Prior to the Clippers game, Dallas activated Adam Harrington and placed Eduardo Najera on IR with left knee surgery. Walt Williams did not play in the Clippers game due to a sprained right elbow. He is listed as doubtful for tonight's game at San Antonio. LA Clippers at Dallas (December 10) Dallas scored the first 7 points of the game before the Clippers decided to join in the action. Dallas' lead remained around 7 points the rest of the quarter. The Clippers lost Eric Piatkowski midway through the quarter with an abdominal strain and he did not return. Popeye Jones took a charge with 3 minutes left, but fell on Dirk Nowitzki's ankle and Nowitzki left the game with a high left ankle sprain and he did not return. Jason Richardson scored 4 straight points to pull within 21-24 with a minutes left. Adrian Griffin hit a jumper with a handful of seconds left in the quarter and Dallas led 26-21 after 1. The Clippers scored the first 4 points of the 2nd quarter, but could not pull even or ahead as Dallas held on to a single-digit lead. Dallas led 43-37 with 6:10 remaining and proceeded to run away with the game with a 15-3 run, that including 3 3-pointers, to go up 58-40 with 3:10 to go. 3-pointers by Nick Van Exel surrounded a jumper by Steve Nash to close the quarter and give Dallas a 68-45 lead at the half. Dallas out-scored the Clippers 42-24 during the 2nd quarter. All the stats from the 1st half were dominated by Dallas. Dallas shot 58% FG including 7-13 3-pointers while the Clippers shot 40% FG including 1-8 3-pointers. Dallas also out-rebounded the Clippers 24-16. Dallas scored 8 consecutive points to go up 83-51 with 6 minutes left and led in the 30s the rest of the quarter. It wasn't all good news for Dallas as they lost Adrian Griffin with a partially dislocated right shoulder with 5:30 left. Dallas led 95-62 after 3. Van Exel opened the 4th quarter with a 3-pointer to give Dallas their largest lead of the game and the 4th was pure garbage time. The Clippers' bench did manage to cut Dallas' lead into the 20s, but never got closer than 24 points. Dallas won 122-95. The Mavs did it the easy way this night and there wasn't any screwups like there were in the Lakers games. The big down note from this game was the injuries. Both Dirk Nowitzki and Adrian Griffin are listed as day-to-day and Nowitzki did not travel with the team to San Antonio. Griffin is with the team, but it is not yet known if he will play in tonight's game vs San Antonio. I didn't even know that Eric Piatkowski had left with an injury and was wondering why the Clippers weren't putting him back in as they need his outside touch. The Mavs did improve in rebounding from the past 2 games and out-rebounded the Clippers 45-42. The key stat was the shooting. Dallas shot 53.1% FG while the Clippers shot just 40.9% FG. And Dallas connected on 14 3-pointers (and shot better from 3-point land than within the arc). The tough test is tonight in San Antonio - and it will be even tougher with Nowitzki and Walt Williams not playing and even more if Griffin is unavailable - Dallas could be down to just 8 healthy players plus rookie Adam Harrington [who Nelson just said that he would not play in a game he thought they could win]. Michael Finley finally broke free from his 6 game slump with a balanced game of 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. And Nick Van Exel continued his string of strong performances with 24 points including 6-10 3-pointers and 5 assists. Steve Nash had 17 points and 7 assists despite only playing 26 minutes. All of his points came in the 1st half. Shawn Bradley had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and also 4 blocks. Popeye Jones had 11 points and 5 rebounds in his first game of the season getting extended minutes (24 minutes - previous high was just 8 minutes). Despite Dallas' focusing on him, Elton Brand was a stud with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Even though he's a restricted free agent this summer, one of those teams with money available needs to offer him a max/near-max contract to get a great talent (and you know that Sterling wouldn't match). The rest of the Clipper starters only combined for 21 points. Andre Miller had a very poor outing with just 9 points including 4-11 FG and 2 assists. Quentin Richardson had 16 points including 5-14 FG and 10 rebounds. Chris Wilcox was the only other Clipper in double-digits with 10 points (and 7 of those came in the 4th). Quotes Don Nelson: "I bet you guys thought we were going to lose another 27 point lead [laugh]. We don't know about Nowitzki. To win a game like that as decisively as we did and still be able to rest my players going into tomorrow's game is a blessing. We got a lot of work in for a lot of people. We were blessed that it was a back-to-back for them and they were probably a little tired. We seized the opportunity and did what we were supposed to do. Nick Van Exel continues to be the hot player and is probably playing better than anybody on the team. Raef looked a little better. Popeye got a chance to play tonight." Nelson: "We've got a lot of guys down. I asked several times tonight, 'Is there somebody else down there [on the bench] I don't know about? Who can I put in the game?' And they go, 'That's all you got down there.'" Nelson on the injuries: "We've had a lot go down. We just keep trucking, and we will continue to do that." Nelson on Van Exel coming back from knee surgery: "I am surprised he has been able to play this well and this quickly. He actually wanted to play 2 games before I let him. He wanted to go on the Eastern trip and play in Boston and in Jersey, but we thought in our best interest we would rest him a little more." Nelson: "My best player is my 6th man right now. Has been since he's come back. Nick is the best player on my team right now, and it couldn't happen at a better time because a couple guys are dinged up and struggling. When we really need a strong performance, he's given it to us." Nelson: "I can't really tell you much about Dirk. It's really not my place to comment on those types of things." Nelson on Griffin's injury: "He felt it pop out and then pop in and that can be pretty sore." Nelson on recovering from the loss to the Lakers: "Yes. The team probably handled it better than I did. That is the worst loss I ever had. They rose above where I was. I was trying to prepare them to get over it and it was harder for me to get over it. I think you make mistakes in life and we made a terrible mistake as a team. We did it together. We failed and I don't know if I'll ever forget it. That will be one I'll remember on my death bed when the Lakers came back and beat us. As far as we are concerned, there is nothing we can do about it. We are doing the best we can. The reflection of the game tonight is that it is behind us." Michael Finley: "We knew at halftime we had that lead and we were damn sure not to let it happen tonight. One thing about the NBA, you live and you learn. Maybe we beat the Lakers by 30 and let them come back tonight. We learned from the Lakers' loss." Finley: "3-point shots are usually created by one of your teammates and we have the type of team that penetrates and kicks it out to the open man." Finley: "I don't get into talks about shooting slumps. I'm going to have my good days and my bad days and that's just the type of player that I am. Tonight, fortunately for me and the team, it was one of my better days. When Dirk went down everybody had to step it up a bit and I took it upon myself to do that as well and we came out with the victory." Finley: "Dirk is an integral part of this team. For us to fill his void is going to be tough, but we have the guys off the bench that can step up to the challenge and fill the void." Dirk Nowitzki on his ankle: "It's a little sore, but I'll be all right." Steve Nash on Nowitzki's injury: "It's too bad, but it's better to happen now. Hopefully the bounces-and-luck account is growing for later in the season, because right now we're surely not getting a lot of breaks, injury wise." Nash on Nowitzki's injury: "He's irreplaceable. It's scary to think of the prospect of losing him. Thankfully, he's tough and a fast healer. And it wasn't serious." Nick Van Exel: "We have some good shooters that shoot the ball well from out there, so we're going to take them. We made shots, played pretty good defensively, and just closed it out." Raef LaFrentz: "We thought transition against this team would we real important and it was. Again defensively, we just wanted to keep them off balance. For the most part we were able to do that and we were able to protect our lead a little bit better once we got it." LaFrentz on out-rebounding the Clippers: "A big part of the game of basketball is the ability to rebound and the least amount of possession you allow the other team is working in your favor." LaFrentz: "I thought Mike did a great job of stepping up when we needed him to score points. He had some great assists and really shouldered the load for the most part after Dirk got hurt." Adrian Griffin on separating his shoulder when his arm got tangled with Elton Brand: "That dude is strong. He almost tore my arm off." Popeye Jones on falling on Nowitzki's ankle: "It was one of those football-type of things. I felt my head hit somebody, and I turned around and Dirk was on the ground. You feel bad when you cause one of your own players to get injured like that." Alvin Gentry: "When they shoot 58% from the 3-point line, they are going to beat anybody. We saw that in the Laker game. That's how you get up 30. They made shots. We had it workable - where it was 5 to 7 point game. Then all of a sudden, they make 4 straight 3s, and that is how they get separation. They are a great offensive team. Last year we averaged almost 114 points against this team. That's the only way you can go 2-2 against them." Gentry: "Michael Finley has been struggling from the field. He shot the ball well tonight. He ended up 8-15 [FG] and 2-3 [3-pointers]. When they shoot the ball like that, they are impossible to beat." Gentry: "The thing in Los Angeles the other night with the Lakers; that won't happen again where they are up 30 points and don't win the game. You can see what happened. We were playing pretty well and we were in the game. But you have got to be able to score. They gave us shots that we are capable of hitting that we didn't get down, and when you miss on that end and they go back down, it puts a lot of pressure on your defense." Elton Brand on playing the 2nd night of a back-to-back: "It's hard to get it back up, but we don't want to make any excuses. Dallas is a good team, and they hit some big shots and shot after shot. It just didn't fall our way, and we didn't hit our shots." Brand: "They lose Dirk and here we are thinking he's their best player, but they didn't miss a beat. They're unstoppable when they shoot like that. They hit big shots. Shot after shot." Brand: "That 2nd quarter really put us behind. I don't think there will be too many Laker miracles any more. I think they are going to try and protect big leads. I am sure they got in trouble for that one, but I was hoping we could do something." Brand: "When Piatkowski went down with the abdominal strain, that really hurt us because that is our best shooter on the team." Dallas Mavericks 122, Los Angeles Clippers 95 at Dallas (December 10) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 26 42 27 27 - 122 .509 .583 .531 .917 LA Clippers 21 24 17 33 - 95 .457 .222 .409 .792 Halftime: Dallas 68-45 3rd Q: Dallas 95-62 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 3:50 2nd, Alvin Gentry 2:30 3rd Refs: Don Vaden, Jason Phillips, Tom Washington Attendance: 19,715 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Walt Williams (sprained right elbow) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 21 3-5 0-0 0-0 6 1-5 2 2 5 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 9 0-3 0-1 2-2 2 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 Raef LaFrentz 21 4-8 1-3 0-0 9 1-3 1 0 3 1 4 Michael Finley 35 8-15 2-3 6-6 24 1-9 5 1 2 1 0 Steve Nash 26 5-9 1-3 6-6 17 2-2 7 2 1 1 0 Popeye Jones 24 5-9 0-0 1-2 11 1-5 1 2 4 1 0 Nick Van_Exel 33 8-13 6-10 2-2 24 1-4 5 0 3 0 0 Shawn Bradley 27 4-6 0-0 5-6 13 4-11 0 0 4 0 4 Raja Bell 20 3-5 3-3 0-0 9 0-3 3 3 3 1 0 Avery Johnson 18 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 5 2 1 0 0 Adam Harrington 6 2-4 1-1 0-0 5 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 43-81 14-24 22-24 122 11-45 29 15 26 7 8 Los Angeles Clippers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Tremaine Fowlkes 13 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 2-4 0 0 4 0 0 Elton Brand 30 6-16 0-0 8-8 20 3-10 0 4 3 2 1 Melvin Ely 15 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 2-2 0 0 0 0 0 Andre Miller 31 4-11 0-0 1-3 9 3-3 2 2 0 0 0 Eric Piatkowski 6 2-4 0-1 0-0 4 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Quentin Richardson 33 5-14 2-6 4-4 16 3-10 0 2 2 0 0 Marko Jaric 38 3-11 0-5 0-0 6 2-4 8 2 4 2 1 Sean Rooks 14 1-2 0-0 2-2 4 0-1 0 1 4 0 1 Keyon Dooling 25 4-10 1-5 0-0 9 0-2 4 1 0 1 1 Wang Zhizhi 19 3-7 1-1 2-3 9 0-3 1 0 3 0 1 Cherokee Parks 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Chris Wilcox 15 4-5 0-0 2-4 10 1-3 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 48 36-88 4-18 19-24 95 16-42 15 12 21 6 5 patricia