Dallas at New Orleans (December 16) Dallas went to New Orleans for their first game in the city since Hurricane Katrina hit. The Hornets were injury weakened as Peja Stojakovic, David West, and Bobby Jackson were out. Dallas scored the first 11 points of the game, but New Orleans then went on a 10-2 run to pull within 10-13 with 4:45 remaining. Dallas closed the quarter with an 11-4 run to take a 26-16 lead after 1. Josh Howard had 10 points. A long jumper by Devin Harris opened the 2nd quarter scoring, but the Hornets then scored the next 6 points to pull within 22-28 with 8:55 to go. Dallas led 38-31 with 3:05 left and Rasual Butler scored the next 5 points and Cedric Simmons kicked in a layup to tie the game at 38-38 with 1:25 to go. The game was tied 40-40 at the half. Butler had 11 points in the 2nd quarter. New Orleans shot 10-18 FG and Dallas shot 7-21 FG and the Hornets out-scored Dallas 24-14 in the 2nd quarter. A dunk by Tyson Chandler opened the 3rd quarter and gave the Hornets their first lead of the game. Dirk Nowitzki then scored the next 6 points to retake the lead and a dunk by Erick Dampier gave Dallas a 48-42 lead with 9:30 remaining. A dunk by Butler pulled New Orleans within 51-54 with 5:30 left, but Dallas closed the quarter with a 16-7 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Devean George near the quarter buzzer, to go up 70-58 after 3. Nowitzki had 13 points in the 3rd quarter. Dallas out-scored New Orleans 30-18 in the 3rd quarter. New Orleans scored the first 4 points of the 4th quarter as Dallas was cold and didn't score their first points of the quarter until Nowitzki hit a jumper to give Dallas a 72-62 lead with 7:35 to go. Consecutive buckets inside by Marc Jackson and a free throw by Jackson pulled New Orleans within 69-74 with 6 minutes to go. Jason Terry hit a jumper, but Chris Paul nailed a 3-pointer to make it a 4-point game with 5:45 remaining. But Dallas then went on an 8-2 mini-run to go up 84-74 with 1:30 left. Paul got a quick layup 9 seconds later. Dallas turned the ball over and Butler hit 1-2 FT to pull New Orleans within 77-84 with 35 seconds to go, but Howard found Erick Dampier on the break 2 seconds later to give Dallas a comfortable 9-point lead. After a layup by Paul with 27 seconds left, Dallas connected on 4 straight free throws to cap the scoring. Dallas won 90-79. It wasn't a pretty game as both teams struggled with their shooting in the 4th quarter (Dallas 7-20 FG, New Orleans 9-24 FG), but Dallas controlled the boards to help them to the win. Dallas out-rebounded New Orleans 50-39 including 11-5 offensive. Although Dallas did not dominate the game, New Orleans only held the lead once (42-40 early in the 3rd). For the game, Dallas shot 42.5% (37-87) FG including 6-16 3-pointers and New Orleans shot 41% (34-83) FG including 3-10 3-pointers. Neither team went to the line much and Dallas shot 10-11 FT and New Orleans shot 8-13 FT. It was Dallas' 19th straight win vs the Hornets (dating back to their Charlotte days). Josh Howard was the high man for Dallas with 23 points. He also had 8 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki struggled in the 1st half where he had just 2 point on 1-9 FG, but picked it up in the 2nd half where he had 18 points including 8-11 FG. Jason Terry also struggled with his shot as he shot 5-16 FG including 0-3 3-pointers as part of his 12 points. He did contribute in other ways as he had 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Jason Terry had 13 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists. Erick Dampier had 8 points and 9 rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse returned to action after missing the previous 4 games with a strained groin. Stack struggled with just 2 points on 1-7 FG. DeSagana Diop had 2 points on 1-4 FG and 7 rebounds. Devean George had 5 points and 3 rebounds and Greg Buckner had 4 points. Chris Paul had a stellar game with 30 points including 14-23 FG, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists. 11 of his points came in the 4th quarter. Rasual Butler had a nice outing with 19 points and 3 steals. Marc Jackson was the only other Hornet in double-digits with 13 points. Quotes Avery Johnson: "Tonight was a pretty interesting game. It was a game of waves. We held them down in the 1st and the 3rd quarters, and they held us down in the 2nd quarter. Fortunately, they didn't have any offensive rebounds in the 1st half. Marc Jackson burned us a little bit in the 2nd half with some offensive rebounds that were turned into 2nd chance points, but we were able to hold them off. Josh had 2 big shots for us and Dirk was moving the ball. There was a stretch in there were Stack was moving the ball and they just made some big plays for us. This was a tough grind it out game for us. Chris Paul had an exceptional night. We had a tough time containing him. We needed to win this game by any means necessary and I'm glad we were able to pull it out." Dirk Nowitzki: "We're a team that has a lot of options on offense and obviously that's the way we got to the finals. You can't be a 1-man team if you go to the finals. You have to spread it around and attack from a lot of angles and that's what we did tonight." Nowitzki: "At halftime, I know that my team has confidence in me and they want me to keep shooting when I'm open. I never make excuses. I have sinus infections all the time and I know how to play through them." Jerry Stackhouse: "We did what we had to do. They're a dangerous team to play. They're capable of making runs as any team in the NBA. Overall, the experience, the skill, and the depth just wore them down. I think they'll be a lot better after Christmas, but for now, they just have to weather the storm with so many pieces out." Stackhouse on his return from injury: "I had looks that I felt I should have made. I was 1-7, but I felt better then that. The big thing was getting back into the rhythm. Avery said I was going to play 18 minutes, and when I looked at the stat sheet, I played 18 exactly." Byron Scott: "We had a couple of situations where we had miscommunication or no communication at all that allowed them to get some easy looks at the basket in the 3rd quarter and that's where they got their momentum going. It's real hard against this team to climb back. They have so many good offensive players. They're not going to go on a drought long, so you can't go on a drought long. That's basically what happened in that 3rd quarter." Scott: "I told the guys that the one thing that they were doing, being a veteran team, is that they were coming down and making sure that every time they would get a good shot and move the ball around, 3 or 4 passes. We were coming down 1 pass, shot. That's something that we addressed. We had to get better shots. We had to move the ball better and make harder cuts. At that point in time, I think it was like a 4 or 6 point game and they went right back on another mini-run. You're just kind of climbing up hill the rest of the game." Scott: "I thought the effort was great. I thought we played hard. We battled, but against a team like this when you're short handed, you can't make the mental mistakes that we made in the 1st half and 2nd half. They're so good and they're going to capitalize. That's basically what happened." Rasual Butler on Paul: "CP plays hard every night, whether it shows up on the stat sheet or not. He is our General and does that job well." Butler: "We're trying to find a way to get it done. Personally, I think I missed too many easy looks. I'm trying to be more efficient. We made a few more mistakes on the defensive end than we needed to against a real good team. Each time we made a mistake, they made us pay for it. We can beat any team on any given night, though." Tyson Chandler: "We did not lay down. We fought real hard. We were scrappy. We were in it the entire game, but they just had more firepower than us and they executed at the end. We're playing with guys that are not accustomed to playing with each other. It seems that we have a different starting 5 every game." Dallas Mavericks 90, New Orleans Hornets 79 at New Orleans (December 16) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 26 14 30 20 - 90 .437 .375 .425 .909 New Orleans 16 24 18 21 - 79 .425 .300 .410 .615 Halftime: 40-40 3rd Q: Dallas 70-58 Technicals: Tyson Chandler (grabbing net) 5:00 2nd, Tyson Chandler (not ejected) 1:45 4th, Jason Terry 0:37 4th Refs: Steve Javie, Monty McCutchen, Zach Zarba Attendance: 16,331 (cap 17,200) Did not play due to injury: Bobby Jackson (cracked rib) IL: Dallas - Anthony Johnson, Jose Juan Barea, Pops Mensah-Bonsu New Orleans - Peja Stojakovic, David West Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jason Terry 39 5-16 0-3 2-2 12 1-7 6 1 3 0 0 Devin Harris 32 6-11 0-0 1-1 13 1-3 4 3 3 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 41 9-20 1-2 1-2 20 2-10 5 2 1 0 0 Josh Howard 39 7-14 3-5 6-6 23 3-8 2 2 4 1 3 Erick Dampier 28 4-7 0-0 0-0 8 1-9 1 1 2 0 0 DeSagana Diop 20 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 2-7 0 0 3 0 1 Jerry Stackhouse 18 1-7 1-3 0-0 3 0-3 1 0 0 1 0 Devean George 15 2-5 1-3 0-0 5 1-3 0 0 1 0 0 Greg Buckner 8 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Maurice Ager 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 37-87 6-16 10-11 90 11-50 19 10 17 3 4 New Orleans Hornets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Chris Paul 48 14-23 1-1 1-3 30 0-12 8 2 2 0 0 Desmond Mason 40 2-8 0-0 2-4 6 0-3 3 1 2 1 0 Cedric Simmons 17 1-6 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 Rasual Butler 40 8-21 1-3 2-2 19 1-4 0 0 2 3 2 Tyson Chandler 33 2-2 0-0 0-1 4 0-6 0 1 2 0 1 Jannero Pargo 30 2-10 1-6 0-0 5 1-5 3 1 0 1 0 Marc Jackson 18 5-10 0-0 3-3 13 3-5 1 1 4 0 1 Linton Johnson 14 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0-4 1 1 1 1 0 Totals 48 34-83 3-10 8-13 79 5-39 16 7 15 6 4 Dallas at Sacramento (December 18) Dallas jumped on the Kings hard and quick in going up 19-4 with 6:30 remaining. A jumper by Mike Bibby would pulled Sacramento within 13-23 with 3:40 to go, but Dallas then went on a 10-3 run to go up 33-16 with 30 seconds left. A layup by Ron Artest capped the quarter scoring. Dallas led 33-18 after 1. Josh Howard had 14 points. Dallas shot 14-19 FG and Sacramento shot 6-24 FG. Sacramento scored 6 straight points to again pulled within 10 points at 26-36 with 7:10 remaining, but could not get within single-digits. Howard scored the last 4 points of the quarter to give Dallas a 54-40 lead at the half. Dallas shot 54% FG and Sacramento shot 36% FG in the half. Dallas led 56-42 with 11:40 to go and the Kings made a push in going on a 10-2 run to pull within 52-58 with 7:10 remaining. A jumper by Dirk Nowitzki and 3-pointer by Howard gave Dallas a 69-56 lead with 4:20 left. Sacramento hit 5 straight free throws to again pull within 6 points at 65-71 with 1:30 left. The teams traded buckets inside and Greg Buckner hit a jumper and Jason Terry nailed a 3-pointer to cap the quarter scoring. Dallas led 78-67 after 3. John Salmons opened the 4th quarter with a layup, but a 3-pointer by Buckner then kicked off a 21-8 run to give Dallas a commanding 99-77 lead with 4:50 remaining. Sacramento would not challenge the rest of the way. Dallas won 109-91. Dallas played a fairly good game and out-scored Sacramento in 3 of the 4 quarters (and were only out-scored 27-24 in the 3rd quarter). Dallas shot 52.5% (42-80) FG including 9-22 3-pointers and Sacramento shot 39.8% (33-83) FG including 1-8 3-pointers. The Kings went to the line more in shooting 24-32 FT while Dallas shot 16-19 FT. With all their misses, Sacramento have an edge on the rebounds at 42-39 and had a high number of offensive boards in out-rebounded Dallas 18-7 offensive. It was a 3-headed attack by Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki had a double-double with 29 points including 12-17 FG and 13 rebounds. Josh Howard had 28 points including 12-16 FG, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. And Jason Terry had 22 points including 4-7 3-pointers and 6 assists. Greg Buckner had a very nice game in chipping in 14 points off the bench. The centers battled foul trouble. Erick Dampier had 1 point on 0-3 FG and 1-2 FT and 7 rebounds and 5 fouls. DeSagana Diop missed a quarter ending 3-point attempt (his only shot attempt) and had 2 rebounds and 5 fouls. Devin Harris only had 7 points including 2-6 FG, but contributed in other ways with 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Devean George had 4 points on 2-7 FG and Jerry Stackhouse had 2 points including 1-5 FG. Kenny Thomas had a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds including 8 offensive. Brad Miller was the Kings' high man with 19 points. Ron Artest had 14 points. Mike Bibby struggled with just 10 points including 3-12 FG. He had 6 assists and 3 turnovers. Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 15 points off the bench. Quotes Dirk Nowitzki: "We've just been playing well together, and everybody is really shooting well. Josh is amazing, too. He's been getting off to hot starts like that one almost every night. It's been really fun to watch him growing up in this league." Josh Howard: "That was just about me playing my game, and I think my guys feed off me. [Artest] is a great defender, so I just try to maximize any opportunity he gives you." Eric Musselman: "They're an excellent ballclub. They played well in Dallas against us in the 1st quarter, and they came out again and got us in the 1st quarter tonight. They're great athletes." John Salmons: "If we want to be an elite team and a competing playoff team, we need to win these games. Just because we've been playing good teams doesn't mean we can't win. Going 1-3 isn't a good stretch for us." Dallas Mavericks 109, Sacramento Kings 91 at Sacramento (December 18) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 33 21 24 31 - 109 .569 .409 .525 .842 Sacramento 18 22 27 24 - 91 .427 .125 .398 .750 Halftime: Dallas 54-40 3rd Q: Dallas 78-67 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 1:30 1st, Mike Bibby 3:30 2nd Flagrant fouls: Brad miller (level 1) 5:34 3rd Refs: Danny Crawford, Jason Phillips, Courtney Kirkland Attendance: 17,317 (sellout) IL: Dallas - Anthony Johnson, Maurice Ager, Pops Mensah-Bonsu Sacramento - Kevin Martin, Vitaly Potapenko Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Devin Harris 28 2-6 0-0 3-3 7 1-5 6 0 1 3 0 Jason Terry 34 7-14 4-7 4-4 22 0-2 6 2 3 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 37 12-17 1-3 4-5 29 1-13 2 2 2 1 1 Josh Howard 35 12-16 3-5 1-1 28 0-5 1 0 2 3 2 Erick Dampier 32 0-3 0-0 1-2 1 2-7 1 1 5 0 0 Jerry Stackhouse 23 1-5 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 2 1 1 0 0 Greg Buckner 20 5-9 1-3 3-4 14 0-2 1 2 3 0 0 DeSagana Diop 14 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1-2 0 1 5 0 1 Devean George 10 2-7 0-2 0-0 4 1-1 0 1 1 0 0 Austin Croshere 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 DJ Mbenga 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 2 0 1 0 0 J.J. Barea 3 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 42-80 9-22 16-19 109 7-39 22 11 25 8 4 Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Mike Bibby 35 3-12 0-1 4-5 10 0-2 6 3 3 1 0 John Salmons 38 2-8 0-2 3-3 7 1-3 1 1 2 1 2 Kenny Thomas 34 7-13 0-0 1-2 15 8-15 0 3 1 0 0 Ron Artest 37 5-12 1-3 3-4 14 2-4 2 1 3 0 0 Brad Miller 33 8-15 0-0 3-4 19 4-6 3 4 4 0 0 Shareef Abdur-Rahim 25 5-11 0-0 5-8 15 0-3 0 0 2 0 0 Francisco Garcia 14 0-2 0-1 2-2 2 0-3 1 1 2 1 0 Corliss Williamson 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 Jason Hart 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 1 0 0 0 0 Ronnie Price 4 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Quincy Douby 4 1-3 0-1 1-2 3 1-1 1 0 0 0 0 Maurice Taylor 3 0-0 0-0 2-2 2 0-0 1 0 0 1 0 Totals 48 33-83 1-8 24-32 91 18-42 16 13 17 4 2 patricia