The MRI revealed that Chris Webber suffered from a torn meniscus in his left knee. He is definitely out for the rest of the Dallas-Sacramento series. The knee will eventually need surgery, but he is currently trying to rehabilitate it to the point where he may be able to resume playing for the Kings this playoffs if his team advances further - the rehab is expected to take 3 to 4 weeks. Game 3: Dallas at Sacramento (May 10) Dallas once again got off to a slow start and Sacramento jumped out to an 8-2 lead with 9:45 left. A 3-pointer by Michael Finley tied the game at 15-15 with 4 minutes to go, but Sacramento then rattled off the next 10 points to go up 25-15 with 2:40 remaining. A jumper by Mike Bibby gave Sacramento their largest lead at 36-23 after 1. The Kings were white hot in the quarter in shooting 15-21 FG while Dallas was erratic in shooting 10-27 FG. Dirk Nowitzki had 11 points on 5-7 FG and Mike Bibby had 9 points. Consecutive 3-pointers by the Kings gave them their largest lead at 42-26 with 9:20 remaining. Sacramento led 50-35 with 7:20 left and Nick Van Exel nailed a 3-pointer, Steve Nash hit a 3-pointer, and Van Exel got a layup to put Dallas back in the game at 43-50 with 6 minutes to go. The Kings were unable to get their lead larger than 10 points the rest of the quarter and Dallas went on a 7-1 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Van Exel, to tie the game at 62-62 with 30 seconds left. A jumper by Bobby Jackson gave Sacramento a 64-62 lead at the half. Van Exel had 13 points in the 2nd quarter. Both teams shot around 50% in the 2nd quarter, but Dallas shot 6-10 3-pointers and out-rebounded Sacramento 15-8 to get back in the game. The game stayed close and the teams traded leads early in the 3rd quarter. The game was tied 74-74 with 7:20 remaining and Sacramento went on an 11-2 run to go up 85-76 with 3:30 to go. Sacramento led 91-82 after 3. Peja Stojakovic had 11 points in the quarter. Sacramento had a huge advantage at the line in shooting 10-16 FT in the 3rd quarter while Dallas shot just 0-1 FT. A 3-pointer by Van Exel opened the 4th quarter and the Kings' lead remained in single digits. Sacramento scored 6 straight points to go up 101-89 with 8:10 minutes to go on Stojakovic's 35th point of the game. Steve Nash collected his 5th foul with 6:30 left, but remained in the game. Dallas traded 3-pointers with 2-pointers for Sacramento and the Kings led 109-102 with 3:45 left. Dallas then scored the next 7 points, 4 off of free throws and capped by a 3-pointer by Nash, to tie the game at 109-109 with 2:25 remaining. Keon Clark was fouled, but he only hit 1 of 2 FT with 2 minutes left. Van Exel was fouled and he hit both free throws with 1:17 left to give Dallas a 111-110 lead. But as the defense collapsed, Vlade Divac passed out to an open Mike Bibby who splashed a 3-pointer (his only 3 of the game) to give the Kings a 2 point lead with a minute left. Van Exel over-shot a 3-pointer with 44 seconds to go. Sacramento ran the same play, but Stojakovic's 3-pointer bounced off the front of the rim with 19 seconds left and Raja Bell snagged the rebound. The ball was passed around to 4 different players before getting it to Van Exel at the top of the arc [while I'm screaming for them to call a timeout] and Van Exel spun in and drove and his 8-foot floater took a soft bounce off the front of the rim and in to tie the game with 3.8 seconds left. Sacramento called timeout. Bibby missed a 3-pointer and the long tap-out went right to Doug Christie, but his heave missed at the buzzer and we had overtime at 113-113. Nash, Raef LaFrentz, and Bibby each had 5 fouls. And LaFrentz, who hadn't played much, fouled out 10 seconds into the overtime. Divac opened the overtime with a short banker as the shot clock was running down, but Finley answered with a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 116-115 lead with 4:20 left. The teams traded several missed and Nash drove for 2, but Christie answered with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 118-118 with 3 minutes to go. The teams traded buckets and Walt Williams (getting extented minutes as Dallas went without a true big man) hit the wide open 3-pointer with 2 minutes remaining. The teams traded possessions and Christie nailed another 3-pointer to tie the game at 123-123 with 1:30 left. Nowitzki drove and was fouled with no call and the refs called a foul at the other end off a clean strip and sent Stojakovic to the line. [I could have lived with the strip being called if they had called the foul at the other end, but consecutive bad calls that hurt Dallas at this juncture of the game drove me nuts.] Stojakovic hit both free throws to give Sacramento a 125-123 lead with a minute remaining. [A more home cooking for Sacramento as twice the clock was started before Dallas touched the ball after the inbounds and Sacramento got up on them for the 3rd inbounds.] Finley's 3-pointer rattled out with 49 seconds left. On the post up, Divac took the ball inside, but missed, but got his own rebound and was fouled. But he missed both free throws and Nowitzki got the rebound with 27 seconds left. Dallas used a timeout. Stojakovic collect his 5th foul with 22 seconds left - the Kings had a foul to give. Nash dished inside to Williams, who faked and took it up for the 2-hand dunk to tie the game with 16.3 seconds left. Sacramento called timeout. Sacramento took the ball up full court and ran the clock down and Stojakovic missed a 20-footer and time ran out and we had double-overtime at 125-125. Wow. Dallas brought in Shawn Bradley for the opening tip - his first time in the game - and it back-fired as he tipped the ball and it went right to Bobby Jackson and he turned and took it in for the easy layup. Van Exel answered with a runner and he was fouled by Bibby, who fouled out. He hit the extra to give Dallas a 128-127 lead with 4:35 remaining. The teams traded misses and then it became a game of punch and counter-punch as the teams traded buckets over the next 5 possessions and Sacramento led 133-132 with 2:15 left. The teams traded misses and Nash drove and kicked out to Van Exel, who swished a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 135-133 with 1:35 to go. BJackson missed with 1:11 remaining. On the screen-and-pop, both defenders followed Nash and he passed back to the wide open, Williams and swished Dallas' 19th 3-pointer of the game to give Dallas a 5 point lead with 58 seconds left. Stojakovic missed the 3-pointer and Eduardo Najera, freshly inserted for Williams for defensive purposes, rebounded. Dallas ran the clock down and Van Exel missed. BJackson drove for the quick layup with 21.8 seconds left and Dallas led 138-135. Nowitzki over-threw the inbounds pass and it went out of bounds [Nash was held on the play, but I don't think he would have got the pass if he wasn't] and it was Sacramento ball under their own basket and they called timeout. BJackson drove again, but missed the layup, but Jim Jackson was there to tip it in with 11.4 seconds to go. Van Exel was quickly fouled and he hit both with 8.4 seconds left and Dallas led just 140-137. BJackson missed the quick 3 and Bell got the rebound and was fouled with 1.6 seconds remaining. He hit the 1st to ice the game, but missed the 2nd. Dallas won 141-137 in double-overtime Double wow! What a great, great, roller coaster of a game. After a terrible 1st quarter, I was wondering how Dallas was only down by 2 at the half. But it was 3-pointers that won this one. Dallas shot a playoff team record 19-42 3-pointers - it was the 2nd most made in NBA playoff history and the 42 attempts shattered the NBA record as the old was just 32. Dallas only made 1 more field goal than Sacramento and the Kings made 8 more free throws. For the game, Dallas shot 48.2% (53-110) including 19-42 3-pointers and Sacramento shot 48.1% (52-108) FG including 9-26 3-pointers. Dallas shot 16-20 FT and Sacramento shot 24-36 FT. The Kings out-rebounded Dallas 60-47, but it was just a 5 board difference on the offensive rebounds at 16-11. Neither team turned the ball over much, despite playing 58 minutes, as Dallas had 10 turnovers and Sacramento had 14 turnovers. It was just a great game. There were 12 ties and 17 lead changes in the 58 minutes. It will be interesting to see if either team has anything left for tonight's back-to-back game in Sacramento. Dallas leads the series 2-1 and re-gained home court advantage. There wasn't one player who was the solo hero of the game. You can pick amongst Nick Van Exel, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley, and the unlikely Walt Williams for the heros. Van Exel and Nash combined for 27 of Dallas 31 4th quarter points and Van Exel had 8 of Dallas 16 points in the 2nd overtime. Nowitzki had a 20-20 game - the first ever for a Mav in the playoffs. Finley had 5 3-pointers and 5 of Dallas 12 points in the 1st overtime. And all of William's 10 points came in the 2 overtimes - 5 points in each. Van Exel was the high man with a monster 40 points including 14-26 FG and 6-12 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists in 48 minutes. 23 of his points came in the 4th and overtimes. Nash had 31 points including 12-20 FG and 5-10 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 11 assists in 51 minutes - and played most of the 4th and overtimes with 5 fouls. Nowitzki had 25 points and 20 rebounds in playing all 58 minutes. He also had 5 fouls as he picked up his 5th with 3:45 left in the 2nd overtime. Finley finished with 20 points including 5-10 3-pointers in 55 minutes. Williams had 10 points on 4-8 FG and 2-5 3-pointers in 17 minutes, but it was in the overtimes where his presence was felt. Adrian Griffin started and had 6 points on 3-4 FG and 4 rebounds in 12 minutes. He sprained his ankle during the 3rd quarter and did not play much after that. He is expected to be available for tonight's game. Raja Bell came in for 15 defensive minutes and had 1 point - the final point of the game - and 2 rebounds. The big men hardly played as Dallas went with a smaller lineup. Eduardo Najera had no points on no attempts and 2 rebounds in 11 minutes. Raef LaFrentz had 8 points on 4-11 FG and 3 rebounds before fouling out in 22 minutes. Shawn Bradley got in for less than a minute and had no stats. Peja Stojakovic had a monster game for Sacramento with 39 points on 14-30 FG, 5-10 3-pointers, and 6-10 FT and 8 rebounds in 56 minutes. He took some criticism though [not from me - he had a great game] as he only had 2 points in the last 13 1/2 minutes of the game. Vlade Divac took advantage of Dallas smaller lineup (and Dallas took advantage of him at the other end) with 20 points on 7-11 FG and 6-12 FT and 10 rebounds. Doug Christie chipped in 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists, but also had 5 turnovers. Mike Bibby had 16 points, but only 7 came after the 1st quarter. He had 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 39 minutes. Despite playing with a fractured bone in his face, Bobby Jackson played very well with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. Hedo Turkoglu started in Chris Webber's place, but didn't do much with just 5 points including 1-8 FG, but he did have 9 rebounds in 23 minutes. Keon Clark had 11 points including 5-7 FG and 7 rebounds including 4 offensive and Jim Jackson had 11 points and 6 rebounds before fouling out in the final seconds of the game. [Phew, I got tired again just writing about the game. Finished with 1 1/2 hours to spare before Game 4.] Quotes Don Nelson: "Okay. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it was a terrific basketball game, one of which the NBA can be proud of, I think, and whether we would have won it or lost it it would have been a great game. I was proud to participate in it. There are so many big plays and big moments in the game, from regulation, from coming from far behind getting back in the game and making big shots." Nelson: "The key guy was a seldom used guy - Walt Williams. He was one of the keys to us winning in which we took a gamble. We thought we could get him open and, of course, he needed to make some shots. It didn't look like he was going to make one for a while, but I liked the looks he was getting and the looks that he was creating. We just stayed with running the play with him. Finally he started making shots. I think it really helped him to get a couple of layups or dunks, if you will. He is a good player, has been around and knows where to go. That kind of got his confidence up and then he made a couple of big 3's that really opened the game up and helped us win." Nelson on Webber saying Van Exel is the heart of the team: "I wouldn't argue with Chris on that. Van Exel is huge for our ball club, really has been for the last 2 years. His step up in the playoffs, even last year, he is more of a leader, more boisterous this year. He is more comfortable around the guys. I think when he found out he was welcomed here with open arms after the trade it took him a little while to feel comfortable. Now his leadership qualities are coming out and he is loved by this team. We love this guy, from the coaches to the 12th guy on the team. He is a wonderful addition to our ball club." Nelson on leaving Nash in with 5 fouls: "Well, you know, it's just been a philosophy of mine over the years that certain players I don't worry too much about having the 5th foul and in certain situations I would rather gamble with having them play and foul out than I would taking them out, put the game in jeopardy, and then if you do need them the game may be over. So my philosophy has been, not with everyone but certainly smart players that know that they need to stay out of foul trouble, not to worry too much about situations, where they get 3 in a half, where I will leave that player in often times where most coaches would take him out. Anyway, to win the game I thought we needed him in the game, and I wasn't going to take him out because I know he wasn't going to foul, you know some dumb foul. If it was going to be a foul then it would be a foul." Nelson on trying to get Stojakovic's 6th foul: "In this league, I think, if you try to run too many things at a player with 4 or 5 fouls, usually back-fires on you - it's been the history with me any way. I know a lot of coaches like to do it. I'll do it occasionally, but I don't over use that tactic, and I don't think Rick does much either." Nelson on back-to-back and high minutes: "Well, I can't tell you that I'm not worried about it tomorrow morning. I'm certainly not worried about it tonight. I just decided to treat these games as though the guys had rest and burn the guys up. If we have a chance to win, play them. And not make the mistake that if I make some sort of move that could cost us the game and then expect that, well, we'll save it for tomorrow. I don't think there is a tomorrow in the playoffs. I think you need to win every game that you can possibly win." Nelson: "This may say something to you. I've already known for a long time that the team's tough minded and is a wonderful team to coach. I told you how much I've enjoyed coaching them all year. That's just not because we won 60 games, it's just a special group of guys. And we may not be the most physical, gifted guys, the most athletic or the best rebounders, but it's a wonderful group to coach. And they stay together and they are tough minded." Nelson on using Williams: "I was searching, to be quite honest with you. Adrian Griffin had sprained his ankle and was not able to come back. In fact, I inserted him in at one time and I didn't even know that he had an ankle problem and he actually couldn't move and he told me - and I'm glad he did, because it cost me a basket or 2. I need my players to inform me when they're injured. So we sent him to the locker room. I basically ran out of guys. It wasn't fair to Walt to put him in because he was cold. But I just thought I would take a chance. There is a veteran guy that can make a 3, certainly would stretch the defense, if nothing else, where they couldn't key on him and gum up the other parts of our offense. But they continued to use his man as what we call the slot guy, which gums up the other things that we're trying to do and he was open. And he was open. He finally hit a shot and that was the ball game." Nelson [on the pick-and-roll, I think]: "Well, we are good at it. That's what we've been doing for a long, long time and we know how to work the defense and how to get open and penetrate. And because we don't have a low post game, that's the way we kind of get to the paint and get our paint points." Dirk Nowitzki: "It was an unbelievable game. It was the best game I've been a part of. It went back and forth until the end and either team could have won. We were just fortunate to have Nick and Steve at the end, they just play out of their minds and hit unbelievable shots. Walt is a great spot up shooter. We put him out there and Vlade left him. We have confidence in Walt and we think he's one of the best shooters in the league." Nowitzki: "We want to be always close to give ourselves a chance to win the ball game at the end. Steve and Nick were terrific today. The 3-point shooting was awesome at the end. And they really won us the game." Nowitzki on back-to-back: "We are a little tired, but we got the win, so that really gives us adrenalin for tomorrow and it is going to fire us up. You know, more of the same. Have the energy out there and rotate and just be physical on defense and rebound the ball and I think that is always the key for us." Michael Finley: "This was a great game to be a part of, fortunately for us we came out on top. This is definitely an NBA classic in NBA history. 2 teams battling to the finish line. Neither team wanted to give up the lead or the victory. It was just a great game to be a part of. Nick is just making big shots when we needed him to. This was the Nick I was used to seeing and competing against. It's a good thing we have a back-to-back so we can come right back and do it again." Finley on Stojakovic in the 4th: "It's all about the team with me. Offensively, my shot wasn't falling like I would have liked it to tonight, so my thing was I got to give the team something. So I picked it up on defense, tried to make it tough on Peja - he's one of the top scorers in this league - and just make him want to earn every shot he had tonight. But it was a total team effort tonight." Finley on being down 16: "You know what, to be quite honest, we're confident because we've been there before. We've been down against big teams and came back and we've been up against good teams and let them come back. And we know from both circumstances what it takes to win those type of ball games and we learned from this long season and it's paying off now in the playoffs." Finley: "Historically, you don't put a team together in 2 years and then all of the sudden learn things. You got to take the bumps and bruises. You got to learn from your mistakes and we definitely learned as a team and it's paying off for us now at a very important time." Steve Nash: "That was a great game more than anything, the fans enjoyed it. Not the home crowd here but the television audience. Walt is a great shooter. We all had confidence in him. It's just great to see a guy that doesn't get into the game that often come in and have confidence in himself. He had a chance to play himself in the game and he made some huge plays for us. The Kings were on an emotional high with CWebb out and they really played well in the start and we just had to weather the storm." Nash: "The biggest thing about this game was the toughness we showed. We had a lot of opportunities to concede and we refused to give in. We've seen a lot from our team. This definitely is a game we would have lost last year." Nash on Van Exel: "What you can say? He's been amazing. He brings energy and makes clutch shots. He's really given our team confidence and it shows in games of this magnitude." Nash on defending Stojakovic: "We stuck with him. He had some good runs, but we were able to stick with him and make him take some tough shots down the stretch." Nick Van Exel: "I'm so tired. I don't even feel like talking about it again, because I'm sure you've read it." Van Exel: "It was unbelievable. It was back and forth. They would go up, we would go up. And they would come back and go back up. And I guess it was just the team that, you know, that made the shots consecutively that would pull it out. But it was a great game." Van Exel on what it's like to be in a zone: "It's a great feeling because with this team we have so many shooters. So you get an opportunity to get some good looks and not really just force shots. So that's the best thing about it. When you're shooting the ball well, your teammates tend to find you, and when they find you, you have lot of space to get the shots off." Van Exel: "It comes natural with the way our offense is set up. We run a lot of picks with Steve. And tonight we ran it down the stretch with Steve and Walt and we made them make decisions, and Walt came through with some big 3s. Steve found me a couple of times in transition. We're just looking for one another and making some big ones." Van Exel on Sacramento missing Webber: "I think the biggest difference is we expected their energy level to be up, especially from the start of game. We knew coming in that the 1st quarter was going to be huge, and they did exactly what we didn't want them to do, and they jumped out on us. And we maintained, got back in the game by halftime. But the biggest difference is, you know, they have to go through Vlade instead of CWebb. What we try to do with Vlade is play Vlade straight up and not double-team as much as with CWebb. He is going to draw double-teams. He's going to draw a lot of attention. So that gives us chance to stay on the shooters." Van Exel on using the small lineup: "That's what Nellie's known for. I hate when Nellie wants to try to match up to what other teams do. He is known for doing gimmicks and things like that. And as a team, you know, we sort of like when he just plays the way he wants to play, he coaches the way he wants to coach, and that's going small, trying to create mismatches, you know. That's when Nellie is at his best. And this series, other than the 1st game, that's what he's done and it's worked out good for the team." Van Exel on what he said to Clark at the free throw line: "I just told Keon, that, wow, these some pretty big free throws, right here baby. We just need one [missed], but we'll take 2. This ain't UNLV. Just messing with him. You know, me and Keon played with one another in Denver, we play golf together in the summer. Just trying to get in his head a little bit, having fun." Van Exel on defense on Stojakovic: "The main thing with Peja is not to give him space. If he has an inch, he's going to knock shots down, so what we tried to do in that 4th quarter and overtime was to stay with him. Any time him and Vlade ran his hand-offs, we tried to switch that or attack it hard, make them think about it. Just try not to give him any good looks and we did that, that kind of slowed him down." Van Exel: "I think I have been defended great. I've just been trying to find cracks here and there, basically that's it. You know, I think they are doing a good job at trying to not let me get in the middle. Our spacing is so good on our pick-and-rolls, you have to leave somebody open. If you leave the ball handler open that is going to be Steve Nash and he can knock shots down. If you try to just go show and get back, he can get into the lane and also he can create and find shooters. We have a lot of things going good for us right now." Van Exel on the back-to-back: "Both teams are tired. So right now it really doesn't matter. I'm going to go to the hotel, sit in a cold ice tub and try to get my legs back. We will see what happens tomorrow." Van Exel on Sacramento being unable to stop him: "I don't know. I read the comments and I came out today not focusing on scoring the basketball but getting inside and making my teammates better. And then I figured once they saw I was doing that, I could have the lane all to myself. But that's what I did. I didn't try to force anything. I knew how they were going to play me." Van Exel on being down 16 points: "We knew coming in that in the beginning of the game they were going to feed off the crowd. They were going to have all the momentum, all the energy. So by halftime, we made it a point to be right there, give ourselves a chance at halftime and our game plan was perfect. We gave ourselves a chance going into the 3rd and 4th quarters, it was just a dog fight. We made shots down the end." Walt Williams: "You know what I do. I come in and I try to score buckets and spread the defense out. You know, I hadn't played in the whole 1st half, came in the 4th and overtime, and things like that. You know, I was just ready. They let me know ahead of time that I was going to come in, so I was prepared. I was ready." William on getting the win: "It was definitely big. They came in our place and got a win and took the home court advantage, so we worked all season to get that, so it was definitely imperative that we come in here and get the home court advantage back." Walt Williams: "Playoff time is exhausting time because your exhausting yourself out there. You just have to give 110% and try to get another win. The coach is going to have to answer the questions about the line-ups, I just sit and wait for my number to be called. I haven't been in the playoffs in awhile. I was just happy to get out on the court and make a contribution. I was very confident, me teammates were very confident in me." Williams: "I was telling Raja Bell that I hoped to get into the game. There's a lot of electricity out there and just a great atmosphere." Williams: "I was surprised to be getting that many shots. Steve kept coming back to me. I'm always confident shooting the ball. That's my thing." Williams: "They just kept leaving me open and Steve kept feeding me the ball. I was surprised I was open, and I guess they were surprised I kept making shots." Williams: "I guess they figured I would be cold and scared to take my shots. They kept leaving me open. Nash kept feeding me. I finally started making big shots." Raja Bell on the smaller lineup: "We're going to do what we're going to do. I think we have to be like that. Make teams change their philosophy to play us, instead of the other way around." Rick Adelman: "Just really a tough loss. We had 3 or 4 chances to win, and we didn't get it done; couldn't get it done. They kept coming up with the big shots. Guys played hard, played hard and played their hearts out. Now we have to regroup and try to come back tomorrow and get the win tomorrow." Adelman if it was won by free throws: "No. We can say it's the free throws, we can say it's their 20, 30 3-point shots they made. So many things to win this game, I don't know if you can put it on one thing. And we just didn't do enough to win the game. Like I said, it's going to be tough to come back from, but we have got to do that. We've got 24 hours to turn around and try to get a win tomorrow." Adelman if he thought the game was more physical: "Didn't really. I didn't notice that. I mean, teams were playing - both teams were playing hard. It's a huge game. You know, if they get it, they get home court advantage back. If we get it, we are in the driver's seat. So I just think it was 2 teams that knew it was a big game and they laid it out there. You know, so it was a hard fought game." Adelman on Van Exel: "He made big plays again all night long tonight. Tough shots, big shots, you know, he got the ball in the basket at that one play. I mean, he just played great. He gives them a huge boost when he comes off that [bench] - I don't even think, actually, he's a starter, but he was great again tonight." Adelman on Stojakovic: "He was good all night long. He carried us for a big part of the night, you know. I don't know if he shut down, I guess they were paying attention to him pretty close. I don't remember Nowitzki making a whole lot in overtime either. You pay attention to guys like that, and then someone else steps up for you. Tonight for them, Williams hit a big 3 and Nick was really good. Peja was terrific. He had a great game. He showed the kind of player he is." Adelman on Williams' 3-pointer and the pick-and-roll: "We've been over that, that's why I stayed with Keon for so long. Vlade's got to show and rotate back to him. We got 2 guys over on the other side and he just, I don't know, I think maybe Vlade got tired or what ever, but he didn't get back to him. He missed one and then he made the other one. Guys make shots and teams win. And give him credit. That's what they put him in there for and it worked out for them." Adelman on not trying to get Nash's 6th foul: "I don't think he's going to get the 6th foul. I mean, people say that all the time, but a guy's got to cooperate with you. We run pick-and-roll, we run a lot of things involving him. It's just like Peja had 5 fouls and he wasn't going to get his 6th either. It sounds so text book to say that, but in reality, he's not a post up player, he's not someone who has a chance - Nowitzki had 5 fouls too - these guys are smart. We were trying to find ways to score. I was just trying to find ways to get in some type of flow and we struggled for a while there. So, you can do that, but you have to have people attack him and he's got to cooperate and foul." Adelman on being frustrated: "I'm a coach. Why do you think that might be? It's a double-overtime game. [talk about what you were frustrated about] Which time? I'm not going to cover what I'm frustrated with the team about. It was an emotional game for everybody - players, coaches, everybody. You're going to react a certain way. I was real frustrated that we missed those shots that could have won the game. I was really frustrated, but shots go in and they don't. Peja had really good shot at the end of the 1st overtime. I'll take that shot. And it didn't happen." Adelman on Jackson not wearing a protective mask: "He didn't have to. There was no reason for him. The doctors gave him clearance to play without the mask. He is feeling fine. Bobby is a competitor, and we knew he would come out and play a tough game despite what happened the other night." Peja Stojakovic on Dallas' defense in overtime: "Not really. Maybe the reason I wasn't aggressive enought in the 2 overtimes, maybe I was tired, but that is not an excuse. We had a lot of opportunities tonight. We could have finished the game in regular time, in 48 minutes, but we made a couple of mistakes. We also had loose shots. We could have won the game at the end of the end of the regular time. We could have won in the 1st overtime. I had a good look and it wouldn't fall for us." Stojakovic on Van Exel: "He has been huge for them. He's played well. He made a difference today also. He made a lot of big shots today, especially at the end of the overtimes. During the overtimes, he really carried them, but all of them played well. All of them played well. Steve, Dirk, Finley, they all have a great game. So we have to regroup and come back tomorrow and try to win." Stojakovic on what cost the game: "You can look at, you know, different reasons, looking for excuses. We had a lot of good looks, you know, and we missed those shots and they came back and they made them at that end and we couldn't have stopped them. You have to give them credit. They made a lot of tough shots, a lot of 3s, contest 3s. So it was tough loss." Stojakovic: "I think we played pretty good, I would say, for probably 1st quarter. We ran the floor and took care of the defense, we rebounded, and that is how we made the difference. We did also in 3rd quarter, but not for whole game, you know. So we just have to be more consistent with the things we are doing, especially on defensive end." Vlade Divac: "They had to put a heat pack on my elbow. I would even go tomorrow if they amputated my arm. It's a good thing that the game is tomorrow, because after losing a game this way, I can't wait to get back on the floor and do a better job. Dallas is a team that can make shots. A couple of times our defense collapsed, and they were able to make big shots." Divac: "The only good thing about this is that we play again. Why wait? We want to get right back out there." Divac on the missed free throws at the end of the 1st overtime: "On those free throws my elbow hurt. I hyperextended my elbow when I fell earlier, and it bothered me when I shot. I tried, but ..." Bobby Jackson: "They played well, we played well, it was just a tight game. I think offensive rebounds killed us. We just didn't make shots in overtime. That's what happens sometimes. We fell back a little bit on defense and let them get back into the game. We played solid. We just need to be careful about gambling. They made shots, they made plays. We have to come back and get this win tomorrow. Even without CWebb we should have won this game. We still have a lot of confidence. We're down 2-1, but we believe we can still win this series. Hopefully we can come in and play a perfect game tomorrow." Jackson: "We ran our stuff like we usually do. Without Chris, we tried to work it into Vlade more, run more things through him. But the bottom line is we missed some shots and they made some plays." Jackson on Van Exel: "The guy is unbelievable with the basketball. He loves having the ball in his hands and he makes tough shots. He's got that confidence right now where he feels like he can make every shot - and he's doing it." Jackson on Stojakovic: "Peja played a great game, most definitely. He tried to put us on his shoulders and carry us. I think overall as a team, we have to see what we did wrong. We've got to help Peja. He can't do it by himself." Dallas Mavericks 141, Sacramento Kings 137 2OT at Sacramento (May 10) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT 2OT - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 23 39 20 31 12 16 - 141 .500 .452 .482 .800 Sacramento 36 28 27 22 12 12 - 137 .524 .346 .481 .667 Halftime: Sacramento 64-62 3rd Q: Sacramento 91-82 4th Q: 113-113 1st OT: 125-126 Technicals: Eduardo Najera 7:54 1st, Raef LaFrentz 3:41 2nd, Vlade Divac 3:41 2nd Refs: Hue Hollins, Joey Crawford, Mike Callahan Attendance: 17,317 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Chris Webber (torn meniscus left knee) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 12 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 2-4 2 1 1 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 58 9-21 1-3 6-6 25 2-20 2 2 5 1 1 Eduardo Najera 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 2 3 1 0 Michael Finley 56 7-18 5-10 1-2 20 1-4 3 1 3 1 0 Steve Nash 51 12-20 5-10 2-2 31 3-5 11 1 5 1 0 Nick Van_Exel 48 14-26 6-12 6-7 40 1-7 7 1 4 1 0 Raja Bell 15 0-2 0-1 1-2 1 0-2 1 1 3 0 0 Raef LaFrentz 22 4-11 0-1 0-1 8 2-3 0 1 6 0 1 Walt Williams 16 4-8 2-5 0-0 10 0-0 2 0 1 1 0 Shawn Bradley 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 58 53-110 19-42 16-20 141 11-47 28 10 31 7 2 Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Predrag Stojakovic 56 14-30 5-10 6-10 39 3-8 4 0 5 1 0 Hidayet Turkoglu 23 1-8 0-2 3-4 5 1-9 1 1 2 1 0 Vlade Divac 33 7-11 0-0 6-12 20 4-10 4 3 3 0 0 Doug Christie 51 6-14 2-4 4-4 18 1-5 7 5 2 2 0 Mike Bibby 39 7-13 1-4 1-1 16 0-4 3 2 6 1 0 Keon Clark 23 5-7 0-0 2-3 12 4-7 1 2 1 0 1 Bobby Jackson 42 7-15 0-4 2-2 16 2-11 5 0 0 0 0 Jim Jackson 22 5-10 1-2 0-0 11 1-6 0 1 6 0 0 Gerald Wallace 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 58 52-108 9-26 24-36 137 16-60 25 14 25 5 1 patricia Go Mavs!