The NBA named Dirk Nowitzki and Gilbert Arenas (Was) as Players of the Week. Nowitzki averaged 34.7 points and 12 rebounds as Dallas went 2-1. Arenas averaged 25.7 points and 5.3 assists as Washington went 3-0. On Friday, Dallas traded Dan Dickau and a 2005 2nd round draft pick to New Orleans for Darrell Armstrong. The move gives Dallas a legitimate 3rd point guard (and insurance in case Jason Terry or Devin Harris gets injured) and didn't cost the team much. New Orleans said that they wanted to give their younger points more playing time, but it was probably more of a little bit of a money saving move with a team that is not going to do anything this season. Dickau earns $893,400 this season and Armstrong earns $2,275,000 this season and both are in the final year of their contract. Dallas used the trade exception they received in this summer's Antoine Walker trade to make the deal work. Utah at Dallas (December 4) Utah jumped out to an early 8-2 lead 2 minutes into the game and held a small lead for the next 5 minutes. Utah led 18-15 with 3:30 remaining and Dallas scored the next 8 points to go up 23-18 with 1:30 left. Dallas led 24-20 after 1. Josh Howard had 10 points. Dallas led 28-23 with 10:45 to go and Utah scored the next 8 points to go up 31-28 with 8:45 remaining. The game stayed close the rest of the quarter with neither team holding more than a 2 point lead over the next 7 minutes. Dallas closed the half with an 8-1 run to go up 47-41 at the half. Utah shot 50% FG and Dallas shot 44% FG, but Dallas out-rebounded the Jazz 23-14 including 8-1 offensive. Dallas continued to hold a single-digit lead in the 3rd quarter, but could not pull away as their largest lead was just 7 points. Dallas closed the quarter with a 7-2 run to go up 75-68 after 3. Matt Harpring warmed up and had 13 points on 6-6 FG in the quarter after having just 6 points in the 1st half. Dirk Nowitzki opened the 4th quarter with a jumper to kick off an 8-1 run and Dallas went up 83-69 with 9:40 left. Howard Eisley ended Dallas' run with a 3-pointer, but Jason Terry answered with a 3-pointer on Dallas' next possession and Utah would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the game. Dallas closed the game with an 8-2 run to put the final margin in the 20s. Dallas won 109-86. Not only did Dallas push the ball (32 fast break points), but they passed the ball (25 assists). Add that to out-rebounding Utah 44-28 including 14-4 offensive and you have a good recipe for a win. Dallas held a small lead at the end of each quarter and out-scored Utah 34-18 in the 4th quarter as Dallas shot 10-16 FG and Utah shot 7-18 FG (39% after shooting 50% in each of the first 3 quarters) in the 4th quarter. Both teams were turnover prone with Dallas having 18 turnovers and Utah having 22 turnovers. Dallas shot 46.8% (37-79) FG including 7-12 3-pointers and Utah shot 50.7% (38-75) FG including 2-8 3-pointers. Dallas shot 28-32 FT and Utah shot 8-13 FT. It was a balanced game for the Mavs as 4 players had 17 or more points. Dirk Nowitzki led the way with 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Jason Terry had a very solid game with 19 points including 4-4 3-pointers, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals. Jerry Stackhouse had 18 points. Josh Howard had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds including 4 offensive. Marquis Daniels had 10 points including 3-9 FG, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and an impressive 6 steals. His numbers again do not show it, but Erick Dampier played well in limiting Carlos Boozer. Damp had 6 points on 3-7 FG, 9 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 8 turnovers. Devin Harris played 12 minutes and had 6 points on 3-3 FG. Shawn Bradley played 3 1/2 minutes at the start of the 4th quarter and played well in manning the middle of the zone defense as Dallas out-scored Utah 13-6. Darrell Armstrong made his Mavs debut and was forcing things. He made 2 free throws during garbage time to get on the board after missing 4 shots - he played 5 minutes during the 2nd quarter and missed 3 shots. On the other hand, Utah did not have a balanced game as only 3 players were in double-digits. Matt Harpring was the high man with 22 points (13 points in the 3rd quarter) including 10-15 FG and 5 rebounds. Carlos Arroyo had 16 points and 6 assists. And Gordan Giricek had 10 points. Carlos Boozer had averaged 20.8 points and 9.9 rebounds going into the game and only had 8 points including 3-9 FG and 2 rebounds in the game. He did have 6 assists. Quotes Don Nelson: "This was a game that I thought would be tough and they played us tough for 3 quarters. They did a great job of hanging in there. I thought we were the dominant team, but we couldn't pull away from them for a long time. Finally we started making some shots and our defense held true. The numbers will speak for themselves." Nelson: "I thought Dampier did a good job on Boozer. They needed a big game out of him to win. We gave Damp the assignment to hold him down and he did a marvelous job on the defensive end. Everyone else did a good job of ball movement. We finally got our assist total up to where it's supposed to be." Nelson on Dampier: "He's had 2 really good defensive efforts in a row. He struggled a little bit on the offensive end with the turnovers, but he made up on the defensive end." Nelson on if Nowitzki will stay as the league scoring leader: "I wouldn't want him to, really. What you look for is more of a well-rounded team. You can have a guy who can dominate and score a lot. But if someone gets 30 every night, it's not better for the team normally." Dirk Nowitzki: "They got whatever they wanted in the 1st quarter. We got things under control with our zone at the end of the 3rd and kept the pressure up on them." Nowitzki: "Our fastbreak game hasn't been there all year. We've rebounded the ball well and haven't got anything out of it. Pushing the ball and getting easy baskets is our style of play." Nowitzki on his scoring: "I've been being more aggressive. I have to find a way to be effective when my jumper's not going." Nowitzki: "I get a lot of shots with Mike out. Right now I'm just trying to be aggressive and seeing what it takes for us to win. My jumper is a lot better. I've got to find ways to be effective." Jerry Stackhouse on the high assists: "We missed some easy opportunities, so I think everybody probably could have had a couple more assists. Whenever we have a nice assist total it normally reflects a good win for us." Stackhouse on at least 20 assists being the goal: "That should be a benchmark for us to try to shoot for. But it's not every night that we're going to get assists like that, because some nights guys just don't have it going." Stackhouse: "Dirk will give us 25 to 30 points every night. If he doesn't have that, we think he's not doing something right." Jason Terry: "I was playing the tempo I wanted the game to be at. We've got point guards who can really run. Dirk can run the floor and guys can get up and down." Terry on the run at the end of the 3rd quarter: "That was big. Defensively, we talked about it at halftime that we needed to come out with some energy. Utah is a team that thrives off of loose balls and creating a tempo that they want to play and we didn't allow them to do that. We made it extremely difficult for them in the half court set in the 2nd half to get what they wanted. A lot of their shots were contested and got steals and rebounded." Terry on the high assists: "It was up-and-down; it was get out in the lane; it was make the extra pass. All that together allowed us to make a lot of assists. And guys were ready - catch and shoot. Guys had easy layups, the things you need to get assists in this league." Terry on the bench scoring 40 points: "That's why they brought us here. If the game's not going quite the way we want it, it's our job to come in and create a tempo that will make us successful. We did that tonight." Terry on if it was his best game: "It definitely was because I was playing the tempo I wanted the game to be at and I've got to give credit to the training staff. They've been doing an excellent job of getting me ready. [The ankle] feels better and better every game. The more it gets better, the more you'll see me jetting up and down the court, getting in the lane and creating things for other people and that's my game." Josh Howard on the win: "It's kind of hard to pinpoint any one thing. Everyone played well. We didn't want Utah to hang around in the 4th quarter, because we know they could sneak up and beat us." Shawn Bradley on 32 fast break points: "We talked about that before the game. We wanted to run. We've got some point guards here that are very fast and really can push the ball and when we do that, that's to our benefit. Dirk can run the floor and guys can get up and down. We call them the twins in Josh and Marquis and they can run just as good as anyone in the league. When we push the ball good things happen for us." Bradley: "There was some ball movement, but it was smart ball movement. We've moved the ball before and let them get deflections and turnovers, but we made the easy pass tonight and got open shot from it." Jerry Sloan: "They just wore us out with their fast break. We played about as selfishly as you can play. The 1st group came out and just started taking shots, then everyone else followed. The 2nd group kept us in the ballgame a little bit, but I've never seen our team play as selfishly as we did tonight. It seemed like whoever got the ball was going to shoot it in a hurry before someone else got it. We had plenty of scorers out there, but not enough basketballs out there." Sloan on his starters: "All we're trying to do is get guys to play hard so they can get better. They're playing like 10- or 12-year veterans who are trying to get traded. That's what they played like, that's what they looked like when they walked off the floor almost every timeout." Sloan on Dallas' defense: "They took us out of our offense. They zoned us and kept us from getting where we wanted to go. It almost looked like we were at half-speed there at times. We have to have some patience and intelligence and we didn't have either tonight." Sloan: "Matt shot well tonight but we've got to get someone to play defense if we want to win games." Sloan on changing his lineup (Okur and Bell were new starters): "I'll keep tinkering around a little bit, probably. All we're trying to do is get guys to play hard so they can get better." Sloan on Nowitzki: "He's a tough matchup for anyone. You have to play him and not sit back and let him do whatever he wants to do. You have to extend yourself and get better against him, since he's going to be around 10-15 years. If he keeps getting you for 30 a night, you have to play him better. Thats what competing is all about." Sloan on Nowitzki: "You've got to play him. That's how you get better - you don't come back and say, 'Well, I can't guard him. You better put somebody else on him.' You've got to extend yourself and hopefully you can get better each time, because he's going to be around for 10 or 15 years. If he gets you every time he sees you for about 50, one of these days you're going to say, 'Well, I've got to try to play the guy.' That's what competing is all about, not taking the attitude, 'Well, I better not get too close to him.'" Matt Harpring: "I think our start was good, we were up 8-2, but then I think the same issues we've been dealing with came out. We've got to make some stops. The last 2 minutes of the 1st half, they made a run and then they did the same thing at the end of the 3rd quarter. There were just some turnovers that either they forced or we gave them. Then they hit a few 3s and thats it. When you're on the road, you really have to watch the turnovers." Harpring: "Just a couple of turnovers. When you're on the road, you've really got to watch the turnovers. Teams are scoring 100 points on us pretty much every night. That can't happen if we want to be a good team. Definitely we can play harder. I don't think we're playing as hard as we need to play if we want to win in this league." Harpring: "There are times when you're losing that you get exposed. When you're winning, a lot of things are covered up and things are all good. Sometimes, the problems still remain when you're winning. When you're losing by a couple points, thats just a few plays here and there that make the difference." Raja Bell: "I wasn't doing the things I know I can do that will help this team win. It was a pretty poor first start of the season for me. I tried not to think about starting or coming off the bench, it's my job to come in and play whenever I'm in the game. I didn't get caught up in the start, it was just one of those things. I took some tough shots that I shouldn't have taken and dug myself a hole I couldn't get out of." Bell: "We have to play better defense. Teams are scoring a lot of points on us. We have to do the little things. We're out there trying to run the system, but its not happening. Very few people on our team are one-on-one players, so when people aren't playing within the team system, you're relegated to playing one-on-one again. I don't profess to be a one-on-one player, so I'm not going to be successful if that's how were going to play. Some guys who think they are one-on-one players, I say let's give them the ball every time down the court and well see how many points we score and well see how many games we win then." Mehmet Okur on starting: "I was little surprised, but I don't think it changes anything for me. I still have to play hard and do my job. We still have to play as a team." Dallas Mavericks 109, Utah Jazz 86 at Dallas (December 4) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 24 23 28 34 - 109 .448 .583 .468 .875 Utah 20 21 27 18 - 86 .537 .250 .507 .615 Halftime: Dallas 47-41 3rd Q: Dallas 75-68 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 8:29 4th Refs: Ken Mauer, Marc Davis, Tony Brown Attendance: 19,845 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Keith McLeod (strained groin) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 36 7-15 0-1 3-4 17 4-10 1 2 2 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 41 10-19 2-4 8-8 30 1-7 2 3 2 1 4 Erick Dampier 36 3-7 0-0 0-0 6 5-9 3 8 2 0 0 Marquis Daniels 27 3-9 0-0 4-5 10 3-6 6 0 2 6 0 Devin Harris 12 3-3 0-0 0-0 6 0-1 1 0 3 1 1 Jason Terry 31 6-9 4-4 3-4 19 0-5 9 2 3 4 0 Jerry Stackhouse 31 5-12 1-3 7-7 18 0-1 3 1 2 0 2 Calvin Booth 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Darrell Armstrong 8 0-4 0-0 2-2 2 0-1 0 1 0 0 1 Alan Henderson 9 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 0 2 0 0 Shawn Bradley 3 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-2 0 0 2 0 1 Totals 48 37-79 7-12 28-32 109 14-44 25 18 21 13 9 Utah Jazz REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Carlos Boozer 35 3-9 0-0 2-2 8 0-2 6 3 4 2 2 Matt Harpring 37 10-15 1-1 1-2 22 3-5 2 1 3 0 0 Mehmet Okur 28 4-8 0-0 0-0 8 0-5 2 1 1 1 0 Raja Bell 27 2-9 0-3 2-2 6 0-2 2 3 3 2 1 Carlos Arroyo 34 8-12 0-0 0-0 16 0-4 6 3 3 0 0 Jarron Collins 16 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 2 2 0 1 0 Kris Humphries 18 2-6 0-1 1-2 5 1-4 0 2 3 1 0 Gordan Giricek 23 5-8 0-2 0-1 10 0-2 2 2 3 0 0 Howard Eisley 14 2-5 1-1 0-0 5 0-4 2 2 1 0 0 Kirk Snyder 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 Aleksandar Radojevic 4 0-0 0-0 2-4 2 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-75 2-8 8-13 86 4-28 25 22 22 7 3 patricia