Tickets for Game 5 (next Tuesday) go on sale Saturday morning at 10 am at at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, and 1-800-4NBATIX. There are about 2,500 tickets available. Game 2: Sacramento at Dallas (May 8) Sacramento opened game 2 shooting 6-7 FG and 4-4 FT to go up 20-10 with 8:30 left. Dallas had started an unconventional lineup with Dirk Nowitzki, Eduardo Najera, Adrian Griffin, Michael Finley, and Steve Nash and, surprisingly, Griffin and Najera combined to score Dallas' first 8 points. Sacramento started missing some shots and Dallas chipped into their lead. Griffin picked up his 3rd foul and sat with 5:45 remaining after scoring 8 points. Sacramento led 28-23 with 5:45 to go and Dallas went on a 14-3 run, with 12 points coming from Nowitzki and capped by a rare 4-point play, to go up 37-31 with 3:40 left. The Kings scored the next 6 points to tie the game and then Dallas scores the next 5 points as the high scoring affair continued. Dallas led 44-40 after 1 - the combined 84 points tied the NBA playoff record for most points in the 1st quarter (and only behind 86 points for most points in any quarter). Dallas shot an incredible 16-22 FG including 5-6 FG while Sacramento wasn't bad themselves in shooting 11-20 FG including 4-7 3-pointers. Dallas even out-rebounded Sacramento 11-4 including 4-2 offensive. The Kings got a huge boost from the refs as they were calling everything on one side of the court and Sacramento shot 14-17 FT while Dallas shot 7-7 FT. Dirk Nowitzki already had 18 points including 6-6 FG and 3-3 3-pointers and 5 rebounds, Peja Stojakovic had 17 points, and Chris Webber had 15 points in the quarter. Dallas' offensive barrage continued in the 2nd quarter as the team opened the quarter with a 10-3 run to go up 54-43 with 8:30 left. Dallas led 56-47 with 7 minutes remaining and went on an 18-0 monster run, started with 3 straight 3-pointer by Nick Van Exel, to take a commanding 74-47 lead with 3:50 left. Sacramento got so discombobulated during the run that they actually had a 24 second violation where the Kings had no idea that the clock had run out and why the refs were blowing the whistle. Webber had a layup at the quarter buzzer. Dallas led 83-61 at the half. Wow. 83 set the NBA playoff record for most points in a 1st half. Van Exel led the way in the 2nd quarter as he had 15 points including 3-4 3-pointers. Dallas shot 16-28 FG and 6-11 3-pointers in the 2nd quarter. For the half, that came to 64% FG and 11-17 3-pointers (64.7%) for Dallas [a difference of 2 games: Dallas shot 0-10 3-pointers in game 1]. Sacramento shot a respectable 48.7% FG and 5-13 3-pointers, but it paled in comparison to Dallas' performance. Dallas also out-rebounded Sacramento 24-15 including 5-2 offensive in the half. Sacramento tried to come out strong in the 3rd quarter, but Dallas traded punches with them and the Mavs' lead hovered around 20 points. Dallas led 95-76 with 6:40 remaining and scored the next 7 points (4 from Van Exel and a 3-pointer by Finley) to go up 102-76 with 4:25 left. Sacramento would get no closer than 24 points the rest of the quarter. Things got worse for Sacramento as Webber's knee buckled with 3 minutes left and he had to be carried off the floor. Dallas led 113-85 after 3. And things again got worse for Sacramento as Bobby Jackson ran into Raef LaFrentz's shoulder early in the 4th and had to leave the game with a fracture in his right orbital bone. Dallas took their largest lead at 126-91 with 7:50 to go. Garbage time was truly garbage as Dallas struggled to score without any of the big names out there (and without a true point guard on the floor) and Sacramento wasn't producing much better. The last event of the night was when Hedo Turkoglu and Walt Williams bumped chests with 40 seconds left and were quickly separated and the refs 1-T ejected both of them to prevent anything further happening. Turkoglu had first fouled Williams and since Williams was unavailable to shoot the free throws, Rick Adelman got to chose from any Mav who would shoot the free throws and he strangely selected Van Exel, who had a game high 35 points already and had been sitting for 7 minutes. Van Exel hit 1 of 2 free throws and the Kings capped the scoring with a meaningless 3-pointer and layup. Dallas won 132-110. Wow. I don't think anyone predicted this - a Mavs win maybe, but not a record setting blowout. Hopefully Dr. Jekyll will remain for the rest of the playoffs for Dallas and we won't see any more of Mr. Hyde. It was a complete reversal from game 1 where this time Dallas could do nothing wrong. And Sacramento didn't play terrible themselves (it wasn't great, though, but not terrible). Dallas was simply on fire. For 3 quarters (since the 4th was pure garbage), Dallas shot 56.4% FG (7-21 FG in the 4th) including 15-25 3-pointers (2-7 in the 4th) while Sacramento shot 46.8% FG (8-17 FG in the 4th) including 7-19 3-pointers (2-3 in the 4th). Dallas also out-rebounded Sacramento 39-30 through 3. The only place the Kings had the advantage was at the line (total 27-34 FT to 13-18 FT), but it didn't make a difference in this game. For the game, Dallas ran their game in having 25 fast break points while Sacramento had just 8 fast break points. Dallas had team playoff records for both makes and attempts in shooting 17-32 3-pointers. And it wasn't purely from the outside as Dallas out-scored Sacramento 48-42 in the paint. Despite as good of a win as this was, it was only 1 win and Sacramento still has the edge with home court advantage. Dallas needs to build on this win and take 1 or both in Sacramento. The series is tied at 1-1. Game 3 is Saturday in Sacramento at 8:30 pm. And game 4 is the next night in a terrible back-to-back (shouldn't happen in the playoffs) [and I say that knowing that Dallas benefits right now with Sacramento's injury situation]. Though there were lots of good performances, there is no question who the hero of this game was. Not only was he the high scorer in the game, but Nick Van Exel provided the leadership that got the team focused on what they need to do instead of worrying about Sacramento. Van Exel had a playoff high 36 points off the bench - tied the 2nd most off the bench by a Mav in any game (and the most was an overtime game) and there never before had been a Mav player having 30 or more points off the bench in a playoff game. Van Exel was unconscious in shooting 14-19 FG and 5-8 3-pointers (only 3-6 FT, though) and also managed to dish out 6 assists in 30 minutes. Dirk Nowitzki was also a stud in getting the Mavs rolling early in the game with 18 of his 24 points coming in the 1st quarter. He shot 4-4 3-pointers (all in the 1st half) and had a game high 12 rebounds. Steve Nash was solid with 19 points including 8-11 FG and 7 assists. Michael Finley also showed up well (even if his shooting wasn't completely there) with 24 points including 8-22 FG and 5-12 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals. Adrian Griffin was the surprising 5th Mav in double-digits with 15 points in playing a nice role in this game in 19 minutes. Eduardo Najera's job was keeping on Chris Webber and didn't have many numbers with 6 points and 2 rebounds in 19 minutes. And despite not starting, Raef LaFrentz actually showed up and hit some shots in having a good game with 8 points on 4-5 FG and 6 rebounds. Raja Bell didn't score (and only attempted 1 shot), but had a nice defensive game and also snagged 6 rebounds. 4 other Mavs played in garbage time, but none of them scored. The key thing for Sacramento is the injuries. They can put this down a just 1 loss and enjoy the fact that they came away with the split on the road, but the injuries can hurt them long term. Chris Webber was scheduled to undergo an MRI on his knee today and there is no word yet as to his availability for Saturday's game (or beyond). His knee has been bothering him for a long time and he had recently said that he plans on having surgery on it during the off-season, but it is always a bad sight to see a player go down like he did. The status for Bobby Jackson with the fractured bone in his face is also as of yet unknown. He probably will eventually be able to play while wearing a face mask, but the extend of the swelling and how long it takes to subside will likely determine whether or not he is available for Saturday's game. Jackson's injury re-confirmed that you never want to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, as he was for this week's issue. As for the game performances... Before leaving the game with the injury, Webber was having a great game (even though Dallas was still blowing them out) and finished with 31 points including 11-14 FT and 6 rebounds in 29 minutes. Peja Stojakovic also had a nice game both from the outside and with a couple of nice/annoying back cuts with 24 points including 4-6 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. But they didn't get any help. Jim Jackson was the only other King in double-digits with 12 points including 4-6 FG. For the rest of the starters, Mike Bibby struggled with 9 points including 3-10 3-pointers and 5 assists, Doug Christie had 6 points including 2-6 FG and 9 assists, and Vlade Divac gave nothing (and was left ineffective and played few minutes due to the pace of the game) with 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in just 15 minutes. Bobby Jackson had 9 points on 4-10 FG and 8 rebounds before leaving with his injury after 29 minutes. Quotes Don Nelson: "I guess we had a can of whip-ass of our own, didn't we. To tell you the truth we just took Nick's lead over here. Somethings he said at practice the other day, I got to thinking how right he was and I basically told the team, 'Let's take Nick's lead. He's right, let's go out there and stop worrying about how good they are and let's think about how good we are. We're a pretty darn good team too. Let's go to our strengths.' We basically cut our play calling down to the things we do best and very simple and tried to get in the open court, play good solid defense, and move the ball. I think we did all of those things and of course then we did the other thing - we made shots like they did in the 1st game. And it was fun basketball. I think that's probably as excited as I've seen our crowd ever, probably. We just took that and road with it and had a good time out there." Nelson if it was as well as the team's played all season: "Yes, I think it is. It's as well as we've played for 3 quarters. I didn't like the last quarter too much. Sometimes that happens. You get to appreciate point guards when you try to play a game without one for short periods of time and it's hard on everybody. But, yeah, we played very well and moved the ball and did everything that we talked about doing in the other game and we just didn't do." Nelson on the lineup change: "Just that the other one didn't work and I thought the team needed me to come with something to the party. They were looking for me to help them in some way. Griff has been one of our best rebounders and best defenders and that's what we needed. We needed rebounding and defending. And he was our guy. He had a great start, played well all through the game when I needed him. And then I subbed from there. I didn't think it could get - I was worrying a little bit about Raef's confidence, but I said I can't worry about that really. Maybe the pressure would be off more if he comes off the bench. And I thought he played better also." Nelson on 83 points in the 1st half: "Hard to believe that's an NBA record when the old days when we used to score so much. But it sure was nice to be on the setting end of it, on my end, for a change. I don't know what to say. It's just one of those things that happens once in a while. But we really had it rolling and then we guarded along with the great offensive effort, we guarded - I think we held them scoreless for like 7 minutes. We were down 10 and ended up 28, that 37, 38 point turnaround is remarkable." Nelson on if the series is going to continue like this: "Well, I hope so. Now they have the home court advantage and we're going up there. We'd like to win one first. If we win that, we'd like to win 2. But I think Nick said it all - we got to play with confidence. We can't go out there, I mean, we have to make them beat us instead of us trying to beat them. What the heck, we're a good team just like they are. The psychological game, I think they had on us. I thought the things Nick said helped us turn that around. So I'm real proud of the leadership that he applies when we need it most. He doesn't say much, but when we need it, he really gave us a great spark. I'm going to leave you with the players now, so anybody else have a question for me? I've got a cold beer that needs consuming in the back." Nelson on Webber's injury [obviously, Nelson had no idea that Webber was carried off the court]: "Webber? Why, what happened to him. [left knee evaluated tomorrow] Yeah, well, I think what it looked like, he was supposed to have an MRI, I don't know if he had that or not, and that it was bothering him a little bit. But he played in game 1 and he was sensational in game 2. I didn't see him get hurt. I don't think he's hurt any worse than he was before. Now, maybe he was hurt, but the guy can get 31 points in 29 minutes on 1 leg, that shows you how good he is, I guess." Dirk Nowitzki: "We got on such a roll, making shots from all over the floor, and the fans were really into it. It was great." Nowitzki: "We got on a roll. We just decided our best defense was to push the ball all the time on offense because they're not that great of a defensive team in transition. They're very good if you give them time to set up. But we just pushed it at them, and the shots really fell. We have to be realistic - the shots won't always fall like that." Michael Finley: "I've seen Nick do that early with Cincinnati. I've seen him do that with the Lakers. I've even seen him do it with Denver. It wasn't a surprise for me. I know what he's capable of. I'm just glad to see him finally do it with the Mavericks." Finley: "We've just got to go in there and take care of business, play the way we are capable of playing and then we'll see how we fare in a series with a back-to-back game." Steve Nash on Van Exel's pre-game speech: "It wasn't as animated as the General's [Johnson's]. But Nick just told us that he thought it was all about attitude and that we needed to try to get the upper hand as far as attitude. And that's what I think we saw tonight. And I think we saw much more similar performance to game 7 against Portland where we played as though our backs were against the wall. In the playoffs, you should play that way no matter what game it is, 1st or 7th." Nick Van Exel on what he said to the team: "F'em. Win." Van Exel asked to elaborate: "I said it to you guys. I said it to you guys, pretty much as it is over and done with. I think we played well tonight. We gave ourselves a chance in this series and we have a lot of confidence now and it's going to be important that we continue to play the same way with the same type of effort and energy." [I don't have the exact quote of what Van Exel said to the media on Wednesday, but I heard it on the drive in to the game yesterday. It was along the lines of that he was sick of hearing about how good Sacramento was and every thing about Sacramento. And that Dallas was a good team too and the team needs to just worry about themselves. With a lot of "f'em"s thrown in (and it was "f'em" not the expanded version).] Van Exel on if he played with a chip on his shoulder or just to get the team going: "Probably both. Because Sacramento is a great team, no doubt. But I think we're pretty good ourselves. So we want to be out there mad but under control and just to enjoy the game. But while we're enjoying the game, we're trying to win and kick some butt at the same time." Van Exel on Adelman selecting him to shoot free throws after Williams' ejection: "It was funny. He was laughing at me the whole time. I was laughing myself. But I missed one, so that's not a good sign. I got to work on my free throws." Van Exel on if this was as good as he had played in a long while: "Yeah, in a long time. I can't remember playing that well. But the most important thing, I think, for myself is to continue to be aggressive. It's just 1 game, but it doesn't mean anything - we've tied the series up. But for me, if I'm aggressive, if I'm making shots, it really helps the team out." Van Exel as a leader: "I just have to do it at times because we have 3 guys who are very quiet. They are very quiet. Dirk, you know, he leads by example on the court. Steve, same way. Mike says it here and there. So I know sometimes when to speak, sometimes when to get our team going. The things I said to you guys, I said to the team first. So I really didn't go behind the team's back and make these comments. I let them know that first how I felt and how we should approach these games. So you know, when the time comes for me to step up and say things, I'll take it." Van Exel on if the change was due to what he said: "I hope it had a little bit to do with it, but I also hope that each individual in that locker room really feels the same way. Because after game 7, we shouldn't have to have an Avery Johnson speech when we already are in the playoffs. You get a speech like that in the season. We don't need those type of speeches when we're already in the playoffs. We should already understand what's at stake." Eduardo Najera: "We need to forget about this one and steal one on the road." Adrian Griffin: "As a team we wanted to come out and compete tonight. We know that we are playing a very good team, but we're a good team ourselves so we wanted to come out and play that way." Griffin: "They have a very good team, but we know we can play with this team. We came ready to play tonight and left everything on the floor." Griffin on the back-to-back: "Well, they have to go back to Sac, it's the same thing. They have to fly out tomorrow, they've got to play back-to-back, we've got to play back-to-back, so we just have to come ready to play and just take it one game at a time." Griffin on Sacramento's injuries: "Well, last year they had injuries and they still ended up beating us so you can't really take that as anything right now. We've just got to go out play. If Webber's there, he's there; if he's not, they're still a good team. They're still a good team and they can win games without him. We've got to be ready to play." Griffin on starting: "I appreciated the confidence Nellie showed in me. But whether I start or not, I want to contribute." Rick Adelman: "I don't have much to say. We weren't very good, obviously, transition defense and they were terrific. They took it to us all night long and we could never make a run. We just never guarded them all night long. Give them credit, they were just what we told the team they would be - very aggressive and shooting the ball and coming at us. And we had no answers tonight." Adelman on the injury status: "No. No, they'll put something out. I'd much rather have the medical people put it out and tell you what's going on." Adelman on if Dallas' lineup surprised them: "I don't think so. We expect them to change the lineup. We shouldn't have been surprised. Certainly, we shouldn't have been surprised that Dirk can shoot it and that Van Exel can shoot it. We weren't even near them. Their 2nd quarter alone, we must have gave them 15 uncontested shots with no one on them. We can't do that. I don't think it was the lineups at all. We knew they were going to come out very aggressive. One thing you have to do, you have to understand, I don't think we did a good job, is when you are playing on the road against a team like this, and we should understand this because we do it to teams, when they get a run going, you don't keep quick shooting the ball. You bring it down and make them guard you. You slow them down, take them out of their rhythm a little bit. And we didn't do that. We kept running and we stayed with them. We stayed within a couple of points, but they just kept coming at us. And I thought, especially in the 2nd quarter, we quick shot the ball. We fed right into what they wanted us to do. And they just got on a terrific run. I give them all the credit in the world. We knew if he went small that they would cause us some problems, but I don't think it was that. I think it was just the fact of how they attacked us and how we played." Adelman: "Well, I think you have to put it behind you either way. The playoffs, you know, it doesn't matter. It obviously didn't matter what happened in the last game to those guys. And we talked abut that. Every time you play a playoff game, you forget about the game that happened before and you move on to the next game. I don't care if it's 2 points or if it's 40 points, you move on and you prepare yourself for the next game. That's what we have to do. We got back-to-back at home, we won one here, we have the home court advantage now. We've got to come out with the same effort Saturday that they came out here. So, yeah, I'm going to put it behind me real quick, even though I do have to look at it, unfortunately, and get our team to look at it and understand what happened. But you put it behind. You start thinking about the next game and how you can take advantage of going home now." Adelman on what happened after being up by 10 in the 1st: "Give Dallas all the credit in the world. I think one thing that did happen is I took, when Peja got a foul, I took him off Nowitzki and that hurt us. I thought Keon had done a decent job on him in the last game and he got loose. He got loose for 3 or 4 baskets right in a row - I thought that was really the turning point. When he hit those shots, it was just bang, bang, bang and he got it going. Before you knew it, they were really on a run. So, it's what the playoffs are all about. One night they work pretty good and the next night they don't and you got to go back to the drawing board and figure out how we're going to counter that. We had no answers for Nick at all. I thought maybe putting him at the line [when Williams was ejected], he might put some doubt in his mind if he missed 2, because he was so stiff, but he only missed 1. Frankly, I wasn't real worried about him getting hurt with 40 seconds to go, but, heck, I thought my odds were good that he hadn't missed anything all night that he might be the one who missed." Peja Stojakovic: "If somebody asked me before the game, you're going to have 60 points at halftime, I would take it. But they had 80. So they really shot the ball well. But all those shots in transition, most of them wide-open shots, uncontested. Our defense wasn't at a level it is supposed to be in the playoffs." Stojakovic on Van Exel: "He's been big for Mavericks in this playoffs. Especially he did a great job in 7th game against Portland. He bailed them out and he did the same thing tonight. Nick was on and the other guys get going." Mike Bibby: "Basketball is a game of runs. They got their run and we expected to get ours, but it never happened." Bibby: "Offensively, we were stagnant. Defensively, we let them do whatever they wanted to do." Vlade Divac: "It was not a night to win. "It was all about bad things." Dallas Mavericks 132, Sacramento Kings 110 at Dallas (May 8) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 44 39 30 19 - 132 .507 .531 .515 .722 Sacramento 40 21 24 25 - 110 .491 .409 .468 .794 Halftime: Dallas 83-61 3rd Q: Dallas 113-85 Technicals: Eduardo Najera 9:24 3rd, Doug Christie 9:24 3rd, Walt Williams (1-T ejection) 0:40 4th, Hidayet Turkoglu (1-T ejection) 0:40 4th Refs: Eddie F. Rush, Joe DeRosa, Ted Bernhardt Attendance: 20,491 (sellout) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 19 7-12 1-2 0-0 15 2-3 1 4 5 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 30 8-14 4-4 4-4 24 2-12 1 2 2 0 2 Eduardo Najera 19 2-4 0-0 2-2 6 0-2 0 1 4 0 0 Michael Finley 40 8-22 5-12 3-4 24 2-7 3 0 2 3 0 Steve Nash 25 8-11 2-2 1-2 19 1-1 7 1 2 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 30 14-19 5-8 3-6 36 1-3 6 1 1 0 0 Raja Bell 28 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-6 3 0 2 1 0 Raef LaFrentz 21 4-5 0-0 0-0 8 2-6 0 0 2 0 2 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 10 0-5 0-1 0-0 0 2-3 1 0 2 0 0 Walt Williams 8 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 0-0 1 2 1 1 0 Shawn Bradley 8 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 0 2 0 0 Evan Eschmeyer 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 51-99 17-32 13-18 132 14-46 23 14 25 5 4 Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Chris Webber 29 10-19 0-1 11-14 31 3-6 1 2 4 2 1 Predrag Stojakovic 32 8-15 4-6 4-4 24 1-7 3 2 4 0 0 Vlade Divac 15 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 2 0 1 1 0 Mike Bibby 31 3-10 1-6 2-2 9 0-0 5 2 1 0 0 Doug Christie 31 2-6 0-2 2-2 6 0-4 9 2 1 0 0 Keon Clark 12 0-1 0-0 1-4 1 1-2 1 2 4 0 0 Bobby Jackson 29 4-10 1-4 0-0 9 3-8 2 4 4 0 0 Jim Jackson 21 4-6 2-2 2-2 12 0-2 2 1 1 0 1 Hidayet Turkoglu 18 2-4 1-1 1-2 6 0-3 2 0 1 4 0 Scot Pollard 8 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 2-3 0 1 0 0 0 Gerald Wallace 8 1-2 0-0 2-2 4 0-4 0 2 1 0 1 Lawrence Funderburke 6 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-3 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 37-79 9-22 27-34 110 12-44 27 19 23 7 3 patricia Go Mavs!