Reports are that Jerry Stackhouse and Kirk Snyder (Uta) got in a fist fight after the Dallas-Utah game on the ramp that leads to where the the Jazz' bus was and the players' cars are parked. No word yet as to what prompted the fight and the Mavs and league are investigating. Reports are the Snyder received the worst of it and was bloodied. After their investigation, the league will likely hand down suspensions for both players as they usually do in such situations, no matter who instigated the fight. The league's response will likely come down today, before Dallas' game vs Memphis tonight, as the league tends to hand down fines and suspensions before the next game of any player involved. Avery Johnson told the Fort Worth Star Telegram that he has signed his new coaching contract with the Mavs. The deal is reportedly a 4 year, $10 million contract with the 1st 3 years guaranteed and the 4th would become guaranteed if Dallas achieves certain goals. The contract starts with next season and runs (for the 4 years) through 08-09. Utah at Dallas (April 9) Not only was Utah missing 4 key players (Raja Bell and Curtis Borchardt out with injuries in addition to Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer being on IR), but it was the 2nd night of a back-to-back for the struggling Jazz. Dallas spotted Utah the first 4 points of the game, but the Mavs then went on an 11-2 run to go up 11-6 with 7 minutes remaining. Dallas held a small lead over most of the rest of the quarter, with none larger than 5 points. Kirk Snyder hit 2 free throws in the final seconds of the quarter to tie the game. The game was tied 23-23 after 1. The game was again tied at 28-28 with 9:10 left and Dallas went on a 12-2 run to go up 40-30 with 5:10 to go. Utah scored 6 straight points to pull within 40-44 with 1:55 remaining, but Dallas scored the last 4 points of the quarter. Dallas led 48-40 at the half. Dallas shot 47% FG and Utah shot 42% FG. After Dirk Nowitzki got a layup in the first minute of the 3rd quarter, Utah then scored the next 6 points to pull within 46-50 with 8:40 to go. Dallas then went on a 14-2 run to go up 64-48 with 4:30 remaining. 2 free throws by Darrell Armstrong gave Dallas their largest lead at 68-51 with 2:30 left. 2 free throws by Kris Humphries were all the points scored over the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 68-53 after 3. Dallas out-scored Utah 20-13 in the 3rd quarter as the Jazz shot just 3-14 FG. But Utah did not give up and Dallas started missing shots. After the teams traded 2 points in the first minute of the 4th quarter, Utah then went on a 16-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Howard Eisley, to pull within 71-72 with 5:20 remaining, as Dallas shot 1-9 FG and committed 4 turnovers during the run. So instead of an easy win, Dallas had a fight to the finish. Jason Terry did end the Jazz run by answering Eisley's 3-pointer with a 3-pointer of his own, which kicked off a Dallas 7-2 mini-run to give Dallas a 79-73 lead with 3:45 left. Mehmet Okur got a putback and Snyder nailed a 3-pointer to again make it a 1 point game at 78-79 with 2:55 to go. The teams traded 2 free throws over the next minute. Then the teams traded misses. Dallas missed on 2 shots, but got the offensive rebound both times and called timeout with a little over a minute remaining. Dallas passed the ball around well and Jason Terry found a wide open Josh Howard under the basket and he got the layup to give Dallas a 3 point lead with 55 seconds left. Nowitzki stripped Okur inside and Okur thought he was fouled and stupidly over-complained to the refs and he got a technical - his 2nd of the game, so not only did he make it a 2 possession game (Dallas made the free throw T) with 45 seconds left but he took himself out of the game and the Jazz lost a player who was playing well. Dallas ran some time off the clock and Nowitzki fed Keith Van Horn for the layup with 21 seconds to go to give Dallas a 86-80 lead. Dallas won 88-81. I had a feeling this was going to be a tight one with Dallas coming off such a high from the blowout over San Antonio in the previous game and Utah usually putting up a tough fight with Jerry Sloan in charge. Despite losing focus early in the 4th quarter, Dallas was able to hang on and pull out the win. It wasn't a pretty game throughout with lots of whistles blown (62 overall, as the refs made it clear early on that they were going to call almost any contact offensive fouls and the Jazz players were slow to adjust and Luis Grillo seemed to have his own agenda with certain players). Dallas shot 27-38 FT (it would have been an easier game if they hadn't struggled so at the line) and Utah shot 28-33 FT. From the field, Dallas shot 41.8% (28-67) FG including 5-12 3-pointers and Utah shot 37.3% (25-67) FG including 3-8 3-pointers. Before the Jazz 4th quarter run, Dallas did a real good job on defense with most of Utah's shots coming with less than 5 seconds left on the shot clock and getting a couple of shot clock violations. With the win, Dallas is guaranteed homecourt advantage in the 1st round as the Mavs can finish no lower than 4th in the Western Conference (there is still a slim chance of Dallas moving up by having a better record than San Antonio (the only way Dallas can move up as the top 3 seeds go to division winners), but Dallas will be locked into 4th with San Antonio's next win or Dallas' next loss). It was again a balanced outing for Dallas with 5 players in double-digits. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 24 points. He had a solid all around game with 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 blocks in 40 minutes. Jason Terry had 14 points including 3-4 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists. Michael Finley had 13 points and just 1 rebound. Erick Dampier got popped in the mouth during the 1st quarter and had to leave to get 3 stitches on his chin, but he was able to return later. He had 10 points and 5 rebounds including 3 offensive in 27 minutes. Josh Howard had a very poor outing as he couldn't buy a bucket until Terry found him wide open late in the game. He had 8 points including 2-11 3-pointers. He did have 6 rebounds including 3 offensive and 4 steals. Keith Van Horn chipped in 10 points on 5-7 FG in 13 minutes off the bench. Jerry Stackhouse had 6 points including 1-5 FG, 1 rebound, 3 assists, and 4 turnovers in 21 minutes. Utah also had 5 players in double-digits. Kris Humphries had 15 points and 9 rebounds including 4 offensive. Mehmet Okur had 14 points, 7 rebounds including 4 offensive, and 4 assists before his dumb ejection. Gordan Giricek had 12 points and 3 steals. Matt Harpring had 10 points including 2-7 FG and 9 rebounds. Kirk Snyder had 12 points. Quotes Avery Johnson: "Obviously, this game was a struggle for us. I've been in situations like this before. I've seen coaches scream and holler and kick chairs to get the guys ready to play. Sometimes, it takes a close game in the 4th quarter for you to wake up. I told the guys that's what they got themselves into, but at the same time they won the game." Johnson: "I applaud our guys for really gutting this game out and executing down the stretch." Johnson on Nowitzki: "I like it whenever he has 5 or more assists. He was mad when I took him out in the 1st half. He played 40 minutes ... I'm glad he had some energy at the end of the game because we needed it." Johnson on the recent homecourt success: "The minute they start thinking we've got some prosperity at home, we have a letdown," Dirk Nowitzki: "I'm not happy with my performance, especially in the 4th quarter. I missed some shots that there's no way I should have missed. We ran a couple of plays for me and I didn't perform the way I wanted to. I'm not really that happy today, but there's another day tomorrow." Nowitzki on the play where Okur got his 2nd technical: "I thought I swiped down on the ball and it went off his leg. That's why I was walking the other way. I don't know what he was complaining about. I thought I hit all ball, but you know how players are. He might have said something in his native language to the ref." Nowitzki on getting homecourt: "We got what we wanted. Now we have to focus ourselves so we can get our game where we want." Jason Terry on Nowitzki: "He's our go-to scorer, those other things are just intangibles. But when he does [those other things], that just makes us tougher to beat." Terry on his 3-pointer in the 4th quarter: "We needed a bucket. Fortunately [Howard] kicked it out. I was right there spotted up ready to do what I do." Terry on getting homecourt: "It's good. It's good for the fans in Dallas and we definitely need it because we know we can win on the road, but it's good to be in a homecourt advantage. We've had some struggles at home, but down the stretch we've been playing well at home. We are confident." Keith Van Horn: "I know they've been hit by injuries, but that team is going to play hard." Jerry Sloan on his rookies: "They did okay. They're learning some things. They've got to learn all the way. ... Anybody can play 46 [minutes] - the last 2 minutes, that's when you've got to be able to compete, and know what to do, and not make mistakes. It's not like, 'I forgot.'" Sloan on Snyder leaving Howard to double Nowitzki late in the game: "We've never told a guy, in 80-some games that we've been playing, to double out on the perimeter. I asked my coaches, and they didn't tell [Snyder] that either." Sloan: "You still have to be able to understand what we're doing. We felt sorry for ourselves, came back, and lost ourselves on the defensive end of the floor. Those are huge mistakes for you, and that's the thing that players have to learn - it doesn't make any difference what happened, you've got to go forward." Sloan: "You forget where you're supposed to go offensively, you forget where you're supposed to go defensively. Those things cause you problems. That's the thing, there's always opportunities in this business if you want to win." Sloan on Okur picking up his 2nd technical: "If he thinks we're better with him sitting on the bench than on the floor, that's where he should be. I can't make that decision for him because he's already done it. I can talk to him about it, but he has to be man enough where if they foul you get right back and compete again. That's what I've always said." Okur on his ejection: "I just blew up because they didn't call anything. I didn't control myself." Kris Humphries: "It's not good enough just to be in the game. We want to win. We put ourselves in a good position and competed hard, but it's still an L in the paper either way - lose by 1 or lose by 20." Humphries: "You can't really look at stuff from an individual standpoint. We competed, but as a team, it wasn't good enough. We just have to work harder defensively as a team." Kurt Snyder: "You don't [care] about how you got there. You just worry about how we finished." Dallas Mavericks 88, Utah Jazz 81 at Dallas (April 9) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 23 25 20 20 - 88 .418 .417 .418 .711 Utah 23 17 13 28 - 81 .373 .375 .373 .848 Halftime: Dallas 48-40 3rd Q: Dallas 68-53 Technicals: Mehmet Okur 0:41 1st, Jerry Sloan 0:41 1st, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 5:32 4th, Mehmet Okur (ejected) 0:43 4th Flagrants: Gordan Giricek 6:48 3rd Refs: Derrick Stafford, Ed Malloy, Luis Grillo Attendance: 20,387 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Raja Bell (bruised right leg), Curtis Borchardt (right patellar tendinitis) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 30 2-11 0-3 4-6 8 3-6 1 2 3 4 2 Dirk Nowitzki 40 8-15 1-1 7-9 24 2-9 5 2 3 0 5 Erick Dampier 27 3-5 0-0 4-6 10 3-5 1 2 2 0 1 Michael Finley 36 5-13 1-3 2-2 13 0-1 2 0 2 1 0 Jason Terry 35 4-8 3-4 3-5 14 2-3 4 2 4 0 1 Marquis Daniels 9 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Jerry Stackhouse 21 1-5 0-1 4-6 6 0-1 3 4 5 0 0 Devin Harris 9 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 2 1 1 1 Keith Van_Horn 13 5-7 0-0 0-0 10 1-3 1 2 2 1 0 Shawn Bradley 10 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-1 1 0 4 1 1 Alan Henderson 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-3 0 1 3 0 0 Darrell Armstrong 4 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 28-67 5-12 27-38 88 12-35 18 17 30 8 11 Utah Jazz REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Mehmet Okur 33 5-10 0-0 4-5 14 4-7 4 3 3 0 0 Matt Harpring 36 2-7 0-1 6-6 10 2-9 1 1 5 0 1 Jarron Collins 18 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 1-3 2 0 3 0 0 Randy Livingston 10 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 1 3 1 1 Gordan Giricek 32 5-13 0-1 2-2 12 0-2 1 2 3 3 0 Keith McLeod 31 2-9 0-1 4-4 8 0-4 4 6 2 2 1 Ben Handlogten 15 0-3 0-0 1-2 1 1-3 0 0 1 0 0 Kirk Snyder 24 3-7 2-3 4-4 12 1-2 1 2 3 0 0 Kris Humphries 29 5-10 0-0 5-8 15 4-9 1 1 5 1 1 Howard Eisley 12 1-2 1-2 0-0 3 0-0 1 3 4 1 0 Totals 48 25-67 3-8 28-33 81 13-39 15 22 32 8 4 patricia