Dallas at Portland (December 4) Michael Finley was suffering from flu like symptoms and did not travel with the team to Portland on Tuesday. He flew in Wednesday and did play in the Portland game. Not only did he play, but he scored Dallas' first 2 baskets. Portland popped out to a 7-2 lead before Dallas came roaring back by scoring the next 11 points to go up 13-7 with 6:40 remaining. The game stayed close the rest of the quarter with the teams trading a couple of leads and it was all tied up at 23-23. Rasheed Wallace had 11 points. The teams traded leads early in the 2nd quarter and it was again tied at 34-34 with 7:45 left. Dallas went 3-point crazy with a 17-2 run that including 5 3-pointers to go up 51-36 with 3 minutes left. Portland stayed in the game by scoring the next 7 points. Dallas led 54-45 at the half. Dallas shot 8-13 3-pointers during the 2nd quarter. Nick Van Exel had 11 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 11 points in the quarter. Dallas' lead fluctuated between 14 and 7 points during the 3rd quarter as Portland did not have a run in them. Dallas led 78-69 after 3. Steve Nash had 11 points and Wallace had 11 points during the 3rd quarter. Dallas led 82-73 with 9:25 to go and 3-pointers started and ended an 8-2 run to go up 90-75 with 6:50 left. Dallas took their largest lead at 103-81 with 1:35 to go before Portland scored the last 5 points of the game. Dallas won 103-88. I don't think I've ever seen Portland look that disinterested during a game. It wasn't the physical game I expected and there just seemed to be no fire in the Blazers' belly. And Dallas played well and was clicking behind the line. Dallas shot 13-28 3-pointers while Portland land shot just 3-17 3-pointers, including 0-11 in the 2nd half. Dallas out-rebounded Portland 51-46. As a good sign as how the game went, both teams committed 16 turnovers, but Dallas managed to turn Portland's turnovers into 22 points while Portland only managed to get 6 points off of Dallas' turnovers. And as a sign of Portland's non-physicalness, Dallas only attempted 10 free throws (granted, they did have 2 hard fouls that probably would have been called flagrant if the Mav fouled had fallen to the ground). If this game was an indication of how Portland has been playing lately, they've got serious problems. Dirk Nowitzki had a solid game with 26 points including 5-9 3-pointers, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. He's still playing with padding on his elbow. Steve Nash had a quiet 1st half, but was explosive in the 2nd half as 18 of his 20 points came in the later half. He continually drove through the middle and Portland could not stop him. He also had 5 assists. Despite not feeling well, Michael Finley had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Van Exel again had a strong game with 17 points off the bench and dished out 7 assists. The numbers from the game for Shawn Bradley and Raef LaFrentz do not accurately reflect their influence on the game. Both played a key role. Bradley had 7 points and 8 rebounds - including 4 offensive. He was only credited with 1 block, but altered a number of shots. LaFrentz had 6 points and 3 rebounds. Adrian Griffin had 6 points on 3-3 FG and Walt Williams had 5 points. Rasheed Wallace played great but had no help. Wallace had 34 points and 12 rebounds, including 6 offensive. Dale Davis had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds including 7 offensive. And Derek Anderson had 13 points and 8 assists. No other Blazer was in double-digits. Scottie Pippen had 7 points on 3-14 FG, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists and Bonzi Wells had 8 points including 3-12 FG and 7 rebounds. Portland got just 11 points off the bench. Quotes Don Nelson: "In the 2nd half, we were really good. We did everything that we needed to do to win." Nelson: "Our defense was solid. We made some adjustments I thought before the game because they really opened our zone up the last time." Nelson on 3-pointers: "We haven't been as good there this year so far. I don't know what the reason is other than it's kind of fate. Maybe we haven't had to shoot them or needed them, but we still feel confident that we can shoot the 3 when it is there." Dirk Nowitzki: "If we're on, we're pretty hard to guard. We penetrate. We kick. You can't leave anyone open. We haven't really shot the ball well lately at all, so it's really funny how every one should be kicking at the same time." Nowitzki: "It was a whole different mind-set coming into the season and in the pre-season we wanted to get better on defense. If we want to get to the next level, we have to do it with our defense." Steve Nash: "We're an offensive team, so we cause teams a lot of problems, even the best offensive teams. When we're rolling, we're tough to stop." Nash: "In the 2nd quarter, we had one of those runs that we are capable of. When we get hot from the 3-point line it stretches their defense." Nash: "We've got so many guys who can hurt you so many ways. When we got off on the 3-point line, it really stretches defenses and opens them up." Maurice Cheeks: "They have a lot of shooters who get into positions. If you don't switch them off, that allows them to get wide open. That's the pick-and-roll, so they can spot up players. They swing the ball extremely well. What we failed to do was make them make that extra pass." Cheeks: "They have a lot of interchangeable guys who can shoot the basketball. They are not just guys who come off the bench and fill their game. These are guys who can actually shoot the basketball and that's their basketball game." Cheeks: "Just look at their record. We're not the only ones that haven't gotten to them." Cheeks: "I think we played well in spots, but obviously not well enough." Bonzi Wells: "Their general manager did a great job in getting the pieces in there where they can spread guys out and shoot the ball in all 5 positions. And they're doing a great job as a coaching staff in getting guys in spots to hit shots in." Wells: "They shot the life out of the ball, man. That team, they spread you out really well. They can shoot from the 1 through the 5. It just makes it tough on our defense. Everybody has to rotate and guard someone and it's just tough." Wells: "I'm not going out tonight. I'm just going to go home and think about the game and what I could have done better." Scottie Pippen: "When they shoot 3s the way they did tonight, nobody is going to beat them." Pippen: "Some guys accept losses different. You can't change who you are as a person just because you just lost a game." Pippen: "We're not playing hard enough and we're not playing smart enough. I can only speak for myself. We're not happy with where we are. We've struggled. All in all, we're not playing well enough to be considered one of the elite teams." Antonio Daniels on some players watching the end of the Sea-Ind game in the locker room: "We just got beat by 20 and they're cheering on a team in our own division." Dallas Mavericks 103, Portland Trailblazers 88 at Portland (December 4) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 23 31 24 25 - 103 .462 .464 .456 .800 Portland 23 22 24 19 - 88 .446 .176 .396 .765 Halftime: Dallas 54-45 3rd Q: Dallas 78-69 Technicals: None Refs: Jim Clark, Leon Wood, Ted Bernhardt Attendance: 18,452 (cap. 19,980) Did not play due to injury: Eduardo Najera (sore left knee) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 17 3-3 0-0 0-0 6 0-2 2 2 1 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 43 9-20 5-9 3-4 26 3-15 5 2 1 3 2 Shawn Bradley 23 3-6 0-0 1-1 7 4-8 0 3 2 0 1 Michael Finley 34 7-17 1-4 0-0 15 3-10 1 2 3 0 0 Steve Nash 32 8-18 1-3 3-3 20 2-4 5 3 2 1 0 Nick Van_Exel 32 7-13 3-7 0-0 17 1-4 7 1 1 0 0 Walt Williams 22 2-7 1-3 0-0 5 0-3 2 0 4 1 0 Raef LaFrentz 23 2-5 2-2 0-0 6 2-3 0 0 3 1 2 Raja Bell 6 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Popeye Jones 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 1 2 2 0 0 Avery Johnson 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 41-90 13-28 8-10 103 16-51 23 16 19 8 5 Portland Trailblazers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Bonzi Wells 36 3-12 0-0 2-3 8 3-7 3 4 3 0 1 Rasheed Wallace 41 15-24 1-4 3-5 34 6-12 3 0 2 1 1 Dale Davis 32 6-14 0-0 3-4 15 7-12 0 2 2 1 2 Derek Anderson 39 5-10 1-4 2-2 13 0-3 8 2 3 3 0 Scottie Pippen 35 3-14 1-6 0-0 7 1-5 6 4 0 0 0 Arvydas Sabonis 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 1 1 Jeff McInnis 5 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 Ruben Patterson 15 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 0-0 1 2 2 0 1 Damon Stoudamire 16 1-5 0-1 0-0 2 0-3 2 1 0 1 1 Qyntel Woods 3 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1-1 1 0 1 0 0 Zach Randolph 4 2-5 0-0 1-1 5 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 Antonio Daniels 3 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 36-91 3-17 13-17 88 19-46 25 16 14 8 7 patricia