Memphis at Dallas (April 13) It was a battle for the 5th seed (the winner got the 5th, the loser the 6th) and both teams had a full roster. Michael Finley returned after 2 games off and Pau Gasol and Bonzi Wells returned after missing 4 games each. The teams traded small leads early on and Dallas led 10-9 with 8:25 remaining. Steve Nash drained a 3-pointer, Marquis Daniels hit a jumper, and Nash hit a jumper to give Dallas a 17-9 lead with 6 minutes to go. Dirk Nowitzki had picked up his 3rd foul with 6:35 left and sat for the rest of the half. Dallas scored the last 3 points of the quarter to go up 31-18 after 1. Finley had 9 points on 4-6 FG. Dallas shot 13-23 FG and Memphis shot 6-20 FG. Dallas' lead ranged between 13 and 9 points over the first 6 minutes of the 2nd quarter. Dallas scored 6 straight points to go up 49-32 with 4:35 to go. Memphis did pull within 41-53 with 2:45 remaining, but Dallas answered by scoring the next 7 points, capped by a 3-pointer by Nash, to go up 60-41 with 1:15 left. Dallas led 62-46 at the half. Daniels and Walker were already flirting with a triple-double as Daniels had 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists and Walker had 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Dallas' shooting was up to 63% FG and they were sharing the ball with 17 assists. Memphis was shooting 44% FG. Dallas came out of halftime sloppy with 3 turnovers and Memphis came on strong with a 9-2 run to pull within 55-64 with 9:25 left. But Dallas got their act together and a 3-pointer by Nash started a 24-5 run to give Dallas their first 20 point lead at 80-60 with 6:15 to go. A slam dunk by Daniels gave Dallas their largest lead at 88-66 with 2:50 left. Memphis did score the last 8 points of the quarter as Dallas committed 4 turnovers and missed 3 shots. Dallas led 88-74 after 3. Daniels had 12 points in the quarter. Memphis pulled within 12 points 3 times, but Dallas scored 6 straight points to go up 98-80 with 7 minutes remaining. Dallas led 103-86 with 4 minutes to go and coasted to the finish. Shane Battier drained consecutive 3-pointers to pull Memphis within 98-106 with 1:30 left, but Daniels hit a jumper on Dallas' next possession and the teams traded 2 points over the next minute. Wells hit a meaningless 3-pointer with less than a second left. Dallas won 110-103. With the win, Dallas clinched the 5th spot in the Western Conference. Dallas' opponent, the 4th seed, won't be known until after tonight's games and will be one of the LA Lakers [they have to win tonight, else they are the 4th, but would also be 4th if all 3 teams win], Sacramento, or San Antonio. Dallas will start the playoffs on the road and the first game will be Saturday or Sunday. Tonight's game vs Houston is meaningless and the stars for both teams probably won't play much. Dallas activated Tony Delk and placed Josh Howard on IR with a strained gluteus muscle (the move has no affect on the playoff roster; IR is only for the regular season). Dallas finished the season with a home record of 36-5. It is the best home record in the league (2nd best is 34-7 by the Lakers and Kings [and Indiana has 1 home game left with a record of 33-7]). It is also the best home record in team history, surpassing the 35-6 home record in 86-87. As for the game, Dallas won it with shooting. Dallas shot 52.4% (43-82) FG including 5-17 3-pointers and Memphis shot 44.6% (37-83) FG including 7-20 3-pointers. Most of the other stats favored Memphis. Memphis shot 22-28 FT and Dallas shot 19-22 FT. Memphis out-rebounded Dallas 43-37 including 13-7 offensive. Memphis had 30 fast break points while Dallas had 15 fast break points. Memphis had 50 points in the paint and Dallas had 36 points in the paint. Memphis had 24 assists and Dallas had 21 assists - after sharing the ball so well in the 1st half, Dallas went away from the team game and only had 4 assists in the 2nd half. Marquis Daniels had a stellar game with 30 points including 12-19 FG, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals and played all 48 minutes - only the 2nd rookie in team history to play all 48 minutes (trivia: who is the other [and if you get this, give yourself a huge pat on the back]). Steve Nash was really looking for his shot this night (a rare thing) and produced with 25 points including 9-14 FG and 4-6 3-pointers. He only had 4 assists and had 5 turnovers, though. Nash had the funniest moment of the night when he was called for a lane violation from coming in from behind the arc while Bo Outlaw was shooting (Outlaw has a real ugly hitch in his free throw shooting, which is alway entertaining to watch) and then Nash went over to complain to the ref and imitated the way Outlaw shots [Outlaw took exception to what Nash did, but Nash grabbed Outlaw after the game ended and the 2 made nice and friendly]. Antawn Jamison hit his first 8 shots to have 16 points in the 1st half. He missed his last 3 shots, though, and finished with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Though some people would look at his numbers and not think much of them, Antoine Walker played a key role in this game. He had 8 points on 4-9 FG, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, and 4 steals. Dirk Nowitzki only played 27 minutes due to foul trouble (just 5 1/2 minutes in the 1st half) and had 11 points including 4-9 FG, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Michael Finley opened the game strong with 9 points on 4-6 FG, but missed his next 6 shots and didn't score the rest of the way. [trivia answer: Mike Iuzzolino] As usual, no one player dominated the game for Memphis as they had 6 players in double-digits and it was not uncommon to see 3 or 4 players subbed in at one time. No Grizzly played more than 26 minutes and 9 of them play 20+ minutes. Bonzi Wells led the way with 27 points, 17 in the 2nd half, including 12-18 FG. Jason Williams had 14 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals. He should have stuck to 2-pointers though as he shot 1-7 3-pointers and 4-5 2-pointers. Mike Millers had 12 points and James Posey had a quiet night with 12 points and just 1 rebound. Bo Outlaw hit all 5 of his shots and 1-3 FT (officially 1-2 FT as got the make after Nash's lane violation) for 11 points. Pau Gasol struggled in his return with shooting just 3-13 FG. He had 10 points and 7 rebounds. The refs did a poor job both ways with lots of bizarre calls and blatant missed calls. Quotes Don Nelson: "We did a good thing tonight - we won our game and set our all time home win record. I wish we would have been better on the road and we could have had a super year. We have 1 game left now and it's pretty meaningless. We clinched the 5th spot. I thought we were fairly sharp. Mike was better than I thought he would be, although his numbers weren't real good. I didn't go to him a lot either. I thought my rookie, Marquis, was pretty good. There was a lot of good things. Walker was flirting with a triple-double. If I had played him a little bit more in the 4th quarter, he probably would have had that. I thought he was pretty sharp. Jamison continues to be a marvel at scoring the basketball. The 1st half he made some incredible shots." Nelson on the Houston game: "I'm not going to play Howard. The plan right now is to activate Delk and place Howard on the injured list for 1 game and then take a look at Delk and see if he can help us in the playoffs. We are a little concerned because it's been a lingering injury with Howard for about a month now. I'm not going to play anyone very long. We are just going to play the game the best we can and give everyone a good run and have a day off [on Thursday]." Dirk Nowitzki: "We really wanted to win this game. We had a great season at home all year and we didn't want to mess around. We wanted to get the 5th seed." Nowitzki on the playoffs: "It's going to be a dogfight, no matter who we play." Steve Nash: "Home cooking has been really good for us lately. It's given us some confidence going into the playoffs." Antawn Jamison: "To only lose 5 games at home throughout the year is really good. That says enough about what type of homecourt advantage we have. We stay focused night in and night out and, with the exception of a few slip ups, we play great at home. 36 wins is a great year at home." Jamison on the playoff opponent: "It is kind of crazy not knowing, but like I said we just have to deal with this situation. We need to get focused and be ready to take this show on the road for a couple of games." Jamison on the playoff opponent: "It's like studying for a final exam trying to figure out all the scenarios. We're going to play tomorrow and find out around midnight who we're going to play Saturday or Sunday. I'm not worried about it." Marquis Daniels: "We knew it was going to be a playoff type atmosphere so we wanted to come in and get out of the gates early. I tried to come out and be aggressive early. I knew Posey was the hot guy, so I wanted to come out and play him tough and try and contain him as much as possible." Daniels: "I think sitting early in the season and learning from Steve and Mike and those guys taught me a lot. I got into the flow of the game and I tried to take something from each of their games and add it to my game so far it is working well for me." Daniels on playing all 48 minutes: "That is one thing that I have to credit Rolando Blackman for. He kept me in shape with running and shooting extra even when I wasn't playing. He kept me going and I have to thank him for that. He told me to stay patient and that my time would come. Now I am taking advantage." Hubie Brown on the Dallas and Minnesota games: "For us, these games are about getting Wells and Gasol back working with their units. That's not a little thing. We came off a 13-2 March and we were 33-9 in January, February, and March and then we get that 50th win and lose both guys. We have been struggling on this trip. Our main goal as a coaching staff was to make sure they got back for these 2 games to get their legs back and, even more importantly, their timing. Then to get their wind, so when we practice on Thursday and Friday they will be ready to go wherever we are playing." Brown on Daniels: "In the summer league in Los Angeles, Daniels showed you exactly what he is doing right now. If you really think about it, it took them 3/4 of the season to let him do that. He was outstanding. He was getting 25 to 35 every game. We played them twice out there. He is a terrific young man. He has increased his range a little bit since the summer. He is a good post up. He has an excellent mid-range game, which young guys usually do not have. He can get in there, and even if you have him defended perfectly, which I thought we did a number of times, he elevated over the top of the defender and made a soft shot and scored. It's all in that painted area. What you have to like about him is how calm he is. He is very calm. He doesn't rush anything. He handles himself extremely well with the defense on top of him and he can make shots with the shot clock down. That's a great sign. They needed that from him tonight." Brown on the Minnesota game (a Memphis win could knock Minnesota down to the 3rd seed): "Our game is the biggest game in the West. Hopefully, we'll play much better." Pau Gasol: "I am just trying to get my touch back; get my legs back. Trying to get into the game again. It hasn't been that long, but it feels kind of long. I am trying to feel more comfortable out there and make the easy shots." Bonzi Wells: "It was definitely a struggle. Any time you give up any kind of points to the Mavericks, especially 10 or 12, it is tough to recover. They are not the best defensive team, but they are a real good offensive team, so whenever you dig a hole, it is always tough to get yourself out of it." Wells: "Marquis Daniels, for a rookie, is playing excellent. He is really controlling his game. He is playing like a veteran. He is good for this team. He could be the equivalent of a Nick Van Exel type for them, to get buckets unexpectedly. I am really happy for his success." Wells on the Minnesota game: "We want to shake up the top 4. Coach Brown is kind of upset with us. We have to get back in his good graces." Mike Miller: "We didn't do a lot of things. But we have another game to get ready [for the playoffs]." Dallas Mavericks 110, Memphis Grizzlies 103 at Dallas (April 13) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 31 31 26 22 - 110 .585 .294 .524 .864 Memphis 18 28 28 29 - 103 .585 .294 .524 .864 Halftime: Dallas 62-46 3rd Q: Dallas 88-74 Technicals: Brendan Brown 1:47 2nd, Antoine Walker 6:28 3rd Refs: Bill Kennedy, Joe Forte, Tony Brothers Attendance: 20,364 (sellout) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 31 4-12 1-5 0-0 9 0-1 1 2 1 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 27 4-9 0-0 3-4 11 2-10 0 0 4 1 3 Antoine Walker 38 4-9 0-2 0-0 8 0-7 9 3 3 4 1 Marquis Daniels 48 12-19 0-2 6-6 30 3-8 7 3 2 4 0 Steve Nash 37 9-14 4-6 3-4 25 1-4 4 5 1 0 0 Antawn Jamison 32 8-11 0-1 2-2 18 1-5 0 1 4 1 1 Josh Howard 22 2-7 0-1 3-4 7 0-2 0 0 3 2 0 Travis Best 3 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 Eduardo Najera 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 43-82 5-17 19-22 110 7-37 21 14 18 13 5 Memphis Grizzlies REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Pau Gasol 26 3-13 0-0 4-5 10 3-7 3 3 0 0 1 James Posey 23 4-9 2-4 2-4 12 0-1 0 3 1 2 1 Lorenzen Wright 23 2-6 0-0 1-2 5 3-7 0 0 4 0 0 Jason Williams 25 5-12 1-7 3-3 14 0-1 6 2 1 4 0 Mike Miller 23 3-7 1-5 5-5 12 2-3 4 2 1 0 0 Stromile Swift 16 0-2 0-0 4-4 4 0-2 1 1 1 0 1 Shane Battier 25 2-5 2-2 0-0 6 2-7 2 1 2 1 0 Bonzi Wells 25 12-18 1-2 2-3 27 1-3 0 1 3 0 0 Earl Watson 23 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-5 6 2 1 2 0 Bo Outlaw 25 5-5 0-0 1-2 11 0-4 1 2 1 1 0 Ryan Humphrey 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2-3 1 1 2 1 0 Totals 48 37-83 7-20 22-28 103 13-43 24 18 17 11 3 patricia