Milwaukee at Dallas (October 19) Walt Williams was not with the team while he attended to personal matters in Houston. Popeye Jones and Tariq Abdul-Wahad did not play, though Popeye may see his first action on Wednesday in Boston. Dallas shot out to an early 7-0 lead as Milwaukee was playing without Sam Cassell, Tim Thomas, and Ervin Johnson. The Bucks tied the game at 17-17 and Dallas then closed the quarter with a 17-3 run, capped by a running 3-point banker by Nick Van Exel at the buzzer, to take a 34-20 lead after 1. Dallas used more traditional lineups for 3 quarters and the Bucks had no chance with 3 big minute players out. Dallas did try to even things up a little bit as Dirk Nowitzki sat for the last 3 quarters as part of Don Nelson's plan of resting high minute players during the pre-season, but the Mavs were too much for Milwaukee as they could not get closer than 15 points until the 4th quarter. Dallas led 60-43 at the half as Dallas shot 47.1% FG while Milwaukee only shot 34.2% FG. Dallas led 81-65 after 3. Dallas reverted to pre-season form in playing junk lineups in the 4th quarter - Eduardo Najera, Avery Johnson, Van Exel, Adam Harrington, and Raja Bell played most of the quarter, with Derek Hood subbing in for Bell when he fouled out. Against those lineups, Milwaukee was able to cut into Dallas' lead, but never really threatened to win. Dallas won 103-95. It was a better pre-season performance than in the last couple of games, though it helped that lineups that would be seen during the regular season were used for 3/4ths of the game and that Milwaukee was missing so many key players. Michael Finley led the way with 21 points including 6-17 FG - a cold streak at the end of one of the quarters cut his percentage down. Nick Van Exel had his first game of the pre-season where he shot 50% FG and had 15 points. Steve Nash continued to struggle shooting with 4-11 FG as he had 10 points an 5 assists in 22 minutes. Eduardo Najera had a near double-double off the bench with 9 points including 4-5 FG and 12 rebounds in a team high 34 minutes. Shawn Bradley chipped in 11 points including 5-7 FG and 5 rebounds in just 10 minutes. For Milwaukee, Toni Kukoc was the high man with 19 points and Michael Redd showed his sharp shooting for 17 points in his 1st game of the pre-season. Quotes Don Nelson: "We were sharper." Nelson: "Finley looked like he was in very good shape after he had a couple of games off. I decided to give Dirk this game off as opposed to the next 2. I thought it would be a good game for him to get his rest after starting him." Nelson on Nowitzki not playing after the 1st quarter: "He was a late scratch. We felt like maybe he should play those last 2 preseason games against 2 pretty good teams." Nelson: "Down the stretch, I tried to find a way to get Nick and Eddie a chance to get their games in order. In that respect, I was glad the game tightened up a little down the stretch. It forced them to put the team on their shoulders." Nick Van Exel: "Nobody's ever won a championship in pre-season. This is just a time to find a rhythm and work on all the things we're learning in training camp." Shawn Bradley: "We were a little more patient offensively. We were able to take shots we're accustomed to taking. We still haven't put together an entire game of good defense and good shooting, but we're getting there." George Karl on the team's defense: "I don't think we've moved that far forward. But the 4 teams we've played in the exhibition season - Minnesota, Dallas and the Clippers - are all good offensive teams. I don't think we've moved into the top 5 [defensively] but we're moving in the right direction." Karl on the 1st quarter: "That was the worst quarter defensively that we've had basketball-wise on both ends. The defense got better as the game wore on and it ended up not being a bad defensive performance." Karl on the 1st quarter: "It was probably the worst quarter we've had basketball wise. We turned the ball over and made bad offensive decisions and defensively we weren't very good. We got better defensively as the game went on. Our decisions hurt us in transition and their speed hurt us. They played very small, very quick most of the night and we didn't take advantage of the matchups." Karl: "I'm disappointed in some of my veterans. Ray didn't play great and Mason's foul trouble hurt us. Because of that I played the younger kids." Michael Redd on his 1st game: "It felt great just running up and down the court. It felt wonderful to get out and play. I just wanted to go out and be solid and do what I do best." Dallas Mavericks 103, Milwaukee Bucks 95 at Dallas (October 19) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 34 26 21 22 - 103 .486 .167 .442 .862 Milwaukee 20 23 22 30 - 95 .436 .300 .400 .725 Halftime: Dallas 60-43 3rd Q: Dallas 81-65 Technicals: Milwaukee defensive 3 seconds 8:55 1st, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 3:30 1st, Anthony Mason 2:57 1st Refs: David Jones, Gary Benson, Michael Smith Attendance: 18,099 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Popeye Jones (sprained right ankle), Tariq Abdul-Wahad (sore right knee), Tim Thomas (foot injury), Sam Cassell (sore hamstring), Ervin Johnson (bad knee), Jason Caffey (back spasms) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 19 2-5 0-1 0-0 4 0-4 1 0 3 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 10 1-3 0-1 2-2 4 0-4 0 0 0 0 0 Raef LaFrentz 18 3-7 0-1 0-0 6 0-2 0 2 4 1 0 Michael Finley 26 6-17 1-4 8-9 21 0-2 3 2 2 2 0 Steve Nash 22 4-11 0-1 2-2 10 1-3 5 3 2 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 27 5-10 1-3 4-6 15 2-4 3 3 3 1 1 Eduardo Najera 34 4-5 0-0 1-1 9 4-12 1 1 0 2 0 Shawn Bradley 10 5-7 0-0 1-1 11 1-5 0 1 2 1 3 Raja Bell 25 2-6 0-1 3-4 7 1-4 3 0 6 1 0 Avery Johnson 21 0-4 0-0 2-2 2 0-0 3 2 2 1 0 Evan Eschmeyer 15 3-5 0-0 2-2 8 2-6 0 1 3 1 0 Adam Harrington 9 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 1 1 1 0 0 Derek Hood 4 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-86 2-12 25-29 103 11-46 20 18 28 11 4 Milwaukee Bucks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Toni Kukoc 32 6-10 3-5 4-5 19 3-9 5 3 3 1 0 Anthony Mason 23 2-6 0-0 4-4 8 0-5 2 4 4 1 0 Jamal Sampson 9 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-3 1 0 0 0 0 Mike Wilks 33 2-7 0-2 6-6 10 0-3 1 4 2 0 0 Ray Allen 26 3-11 0-5 4-5 10 0-3 2 3 3 2 1 Marcus Haislip 20 3-6 0-2 0-0 6 1-3 0 1 2 1 1 Kevin Ollie 17 3-4 0-0 2-2 8 0-1 2 3 4 0 0 Dan Gadzuric 22 3-8 0-0 4-10 10 5-11 0 0 4 1 2 Michael Redd 25 5-13 2-3 5-6 17 3-3 1 2 4 2 0 Cedric Henderson 11 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 0 0 1 0 0 Ronald Murray 14 1-4 1-3 0-2 3 0-2 0 1 1 0 1 Laron Profit 8 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-3 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 30-75 6-20 29-40 95 14-48 15 22 28 8 5 patricia