Don't forget that Tuesday's game 5 has an early start time of 6:00 pm! Game 4: Dallas at Sacramento (May 11) With Adrian Griffin out of the game with a sprained right ankle, Raja Bell got the starting nod and he was all Dallas had on offense early in the game as he scored Dallas' first 6 points. Sacramento took the ball inside early and often and jumped out to an 8-2 lead with 9:50 left. Dallas scored the next 6 points to tie the game at 8-8 with 8 minutes left, but Sacramento scored the next 6 points to keep their lead in single-digits for the rest of the quarter. Sacramento led 24-20 after 1. It was an ugly quarter as neither team shot that well (outside of Sacramento's inside points). Sacramento shot 11-26 FG - and 7 of the makes were from layups - including 1-6 3-pointers and Dallas shot 8-22 FG including 0-5 3-pointers. Dallas' big 3 of Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley, and Steve Nash combined to shoot just 1-9 FG. Bell had 10 points in the quarter. Dallas' shooting woes continued in the 2nd quarter while Sacramento started hitting some outside shots in addition to still attacking the basket. A jumper by Keon Clark gave the Kings their first double-digit lead at 34-24 with 9 minutes to go. Sacramento led 39-32 with 5:20 remaining and scored the next 7 points to go up 46-32 with 3:20 left. Sacramento led 52-37 at the half. It was the lowest scoring half for Dallas this playoffs. Dallas only shot 35.6% FG including 0-9 3-pointers while Sacramento shot 48.9% FG (but also poorly behind the arc with just 2-9 3-pointers). In addition to poor shooting, Dallas was also being sloppy with the ball as they had 10 turnovers in the half - Dallas only averaged 11.6 turnovers during the season. Dallas did not regain their shooting touch during the 3rd quarter and 9 straight points by Sacramento gave them their first 20+ point lead at 78-55 with 2:50 left. After missing their first 11 attempts, Dallas finally hit a 3-pointer with 2 minutes left in the 3rd [they made 19 3-pointers in the last game]. Sacramento led 81-63 after 3. It was more of the same in the 4th quarter, though Dallas did not throw in the towel until 2 minutes remained, as the Kings' lead remained mostly in the high teens. His frustration boiling over, Nowitzki complained about getting called for a foul on one end where he didn't get the similar call for him on the other end and got a technical and Don Nelson pulled him. As he went to the bench, he kicked a pile of towels, which scattered into the first few baseline rows and the ref tossed him [Sacramento hit the 1st technical free throw, which was shot while Nowitzki was kicking the towels, but missed the 2nd - the ref wasn't alert as the 2nd should have been reshot as Walt Williams was still on the baseline waiting to make Dallas' inbounds pass from before the 2nd T was called and he jumped up and down trying to distract the free throw shooter, which is not allowed (both distracting him like that and a player being inside the arc and below the foul line for technical free throws)]. The next incident occurred when Dallas' defense got too tight on Bobby Jackson and he took exception to the flailying hands, probably due to concern about his fractured orbital bone, and he and Raja Bell went toe-to-toe and were separated and then ejected. Dallas did pull within 13 points with a minute left on a stunning drive across the lane and pretty finger roll by Shawn Bradley [it was so fluid, so smooth, so un-Bradley like - where did that come from and can I see more???], but the game was long over by then. Sacramento won 99-83. Although both teams did play the night before, Dallas obviously didn't have anything left in this game. Of the 6 players who played 48 or more minutes the night before (4 Dallas and 2 Sacramento), none had a good shooting night (Doug Christie was the best with 6-15 FG (40%)). When Dallas' 4 primary offensive weapons combine to shoot a mere 29.1% FG - and it sinks to a terrible 22.3% if you exclude Michael Finley's 7-18 FG - you know Dallas is not going to come out with a victory. Sacramento simply had more players to turn to who could step up with them missing Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic having a poor shooting night. This game was simply won by shooting, or more aptly, lack of shooting. Sacramento shot 44.4% (40-90) FG and Dallas shot just 37.9% (36-95) FG. The teams combined for 28 3-pointers in the previous game, but neither was accurate behind the arc this night as Sacramento shot 3-21 3-pointers and Dallas shot 3-20 3-pointers. Things were so bad for Dallas that the best free throw shooting team from the regular season (82.9%) couldn't even hit the freebies as they shot a miserable 8-15 FT. Sacramento was slightly better from the line at 16-23 FT. Dallas did out-rebounded Sacramento 53-47 including 17-9 offensive, but that doesn't make a difference if you can put the ball in the hoop. Dallas did get control of their turnover problem and had "just" 16 for the game while Sacramento played a cleaner game with 10 turnovers. Dallas only had 6 fast break points while Sacramento had 17. The series is now tied at 2-2 and is down to a best of 3 series. Game 5 is Tuesday at 6 pm in Dallas and is critical - I get the feeling that which ever team wins this one, wins the series. There was no true star for Sacramento as the team had a balanced attack with 6 players in double-digits. Coming off a disappointing game in game 4 where he was slated to take some of the minutes from the injured Chris Webber, Hedo Turkoglu was the high man with 17 points including 7-12 FG and 4 rebounds. Vlade Divac again took advantage of Dallas' interior weaknesses with 16 points including 6-9 FG and 9 rebounds. Mike Bibby had 12 points and just 2 assists in 37 minutes, but did have 4 steals. Doug Christie had a solid game with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Peja Stojakovic struggled shooting the ball (5-15 FG), but had 15 points, a game high 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. Bobby Jackson also struggled shooting with 4-13 FG as part of his 13 points. Jim Jackson had 8 points and Keon Clark had 5 points and 4 rebounds in 13 minutes. You know it was a bad game for Dallas when a player more known for his defense than his offense was the high scorer. Raja Bell was the high man for Dallas with 16 points and 7 rebounds. He was the best player on the court for Dallas for this night. Michael Finley found a little bit of a shooting touch in the 2nd half and also had 16 points including 7-18 FG and 1-5 3-pointers (had 5 in the last game) and 7 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki came out flat (0-6 FG in the 1st half) and never got going. He did manage to get a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, but only shot 4-14 FG. No other Mav was in double-digits. Steve Nash had a terrible game with just 6 points on 3-12 FG and 6 assists in 33 minutes. And no boost from the bench this night as Nick Van Exel didn't have his first basket until 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter. He finished with just 5 points on 2-11 FG and 3 assists in 30 minutes. Eduardo Najera contributed 9 points including 4-6 FG and 7 rebounds including 5 offensive in 18 minutes. Raef LaFrentz did have a nice showing in snagging rebounds with 10 boards to go with his 8 points. Walt Williams had 5 points on 2-7 FG and Shawn Bradley had 7 points including 3-4 FG and 3 rebounds in 9 minutes. Quotes Rick Adelman: "I am just really pleased with our effort after last night, that was such a huge disappointment last night, losing that game, the way it went down. Our guys - one thing about this group, they are so resilient, they just respond. I didn't know what we were going to get because it was so disappointing last night, but it was a great effort on our part. They obviously didn't shoot as well. It is a lot easier when they are shooting 19 3s. I think our guys were really into it. We had a good balance, played a solid game all the way through. That is what we had to do. Now it is an even series and we have to go to Dallas and see if we can get a game there." Adelman on Christie: "He gave us a boost the whole game. I thought he was unbelievable. You know, he rebounding the ball, pushing the ball, attacking the basket early, defending, you know, you can't say enough. Doug, that's how he is. I mean, he was really disappointed last night, but he was ready to go. Hedo gave us a real lift too. They started both halves and Peja was terrific on Nowitzki. Even though he didn't score like he did last night he worked his tail off and made Nowitzki work. I just give our guys a lot of credit. You go down the line. Vlade was terrific. They responded when they had to respond and I give them all of the credit in the world for that." Adelman on Dallas' many subs in the 1st half: "I don't know why. I'm sure that is what he was doing because he played 4 guys big minutes last night. I'm sure he was trying to them get in and out. I was just - I wasn't thinking about resting anybody, to tell you the truth. We had to win tonight. I did give Peja a blow at the end of the 1st quarter so I could bring him back at the start of the 2nd. But, you know, whatever it took tonight to win the game, we were going to do. Fortunately, we got a lot of contributions from a lot of guys, which made it pretty easy for me to substitute and rotate guys." Adelman on feeling confident going to Dallas: "We've always felt confident. We've always felt confident even losing Chris. We felt that, you know, we have the type of people that can step up and win. I mean, we could have won the other night and they threw a heck of a game at us and we had 4 different shots to win those games. So our team does not lack confidence. I think we understand we lost our best player. We also understand if everybody steps up we have a chance to beat anybody and I think they really believe that and you saw that tonight. A lot of teams wouldn't have come out with the effort they came out with tonight. They came out from the very beginning and they were attacking from the very beginning." Adelman on his frustration in the 4th quarter: "I was agitated because it's what we talked about that we don't have to push it up and quick shoot it. When you are 20 points ahead, what's the point of doing that. All it does is feed, gives them a chance to get a faster pace and close ground quicker, and frankly make them guard us, I mean, they have a hard time guarding us, so make them guard us. And when we quick shoot it like that, it just opens the door for a team like Dallas. They just score too quickly. So I was a little bit perturbed, start the 4th quarter especially. The first 2 minutes, I couldn't figure out what in the world we were doing and we just talked about it between quarters. That's the only way they are going to get it back is if we turn it over and quick shoot the ball and stop defending. And we started to do that the first 2 minutes. I wasn't pleased." Adelman on Nowitzki, Nash, and Van Exel: "You know, really great players and great offensive players like those guys are, you got to work your tail off and make it hard on them. But frankly, it's a combination of what you do and what happens to them. You just don't stop great players. I mean, those guys had such a great game last night. I think probably couple of things happened. They played a lot of minutes, they didn't shoot it as well. They didn't have the same energy they had last night, and they were probably a lit bit relaxed because they had gotten 1 here, and maybe that's what they were after. So I don't think it's every thing we did, it's a combination that put them in a position to work hard and hopefully they are going to have an off game like they had tonight." Vlade Divac: "It was tough loss last night and I'm glad we came back with lot of energy. It's tough to play back-to-back, especially in playoffs, but we respond. We played well, especially defensively. Obviously they missed a lot of shots, so we were lucky there and we took advantage of it." Divac: "Well, now we feel better. Obviously I'm surprised that nobody scored more than 100 points. You know, obviously it's our tempo and we have to stick with it." Divac: "We played much better defense. That gave us a shot and we took advantage of it. I think we came back today with more energy than Dallas did. That was a big plus for us. It was very disappointing last night, but I'm glad we had back-to-back games. It feels much better now that we've won. We knew we could play much better than we did in the 4th quarter of last night's game. We'll try to go down to Dallas and repeat the way we played tonight. We have to take care of the rebounds, take advantage of fast break opportunities, and know when to settle down so we don't allow a lot of fast breaks for them. I'm just glad to get the win." Divac: "We lost Game 3, but we didn't lose our confidence. We knew what we had to do. I feel fine. I'm tired and my elbow bothers me, but I'm okay. It feels much better now that we've won." Mike Bibby: "We played defense kind of like we did the 1st game, made it tough for them right off the bat. We didn't give them easy shots, uncontested shots. That played into our offense. We played defense hard, got steals, we were just aggressive on both ends of the court. We played a good game all the way through. If we played like we did tonight in Dallas, we'll do it again. We've always had the confidence. The only thing that's going to take it away from us is ourselves." Bibby: "Doug Christie has really been there for us. He really picked up his play in this series. I don't think Dallas expected him to score like this." Doug Christie: "More than anything, just came out aggressive, trying to attack the basket, push the tempo. After the double overtime game, I had a bit of a feeling that both teams were going to be a little bit fatigued and I tried to take care of myself last night and make sure that I was ready to come out here and run as fast as I possibly could." Christie on what he did after game 3: "My wife made me a nice bath and I stretched for a while and then I got some sleep today and just mentally tried to get myself ready and physically do everything that I could to perform well." Christie on driving to the basket more because of his recent poor shooting or being more aggressive: "I think a combination of both - the shot hasn't been falling so I tried to be aggressive, get to the hole, get to the line. But when I had the open shots, in my head I was telling myself I know I can do it, just step up there and make the shot and some of them went in, some of them didn't. Coming out in the 2nd half, we talked at halftime of just making sure that we had the same energy level. That we created the tempo and not let them, as they have in the past 2 games, create the tempo. When they're able to do that, they're a heck of a ball club." Christie on if this was a do-or-die game: "I believe so. I know I definitely did. Being down to a team like that 3-1 leaves you in a real difficult situation and that is not something we wanted to face. When I said at halftime that I was going play on nubs, I was just going to give everything that I possibly could, get everybody involved, and be as aggressive as we possibly could as a unit." Christie on defending Van Exel: "Well, I think a lot of long shots didn't go in for both teams because of double overtime last night. I think that as the game went on, guys got a little bit weary in the leg area. You know, we just tried to push up on Nick, make him make decisions. He is a heck of a ball player and he is going to make shots, we understand that. But the last 2 games, I think our defense was a little bit lax and tonight was much better effort defensively." Christie on if he had to come out strong to get the win: "I don't know if 'had' is the word I would use, but that was what I was going to do is just come out and try to be as aggressive as I possibly could. Set the tone both offensively and defensively, that we're here to stay, and the series is going to be far from over." Christie on the frustrations in the game: "I really think it is playoff basketball. As the series goes on it is going to get more intense, it is going to get more physical. The refs are going to get in there a little bit more. No punches were thrown, I don't think, and guys got ejected. So they're trying to take control of that. From our stand point we have to stand up like men and play basketball. We are going to have to put 48 minutes together these next 2 games, if it goes to game 6 or if it goes to game 7, and we are going to have to find a way to make it happen." Christie on his 3-pointers in overtime having an affect today: "You know, it does. It gives you a boost of energy and confidence. But more than anything, before this series, we had some really good practices and just found my rhythm, talked with coachie a little bit and he said you just got to be kind of aggressive and look to make things happen, work to create. And that's really what I try to do. Take the ball to the hole. If I didn't have a shot, look for somebody else. And keep moving, try to get in there and get some offensive rebounds, and just make things happen. Play basketball." Christie on getting Turkoglu involved: "No. I think more than anything, just move the ball around. Hedo knows that he can played. And you know, just like anybody, if you haven't played for a while, confidence can be kind of lacking and from that stand point, I think Hedo might've been a little down, but I know I penetrated at one time and hit him in the middle and he just jumped up and put it in. And everyone is so happy for him. And also from the stand point that he adds another whole dimension to the team. I mean, he's 6-10, can shoot it from the 3-point line, takes it to the hole, finished with both hands. So it's big for us that he plays well." Christie on what is Sacramento's tempo: "I think from our stand point, getting the ball to Vlade and going from the inside-out. We want to run the ball just like they do, but when we get into a half court situation, we're not looking for the jump shot right away. We want to get the ball inside to Vlade and try to make things happen from the inside-out. And more than anything, I think that's our tempo, is pushing the ball; if you don't have it, try to get in inside; and then if you throw it out and you get a 3-pointer, you know, let it fly." Christie: "I knew the pressure was on me because of my past playoff experiences. I knew what we had to do, what I had to do. I'm just so happy that I was able to go out there and make it happen." Bobby Jackson on what's in store for the rest of the series: "I think it'll be a 7 game series. I don't want it to, but I think it will be." Hedo Turkoglu: "I was a little bit more comfortable tonight. I just needed my time. I was in the rotation for a long time, so I just wanted to take my time and use the opportunity to get going. I know when I get on the court, I can get comfortable, and I can get hot. Today, I was making my shots, you know. I'm happy and I hope I continue like this." Don Nelson: "Well, my statement is that we weren't very good tonight, and we just need to play better than we played tonight, be more consistent, and look more like a basketball team. You know, I think when you have 16 assists, 16 turnovers that in a way tells you what kind of game you are playing. We just didn't seem to have much tonight, didn't have our legs, wasn't a lot of fuel left in the tank. I thought we tried hard, didn't look like we were, but I really thought we were trying. And give them a lot of credit. I thought defensively they made us work and the game was hard for us tonight. So we'll take a day off tomorrow and then come back and play another one." Nelson on energy: "You never know about those things. That's why I try to not anticipate, just try to coach the game. They had more energy than we did. They played last night too, if I recall. So I don't have any excuse. They out-played us tonight. It was a hard back-to-back game for them as well as us, so I give them the credit." Nelson on pulling the stars: "I wanted to give them every opportunity. You know, I wasn't burning anybody up with a lot of minutes, you know, I think maybe Fin had the most minutes tonight, but I don't think I played anybody in the 40s. So I wanted to give them a chance to feel good about themselves and play in the 4th quarter. And then when it just wasn't getting any better with about 3 or 4 to go, I pulled the plug." Nelson on the Bell-BJackson scuffle: "I don't really even know what happened, you know. Probably frustration, on both players' part." Dirk Nowitzki: "It was frustrating out there for all of us. We were a step slower defensively. They had layups. Offensively, we had no legs. Every jumper looked short. It just wasn't our night. We hung in there in the 2nd half and made a little run. We never got it under 10 to make it a game. I think the effort was good in the 2nd half so we can build on that for games 4 and 5." Nowitzki: "Especially in the beginning. I had a couple turnaround jumpers that were a little short. They hit front rim." Nowitzki: "It was a frustrating night. We were a step slow to everything. It just wasn't our night. But we wanted a split here and this one was a free swing. We missed it, but now we go home." Nowitzki on his ejection: "Off the floor, I'm not that emotional. But I get fired up on the floor. I have to keep my emotions under control. That's the first time [he's been ejected - but actually, it's not]. I'm a nice guy." Michael Finley: "Well, you know, I think, you know, you have to give the Kings credit that they came out with a real intense focus and, you know, they made us do some things that we've not normally been doing as a basketball team. Being careless with the basketball, and things like that. And also I think the back-to-back might have had a little effect on that. I think when you get fatigued, you start making foolish mistakes that you're usually not accustomed to. So those 2 things going against you is going to be tough to beat any team in the league." Finley on if Dallas got what the wanted with the split in Sacramento: "Me personally, no. I think as a team, we wanted to win both games, but tonight we just didn't have it. Even when we made big stops, we was unable to come down and make shots when we needed them. Unlike last night we was making everything, tonight we couldn't make shots when we really needed them. And come Tuesday, we'll be refocused, reenergized, feeding off our home crowd, and hopefully get a win there." Finley: "Well, my main thing is to do whatever it takes to win ball games. My game is going to come. When the coach calls my number, I'm going to be ready to step up to the plate. I'm not going out there trying to go one-on-one just to get my rhythm back, I'm trying to do whatever it takes for this team to win ball games. Me individually, my game is going to come." Finley on game 5: "Well, it is going to be a big game for us. We are going back into our home court where we are comfortable, but at the same time it is a place where they've won too. So we know it is going to be an intense battle for 48 minutes, but we're going in with the intention that we need this win. We are going to go in and do whatever it takes to get the win on Tuesday. And if it takes 4 overtimes, we are going to do that as well." Finley on if frustration from this game will affect the next game: "If we had to play tomorrow I would say [so], but we have a day off to pretty much put this game behind us. The coaches go back to the drawing board and give us a better strategic approach to the game. And as players, we just refocus ourselves and try to go out and do the things that we know we are capable of doing. I think at the end we got a little frustrated because we were losing. We were, you know, trying to find ways to rekindle the situation, so to speak, by letting off some frustration through the refs and things like that. But, you know, again, that is uncharacteristic of us. But we'll bounce back and we'll be ready to play on Tuesday." Steve Nash: "They had more energy than us tonight. I think the Kings did a great job with their backs against the wall. We've had a tough schedule lately, going 7 in the 1st round. They had more energy than us tonight. Dirk's had a tough week, especially the 7-game series against Portland. Going back-and-fourth on the West Coast and then jumping right into the Sac series is always a daunting task." Nash: "This has the makings of a long series." Nick Van Exel: "I thought both teams were very tired but I think they had more energy than we did, especially at the start of the game. Christie came out and energized them, taking the ball to the basket, attacking. That definitely got them going and then the crowd got into it. Both teams were definitely tired but they had more in the tank." Van Exel: "They had a lot more energy than we did. They had the crowd behind them and I thought that made a big difference. They just played harder than we did. We were fatigued and couldn't get anything going." Van Exel: "When you play like I did the last 2 games, your expectations are high. The only way is down." Raja Bell: "Having won the 1st game, our goal was definitely to come in here and get 2. We're not content with it. Obviously, we are happy that we have home court [advantage] back, but we're not happy with the split." Bell on the scuffle with BJackson: "I think it was blown out of proportion more than it needed to be. Jackson and I hit each other and then when Hedo came in and shoved me in the chest is when it turned into what appeared to be a skirmish. It really wasn't anything like that." Bell on the scuffle: "It wasn't frustration. We were going for the ball and I fouled him. He didn't like the foul and shoved me. I smacked his hand off. It could have ended there, but Hedo came in and shoved me in the chest." Bell on the scuffle: "We trapped the ball and kind of got tangled up. I smacked Bobby Jackson's hands off of me and it could have ended there. But Hedo Turkoglu came in and it kind of turned into a scrum. There were no punches thrown, though. I didn't think it warranted an ejection." Sacramento Kings 99, Dallas Mavericks 83 at Sacramento (May 11) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Sacramento 24 28 29 18 - 99 .536 .143 .444 .696 Dallas 20 17 24 22 - 83 .440 .150 .379 .533 Halftime: Sacramento 52-37 3rd Q: Sacramento 81-61 Technicals: Dirk Nowitzki 2:19 4th, Dirk Nowitzki 2:19 4th (ejected), Raja Bell (1-T ejection) 1:14 4th, Bobby Jackson (1-T ejection) 1:14 4th Refs: Ron Garretson, Mark Wunderlich, Steve Javie Attendance: 17,317 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Chris Webber (torn meniscus left knee), Adrian Griffin (sprained right ankle) Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Predrag Stojakovic 40 5-15 0-5 5-6 15 2-12 5 0 2 0 0 Hidayet Turkoglu 28 7-12 1-2 2-2 17 1-4 2 1 3 2 1 Vlade Divac 32 6-9 0-0 4-6 16 2-9 4 1 4 1 2 Doug Christie 37 6-15 1-5 0-1 13 1-11 7 2 4 0 0 Mike Bibby 37 6-14 0-3 0-0 12 0-1 2 2 2 4 0 Jim Jackson 22 4-9 0-2 0-1 8 1-2 2 1 3 1 0 Bobby Jackson 29 4-13 1-4 4-5 13 1-3 2 2 0 1 1 Keon Clark 13 2-2 0-0 1-2 5 1-4 0 0 1 0 1 Scot Pollard 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 40-90 3-21 16-23 99 9-47 25 10 19 9 5 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Raja Bell 27 7-11 0-0 2-2 16 2-6 1 0 5 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 36 4-14 0-1 3-5 11 1-11 1 3 2 0 1 Eduardo Najera 18 4-6 0-0 1-2 9 5-7 0 2 1 0 0 Michael Finley 39 7-18 1-5 1-2 16 2-7 4 3 4 1 0 Steve Nash 33 3-12 0-3 0-0 6 0-0 6 3 2 2 0 Raef LaFrentz 23 4-8 0-3 0-0 8 2-10 0 1 3 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 29 2-11 1-4 0-2 5 0-2 3 2 2 0 0 Shawn Bradley 9 3-4 0-1 1-2 7 1-3 1 1 0 0 1 Walt Williams 14 2-7 1-3 0-0 5 1-2 0 1 2 0 1 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 10 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 3-5 0 0 1 0 0 Evan Eschmeyer 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 48 36-95 3-20 8-15 83 17-53 16 16 22 4 3 patricia Go Mavs!