Injury update: Walt Williams is expected to return to action Monday night vs Denver. Evan Eschmeyer may be available later this week. Eduardo Najera is still a few weeks away. LA Clippers (12-19) at Dallas (25-5) (January 2) It was a slow scoring 1st quarter as neither team was shooting well. Dallas scored the first 7 points of the game and never looked back. Well, it should have been that way. The team did score the first 7 points and led 19-8 with 4 minutes left. Dallas led 23-12 after 1. Dallas shot 38.5% FG and the Clippers shot 30% FG and the Clippers also committed 5 turnovers. Corey Maggette scored the first basket of the 2nd quarter, but that was the last the Clippers saw of a single-digit deficit for a long time as Dallas scored the next 6 points to go up 29-14 with 9:30 remaining. Dallas again scored 6 straight points to take their first 20 point lead at 40-20 with 5 minutes left. Dallas led 47-31 at the half. Dallas shot 42% FG for the half and the Clippers shot a mere 29.7% FG. Dallas led in the teens or low 20s the entire 3rd quarter. Dallas took their largest lead at 73-49 with 3:20 remaining and led 78-59 after 3. Steve Nash had 12 points in the quarter and Quentin Richardson had 11 points. As implied above, it was not all good. Dallas led 86-65 with 8:40 to go and started missing outside shots like crazy (and not taking it inside) while to Clippers got hot and rattled off a 15-2 run to pull within 80-88 with 5 minutes left. The Clippers joined Dallas in missing shots and neither team scored for the next minute and a half, despite opportunities. Michael Finley finally ended the drought as he got 2 inside and was fouled. He hit the extra to give Dallas an 11 point lead. Lamar Odom hit a jumper to pull the Clippers within 82-91 with 3:15 to go, but both teams reverted to missing shots. Shawn Bradley hit a baseliner and Nash hit 2 free throws to give Dallas a more comfortable 95-82 lead with 1:15 remaining. Dallas' lead stayed in double-digits the rest of the way. Dallas won 102-92. The Mavs controlled the game for 3 quarters, but got lackadaisical during the 4th quarter and let the Clippers back in the game. But, it was the Clippers, so it didn't cost the Mavs in the end. The team has to learn that when the outside shot is not falling, take it inside. Especially when the opponent does not have strong interior defense. Neither team shot very well. Dallas shot just 42.7% (38-89) FG including a mere 1-11 3-pointers and the Clippers shot 37.3% (31-83) FG including 7-23 3-pointers. The Clippers got to the line more than Dallas (the officiating seemed fair), but missed 11 free throws (23-34). Dallas shot 25-30 FT - and Dallas got 8 free throws off of intentional fouls at the end. The big difference was once again turnovers. Dallas' 9 turnovers resulted in 7 Clipper points while the Clippers 19 turnovers resulted in 18 Dallas points. Steve Nash was the high man for Dallas with 24 points and 7 assists. Dirk Nowitzki had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Michael Finley also had 20 points and had 5 rebounds. When the big 3 each scores 20+ points, Dallas is _very_ hard to beat. Shawn Bradley had another nice outing with 13 points including 6-8 FG, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks before fouling out with 35 seconds left. Adrian Griffin started and did not shoot well (3-10 FG), but contributed well in other ways. He had 6 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists in 34 minutes. Dallas only got 18 points from the bench. Raef LaFrentz didn't shot well, but grabbed some rebounds for a change and had a couple of blocks. He had 6 points including 3-8 FG, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 24 minutes. Nick Van Exel is still in a slump and he had just 5 points on 2-8 FG in 18 minutes. Raja Bell had 6 points and Popeye Jones had 2 points in 5 minutes. Newly back from a year's worth of injuries, Lamar Odom led the way for the Clippers with 20 points including 7-11 FG and 9 rebounds. No surprise that Elton Brand had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds including 5 offensive before fouling out with less than 5 minutes left in the game. Quentin Richardson had a terrible night, but jacked up enough shots to reach double-digits. He had 14 points including 3-16 FG and 3-12 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Andre Miller had a poor outing with 10 points on 5-14 FG and 7 assists before fouling out in the final seconds. Corey Maggette provided the spark off the bench with 17 points and 8 rebounds. He also fouled out with 30 seconds left. [Odom tried to get his 6th foul in the waning seconds of the game, but the ref wouldn't call it.] Michael Olowokandi had a terrible night [as I continue my chant of "overrated" and not worth the free agent hype he's been getting] with 3 points including just 1-10 FG and 9 rebounds in 33 minutes. Quotes Don Nelson: "It was a lot harder game then people realize. It was a very physical game. I was real proud of my troops. They made a run at us late and we found a way to be strong enough to win the game. We played really well for a long, long period of time and then had a couple of lapses that allowed them to come back in. Adrian Griffin was really terrific tonight. I thought he rose to the occasion. He could have had a super night had he made a few more shots. He really played well defensively. Offensively, he ran the point forward and had 5 assists. He was really good. Again, I thought we played a little tired tonight. But we found a way to gut it out. Coach is happy and we are welcoming a light practice and the day after tomorrow we have an afternoon practice." Nelson: "Coach always thinks it is my job to prepare myself for the worst. You always worry about that. We were tired and couldn't get anything going to the basket. I thought we had 3 or 4 occasions in which we would be allowed a jumpshot as opposed to where we need it. I had to go to my open offense which almost demands a drive somewhere. We did pick up some fouls in that." Nelson: "I thought the big 3 played as well as they could play and we did get some support from the bench. They are a tough team. I think they are going to come on. I have always liked their team. I think they are quite a good team." Nelson on the ball movement in the 4th: "We were going to specific people at that time. There is not necessarily ball movement unless there is a double team. It was a tough game. They moved their defense out and they are very physical and great athletes. They made us work for it." Nelson on LaFrentz: "I thought Raef was better. He worked hard and did some things better. This isn't going to be a one day deal. This is going to be a long period of time until he rounds out and when he does I would expect him to be more consistent. Michael Finley: "We came out tonight the way we needed to come out, aggressive both offensively and defensively. In the 2nd half, I think we got comfortable with our lead. As a result, we let them get their confidence back and make it more of a ballgame than it should have been." Finley on the team shooting 1-11 3-pointers: "When we make those shots, we're more explosive. When we don't, we have to rely even more on defense, which I think is a blessing in disguise." Dirk Nowitzki: "We wanted to keep them around 80 points tonight, but the 4th quarter wasn't like the first 3 quarters. We played well defensively the first 3 quarters then all of a sudden they started to get a bunch of open shots and their energy went up in the 4th quarter. We have to put a good 48 minutes together if you want to beat the good teams and that's what we haven't been doing lately." Nowitzki: "When you're up 20 your energy naturally goes down a little bit, but we can't keep letting that happen and let teams hang around. It is too dangerous in the NBA to let teams hang around. We just have to do a better job of protecting leads and if we do that we should be in good shape." Nowitzki: "We haven't shot the 3-ball well the last 4 or 5 games, that's been a trend. We've got to take it inside and then back outside, that's our game. We'll keep taking shots." Steve Nash on if he had flashbacks to the Milwaukee game when the Clippers got within 8 points: "I don't think they were near the momentum that Milwaukee garnered coming back on us, but we're just disappointed that we let it get to that. We seem to do that, we build a lead and become complacent almost as though we fear our own success out there. We should just really try to put people away and be proud of putting people away, but we always seem to let them back in recently." Nash: "We've got to blow people away and be aggressive and not try to conserve a lead." Nash on if fatigue played a role in the Clippers' comeback: "I think fatigue is part of it, but more than anything it's complacency and mentally we just think we're going to win the game and we just settle in. Instead we need to continue to compete. For some reason, we just let teams back. It doesn't take much in this league to make up 10 points and especially when you hold a 20 point lead for 3 quarters. We have to try to extend it to 30 rather than letting them hang around 20." Nash on the Clippers comeback: "We were disappointed that we let it get to that point. We seem to do that. We build a nice lead and then get complacent almost as though we fear our own success. We should really try to put people away and be proud of putting people away. But we always seem to let them back in." Nash: "In the 1st half, we played great defensively. In the 2nd half, we gave up a ton of points and especially in the 4th quarter. We're getting better in some respects, but we're also lacking consistency and we have a lot to improve on." Raef LaFrentz: "I didn't play great. But I played better than I did the other night. I look at it that way. I rebounded a little better, shot it worse. I was just glad to be out there performing in a W." Raja Bell: "It's always good to win after you take a loss like we did against Milwaukee. But the reality is that 2nd half was not winning Mavericks basketball. It was right there for them, but we ended up gutting it out." Alvin Gentry: "We are just running into the same old problem. We just aren't making any shots. We've been [shooting] in the 30s the last few games and it's virtually impossible to win in the NBA when you are shooting in the mid-30s for the game. You can have bad moments, but you can't do that for the game. That's where we are. That is where all of our problems are starting. You could see that tonight. We started the game tonight, they doubled our big guys, our big guys threw it out, we had wide open shots and we can't get them in the basket. It sounds like a broken record for the last couple weeks, but that is where we are. We are not making perimeter shots, which won't open up the game up for Michael [Olowokandi] or Elton until we have somebody step up and do that." Gentry: "We cut it down to 8 and we had 2 lay-ups that we missed. That is kind of the way the season has gone thus far." Gentry on Odom: "I thought he played better tonight, but that is irrelevant. We have to play better as a team. I think he is starting to play better and he is starting to do some things. I was just disappointed that some of the things we talked about doing, I think we have got to take things from the scouting report and from the shoot around back out to the floor, and we are struggling with that in some areas." Lamar Odom on being down early: "You get down against a team like this, they score the ball too well. We aren't scoring well enough. I know the Lakers came back from 30 points, but you won't see that happen again. They are too good offensively; they aren't going to miss too many open looks." Odom on the comeback: "Sometimes when you overexert yourself trying to come back, you run out of gas and time. We ran out of gas." Odom on the team's poor shooting: "Like in any sport; when you are struggling in one category, you have to pick it up in all the others. When we are not shooting the ball well, we have too many athletes on the court, we should be able to defend everybody. It's like the football mentality - you see some teams that have no offense, but they just say they are going to get stops and they are going to get stops and they are going to get stops. All the great teams and good teams in the NBA, get stops when they need them. I don't think we are playing well enough, defensively, to be honest with you." Elton Brand on falling behind early in the game: "You can't get behind to a team like that and expect to win. But we knew that if we kept fighting, we could get back in the game; then the foul trouble came. Cut to 8, then it was over. I thought we had a chance, especially there at the end. We fought hard." Brand on the Clippers' poor shooting: "There were a lot of open looks; you just need to get in the gym and hit those shots. I think that is the only thing. It is just a confidence thing." Brand: "Guys just have to hit shots. It's a lot of open looks. It's a confidence-type thing. You can't get down to a team like that. We just need to keep shooting with confidence." Michael Olowokandi: "We are just not capable of making shots right now and we know that, so instead, our guys are driving the ball into the teeth of the defense. Maybe for the rest of the season, we should just stand around in practice and shoot 3s. Any team playing us should just double team us in the post. It's easy ... easy." Olowokandi: "Not one time did I catch the ball and then get a good look at the basket. It's a combination of 2 things: we're not making our shots and then sometimes when we have people wide open on the perimeter, we're not shooting. It's one thing if we're missing shots, but to not even attempt a wide-open one is a disservice to the team." Quentin Richardson, who shot 3-16 FG, : "Nobody's trying to miss. I have never missed that many ... shots." Keyon Dooling on the poor shooting: "I wish I knew the remedy, so that I could use it. Because right now, it's killing us." Dallas Mavericks 102, Los Angeles Clippers 92 at Dallas (January 2) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 23 24 31 24 - 102 .474 .091 .427 .833 LA Clippers 12 19 28 33 - 92 .400 .304 .373 .676 Halftime: Dallas 47-31 3rd Q: Dallas 78-59 Technicals: LA Clippers defensive 3 seconds 9:30 3rd, Michael Olowokandi 6:33 3rd, LA Clippers defensive 3 seconds 0:45 3rd, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 6:28 4th Refs: Anthony Jordan, Dick Bavetta, Ron Olesiak Attendance: 19,884 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Walt Williams (strained left knee) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 34 3-10 0-3 0-0 6 3-8 5 1 3 0 1 Dirk Nowitzki 39 7-16 0-2 6-9 20 1-10 2 1 4 1 3 Shawn Bradley 25 6-8 0-0 1-1 13 3-5 1 0 6 1 3 Michael Finley 41 7-18 0-1 6-7 20 0-5 2 1 2 1 0 Steve Nash 31 8-16 0-1 8-9 24 1-2 7 2 1 3 0 Raef LaFrentz 24 3-8 0-1 0-0 6 1-8 0 0 3 0 3 Nick Van_Exel 18 2-8 1-3 0-0 5 0-3 1 2 0 0 1 Raja Bell 22 1-3 0-0 4-4 6 0-2 1 0 4 1 0 Popeye Jones 5 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Adam Harrington 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 38-89 1-11 25-30 102 9-44 19 9 24 7 11 Los Angeles Clippers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Lamar Odom 31 7-11 1-3 5-6 20 0-9 2 2 5 0 0 Elton Brand 36 5-12 0-0 3-6 13 5-13 1 4 6 0 2 Michael Olowokandi 33 1-10 0-0 1-1 3 3-9 1 2 1 0 1 Quentin Richardson 40 3-16 3-12 5-6 14 1-6 1 2 0 2 0 Andre Miller 35 5-14 0-3 0-0 10 2-2 7 2 6 1 0 Keyon Dooling 16 1-5 0-1 0-0 2 0-2 3 2 0 1 0 Corey Maggette 23 6-10 2-3 3-5 17 2-8 0 4 6 0 0 Tremaine Fowlkes 13 2-3 0-0 3-4 7 1-4 0 1 0 1 0 Wang Zhizhi 9 1-1 1-1 3-6 6 1-3 1 0 0 0 0 Chris Wilcox 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 31-83 7-23 23-34 92 15-56 16 19 24 5 3 Philadelphia (19-13) at Dallas (26-5) (January 4) Dallas jumped out to an early 11-3 lead with 9 minutes left and took their first double-digit lead at 15-5 with 8 minutes to go. Philadelphia scored 7 straight points, capped by a 3-pointer by Allen Iverson, to pull within 19-23 with 3:45 left. However, Dallas steadily rebuilt their lead and led 34-24 after 1. Both teams were shooting well with Dallas at 60% FG and Philadelphia at 52.6% FG. Dallas was helped by Philadelphia getting into the penalty with 8 minutes left the quarter (and Dallas returned the favor in the 2nd quarter) as Dallas shot 9-10 FT and Philadelphia shot 3-6 FT. Dirk Nowitzki and Iverson had 10 points each. Nowitzki scored the first 5 points of the 2nd quarter to give Dallas a 39-24 lead with 10:15 remaining. Dallas led in the teens the rest of the quarter as Philadelphia could not mount a run. Dallas led 58-42 at the half. Philadelphia's shooting abandoned them in the 2nd quarter as they shot just 27.8% FG while Dallas shot 56.3% FG. Nowitzki was up to 18 points at the half. Philly could not mount a run during the 3rd quarter and a jumper by Michael Finley gave Dallas their first 20 point lead at 73-53 with 5:25 left. Dallas led 80-62 after 3. Unlike the last game, there was no let up by Dallas in the 4th quarter as the Mavs took their largest lead at 95-70 with 6:30 to go. Philly got no closer than 18 points in the 4th quarter. Dallas won 102-83. Yaaaaa, an easy one with no drama - and on national TV and an early game [situations where Dallas sometimes struggles]. Dallas shot better than Philadelphia and out-rebounded them. Dallas shot 50.6% (40-79) FG and Philadelphia shot 42.7% (32-75) FG. Dallas' 3-pointer shooting is still absent at 3-10 3-pointers (though they shot 2-4 3-pointers in the 1st half), but at least they didn't keep jacking them up. And Dallas out-rebounded Philadelphia 43-35 including 15-13 offensive. Shooting better than your opponent and out-rebounding them is a good recipe for a win. Dirk Nowitzki had a monster game [Player of the Week?] with 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Steve Nash was solid with 16 points including 6-8 FG and 8 assists and Michael Finley had 18 points. Shawn Bradley was a difference maker with 10 points, 11 rebounds including 4 offensive, and 7 blocks in 21 minutes. Nick Van Exel's shooting touch returned some and he was the 5th Mav in double digits with 11 points including 5-9 FG (but 0-3 3-pointers). Raja Bell's job was to stick with Allen Iverson as much as possible (though they did play a switching defense some). He also contributed 7 points including 3-3 FG and 5 rebounds including 4 offensive. Raef LaFrentz had some ugly moments and some very solid moments - I'd call his performance a wash. He had 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 23 minutes. Adrian Griffin also had a defensive role and only had 4 points on 2-3 FG in 20 minutes, but got the chalupa bucket when his sub was waiting to come in. Allen Iverson was a 1-man show with 25 points including 11-19 FG (ending his shooting slump). Greg Buckner was the only other 76er in double-digits with 14 points on 7-11 FG. Take those two's field goals away and the rest of the team shot just 14-45 FG (31.1%). Eric Snow only had 9 points including 2-8 FG, 5 assists, and 5 turnovers. Kenny Thomas had 9 points and 8 rebounds. Keith Van Horn had a quiet 8 points and 6 rebounds before fouling out in 27 minutes. Quotes Don Nelson: "We got back in sync and played a good game. It's about time. Coach was real happy about that. We played with more energy and just had a zip to us that we've been lacking. Let us not forget that Philadelphia is on a long road trip and this is the last game of the trip, which is the toughest one to play. Let's not get too full on ourselves and let's understand that they were tired. I am very pleased with the effort. I was expecting a tough game and it turned out not to be. Tomorrow we will take off and have a day of rest. Avery Johnson has to go to church because I heard some utterance of profanity there. He was angry." Nelson on playing on ABC: "The win is the most important part. I think a lot of people like to watch our team play. When we play on TV, whether on cable or national, the ratings are pretty good. It was nice to have a zip to us and show people why we have the best record in the league at this point." Nelson on putting Philadelphia away in the 4th: "We talked about it. It's about time. We've let our guard down in the 4th period and in the 2nd half here in this homestand and we talked about not doing that and basically taking no prisoners, keep the pressure on, keep playing hard. When you get home that is when you can sit down and take a breather, not during the game." Nelson on the defense: "We did a couple of things that we hadn't done before. We are keying up some of their set plays and we key on that instead of going to the zone. We are man-to-man until they run that play then we are able to slip into that zone. It is not easy for players to do and understand. I thought we carried out the execution well. We put in a new offensive set in, which I thought was very effective. We only had one day of practice with it. We ran that much more than I thought. I thought I would only run it 3 to 5 times in the game and I actually ran it 15 times or more. Our scoring percentages were really good in that set. I thought with the way we were playing lately the team needed something from me in regards to getting better shots for us. We have been taking contested shots and that puts us into a passing first mindset. We only took a couple of questionable shots tonight. We did a real good shot of not forcing 3s, taking the dribble in, and getting good percentage shots. Nelson: "I thought Nash was feeling good about himself. We had talked to him about setting the tone with some outside shooting early. When I tell the team we need to go to the basket more he takes it to heart and never shoots outside. The strength of his game, he's got the whole package. We went almost 5 games where he was taking hardly any outside shots. I thought it set the tone when he made a couple of jumpers and got us feeling good." Nelson on Bradley: "I thought he was sensational. He is clearly one of our best players this year, from one of our worst to one of our best. We are real pleased with his performance." Nelson on Nowitzki: "He's had big games. I think with the All-Star voting, having him up there with the big boys shows that people know about him. I think it is nice because Dallas hadn't been on national TV for 9 or 10 years and now we have been on a few times and it is enjoyable. That is something you can sell to free agency." Michael Finley: "We played well in the 1st half. We stuck to our game plan in the 2nd half and made it tough on them. We just wanted to come out in the 2nd half and keep our intensity up. We did that and we were able to pull the victory out." Finley on if he was surprised that Philadelphia did not make a run in the 2nd half: "No, I'm not surprised. They are a team that has been on the road for a while. Fatigue may have been a factor in that plus we were rolling offensively. We made it a tough night for them. It was a total team effort on our part and they couldn't get into a groove against us." Finley: "When they tried to make a run they couldn't really do it. I think mentally and physically they were really fatigued being on this road trip. We can't let them off because they were tired." Finley on Bradley: "Shawn played big. We needed his presence inside from a defensive stand point. Offensively, we needed him to make shots when we came to him. Overall he played a good game and he was a presence out there and that's definitely what we need from him." Finley on Bradley: "He came into the season in shape and with confidence. We need him to play well and be a presence in the middle." Finley: "It's not a matter of us just going out trying to blow teams out. We want to get what they call a killer instinct. What that is, is when we have teams down like we've had, we have to continue to put the pedal to the metal and keep our foot on them. In the past couple of games, we've been letting teams get their confidence up and making it more of a ballgame down the stretch. We wanted to not let that happen, and we didn't tonight." Dirk Nowitzki: "We really got our offense going early. Our defense looked sharp, but they got a lot of offensive rebounds in the 1st half. Allen always gets his points; he's one of the best players in the league, but we did a great job on everyone else. We had no letdowns in the 3rd and 4th quarters and really kept the heat on them. We blew them out in the 2nd half and that's what we wanted to do." Nowitzki: "We have so many great scorers and it's hard to double team us. We spread the floor well and if you double team one guy, we're going to get a lot of open shots. We still need to take better shots because we taken way too many contested 3s." Nowitzki: "It was nice. I really don't like the early games, but we got the win and we'll move on from here." Nowitzki on Bradley: "He's been a force in the middle and when playoff time comes around, we're going to need someone to clog up the middle." Nick Van Exel: "Mike [Finley] came in and drew it up on the blackboard - 48 minutes. That was our main focus at halftime - not letting them get on a run or get a lot of points, keep them down in the low 20s or teens per quarter." Van Exel on if his slump has ended: "I made 5 layups and I missed 3 jumpers. So I really didn't get it back." Popeye Jones on the offensive set: "Basically, it's like a college 4-corners offense. It gives Steve a chance to break down guys off the dribble, then either finish or find guys open on the perimeter. That's why Shawn got so many offensive rebounds, because his guy had to go help out on whoever was driving the lane." Larry Brown: "Dallas is phenomenal. Don Nelson has done a wonderful job with them. They shared the ball. They defended. Everybody on their team made a great contribution. The other night against Phoenix, Outlaw disrupted us, I though Bradley disrupted us. They all played great. They played like a team." Brown on if fatigue was a factor: "I hope that's the case, but I honestly feel that we're not very good right now." Brown on Philadelphia going 1-5 on the road trip: "We're just not very good right now, and its my responsibility and our coaching staff. I haven't done a very good job. We can't guard anybody. We had 1 blocked shot and that came from Derrick Coleman. We get beat on traps and dribble penetration. The first team has gotten down 15 points almost every 1st quarter, and Eric Snow is guarding everybody by himself. We've had people behind us for years bailing us out. We don't have people behind us now and it shows. When you can't guard, it's really a difficult situation, and I have to do a better job." Brown: "We can't guard anybody. It's perplexing. It's a brutal problem when you can't guard and you can't score." Allen Iverson: "We just got our [tails] whipped on both ends of the court. It wasn't just one aspect of the game. We couldn't stop them and we couldn't get the spurts we wanted to." Iverson: "I was surprised we didn't get a run. Something's got to give. I'm still confident that we can get it done, but it's frustrating." Iverson: "Defensively, we have no chemistry. Guys are worrying about stopping their own guy and they're not helping the other guys." Iverson: "I'm confident that we can turn it around. I have a lot of confidence in the guys that I play with, and I have a lot of confidence in myself that we can get it done. But it's not about talking about it. We've got to get it done on the basketball court." Eric Snow on not being able to get transition baskets: "That's part of the reason we are having trouble scoring, we don't get any easy baskets. They are able to play 5-on-5 and zone up; and it's going to be tough to score. We are having trouble no matter what teams do: isolation, post-up, pick-and-roll." Snow on if fatigue was a factor: "It wasn't a factor at all. They played Thursday just like we did. We sleep in a bed just like they do." Snow on Dallas' defense: "They are a lot better. They are using the new rules to their advantage. They are big. When they put Bradley, Dirk, and LaFrentz, and Michael Finley playing the 2-guard, they are big. They give teams trouble. They change things up. In order to do well in the playoffs and have a chance to win championships in this league, you have to get better defensively. And they have done that." Snow on the road trip: "It was awful. 1 out of 5 is one thing, but it's the way that you lose. You take away the Golden State and the Clippers game and we weren't close in 3 out of the 5 games." Snow: "We keep talking about the same stuff, but we don't go out and do it for 48 minutes. We have trouble scoring because we can't - don't - defend. When we become a better defensive team, we'll become a better offensive team." Snow: "It puts you at a loss of words, because you keep talking and talking about the same stuff. Pretty soon, guys will start clashing. No one in here is finger-pointing, but it may come to that, because we can't seem to get the point across." Keith Van Horn: "I think defensively, as a team, we are not helping each other like we should, like we were early in the year. We are letting guys get into the paint. We are not being as aggressive as we were. We need to be more aggressive on both ends of the court." Dallas Mavericks 102, Philadelphia 76ers 83 at Dallas (January 4) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 34 24 22 22 - 102 .536 .300 .506 .760 Philadelphia 24 18 20 21 - 83 .456 .143 .427 .720 Halftime: Dallas 58-42 3rd Q: Dallas 80-42 Technicals: Allen Iverson 5:48 1st Refs: Bernie Fryer, Bill Kennedy, George Toliver Attendance: 20,124 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Walt Williams (strained left knee) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Raja Bell 27 3-3 0-0 1-2 7 4-5 2 1 2 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 40 12-24 2-4 3-4 29 0-8 3 1 3 1 3 Shawn Bradley 21 2-4 0-0 6-6 10 4-11 1 1 4 0 7 Michael Finley 35 7-19 0-1 4-6 18 2-4 2 1 0 1 0 Steve Nash 32 6-8 1-2 3-3 16 0-4 8 4 1 0 0 Raef LaFrentz 23 2-5 0-0 1-1 5 1-4 0 0 3 0 2 Nick Van_Exel 24 5-9 0-3 1-3 11 1-3 4 1 0 1 0 Adrian Griffin 20 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 1-1 1 0 3 1 0 Popeye Jones 11 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 2-3 0 3 2 0 0 Avery Johnson 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 1 0 Adam Harrington 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 40-79 3-10 19-25 102 15-43 21 13 19 5 12 Philadelphia 76ers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Keith Van_Horn 27 3-7 0-0 2-4 8 1-6 1 0 6 1 0 Kenny Thomas 30 3-5 0-0 3-4 9 3-8 1 1 3 1 0 Todd MacCulloch 12 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 1-1 1 1 0 1 0 Allen Iverson 36 11-19 1-3 2-4 25 1-4 3 4 0 0 0 Eric Snow 35 2-8 0-1 5-5 9 0-3 5 5 3 2 0 Greg Buckner 35 7-11 0-1 0-0 14 0-3 1 0 3 1 0 Derrick Coleman 22 1-6 0-1 5-6 7 4-4 1 2 2 0 1 Aaron McKie 6 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 1 0 0 1 0 Brian Skinner 12 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 1 0 2 0 0 Kenny Satterfield 9 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 2-2 1 1 1 0 0 John Salmons 11 2-4 0-1 0-0 4 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Efthimios Rentzias 5 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 48 32-75 1-7 18-25 83 13-35 17 17 20 8 1 patricia