Chicago at Dallas (November 25) A mess of a team came to town having just fired the head coach and lots of talk of a new coach being hired on Friday. So Chicago didn't even have the usual boost of trying to perform well for their new coach. Despite the team's uncertain situation, the Bulls did play well in the 1st quarter, until the end of the quarter, and neither team led by more than 5 points until the end of the quarter. After Michael Finley hit a jumper with 35 seconds remaining, Chicago turned the ball over on the inbounds and Dallas' got a layup on their inbounds under the basket. Chicago again turned the ball over 15 seconds later and compounded the problem by fouling and Travis Best hit 2 free throws to give Dallas a 36-29 lead after 1. Dallas shot 67% FG and Chicago shot 50% FG and the Mavs had a major advantage at the line in shooting 8-11 FT while Chicago shot 4-6 FT. Consecutive buckets by Chicago pulled the Bulls within 38-42 with 8:30 left and the Mavs went on a 12-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Steve Nash, to go up 54-40 with 5 minutes to go. Dallas' lead got no larger than 14 points, but the Bulls got no closer than 9 points the rest of the quarter. Scottie Pippen took an elbow to the face with 2 minutes remaining and did not return the rest of the game. Dallas led 61-52 at the half. Dallas led between 8 and 14 points over the first half of the 3rd quarter. The Mavs led 78-66 with 6:30 left and put the game away early with a 17-2 run, including 10 points from Finley, to go up 95-68 with 2:20 left. Finley hit a jumper as the quarter ended to give Dallas a 102-72 lead after 3. Dallas shot 16-21 FG, including making 12 straight, during the 3rd and out-scored Chicago 41-20. Finley had 15 points including 6-7 FG in the quarter. The 4th quarter was pure garbage time and the Mavs took their largest lead at 119-86 with 3 minutes remaining. Dallas won 124-98. Dallas had a solid performance throughout - even in garbage time - and the Bulls are simply not a very good team. Dallas had a scoring advantage in the first 3 quarters and only lost the 4th quarter 22-26. Though Dallas did have a major edge in free throws and seemed to be getting more calls than Chicago [though the double-T should have been just on Kendall Gill and not on Antoine Walker as he didn't do anything], it definitely wasn't the difference in this game as Dallas made more field goals and out-rebounded Chicago. Dallas shot 24-30 FT and Chicago shot 8-13 FT. Dallas shot 52.8% (47-89) FG including 6-16 3-pointers and Chicago shot 48.9% (43-88) FG including 4-15 3-pointers. Dallas out-rebounded Chicago 49-39 including 13-9 offensive. Dallas had 29 assists and only turned the ball over 8 times and Chicago had 27 assists and 15 turnovers.. All 12 Mavs played and all scored. Michael Finley had a great night with 28 points including 12-18 FG and 6 assists in 33 minutes. Dirk Nowitzki didn't look to shoot much (only 9 attempts), but still had 19 points including 10-10 FT and 9 rebounds in 29 minutes. Antoine Walker was the only one of the big 5 to struggle shooting, but he also contributed 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 29 minutes. He had 12 points including 4-11 FG. Steve Nash had a quiet 11 points on 5-6 FG and 7 assists in 21 minutes. Antawn Jamison chipped in 15 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Danny Fortson got the rotating starting nod and had 4 points and 13 rebounds including 7 offensive in 17 minutes. Eduardo Najera had 8 points and 7 rebounds in 23 minutes and Shawn Bradley had 6 points on 3-3 FG (including a long one from near the corner) and 4 rebounds in 9 minutes. Tony Delk had 9 points in 18 minutes and Travis Best had 3 points and 5 assists in 15 minutes. The rookies played mostly in the 4th (Howard got a minute at the end of the 3rd) and Josh Howard had 3 points and 2 rebounds in 13 minutes and Marquis Daniels had 6 points in 9 minutes. The Bulls did have 5 players in double-digits, but none of them were impressive. Tyson Chandler was the high man with 17 points including 7-10 FG and had 6 rebounds in 25 minutes. Jamal Crawford had 16 points and 8 assists in playing 32 minutes (he was in there during the 4th). Kendall Gill had 12 points. Marcus Fizer had 10 points and 6 rebounds. Lonny Baxter had 10 points including 5-6 FG in the 4th quarter. Donyell Marshall only played 10 minutes due to foul trouble. Scottie Pippen had 7 points and 5 assists in 18 minutes before his injury. They are not sure if he will be able to play in tonight's SA-Chi game. It was the first game of 4 games in 5 nights. The schedulers wished Dallas a miserable Thanksgiving in having Dallas play Chicago in Dallas on Tuesday, in Phoenix on Wednesday, in Denver on Friday, and back in Dallas vs Minnesota on Saturday. Quotes Don Nelson: "It was a perfect game for us. We play 4 games in 5 nights and we were able to get a big enough lead and not overplay anybody. That was really important. I like the way the guys played in the 4th quarter. I thought that even though I had all my young guys in, there was a sense on the offensive end of organization. It's not easy to play in garbage games, but I like the way everybody did. The young kids did well. It's a good time to go on the road now. I think the schedule has been perfect for us. It's going to toughen up here shortly. We are getting our act together and I am feeling better about our team. We feel better about who we are and we have grown during this home stand. I don't think a week ago I would have been comfortable going on the road but now I am anxious to see how we fare. We play 2 good teams and both of them are very good home teams." Nelson on the 3rd quarter: "You get on a roll sometimes, and we were on a roll. When it happens, you just cross your legs, and there really isn't a bad shot as long as there's ball movement and the guys are feeling it." Nelson on being undefeated at home: "We were pretty good last year and we were the best road team. I think we tied with San Antonio. I'd like to get us back to feeling good about us on the road. At home, we've been good so far. We've won close games here and we've won breakaways and I hope it continues." Nelson on Finley: "Mike has been making his contributions on the defensive end and doing a lot of good things. He's getting a lot of deflections and steals and rebounding when we needed it. He hasn't had a good offensive start. I think Mike's feeling better about his game. I've played him a lot of minutes here to try to get that done and I think it's helped him. Normally, I would have said I don't want to play him very many minutes but with Mike, he's got to feel good about his game and I can only do that by playing him through this thing." Dirk Nowitzki: "I wouldn't say a perfect game. Defensively we did a nice job in the zone and in the man-to-man. We were contesting shots and if we step our defense up on a nightly basis, we'll be in good shape." Nowitzki on the 3rd quarter: "Offensively, we looked pretty good the whole night. We were moving the ball and we made some shots. Mike really got us going early on. He looked aggressive out there. He pretty much took the game over and it was fun to watch." Nowitzki: "We knew that [Chicago] were going to come out with a lot of energy and coach Nelson made us aware of that fact. We matched their energy from the beginning on." Michael Finley: "Once they got down, they got that 'here we go again' look on their faces." Finley: "We knew with a new coach they would have a lot of energy early. We withstood that energy and once it worked off we got into what we do." Finley on playing against his hometown team: "It's nothing personal, but for me and Antoine Walker, this was a big game. We see those guys all summer. We wanted to get some bragging rights on them." Steve Nash: "We played well tonight. We had some lapses defensively in the 1st half with the zone. Overall, we had a lot of fight in us and we were pretty sharp." Nash: "It just a tale of us continuing to improve and us becoming more and more comfortable with one another and hopefully we'll continue with that growth. It's time that we really build our home court. In the past, we've been a good road team and a good home team, but I think we need to take that next step at home." Nash on Finley: "Mike was incredible tonight. He made some great shots for us and passed the ball well, defended well, and he had a great all around game." Antoine Walker: "We came out in the 2nd half with a lot of energy. We just tried to push the lead open." Walker on Finley: "Mike was hot tonight. We found him and got him into a good rhythm tonight. We moved the basketball well. We were very unselfish and looked for one another, and that's the staple of our team." Antawn Jamison: "Some teams can't score 41 points in a half. That was unbelievable. I don't care who you're playing against." Jamison on Walker and Finley, both from Chicago: "Those guys always are going to be geared up to play Chicago. They definitely wanted to get this win." Pete Myers: "I thought our 2nd half was bad. I thought in the 1st half we competed. I thought that in the 2nd half we weren't organized. We did some things that hurt ourselves, like take quick shots, not getting back on defense." Myers: "Our guys showed some fight in the 1st half. When Scottie came out, we became disorganized. We took some bad shots that led to some easy baskets for them. We did things that were beneficial to them." Myers on the 3rd quarter: "As we get bad offensively, we get even worse defensively. Once you get bad offensively, you've got to tighten it up defensively." Myers: "You just have to keep fighting regardless of what might happen on the floor. If you go down 3 straight possessions and don't score, sometimes we are so offensive minded that we have a tendency to quit. We just have to keep fighting and get back on the defensive end and try to make stops. It's like when we get bad offensively, we get worse defensively. We can't have that at this level. Once you get bad offensively, you have to tighten it up and get tougher on the defensive end. That's all you can do." Myers on his technical: "I was frustrated because it seemed like they were getting calls we weren't getting. I wanted the guys to know that I'll fight to the end for them." Jalen Rose: "We're not playing winning basketball. I'm not saying that because [of our record], but because there are a lot of steps and sacrifices that you have to make in order to be a good team. Obviously, we're not doing that right now. It's not just losing, but the amount of points we're losing by." Tyson Chandler: "I think we fought, but we just had a bad quarter. We let down defensively, and I think that's when they made their run." Chandler: "It's never one person's fault in the first place. We are all in this together - that is why we are a team. I think this team is going to bounce back. You can't ever judge something off of one game." Jamal Crawford: "They are a tough team so give them credit. They haven't lost a game at home, but to get beat like that. Everybody is playing, we just have to do something to stop this. It's embarrassing. It's frustrating. It's disappointing." Dallas Mavericks 124, Chicago Bulls 98 at Dallas (November 25) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 36 25 41 22 - 124 .562 .375 .528 .800 Chicago 29 23 20 26 - 98 .534 .267 .489 .615 Halftime: Dallas 61-52 3rd Q: Dallas 102-72 Technicals: Kendall Gill 3:19 1st, Antoine Walker 3:19 1st, Marcus Fizer 11:01 2nd, Peter Myers 2:19 3rd Refs: Bill Kennedy, Ken Mauer, Nolan Fine Attendance: 19,993 (sellout) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antoine Walker 29 4-11 1-4 3-5 12 0-5 5 1 1 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 29 4-9 1-2 10-10 19 1-9 1 0 2 0 1 Danny Fortson 17 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 7-13 0 2 4 0 0 Michael Finley 33 12-18 2-5 2-2 28 0-2 6 1 1 1 0 Steve Nash 21 5-6 1-1 0-0 11 0-2 7 1 1 0 0 Eduardo Najera 23 3-5 0-0 2-4 8 3-7 1 0 1 1 0 Travis Best 15 0-1 0-0 3-4 3 0-2 5 1 0 0 0 Antawn Jamison 24 7-14 0-0 1-1 15 0-4 1 0 2 1 0 Shawn Bradley 9 3-3 0-0 0-0 6 1-4 0 1 4 0 0 Tony Delk 18 4-10 1-4 0-0 9 0-0 0 0 1 1 0 Josh Howard 13 1-4 0-0 1-2 3 1-1 2 0 1 0 2 Marquis Daniels 9 3-5 0-0 0-0 6 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 47-89 6-16 24-30 124 13-49 29 8 18 5 3 Chicago Bulls REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Tyson Chandler 25 7-10 0-0 3-5 17 2-6 2 1 3 0 1 Kendall Gill 25 6-13 0-0 0-0 12 0-1 0 0 3 0 1 Eddy Curry 22 4-7 0-0 1-2 9 0-3 1 3 5 0 0 Jalen Rose 27 2-7 0-3 0-0 4 0-2 2 2 2 1 0 Scottie Pippen 18 3-8 1-4 0-0 7 2-3 5 0 0 1 0 Donyell Marshall 10 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 1 0 4 0 1 Corie Blount 17 2-3 0-0 0-1 4 2-5 2 1 2 0 0 Jamal Crawford 32 6-13 3-7 1-1 16 1-3 8 2 3 1 0 Marcus Fizer 12 4-7 0-0 2-2 10 1-6 0 3 3 0 0 Eddie Robinson 26 3-7 0-0 1-2 7 0-4 3 1 3 0 0 Kirk Hinrich 19 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-3 2 2 2 1 1 Lonny Baxter 7 5-6 0-0 0-0 10 1-1 1 0 0 0 1 Totals 48 43-88 4-15 8-13 98 9-39 27 15 30 4 5 patricia To all Americans, have a great Thanksgiving!