Game 5: Dallas at Sacramento (April 29) Dallas opened the game strong and Sacramento struggled and the Mavs were able to pull out to a 17-3 lead with 8:10 to go as Sacramento shot 1-7 FG and Dallas shot 6-9 FG. Dallas led 23-10 with 4:55 left and Sacramento went on an 8-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Mike Bibby, to pull within 18-25 with 3:05 remaining. After the teams traded buckets, Dallas then went on a 10-2 run to go up 37-22 with 22 seconds left. 2 free throws by Doug Christie capped the scoring for the quarter. Dallas led 37-24 after 1. Steve Nash had 10 points and 4 assists. Dallas shot 13-28 FG and 9-9 FT and Sacramento shot 8-21 FG and 5-6 FT. Dirk Nowitzki opened the 2nd quarter with a 3-pointer to give Dallas their largest lead at 40-24 15 seconds into the quarter. Dallas led 48-33 with 8:10 left and in a snap of the fingers their lead evaporated as Sacramento went on a 14-3 run to pull within 47-51 with 5:25 to go as Sacramento scored on 7 straight possessions and forced 3 turnovers. Dallas was clinging to a low single-digit lead when Bibby scored 7 consecutive point to give the Kings their first lead at 61-57 with 2:05 left. Dallas did close the quarter with a 9-2 run to go up 66-63 at the half. Bibby went nuts in the 2nd quarter where he had 16 points and 3 steals and helped Sacramento's 2nd unit out-score Dallas 39-29 in the quarter - going to show once again that if you're going to be down big, best be down big early. Nowitzki had 13 points. Sacramento shot 18-28 FG in the quarter and Dallas shot 11-21 FG, but committed 5 turnovers. The Kings also out-rebounded Dallas 12-8 in the quarter. Michael Finley opened the 3rd quarter with a 3-pointer. But 7 points would be the largest lead of the quarter as Dallas was clinging to a single-digit lead. Neither team had a real run during the quarter. Sacramento did tie the game 5 times, but were unable to pull ahead. In a very bad call, Nash was called for a blocking foul instead of the correct charge when Christie drove and hit a short jumper with 1:35 left. Don Nelson picked up a T complaining about the bad call and it result in a 4-point play for Sacramento (Dallas was up by 7 points before the possession). Brad Miller nailed a 3-pointer at the quarter buzzer to tie the game at 96-96 after 3. Chris Webber opened the 4th quarter with a layup and it became a game of punch and counter punch early in the quarter. A 3-pointer by Bibby gave Sacramento a 6 point lead with 10 minutes left, but Finley answered with a 3-pointer. The Kings scored the next 4 points to go up 110-103 with 9 minutes to go, but that 7 points would be the largest lead of the quarter, and Antawn Jamison ended it with a 3-pointer 12 seconds later. Dallas pulled within 1 point twice. 2 free throws by Christie gave Sacramento a 117-114 lead with 5:30 remaining. Both teams' offensive effectiveness went out the window the rest of the game. The next 2 minutes of play saw a combined 4 turnovers and 4 missed shots. A long jumper by Bibby gave Sacramento a 119-114 lead with 3:20 left. The teams traded a couple of misses over the next 1:20 and on the break, Nash drove for a bucket to pull Dallas within 116-119 with 2 minutes to go. The bricks continued to fly as Webber missed, Nash missed, Bibby missed, Nash threw a pass right to Bibby, and Christie missed with 49 seconds left. Antoine Walker missed, but Nowitzki was able to get the putback to pull Dallas within 118-119 with 29.4 seconds left. After a Sacramento timeout, the Kings ran the clock down and Bibby drove at Nowitzki, but his short shot attempt was missed and Finley grabbed the rebound with 6.2 seconds left. Dallas called timeout. The Mavs got the ball into Nowitzki on the elbow and Peja Stojakovic slapped the ball away, but Nowitzki picked it back up, and his 15-foot turnaround hit off the front of the rim at the buzzer. Sacramento won 119-118. Game, set, and match. Sacramento takes the series 4-1 and advances to the 2nd round while Dallas goes home. Dallas never really got it clicking this season and it carried over into the playoffs. Yes, 3 of the Kings' 4 wins were by a total of 7 points, but the Mavs this season didn't have what it takes to pull out a tight game. Each of the big 3 had their chance in a game to provide the game-tier or winner and each failed. Watching the team this season, it was obvious that something was missing. No matter how big of a lead, there was always a concern if Dallas would manage to substain it. The players say confidence, but I think it comes down to chemistry and the Walker trade occurring right before the season started. Training camp is very important and the team had to try to integrate a major piece during the season and it never really clicked. For the 2002-03 training camp, the Mavs spent a good chuck of time focusing on their complicated defense and came out blazing as a result. They did not have that training camp for 03-04 and never found the mix or fix that worked - when you change your strategy with just 10 games left in the regular season, you know you are in trouble. The off season starts early this year and it will be interesting to see what changes come. I predict that the big 3 and Don Nelson remain and that Antoine Walker, who never really fit in, is moved on for talent. As easy as it is to place blame on Walker, he did adjust his game some and toned down his 3-pointers and shot attempts and tried to fit in. It just didn't work and, as much as he tried to hide it, you could tell he was not happy with his role with the team. Walker does have great trade value as he is a talent and has one year left on a high value contract. I hope the Mavs keep Antawn Jamison, who accepted his 6th man role very well, but he may be moved on if a good trade comes along. Steve Nash will opt-out of his contract [and the Mavs can't make him a good offer until July 1, so ignore all that junk talk about him being unhappy with Dallas not having made him an offer yet] and I would be absolutely stunned if he wasn't re-signed. Marquis Daniels will be a restricted free agent and should earn a huge raise with his great rookie year - the Mavs should use what ever of the mid-level exception they need to re-sign him (the Mavs have not used their mid-level exception the past 2 seasons, so I don't want to hear about how they need to save that to get a good free agent). As disappointing as the season was, I'd still do both the Jamison and Walker trades in a heartbeat. The Mavs got talent and tradable assets for injured players. As for the game, it was a game of extreme ups and downs and great and poor play. The Mavs came out strong and Sacramento did not. Dallas then took their foot off the pedal and committed turnovers while Sacramento's 2nd unit plus Mike Bibby went nuts (Chris Webber did not play in the 2nd quarter). Then it was a tight 3rd quarter and first half of the 4th quarter. And then it was ugly ball to the end. There were only 6 points scored over the last 5:30 of the game as the teams combined to shot 3-18 FG and commit 5 turnovers. It's easy to say that Dallas did not execute down the stretch as they lost the game, but the Kings struggled just as much. Despite the poor finish, Sacramento still shot 52.7% (48-91) FG including 11-20 3-pointers. Dallas shot 46% (46-100) FG including 8-16 3-pointers. After missing 13 free throws in the last game, Dallas was perfect in shooting 18-18 FT. Sacramento shot 12-15 FT. Dallas out-rebounded Sacramento 49-36 including 16-6 offensive. Dallas committed 16 turnovers which Sacramento converted into 21 points and Sacramento committed 15 turnovers which Dallas turned into 15 points. The game also had a bizarre stretch of traveling calls - I think there were more traveling calls in the 4th quarter than I've seen all season. The Mavs and Kings had (somewhat legit) complaints about non-calls on their last plays, but very rarely will the refs make that call and it's up to the players to make the shots despite the contact - or even better, don't put themselves in a position where it comes down to a last shot. [I had much, much more of a complaint about the Christie charge called a Nash block (which resulted in a 3-point play, plus 1 more for a dumb technical) than the non-calls at the end.] No question who the hero was for Sacramento. Mike Bibby led the charge for the comeback in the 2nd quarter with 16 points and led the way in the 4th quarter with 12 points. He finished with 36 points including 14-23 FG and 6-8 3-pointers, 8 assists, and 5 steals. Peja Stojakovic had a relatively quiet 23 points including 10-17 FG and also had 10 rebounds. Rick Adelman got smart early and only played Vlade Divac 4 minutes - he has consistently shown that he struggles when facing the Mavs. As a result, Brad Miller played 44 minutes and had a strong game. He had 21 points including 10-14 FG, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Doug Christie struggled with his shot with 3-9 FG as part of his 13 points, but he also had 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Chris Webber was also quiet and struggled when he was out on the court. He had 13 points including 5-15 FG, 7 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Anthony Peeler only played 14 minutes and Darius Songaila played 12 minutes, but they both were part of the 2nd quarter comeback. Peeler had 3 points and Songaila had 8 points on 4-5 FG. Dallas basically went with a short 6-man rotation. Steve Nash had a solid game, but he was out-shined by Bibby's stellar performance. Nash had 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 14 assists. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man for Dallas with 31 points and played all 48 minutes. He also had 14 rebounds including 5 offensive and 4 blocks. Antoine Walker had a good outing and got the minutes as a result. He had 15 points and 13 rebounds including 4 offensive in 39 minutes - the most minutes he has played in a game since the end of February. Marquis Daniels again had a nice outing with 19 points and 6 rebounds. Antawn Jamison chipped in 17 points and 5 rebounds. Outside of 2 key 3-pointers, Michael Finley was pretty quiet with just 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in his 35 minutes. As a result of Walker's good play and Don Nelson going more with his veterans, Josh Howard only played 7 minutes. Eduardo Najera (2 minutes) and Shawn Bradley (less than 30 seconds) were the only other Mavs to get off the bench. Quotes Rick Adelman: "I guess that's the game that everyone's been waiting for between our 2 teams. The way we dropped behind early, we just kept coming back and coming back and staying with it. We just wanted to keep playing and put pressure on them. Neither team could get anything done in the last 3 minutes, it seemed like. So it just came down to 1 shot. I think Dallas played a great series. 3 games could have went either way and we were just fortunate enough to get the stops and win the 3 games." Adelman on Bibby: "Mike had it going. He was shooting the ball really well. He was very aggressive with his game. We needed it. Both teams. Nowitzki had it going. Nash had it going. It was one of those games that I think is great for the league and TV to see a game like that." Adelman on the traveling calls: "I don't know what you want me to say. I said I don't understand it. It's not called all year long, why are we calling it now? Players can't adjust that quickly. I'm just glad they made 1 on them too, or 2 I guess. What are you going to do. I'm just glad we won." Adelman on his lineup in the 2nd half: "I tried to win the game. I mean, there's all parts of the game. That 2nd quarter, Darius and Anthony cam in, and Brad, and they did a great job getting us back. But when you're in a game like this, your main guys are going to win this game for you. That's the way it was. I wasn't worried about anybody being tired or anything like that. Everything is on the line. I see Nowitzki plays 48, probably a reason for that. Those guys were fine. They felt good. And those are the ones who are going to take us to the next round and they did." Adelman on Stojakovic: "I thought Peja was good the whole game at both ends of the court. He was a key guy against this team because of the stuff they do. he can guard Finley, which he did. He can guard Nash on the switch. He's going to guard Nowitzki on the post up. He's going to be involved with all those people. He's always played well against this team defensively. he's always found a way to be affective. So just give him credit. I think he's going to want a recount for the All-Defensive teams." Adelman on the 4th quarter: "I thought we tightened up defensively tonight. We had opportunities down the stretch. We just didn't convert anything. And they didn't convert anything either, thank goodness, except that one tip in by Nowitzki. But we were getting what we wanted to get. We tried about 5 or 6 different things. Either we were going to switch a lot of things, we were trying to go inside to guys, trying to get Mike isolated. I thought he made a great play at the end there. I thought he drove and tried to create contact and no foul was called, just like it was on the last possession. But he did the right thing. We have a lot of different things we can do. They made it tough on us. That's why I say to people around the court, I just don't get it. These 2 teams, we're pretty good offensive teams and both teams really competed at the defensive end. They really tried to make it difficult. But both teams tonight were shooting the ball very well." Adelman: "I thought we were doing pretty well at the start of the 4th quarter and they just kept knocking shot after shot. And it wasn't just one guy, it was Nash, Nowitzki, Finley, Jamison hit a 3 from the corner. Then suddenly I think it just tightened up. I think even offensively you get down to those last possessions and everything gets a little more difficult and everything tightens up and it gets tougher to make open shots." Adelman on his timeout after Dallas' hot start: "We told them to expect that they're going to throw their best game at us. They're going to make shots. They're going to attack us at the basket. They're going to come all out trying to get themselves going. Sometimes you can talk like that, but they're the ones who are playing like the 7th game. We just didn't react well enough. I just told them, you got to build possession by possession. You can't get it all back at once. This is a long game. What you have got to do is you got to get back and try to make them play a half court offense and settle down at our offensive end. And we just needed to settle down. They really had it on fire. And then the latter part of the 1st quarter, they missed some and then they had a little stretch. But then in the 2nd quarter, we turned it back around." Adelman on the 2nd quarter lineup: "They were very, very active, I just think. They were attacking the ball. They were filling in defensively. I think we had our hands on about 5 or 6 balls and let us go the other way. That group just really got active defensively, so that's why I just went with them. I was just going to let them ride, 'cause we had a really good run. We had a whole half to go and these guys were playing so well, it was just a momentum thing. That aggression was there in that 2nd quarter." Peja Stojakovic on Nowitzki's last shot: "I just hoped he would miss it. Everybody had been making shots all night, so there wasn't much we could do. We just tried to score more points than them." Stojakovic on the last play: "We expected they were going to go to Dirk or [Nash]. I knocked the ball from his hand a little bit. On the shot, I did disturb him, but I didn't touch his shooting hand." Mike Bibby: "It was a tough game for us. We started out a little slow. But I kept telling everybody we don't want to go back to Dallas. So everybody kept fighting. We had a good 2nd quarter and we just kept fighting." Bibby: "I just wanted to do what ever it takes to win. We started out slow. I just tried to be aggressive in the 2nd half. When Chris went to the bench, I just took it upon myself to be aggressive." Bibby: "The most thing, I was trying to be aggressive. I wasn't that aggressive in the 1st quarter. When Webb went to the bench, I felt I had to make stuff happen for myself and my teammates. The shot was going in so I just kept putting them up because they were going in." Bibby: "You have games like that. You got to take the good with the bad. I'm going to take this, go spend [time] with my family, go have dinner. Hopefully the next one is just as good." Bibby on what was going through his mind during his hot streak: "Nothing really. I was just trying to bring the team back. I think that got the energy going for us. Once I start hitting some shots, our energy picked up. We were playing out there. We weren't thinking, we were playing. I think we play better when we just play." Bibby on Dallas' early large lead: "Basketball is a game of runs. It doesn't matter when yours is going to come. They started off hot, we started off slow. The 2nd quarter it was opposite." Bibby: "We knew we were playing at home. Sometimes the crowd was so loud I thought I was hearing whistles out there. The crowd was behind us. I was telling everybody, we don't want to go back to Dallas. Let's handle this today." Bibby on the 2nd quarter: "Shots were just going in for us. We made the stops. [Peeler] hit some shots. [something] Things were going good for us in the 2nd [quarter] and we caught back up." Bibby: "There were a lot of moving screens out there. It was a physical game." Doug Christie on Bibby: ""Mike just put us on his back and carried us. Wow. He was amazing." Brad Miller: "I'm real happy because this is my 4th time and this is my first time in the 2nd round. We got beat 3-1 one year, 4-2, 3-2, so it feels good just to get out of the 1st round and not going home in the first weekend of May and just keep playing. That's the best part." Miller [I think on his quarter ending 3-pointer]: "That's what everyone says, that's how coach draws it up. As long as it goes in. So it's just one of those shots. Just got a lot of confidence. Finally got feeling good, tonight was the first time in a couple of weeks really where nothing was really bothering me out there physically. So it was really nice to just be able to let it go and have confidence in it." Miller on his health: "It feels good. Before the series started, I had it shot up. You just got to play through the pain at this point. If you're not banged up a little bit, I don't think you've been playing too hard all year. Everybody's got a little nick-nacks. There is no pain out of it. And this guy [Bibby] shoots the hell out of it." Miller: "I think just going and having a good game is just the confidence. To be able to have it on the last game, on a close out game, something I've never been involved with since I haven't moved on. In terms of just being ready to play [next round], whatever. Let's just go. Enough of this. Coach is going to get us ready. They did a good job this series of breaking down a lot of tape and coming up with a plan that defensively slowed them down a lot and gave them a lot of trouble. Tonight they started to figure out how to score against it. But we hung on and then it was too late. Just be glad it's over and move on." Miller on the 2nd quarter: "Just staying with it. They hit 37 points and you know they can do that in a quarter very easily. Just stick with it. They get up 16. This is a team that doesn't get too worried about it, especially in the 1st half at home. We know we're not playing well. Just stick with it and hit the shots and keep doing what we do." Don Nelson: "Well, congratulations to the Kings. I thought it was a great basketball game. I thought it was a game in which we should of won, but we didn't. We had our opportunities. I thought all the games would be like this, that's why the series surprised me. But this one was really exciting basketball. I'm sure the league would love to bottle this and have everybody play this kind of basketball because it's super exciting. And it's a game that we should have won. Our inability to control Bibby, I think, was probably our demise. I thought he played an outstanding game. Not only did he score the ball, make the 3s, but also he rebounded and was the assist guy. So I thought he just played a marvelous game. Our game plan was solid and we got our offense clicking and then our defense wasn't as strong as the other games. But you have to take that along with the game of basketball and you have to accept those kind of things. And so anyway, they're going to move on and we're going to go home and try to improve our ball club from this point on and get stronger." Nelson on Bibby: "He's a hard guard for us. Certainly we try to concentrate on him, but we never got the job done. He's a terrific basketball player. I don't have to tell you about the strengths of this team. They're terrific and he's one of them." Nelson on coaching next season: "I have a 3 year contract. Of course. You've been listening to the talk shows too much. They have no idea what's going on." Nelson: "Well it's too bad. It's such a great game. We deserved to go to the free throw line on the last play. First of all, they had a foul to give. You know the strategy of the game, I'm sure coach Adelman told you that they were trying to foul. And he was fouled twice - one early, which we should have got the ball back, put them in the bonus and then they didn't call that one, and then in the act of shooting they fouled him a 2nd time, there was no call. I didn't have no control over that. But it's just a shame that something wasn't called there because they were intentionally fouling. And that's what they should have done, it was a great strategy. And what we tried to do to counter that was to make sure we were in the act of shooting when they fouled. And we were. It was just a call that wasn't called and we should be heading home and playing another great basketball game like this one. But instead we're going to go home and have nobody to play for a long period of time." Nelson on the last play: "We got exactly what we wanted. I think I told you what we were going to run before the game. It's a play we have a lot of success. We got the ball to our best player with one-on-one coverage in an area where he's going to either score or get fouled or have an awful good opportunity. We executed our play, got it in the right spot, and nothing was called. So we'll move on." Nelson on Najera not playing much: "If my guys are playing so good, i can't get them out of the game. That's the way I want everyone to play. Walker had one of those games tonight. He was sensational. I loved his game and there was just no time for Eddie. I tried him a little - in fact, I was going to play him in the 1st half but then they made a substitution and so I made one. But I thought Walker had a sensational basketball game." Nelson on Bibby: "We could not stop him. Not that he's ever been an easy guard for us, but what ever we tried to do, they countered. I thought the coaching staff did a great job because we changed our coverage to try to control him a little bit more. We blitzed him. We switched. It didn't matter. What ever we did, they countered. And a great passing team can do that. We played a heck of a game. We played an outstanding game. We played well enough to win here, and it's a tough win here. So I have no problems with the way my team played. I loved the way we played. I loved this game. I thought this was a great basketball game. Great for our league. Too bad we're not playing on, which we should be. But the other games weren't as good as this one. But I think this series if it could have gone on longer, you'd have some of the greatest basketball games played in the playoffs. This one was one of those. And I think the league should be proud of the game." Dirk Nowitzki: "I thought that was our problem all year long on the road: down the stretch we just couldn't find ways to win it. You know the year before we had 60 wins, down the stretch we had that confidence on the road that we were going to come up with that. I think the whole year this year we never had that confidence. We had it at home, but not on the road. It showed it in game 2. I thought we should've won that game here. And tonight again down the stretch we were just not executing well enough to win against a good team. On the road, therefore it was a frustrating game for us. I can't even believe the season's over now." Nowitzki on the last shot: "First of all, I thought [Stojakovic] fouled me. They had a foul to give on the slap down. 'cause they had a foul to give and so he was really aggressive and I thought he fouled me and they didn't call it. So the next thing you know, there were only a couple of seconds left and I had to get one up and I think to me it looked pretty good. I had a good fake and I had a good look at it and it just didn't go. So it's frustrating, but I don't think it should have ever came down to that play. I think we played phenomenal in the 1st half. Next thing you know, we have a lead of like 15 and we lose a lead from like 15 points in like a minute or 2. That's been our problem all year. We can't hold any leads on the road. To me that was the biggest key. That 2nd quarter, they scored like 40 points and shot like 75%. That right there, we can't give so many points up in a playoff game. To me that was a key to why we lost." Nowitzki on the final play: "I thought I still had a good look at it today though. Regardless of what you guys think, I think that's a shot that I can make. He was so all over me, but I think that's a tough shot that I can execute. So I don't want to say anything more than that." Nowitzki: "I think we're losing the lead too quick. I think we should have been up 10, 12 points going into halftime. Then it would have been a difference game, but we just didn't." Nowitzki: "Of course it's unacceptable. We have so much talent on this team. It reflected, to me, the whole year. We never really seemed to get going. In January, I think, we won like 10 games in a row and I thought we were going to turn the corner a little bit, but the next thing you know, we lose a couple of games in a row. It just felt like we never really found our rhythm together as a team. It was a frustrating year. This exit, of course, is a tough one to take. I thought we had our chances in this series. So I'm very disappointed." Nowitzki on Nelson: "I love Nellie. I love to play in his system. I'd love for him to come back. He's been very supportive, especially of me, over the last 6 years. He really helped me bring my career along. I love to play for him. I love his system. We just got to find a way to be better defensively in Nellie's system. And then I think we'd still be having fun playing, but we'd win many more games. But I certainly hope he'll be back." Michael Finley: "This season and this series have been very disappointing. I said at the beginning of this series that whoever came out on the short end of the stick was going to be talking about how disappointing this year was. Unfortunately, it's us." Finley: "It's a disappointing closing to a disappointing series. We did everything good defensively and offensively. Again, the theme of this series is they made shots at the end and we didn't." Finley on the last play: "The refs didn't have the guts to call it at the end." Steve Nash on the strong start: "I think we might have made the mistake of playing the score instead of just continuing to play. Maybe we were complacent. There was a stretch where our pick-and-roll defense let us down and they were able to get on a run with a couple turnovers. It only took a few minutes and they were back in the game." Nash on Bibby: "Mike was outstanding. He had a great series. Neither one of us guarded each other much - I think to save energy. He really killed us. He made some big shots to get them back into the game. He made some shots down the stretch as well. It was a great game in a lot of ways and in the 4th quarter it kind of lost its flow. there was a whole bunch of calls out of no where, so it kind of lost its flow. So it was unfortunate, but the whole series was kind of unfortunate for us. We never got any breaks. We finally got a little momentum and we couldn't substain it." Nash on free agency: "I'm already thinking about it in some ways. I certainly am hoping that I can play with my teammates for the rest of my career. It's hard not to wonder what's going to happen and to be a little bit unsure of what's going to transpire. But we've played together, some of us - me, Dirk, Mike - for 6 years and I love these guys and I want to keep playing with them. In some ways, I think about it, but in other ways it will take care of itself when its time comes." Nash on the team: "I think pretty much the same way Dirk does. I don't know if we need to change personal or just need to change our identity in some way, but we need to be better defensively. We might need a few more role players. We got so much scoring ability and sometimes that doesn't add up to being more, unfortunately. Some games it's great and some games it was probably the reason we weren't really able to get rhythm. And maybe it will take more time. Maybe next year we'll find a rhythm. Or maybe it's just not the right formula. Who knows." Nash on Nelson: "I love playing for Nellie. We've come a long way with his leadership. We've accomplished a lot of things that people didn't really think we would when we all got to Dallas. He's as good of a coach and innovator as there is. It's sometimes, like last year, no one probably would have predicted the success we had. We were missing a lot of areas that most people thought would have us out a lot earlier, but we over came a lot of that. This year was kind of the opposite. Nellie's a great coach and he's someone who's taught me a lot and has aloud us to really grow and develop." Sacramento Kings 119, Dallas Mavericks 118 at Sacramento (April 29) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Sacramento 24 39 33 23 - 119 .521 .550 .527 .800 Dallas 37 29 30 22 - 118 .482 .500 .450 1.000 Halftime: Dallas 66-63 3rd Q: 96-96 Technicals: Darius Songaila 6:21 2nd (hanging on the rim), Don Nelson 1:34 3rd Refs: Bennett Salvatore, Greg Willard, Mike Callahan Attendance: 17,317 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Bobby Jackson (abdominal strain) Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Predrag Stojakovic 44 10-17 2-5 1-1 23 1-10 1 0 2 3 0 Chris Webber 35 5-15 0-0 3-5 13 1-7 4 5 1 2 1 Vlade Divac 4 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 0 0 2 0 1 Doug Christie 43 3-9 1-2 6-7 13 1-6 8 3 3 0 0 Mike Bibby 44 14-23 6-8 2-2 36 0-4 8 3 3 5 0 Brad Miller 44 10-14 1-2 0-0 21 1-5 6 1 3 1 2 Anthony Peeler 14 1-5 1-3 0-0 3 0-1 1 0 1 1 0 Darius Songaila 12 4-5 0-0 0-0 8 1-2 1 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 48-91 11-20 12-15 119 6-36 29 15 15 12 4 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 35 5-13 2-3 0-0 12 2-4 3 3 1 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 48 11-23 2-2 7-7 31 5-14 0 3 4 1 4 Antoine Walker 39 7-17 0-2 1-1 15 4-13 3 3 4 1 1 Marquis Daniels 37 7-12 1-2 4-4 19 2-6 3 1 0 2 1 Steve Nash 41 9-19 2-4 4-4 24 1-7 14 3 1 1 0 Antawn Jamison 30 7-15 1-3 2-2 17 2-5 0 3 4 1 1 Eduardo Najera 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Josh Howard 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 46-100 8-16 18-18 118 16-49 23 16 16 6 7 patricia