Dallas released Derek Hood following practice on Friday. The Mavs have to set their opening day rosters by 5 pm on Monday (12 active players and up to 3 players on IR). The team now has 15 players on the roster. Popeye Jones (back spasms) and Tariq Abdul-Wahad (sore knee) will likely start the season on IR. The team still needs to decided whether or not they are going to keep (and put him on IR with a phantom injury) Adam Harrington. Popeye Jones underwent an MRI on his back and it did show that he has a bulging disc, but there was no structural problem for his recent back spasms - it is muscular. He injured his back lifting a travel bag. Dallas at Orlando (October 24) Orlando starters Grant Hill (flu) and Darrell Armstrong (strained right shoulder) did not play. Dallas left their shooting touch in Boston (where they played the night before) and Orlando joined Dallas in throwing up bricks. Despite that, the teams did take enough shots to put points on the board and the lead see-sawed back and forth. Dallas led 22-21 after 1. Both teams shot in the high 30s. The shooting picked up slightly in the 2nd quarter. With Dallas' big 3 players sitting the entire quarter, Orlando used a 10-2 run to go up 45-34 with 3:30 left. Nick Van Exel hit a running jumper just before the buzzer and Orlando led 52-43 at the half. Tracy McGrady had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Orlando out-rebounded Dallas by 15 in the half including 11-2 offensive. Dallas' big 3 were back in the game for the 3rd quarter and re-asserted their control starting with 3 buckets from Michael Finley and then Dirk Nowitzki went nuts in scoring 10 of Dallas' next 12 points as the Mavs opened the quarter with a 19-6 run to go up 62-58 with 6:45 remaining. Steve Nash ended up on the floor midway through the quarter and the Mavs decided to sit him for the rest of the game as it was the last pre-season game. The game stayed close with a couple of ties and Dallas holding small leads. In rare sight, Finley lost his cool near the end of the quarter when he was called for palming [he lost control while dribbling and was called when he re-gained control]. Finley went to the ref to explain what happened and when the ref stuck with his call, Finley slammed the ball to ground and got the expected T. He then followed the ref as the ref was walking away and got his 2nd T and was ejected. Dallas led 76-73 after 3. Nowitzki had 16 points in the quarter. Dallas' big 3 and McGrady sat the entire 4th quarter. Orlando took a 78-77 lead on a Mike Miller jumper, but Dallas answered by scoring the next 13 points to go up 90-78 with 7:50 to go. Orlando pulled within 5 points with 3:15 left, but Dallas scored the next 6 points to put the game away. Dallas won 102-95. It wasn't a pretty game, but I wasn't expecting one with it still being pre-season and Dallas having had played the night before. After playing a poor 1st half, Dallas did improve in the 2nd half. Orlando only had 4 offensive rebounds in the 2nd half after having 11 in the 1st half. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 23 points in 21 minutes and Michael Finley had 15 points in 23 minutes. Raef LaFrentz avoided foul trouble and had 14 points and 7 rebounds. Steve Nash only had 6 points and 7 assists in 18 minutes. Tariq Abdul-Wahad started and collected 4 fouls in the 1st quarter. He tweaked his knee in the 2nd quarter and did not play the rest of the game - he did practice with the team on Friday. Nick Van Exel had 12 points and 6 assists and Shawn Bradley had 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Tracy McGrady led the way for Orlando with 20 points on 6-17 FG and 8-11 FT and 7 rebounds. Mike Miller had 14 points including 5-14 FG and rookie Ryan Humphrey had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Dallas finished the pre-season with a record of 5-3. The regular season opens Wednesday, October 30 in Memphis. Quotes Don Nelson: "It's always good when you've had a good camp and you're ready to get started. We're right on schedule. I feel like we're ready to play for real." Nelson on the 1st half: "We weren't guarding our own guy, and I was pretty disappointed. I told them I didn't like, defensively, the way the 1st half went, but in the 2nd half they picked it up." Michael Finley on Nelson lecturing the team about defense during halftime: "He had a right to. And I'm glad he did. If we'd have played the 2nd half like we played the 1st, it would have been a big disappointment." Finley on his ejection after being called for carrying: "The carrying call is one of the hardest for any ref. I thought he missed that one. I went to him and asked if I could speak to him as a captain of the team. He [blew his whistle]. I guess he wasn't in a talkative mood. I didn't even get to say anything." [The ref walked away from Finley after giving him a T for tossing the ball and Finley followed him and got the 2nd one.] Finley: "I just wanted to explain to him what had happened, and he just wasn't in a talkative mood. I guess he showed me just how much he missed me during the summer." Tariq Abdul-Wahad on his knee, which he tweaked during the game: "It's a little sore, but if it was bad, it would already be swelled up." Dallas Mavericks 102, Orlando Magic 95 at Orlando (October 24) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 22 21 33 26 - 102 .508 .318 .460 .882 Orlando 21 31 21 22 - 95 .481 .083 .427 .692 Halftime: Orlando 52-43 3rd Q: Dallas 76-73 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 6:36 1st, Nick Van Exel 4:39 2nd, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 0:38 2:04 3rd, Michael Finley 0:38 3rd, Michael Finley (ejected) 0:38 3rd, Shawn Bradley 0:00 3rd Flagrant Foul: Shawn Kemp 8:18 4th Refs: Bob Delaney, Scott Wall, Jess Kersey Attendance: 13,235 (cap 17,248) Did not play due to injury: Popeye Jones (back spasms), Grant Hill (flu), Darrell Armstrong (strained right shoulder), Horace Grant (arthroscopic surgery) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Tariq Abdul-Wahad 15 3-3 0-0 1-2 7 0-4 0 2 4 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 21 7-13 4-7 5-5 23 0-4 1 1 2 0 0 Raef LaFrentz 35 7-12 0-2 0-0 14 1-7 0 1 1 0 3 Michael Finley 23 5-13 1-2 4-4 15 0-3 1 2 2 0 0 Steve Nash 18 3-8 0-1 0-0 6 0-3 7 1 0 2 0 Walt Williams 29 1-8 1-6 1-2 4 0-3 2 1 1 3 0 Adrian Griffin 12 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 1 1 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 23 6-12 0-2 0-0 12 0-2 6 2 1 0 0 Raja Bell 12 3-4 1-1 0-0 7 0-2 2 1 2 0 0 Evan Eschmeyer 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Shawn Bradley 21 3-4 0-0 4-4 10 7-7 2 0 5 0 3 Eduardo Najera 13 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 2-4 1 0 1 1 0 Avery Johnson 8 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 1 1 0 0 Adam Harrington 7 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 0-2 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 40-87 7-22 15-17 102 10-42 24 13 23 6 6 Orlando Magic REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Mike Miller 33 5-14 0-3 4-6 14 0-6 3 2 3 0 0 Pat Garrity 18 2-5 1-4 0-0 5 0-3 1 1 2 3 0 Pat Burke 29 5-14 0-1 0-0 10 3-9 2 4 3 0 1 Tracy McGrady 27 6-17 0-1 8-11 20 2-7 2 2 3 0 1 Jacque Vaughn 41 5-9 0-2 2-3 12 1-2 7 2 0 1 0 Ryan Humphrey 29 6-12 0-0 1-2 13 6-11 3 1 1 0 2 Jeryl Sasser 29 2-5 0-1 1-2 5 1-5 0 1 1 1 0 Olumide Oyedeji 13 3-6 0-0 2-2 8 2-2 0 1 2 0 1 Shawn Kemp 12 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 0-2 0 0 3 0 0 Andrew DeClercq 9 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 38-89 1-12 18-26 95 15-47 18 14 20 5 5 patricia