Marquis Daniels was feeling pain in his abdomen on Wednesday and went to the hospital on Thursday in Indiana. He flew back to Dallas on Friday and underwent an appendectomy. He will be out at least 6 days and may be out through the All-Star break (Feb 18-20). Don Nelson is expected to return to the bench for Tuesday's game vs Chicago. Avery Johnson had a record of 7-3 while filling in for him. Dallas at Indiana (February 4) Indiana was playing very shorthanded without Stephen Jackson (suspended), Jamaal Tinsley (foot injury) and Jeff Foster (sore back) and Dallas was without Marquis Daniels (appendectomy). Despite the talent advantage, Dallas laid an egg to start as Indiana scored the first 9 points of the game. Dallas finally got on the board by hitting 2 free throws with 9:50 remaining and didn't hit their first field goal until 3 1/2 minutes into the game as they missed their first 6 shots. Despite Dallas' poor start, the Pacers' largest lead was just 9 points and Dallas managed to pull within 4 points twice during the quarter. Indiana led 32-26 after 1. Indiana shot 57% FG including 4-5 3-pointers. Each team scored a bucket in the first 2 minutes of the 2nd quarter. Dallas scored 10 straight points, capped by a 3-pointer by Michael Finley, to go up 38-34 with 6:50 to go, but Indiana answered with an 11-2 run to go back up 45-40 with 3:45 left. Indiana continued to hold a single-digit lead the rest of the quarter. Indiana led 59-52 at the half. For the half, Indiana shot 54% FG and Dallas shot 47.7% FG. Dirk Nowitzki scored the first 5 points of the 3rd quarter, as the rest of the players missed 6 shots, to pull Dallas within 57-59 with 9:40 to go. Indiana again answered with a 9-2 run to take a 68-59 lead with 8 minutes left. A 3-pointer by Jerry Stackhouse pulled Dallas within 70-74 with 1:40 remaining, but Dallas wouldn't score again in the quarter and Indiana scored the last 4 points of the quarter to take a 78-70 lead after 3. 2 free throws by Jermaine O'Neal gave the Pacers a 85-74 lead with 8:26 to go, but the Pacers then went cold in shooting 1-9 FG over the next 6 minutes. Dallas used a 10-2 run to pull within 84-87 with 2:45 left. Anthony Johnson drained a 3-pointer to end Dallas' run and gave the Pacers a 6 point lead with 2:25 to go. Nowitzki hit 1-2 free throws, 2 Indiana misses surrounded a Dallas turnovers, and Nowitzki hit a jumper to pull Dallas within 87-90 with 50 seconds left. O'Neal missed with 35 seconds remaining and Nowitzki was fouled on the other end. He hit both free throws to make it a 1 point game with 23 seconds left. Austin Croshere was intentionally fouled, but he only hit 1-2 free throws [missed free throws being a theme in this game] and Nowitzki got the rebound and Dallas called timeout. Nowitzki missed a jumper with 12 seconds to go and Croshere was again intentionally fouled and this time he hit both free throws to give Indiana a 93-89 lead with 11 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Dallas inbounded to Finley and he passed it to Nowitzki, who nailed a 3-pointer. Johnson was fouled and he hit both free throws with 4 seconds left to make it a 3 point game. After Dallas' final timeout, the Mavs inbounded to Nowitzki and he was intentionally fouled before he could get a shot up. Nowitzki hit the first free throw and tried to miss the 2nd free throw, but it banked in. Indiana quickly inbounded the ball ahead and Dallas wasn't able to run down the player with the ball and time expired. Indiana won 95-94. It was a game that Dallas definitely did not deserve to win and they were lucky to have a shot to tie the game late in the game. They did not play with intensity and focus throughout the game and with Indiana missing such key players, that should not have happened. It is easy to place the loss purely on missed free throws, but there was more missing than just those free throws, starting with the points and their lack of defense. Avery Johnson was so unhappy with his point guard play that he played most of the 4th without a true point on the floor. Missed free throws were a factor as Dallas shot just 20-29 FT including 7-12 FT in the 4th quarter - and it wasn't the usual brickers as Erick Dampier made both of his, though Alan Henderson did shoot 1-4 FT, as Michael Finley missed 1, Jason Terry missed 1, Dirk Nowitzki missed 2, and Jerry Stackhouse missed 2 free throws. Indiana shot 24-28 FT including 7-8 FT in the 4th quarter (and it wasn't just Dallas with good free throw shooters missing as Reggie Miller missed both of his attempts). Neither team shot all that well as Indiana shot 41.9% (31-74) FG including 9-24 3-pointers (4-5 3-pointers in the 1st quarter) and Dallas shot 43.8% (35-80) FG including 4-10 3-pointers. Indiana only shot 4-18 FG in the 4th quarter. The largest lead of the game was just 11 points by Indiana and Dallas' largest lead was 2 points. It was Indiana's first win without point guard Jamaal Tinsley (lost 7 game where he did not play). No surprise that Jermaine O'Neal was the high man for Indiana, but a big surprise that Anthony Johnson had the 2nd most points for Indiana. O'Neal had 23 points and 9 rebounds. Johnson came into the game shooting a mere 35.4% FG and 4-26 3-pointers. In this game, he was a perfect 7-7 FG and 3-3 3-pointers and shot 4-5 FT for a total of 21 points - only 3 times this season had he broke double-digits scoring, with his previous high being just 13 points. And 21 points was 1 point lower than his career high. He also had 4 rebounds and 3 assists in his 31 minutes in filling in for Jamaal Tinsley. And he wasn't the only point guard that got off against Dallas as Eddie Gill had 7 points on 3-4 FG and 1-2 3-pointers in 16 minutes - Gill was shooting 36.7% FG prior to this game. Austin Croshere had 14 points and 6 rebounds and Fred Jones had 14 points including 3-12 FG, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists to join O'Neal and Johnson in double-digits scoring. Reggie Miller never found his shot and had 9 points including 4-11 FG and 1-6 3-pointers to go with his 5 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki tried to turn it on on the 4th quarter in scoring 13 of his 32 points. He shot 9-21 FG and 12-14 FT and had 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Jerry Stackhouse had 21 points, 2 rebounds, and no assists in 35 minutes. Michael Finley again struggled with his shot in shooting 5-15 FG. He had 13 points and 7 rebounds. Erick Dampier had his 4th straight double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds including 5 offensive. Jason Terry had 5 points and 3 assists in 21 minutes - the fewest minutes he has played since being inserted into the starting lineup on December 18. Alan Henderson was aggressive on the boards in his return to the area in which he grew up with 12 points. He also had 5 points and 3 steals. Quotes Rick Carlisle: "We got bad news before the game. We found out Jeff [Foster] couldn't play; but we had a lot of guys step up. The key to the game was we fought like crazy the entire game to get the win. It was a great win for us, especially against a quality team like Dallas. We had guys due to break out, like Anthony Johnson. He'd been struggling with illness and injuries and had just about a perfect game tonight offensively. He just had a real good feel for what was going on in this game. We had a late shot clock in the 4th quarter and he hit a huge 3. He did a lot of big things for us down the stretch. In this league if you play hard and unselfishly, you give yourself a chance to win; and that's what we did tonight. You've got to stop the bleeding. On paper, it didn't look like a great night to do it. Dallas had won 8 of 10 and we had lost 8 of 10. Our guys fought for this. They fought really hard." Carlisle on intentionally fouling Nowitzki: "Given what happened the previous possession, we knew it was going to him. Normally we don't do that; but in this case it made sense because he's a 7-footer who can rise up over the defender and hit the 3." Jermaine O'Neal: "It's a challenge for us every single night. We're short-handed every single night, and I think people seem to forget that. We wanted to come out and get a good start." Reggie Miller: "Well, right now we have a little Band-Aid on this, but we want to get the the wound fully healed. Hopefully, the wins can come in bunches, like the losses have lately." Anthony Johnson: "I think we were just playing with a high energy level, playing with a sense of urgency. We lost 6 in a row and it was time for us to step up and show what we are made of." Johnson on filling in for Tinsley: "Whenever you have a key guy out, it's important for the other guys to step up in their place. Tonight was my chance to step up and try to help get a win. I just took my time and used the screens I had to knock down some open shots." Johnson: "Dallas is not known for their defense, and there were going to be opportunities out there tonight. I haven't been shooting the ball well and I felt like it was finally coming around the corner." Johnson: "We have struggled of late and it was not the points that mattered to me tonight. This was a big game and we knew we had to have it. Losing was not a possibility. The one possession losses that we've had in the last few games have really stuck with us. This was big and we all had to step up and I think the man upstairs blessed me tonight." Johnson: "I hope this is a turnaround game for me, personally. For the team, until you string a couple of wins together, you're not sure if you've turned the corner or not. We're still under .500. We're still out of a playoff spot. It's going to be a dogfight the rest of the way." Austin Croshere on intentionally fouling Nowitzki: "He had cut me off, so we figured that that was going to happen again with a little variation, so I stayed with him the best I could to keep defense on him. It turned out okay. This was a total team effort and we had energy left whereas the previous couple of games, when we needed it, we didn't seem to have it. We didn't want to let up and when they got back in the game we put pressure on the ball and let things run as Coach Carlisle told us." Avery Johnson: "That was a tough loss for us tonight. I have to give them credit. Anthony Johnson probably played his best game of the year. I thought us Johnsons stuck together; but he must have come from the wrong side of the family [laughing] (the 2 are not related). We couldn't find any kind of combination that worked until late in the game. This is a real disappointing loss; I hope [the players] feel the same way about it. The 1st quarter really set the tone. We were down 10-0, so our backs were against the wall early." Dirk Nowitzki: "They scored like 60 points in the 1st half. With the team they had out there, that's embarrassing." Nowitzki on a jumper near the end: "When it left my hand it looked pretty good. I guess it was a little long. It was right on target." Nowitzki on his last free throw that he tried to miss: "I tried to get a lucky bounce. It was that kind of night." Michael Finley on the free throw shooting: "That's an easy way to find an excuse. We just didn't execute as well as we needed to tonight. Indiana played inspired basketball being undermanned. Their guys made big shots." Jerry Stackhouse: "We missed too many free throws - that was the game right there. I think we missed 10 of them. That is a tough thing to take, not being able to find a rhythm at the line. Offensively, you expect to be out of sync on some nights. Tonight was one of those. But if you're going to be out of sync, you better shoot well at the line." Stackhouse on Indiana: "You have to give them credit; all of those guys have experience. Anthony Johnson is a guy with playoff experience. Fred Jones has gotten some in the past year. They helped them tonight. They were trying to protect their home court and they did what they had to do." Jason Terry: "They came out with more energy than us; but we fought back. The free throw line was defiantly the story of the game. We're definitely going to shake it off and move on to the next game." Terry on the missed free throws: "I missed one too. There wasn't just one person that was missing them, it was everybody." Terry on Anthony Johnson: "He stepped up out there. He played well tonight. He knew he was going to play with Jamaal Tinsley being out and he did a great job for them. He's a heck of a player." Alan Henderson on his good game: "I wanted to get a win. If I'd have made a couple of my free throws, maybe we would have." Indiana Pacers 95, Dallas Mavericks 94 at Indiana (February 4) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Indiana 32 27 19 17 - 95 .440 .375 .419 .857 Dallas 26 26 18 24 - 94 .443 .400 .438 .690 Halftime: Indiana 59-52 3rd Q: Indiana 78-70 Technicals: Josh Howard 9:00 3rd, Rick Carlisle 6:14 4th Refs: Gary Zielinski, Greg Willard, Violet Palmer Attendance: 16,739 (cap 18,345) Did not play due to injury: Stephen Jackson (suspended), Jamaal Tinsley (bruised left foot), Jeff Foster (strained lower back), Marquis Daniels (abdominal pain) Indiana Pacers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK James Jones 31 1-7 1-5 2-2 5 2-6 2 4 3 3 2 Austin Croshere 36 3-7 1-4 7-8 14 2-6 2 2 2 0 0 Jermaine O'Neal 38 9-24 0-0 5-5 23 1-9 2 2 5 0 0 Reggie Miller 32 4-11 1-6 0-2 9 1-5 3 0 1 2 1 Anthony Johnson 31 7-7 3-3 4-5 21 2-4 3 2 4 1 0 Fred Jones 34 3-12 2-4 6-6 14 0-6 5 1 1 1 0 Eddie Gill 16 3-4 1-2 0-0 7 1-4 0 1 1 1 0 Scot Pollard 17 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 0 0 4 1 0 David Harrison 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 31-74 9-24 24-28 95 10-42 17 13 21 9 3 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 29 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 1-1 0 2 5 1 1 Dirk Nowitzki 40 9-21 2-3 12-14 32 1-7 4 1 2 2 0 Erick Dampier 27 5-9 0-0 2-2 12 5-14 1 1 4 1 0 Michael Finley 43 5-15 1-3 2-3 13 1-7 4 0 2 0 0 Jason Terry 21 2-4 0-0 1-2 5 0-0 3 2 2 1 0 Jerry Stackhouse 35 9-17 1-4 2-4 21 0-2 0 1 3 0 0 Devin Harris 13 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2-2 1 2 2 0 0 Alan Henderson 20 2-4 0-0 1-4 5 3-12 1 2 1 3 1 Shawn Bradley 7 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 0 0 2 0 0 Darrell Armstrong 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 35-80 4-10 20-29 94 14-48 15 12 24 8 2 Dallas at Toronto (February 6) The game stayed close early on with neither team holding more than a 5 point lead in the first half of the quarter. Jerry Stackhouse got 2 buckets and a dunk by Josh Howard gave Dallas a 21-12 lead with 4:25 to go. Dallas led 32-24 after 1. Howard had 10 points and Chris Bosh had 12 points. Dallas continued to hold a single-digit lead in the 2nd quarter. A 3-pointer by Donyell Marshall pulled the Raptors within 41-46 with 6 minutes to go. Dallas then rattled off the next 9 points to go up 55-41 with 3 minutes remaining. Dallas was called for a 24 second violation with 3 seconds to go, but Howard stole the inbounds and got the dunk before the quarter ended. Dallas led 65-52 at the half. Dirk Nowitzki had 12 points in the 2nd quarter. Dallas shot 61% FG and Toronto shot 47.5% FG in the 1st half. Dallas scored 10 straight points, capped by a 3-pointer by Michael Finley, to go up 82-59 with 6:30 left. Dallas took their largest lead on a dunk by Erick Dampier to go up 90-65 with 4:15 to go. The comeback kids turned it on again and Toronto went on a 16-3 run to close the quarter, capped by a layup by Rafer Alston as the quarter ended. Dallas led 93-81 after 3. Dallas shot 11-12 FG over the first 8 minutes of the 3rd quarter and shot just 1-7 FG the rest of the quarter. Toronto continued their run by scoring the first 7 points of the 4th quarter and it was a new ballgame as Dallas' lead was down to 93-88 with 10:45 remaining. Dallas did keep their lead between 5 and 11 points over the next 9 minutes. Jerry Stackhouse left the game with 8:25 left with a strained groin and did not return. The Mavs led 114-103 with 2:50 to go and Toronto went on an 8-1 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Morris Peterson, to pull within 111-115 with 1:20 left. Nowitzki drove baseline and was called for an offensive foul with 1:05 to go. Bosh drove at the other end, but slipped and was called for traveling with 57 seconds remaining. Dallas ran some time off the clock and Jason Terry's 3-pointer put the nail in the coffin in giving Dallas a 118-111 lead with 36 seconds remaining. Dallas won 122-113. It was disappointing that Dallas let Toronto back in the game after going up by 25 points, but that has been Toronto's trend lately. The Raptors won their last 2 games after being down 22 points and 19 points. Though Dallas did not play great defense, Toronto played worse. Dallas shot 60.3% (47-78) FG including 6-16 3-pointers and Toronto shot 51.9% (41-79) FG including 12-22 3-pointers. Dallas again struggled at the line in missing 10 free throws, though 6 came from poor shooter Erick Dampier, as the Mavs shot 22-32 FT while Toronto shot 19-21 FT - with both misses coming in the 4th quarter. Dallas had a slight rebounding edge in out-rebounding Toronto 38-33 including 9-8 offensive. Dallas had 13 turnovers which Toronto converted into 18 points and Toronto had 17 turnovers which Dallas converted into 26 points. Toronto only led once in the game at 4-3 3 minutes into the game. Once again, Dallas was led by Dirk Nowitzki, but it wasn't a solo outing as Dallas had 6 other players also in double-digits scoring. Nowitzki had a solid all around game with 30 points including 13-22 FG, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 blocks. 10 of his points came in the 4th quarter. Michael Finley stepped up in the 2nd half, where he scored 19 of his 23 points. He shot 9-14 FG and had 4 rebounds and 5 assists. 10 of Josh Howard's 18 points came in the 1st quarter. He shot 8-12 FG and had 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Jason Terry had a much better outing than his previous game. He had 15 points including 6-8 FG and 11 assists. Erick Dampier had his 5th straight double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse had 11 points in 16 minutes before leaving with his injury. And Devin Harris had 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in 16 minutes. It was a rare quiet outing for Alan Henderson as he had just 2 points and 1 rebound in 11 minutes. Chris Bosh had a solid outing, but his team fell short of the comeback. Bosh had 29 points including 13-14 FT and 8 rebounds before fouling out in the last seconds of the game. Jalen Rose had 22 points [and is a dirty player - I couldn't believe all the holding, pushing, and grabbing the refs were letting him get away with]. Morris Peterson was the 3rd Raptor with 20+ points with 21 points including 3-4 3-pointers. He also had 4 rebounds and 4 assists. And Donyell Marshall was just under the 20 point barrier with 19 points on 7-9 FG and 5-6 3-pointers to go with his 6 rebounds. Rafael Araujo started, but only played 13 minutes as Marshall got most of his minutes. Rafer Alston had 13 points, 8 assists, and 5 steals. Quotes Avery Johnson on Toronto's comeback: "I guess that's Toronto's pattern. They let you get up and feel good about yourself and get down by 20 and then they show you the real team. You have to take your hat off to them. We had them down really big and they fought back and fought back. We saw it against Indiana and we saw it against Washington. I guess the guys didn't believe me, that's just me being a coach and talking crazy. We tried to support it with some film. I think they thought the guys in the Toronto uniforms were impersonators. We finally got the message, held them off and you have to take your hat off to our guys. We talked about being persistent before the game and we were persistent. It was a good win for us." Johnson on the poor free throw shooting: "Yes, but we'll take 32 free throws [attempts] any time. We got our guys to the line, that's something we talked about in our film sessions. Normally if we get 32 free throws, we'll make between 28 to 32 of them. We didn't shoot free throws well in Indiana, so we'll just keep getting there and that's what I'm hoping." Johnson on Finley: "His stroke hasn't been there the past couple of games and he made some shots for us at the right times. He's a veteran and a pro and we needed him to come through for us because Stack ended up getting hurt for a minute and couldn't finish the game. So Mike really came through big for us. It was good to see one of the veteran players step up." Johnson: "Dirk and Damp, they're really a sweet combination right now on that front line. Damp's been eating glass every game." Johnson on his coaching stint: "I want to thank coach Nelson and Mark [Cuban] for this opportunity. I just want to thank them, but also I really want to thank [assistants] Larry Riley, Charlie Parker, and Del Harris for their assistance. It hasn't really been about me. It's about us as a staff. Going on the road, eating dinner and lunches, and spending all of Mark's money. So I've enjoyed that part." Dirk Nowitzki: "I thought they made a great run at us. You know, they've got plenty of shooters out there and that's how they've been coming back. They spread the floor, make those big 3s, and they've got good players. They made a hell of a run but I think we stayed tough and got the couple of stops we needed, and offensively we kept executing. Offensively, we pretty much got what we wanted all night long. We shot 60% from the floor - that really doesn't happen very much. I think offensively we did fine, just on defense we let down a bit and we made a couple of turnovers. The next thing you know, they're right back in the game. I think it was a good win for us, especially after just losing at Indiana, so we've got to move on." Nowitzki: "I tried to be aggressive early. Next thing you now, I had 2 fouls and I had to sit down and that was frustrating. I had to watch the 1st quarter from the side and came back in and was lucky to get 1 or 2 [shots] going right away. That usually helps to find your rhythm quickly, and just stay aggressive all night. Since last week I haven't really been shooting the ball well. I had a couple of outings that weren't really what I was looking for so it was good to be back in the groove and hopefully I can keep it up for the next couple of games." Nowitzki on Toronto's comeback: "We talked about it in the timeouts - don't relax, keep on them. But I guess it's easier said than done." Nowitzki: "We got to take it to another level. We've been eliminated from the playoffs early the last couple of years and it was because of our defense. But if we want to get to the next level we've got to get the stops, especially down the stretch in the 4th quarter." Michael Finley: "Tonight they needed me to pick up my scoring. This wasn't a [game] for me to be in a so called slump. I just wanted to be aggressive and make things happen." Jerry Stackhouse on his injury: "I've been having a little tightness in my groin from the injury I had in the Clippers game a couple of weeks ago. I just drove the lane and got it in that spot and it felt like a little pull or something. Hopefully, I'll just take care of it the next couple of days and be ready for Tuesday." Jason Terry: "Finley is a catalyst for us. In order for us to be a good team, we have to get Fin going early so we can get a rhythm on how we play. When he knocks down shots, there is just no one out there that you can just leave. So he is key for us, and he played big tonight. His strength is just catch-and-shoot and taking advantage of smaller defenders on a mismatch. He's great player for us and like I said, he is the key." Terry on game clinching 3-pointer: "Very fortunate play for me, because I'm coming off the pick-and-roll, I find Dirk, and it was a bad pass to him. It just bounced around, bounced around, and it came back to me. It was a blessing I knocked it down." Erick Dampier: "Dirk is looking for me more, and I'm just trying to keep playing the way I have. We had a lot of new players with this team. We knew we had a lot of talent, but the team chemistry is a lot better now." Josh Howard on Toronto's comeback: "They didn't quit. We didn't believe [Johnson saying they could comeback] until it happened." Sam Mitchell: "They just had good defense. I thought we were better when we started trapping, but we got overextended. The problem with their team is, when we were trapping, you get overextended and when you're down 8 or 9 points and you are trapping you have to leave a Jason Terry and Michael Finley open for a 3. Now you have to hope they miss shots. Every time you need a big shot you are going to give up things when you have to trap and rotate a lot. We put ourselves in that position early where we had to scramble and maybe we're better and we'll do more of that, but it's just tough. It's tough for our big guys because they're our best rebounders and when we have to trap with those guys it puts them out of rebounding position. Then we started getting killed on the boards, it's just kind of a catch-22. If we trap we do a better job on the perimeter but then we open up the offensive glass. If we don't trap then guys are getting in the lane on us. In the last 4 or 5 games, we just had breakdowns. We work on defense everyday." Mitchell on defense: "The last 4 or 5 games ... we've just had a lot of breakdowns. The only thing I know is to keep working ... maybe before the season is over we'll get it right." Mitchell: "Every time we do something everyone wants to change the starting lineup. We scored 113 points, why would you want to do that? For what, to score 100? We weren't down because we couldn't score." Mitchell on the 1st half: "Chris Bosh had some fouls; we were trying to save him. It's basketball, you bring guys in and out, I don't understand what rotations - other guys playing on the floor - has to do with defense. We are all supposedly doing the same thing." Chris Bosh on getting down so big: "I think it's figuring out a better way to play defense on the guys. Because, after a while, the way we scheme things, we don't execute as well as we can. After a while, we figured we would figure out this is how they are doing, so this is how we are going to do it. The 2nd half was better." Bosh on the 4th quarter comeback: "We were almost there - we were down by 4 and unfortunately I slipped under the basket." Bosh on defending Nowitzki: "It's a little easier for me because I'm a little longer and quicker than some guys who have to guard him. But you're not going to stop him from shooting and you're not going to block his shot. All you can do is contest his shot and hope he misses some." Bosh on defending Howard: "A couple of times, people were telling me I've got to send him to the middle. I send him to the middle - dunk. Stuff like that can't happen ... I'd rather give him a contested jump shot than force him one way and nobody is there to help me when they say they will." Bosh on his strong performance: "I don't care, we didn't win." Bosh on his game: "Geez, you have a game like that and your team usually wins. I don't know, maybe I don't need to be scoring that many points. Maybe I need to look at the whole thing a little more." Bosh on figuring out the defense during the game: "Well it's a good thing. I'm making a positive out of a negative. If we put 2 halves together, we can make a serious run, and that's what it is all about - putting 2 halves together. Of course we are playing badly in the 1st half, but at the beginning [of the season] it was the 3rd quarter and now it's the whole half. We have to come out and make sure we are focused and more prepared." Jalen Rose on the run being too late: "It's only a problem I guess when you lose. We were playing with fire and any time you spot teams double-digit leads, especially at halftime, that is tough to overcome. You have to play perfect basketball to get back into the game. A team like Dallas is game for that because they want to get up and down and score points. They have multiple guys that can get hot at different points in the game. You give those guys that type of lead, like you saw today, even when we are back in the game, they are 1 or 2 shots away from opening the lead back up and that's basically what happened." Rose: "Defense starts in the paint and just the presence of guys that understand it, that they can't drive in there and get layups and get offensive rebounds and things of that nature. Offensive rebounds and layups, what they do is they demoralize your defense and allow you to help, sink in so much to give help, that it leaves guys open for jump shots. Defense starts in 2 places - in the paint and on the ball." Rafer Alston on the comebacks: "It's amazing. You blink and we're down 20 points and you blink again and we're down 4. It's amazing the intensity that we put up when we get down by so much. We should do something, spot them 18-0 and then roll out the ball and go from there." Dallas Mavericks 122, Toronto Raptors 113 at Toronto (February 6) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 32 33 28 29 - 122 .661 .375 .603 .688 Toronto 24 28 29 32 - 113 .509 .545 .519 .905 Halftime: Dallas 65-52 3rd Q: Dallas 93-81 Technicals: Sam Mitchell 11:01 3rd Refs: Mike Callahan, James Capers, Zach Zarba Attendance: 17,896 (cap 19,800) Did not play due to injury: Marquis Daniels (appendectomy) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 41 9-14 2-6 3-3 23 1-4 5 1 0 1 0 Jason Terry 36 6-8 2-2 1-2 15 0-1 11 2 4 1 0 Josh Howard 44 8-12 1-2 1-2 18 0-4 4 1 4 3 0 Dirk Nowitzki 39 13-22 0-2 4-4 30 1-11 6 3 4 0 4 Erick Dampier 36 5-9 0-0 3-9 13 4-12 0 0 5 2 1 Devin Harris 16 2-4 1-3 5-6 10 1-3 3 3 1 0 0 Jerry Stackhouse 16 4-8 0-1 3-4 11 1-2 0 1 1 1 0 Alan Henderson 11 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 1-1 0 0 1 0 0 Darrell Armstrong 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 47-78 6-16 22-32 122 9-38 29 13 20 8 5 Toronto Raptors REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rafer Alston 37 6-16 1-3 0-0 13 1-2 8 2 4 5 0 Morris Peterson 36 8-15 3-4 2-2 21 1-4 4 1 4 2 0 Jalen Rose 42 9-17 3-7 1-1 22 0-4 1 6 3 0 0 Chris Bosh 38 8-12 0-0 13-14 29 3-8 3 2 6 0 0 Rafael Araujo 13 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-5 1 0 3 0 0 Donyell Marshall 35 7-9 5-6 0-0 19 2-6 3 1 1 0 0 Milt Palacio 17 2-3 0-0 3-4 7 0-1 5 2 2 0 0 Matt Bonner 11 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Lamond Murray 6 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 1-1 0 1 1 0 0 Eric Williams 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 1 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 41-79 12-22 19-21 113 8-33 26 17 26 7 0 patricia