 0-0 0-0 8 2-6 3 0 3 2 1 Courtney Alexander 13 1-6 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 1 1 2 0 1 John Celestand 6 2-2 1-1 0-0 5 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Bill Curley 6 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 2-2 1 0 1 1 0 Donnell Harvey 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 41-86 4-11 18-21 104 13-44 28 13 27 9 8 Denver Nuggets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antonio McDyess 10 6-8 0-0 1-2 13 1-2 2 0 0 1 1 James Posey 28 5-9 1-3 2-3 13 2-5 3 2 3 1 1 Raef LaFrentz 29 3-8 1-2 2-2 9 1-4 1 2 3 1 3 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 15 0-4 0-1 1-4 1 0-1 0 3 2 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 23 3-9 0-1 0-0 6 0-2 5 1 0 1 0 Voshon Lenard 24 0-4 0-1 4-4 4 0-1 1 1 1 0 0 Robert Pack 19 2-8 0-0 1-2 5 0-2 1 3 2 0 0 Tracy Murray 25 4-6 2-2 4-4 14 0-5 1 0 2 0 2 Terry Davis 6 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 Keon Clark 31 3-10 0-0 7-9 13 1-9 2 1 4 0 2 Mark Strickland 16 2-4 0-0 2-2 6 3-5 0 1 1 0 1 Mamadou N'diaye 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Calbert Cheaney 7 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 1 2 0 0 0 Anthony Goldwire 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 29-73 4-11 26-34 88 8-36 17 17 20 4 10 Miami at Dallas (October 20) The game stayed close most of the way. The Mavs' starters looked fine, but the second unit in the 2nd quarter of Greg Buckner, Christian Laettner, Loy Vaught, Courtney Alexander, and [Najera or Eisley, can't remember] looked terrible in the 2nd quarter. The group again played together in the 2nd half and looked _much_ better, especially Laettner and Vaught. Vaught had a very nice performance, especially considering that he had hardly practiced with the team. He snagged a number of rebounds (6) and hit the 2 shots he attempted. Laettner also looked nice after a slow started and finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Miami led 84-77 early in the 4th quarter, but the Mavs' wouldn't let them pull away. Miami led 92-86 with 3:11 remaining and the Mavs' turned up heat to close the game and Miami went cold. Howard Eisley hit 2 free throws to tie the game at 96-96 with a minute left. Miami was unable to score and Dallas ran the clock down. Eisley nailed the baseline runner high off the glass with 16 seconds remaining. Brian Grant, who had been killing the Mavs most of the game, missed and Buckner rebounded and was fouled. He hit both free throws with 2 seconds left. Miami was not able to get off a shot. Dallas won 100-96. It was nice to see the Mavs get a win when Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki were not having good games. Dallas closed the game with an 8-0 run. Eduardo Najera again started, but had a poor game. Courtney Alexander played decent in his 19 minutes. One thing about Alexander for those who haven't seen him, he gets incredible lift (probably about 2 feet) on his normal jump shot. For Miami, Anthony Mason and Brian Grant were having their way with the Mavs. Shawn Bradley gave Grant trouble to start with and Grant picked up 3 fouls in the 1st quarter trying to guard him. Grant was never on the court at the same time as Bradley the rest of the game. The word about the Mavs' new chairs has spread around the league. Tim Hardaway was talking to Finley about them before the game and during halftime Hardaway snuck over and tried them out. Dallas Mavericks 100, Miami Heat 96 at Dallas (October 20) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 21 30 20 29 - 100 .443 .417 .439 .920 Miami 20 32 23 21 - 96 .491 .308 .457 .800 Halftime: Miami 52-51 3rd Q: Miami 75-71 Technicals: Dallas Illegal D 10:57 3rd, Miami Illegal D 2:31 3rd Refs: Ed F. Rush, Rodney Mott, Bill Kennedy Attendance: 12,072 (cap 18,042) Did not play due to injury: Gary Trent (strained hip), Etan Thomas (sprained toe), Hubert Davis (flu), Jamal Kendrick, Dale Ellis, Eddie Jones, Don MacLean, Ricky Davis, Alonzo Mourning Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Eduardo Najera 18 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-3 1 1 2 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 32 3-9 0-1 2-2 8 3-10 2 0 4 2 2 Shawn Bradley 24 4-11 0-0 0-0 8 1-4 1 2 4 0 1 Michael Finley 33 4-16 1-5 3-4 12 2-5 4 1 0 2 0 Steve Nash 20 5-11 2-3 1-1 13 0-0 0 0 2 1 0 Howard Eisley 32 4-7 1-2 6-7 15 0-2 6 5 3 1 0 Courtney Alexander 19 3-6 0-0 4-4 10 0-0 0 1 3 0 0 Christian Laettner 20 5-10 1-1 3-3 14 5-6 0 3 5 1 2 Greg Buckner 27 5-7 0-0 2-2 12 0-5 2 1 4 1 0 Loy Vaught 15 2-2 0-0 2-2 6 2-5 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 36-82 5-12 23-25 100 14-40 16 14 28 8 5 Miami Heat REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Brian Grant 33 7-12 0-0 11-12 25 2-6 0 2 4 0 0 Anthony Mason 37 5-11 0-0 6-8 16 0-4 4 3 3 0 1 Duane Causwell 22 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 4-12 0 3 5 0 2 Bruce Bowen 39 2-7 2-5 0-0 6 0-3 3 0 1 0 0 Tim Hardaway 23 5-15 1-4 2-2 13 0-3 0 1 3 1 0 Harold Jamison 10 2-2 0-0 1-2 5 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 Todd Fuller 18 2-4 0-0 4-5 8 3-3 0 3 5 0 0 Anthony Carter 25 5-11 0-1 1-2 11 0-3 9 5 1 1 0 Dan Majerle 22 2-4 0-2 0-0 4 2-5 0 0 3 2 0 Jamal Robinson 11 1-2 1-1 2-2 5 0-1 1 1 3 3 0 Totals 48 32-70 4-13 28-35 96 11-42 17 21 28 7 3 patricia