The Western Conference coaches selected Dirk Nowitzki as an All-Star reserve. Somehow Josh Howard was not selected, but hopefully he will be selected when commissioner David Stern selects 2 replacements for the injured Yao Ming and Carlos Boozer. Sacramento at Dallas (January 27) The game stayed close early on and Sacramento led 12-11 with 5:45 left. Dallas then scored the next 7 points to go up 18-12 with 3:15 remaining. A 3-pointer by Ron Artest and jumper by Kevin Martin pulled Sacramento within 22-23 with a minutes to go. A guided in basket by DeSagana Diop with 5 seconds left capped the quarter scoring. Dallas led 25-22 after 1. Artest had 11 points. Both teams shot over 50% FG in the 1st quarter. Dirk Nowitzki scored the first 4 points of the 2nd quarter to give Dallas a 29-22 lead with 11:05 remaining. A 3-pointer by John Salmons pulled Sacramento within 34-37 with 7:35 left, but Dallas was able to hang on to a small lead. A layup by Corliss Williams pulled Sacramento within 42-44 with 4 minutes remaining, but Dallas was still able to hang on to a small lead. Dallas led 52-49 at the half. A bucket by Kenny Thomas opened the 3rd quarter, but Dallas then scored the next 4 points to go up 56-51 with 10:30 to go. But Sacramento went on a 7-2 mini-run to tie the game at 58-58 with 9:10 remaining. Nowitzki then scored the next 5 points. Dallas led 65-61 with 6:35 left and Sacramento went on an 11-3 run to go up 72-68 with 4:05 remaining. The Kings took their largest lead at 76-71 with 1:10 left on a dunk by Artest. Dallas did scored the next 4 points, but Kevin Martin hit a 3-pointer at the quarter buzzer to give Sacramento a 79-75 lead after 3. Martin had 11 points and Nowitzki had 11 points in the 3rd quarter. Both teams were still shooting over 50% FG. Dallas scored the first 7 points of the 4th quarter to go up 84-79 with 9:45 remaining. A 3-pointer by Nowitzki gave Dallas an 89-81 lead with 7:45 to go. A jumper by Brad Miller with 6:45 left was the Kings' first bucket of the 4th quarter (they had hit 4 free throws, though). Dallas led 97-89 with 4:10 left and Sacramento went on a 9-2 run to pull within 98-99 with 1:15 remaining as Dallas shot 1-8 FG during the run. Jason Terry drove for 2, but Mike Bibby answered with a jumper with 45 seconds to go. Nowitzki hit a jumper with 27 seconds remaining and Sacramento called timeout. Sacramento wasn't able to get off a quick shot and Martin missed and Jerry Stackhouse was intentionally fouled with 10 seconds left. He hit 1-2 FT to make it a 4 point game. Miller nailed a 3-pointer with 4 seconds remaining and Nowitzki was intentionally fouled with 3 seconds left (with Sacramento out of timeouts). Nowitzki hit both free throws to make it a 3 point game. The Mavs intentionally fouled Salmons before he was able to get off a shot and there was .5 seconds left. Salmons hit the first free throw and intentionally missed the 2nd free throw, but Devin Harris got the rebound and that was game. Dallas won 106-104. It wasn't an easy win, but it was a win. The Mavs' defense wasn't great throughout and they had a number of sloppy turnovers [still wanting the NBA to add unforced turnovers as a stat]. But the Mavs did just enough in this game to hang on to the win. Dallas shot 52.7% (39-74) FG including 6-13 3-pointers and Sacramento shot 52.6% (40-76) FG - but only shot 8-20 FG in the 4th quarter - including 6-13 3-pointers. Dallas shot 20-24 FT and Sacramento shot 20-27 FT. Dallas out-rebounded Sacramento 40-33 including 9-5 offensive. Dallas had 21 assists and 15 turnovers. Sacramento had 20 assists and 13 turnovers. Dirk Nowitzki had a great outing with 32 points on 11-18 FG and 8-8 FT, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. Josh Howard struggled some in shooting 6-15 FG. He had 13 points and 7 rebounds. Jason Terry had 18 points and a game high 7 assists. Devin Harris chipped in 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Jerry Stackhouse had a nice game off the bench with 16 points including 7-10 FG. Erick Dampier had 6 points on 2-2 FG and 2-4 FT and 4 rebounds in just 15 minutes as he picked up fouls early in each quarter. DeSagana Diop had 4 points on 2-2 FG and 3 rebounds in 24 minutes (he also had some foul trouble). Devean George had 3 points on 1-5 FG and 3 rebounds. That was basically the rotation. Greg Buckner played 4 minutes, Anthony Johnson played 3 1/2 minutes, and DJ Mbenga played 30 seconds and only Johnson attempted a shot (which he missed). Ron Artest led the way for Sacramento with 25 points including 10-15 FG. He also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers. Kevin Martin had 21 points and 6 rebounds. Corliss Williamson had a nice game off the bench with 20 points including 7-12 FG in 25 minutes. Mike Bibby was fairly quiet with just 12 points and 6 assists. Brad Miller was also quiet with just 7 points, but did have 10 rebounds. Quotes Avery Johnson: "This was a gutsy performance. It really showed me what these men are made of." Dirk Nowitzki: "In the 4th quarter we stepped up and got stops. We were able to get in the open court and that's where we're at our best. That's our game." Howard: "After we lose a game like we did in Chicago, we had to get over it and that's what we did tonight. It's a blessing that we have guys who are able to recover from losses." Jerry Stackhouse: "We were very disappointed with our overall effort in Chicago. We didn't have it. It's nice to get home and bounce back. It took us a while, but we protected our home court." Brad Miller: "It's still a loss. We went out there and played hard, but we made a couple of mistakes here and there and Dirk made some of those unguardable shots." Ron Artest: "We're not mad, but we don't accept it. We wanted to win but things haven't been going our way lately." Dallas Mavericks 106, Sacramento Kings 104 at Dallas (January 27) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 25 27 23 31 - 106 .557 .400 .526 .833 Sacramento 22 27 30 25 - 104 .541 .462 .527 .741 Halftime: Dallas 52-49 3rd Q: Sacramento 79-75 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 3:05 1st, Kenny Thomas 2:55 3rd Refs: Scott Foster, Gary Zielinski, Eric Lewis Attendance: 20,487 (sellout) IL: Dallas - Maurice Ager, J.J. Barea, Pops Mensah, Bonsu Sacramento - Vitaly Potapenko, Jason Hart Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Devin Harris 28 3-6 0-0 8-9 14 0-5 6 1 1 1 2 Jason Terry 38 8-17 2-5 0-0 18 0-3 7 3 2 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 40 11-18 2-3 8-8 32 2-11 5 1 3 0 0 Josh Howard 38 6-15 1-3 0-0 13 3-7 1 3 4 0 1 Erick Dampier 15 2-2 0-0 2-4 6 2-4 1 2 4 0 1 Jerry Stackhouse 25 7-10 0-1 2-3 16 0-2 1 1 0 1 0 DeSagana Diop 24 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 1-3 0 2 4 0 1 Devean George 24 1-5 1-3 0-0 3 1-3 0 1 2 3 1 Greg Buckner 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 2 0 0 Anthony Johnson 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 DJ Mbenga 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 40-76 6-15 20-24 106 9-40 21 15 22 6 6 Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Mike Bibby 33 6-12 0-4 0-0 12 0-1 6 4 0 1 0 Kevin Martin 41 7-14 2-5 5-6 21 1-6 1 0 3 0 0 Kenny Thomas 18 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 2-4 2 3 4 0 0 Ron Artest 38 10-15 2-2 3-6 25 0-6 3 3 4 3 0 Brad Miller 28 3-5 1-1 0-0 7 0-10 4 0 3 2 2 Corliss Williamson 25 7-12 0-0 6-7 20 1-2 1 1 4 1 0 Shareef Abdur-Rahim 20 2-4 0-0 3-4 7 0-1 2 1 1 0 0 John Salmons 20 1-2 1-1 1-2 4 0-2 0 0 1 0 0 Francisco Garcia 11 1-4 0-0 2-2 4 0-0 0 0 1 1 0 Quincy Douby 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 1 0 1 1 0 Totals 48 39-74 6-13 20-27 104 5-33 20 13 22 9 2 Seattle at Dallas (January 30) Josh Howard missed the game while waiting for the birth of his first child. The teams traded leads in the 1st quarter with neither team unable to take more than a 3 point lead, thus it was fitting that it was tied at 28-28 after 1. Dirk Nowitzki had 11 points and Ray Allen had 11 points (including a banked 3-pointer). The game remained close, but the 2nd quarter opened with Austin Croshere on the court and he started his surprising offensive outing with a 3-pointer 40 seconds into the quarter. A 3-point play by Allen gave Seattle a 40-39 lead with 7:55 left, but Dallas went on a 16-6 run, including 2 3-pointers by Croshere to give Dallas a 55-46 lead with 3:35 to go. 6 straight points by Dallas over a minute span gave Dallas a 64-51 lead with 10 seconds remaining. Earl Watson did end the mini-run with a 3-pointer and 2 free throws by Devin Harris capped the quarter scoring. Dallas led 66-54 at the half. Croshere had 11 points and Jason Terry had 10 points in the 2nd quarter. Dallas out-scored Seattle 38-26 in the 2nd quarter as Dallas shot 15-23 FG in the quarter including 5-10 3-pointers. Seattle scored the first 6 points to pull within 64-66 with 9:00 remaining as Dallas missed their first 6 shots (and Nowitzki was pulled 2 minutes into the quarter due to his poor defense). A jumper by Croshere gave Dallas their first basket of the quarter with 8:45 left. A 3-pointer by Croshere and layup by Greg Buckner gave Dallas a 76-68 lead with 7:15 to go, but Seattle scored the next 8 points to tie the game at 76-76 with 4:50 left. The game was again tied at 78-78 with 3:15 to go and Dallas closed the quarter with a 7-2 run. Dallas led 85-80 after 3. Allen had 10 points in the 3rd quarter. Johan Petro hit a jumper to open the 4th quarter, but Croshere then converted a 3-point play and hit another 3-pointer to give Dallas a 91-82 lead with 10:35 to go. Croshere hit a 3-pointer, Devin Harris got a layup, and a layup by Croshere gave Dallas a 104-88 lead with 6:44 to go - it was a 19-8 run by Dallas to open the quarter. Seattle would get no closer than 93-106 with 4:30 remaining and Dallas then scored the next 6 points. Croshere hit a 3-pointer with 1:20 left to set his career high at 34 points and he was then subbed out to a standing ovation. Dallas won 122-102. It was ironic that the win came so shortly after Avery Johnson felt slighted when Chicago coach Scott Skiles referred to Dallas as a jump shooting team. It was the jump shot - more specifically the 3-pointer - that won this game for Dallas. Pure and simple it was raining in the AAC. Dallas shot 5-6 3-pointers in the 4th quarter in out-scoring Seattle 37-22 in that quarter. For the game, Dallas shot 54.5% (42-77) FG including 12-23 3-pointers. Seattle shot 47.1% (41-87) FG including 4-13 3-pointers. Dallas also had an edge at the line in shooting 26-30 FT while Seattle shot 16-17 FT. Seattle did out-rebound Dallas 46-33 including 19-9 offensive - the Sonics were focused on going after the rebounds as Dallas out-rebounded Seattle 58-30 including 21-8 offensive in the last Dal-Sea matchup. Dallas had 25 assists and Seattle had 22 assists. The Mavs were really clean with the ball and only had 9 turnovers and Seattle had 15 turnovers. No question who the hero of the game was. Austin Croshere did not play, coach's decision in the previous 4 games. This game he not only played, but he excelled. Croshere had a career high 34 points on 11-14 FG, 7-10 3-pointers, and 5-5 FT. 18 of his points came in the 4th quarter. He also had 7 rebounds and 3 assists in 24 minutes. Lost with all the praise for Croshere's outstanding game was the great performance by Greg Buckner. Buck also had his shot going and had a season high 17 points including 8-11 FG. He also had 3 assists and 3 steals. Jason Terry chipped in 19 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists. Devin Harris had 16 points and 4 assists. Dirk Nowitzki struggled this night and never really got it going - but wasn't need with Croshere's performance. Nowitzki had 15 points on 3-12 FG and 9-10 FT and 6 rebounds. Devean George started in Josh Howard's place and had 9 points. Erick Dampier missed his only attempt and had 4 rebounds and 3 assists - some of which were really nice passes. DeSagana Diop also missed his only attempted (but hit 1-2 FT for 1 point) and had 5 rebounds in 17 minutes. Jerry Stackhouse didn't have his shot going as he had 4 points on 2-8 FG. He did have 3 rebounds and 4 assists, though. Anthony Johnson had 4 points on 2-3 FG in 8 minutes. DJ Mbenga (didn't attempt anything) and Maurice Ager (hit a 3-pointer) got in at the end of the game. Who would have thought that it would be close as to which of Austin Croshere and Ray Allen would have more points. Allen ended up with the slight edge in having a game high 35 points. He had a solid game with 6 rebounds and 7 assists, but did turn the ball over 5 times. Earl Watson had 15 points on 7-9 FG and 6 assists. Nick Collison had 15 points and 9 rebounds including 4 offensive. Chris Wilcox chipped in 12 points including 4-13 FG and 7 rebounds. Damien Wilkins had 8 points including 2-7 FG and 8 rebounds including 5 offensive. Quotes Avery Johnson (who went into the locker room wearing Croshere's jersey): "Tonight was another tough night for us. We played a team that really poured it on us offensively early in the game especially in the 1st half. We were fortunate to get some stops throughout the rest of the game. I thought Buckner came and gave us a lot of energy on Ray Allen. He was just too big on us early in the game and really went at us early. He had 11 quick points on us, but Buckner did a good job on trying to deny him. We trapped him a little bit and tried to keep the ball out of his hands and that worked pretty well for us. Obviously Croshere shot the ball for us really well tonight. Basically, it was the bench period. I think it was a combination of Croshere scoring it and Buckner doing his job on defense and giving us some offense. That's what it is all about. Stackhouse didn't score tonight, but he had a couple of nice assists for us. So our bench really won the game for us. Seattle, when they are on like that, is a really tough team. Fortunately we were able to get away from them a little bit in the 4th quarter and get the win. But still, we've got a lot of stuff to work on. We get on the plane right now and go to Memphis and see if we can do better tomorrow." Johnson: "If you look at the 2 guys - Buckner and Croshere - it has taken them a while to get adjusted. Then sometimes they play and sometimes they don't. In one game, Buckner only played 3 minutes, but tonight he played 33 minutes. Croshere hasn't played really at all, but tonight we needed him. These guys are stepping up and that is what it is all about." Johnson on Croshere playing: "I was thinking about it all afternoon and contemplating it. We knew without Josh being here, we knew that we would need to get some minutes from him out of the 4 spot. He's a professional guy. He works hard - he comes in early and stays late. He works on his game. We have a bunch of guys like that. Again, I can't single out one guy after a win because we have so many guys that do so many little things for us. But at the same time, we had a couple of guys that had some nice individual performances." Jerry Stackhouse on Johnson coming into the locker room wearing Croshere's jersey: "That's a sign why we have the best locker room in basketball. It was a great night for Cro [Croshere]. Everybody has been pulling for him, he's been the best teammate he can be and he deserves a night like tonight. He just stepped up in the absence of Josh and made plays for us and had a huge night. Everyone is proud of that." Stackhouse on the bench: "We were happy that we had the guys that stepped up and did what they did. Buck [Buckner] was big off the bench tonight and Cro was the MVP of the game. Everyone off the bench played big for us tonight." Stackhouse on what was said to Croshere after the game: "I told him that I was really happy for him. He's just a great guy and he's very supportive. Whenever he gets an opportunity, we like to see him have success and tonight was definitely a successful night for him." Devin Harris: "Guys were just tremendous off the bench tonight. [Johnson] told everyone to be ready to play tonight and those guys definitely stepped up and did a great job for us." Harris on Croshere: "He's always been prepared, always works hard and it showed tonight. He was called upon and he gave us a big lift off the bench." Harris: "It's a different guy that gives us a lift every night. Sometimes it's Josh, sometimes it's Dirk, and tonight it was Austin. We're getting different efforts from guys each and every night. We're not playing our best basketball, but we're finding stretches to get the job done." Austin Croshere: "With Josh not here, I had a chance to get in early. I was just trying to stay ready for the opportunity to play. I got the chance and I played well." Bob Hill: "Under the circumstances, I thought we played really well for 3 quarters. We couldn't do much with them in the 4th, but I thought our effort was terrific. Ray [Allen] was special, again. Croshere got his rhythm and in the 1st half. I thought he got a lot of shots off dribble penetration - we weren't keeping people in front of us. In the 2nd half he got some off of pick-and-rolls, but he just had it going so you've got to give him a lot of credit because that was a great performance by him. In terms of our team, being shorthanded and struggling like we have I was proud of them for 3 quarters." Hill on Croshere: "He's capable of doing what he did. That's how their team is made up. He's paid to do that." Hill: "We really pressed them. It was a 5 point game, but we couldn't sustain it in the 4th quarter." Ray Allen: "The game was a lot closer than the actual score. It was a weird game to put my finger on because we were right there for the majority of the game. I think there was just the point where offensively they kept going to the free throw line or they would score and we would have a couple of empty trips. We weren't playing bad. Defensively we were getting stops, but overall they just seemed like they kept their consistent steady rhythm out there on both sides of the floor. I didn't think we were bad, by no means, but it was that 4th quarter where I thought we played better in the 4th quarter but the lead just slipped away from us. At the end of the day you look at the score and the team that had more points obviously won the game. But with us, as much as we worry about our defensive schemes, we still have got to work on offensive opportunities and everyone's got to contribute." Allen on Dallas' defense later in the game: "They started running another guy at me. They zoned. They shot on my side a lot. They just kept me from playing on the ball a lot on the strong side. It nothing we're not used to, but we have guys who are totally capable of making those plays down the stretch. At this stage of the game we've got to make sure we are aware of that because when you put the ball inside and move the ball on the weak side you have a lot of plays like that. We have guys that are capable of doing that we've just have to be aggressive in those situations." Allen on Croshere and Buckner: "You're talking about 2 veteran guys. We're playing with some awfully young guys. Yeah, we respected them, absolutely. We talked before the game that Nowitzki isn't the only guy they've got. They get a guy like Croshere that's capable of doing what he did - he's not going to do that very often, but he has the capabilities of coming in and making shots for them. Buckner and those guys are veterans and they went after it. They recognized that Dirk wasn't having a great game, Dampier wasn't there, so someone else to help and they did a good job. That's a sign of a good team." Damien Wilkins: "I noticed Austin Croshere. I noticed him a lot tonight. That guy was amazing. He just came out and made plays in the absence of Josh Howard. He and Greg Buckner both came in and gave them the spark they needed. We really couldn't find them at no point. It seemed like he was just getting wide open shots. I think we played hard, I think everyone competed, but he came out and made some big shots." Wilkins on Dallas' bench: "You see why they got to the Finals and possibly on their way this year. They're a very deep team. They've got guys who come in and make plays and do things that championship teams are supposed to do and they certainly look like it right now." Dallas Mavericks 122, Seattle Sonics 102 at Dallas (January 30) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 28 38 19 37 - 122 .556 .522 .545 .867 Seattle 28 26 26 22 - 102 .500 .308 .471 .941 Halftime: Dallas 66-54 3rd Q: Dallas 85-80 Technicals: Seattle defensive 3 seconds 5:05 1st, Seattle defensive 3 seconds 2:36 1st Refs: Tim Donaghy, Ken Mauer, Olandis Poole Attendance: 20,326 (sellout) IL: Dallas - Josh Howard, J.J. Barea, Pops Mensah-Bonsu Seattle - Rashard Lewis, Robert Swift Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Devin Harris 28 5-8 0-0 6-6 16 1-2 4 1 1 1 1 Jason Terry 35 6-10 2-5 5-6 19 1-3 4 1 0 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 31 3-12 0-0 9-10 15 1-6 1 1 1 1 1 Devean George 25 4-8 1-3 0-0 9 1-1 1 1 2 2 0 Erick Dampier 21 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2-4 3 1 0 0 0 Greg Buckner 33 8-11 1-2 0-0 17 0-1 3 2 4 3 0 Austin Croshere 24 11-14 7-10 5-5 34 0-7 3 1 2 0 0 DeSagana Diop 17 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 2-5 0 0 2 1 1 Jerry Stackhouse 16 2-8 0-2 0-1 4 1-3 4 1 0 0 0 Anthony Johnson 8 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 1 0 2 0 0 DJ Mbenga 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Maurice Ager 1 1-1 1-1 0-0 3 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 42-77 12-23 26-30 122 9-33 25 9 14 9 3 Seattle Sonics REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Earl Watson 31 7-9 1-1 0-0 15 1-1 6 2 1 2 0 Ray Allen 39 14-24 3-10 4-5 35 1-6 7 5 5 2 0 Chris Wilcox 32 4-13 0-0 4-4 12 4-7 1 1 4 2 0 Mickael Gelabale 24 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 0-4 0 0 1 0 1 Nick Collison 28 6-10 0-0 3-3 15 4-9 0 1 4 0 1 Damien Wilkins 31 2-7 0-0 4-4 8 5-8 4 0 2 1 0 Johan Petro 21 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 3-7 2 1 3 1 0 Luke Ridnour 17 0-5 0-2 0-0 0 0-1 0 2 4 0 1 Andre Brown 10 3-6 0-0 1-1 7 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 Mike Wilks 3 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 2 1 0 0 0 Mouhamed Sene 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 41-87 4-13 16-17 102 19-46 22 15 24 8 3 Dallas at Memphis (January 31) Josh Howard missed the 2nd straight game while waiting for the birth of his first child (his son would be born later that night - congrats, Josh!). The 2nd night of a back-to-back found Dallas in Memphis, where the Grizzlies are playing a faster pace with interim coach Tony Barone. The game stayed close in the 1st quarter with neither team holding more than a 4 point lead over the first 8 minutes of the game. A jumper by Jason Terry gave Dallas a 21-15 lead with 3:35 to go, but Memphis scored the next 4 points. Dallas led 23-20 after 1. Terry scored the first 6 points of the 2nd quarter to give Dallas a 29-20 lead with 8:45 remaining. A jumper by Dirk Nowitzki gave Dallas a 38-28 lead with 4:10 to go, but the game got ugly the rest of the quarter as Dallas shot 1-7 FG the rest of the quarter and Memphis was only slightly better in shooting 2-6 FG (though one of them was a 3-pointer). Dallas led 40-33 at the half. Devin Harris scored the first 6 points of the 3rd quarter and Terry hit a jumper to give Dallas a 48-33 lead with 10:05 remaining. But Memphis did not give up as they connected on consecutive 3-pointers and Mike Miller hit a jumper to pull Memphis within 41-48 with 8:15 to go. Dallas led 52-43 with 6:55 remaining and Memphis scored the next 6 points to pull within 49-52 with 5:35 left. A 3-pointer by Jerry Stackhouse gave Dallas a 60-54 lead with 2:40 to go, but Rudy Gay answered with a 3-pointer and a slam dunk and a layup by Chucky Atkins gave Memphis a 1 point lead with a minute remaining. Greg Buckner hit a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left in the quarter. Dallas led 63-61 after 3. Dallas shot just 7-23 FG in the 3rd quarter. A hook shot by Pau Gasol (giving him just 9 points) opened the 4th quarter, but Dallas then scored the next 6 points to take a 69-63 lead with 8:50 remaining. Dallas continued to hold a small lead, but Memphis continued to hang around. Eric Dampier hit 2 free throws, Miller nailed a 3-pointer, Devin Harris hit 2 free throws, and Miller hit another 3-pointer to pull Memphis within 76-77 with 5:10 to go. The teams traded a pair of free throws and Dirk Nowitzki scored 4 straight points to give Dallas an 83-78 lead with 3:45 left. Miller hit another 3-pointer, but Dallas scored the next 6 points to go up 89-81 with 1:35 remaining. The teams traded 2 points, but Memphis wasn't giving up yet. Miller nailed another 3-pointer to pull Memphis within 5 points with 50 seconds left. Dallas ran the clock down and Stackhouse missed. Atkins hit a jumper to pull Memphis within 88-91 with 13 seconds to go. Nowitzki was intentionally fouled and he hit both free throws. Miller hit another 3-pointer with 5 seconds remaining and Nowitzki hit 2 more clutch free throws to make it a 4 point game. And still Memphis would not give up. Atkins hit a 3-pointer with .6 seconds left. The inbounds pass was tapped out of bounds, but it cost Memphis .4 seconds of time they still needed and Dallas was then able to inbound the ball and time expired. Dallas won 95-94. It wasn't the easy win some would have thought Dallas would have had against one of the worst teams in the league, but Memphis put up quite a fight and Dallas' wasn't particularly sharp. With their defense not looking good, Dallas gave up 33 points in the 4th quarter (though Dallas scored 34 points themselves). Dallas shot just 42.5% (34-80) FG including 3-11 3-pointers and Memphis shot 44% (33-75) FG including an impressive 11-19 3-pointers (with 6 of the makes coming in the last 6 minutes of the game). Dallas was almost perfect from the line in shooting 24-25 FT. Memphis shot 17-22 FT. Dallas out-rebounded Memphis 44-32 including 12-4 offensive. Dallas had just 15 assists and Memphis had 20 assists. Dallas is an amazing 10-0 in the 2nd night of a back-to-back. Dirk Nowitzki had a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds, but shot just 8-20 FG (but did shoot 10-10 FT). Jason Terry had 20 points and 6 assists. Jerry Stackhouse kicked in 20 points off the bench. Devin Harris had 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. Devean George again started in Josh Howard's place, but he missed all 4 shots he attempted and had just 3 rebounds and 1 assist in 21 minutes. Erick Dampier had a very nice outing with 15 points on 6-7 FG and 3-3 FT and 8 rebounds. DeSagana Diop didn't have a nice outing in missing the 3 shots he attempted and had 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in 13 minutes. Greg Buckner had 3 points and 4 rebounds and Anthony Johnson had 1 point in 7 1/2 minutes. The night after he had a career high, Austin Croshere missed all 4 shots he attempted. He did have 5 rebounds, though. Mike Miller went nuts in the 4th quarter where he scored 20 of his game high 32 points. For the game, Miller shot 11-16 FG including an impressive 7-10 3-pointers. He did have 5 turnovers, though. Pau Gasol did have a double-double, but it wasn't a good outing for him. He had 13 points including a poor 4-17 FG and 13 rebounds. The other 3 starters combined for just 14 points. Hakim Warrick had 15 points, 3 offensive rebounds, and 3 assists off the bench. Quotes Avery Johnson: "We had control of this game early because of what Damp did. Damp came out with a lot of energy and was a force early in the game." Johnson: "We weren't very good in the 2nd half defensively, but they just made some tough shots, especially at the end of the game. Miller made some shots from the parking lot on us. Stack helped us during a big stretch, but Dirk's points in the 4th quarter off post moves, getting to the free throw line, and making strong moves basically carried us home." Johnson on making free throws at the end of the game: "We value the free throw. We take pride in it." Johnson: "Our guys just really know how to handle adversity. At the end of the year, this is going to count as a win. It's not about how many you win by or who you play. We beat a team that's been averaging around 111 points per game. Some nights they've scored 130. For them to shoot 44% and for us to keep them under 100 points, I think that's a positive sign." Dirk Nowitzki: "I had a lot of shots that would bounce off the rim. I don't think I've ever had so many good looks that sometimes were bouncing on the rim 3 or 4 times and still would find a way to roll out. I think in the 4th quarter, I got a couple of layups and got a couple of free throws to go down." Nowitzki: "We're one of the best free throw shooting teams in the league. We work on them a lot." Nowitzki on the end of the game: "We kept knocking them [free throws] down, but they kept making shots from the parking lot." Jason Terry on the end of the game: "They hit some big shots. Mike Miller was big for them all night long. Rudy Gay hit a 3 on us. They're a young team that just plays freely. They're much different than what they were earlier in the season." Jerry Stackhouse on Miller: "He's a great shooter and has been his whole career. They just have to try and right the ship. It's tough to see because they have some talent on that team. Pau being out put them behind the 8-ball, but they're a dangerous team." Erick Dampier: "I just try to try to contribute any way I can. Guys are looking for me and making easy passes. All I have to do is catch them and finish around the rim." Dampier on defending Gasol: "We know he likes to drive the baseline whenever he catches the ball. We tried to make him drive the middle and contest his shot." Tony Barone: "In the 1st half I thought we were too anxious and rushed our shots. We didn't play with smoothness, but we did rebound the ball well. Dallas is a great spurt team - I didn't want to let them get on a spurt, but in the 2nd half we let them. I wasn't going to let the game be lost because they got on a spurt. I was pleased with our willingness to fight them in the game, and I thought we fought them all the way to the end." Barone: "This game was a physical game. We had to continue to fight and fight, and we had to finish strong. Against this team, you either have an answer for Dirk or you don't, and tonight we didn't. Their team has a deep bench and their guys make big shots. That's why they are as good as they are." Barone on Miller: "Mike is a phenomenal shooter. He made long shots and he was very active. In the 2nd half he was relatively amazing." Mike Miller: "As a team, every night there is going to be a different group of guys that are playing well together. We were fortunate to find that group in the 2nd half. We were hitting shots and grabbing rebounds and playing better defense then we played in the 1st half. A lot of finding the right group depends on the team you are playing. I thought [Warrick] played well tonight. Pau [Gasol] grabbed some big rebounds for us, but Dallas was making it tough on him by sending several different guys at him all night. They're a great team and they just made the plays when they had to and got the win." Miller on the rookies: "They're all great basketball players. Rudy [Gay] and [Alexander Johnson] have gotten better as the year as gone along. They're learning to play in this league, and the only thing that's going to make them better is to keep on playing. You have to take every game the same way. Whether it is the 1st place team in the league or the last place team in the league, you have to keep your intensity level up every night." Chucky Atkins: "We played better basketball in the 2nd half. I wish we could have had a little more time there at the end. It was a tough game. Obviously when you play a team of that caliber you have to play your best in order to win. We just couldn't make the key stop when we needed to. We were hitting some shots at the end, but when it came down to making that key stop we were unable to do so." Atkins: "I'm really happy with how our young guys are progressing. They've been playing really well of late. You look at how [Warrick] and [Alexander Johnson] have been playing, and also Rudy [Gay], and it only will help them in the future in this league. Every one of our young guys are learning what it takes to be successful in the league. When they're playing well it helps everyone else on the team, because we know that we can rely on them to get the job done." Dallas Mavericks 95, Memphis Grizzlies 94 at Dallas (January 31) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 23 17 23 32 - 95 .449 .273 .425 .960 Memphis 20 13 28 33 - 94 .393 .579 .440 .773 Halftime: Dallas 40-33 3rd Q: Dallas 57-46 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 10:11 1st Refs: Bob Delaney, Kevin Fehr, Jason Phillips Attendance: 14,762 (cap 18,119) IL: Dallas - Josh Howard, J.J. Barea, Pops Mensah-Bonsu Memphis - Stromile Swift, Brian Cardinal, Kyle Lowry Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Devin Harris 28 4-7 0-0 2-2 10 0-3 3 0 1 2 0 Jason Terry 36 9-19 0-3 2-2 20 0-3 6 2 3 0 0 Devean George 21 0-4 0-1 0-0 0 2-3 1 0 5 0 1 Dirk Nowitzki 35 8-20 0-1 10-10 26 0-11 1 3 3 0 2 Erick Dampier 34 6-7 0-0 3-3 15 4-8 0 1 3 0 0 Jerry Stackhouse 27 6-12 2-3 6-6 20 1-3 1 3 1 2 0 Greg Buckner 26 1-2 1-2 0-0 3 2-4 1 0 1 1 0 DeSagana Diop 13 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 2-4 1 1 2 1 2 Austin Croshere 13 0-4 0-1 0-0 0 1-5 0 0 0 0 0 Anthony Johnson 7 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 0-0 1 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 34-80 3-11 24-25 95 12-44 15 11 20 6 5 Memphis Grizzlies REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Damon Stoudamire 22 3-3 1-1 0-1 7 1-3 1 4 2 0 0 Dahntay Jones 25 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 1 2 2 0 0 Lawrence Roberts 21 2-5 0-0 1-2 5 0-5 0 0 3 0 0 Mike Miller 43 11-16 7-10 3-3 32 0-2 3 5 0 0 0 Pau Gasol 33 4-17 0-0 5-7 13 0-13 2 2 4 0 2 Hakim Warrick 31 4-10 0-0 7-7 15 3-3 3 0 4 0 1 Chucky Atkins 28 4-11 1-5 0-0 9 0-2 10 1 2 2 0 Rudy Gay 24 3-9 2-3 1-2 9 0-3 0 0 5 0 0 Anthony Johnson 11 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 3 0 0 Will Conroy 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 33-75 11-19 17-22 94 4-32 20 14 25 2 3 Minnesota at Dallas (February 3) It was the 2nd night of a back-to-back for Minnesota. Dallas was happy to have back Josh Howard after he missed the previous 2 games due to the birth of his son. Dallas jumped out to a 13-6 lead with 8:25 remaining, but Minnesota then scored the next 12 points, capped by a 3-pointer by Ricky Davis, to go up 18-13 with 4:50 to go. A jumper by Dirk Nowitzki and 3-point play by DeSagana Diop gave Dallas a 23-22 lead with 2:50 left. The teams traded leads over the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 27-26 after 1. Davis scored the first 5 points of the 2nd quarter to give Minnesota a 31-27 lead with 10 minutes to go, but Dallas then scored the next 4 points and the game stayed close. Minnesota led 37-34 with 7:10 remaining and Dallas went on a 14-4 run to take a 48-41 lead with 3:10 left - Dallas made 8 free throws during the run. 4 straight points by Howard gave Dallas a 54-45 lead with 1:45 to go. Dallas led 56-47 at the half. Dallas shot 17-19 FT and Minnesota shot 4-4 FT in the half. Dallas led 61-52 with 9:20 remaining and the Mavs scored the next 8 points to go up 71-54 with 6:35 left. But the large lead soon dwindled as Minnesota answered with 9 straight points, capped by a 3-pointer by Mike James, to pull within 63-71 with 4:40 to go. 4 straight points by Jason Terry gave Dallas a 75-63 lead with 3:15 left, but Minnesota closed the quarter with a 6-3 mini-run. Dallas led 69-78 after 3. Dallas scored the first 4 points of the 4th quarter to take a 82-69 lead with 11:05 left. Dallas led 87-74 with 9:44 remaining and the 'Twolves started eating away at Dallas' lead as Minnesota used a 12-3 run to pull within 86-90 with 3:35 to go. Nowitzki hit a jumper, but Kevin Garnett hit consecutive buckets (while Terry missed a 3-pointer) to pull Minnesota within 90-92 with 1:45 remaining. Nowitzki missed a 3-point attempt, but Randy Foye also missed a 3-pointer and there was a minute left. Dallas ran some time off the clock and Devean George missed a 3-pointer (it was a good shot as the ball was swung to the open man) with 38 seconds to go. Davis missed inside and Howard got the rebound and he was intentionally fouled (but it was the foul to give). Nowitzki was intentionally fouled after the inbounds and he hit both free throws to give Dallas a 94-90 lead with 18 seconds remaining. Minnesota got the ball inside and George knocked the ball loose and Garnett got it back and then Howard knocked the ball loose and Howard got the ball and then threw the ball high up in the air to drain time (though it was too soon to do that for my liking with over 6 seconds left). Foye got the ball and took a few dribbles to get over the halfcourt line and then launched the long 3-pointer, but my fears were for naught as the shot went in as the final buzzer sounded. Dallas won 94-93. As is becoming a trend recently, it wasn't the easiest of wins, but it goes down in the books simply as a win. Dallas only shot 36.8% FG in the 2nd half, but had enough of a halftime lead to hang on to the win. Dallas was out-scored 16-24 in the 4th quarter. Though Minnesota felt they had lots to complain about with the free throw differential, especially in the 1st half, the refs did give Minnesota a favor in not calling an obvious foul on Kevin Garnett a minute into the 3rd quarter - it would have been his 4th foul (and he ended up not picking up his 4th foul until an intentional foul with 18 seconds left in the game). [As a whole, I didn't think the officiating was good with a number of questionable calls both ways, but from what I saw the 2 strips at the end of the game were clean.] For the game, Dallas shot 41.6% (32-77) FG including a poor 5-26 3-pointers. Minnesota shot 46.8% (36-77) FG including 7-15 3-pointers. Dallas out-rebounded Minnesota 46-39 including 16-11 offensive. Dallas had a low 16 assists while Minnesota had 22 assists. Both teams had 12 turnovers. It was Dallas' 15th straight home win. Though his shot wasn't great, Josh Howard enjoyed his return to action with a double-double. He had 22 points including 9-22 FG and 0-5 3-pointers and 10 rebounds including 6 offensive. Jason Terry had 22 points including 2-8 3-pointers. Dirk Nowitzki struggled with his shot and had 18 points including 5-14 FG. He also had 5 rebounds. No other Mav was in double-digits scoring. Devin Harris had 6 points and 6 assists in 22 minutes. Erick Dampier had 6 points on a perfect 2-2 FG and 2-2 FT and 8 rebounds. DeSagana Diop had 6 points and 12 rebounds including 4 offensive in 19 minutes. Besides Diop's rebounds, it was a fairly quiet night from the bench as the bench players combined for just 20 points. Devean George had 7 points and 5 rebounds. He didn't get credit for a steal, but had a hand in knocking away a couple of shots. Jerry Stackhouse had 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in 23 minutes. Greg Buckner missed 2 shots in 10 minutes and Austin Croshere had 2 rebounds and a turnover for his only stats in 5 minutes of play. His final numbers looked good, but it was not a stellar performance by Kevin Garnett. One of the most amazing stats of the night is that KG didn't pick up his first rebound until 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, but he finished with 12 rebounds. He was limited by foul trouble in the 1st half. Garnett finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 turnovers. 17 of Ricky Davis' 20 points came in the 1st half. He also had 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Mark Blount had a nice outing with 16 points including 7-10 FG and 8 rebounds. Trenton Hassell had 13 points. Mike James had 7 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Minnesota didn't get much from their bench as they had just 12 bench points (including Randy Foye's meaningless 3-pointer at the final buzzer). Quotes Avery Johnson: "Well, tough night for us tonight. We were fortunate enough to win this game. We knew it would be a brawl tonight. We built a little lead there, but again they came charging back. We haven't held leads well during this little stretch. We will continue to work on it. We didn't shoot very well tonight. Just 41% from the field. 5 of 26 from 3. Pretty low for our team because we are a pretty good 3-point shooting team. I think our 16 points in the 4th quarter reflected that. But again Deavon George got a couple of hands on the ball there at the end. I went small and put Dirk on Garnett there at the end. And he came up with a big stop at the end for us. JHo [Howard] got that rebound and came up big for us. That is pretty much how we got the game done. We knew it was going to be a tough night. They always play us well. We got up on them but they came back on us for a minute because they have a lot of pride and are a pretty good team." Johnson: "We were settling for jump shots a lot. Some of our 3s we probably could have driven the ball. But some of them were good looks and we just couldn't get them down. But we did make a concerted effort in certain situations to get to the basket and in the end it played dividends for us. 16 assists - these days we are getting over 20 assists. You know the guys are working hard. We will take tomorrow off and get back to work on Monday." Johnson on Howard: "Josh is so big for us. He guarded Garnett. He guarded Blount. He is all over for us. He didn't have the greatest game tonight shooting the ball, but we definitely needed his energy tonight. I thought our centers rebounded the ball well tonight. They were really active. KG is a tough cover. He saw Diop tonight then he saw Dampier and then he saw Dirk. We had to give him some different looks tonight because he is such a good player." Johnson on Garnett: "He made a couple tough shots. When he gets his arm up there I haven't really seen anybody block him. When I played against him and we had Robinson and Duncan, nobody really seemed to be able to block him - it's like you need a ladder. He is a tough cover and it is that way for everybody." Josh Howard on throwing the ball near the end of the game: "It was a little too soon. I thought it was over, but he still had to run down the court to get the shot off and get a 3. But it was cool. We still won it." Jerry Stackhouse: "This was a tough game because they are a scrappy team and they are a jump shooting team and making jump shots tonight. We had some good looks and moved the ball pretty good all night and we were settling for 3s but that was what the defense was giving us. We have capable shooters and guys felt like that was the shot to take and didn't go down like the high percentage we would have liked to but we still did enough to win the game." Stackhouse: "You kind of find during the course of the day you're going to have games like that where somebody who's not going to be on their game or things happen where you have a player out for injury or suspension or whatever for a game and knowing you can still win those games without it being perfect that's going to give us a lot of confidence once the post season is on the line." Stackhouse on Howard's return: "It was good to have Josh back. I told him he was gone long enough, to kiss that baby and come home." Greg Buckner on losing the lead: "It's not really frustrating; it's a credit to Minnesota and KG bringing them back and working hard and taking advantage of the situation. It bothers me a little bit but we'll go back to work hard and get better." Buckner on the win: "Not very pretty but we'll keep plugging away and looking for that #1 seed come playoff time." Randy Wittman: "Our guys fought. I've got no fault, just a shot here or there. I thought we were going to have 2 pretty good looks [at the end] I couldn't tell if there were fouls on Ricky Davis going up and I think KG got it [fouled] too. I was down at the other end so I couldn't tell. We were aggressive and didn't get but 4 free throws in the 1st half. I didn't think we got a fair whistle, but you know what? That's part of this game. This is now 7 games and we've had a chance to win all 7. We've got to somehow get over the top and if we can stay together through this we can get this thing snowballing the other way. But our effort was good. Kevin getting into foul trouble I thought was a big key. And for the most part I thought we held our own. Coming in at half we were down 9 and with Kevin sitting out 6:46 [in the 1st half], we were happy. I came into the locker room and told those guys that were out there that they did a heck of a job while he was out." Wittman: "It's like a broken record. Our guys fought and hung in there." Kevin Garnett: "I question the 2 calls at the end to Ricky [Davis] and I. I thought we were pretty aggressive during that [play]. We had our chances to win the game. We did some of the things we wanted to do, like contain Dirk. But this [Dallas] is a deep team. Dirk makes this team go, but he's far from being the only weapon. That was the case tonight." Garnett: "I was trying to be aggressive in the 2nd half. These last couple games have been like crap. I'm just trying to figure it out. We were trying to get some momentum going into the 4th quarter and trying to get some things going. We were trying to take advantage of the mismatches at the top when they were in the zone. Other than that, we were just trying to find the open guy and just being aggressive. I thought for the most part we had them in our grasp but we just couldn't turn the corner." Mike James: "We've just got to continue to fight. It's one thing to just come back [after a loss last night] and lose. Our main thing is just trying to get some wins. Yeah, we were resilient but you don't get anything for effort in this game. This game is only determined by wins and losses and tonight was a tough one for us because we played so hard. But we've just got to continue to keep grinding." James: "It's about finishing. What this game is based on is finishing. We weren't able to finish tonight, which is a little rough for us because it's been tough for us at the end of games." Dallas Mavericks 94, Minnesota Timberwolves 93 at Dallas (February 3) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 27 29 22 16 - 94 .529 .192 .416 .862 Minnesota 26 21 22 24 - 93 .468 .467 .468 .824 Halftime: Dallas 56-47 3rd Q: Dallas 78-69 Technicals: none Refs: Jim Clark, Phil Robinson, Scott Wall Attendance: 20,467 (sellout) IL: Dallas - DJ Mbenga, Maurice Ager, Pops Mensah-Bonsu Minnesota - Eddie Griffin, Bracey Wright Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Devin Harris 22 2-4 0-1 2-2 6 0-1 6 0 4 2 0 Jason Terry 38 7-16 2-8 6-6 22 0-0 2 1 2 3 1 Dirk Nowitzki 35 5-14 1-4 7-7 18 0-5 2 0 1 0 1 Josh Howard 38 9-22 0-5 4-5 22 6-10 1 3 1 1 0 Erick Dampier 28 2-2 0-0 2-2 6 2-8 1 2 4 0 1 Jerry Stackhouse 23 2-6 1-3 2-2 7 1-2 2 2 1 0 0 Devean George 21 3-7 1-4 0-0 7 3-5 0 0 1 0 0 DeSagana Diop 19 2-4 0-0 2-5 6 4-12 1 1 2 0 1 Greg Buckner 10 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 1 2 0 1 0 Austin Croshere 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 32-77 5-26 25-29 94 16-46 16 12 16 7 4 Minnesota Timberwolves REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Mike James 25 2-5 1-2 2-4 7 1-3 2 2 4 2 0 Ricky Davis 41 7-15 4-5 2-2 20 0-6 5 3 4 0 0 Kevin Garnett 37 9-17 0-0 7-8 25 3-12 3 4 4 1 0 Trenton Hassell 30 6-12 0-1 1-1 13 1-2 4 1 1 1 1 Mark Blount 38 7-10 0-0 2-2 16 2-8 2 1 1 0 1 Randy Foye 23 2-10 2-4 0-0 6 0-1 4 0 0 1 0 Marko Jaric 22 2-3 0-1 0-0 4 0-0 1 0 3 0 0 Mark Madsen 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 0 2 0 0 Craig Smith 7 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-3 1 1 3 0 0 Rashad McCants 4 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 2-2 0 0 0 0 0 Justin Reed 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 36-77 7-15 14-17 93 11-39 22 12 22 5 2 patricia