Dallas signed Mamadou N'diaye to a 2nd 10-day contract on Friday. Dallas at Denver (January 16) Denver went up 16-10 with 7:15 remaining, but that was the largest lead of the quarter as the game stayed very close [a common theme throughout the game]. Steve Nash left the game with 2 minutes to go after aggravating his hip injury and felt his hamstring tighten and did not return. The teams traded leads over the end of the quarter and Antawn Jamison got a dunk near the quarter's end to give Dallas a 28-27 lead after 1. Dallas shot 65% FG in the quarter while Denver only shot 45% FG, but Denver also had 11 rebounds. Dallas scored the first 3 points of the 2nd quarter, but Denver then went on a 9-1 run to go up 36-32 with 8:30 left. Dallas scored the next 5 points to go up 37-36 with 7:15 remaining and the teams traded 1 point leads over the next 3 minutes. Danny Fortson [yes, Fortson] scored 6 straight points to give Dallas a 47-42 lead with 2:45 to go. But Dallas wouldn't score the rest of the quarter and Denver was only slightly better in scoring 5 points to tie the game at 47-47 at the half. The ugliness continued in the 3rd quarter as each team had just one bucket over the first 3 minutes of the quarter. Dallas went on a 9-1 run to take the largest lead of the game at 58-50 with 7 minutes left. But Denver scored the next 4 points. Denver chipped away at Dallas' small lead and tied the game at 65-65 with 2:40 to go. In an offensive explosion [for this game] Dallas scored 4 points in the last 12 seconds of the quarter and Dallas led 71-67 after 3. Dallas continued to hold a single-digit lead in the 4th quarter and again went up by 8 points at 84-76 with 6:10 remaining. Denver scored 6 straight points to pull within 84-86 with 2:15 to go. The teams traded misses and Michael Finley swished a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 89-84 lead with 1:25 left. Andre Miller drove for 2 on Denver's next possession and Dirk Nowitzki missed with 52 seconds remaining. Miller was fouled with 37 seconds to go and hit both free throws to cut Dallas' lead down to just 89-88. Nowitzki was called for the offensive foul in clearing out with his arm on a drive to the baseline and Denver called timeout with 18 seconds remaining. Earl Boykins air-balled a 3-point attempt with 8 seconds left and Finley snagged the rebound and was fouled. He hit both free throws to give Dallas a 3 point lead with 5 seconds left. Dallas intentionally fouled Carmelo Anthony with 3 seconds to go. Anthony unintentionally missed the 1st and intentionally missed the 2nd and the ball went out of bounds to Denver's possession with less than a seconds left. Denver inbounded to Rodney White behind the arc, but his 3-point attempt was short at the buzzer. Dallas won 91-88. It definitely wasn't a pretty game as both teams shot poorly, but it was a close game as the largest lead by either team was just 8 points. Dallas used their strong free throw advantage (both in more attempts and Denver shooting them so poorly) to hang on for the win. Dallas shot 21-24 FT while Denver shot just 9-17 FG. From the floor, Dallas shot 41.8% (33-79) FG including 4-13 3-pointers and Denver shot 39.2% (38-97) FG including 3-14 3-pointers. Denver got more field goal attempts off of their 20 offensive rebounds and Dallas high (for them) 16 turnovers. Even though it wasn't pretty, any win Dallas gets with Steve Nash out for most of the game is a good win. With such a low score and poor shooting, no Mav had a stellar night. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 22 points and 7 rebounds. Michael Finley had 16 points, including 5 key points in the last 1:30 of the game, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Antoine Walker had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Steve Nash had 6 points on 3-4 FG and 4 assists in the 10 minutes he played. Antawn Jamison provided his usual boost off the bench with 16 points including 7-11 FG and 6 rebounds including 3 offensive. Danny Fortson was solid with 10 points on 2-2 FG and 6-7 FT [he's mastered his early free throw woes as he's 23-26 over the last 14 games he's played in]. Shawn Bradley's shot wasn't falling, but he contributed with 5 offensive rebounds (and 1 defensive) and was effective in altering Denver's shots - he definitely had more than the 4 blocks he was credited with. Travis Best's shot wasn't there (0-6 FG), but he did have 6 assists and bothered Earl Boykins' on his late 3-point attempt. Josh Howard returned from his injury, but struggled and didn't play much. He did start and had just 2 points and 1 rebound in 7 minutes. Marquis Daniels was quiet in his 14 minutes. Andre Miller had a stellar night for Denver with 28 points including 12-20 FG, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds. He didn't get much offensive help, though, as his teammates combined to shot just 33.8% FG. And it drops below 30% if you take out Rodney White's 7-13 FG. White had 14 points. Voshon Lenard struggled in shooting just 4-12 FG for his 10 points and Carmelo Anthony struggled in shooting 5-18 FG and 1-4 FT for his 11 points. Anthony also had 12 rebounds including 5 offensive, 5 assists, and 5 steals. Nene had 12 points and 5 rebounds, but also had 5 fouls. Marcus Camby couldn't shoot, even up close, with 3-12 FG and 2-4 FT for his 8 points, but was a monster on the boards with 19 rebounds including 6 offensive and 3 blocks. Earl Boykins also couldn't shoot with 1-10 FG for his 3 points and had 5 assists in 18 minutes. Quotes Don Nelson: "It was a pretty darn good defensive effort by both teams. Baskets were hard to come by. We were as lucky as we were good. But we were good enough to win." Nelson: "Pretty good defensive effort by both teams. Shots were hard to come by. It could have been anybody's game. I'm not sure we were as much lucky as good enough to win." Nelson: "Finley made the big 5 points. He really struggled before that. He didn't look like he had a good rhythm tonight." Dirk Nowitzki: "We have to be more aggressive in the 4th quarter and probably be more aware of our lead. We have to find a way to stop people at the end and today I think we got a little lucky." Nowitzki: "We have so many scoring weapons that you have to respect all of us. They have to give up something. I found myself open a little bit." Michael Finley: "When my number was called, I was ready to step up and knock down the big shots. I know what I'm capable of doing." Steve Nash: "We've got a tough back-to-back. Our schedule in January is awful, but we're surviving so far and hopefully we can continue to get some wins here in this tough stretch. The road hasn't been that good to us, so hopefully we'll pick it up a little bit." Nash on his hip: "I felt the hip getting tighter and then I could tell I was favoring it, and the other hamstring started to tighten up. I felt it was the smartest decision to take a few days off and hope that everything improves." Nash on his hip: "It may be smart to take a couple of days off now instead of trying to fight through it and then being out a couple of weeks or maybe longer. I'd like to say that I'll feel better by Tuesday." Antoine Walker: "This was probably the best defense of the year for us." Walker: "It's tough to play 5 games in 7 days. If we can play defense like that, mix it up and get on the boards, we can take care of business against Portland." Antawn Jamison: "It's good to get a string of wins going on the road. This could be the start of something good." Jamison: "We're still not out of the woods. We have a big one tomorrow and we already know what's at stake. As soon as we get on the bus, we'll forget this one." Jamison: "Toward the end of the game, we have a lot of players that can knock down big shots. At the end tonight, they were focused on Dirk Nowitzki. Michael Finley was able to get some good looks at the end of the game. He has been hitting those shots all year." Travis Best: "This lets us know we can win games like this. We can do it at the defensive end." Jeff Bzdelik: "Our effort was really good. There were just a lot of little things throughout the course of the game that prevented us from having a big win tonight. We were 9-17 from the foul line. We had a couple of defensive breakdowns. A couple of times we got caught not sprinting back defensively in transition. And we had some open looks that we didn't knock down." Bzdelik on Boykins' 3-point attempt: "We didn't execute that play very well. We had everything in place but we didn't execute with force. We were very soft." Bzdelik on Boykins' 3-point attempt: "Earl wasn't supposed to go get the ball." Bzdelik on Camby sitting at the end: "That's good my players were disappointed to not be in, but I have to go with offensive players at that time." Bzdelik on Miller: "He was exceptional." Carmelo Anthony: "I could have had a lot of points, but I missed a lot of layups. A ton of layups." Anthony: "It just wasn't going in tonight. We were fighting down to the end and we let it slip away." Andre Miller: "I was just trying to be aggressive. They were playing a zone most the game. They were really on Carmelo and Voshon, so I wanted to be aggressive." Earl Boykins on his 3-point attempt: "I never second-guess myself." Dallas Mavericks 91, Denver Nuggets 88 at Denver (January 16) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 28 19 24 20 - 91 .439 .308 .418 .875 Denver 27 20 20 21 - 88 .422 .214 .392 .529 Halftime: 47-47 3rd Q: Dallas 71-67 Technicals: Denver defensive 3 seconds 11:45 2nd Refs: Gary Benson, Jess Kersey, Tom Washington Attendance: 19,216 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Tony Delk (sprained left ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 7 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 0 0 1 0 0 Antoine Walker 36 5-13 1-3 2-2 13 2-10 3 4 2 0 1 Dirk Nowitzki 38 8-18 1-4 5-5 22 0-7 2 4 3 1 2 Michael Finley 37 5-11 2-4 4-4 16 1-5 5 2 0 1 0 Steve Nash 10 3-4 0-1 0-0 6 0-1 4 1 0 0 0 Antawn Jamison 32 7-11 0-0 2-4 16 3-6 0 0 3 1 1 Shawn Bradley 17 1-7 0-1 0-0 2 5-6 0 1 3 1 4 Travis Best 36 0-6 0-0 2-2 2 0-2 6 2 2 1 2 Marquis Daniels 14 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 2 0 0 1 1 Danny Fortson 13 2-2 0-0 6-7 10 1-8 0 1 3 0 0 Totals 48 33-79 4-13 21-24 91 13-47 22 16 17 6 11 Denver Nuggets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Carmelo Anthony 35 5-18 0-0 1-4 11 5-12 5 1 1 5 0 Nene 35 5-11 0-1 2-3 12 2-5 0 2 5 1 0 Marcus Camby 38 3-12 0-0 2-4 8 6-19 2 0 4 1 3 Voshon Lenard 39 4-12 2-6 0-0 10 0-3 4 1 1 0 0 Andre Miller 40 12-20 0-0 4-4 28 4-5 10 2 1 0 0 Chris Andersen 11 1-1 0-0 0-2 2 1-5 1 1 1 0 0 Earl Boykins 18 1-10 1-5 0-0 3 1-1 5 1 2 0 0 Rodney White 19 7-13 0-2 0-0 14 1-1 3 1 2 0 1 Ryan Bowen 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Francisco Elson 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 0 1 0 1 Totals 48 38-97 3-14 9-17 88 20-53 30 11 18 7 5 Dallas at Portland (January 17) Dallas was without point man Steve Nash, and that is always a concern, but more so this season as they only have 1 other legitimate point guard in Travis Best (plus Tony Delk, who can fill in at point, was also out with a sprained ankle). Portland was happy to have Rasheed Wallace back after a 4 game absence due to a sprained left ankle. The game stayed really close over most of the 1st quarter as neither team led by more than 3 points. Portland scored the last 6 points of the quarter, capped by a jumper by Jeff McInnis at the quarter buzzer, to go up 34-27 after 1. Don Nelson was ejected with 5 seconds left in the quarter after complaining about a 24 second violation call (Nelson thought the ball hit the rim and added a few choice words to get the ejection). Portland shot 60% FG in the quarter. Portland went up 38-29 early in the quarter, but Dallas scored the next 8 points to pull within 37-38 with 9:30 remaining. The Blazers continued to hold a single-digit lead, though. A 3-pointer by Damon Stoudamire gave Portland their largest lead at 60-49 with 2:40 remaining. Portland led 68-59 at the half. Michael Finley had 13 points in the 2nd quarter. For the half, Portland shot 61% FG and Dallas shot 52% FG. After 2 free throws by Zach Randolph opened the quarter, Dallas went on an 8-1 run to pull within 67-71 with 8 minutes remaining. The Mavs managed to tie the game at 75-75 with 5 minutes to go and the game stayed close the rest of the quarter. Travis Best tweak his ankle with 3 minutes left and left the game to get his ankle re-taped - he returned midway through the 4th quarter. Portland led 86-85 after 3. Dirk Nowitzki had 10 points in the 3rd quarter. The teams traded leds over the first half of the 4th quarter and neither team led by more than 2 points. Finley connected on consecutive 3-pointers (with 2 free throws by Wallace sandwiched between them) and got a dunk. Portland then doubled Finley off the ball and the Mavs found Nowitzki wide open on the elbow and he drained the 3-pointer to give Dallas a 103-97 lead with 4:35 to go. Dallas led 105-99 with 3:45 left and then started struggling mightily as the Mavs missed their next 6 shots. Portland was having their own problems, but managed to score 5 straight points, capped by a layup by Ruben Patterson, to pull within 104-105 with 1:20 remaining. Dallas missed and Portland missed, but Patterson got the rebound, but Antoine Walker got his hand on Patterson's putback attempt and a jumpball was called. Portland got the tip, but Wallace missed with 16 seconds to go and Nowitzki was intentionally fouled. Nowitzki hit both free throws to give Dallas a 3 point lead with 13 seconds left. Wallace missed the 3-point attempt and Antawn Jamison was intentionally fouled. He hit 1 of 2 free throws to seal the win. Dallas won 108-104. It was a tale of 2 halves. The 1st half was offense and the 2nd half was defense. Portland out-scored Dallas 68-59 in the 1st half and Dallas out-scored Portland 49-36 in the 2nd half. Portland shot 61% FG in the 1st half and just 39% FG in the 2nd half. And it wasn't just Portland missing shots as the Mavs were playing some good defense. And Dallas did get a little lucky since they did miss their last 6 shots of the game. For the game, Dallas shot 47.1% (41-87) FG including 5-17 3-pointers and Portland shot 51.4% (37-72) FG including 5-14 FG. Dallas shot 21-24 FT and Portland shot 25-31 FT. Besides their 2nd half shooting, Portland hurt themselves in committing 20 turnovers which Dallas converted into 22 points, while Dallas had 9 turnovers which Portland converted into 4 points. Thus ended Dallas' string of 5 games in 7 nights, which Dallas finished with a 4-1 record. The Mavs had no games on Sunday or Monday - the first time this month with consecutive days without a game. It was a 2-man game for Dallas as Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley combined to match Portland's 18 points in the 4th quarter. Nowitzki had 32 points, including 9 in the 4th, on 10-18 FG and 10-10 FT, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Finley had a game high 33 points, including 10 in the 4th quarter, including 13-23 FG. Antoine Walker is still having shooting problems with 10 points including 4-12 FG, but continues to contribute in other ways with 6 rebounds and 11 assists. Antawn Jamison chipped in 16 points off the bench Danny Fortson had a productive outing in short minutes with 10 points on a perfect 4-4 FG and 2-2 FT and 6 rebounds including 5 offensive in 16 minutes - he also had 4 fouls. Travis Best couldn't score (0-4) but did have 7 assists in filling in for the injured Steve Nash. Shawn Bradley didn't do much in 12 foul plagued minutes. Josh Howard was quiet with 5 points including 2-8 FG and 5 rebounds in 26 minutes. The Mavs went with a short rotation as only 8 players plyed. Ruben Patterson did a nice job off the bench with 24 points including 11-16 FG and 10 rebounds including 5 offensive. Rasheed Wallace also had 24 points, but shot 8-20 FG and 8-11 FT. He also had 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 5 turnovers. Zach Randolph was relatively quiet with just 18 points including 5-9 FG and 10 rebounds, but did have 6 turnovers. Damon Stoudamire had 11 points and Wesley Person had 12 points including 4-5 FG. Quotes Donn Nelson: "It was a gut-wrenching shootout. For a change, we stepped up and made some defensive stops at key times and that was the difference." [Note: Don Nelson does not address the media in games where he is ejected.] Nelson: "All season we've felt like we were a couple of wins away from overcoming what has been going on with us." Dirk Nowitzki: "Today was a tough game. We were never in control of the game - they were the whole time. We found a way to steal it." Nowitzki: "We just stepped it up a little bit on defense. We started talking and got active, and I think that was the key." Michael Finley: "Winning breeds confidence. It's becoming very evident out there that when we play solid defense, we're a pretty good team." Finley: "We took it upon ourselves individually to step up our defense and aggression, and it worked for us." Antoine Walker: "For them to accumulate 68 points in the 1st half, we had to establish ourselves on the defensive end and to hold them to 18 points in the 3rd quarter was big. We made every shot tougher for them in the 2nd half. Getting good quality stops has been our Achilles all year. But we did a better job in the 2nd half." Walker: "With both Mike and Dirk feeling it, it helps out a lot." Maurice Cheeks: "It's a shame we had to lose that game." Cheeks: "They made a lot of shots. A lot of big shots." Cheeks: "More times than not, if we play with that kind of effort, we will win more games." Cheeks: "I thought Finley made the difference and offset their loss of Steve Nash." Cheeks: "We have to get a couple wins in a row to push ourselves back up the ladder. There's a few teams going through a spin right now. Obviously, we're one of them." Cheeks on Wallace: "I was glad to have 'Sheed back. We are a better team when he is on the floor. No matter what happens with the trade stuff, make no mistake, he makes us a better basketball team." Derek Anderson on Finley and Nowitzki: "No matter who was on them, or what happened, they found a way to get their shot." Dallas Mavericks 108, Portland Trailblazers 104 at Portland (January 17) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 27 32 26 23 - 108 .514 .294 .471 .875 Portland 34 34 18 18 - 104 .552 .357 .514 .806 Halftime: Portland 68-59 3rd Q: Portland 86-85 Technicals: Don Nelson 0:06 1st, Don Nelson (ejected) 0:06 1st, Antoine Walker 6:31 2nd, Ruben Patterson 6:31 2nd, Portland defensive 3 seconds 6:34 3rd, Rasheed Wallace 5:32 3rd Refs: Ed F. Rush, Michael Henderson, Tony Brothers Attendance: 19,018 (cap 19,980) Did not play due to injury: Steve Nash (sore right hip), Tony Delk (sprained left ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antoine Walker 38 4-12 0-3 2-2 10 2-6 11 1 4 2 1 Dirk Nowitzki 41 10-18 2-5 10-10 32 1-7 6 2 2 1 1 Shawn Bradley 12 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 0 1 5 1 1 Michael Finley 40 13-23 3-7 4-4 33 0-2 2 2 3 1 0 Travis Best 34 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 2-2 7 0 1 2 0 Antawn Jamison 33 7-16 0-0 2-4 16 1-3 0 1 2 3 0 Josh Howard 26 2-8 0-0 1-2 5 2-5 3 0 3 0 0 Danny Fortson 16 4-4 0-0 2-2 10 5-6 0 1 4 0 0 Totals 48 41-87 5-17 21-24 108 14-32 29 9 24 10 3 Portland Trailblazers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rasheed Wallace 37 8-20 0-3 8-11 24 1-4 5 5 5 1 3 Zach Randolph 37 5-9 0-1 8-9 18 0-10 4 6 3 1 0 Vladimir Stepania 10 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 0 1 0 0 Derek Anderson 28 1-7 0-3 0-0 2 0-4 3 1 3 0 0 Damon Stoudamire 27 3-6 0-0 2-2 11 1-1 4 2 3 0 0 Ruben Patterson 33 11-16 3-5 2-2 24 5-10 3 3 3 2 0 Dale Davis 23 1-1 0-0 2-3 4 0-0 0 0 2 0 1 Jeff McInnis 18 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 1-4 1 1 3 0 0 Wesley Person 22 4-5 1-1 3-4 12 0-2 2 0 1 0 2 Qyntel Woods 5 2-3 1-1 0-0 5 2-2 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 37-72 5-14 25-31 104 10-39 22 20 24 4 6 patricia