Dallas released Ndudi Ebi yesterday. The roster now stands at 15 players and the team does not need to make any more rosters moves before the start of the team (that doesn't necessarily mean they won't make another move, but it looks like Jose Juan Barea has made the team). Preseason: Dallas vs Cleveland at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (October 25) Well it wasn't the complete preseason warmup that the Mavs hoped to have as Erick Dampier remained out with his sore hip and the team elected to rest Josh Howard, who had played in all previous 6 preseason games (trivia: who are the only 3 players to play in all 7 preseason games?). But Jerry Stackhouse and Jason Terry did play, making their preseason debuts. Despite having more of a regular season lineup look than the Mavs have had the entire preseason, the team looked terrible on defense in the 1st quarter. On consecutive possessions early in the game, Dallas had pathetic transition defense that resulted in easy Cleveland buckets and a non-surprising Dallas timeout. LeBron James started out strong with 6 points in the first 4 minutes of the game, but he only shot 1-9 FG the rest of the game. Despite Dallas' poor defense, Cleveland wasn't able to build too large of a lead and the Cavs led 25-17 after 1 - with 18 of Cleveland's points coming in the paint. Stackhouse scored the first 5 points of the 2nd quarter and the game stayed close the rest of the way. Dallas scored 10 straight points to go up 35-30 with 7 minutes left, but Cleveland scored the next 5 points. James hit a jumper and Damon Jones nailed a 3-pointer with a little over a second left to give Cleveland a 47-43 lead at the half. The game stayed close in the 3rd quarter, but got kind of ugly with lots of missed shots and turnovers. Cleveland led 65-60 after 3. In true preseason form, Dirk Nowitzki, Terry, Stackhouse, James, and Drew Gooden sat the entire 4th quarter. Maurice Ager played the entire 4th quarter (his only minutes in the game) and he was the only Mavs rookie who played. Ager had 2 nice moves to the basket and Devean George looked nice in the 4th quarter. The game stayed close in the quarter and went down to the wire as it was tied at 81-81 with 2 minutes remaining. Dallas played good defense and forced a 24 second violation. Devin Harris drove and made a really pretty pass to DeSagana Diop, who was fouled. Diop hit 1-2 FT with 1 minute to go. Anderson Varejao missed a jumper and he then fouled Austin Croshere on the rebound - Varejao's 6th foul. Croshere hit 1-2 FT to give Dallas a 2 point lead with 45 seconds left. As Shannon Brown turned the corner, he slipped and lost the ball out of bounds with 29 seconds remaining. The Cavs did not intentionally foul and Dallas ran the clock down. Harris drove and missed a layup, but Diop was able to quick pass the loose ball out to Devean George and he passed to Harris who was fouled with .2 seconds left. Harris missed both free throws (the 2nd intentionally as time would expire on the rebound) and that was game. Dallas won 83-81. It still wasn't a pretty preseason game, though much better than most of Dallas' previous 6 games. Dallas' defense did improve after the pathetic 1st quarter, but does not look to be ready for the regular season. One of the main offenders in the 1st quarter was Dirk Nowitzki, who looked lackadaisical in the quarter. Nowitzki did get his offense going and had 17 points in 30 minutes. The rest of the team's offense still remains a problem as the team shot just 40% FG in the game. There were some bright spots, though. Jerry Stackhouse looked pretty good and had 2 impressive spin-and-step-back jumpers in the game. He also dove for a loose ball (not getting it) in the 2nd quarter and he then sat out for a bit with a floor burn on his palm. On the other hand, Jason Terry had a poor debut in shooting 1-6 FG and having no assists in 17 minutes and didn't do much positive. Maurice Ager and Devean George looked nice in the 4th quarter. And Austin Croshere played aggressive throughout the game - he had a game high 9 rebounds. The final preseason game is tonight against San Antonio (on ESPN). Erick Dampier is again expected to sit out. It will be interesting to see how the teams elect to play the game as the two teams will again face each other for their season opener on Wednesday. Trivia answer: DeSagana Diop, Austin Croshere, and Maurice Ager. Quotes Avery Johnson: "I thought our guys' effort was good, and I told them that." Johnson on Stackhouse: "Jerry looked pretty good. He had a few shots go in and had a few shots go out. But I liked his aggressiveness." Johnson on Terry: "I'm glad his first action wasn't in the first regular season game." Dirk Nowitzki: "It was a decent effort - it's closer to the season and we're trying to find a rhythm. We're still trying to work everybody in. Overall I thought the effort was good. We're still making a lot of mistakes defensively and we've got to work on. I think we're going to be a work in progress." Jason Terry: "It's always good to knock the rust off. One more game and I'll be ready to go." LeBron James: "Even though it's the preseason, we've still got guys going out there and going hard. We just don't go out there and mess around, you can easily get hurt doing that. It's always good to play against an elite team in the NBA." Preseason Dallas Mavericks 83, Cleveland Cavaliers 81 at Pittsburgh (October 25) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 17 26 17 23 - 83 .435 .200 .403 .742 Cleveland 25 22 18 16 - 81 .528 .267 .471 .722 Halftime: Cleveland 47-43 3rd Q: Cleveland 65-60 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 1:25 1st, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 1:47 2nd Refs: Monty McCutchen, Bennie Adams, Matt Boland Attendance: 9,051 (cap 20,562) Did not play due to injury: Josh Howard (Dal, rest), Erick Dampier (Dal, sore hip), Larry Hughes (Cle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Anthony Johnson 27 2-7 0-1 2-2 6 0-1 2 1 4 0 0 Jason Terry 17 1-6 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 3 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 30 6-11 0-1 5-7 17 0-5 0 2 1 1 0 Greg Buckner 22 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 2 2 2 0 0 DeSagana Diop 30 2-2 0-0 3-4 7 4-7 3 1 2 1 2 Devean George 25 2-7 1-2 2-2 7 2-4 1 1 1 1 1 Devin Harris 22 4-8 0-1 6-9 14 0-0 3 2 2 1 0 Jerry Stackhouse 19 5-13 0-2 2-3 12 1-3 2 1 0 0 0 DJ Mbenga 18 1-2 0-0 2-2 4 2-4 0 0 3 0 0 Austin Croshere 18 2-6 1-1 1-2 6 1-9 0 0 1 3 0 Maurice Ager 12 3-6 0-1 0-0 6 0-0 1 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 29-72 2-10 23-31 83 10-35 14 10 21 8 3 Cleveland Cavaliers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Eric Snow 22 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 0-3 2 3 2 0 1 Damon Jones 19 2-7 2-5 2-2 8 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 LeBron James 27 5-14 0-2 3-6 13 1-6 6 3 0 2 1 Drew Gooden 20 5-6 0-0 0-0 10 2-6 0 1 3 2 0 Zydrunas Ilgauskas 22 4-6 0-0 1-1 9 1-5 0 2 3 0 0 Shannon Brown 24 3-6 0-1 2-3 8 0-1 0 3 2 0 0 Sasha Pavlovic 24 3-8 0-3 1-1 7 0-3 6 3 3 0 1 Anderson Varejao 24 2-6 0-0 1-2 5 3-7 0 1 6 1 0 David Wesley 19 2-6 2-4 1-1 7 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Donyell Marshall 19 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 1 0 1 0 0 Scot Pollard 11 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-3 0 2 3 0 0 Daniel Gibson 8 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 0 1 1 0 1 Dwyane Jones 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 32-68 4-15 13-18 81 8-38 17 20 24 5 4 patricia