Dirk Nowitzki was named as an All-Star reserve by the Western Conference coaches. He was the only Mav to make the team. The All-Star game is Sunday February 15 at 7 pm on TNT. Golden State at Dallas (February 3) Golden State was playing without starting forward Mike Dunleavy due to a sprained ankle [note that Dunleavy is only averaging 12.4 points and 6.5 rebounds - so much for the Warriors hope that getting rid of Antawn Jamison (22.2 points, 7 rebounds last season) would spur Dunleavy's development]. The game was ugly early on, but neither team had much of a lead. Dallas went scoreless over the last 3 minutes of the quarter and Golden State scored the last 5 points of the quarter (including 2 by Avery Johnson on a dumb foul by Travis Best with a fraction of a second left in the quarter). Golden State led 24-17 after 1. And with as poorly as Dallas played, they were lucky it was just a 7 point deficit. Golden State shot 53% FG and Dallas shot 38% FG in the quarter. Golden State led 30-22 with 10:15 remaining and Dallas began to find their game and scored the next 9 points to go up 31-30 with 7:45 left. The teams traded leads over their next few possessions and then Dallas held a small lead the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 49-46 at the half. Jamison had 10 points in the quarter. Dallas shot 14-24 FG in the 2nd (Golden State continued to shoot well at 10-20 FG). Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with an 8-2 run to go up 57-48 with 9:35 to go. The Mavs were unable to pull away, but Golden State was unable to get closer than 5 points. A jumper at the quarter buzzer by Michael Finley gave Dallas a 78-66 lead after 3. Golden State only had 1 offensive rebound through 3 quarters (Dallas had 14 and was out-rebounding Golden State 37-22). Jamison opened the 4th quarter with a 3-point play to give Dallas an 81-66 lead with 11:30 left. Dallas led 85-71 with 10 minutes remaining and the Warriors went on a 12-4 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Jason Richardson (his first points in 22 minutes), to pull within 83-89 with 7:15 to go. Dallas responded with a 12-2 run, capped by 6 straight points by Steve Nash (including an incredible behind the back dribble, step back, and fade-away 15-footer), to go up 101-85 with 3 minutes left. Dallas won 107-93. Golden State hung around for a long time before Dallas was finally able to pull away. Though Dallas was unable to stop Golden State offensively (they just missed some shots in the 4th), the Warriors were a non-factor on the boards and that killed them. Dallas out-rebounded Golden State 48-31 including 17-6 offensive (the Warriors did grab 5 offensive rebounds in the 4th). Golden State shot better than Dallas, but Dallas had more attempts. Dallas shot 48.9% (43-88) FG including 5-19 3-pointers and Golden State shot 50% (37-74) FG including 2-11 3-pointers. Neither team shot that well from the line as Dallas shot 16-21 FT and Golden State shot 17-28 FT. Golden State only had 11 turnovers, but most of them were really ugly turnovers. Dallas had 10 turnovers. Dallas also pushed the ball better in out-scoring Golden State 27-8 on the break. The Mavs were intentionally pushing the ball as the Warriors had played the night before. It was Dallas' 20th straight win against Golden State. Michael Finley had another nice outing with 23 points and 6 rebounds. Antawn Jamison was solid against his former team with 20 points including 8-12 FG and 12 rebounds including 6 offensive off the bench. Steve Nash had 17 points and 8 assists and Antoine Walker had 15 points and 5 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki struggled mightily with just 9 points on 4-14 FG and 1-5 3-pointers and just 4 rebounds in 34 minutes. He did have 3 steals and 2 blocks. Danny Fortson started, but didn't do much with 2 points and 3 rebounds in 9 minutes. Josh Howard did not start, but played very well and Don Nelson had trouble taking him off the court once he got out there. Howard had 15 including 6-8 FG and 8 rebounds in 26 minutes. Scott Williams saw his first action as a Mav and it took him all of 8 seconds to score his first basket. He had a nice debut with 6 points and 3 rebounds in 11 minutes. Jason Richardson played well early on with 15 points in 1st 18 minutes of the game, but disappeared after that. His next basket didn't come until 5 minutes left in the game and then his next basket came in the final seconds of the game. He finished with 20 points on 9-16 FG and 1-5 FT and 4 rebounds in 39 minutes. Speedy Claxton had 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Erick Dampier didn't miss with 5-5 FG and 3-3 FT for his 13 points. He also had 12 rebounds. Nick Van Exel was the only other Warrior in double-digits with 11 points. He was fresh from IR and, thus, was limited to 20 minutes (I was surprised that he wasn't in there the last 6 minutes of the game). Quotes Don Nelson: "It's good to get back on the winning track. It was a game I wasn't too excited about, because they played last night and we had a couple days off." Nelson: "The minutes are going to be harder to come by. We have a lot of guys now and I won't have to overplay anybody. If somebody is doing well, I'll play him. It doesn't matter if you're an All-Star, the big 3 or the big 5. I'm going to play the guys who get the job done." Dirk Nowitzki: "It wasn't a great win but we needed it. Saturday we wasted an opportunity. ... We have to get stops down the stretch and we did that." Nowitzki: "We all had to get used to cutting our games back. All 3 of those guys [Nash, Finley, Walker] could have been All-Stars. But for us, it's not about the All-Star Game. It's about being successful when the playoffs roll around." Michael Finley: "It's always good to win. It doesn't matter if it's a streak or 1 or 2 games. We've been fortunate against Golden State, a team that always plays us tough, no matter what the roster is. They always bring out the best of us as a team." Finley on the recent blown leads: "That came up in the huddle. We've been there before. And I think for the first time in a long time, the guys believed that. We had to do the things we didn't do the previous game against Denver - get stops, manage the clock offensive, and take quality shots. We did those things. As a result, we won." Finley: "A loss would have thrown that whole little winning streak out the window. Thankfully we took care of business." Steve Nash: "We were kind of flat for a long period of time, but we played well enough to give ourselves a bit of a cushion. Then, after a lack of efficiency in the 4th quarter recently, I thought we did a good job tonight of stepping up defensively and making big plays offensely." Antoine Walker: "Losing to Denver after having that 20-point lead, it sets you back. Right now, we're trying to get the rest. We hope we can finish up with a little streak. If we have a 5 game winning streak going into the All-Star break, that will put us 16 games over .500. And that will put us right in the middle of the pack with everyone else." Antawn Jamison: "It's a good feeling to win against an old team, but that's not the most important thing right now. The most important thing right now is to get back on a winning track, and I don't care who we're playing. We just want to go into the All-Star break on a winning track." Jamison: "Rebounding is a strength for the Warriors and we definitely wanted to come in and really compete with those guys. I think we did a good job of that." Scott Williams: "Steve did a good job of finding me on the baseline. It was a good feeling. I was a little nervous. After 14 years, I know I should still be playing." Eric Musselman: "That's a very good team over there with a lot of shooters and a lot of weapons. They come off the bench and keep coming at you in waves. When you can bring Jamison off the bench and he gives you 20 and 12, it's a pretty good team." Musselman: "Not rebounding the ball tonight really hurt us. Their activity on the offensive glass with 17 rebounds. I thought Jamison gave them a huge lift with 6 offensive rebounds and 12 rebounds for the game along with 20 points. We did a good job on Nowitzki. We hung around for a half. Obviously, we went 2-11 from the 3-point line, 60% from the foul line, and not rebounding - that's the difference in the game. We shot well enough from the field to win; scored enough points at 93, but again on a back-to-back with a tough loss last night. Shoot 18% from 3 and 60% from the line against a very talented basketball team on the road is not going to get it done." Musselman: "Not rebounding the ball really hurt us. We've got to have other people rebound besides [Dampier]." Musselman on Van Exel: "It was good to have Nick back. His legs looked fresh, so that was a positive sign." Jason Richardson: "We need to do a better job of rebounding against Dallas. Antawn Jamison and Josh Howard did a great job for them getting rebounds and hustling for the ball, so I think that is why we lost. That was the difference in the game." Richardson on playing the night before: "I don't think we were fatigued. The guys came out and played hard. I just don't think we got after the loose balls and we didn't defend that well." Nick Van Exel: "We can't seem to put anything together. We've got to find a way to buckle down in the 4th quarter. We played well at home but playoff teams get wins on the road." Van Exel on his knee: "I felt a lot better when I was pushing off, acceleration, quickness. I can feel all that, it's just a matter of it staying. That's the most important thing - I have to keep working. Hopefully, I don't lose it and I don't get that feeling again to where I can't accelerate and I can't push off." Clifford Robinson on rebounding: "When you're scrambling to stop penetration and running around trying to help on defense, you're going to miss some of those long rebounds. I think that's been the case for us." Brian Cardinal: "The last couple of nights - all season really - we've hung in there and stuck it out. More times than not, we've struggled down the stretch. And it's on our part. We're good enough to win the game, but we make dumb mistakes. All of us - me included." Cardinal on rebounding: "That was the reason why we lost. That was the X factor, I guess you could say. I think we were out-worked at times, absolutely. In the whole course of the game, they took it at us." Dallas Mavericks 107, Golden State Warriors 93 at Dallas (February 3) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 17 32 29 29 - 107 .551 .263 .489 .762 Golden State 24 22 20 27 - 93 .556 .182 .500 .607 Halftime: Dallas 49-46 3rd Q: Dallas 78-66 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 5:28 1st Refs: Joe Forte, Tony Brothers, Zak Zarba Attendance: 19,865 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Eduardo Najera (sore left knee), Mike Dunleavy (sprained left ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antoine Walker 32 7-12 1-3 0-3 15 2-5 2 2 1 0 1 Dirk Nowitzki 34 4-14 1-5 0-0 9 0-4 2 0 0 3 2 Danny Fortson 9 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 2-3 0 0 1 0 0 Michael Finley 38 8-18 1-6 6-6 23 1-6 4 1 0 2 0 Steve Nash 30 6-11 2-4 3-3 17 1-4 8 2 4 1 0 Travis Best 18 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 4 0 5 0 0 Antawn Jamison 32 8-12 0-0 4-6 20 6-12 1 2 0 0 0 Shawn Bradley 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 0 1 0 0 Scott Williams 11 3-7 0-0 0-0 6 2-3 0 0 4 0 1 Josh Howard 26 6-8 0-1 3-3 15 3-8 2 2 2 1 1 Marquis Daniels 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 43-88 5-19 16-21 107 17-48 23 10 18 7 5 Golden State Warriors REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Clifford Robinson 38 3-9 0-3 2-2 8 0-2 2 2 2 1 0 Calbert Cheaney 42 4-7 0-0 0-0 8 0-4 6 3 4 0 0 Erick Dampier 37 5-5 0-0 3-3 13 2-12 0 1 4 0 1 Speedy Claxton 36 7-15 0-0 6-9 20 0-4 4 0 2 0 1 Jason Richardson 39 9-16 1-4 1-5 20 2-4 2 2 3 1 0 Avery Johnson 12 1-4 0-0 4-7 6 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 Adonal Foyle 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Brian Cardinal 12 3-6 0-0 1-2 7 1-2 0 2 1 1 0 Nick Van_Exel 20 5-11 1-4 0-0 11 1-3 2 1 2 1 0 Totals 48 37-74 2-11 17-28 93 6-31 16 11 18 5 2 Dallas at New Orleans (February 4) New Orleans was playing without Baron Davis due to a sprained ankle. Dallas hit their first basket of the game and then missed their next 7 shots which allowed New Orleans to go up 9-2 with 9 minutes left. Unhappy with his play on both ends of the court, Don Nelson pulled Dirk Nowitzki 3 minutes into the game. New Orleans led 22-13 with 3 minutes remaining and Nowitzki returned an immediately got a layup. New Orleans led 26-21 after 1. Darrell Armstrong had 11 points including 3 3-pointers. Dallas scored the first 7 points of the 2nd quarter to go up 28-26 with 10:15 to go. The game stayed close with neither team holding more than a 3 point lead over the next 5 minutes. Dallas led 40-39 with 5 minutes remaining and New Orleans went on a 10-2 run to go up 49-42 with 2:05 left. 2 buckets by Shawn Bradley closed the quarter. New Orleans led 51-48 at the half. Nowitzki again got pulled 3 1/2 minutes into the 3rd quarter. The game was tied 57-57 with 8:35 left and Dallas scored the next 7 points to go up 64-57 with 7 minutes remaining. Dallas' lead would get no larger than 7 points, but the Mavs would hold a single-digit lead the rest of the quarter. Antoine Walker tapped in a miss as the quarter ended to give Dallas an 81-74 lead after 3. Nowitzki had 10 points in the 3rd quarter. Dallas went up 85-75 a minute into the 4th quarter, but was unable to pull away as 10 points would be their largest lead. A 3-pointer by Jamal Mashburn pulled New Orleans within 86-90 with 7:10 left, but Dallas scored the next 4 points, but New Orleans scored the next 5 points to pull within 91-94 with 4:40 remaining. Antawn Jamison hit a bucket and Steve Nash got a runner to give Dallas a 98-91 lead with 3:45 to go. After Dallas was called of defensive 3 seconds and Mashburn hit the free throw, New Orleans missed and Dallas had trouble setting up their offense. With the clock running down, Nash passed out to Michael Finley and Finley launched a 3-point attempt from over 5 feet behind the line and it banked in to give Dallas a 101-92 lead with 2:45 left. Jamaal Magloire was fouled as the shot clock was running down, but he only hit 1 of 2 free throws. Dallas misses and P.J. Brown got a layup to pull New Orleans within 95-101 with 1:45 remaining. It became a free throws fest as Nowitzki hit 2 free throws with 1:24 remaining, Magloire hit 2 free throws with 1:17 left, and Nowitzki hit 2 free throws with 1:09 left to give Dallas a 105-97 lead. New Orleans missed and the Hornets started intentionally fouling. Dallas shot 8-8 FT in the last minute of the game to clinch the win. Dallas won 113-104. Dallas picked up their shooting in the 2nd half and managed to come up with a win against a team that has been struggling lately. Dallas shot 58% FG in the 2nd half (including 9-13 FG in the 4th quarter) while New Orleans shot just 39.5% FG in the 2nd half. For the game, Dallas shot 50.6% (43-85) FG including 4-11 3-pointers and New Orleans shot 43.8% (35-80) FG including a hot 9-19 3-pointers. And even with all the intentional fouling the Hornets were doing at the end, New Orleans still ended up with an advantage at the line in shooting 25-30 FT while Dallas shot 23-27 FT. The Mavs had advantages against New Orleans that you wouldn't expected. Dallas out-rebounded New Orleans 43-36 and out-scored New Orleans 44-36 in the paint. It was Dallas' 9th straight win vs New Orleans. With a little prodding from benches by the coach, Dirk Nowitzki finally got his game going. 20 of Nowitzki's 28 points came in the 2nd half. He also had his first double-digit rebounding game after a 5 game drought. He had 11 rebounds and 3 steals. Steve Nash also had a double-double with 18 points and 12 assists. Michael Finley had 22 points including a key (banked) 3-pointer late in the game. Antawn Jamison was the 4th Mav in double-digits with 17 points including 8-11 FG and 8 rebounds. Antoine Walker was quiet with just 4 points (and didn't attempt a single 3-pointer), 4 rebounds, and 5 assists. Josh Howard played extremely well in the first half and had a highlight rebound-slam off of a miss by Scott Williams. Howard had 8 points on 4-4 FG and 4 rebounds - all offensive - in 13 minutes. Don Nelson played a rotating 3-headed center as Danny Fortson played 10 minutes (4 points and 2 rebounds), Shawn Bradley played 14 minutes (8 points and 5 rebounds), and Scott Williams played 13 minutes (0 points [his shot wasn't falling] and 2 rebounds. Travis Best had 4 points and 2 assists in 13 minutes. Darrell Armstrong went nuts early on and kept it up for most of the game with his expanded minutes in Baron Davis' absence. Armstrong had 27 points including 5-7 3-pointers and 11 assists in 43 minutes. Jamal Mashburn struggled mightily with his shot and had 19 points including 6-22 FG and 6 assists. Jamal Magloire had a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds including 3 offensive - but only had 2 rebounds in the 2nd half. P.J. Brown had 12 points and 8 rebounds. Steve Smith had 11 points including 4-6 FG and 2-3 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists in 26 minutes. Stacey Augmon had 10 points, 6 of which came in the first 4 minutes of the game. Quotes Don Nelson: "They gave a great effort and made it very difficult for us to win this game, but nonetheless we did win. It's too bad they have a couple of injuries. We don't take it for granted with this team because they are a great basketball team and when they get healthy they will be as good as any team in the East." Nelson: "We had some mismatches that we liked tonight and we exploited those. Other than self-destructing a few times and throwing the ball away, we did a pretty good job in the 4th quarter when we needed to." Dirk Nowitzki on the 4th quarter: "We pretty much got our shot off every time and we did a nice job defensively and rebounding the ball. When we rebound the ball well, we give ourselves a good chance to win the game." Nowitzki: "If you're taking the ball out of the basket, you can't run the ball. Once you get some stops and some rebounds, you can run the ball." Nowitzki: "I haven't really been stroking the ball well and I started off with a couple great looks and they weren't going down either. I told myself 'Just stay aggressive' and if I'm open this team needs me to shoot the ball. I usually shoot a good percentage. I just need to stay confident, try to be aggressive, try to get some rebounds." Nowitzki on being pulled early in the 1st and 3rd quarters: "I wasn't happy about it, but I guess it helped. We won the game and that's what it's all about. There's nothing you can do but stay in the game. I know I'm not a complete player. I'm going to make mistakes." Nowitzki on Finley's banked 3-pointer: "It was big, but Fin has been making big shots for us all year. That was a little lucky, but you have to have a little luck to win on the road." Michael Finley on his banked 3-pointer: "Actually, I thought I had more time before I got the ball. I looked up and saw 3 on the shot clock, so I just prepared myself to shoot a long shot." Steve Nash on the big 3: "We have a lot of depth and a lot of balance, but it's important for the 3 of us to play well." Nash on Finley's banked 3: "It kind of made what may have been a sticky last couple minutes a win going away." Antawn Jamison: "Our guys do a great job of finding openings and they're tremendous passers. When you've got a guy like Steve Nash penetrating, you've really got to pay attention to him. You can't just stick with me and let him do what he's capable of doing." Tim Floyd: "We really struggled on both occasions tonight when we had to take out Darrell Armstrong for a blow. The game changed a little bit both times." Floyd on Dallas: "They are so versatile and have what I consider to be the most difficult matchup in this league other than Shaquille O'Neal in Nowitzki. They play him at that 5-spot and it forces guys who aren't accustomed to playing, not necessarily Nowitzki, which P.J. can do. Your center has to go guard another guy which is typically your 3 or 4 and it changes the game. They got great play from Nash. He was inside of our defense. He creates so much for other guys." Darrell Armstrong: "We played better basketball tonight. We shot the ball well and got the stops. Right now, what we are struggling with is the 3rd quarter. At some point in the 3rd quarter, we run out of gas. We are going through a little something right now, but these guys continue to believe and we come out and play hard and we just have to continue to do that. It is going to break sooner or later." Armstrong: "We felt like we played good tonight. We just had that bad spurt in the 3rd. And if we didn't have that bad spurt, we could just as easily be here talking about a win." Armstrong: "We're still fighting. This team has not lost its confidence, has not lost what we're trying to shoot for. We still have 3 more games before the break, and those are important games for us. We've just got to find a way to win a game." P.J. Brown: "They're a tough team, and when you've got a team like that that's so good offensively, you've just got to almost play a perfect game." Brown: "We need to wake up another day and come out and practice and try and get a little better and break this 4 game losing streak on Friday night. We are looking forward to playing the Pistons on Friday night and I think everybody else in this room should be feeling the same way." Dallas Mavericks 113, New Orleans Hornets 104 at New Orleans (February 4) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 21 27 33 32 - 113 .527 .364 .506 .852 New Orleans 26 25 23 30 - 104 .426 .474 .436 .833 Halftime: New Orleans 51-48 3rd Q: Dallas 81-74 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 2:04 2nd, New Orleans delay of game 7:32 4th, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 3:24 4th Refs: Greg Willard, Luis Grillo, Pat Fraher Attendance: 12,274 (cap 18,500) Did not play due to injury: Eduardo Najera (sore left knee), Baron Davis (sprained left ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antoine Walker 30 2-5 0-0 0-2 4 1-4 5 2 4 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 38 10-19 1-2 7-7 28 1-11 4 2 3 3 1 Danny Fortson 10 0-1 0-0 4-4 4 1-2 0 0 1 0 0 Steve Nash 35 7-15 0-2 4-4 18 1-3 12 1 0 1 0 Michael Finley 40 7-16 2-4 6-6 22 0-3 4 0 1 0 0 Antawn Jamison 34 8-11 1-2 0-0 17 2-8 0 1 2 0 0 Shawn Bradley 14 4-6 0-0 0-0 8 2-5 0 1 3 0 2 Travis Best 13 1-4 0-1 2-2 4 0-1 2 0 1 1 0 Scott Williams 13 0-4 0-0 0-2 0 1-2 1 1 4 1 0 Josh Howard 13 4-4 0-0 0-0 8 4-4 0 1 0 0 1 Totals 48 43-85 4-11 23-27 113 13-43 28 9 19 7 4 New Orleans Hornets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jamal Mashburn 43 6-22 2-7 5-5 19 0-2 6 1 2 1 0 P.J. Brown 40 5-13 0-0 2-2 12 2-8 1 0 3 2 1 Jamaal Magloire 41 8-12 0-0 7-11 23 3-12 2 4 4 0 1 Darrell Armstrong 43 8-15 5-7 6-7 27 1-4 11 3 4 1 0 Stacey Augmon 27 4-8 0-0 2-2 10 2-3 1 2 0 0 0 Tierre Brown 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 George Lynch 7 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 Robert Traylor 7 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 3 1 0 Steve Smith 25 4-6 2-3 1-1 11 3-4 4 0 3 0 0 David West 4 0-0 0-0 2-2 2 0-2 0 1 2 0 0 Totals 48 35-80 9-19 25-30 104 11-36 25 14 22 6 2 patricia