Once again, Michael Finley was snubbed for an All-Star spot. With Chris Webber unable to play in the game due to a sprained ankle, there was a spot available for a replacement. Though I felt that Finley was the most deserving, I thought that the league might replace Webber with another forward such as Elton Brand or Karl Malone (which would then also have another team represented). Instead, the league (David Stern selects injury replacements) issued a slap in the face in selecting Peja Stojakovic, who has lesser stats than Finley and had missed 10 games in the season. The only good news is that Finley has been getting a lot of national pub as the most deserving player not on the All-Star squad. Finley on his 2nd All-Star snub: "It's over and done with. The coaches didn't want me, the league doesn't want me, so I guess it wasn't meant for me to be an All-Star this year. So I'm just going to use that time to get some needed rest and come back rejuvenated for the 2nd half." Time change: The February 27 game vs Sacramento at Dallas has a new start time of 8:30 pm, instead of 6:30 pm. The game is being broadcast on TNT. Minnesota (27-18) at Dallas (35-9) Dallas scored the first 5 points of the game before Minnesota joined in the fray. The game stayed close with Dallas' largest lead at 5 points and Minnesota's at 3 points. Nick Van Exel hit 1 of 2 free throws with seconds left in the quarter to give Dallas a 30-29 lead after 1. Joe Smith had 13 points, Dirk Nowitzki had 11 points, and Steve Nash had 10 points. Both teams were shooting well as Dallas shot 64% FG and Minnesota shot 54% FG. Minnesota scored the first 7 points of the 2nd quarter to go up 35-30 with 10:20 to go. A layup by Van Exel briefly gave Dallas a 44-43 lead with 4:50 remaining, but Minnesota answered by scoring the next 9 points to go up 51-44 with 1:45 left. Only 2 buckets were scored over the rest of the quarter and Minnesota led 53-46 at the half. Dallas' shooting touch left them during the quarter and they only scored 16 points while Minnesota had 24 points. After their strong 1st quarter, Nash and Nowitzki went scoreless in the 2nd quarter. For the half, Minnesota shot 53% FG and Dallas shot 48% FG. Minnesota out-rebounded Dallas 25-16, including 8 offensive. The 3rd quarter was a quarter of runs and Minnesota opened it up by scoring the first 4 points of the 3rd quarter to take their first double-digit lead at 57-46 with 11:30 left. Minnesota led 61-50 with 9:30 remaining and Dallas' big 3 plus Raef LaFrentz put together a 13-2 run to tie the game at 63-63 with 7:10 to go. The game was tied at 70-70 with 5 minutes left and Minnesota rattled off a 10-1 run, including 8 points from Troy Hudson, to go up 80-71 with 2:45 remaining. It was Dallas' turn to rally as the Mavs scored the next 11 points to go up 82-80 with 15 seconds to go. Kevin Garnett hit 1 of 2 free throws and the Mavs got the ball ahead to a streaking Nowitzki and Garnett nearly took Nowitzki's head off as Nowitzki went for the layup (missed). A flagrant foul was called and a double technical on Garnett and Michael Finley was called after Finley got in Garnett's face protesting Garnett's foul. Nowitzki only hit 1 of 2 free throws and Dallas led 83-81 after 3. Hudson had 12 points in the quarter. Dallas continued its run by scoring the first 7 points of the 4th quarter to take a 90-81 lead with 10 minutes left on a 3-pointer by Finley. It was a 19-1 run that spanned the 2 quarters. Minnesota called timeout and re-gathered themselves and knocked down 4 straight shots and a putback by Garnett gave Minnesota a 91-90 lead with 7:30 remaining. Consecutive 3-pointers by Hudson gave Minnesota a 99-93 lead with 5 minutes remaining. Nowitzki hit a jumper and Finley drove for the layup, missed, but pogoed back up for the tip in to pull Dallas within 99-101 with 3:55 to go. Minnesota missed and Dallas found a wide open Shawn Bradley under the basket, but instead of spinning in for the easy layup or dunk, he spun out and missed the hook shot and Wally Szczerbiak drained a 3-pointer to give Minnesota a 104-99 lead with 3 minutes remaining. The teams traded misses and Nowitzki nailed a 3-pointer with 2 minutes left. Minnesota missed on 2 attempts and the spin-lob dunk from Nash to Nowitzki tied it all up at 104-104 with 1:30 to go. Nowitzki stripped Garnett inside and Dallas went running the other way. Van Exel missed a layup, but LaFrentz tapped the rebound out to Nowitzki and Nowitzki passed it to Nash who drove and nailed the 15-foot runner with 50 seconds remaining. Minnesota used their final timeout and the tense, exciting game continued as Garnett got the reverse layup to tie the game at 106-106 with 40 seconds left. In a bad switch, Anthony Peeler found himself in the post defending Nowitzki and Nowitzki just turned and shot over him to put Dallas back up with 22 seconds to go. Peeler missed a jumper, got the rebound, and missed the short baseliner with 8 seconds left and LaFrentz got the rebound and was fouled. LaFrentz made both free throws with 6 seconds left, but the excitement wasn't quite over as Hudson drained the quick 3 with .6 seconds left to pull Minnesota within 109-110. Nash hit both free throws and Van Exel intercepted the long inbound pass to end the game. Dallas won 112-109. Whew. I was exhausted from just watching the game and got tired again from writing about it. It was an exciting finish and, thanks to the efforts from Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas came away with the win. Nowitzki scored 11 of Dallas' last 22 points. Despite the exciting finish, neither team played all that great as both had long periods where they struggled to score. As would be expected with such a close game, the stats between the 2 teams were pretty close. Dallas shot 48.4% FG including 8-19 3-pointers and Minnesota shot 50% FG including 6-14 3-pointers - Minnesota made 3 more field goals than Dallas. Dallas shot 16-23 FT (and 4 were intentional fouls) and Minnesota shot 9-14 FT. If Dallas had simply made more of their free throws (and they are the best free throwing team), it would have been an easier win. Minnesota out-rebounded Dallas 48-44 and only had 1 more offensive rebounds than Dallas. Minnesota only committed 11 turnovers, but Dallas was even better with just 5 turnovers. No question that the hero of the game was Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki came alive in the 4th quarter and simply lifted Dallas on his shoulders. He had 13 points in the 4th and finished with 32 points including 12-19 FG, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Steve Nash had his circus shots going and had 25 points including 11-18 FG, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists in 37 minutes. Michael Finley's shooting touch was off and he had 17 points including 6-17 FG and 5 assists. Adrian Griffin didn't do much in his 13 minutes with 2 points, 1 rebound, and 1 steal. It was one of those poor games you sometimes get from Shawn Bradley. Bradley had 2 points, 4 rebounds, and 0 blocks in 15 minutes. But the Mavs got a big boost from the bench in Raef LaFrentz and Nick Van Exel. LaFrentz struggled offensive, but was there for the rebounds, including key ones at the end and had 13 points including 5-14 FG, 15 rebounds including 7 offensive, and 2 blocks in 40 minutes. Van Exel chipped in 15 points and 7 assists in 39 minutes. Walt Williams was the only other Mav who played and had 6 points in 11 minutes. Raja Bell did not play due to a bruised left thigh. He is listed as day-to-day. As expected, Kevin Garnett had a monster game with 31 points including 14-24 FG, 17 rebounds, and 8 assists. As not expected, Troy Hudson was an offensive force with 31 points including 5-9 3-pointers and 6 assists. Joe Smith had a solid 1st quarter and finished with a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Wally Szczerbiak was relatively quiet with 14 points and 3 rebounds. Radoslav Nesterovic had 9 points and 6 rebounds. Minnesota's bench didn't do much as they combined for just 6 points on 3-14 FG, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. Quotes Don Nelson: "What a game. That was fantastic. Win or lose, I would have enjoyed that game. We really think a lot of the Minnesota Timberwolves. We think they are really good. It was tough game for us on a back-to-back. I just didn't think we'd have enough energy to make a comeback like that and sustain it. Somehow these guys found a way to not only get us back in the game but get a big lead, lose it, and still have enough to finish it off. I was really pleased with our performance on a tough night. I think Dirk is pretty sore and pulled some muscles in his neck from the flagrant foul. The next shot he took looked really bad. I wasn't thinking that he was going to be able to make a shot, but he found a way to put that aside. He will be pretty sore tomorrow. It was a fabulous basketball game and I was proud to coach in it and I really thought a lot of my team tonight." Nelson on Hudson: "A tip of my hat to him. I thought he was fantastic tonight. He was a thorn in our side in making shots, plays, guarding, and playing 40-some odd minutes. Their team is very good and similar to ours. We were fortunate to beat them in the playoffs a year ago. This point I think all our games are going to be really good and close games." Nelson on Raef: "It was a night in which he only played 13 minutes the night before because of foul trouble. He was the freshest player I had with the freshest legs. It didn't look like Bradley was going to show up much tonight, so he had to carry the load. And carry it he did. He had tough assignments and ended up making 2 big free throws and getting a couple of really big rebounds. I was really happy to see him step forward because he hasn't made his free throws lately. Those were the biggest ones of the year." Nelson on Nowitzki: "It's a great feeling for the coach to have when he gets that look in his eyes. It was an emotional game. He is just playing as good as I've seen him play. Consistently now every game. He has his shot back now and has the whole package going. They had a flagrant foul and tried to beat us up, I thought. We withstood that on a very tired set of legs and we found a way. We were also calling his number all the time. He had the best defender on him, Kevin Garnett. It was an incredible performance by both guys." Nelson on deciding whether or not to have Nash intentionally miss the 2nd free throw with .6 seconds left: "We had a decision to make on the 2nd free throw. We decided to have Steve not miss it because if something crazy happened, that was the only way we could lose the game." Michael Finley: "That was a good ballgame to be a part of and definitely to watch. The fans got their money's worth, but for us it was good win and we had to gut it out. It wasn't an easy victory for us. Minnesota played one of their better games and we withstood their run late and made some big stops and some big shots and ultimately came out with the win." Finley: "We like to keep the game in an up and down pace, but we know when it comes down to crunch time, especially against the top teams and during the playoffs, it's going to come down to executing our offense in the half court set. We exploited them on the weak side and made some big shots." Finley on getting in Garnett's face after the flagrant: "I felt the foul was a little excessive and I can't let him do that. There's no love lost between us. It was just something I felt I had to do." Finley: "I felt it was a little excessive. And I just had to tell Kevin that we can't have that, especially in our house. That play easily could have had a negative affect on us." Finley: "I still respect the guy and I still think he's one of the best in the league. But I let him know that's not an acceptable play, especially in our building." Dirk Nowitzki: "It was a fun game. It went back and forth the whole time. I think we really nutted that one out." Nowitzki: "We showed some courage down the stretch. We made some key stops and were able to get some scores. Steve gave me the ball. I just went to work. I'm just glad it worked out for us." Nowitzki: "The only way you're going to beat us is if you play us physical. Tonight shows that we're a tough team." Nowitzki on the flagrant: "He hit me pretty good. It was a hard foul, but you don't want anyone to have easy layups. All I felt was a hit on the head and then my neck was sore." Nowitzki: "He hit me pretty good. I'll probably be a little sore. But stuff like that happens." Nowitzki on yelling at Bradley after the blown wide open shot: "I got a little emotional out there and I lost control of myself a little bit and I shouldn't have done that. I felt he was wide open and had a dunk. We were lucky enough to win the game. That was a big play and they came right back and had a 3. It was a 5 point turnaround. But I want to say I'm sorry to Shawn and the whole team." Steve Nash: "It was a tough win. There were a lot of factors, the way we swept them in the playoffs last year, for them to be playing so well and for us to come off a back-to-back. They made a huge run late and we could have just laid down, but we really showed a lot of guts and came back for the win." Nash on if this was the most exciting game of the year: "Yeah, it was one of them. I think Seattle was probably the most exciting. This was a game tonight that had a lot of playoff atmosphere and that's great for us to prepare for and continue to learn lessons." Nash: "We really scored the ball well tonight and shot a good percentage. We had a lot of balance and that's another reason why we are tough to beat, but the biggest thing was we started to get some rebounds and make some stops when we really needed them." Nash on Nowitzki: "He made some incredible plays for us and that's why he's one of the best players in the world. He continually gets better and he causes teams major problems down the stretch. When you have a guy like that on your team, you've got to feel confident." Nash on the spin-lob: "We got a pick-and-roll and they switched Wally onto Dirk and Wally kind of fronted him a little too hard to try to not let him get the ball and Dirk just spun off toward the rim and I just threw it up to him." Flip Saunders: "They've got a lot of weapons. We were one stop away or one bucket. They made some great defensive plays on us, stripped us a couple times. We missed some shots. They came down and Nowitzki and Nash hit every shot coming down the stretch. LaFrentz makes a great play at the end. Then Nash hits that runner. It was a great game for people to watch, not to coach, but to watch. We made them beat us down the stretch and they made shots and we didn't. It was very good intensity. You had 4 All-Stars going at it. You look at Finley, Nowitzki, and Nash, and KG. Those guys have been playing at a high level for the first 40 games of the season." Saunders on Hudson: "Troy has played well against Nash previously. He started out 2-9/2-10. We told him to keep his aggressiveness and he did. He was huge. He made big shots. He had a great game. He has another challenge tomorrow going against Francis." Kevin Garnett: "It was a real good game for the fans. As a player, I am on the sour end of it." Garnett: "Some people, some nights, efforts are bigger than others. If you're a good team then supposedly you've got to prove that. Everybody here has that mindset and can go out and play at that intense level. For the most part, we did that. No one in here would ever let you know that they had a 'We're outmanned' attitude." Garnett: "I think we [had it won]. We did a poor job of ... managing the clock. When you've big lead or a nice little lead, you've got to sort of cushion the clock and let time be your friend and put pressure on them to make some baskets." Garnett: "These teams met last year, and I won't call it 'bad blood', but there is still something there as far as being competitive and high energy and everything. You can't anticipate nothing less and nothing more than you did tonight." Garnett on the flagrant: "I've been watching some film on Dirk and I know he likes to pump the ball behind his head and dunk and I was just trying to anticipate him putting the ball behind his head and it turned into a hard foul. I wasn't trying to do it deliberately. Just trying to block the shot. It wasn't like it looked. I tried to help the fall at the end. It was not all that it was." Wally Szczerbiak: "We've just got to continue to keep getting better and try to put wins under our belt. We've always been right there. We have to do the little things to get over the hump. Hopefully, we can catch a few breaks here and there to help us out. There are a lot of games left and we want to continue to keep winning." Troy Hudson: "Whenever you can't pull out a victory, the good game that you had doesn't mean anything. It would have been great if we had won. I could have celebrated a great game, but we have another game tomorrow and I need to look forward to doing what I have to do to help the team win." Dallas Mavericks 112, Minnesota Timberwolves 109 at Dallas (January 30) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 30 16 37 29 - 112 .500 .421 .484 .696 Minnesota 29 24 28 28 - 109 .513 .429 .500 .643 Halftime: Minnesota 53-46 3rd Q: Dallas 83-81 Technicals: Kevin Garnett 0:01 3rd, Michael Finley 0:01 3rd Flagrant fouls: Kevin Garnett 0:01 3rd Refs: Don Vaden, Ronnie Nunn, Tony Brothers Attendance: 19,874 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Raja Bell (left thigh contusion), Rod Strickland (strained left groin) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 13 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 0 0 2 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 42 12-19 2-5 6-7 32 1-10 3 2 3 0 3 Shawn Bradley 15 1-2 0-0 0-2 2 1-4 0 0 1 0 0 Michael Finley 43 6-17 3-5 2-2 17 1-4 5 1 2 2 1 Steve Nash 37 11-18 0-1 3-3 25 2-5 8 1 0 1 0 Raef LaFrentz 40 5-14 1-1 2-3 13 7-15 2 1 3 1 2 Nick Van_Exel 39 6-16 1-6 2-4 15 1-3 7 0 3 1 0 Walt Williams 11 2-4 1-1 1-2 6 1-2 0 0 1 0 1 Totals 48 44-91 8-19 16-23 112 15-44 25 5 15 6 7 Minnesota Timberwolves REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Kevin Garnett 46 14-24 0-0 3-6 31 3-17 8 1 3 0 2 Joe Smith 38 8-13 0-0 2-2 18 4-11 2 1 4 0 1 Radoslav Nesterovic 24 4-8 0-0 1-2 9 2-6 3 0 3 0 0 Wally Szczerbiak 37 6-12 1-2 1-2 14 1-3 1 2 3 0 0 Troy Hudson 41 12-23 5-9 2-2 31 1-3 6 1 1 2 0 Igor Rakocevic 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 2 2 1 0 0 Marc Jackson 7 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 Kendall Gill 15 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 3 1 0 0 0 Gary Trent 6 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 1 1 1 0 0 Anthony Peeler 19 1-5 0-3 0-0 2 1-2 2 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 47-94 6-14 9-14 109 14-48 28 11 18 2 3 patricia