Dirk Nowitzki is being bothered by a sore right Achilles tendon. He did play in the Seattle game and has been instructed not to practice during the 3 days Dallas has off before Wednesday's game at Detroit. Seattle at Dallas (November 23) Dallas came out looking like crap in the 1st quarter and Seattle showed that their practice that focused on how to beat the zone defense paid off. Seattle scored 11 straight points to go up 13-4 with 8:40 left. Dallas was able to keep Seattle from building on their lead for the next 6 minutes, but then collapsed for the last 2 1/2 minutes of the quarter in going scoreless and Seattle scored the last 8 points of the quarter to go up 34-18 after 1. Seattle shot 11-20 FG while Dallas shot just 7-26 FG including 0-8 3-pointers. Steve Nash had half of Dallas' 18 points. Dallas was playing catchup in the 2nd quarter and every time the Mavs pulled without 10 points, Seattle would answer with some buckets to keep their lead in double-digits. A layup by Dirk Nowitzki (his first basket of the game) and 2 jumpers by Nash pulled Dallas within 43-50 with 1:35 remaining. Desmond Mason hit a jumper with a handful of seconds left to give Seattle a 55-47 lead at the half. Seattle shot 50% FG and Dallas shot 34% FG. A good sign of the way the teams were playing was that Seattle had 15 assists and Dallas had just 6 assists. Nash had 18 points and Mason had 14 points. Dallas scored the first 3 points of the 3rd quarter to pull within 5 points, but Brent Barry nailed a 3-pointer and Seattle retained control of the game. Seattle used a 9-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Vladimir Radmanovic, to go up 75-59 with 4:40 to go. Dallas hit consecutive 3-pointers to pull within 10 points, but Predrag Drobnjak scored the next 4 points to give Seattle an 85-71 lead with 1:15 left. Michael Finley had a layup and Walt Williams drained a 3-pointer to close the quarter. Seattle led 85-76 after 3. Finley had 13 points in the 3rd quarter. Williams opened the 4th quarter with another 3-pointer. Eduardo Najera stole the ball and gave it to Avery Johnson as the 2 ran for the break, but Mason wrapped Johnson up near the basket and the foul was called. But for some crazy reason, it wasn't called as a breakaway (no other Sonic was back and Mason wrapped him up from the side) and Don Nelson went nuts and was ejected with his 2nd technical (got his 1st complaining about all the non-calls in the 1st quarter). Seattle hit the technical free throw, but the Mavs and the fans were fired up [I didn't sit for the rest of the game] and Dallas continued to roll in scoring the next 10 points to take an 89-86 lead with 8:10 remaining. Starting late in the 3rd quarter, Dallas had gone on an 18-1 run while Seattle missed 9 straight shots and turned the ball over 5 times. A 3-pointer by Radmanovic and jumper by Rashard Lewis put Seattle up 97-96 with 4:15 to go, but Nash answered with a 3-pointer and a jumper and Finley hit a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 104-97 lead with 2:25 remaining. Lewis hit 1 of 2 free throws twice around a jumper by Nowitzki and Nowitzki then converted a 3-point play to give Dallas a 109-99 lead with 1:30 left. Seattle would get no closer than 8 points the rest of the way. Dallas won 115-105. It was a great comeback win and Dallas deserves credit for finding a way to win, but they also played like junk for 3 quarters in not taking advantage of Seattle's weaknesses [take it inside!!!] and not playing team ball. Seattle also helped by going cold in the 4th quarter (some credit to Dallas' defense, but it wasn't all Dallas). Dallas shot 62% FG in the 4th quarter while Seattle shot just 26% FG. Dallas shot just 37% FG through the first 3 quarters. The 3-point line was a difference - Seattle shot just 4-13 3-pointers in the 2nd half after shooting 4-6 3-pointers in the 1st half and Dallas shot 7-15 3-pointers in the 2nd half after shooting a mere 1-11 3-pointers in the 1st half. And as a sign of the better team play in the 4th quarter, 7 of Dallas' 19 assists came in the 4th. The big 3 stepped up big time in the 4th quarter as they combined to score 34 of Dallas 39 points in the quarter as Dallas out-scored Seattle 39-20. Dallas' win streak is now at 13 and they have a tough back-to-back coming up on Wednesday and Thursday at Detroit (with revenge on their mind) and at Indiana. Since this game basically came down to 1 quarter, only 5 Mavs deserve mention. Dirk Nowitzki stunk in the 1st half in missing his first 8 shots (did hit his last 2 of the 2nd quarter). He did find his game during halftime and had 7 points in the 3rd quarter and 13 in the 4th including 5-7 FG. He finished with 29 points on 9-21 FG, 1-7 3-pointers, and 10-10 FT and 10 rebounds. Michael Finley also stunk during the 1st half with just 4 points on 2-11 FG, but finished strong with 25 points in the 2nd half and 12 points in the 4th quarter. He had 29 points and 11 rebounds for the game. Steve Nash was the only Mav to play consistently through most of the game (okay, he was scoreless in the 3rd quarter, but had 9 points in each of the other 3 quarters). He had 27 points and 8 assists. The 6th man for this game was Walt Williams who came up with key 3-pointers late in the 3rd and in the 4th and was part of the Mavs' comeback. He finished with 18 points including 4-8 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Eduardo Najera did the dirty work during the comeback with 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and a bucket. He had 6 points including 2-3 FG, 9 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 3 steals for the game. Adrian Griffin with 2 points and Shawn Bradley with 4 points including 1-5 FG were the only other Mavs to score. 7 of the 9 Sonic players who played scored in double-digits, but none of them stepped up in the 4th quarter. Gary Payton had 20 points, 10 assists, and 3 steals, but passed up a number of open looks. Desmond Mason had 19 points and 13 rebounds, but only 1 point came in the 4th quarter. Rashard Lewis had 14 points and 6 rebounds and was limited by foul trouble, but did play most of the 4th quarter and had 6 points in the quarter. Predrag Drobnjak had 14 points, Brent Barry had 12 points and 6 rebounds, Vladimir Radmanovic had 12 points and 9 rebounds, and Reggie Evans had 10 points and 5 rebounds. Quotes Don Nelson: "We had some dead bodies out there. With Dirk's sore Achilles, we were searching for something out there and I think the crowd gave it to us. If this is not the best crowd in basketball, we are right up there with the big boys. Donnie and Del did a great job. If I had stayed, it probably would have been a little different. Donnie found something he nursed and when it is all going at the same time, we are scary good. In the 1st half when I was coaching, we couldn't make a shot, but as soon as I left, the shot making started to happen. The big 3 all started clicking. We got it going. We haven't seen that much this year, only a couple games. We needed that in the 2nd half, especially in the 4th quarter. We refused to lose. We are going to give it our best shot to win every game that we possibly can. Walt Williams gave us a boost. He rebounded for us." Nelson: "What a team, what an effort. It was just a gutsy effort. The team just somehow found something and refused to lose." Nelson: "When the big 3 all get going at the same time, we're scary good. We didn't see it, of course, in the 1st half when I was coaching. We couldn't make a shot. As soon as I left, the shot-making started to happen." Nelson: "The fans were unbelievable when the team really needed them, because we had some dead bodies out there on the court." Nelson on his ejection: "It wasn't all bad, me being thrown out. I thought our team needed something. We needed a kick in the pants." Nelson on his ejection: "If that's not a breakaway, I've never saw one." Nelson: "I'm not sure if I had stayed, the play calling would have been different. Donnie found something that he nursed." Donn Nelson on Don's ejection: "In true Nellie fashion, he went out in style and lit a fire under us. The whole team needed to get our cage rattled." Nelson: "It really had a lot less to do with me than with Steve, Dirk, and Mike. They just elevated to a whole different stratosphere." Michael Finley: "To find a way to win games like this is a sign of a champion. We found a way tonight." Finley: "We definitely found something in ourselves tonight, in that we didn't give up. To find a way to win games when things aren't going your way is definitely the sign of a champion." Dirk Nowitzki: "We have games where it's ugly, but we come up with big plays when we need them the most." Nowitzki: "We just didn't find our rhythm offensively. We just looked out of sync. Every jumper was short and defensively they had way too many layups. We just looked out of whack in the 1st half. I think the crowd really pushed us. It was like a playoff atmosphere in the 4th quarter. It was so much fun to go out there and just perform." Nowitzki on his Achilles: "Once I got loose and warm, I didn't really feel it. I just never found my rhythm in the 1st half. I just tried to be more aggressive in the 2nd half, maybe get to the basket a little bit and try to get to the foul line and find my rhythm there." Nowitzki: "We're confident right now in ourselves. Even though we've had games where we play ugly, at the end of the game we come up with the big plays, big stops, and big baskets we've needed. That's what it was all about." Steve Nash: "The first 3 quarters, they made their shots and in the 4th they didn't. We started tightening up defensively. It was a good combination. Games like this make us better." Nash: "We got a lot of good players on this team. Somebody is always going to come around. In this game, we all came around." Nash: "We've got a lot of great players on this team, so somebody's going to come around at any given moment. Tonight we saw that. Any time you're struggling, it's really important to stay positive and stick together, and that's something that we do a great job of. We have so many weapons that if we just stick with it, we have a great chance to come back on anybody." Nash on if he though Nowitzki's Achilles was hurting him: "I think he was. I think it was tough for him, especially early on. It's always tough when you're playing a bit hurt to find your rhythm. You second guess yourself physically, so it was a very impressive performance by Dirk." Shawn Bradley: "The game ball goes to 20,000 people, or thereabouts." Walt Williams: "We were struggling offensively and I just wanted to come in and give the team some help, going to the basket. I just wanted to help us pick it up and take it to another level offensively because they were contesting our shots." Williams: "Every time we looked up, we were down 10 or 12 or 15 points. We showed a lot of character in this game. We left it out there on the court to get this win." Williams on Nelson's ejection: "I think it helped us. The crowd got into in the 4th and really sparked us. When Nellie got ejected the crowd took it to a whole other level. We came out in the 4th quarter and had a sense of urgency. We had our work cut out for us and just wanted to stay solid and stay close in the game." Avery Johnson on trailing most of the game: "It was tough. You don't really know what is going to happen in the course of a NBA game. Tonight they were on fire. Desmond Mason made a lot of 3s. Gary Payton is a terrific player. They scouted our zone. We were a step slow and we couldn't throw it in the ocean. We just wanted to change that in the 2nd half." Johnson on the streak: "Well, we really didn't want it to end at home because we think our home is very supportive of us. Now we go on the road and will see what happens." Johnson on Dallas missing 3s: "It was tough because we were wide open. We don't miss a lot of wide open 3s; but when we were inside the 3, Seattle did a terrific job of defending us. Let's give them some credit and give us some credit to show that we have a lot of fight." Johnson on Nelson's ejection: "I think Nellie should get an assist. It was very timely. Sometimes coaches get thrown out of a game and it is not very beneficial for the team, but I think his ejection helped because it was a bad call." Nate McMillan on Dallas' comeback: "They were behind. Whenever you are behind, you are going to pick up the intensity; you are going to get more aggressive on both end of the floor. That's what you are supposed to do. With a lead on the road, you are supposed to do the same thing. You have to be aggressive both ways, offensively and defensively. We did that for 3 quarters and then we got back on our heels. We started getting hesitant offensively. We didn't continue to move and attack their zone and do the things that we were doing for 3 quarters. We allowed the crowd to get into the game and we got a little tentative. We quit taking shots when they were there. Defensively, we gave up 18 offensive boards. There is no way you can give up 18 offensive boards and expect to win a game." McMillan: "We were doing what we were capable of doing. But we were also missing some little things early that came back to haunt us. Some layups, some miscommunication on defense. When they started their run, we stopped executing the way we had in the first 3 quarters and the little mistakes added up." McMillan on if Seattle lost its composure: "We did. We didn't pull together and show the unity that we needed to late in that game. We are on the road by ourselves; there are 20,000 fans out there yelling and screaming, you have to pull together on the floor and let each other know that you are in this thing together. We didn't do that. We stood off from each other and allowed the run to continue as opposed to standing our ground together and making stops." Gary Payton: "We let this one slip away. We should have won this, but we didn't. We didn't make shots at the end, and that cost us the game." Payton: "Obviously we've lost something over this last week here. We used to close teams out, and we haven't been able to do that in these past 2 games. So we've got to get that back. In every other way, I think we're playing good basketball. It's just that at the end, we're not making the plays to win games." Desmond Mason: "We just didn't finish the game in the 4th quarter. Coach said it perfectly after the game, that we played 3 quarters of basketball and that is something we can't continue to do. We have done that the last couple of games. We stopped attacking the zone. Things that if you do them in the 4th quarter of a big time game, you will lose every time." Mason on Dallas' comeback: "It had nothing to do with what they were doing. It had everything to do with what we were doing. They were making shots, and we knew they were going to make their run sooner or later. They couldn't continue to miss shots. We stopped being aggressive. It had nothing to do with them." Brent Barry: "We played a real solid 3 quarters and had an opportunity to win the game. We talked about it before the game, that when you go on road trips and you are in another team's building, you have to try and have a chance to win in the 4th quarter, which we had." Barry on what sparked Dallas' comeback: "Themselves. It's not so much what they did, but what we weren't doing. We weren't attacking the zone like we were in the 1st half. Their shots started falling, but we had a big enough lead that we should be able to protect that and still be able to execute on the offensive end. That's the reason the are 13-0. They play good team ball and they always had the confidence that at some point they would be able to get back in the game." Barry on Dallas' streak: "People who say it doesn't mean anything are all wrong. This gives you the kind of confidence that can carry you through the rest of the season." Kenny Anderson: "If you don't shoot well and don't make the right decisions, that zone definitely slows you up. You can't settle for jumpers. You're not going to win just shooting jump shots." Dallas Mavericks 115, Seattle Sonics 105 at Dallas (November 23) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 18 29 29 39 - 115 .470 .308 .424 .935 Seattle 34 21 30 20 - 105 .477 .389 .458 .688 Halftime: Seattle 55-47 3rd Q: Seattle 85-76 Technicals: Gary Payton 7:13 1st, Don Nelson 1:48 1st, Seattle defensive 3 seconds 10:57 2nd, Seattle defensive 3 seconds 5:36 2nd, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 4:29 2nd, Don Nelson (ejected) 11:20 4th Refs: Blane Reichelt, Gary Benson, Tom Washington Attendance: 20,011 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Evan Eschmeyer (right knee surgery), Jerome James (stress fracture) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 24 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 2-2 1 2 2 1 0 Eduardo Najera 28 2-3 0-0 2-2 6 5-9 2 1 3 3 0 Dirk Nowitzki 44 9-21 1-7 10-10 29 2-10 1 1 3 1 0 Michael Finley 46 11-28 2-8 5-5 29 2-11 2 2 2 1 0 Steve Nash 40 9-19 1-3 8-9 27 2-4 8 2 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 12 1-5 0-0 2-3 4 2-3 0 2 4 0 3 Walt Williams 31 6-12 4-8 2-2 18 2-7 3 0 4 0 1 Avery Johnson 13 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 2 0 0 0 0 Raja Bell 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Adam Harrington 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 39-92 8-26 29-31 115 18-47 19 10 20 6 4 Seattle Sonics REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rashard Lewis 30 5-11 0-1 4-6 14 4-6 2 1 5 1 0 Reggie Evans 13 3-5 0-0 4-5 10 3-5 1 1 0 1 0 Predrag Drobnjak 28 4-10 0-0 6-8 14 1-3 0 3 2 0 0 Gary Payton 42 7-13 1-1 5-6 20 2-4 10 1 2 3 0 Brent Barry 42 5-13 2-6 0-1 12 0-6 3 2 4 2 1 Desmond Mason 40 7-14 2-5 3-4 19 4-13 1 2 4 0 0 Vladimir Radmanovic 28 5-12 2-5 0-2 12 3-9 0 2 5 0 1 Kenny Anderson 12 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 5 2 0 0 1 Ansu Sesay 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-83 7-18 22-32 105 17-48 23 15 22 7 3 patricia