The NBA suspended Eduardo Najera for 1 game for contact with the ref during Tuesday's Orlando-Dallas game. Najera sat out the Sacramento game. The league claimed that the contact was intentional, which was completely bogus. Anyone who saw the play or replay could tell it wasn't intentional and if they really felt it was intentional, then the suspension should have been longer than 1 game. Dallas activated Adrian Griffin and placed Antoine Rigaudeau on IR with back spasms prior to Saturday's game. Sacramento (40-18) at Dallas (44-13) (February 27) The big game that everyone was looking forward to finally came and it was a barn burner. Sacramento started out white hot in shooting 8-9 FG to go up 16-9 with 7:30 left. However, their lead would grow no lager then 7 points in the quarter. Sacramento led 27-21 after 1. Sacramento shot 50% FG and Dallas shot 41% FG, but Dallas also hit 3-7 3-pointers. Sacramento led 34-27 with 9:40 remaining and Dallas' chipped away at their lead and a driving layup by Dirk Nowitzki tied the game at 38-38 with 6:50 to go. The game stayed close the rest of the half with the teams trading leads and neither team holding more than a 4 point lead. Dallas led 61-60 at the half. Both teams shot near 60% FG and Michael Finley had 13 points during the 2nd quarter. The officiating was absolutely atrocious during the half. Sacramento shot 8-13 FT and Dallas shot 3-3 FT. Dallas led 67-66 with 9:40 remaining and went on a 10-2 run to go up 77-68 with 8:30 remaining. However, Predrag Stojakovic answered with consecutive 3-pointers and Vlade Divac hit a jumper to pull the Kings back within 1 point and Dallas' lead would get no larger than 5 points the rest of the quarter. Bobby Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left to tie the game at 94-94 after 3. Dirk Nowitzki had 14 points and Stojakovic had 17 points in the quarter. The exciting game continued in the 4th quarter with the teams trading leads over the first 6 minutes of the quarter. Both teams' hot shooting cooled off in the 4th (above 53% FG for both teams through 3 quarters) and it was down to 33-34% FG in the 4th. Chris Webber collect his 6th foul with 7:20 left as the refs played a reversal of fortune in blowing the whistle Dallas' way after many bad calls against Dallas and non-calls against Sacramento through the 1st 3 quarters. A dunk by Keon Clark tied the game at 106-106 with 6:45 remaining, but Dallas scored the next 5 points to go up 111-106 with 4:10 to go. BJackson hit another 3-pointer, Nowitzki hit 2 free throws, and Stojakovic got a layup to pull the Kings with in 111-114 with 2:45 left. Steve Nash hit a short runner and Finley hit 2 free throws to give the Mavs a 118-111 lead with 2 minutes left. Mike Bibby missed a 3-pointer and Raef LaFrentz was called for traveling. Divac got 2 inside and Nowitzki missed with a minute left as Dallas played stall ball. Doug Christie drove against LaFrentz for a layup to cut Dallas' lead down to just 118-115 with 53 seconds remaining. Dallas ran the clock down and Nash missed. BJackson quickly pushed the ball up as 4 Mavs ran back and his pull-up 3-pointer over Nowitzki banked in to tie the game at 118-118 with 16 seconds to go. Dallas ran the clock down and Nash's step-in jumper missed at the buzzer and we had overtime. After shooting just 4-4 FT through 3 quarters while Sacramento shot 15-22 FT, Dallas shot 13-16 FT in the 4th quarter while Sacramento shot 3-3 FT. Continuing the free throw trend, Finley opened the overtime with 2 free throws. Sacramento missed on 3 attempts, Dallas missed, and Sacramento missed. Dallas turned the ball, over Stojakovic missed, got his own rebound, and was fouled. He hit both free throws to tie the game at 120-120 with 3 minutes to go. Shawn Bradley hit 2 free throws and Divac got 2 inside with 2 minutes left. Divac collected his 6th foul and Nowitzki hit 2 free throws to give Dallas a 124-122 lead with 1:50 remaining. Nowitzki stole the ball, but he missed a jumper [it wasn't a pretty overtime]. Christie got a layup to tie the game with 1:15 left. Finley missed a 3-pointer and BJackson missed a jumper with 36 second to go. Nowitzki missed a turn around jumper with 17 seconds remaining. Sacramento ran the clock down and Bibby over-shot the ball from the corner, but Clark grabbed the airball and quickly put up the 5-footer that went in with .4 seconds remaining. After the timeout, Dallas inbounded the ball to Finley and his long jumper missed badly at the buzzer. Sacramento won 126-124 in overtime. Wow, what a game. The first 3 quarters was the best basketball I've seen all season (despite the officiating); the 4th quarter and overtime got ugly at times, though. The game was tied 19 times, there were 16 lead changes, and neither team led by more than 9 points. Sacramento got the lucky shots and got the win. Dallas did drive me nuts in the last 3 minutes of the 4th where they were playing stall ball instead of continuing to play their game, and most of the time ended up with a poor shot. After shooting 53.3% FG through 3 quarters, Dallas only had 5 field goals in the 4th quarter and overtime - all 6 points in overtime came from free throws. Sacramento didn't do much better in shooting 54.5% FG through 3 quarters and had 9 field goals in the 4th and overtime including shooting 3-11 FG in overtime. The other key stat was rebounds. Sacramento dominated Dallas on the boards in grabbing 60 rebounds including a disgusting 21 offensive while Dallas had just 40 rebounds including 10 offensive [the suspension of Eduardo Najera really hurt]. Both teams played tight rotations in just 8 players playing. Of the 16 players who played, 13 scored in double-digits. For the 2nd Dallas-Sacramento game in a row, Keon Clark had the game winner at the buzzer - both on putbacks. Clark finished with a double-double with 12 points on 6-8 FG and 11 rebounds including 7 offensive. Peja Stojakovic was the high man for Sacramento with 36 points on 10-24 FG and 14-14 FT and also had 10 rebounds. Chris Webber had 16 points including 4-8 FT, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists before fouling out. Doug Christie was the 3rd King with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with 6 assists. Dallas finally didn't allow Mike Bibby to go nuts against them as he "only" had 17 points and 6 assists and had 5 turnovers. But, Bobby Jackson went nuts behind the line as he had 17 points including 5-8 3-pointers (and a fricken uncalled banked 3-pointer to send the game into overtime) and 7 rebounds. Vlade Divac had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists before fouling out in overtime. Dirk Nowitzki had a strong game with 36 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 steals. Michael Finley had 31 points including 5-11 3-pointers - 21 of his points came in the 1st half as Dallas went away from him in the 2nd half. Steve Nash had 14 points and 10 assists. Raef LaFrentz had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Shawn Bradley was mostly a victim of the refs as 3 of his fouls could have been called offensive against Sacramento. He did have a good hard foul to prevent a layup (though it could have been called a flagrant - but that made up for a flagrant non-call the other way). Bradley had 2 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 fouls in 11 minutes. Nick Van Exel forced a couple of shots at the end of regulation and had 15 points including 6-17 FG and 9 assists. Walt Williams had the 3-pointer going with 12 points on 4-6 3-pointers. As I mentioned above, the officiating was absolutely terrible. It is inexcusable that in such a big game with both teams playing well that the refs would do such a poor job. With a game that went into overtime, there were so many pathetic calls that the refs did have an adverse effect on the outcome of the game. I can still go into the details of a number of ridiculous calls, but doing so would just get my blood boiling again. Quotes Rick Adelman "It helps us just knowing that we came in here and got a couple wins. They are a 1 point win and a 2 point win. I said this before the game, I don't buy into this stuff. They are the best team in the league. They have proven that all year long. You look at the games we've played this year; we dominated the first game and the last 2 we got the breaks down the stretch. I've got to believe they think they can win. They have shown it already. They have beaten all the eastern teams. They've got the ability to beat anybody. We got a couple breaks in the 2 games here. It's a great momentum builder for us because, with guys coming back, we are trying to establish ourselves again and find our identity again because we have been in and out of the lineup with so many different players. So getting a win here against these guys when they did say they wanted to get this win, it means a lot to us, but I don't think it's really going to effect them because they have been too good all year long." Adelman: "It was a terrific game. If you want to see great basketball, and I guess TNT had this game on, these 2 teams play that way all the time. If you want to see the game the way it is fun to be played, it's fun to watch; these 2 teams are it. This is the way our playoff series was. This is the way we play every time we play them; it's the same thing. I think it is great for the league when they see 2 teams that pass and shoot and move. You can talk about defense all you want, but these 2 teams are hard to guard." Predrag Stojakovic: "We always play good against them, against better competition. It's a statement game against Dallas. We are still learning about each other and we still have a lot of games left this season. Probably during the course of the playoffs, we will meet them. It could be a completely different story, but it is always good to beat them." Chris Webber: "I don't know what they're feeling, but we feel pretty good." Webber: "We have been through a lot of playoff series and we have been through a little more than they have, and had a few more heartbreakers than they have. I think heartbreak is what makes you stronger and builds your character and your confidence. I really don't care about what is in their head, and whether or not they think they can beat us. We got the win and they are still a good team. We will see them later." Webber on if he respects Dallas: "I respect every team in the NBA and every player because I know what it takes to get to this level. They are a good team. If you don't respect your opponent, you are a fool. The more respect you give them, the harder you prepare for them and therefore you are ready to play. Yeah, I respect them." Bobby Jackson on his banked 3-pointer: "I definitely knew I was going to shoot it as soon as I got it. It was the right bank at the right time." Jackson: "Normally, the coach wants me to call timeout in that situation. After I made it, I asked him if he wanted me to call a timeout and he said, 'Naw, naw.' He was lying." Jackson on defending Nash on the last shot of regulation: "I just wanted to make him take a jump shot. Keep him out of the lane. And he took a tough shot." Jackson on the comeback at the end of regulation: "We just kept being aggressive. That's when we're at our best." Keon Clark on his game winner: "It was a sense of deja vu for me. That was a tough shot with the game on the line, but that's what I get paid to do." Clark: "Well, the first thing is, I was wondering if the referee was going to call dude who was holding both of my arms down for a foul. Then I was hoping the ball didn't hit a little piece of the rim and bounce away from me. After that, it was just a matter of tossing in the little 6-footer. 2 game-winning shots in my career and they both happen here." Don Nelson: "I thought we played hard, we were ready. They took over and got a lucky bank-in 3 that wasn't tried to bank. Sometimes luck is with you and sometimes it is against you, but that particular shot if he misses it is 1 on 4 coming down. It was a hail mary and it went in. Sometimes that happens, too bad it was a game winner. Occasionally you see those throughout the game. It just hurts more when it's a game winner." Nelson: "I don't know what to tell you. I don't think I would have done a whole lot different. I think our big guys played well, played hard. Even though it doesn't look like he had many numbers, Shawn Bradley really played well. If he played like that all the time, I'd be a happy guy." Nelson on Dallas' last possession in regulation: "We got the ball off an elbow. We wanted to have an opportunity to shoot it at the buzzer so we wouldn't give them an opportunity. That is really the position you like to be in, and what I wanted to do was hold it there and to have plenty of room to make a 1 dribble up or spin move and have a chance to score, and they just played it well. When they put their good defenders on you, they really can guard. So we didn't get a good look out of it, but what you want in that situation is the ball in the hands of a guy who can make the shot. If he's double-teamed, have your spacing and have enough time to make one pass and catch and shoot that." Nelson: "This game would say that it is that kind of game, but the other games haven't been snake bit. This one certainly was. We were in good position to win it and they got a lucky shot that hurt us worse than anything. Still, we had our opportunities, we had trouble making shots in the OT, but so did they. It was a heck of a game. It was really a competitive game and I think everyone would enjoy watching." Nelson: "There will be a lot of these kind of games in the playoffs. We have 10 of these all season, these caliber of games. We like to say you win as many as you lose in those kind of tough situations against good teams. I don't think we've done that this year, but we sure competed tonight. It was ours, you can't count it in the win, but it was ours as well as theirs for a long period of time. But they hit the lucky shot and we didn't." Nelson: "No I don't think so, I just think they're a terrific team and that has a lot to do with it. Last year we beat them 3 out of 4 and nobody said we were in their heads. They're a heck of a team. They're hard for us to beat. They match up with us, they can go inside and get something and we struggle. We put Dirk inside, that's our best player and we want him inside and outside but they double-team him and he'd like if he could pass to himself but it isn't always possible. But then they take the ball out of his hands and that's the way the game is played." Nelson: "We worked really hard. I think our scheme was really good, although they still scored a heck of a lot of points. Defensively, we did the things I thought that kept us in the game, where in the other 2 games were difficult. This one was well played on our end on both ends of the floor." Nelson: "You can't win a lot of games when you get out-rebounded by 20 rebounds. Although I don't blame anybody for airballs, because airballs you don't plan on. You plan on it hitting something, then your timing gets screwed up. Every once in a while there is an airball." Nelson: "You take games as they come. We play each game the way it comes. A year ago we won all our close games, this year we've done all right." Steve Nash: "It's frustrating the way it happened, with bank shots and airballs. What are you going to do? This was crazy. Our confidence is still good against this team. They were just very lucky." Nick Van Exel: "We just got pounded on the boards, but we still had a chance to win and the game comes down to a rebound and a putback, which was something that really bothered us all night. That's why we loss." Van Exel on being up 7 points with 2 minutes left: "We knew we had the game, but we also new that they are definitely a team capable of running off points. They got what they wanted down the stretch. They made 2 quick buckets and then Bobby Jackson banks in a 3-pointer. That's tough to swallow." Van Exel if it is mental against Sacramento: "I really don't think so. Tonight, we played good from the start. Our team is very confident and we still feel that we can beat any team in this league." Van Exel on overtime: "We knew Dirk was the hot guy and we got the ball to him, but the shots just didn't fall." Raef LaFrentz: "Tonight we gave up 7 points in 50 seconds and that was discouraging, but we just have to get over the hump against this team. They've beaten us 3 times this year already. They are a very good basketball team. They respect us, but they have played a little better than us. We have had some shootouts when we play them and both of the home losses against them have been very similar." LaFrentz: "We had a strong game plan and we were doing a lot of good things, but when it came down to it, they had a little surge when they needed it during the last minute of the game. In overtime, it went back and forth and they were able to make the last bucket." LaFrentz on his performance: "It's just about getting in the flow of the game. Tonight, I was able to get myself off to a decent start, had good energy out there and I found my rhythm. It's very important for me to get into some sort of rhythm during the game." Sacramento Kings 126, Dallas Mavericks 124 OT at Dallas (February 27) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Sacramento 27 33 34 24 8 - 126 .494 .385 .466 .741 Dallas 21 40 33 24 6 - 124 .500 .393 .469 .885 Halftime: Dallas 61-60 3rd Q: 94-94 4th Q: 118-118 Technicals: Don Nelson 6:10 2nd, Shawn Bradley 1:06 3rd, Nick Van Exel 12:00 4th Refs: Bennett Salvatore, James Capers, Phil Robinson Attendance: 20,059 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Eduardo Najera (suspended) Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Chris Webber 33 6-15 0-0 4-8 16 2-10 6 2 6 1 1 Predrag Stojakovic 46 10-24 2-7 14-14 36 3-10 2 1 2 0 0 Vlade Divac 33 6-11 0-0 0-0 12 2-5 6 2 6 1 0 Mike Bibby 42 7-16 3-7 0-2 17 1-3 6 5 3 2 0 Doug Christie 39 5-10 0-3 0-0 10 3-10 6 1 1 2 0 Keon Clark 24 6-8 0-0 0-0 12 7-11 1 2 2 0 1 Bobby Jackson 30 6-13 5-8 0-0 17 2-7 3 2 3 1 0 Jim Jackson 18 2-6 0-1 2-3 6 1-4 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 53 48-103 10-26 20-27 126 21-60 30 15 24 7 2 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 49 11-22 5-11 4-4 31 1-4 3 1 1 0 1 Dirk Nowitzki 47 13-25 2-6 8-8 36 0-13 3 4 4 4 2 Raef LaFrentz 42 6-12 0-2 2-4 14 2-8 2 2 3 0 1 Raja Bell 18 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2-2 1 2 1 0 0 Steve Nash 40 5-11 0-2 4-4 14 0-3 10 2 2 1 0 Nick Van_Exel 36 6-17 0-1 3-4 15 2-4 9 0 0 1 0 Walt Williams 22 4-7 4-6 0-0 12 3-3 0 0 3 1 1 Shawn Bradley 11 0-0 0-0 2-2 2 0-3 2 0 5 1 2 Totals 53 45-96 11-28 23-26 124 10-40 30 12 19 8 7 Memphis (18-39) at Dallas (44-14) (March 1) Dallas caught a big break with Memphis coming to town, but one aspect of it is a break you don't ever want. Memphis had played an overtime game the night before and was missing 3 of its starters. Mike Miller stayed in Memphis with a strained lower back and Michael Dickerson didn't play due to an abdominal strain. But the real sad news that put a damper on everything was that Lorenzen Wright's 11 month old daughter died that morning. It's a heartbreaking thing and my thoughts and prayers are still with him and his family. With heavy hearts and wearing armbands with #42 in honor of their missing teammate, the Grizzlies came out playing well in the 1st quarter and the game stayed tight with neither team holding more than a 5 point lead. Dallas' centers kept picking up fouls and all 3 centers played in the quarter as Raef LaFrentz picked up 2 fouls in the first 4 minutes, Shawn Bradley then picked up 2 fouls in 4 minutes, and Evan Eschmeyer played the last 4 minutes of the quarter. Michael Finley hit a jumper and Nick Van Exel hit a jumper at the quarter buzzer to give Dallas a 32-28 lead after 1. Not much defense was going on as Dallas shot 62% FG and Memphis shot 56% FG. Neither team had a rally in them in the 2nd quarter as Dallas maintained a 1 point to 5 point lead the entire quarter. Dallas led 52-49 at the half. Memphis opened the 3rd quarter by scoring 10 straight points to go up 59-52 with 9:30 to go and Dallas called timeout. Sparked by Don Nelson's timeout lecture and Eduardo Najera's rebounding, Dallas scored the next 13 points, including 10 from Dirk Nowitzki, to go up 65-59 with 6:10 left. Dallas led 71-64 with 3:30 remaining and scored the next 7 points to go up 78-64 with 2 minutes to go. Dallas led 80-66 after 3. Nowitzki had 13 points in the quarter. After Memphis grabbed 6 of the 7 rebounds available in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the quarter, Dallas then out-rebounded Memphis 18-5 the rest of the quarter, including 7 offensive. A 3-pointer by Walt Williams followed by a 3-pointer by Finley put the game away as Dallas led 92-74 with 7:40 remaining. Dallas would push their lead into the 20s in the last 4 minutes of the game. Dallas won 114-87. It would have been nice if Dallas played the way they did in the last 9 minutes of the 3rd quarter in the 1st half and put the game away early, but the Mavs still left with a blowout win. The game basically came down to shooting and rebounding - Dallas dominated both in the 2nd half. Dallas shot 53% FG and Memphis shot 31.4% FG in the 2nd half. Dallas out-rebounded Memphis 30-17 including 9-2 offensive in the 2nd half. For the game, Dallas shot 49.5% FG including 8-18 3-pointers and Memphis shot 38.6% FG including 2-14 3-pointers. Memphis did have the advantage from the line in shooting 31-39 FT while Dallas shot 16-19 FT [no complaints from the refs here as they seemed wonderful after watching the dismal officiating in the Sacramento game - it's all in perspective]. Dallas out-rebounded Memphis 49-42. Dallas converted 19 Memphis turnovers into 27 points while Memphis only got 8 points off of Dallas' 10 turnovers. Dallas was led by Dirk Nowitzki's 28 points. He also had 7 rebounds. Michael Finley only had 11 points on 5-15 FG, but did have 10 rebounds - there was a point in the game where he actually had more rebounds than points. Steve Nash was even worse offensively with just 7 points on 3-11 FG, but did have 7 assists. But the big boosts came from the bench with the return of Eduardo Najera and Adrian Griffin. Both came in and provided hustle and energy and Griffin couldn't miss. Najera finished with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds including 6 offensive in 19 minutes. Griffin had 17 points on a perfect 8-8 FG and 1-1 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists in 21 minutes (he was on the court for garbage time and all but 4 of his points came after Dallas was up by 16). Pau Gasol was the high man for Memphis with 25 points on 8-10 FG and 9-12 FT and 9 rebounds. He was visibly frustrated at times during the 2nd half. Stromile Swift had 16 points including 10-12 FT and 9 rebounds. Shane Battier had 12 points and 5 rebounds, Wesley Person had 11 points and 8 rebounds, and Mike Batiste had 10 points and 5 rebounds. Jason Williams was way off during the game and had 6 points including 2-10 FG and 0-6 3-pointers, but did have 5 rebounds and 8 assists. Quotes Don Nelson: "Welcome back Eddie and Griff. It was nice to have those guys in the line up, healthy, looking good, doing things that make us win. I hope that is contagious the way Eddie plays. I think it will be. We missed him more than people know, although we had this incredible record while he was injured. But we missed him terribly and we knew eventually it would catch up to us. We've been waiting for him to get healthy and have performances like this and we thought the last couple of games that he played before the suspension he was starting to come in another step in the right direction. It's the kind of game that we needed to get us over the last couple of losses that we had and ease everyone's minds that we are still a good basketball team." Nelson on Najera: "We were stale and we needed somebody to come in and give us a spark. You can't expect Raja Bell to do it all the time and Eddie was the guy and is the guy. That's just the way he plays and it's inspirational for everybody. Griff, too, he was in a position where he could hardly play before I gave him this rest. His knee was bothering him, he had the shoulder dislocation problem and I didn't think that his mind was fresh and he just wasn't going anywhere. He looked great yesterday in practice. He's working on his game and he's healthy now." Nelson: "I liked the way both our centers played our last game against Sacramento. We actually played a terrific game against Sacramento and lost. Both our centers got in foul trouble, but played well and hard. That is all they need to do really, just play hard like that. The whole bench, with the addition of those 2 guys, has been strengthened and that is production that we need. Our starters are getting tired. That was just the perfect game for us." Nelson on the 1st half: "We tried not to let that affect us. I wasn't discouraged after the 1st half. The 2nd half was exciting to get that energy burst and being able to play at a higher energy level than the 1st half. I thought we were okay the 1st half, but we were really good the 2nd half." Nelson on the run during the 3rd quarter: "That has been our story all year, those runs where nobody can stop us and we get the ball in the open court and we can start making shots and there is a rhythm to our game that is unstoppable. We had it for a period of time, but a lot of the 2nd half was like that. Ball movement was crisp and good and the players made shots when they were open." Dirk Nowitzki: "We're going to need our bench down the stretch if we want to go all the way. We're going to need 12 guys providing us with a great [effort]. Then I think we're in good shape. It wasn't a pretty win, but we needed it after the Sacramento loss." Nowitzki after Memphis went on a 10-0 run early in the 3rd quarter: "Nellie really got on us in that timeout. Eddie came in and really gave us a boost and that helped us pick up our energy level." Steve Nash: "The first 3 minutes of the 3rd quarter they went on a 10-0 run, but after that we stepped up and finished them out. It was pretty ugly early on, but our energy induced good things and we started to play better and make some shots and that led to the win." Nash on if it was hard to get up for the game: "It is. No offense to that team. It's difficult to get up for anything unless we were playing Sacramento again. It was tough, but we got the job done." Nash: "No offense to that team, but this was a difficult game to get up for. It wasn't pretty for us starting out. But we did a good job finishing them off." Nash on Griffin and Najera: "Adrian was really filling it up tonight and Eddie obviously is huge for us. It's nice to have them back." Nash: "Eduardo is just a glue guy, a guy that - when the other team isn't paying attention - he makes them pay. He plays with heart and is able to set his teammates up with screens or all the little dirty things. He's a great addition to our team." Nash: "Eddie's a glue guy. When other teams pay too much attention to one of us, he makes them pay. And Adrian, he was like Vinnie Johnson out there. He was the Microwave the way he heated up." Eduardo Najera: "I was excited about coming back and I wanted to have a good game tonight. I knew my energy was going to be there since I've had the last 2 days off. I practiced yesterday and I feel a lot better. I'm feeling better every game and hopefully I'll be playing like I did early in the season." Najera on the 3rd quarter: "Our intensity was not there early in the game. I wanted to come in and provide a lot of energy and try to bring the level of intensity up and it worked out well for us in the 3rd quarter. I was able to get a few offensive rebounds that led to big 3s and big buckets." Najera on if the win was what the doctor order: "Yes, of course. It's tough to play a team like Memphis. It's tough to get motivated especially after playing a big game against Sacramento. We didn't play very well in the 1st half. We were just going through the motions, but in the 2nd half we really turned it up and got the win." Najera: "I knew I'd have a lot of energy in this game. My knee has been up and down since I came back. Sometimes, it really hurts. But other times, like tonight, it feels great. But regardless, I know what I have to do. I need to rebound for this team." Najera: "Obviously, I was excited about coming back. I learned my lesson. I did a good job staying away from the refs this time. That won't happen again." Hubie Brown: "We were late on a lot of our defensive rotations in the 3rd quarter. They ended up making 15-21 shots in that quarter. I give them credit because they still had to make the shots even though we were late getting there. Our coverage was lacking, but they still had to make the shots." Brown: "Najera came in and gave them a major spark. He came in and did a great job with 6 offensive rebounds and that was in that major spurt that they had. There was no doubt that we couldn't handle him. They had rested bodies, they're at home, they just loss a tough game to Sacramento, and they had a day to prepare. They did a good job against our full court traps and against the zone." Brown on the death of Wright's daughter: "There were definitely a lot of heavy hearts here tonight. You never know how much energy it will drain from them. I thought we gave a gallant effort for 2 1/2 quarters, but they went on that run and we didn't react well. We never recovered." Wesley Person: "In the 2nd half, some of the emotion and the fatigue of the day set in. It was a tough day all the way around." Stromile Swift on Dallas' 3rd quarter run: "We played pretty good. They just turned it up a little bit and we didn't bounce back." Swift on the death of Wright's daughter: "It's hard to play through something like that. We wanted to let him know he has our support." Brevin Knight: "We're a team that needs energy. [Wright] is one of our energy guys. Not having him, especially for rebounding, hurt us. It was just a somber day." Dallas Mavericks 114, Memphis Grizzlies 87 at Dallas (March 1) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 32 20 28 34 - 114 .507 .444 .495 .842 Memphis 28 21 17 21 - 87 .446 .143 .386 .795 Halftime: Dallas 52-49 3rd Q: Dallas 80-66 Technicals: Memphis defensive 3 seconds 10:39 2nd Refs: Bill Spooner, Blane Reichelt, Tony Brown Attendance: 19,828 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Michael Dickerson (abdominal strain), Mike Miller (strained lower back), Lorenzen Wright (death of daughter) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 38 5-15 1-3 0-0 11 3-10 1 5 3 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 31 9-21 3-6 7-7 28 1-7 4 1 3 2 0 Raef LaFrentz 15 2-4 0-0 4-4 8 0-6 0 0 6 0 1 Raja Bell 17 3-5 1-2 0-0 7 0-2 2 0 1 0 0 Steve Nash 22 3-11 1-3 0-0 7 0-1 7 0 0 2 0 Walt Williams 26 4-8 1-2 0-0 9 0-1 1 1 2 1 0 Shawn Bradley 12 3-4 0-0 2-3 8 0-2 1 1 3 1 0 Evan Eschmeyer 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 2 0 Nick Van_Exel 23 3-6 0-1 0-0 6 1-2 6 1 0 0 0 Eduardo Najera 19 4-6 0-0 2-3 10 6-10 0 0 4 0 0 Adrian Griffin 21 8-8 1-1 0-0 17 2-4 4 1 2 1 1 Avery Johnson 9 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 0-3 5 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 45-91 8-18 16-19 114 13-49 31 10 25 10 2 Memphis Grizzlies REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Stromile Swift 31 3-8 0-0 10-12 16 3-9 0 1 3 1 3 Shane Battier 40 3-8 0-2 6-7 12 1-5 2 2 2 1 1 Pau Gasol 37 8-10 0-0 9-12 25 1-8 2 3 2 1 0 Wesley Person 38 5-13 1-3 0-0 11 1-8 1 1 1 0 0 Jason Williams 32 2-10 0-6 2-2 6 1-5 8 4 0 0 1 Mike Batiste 22 4-11 0-1 2-2 10 2-5 0 4 1 3 1 Earl Watson 18 1-5 1-2 2-2 5 0-1 1 1 3 0 0 Brevin Knight 16 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 5 0 2 1 0 Cezary Trybanski 6 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 27-70 2-14 31-39 87 9-42 19 19 15 7 6 patricia