As you have probably heard by now, the Mavs suffered a serious blow when Cedric Ceballos fractured his right wrist after a flagrant foul by Loren Meyer in Thursday's Den-Dal game. It was very scary to see. Ceballos was driving in ahead of the pack for a layup and Meyer hit him hard from behind while Ceballos was in the air. Ceballos landed hard and was on the ground for a few minutes. Michael Finley also collected a technical foul for getting in Meyer's face asking what he was thinking taking down a player like that. Though Meyer wasn't ejected from the game, the league corrected that mistake by fining him $5,000 and suspending him for one game for the flagrant. Ceballos will see a hand specialist on Monday and is expected to be out 6 to 8 weeks. He also slightly sprained his left wrist in the fall. Amazingly, Ced returned to the game in the 2nd quarter and continued to play with the fractured wrist. No one really knew how much it was hurting him until he attempted 2 free throws left handed (made the 2nd) at the end of the game. As a result of the injury, the Mavs activated Erick Strickland and placed Ceballos on IR with a fractured right wrist. The hell month of February has finally come to an end. For the first time this season, the Mavs have two consecutive days without games (today and tomorrow). The season started with two road games, two home games (vs contenders Utah and Houston), then the road trip from hell - 7 road games in 11 nights (and home games the day before the trip and the day after the trip), one home game (vs contender Atlanta), and then a three-in-three stand. Despite the team's terrible start of 1-8, they finished the month 4-2 (including the tank job at Utah). Dallas has played more games than any other team. Dallas and Sacramento both led the league with 10 road games played. March should be much kinder to the team with 11 home games and 6 road games. There are only 4 back-to-back games (but there are not two consecutive days without games). Someone asked and I computed the salary numbers fro 1999-2000 for the Mavs. These are the numbers I computed for 1999-2000 salaries - keep in mind that these are not necessarily correct (I computed the 99-00 figures from past salaries with known or computed percentage increases). Player 1999-00 salary Shawn Bradley $7,560,000 Michael Finley $7,200,000 Robert Pack $4,320,000 Steve Nash $4,200,000 Erick Strickland $2,240,000 John Williams $1,925,000 Dirk Nowitzki $1,353,000 Chris Anstey $1,236,500 Hubert Davis $795,000 Total $30,829,500 That total is for guaranteed contracts for 1999-2000. The amount the Mavs will have under the cap for the summer of 1999 will depend on how much the cap is (was about $31 million for 98-99 - maybe (just a guess) around $35 million) and who the Mavs renounce (Cedric Ceballos, A.C. Green, Ansu Sesay, Gary Trent, and Samaki Walker - until the Mavs renounce their rights to those players, they count 200% 98-99 salary against the cap). Keep in mind that the Mavs do not hold Larry Bird rights to Gary Trent, so if the team wants to keep him, they can either offer him $1.1 million or what ever they have a available under the salary cap. Dallas at Phoenix (February 22) Phoenix opened the game with a 12-2 run over the first 3 minutes and hit their first 5 shots and never looked back. Phoenix led 23-15 after 1. Dallas only shot 7-25 FG. Phoenix led 27-20 before rattling off the next 11 points to build an 18 point lead at 38-20 with 7 minutes left as the Mavs continued to struggle. Dallas started to find their game and whittled away at Phoenix's lead. Phoenix led 49-41 at the half. Dallas pulled within 4 after 2 layups by Cedric Ceballos to open the 3rd quarter. But Phoenix went on a 10-2 run to go up 59-47 with 7:14 to go as Dallas committed 3 turnovers. Phoenix led 71-61 after 3. Phoenix opened the 4th quarter by scoring the first 6 points. Dallas never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way. Phoenix won 101-83. The play of the game occurred when an offensive rebound bounced toward Jason Kidd and he touch passed it to Luc Longley for the dunk. Quotes Danny Ainge: "I thought we played a very good game tonight. I thought Jason Kidd was spectacular. Rex Chapman gave us a huge lift, you can see what a difference it makes when he plays up to his capabilities." Rex Chapman: "He's just an unbelievable player. A lot of guys wouldn't even suit up. You've got to have a real passion to play the game, to not only go out there and play but get a triple-double. There aren't too many of those players." Jason Kidd: "I thought I was going to pass out. I've had this bad cold for the last couple of days and today my chest was burning." Kidd on the Mavs' future: "They can forget about Jason Kidd, because Steve [Nash] is going to be a great player who works hard and who's fan-friendly. They've just got to be patient with Steve, because this is the first time he's had the reins of a team." Don Nelson: "I don't care who scored or who did what. We just didn't play very well." Nelson: "We burned ourselves out trying to get back into the game. Nash had the flu, so he couldn't do very much. You know, it was one of those games where I don't think anybody played well." Cedric Ceballos: "We are really not sorry about the losses and what our record is because we see that we are shooting a terrible percentage. We have not been hitting shots that we normally hit. That was the case tonight as our shots were not going down." Michael Finley on Jason Kidd's performance against the Mavs: "He's going to going to do that every time. He told me this summer he doesn't ever want to lose against us." Phoenix Suns 101, Dallas Mavericks 83 at Phoenix (February 22) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Phoenix 23 26 22 30 - 101 .576 .400 .541 .714 Dallas 15 26 20 22 - 83 .391 .400 .393 .917 Halftime: Phoenix 49-41 3rd Q: Phoenix 71-61 Dallas never led Phoenix's largest lead: 98-79 1:51 4th Technicals: Phoenix Illegal D 2:01 2nd Refs: Jack Nies, Leon Wood, Michael Smith Attendance: 18,596 (cap 19,023) Phoenix Suns REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK George McCloud 25 2-6 2-5 0-0 6 0-2 3 1 5 2 1 Tom Gugliotta 38 5-11 0-0 2-2 12 2-6 3 2 0 1 1 Luc Longley 27 4-6 0-0 1-3 9 0-4 2 1 1 2 0 Jason Kidd 35 6-11 1-2 4-5 17 1-10 12 2 0 0 1 Rex Chapman 36 7-12 2-4 2-2 18 0-2 3 1 2 2 1 Marco Milic 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 Clifford Robinson 31 3-9 0-2 3-4 9 1-5 2 2 3 2 0 Danny Manning 22 7-8 0-0 3-4 17 1-7 4 1 2 0 0 Pat Garrity 10 4-5 0-0 0-1 8 1-2 0 0 1 0 0 Shawn Respert 4 2-3 1-2 0-0 5 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Joe Kleine 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 1 0 0 0 0 Chris Morris 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 40-74 6-15 15-21 101 6-40 31 12 15 9 4 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Cedric Ceballos 29 9-16 3-5 0-0 21 3-6 2 2 2 1 0 A.C. Green 12 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 0 0 0 0 Shawn Bradley 23 3-5 0-1 0-0 6 2-7 1 0 3 0 2 Steve Nash 23 0-3 0-1 1-1 1 0-3 4 2 1 0 0 Michael Finley 38 6-16 3-4 2-2 17 1-3 3 1 2 2 0 Robert Pack 21 3-9 0-0 5-6 11 0-1 5 4 2 1 0 Gary Trent 27 2-7 0-0 0-0 4 3-6 2 1 2 2 0 Chris Anstey 8 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 0-4 0 1 2 0 0 Hubert Davis 24 3-8 0-1 0-0 6 0-0 2 1 0 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 19 4-9 0-3 3-3 11 0-1 1 0 0 0 1 John Williams 10 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 3-4 0 0 0 0 0 Samaki Walker 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-3 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 33-84 6-15 11-12 83 13-39 20 14 15 6 3 Atlanta at Dallas (February 23) Atlanta pulled ahead to a 15-7 lead, but Dallas scored the next 8 points with 6 of those coming from Robert Pack. Atlanta led 20-17 after 1. It wasn't a pretty quarter and the Mavs were amazingly still in the game despite being out-rebounded 22 (with 9 offensive) to 10. It stayed close in the 2nd quarter with a couple of ties and small leads. The game was tied at 36-36 with 2 minutes left. Dallas rattled off the next 9 points. The Mavs led 47-38 at the half. Dallas pulled ahead comfortably in the 3rd quarter and built up a 15 point lead at 59-55 with 7 minutes left. They were able to keep that lead over the next 5 minutes. However, Atlanta hit 2 3-pointers at the end of the quarter. The Mavs led 70-59 after 3. Dallas was ahead 72-59 with 11:41 left. Atlanta then went on a 16-4 run to make it a close game at 75-76 with 6 minutes to go. Dallas pulled ahead by 6 with 3:30 left, but Mookie Blaylock scored 4 points to make it 83-81 Dallas with 2:30 remaining. The teams traded misses over the next minute. Michael Finley hit a 3-pointer with 1:21 left and Blaylock missed a quick 3-pointer. Finley nailed a 3-pointer from the corner as the shot clock expired to give Dallas a 87-81 lead with 46 seconds to go. Roshown McLeod drove for a layup with 37 seconds left. Atlanta put on pressure for the inbounds and the Mavs called timeout. Dallas advanced the ball to midcourt, but Blaylock stole the inbounds pass, but McLeod missed a layup with 37 seconds remaining. The Mavs got the ball into the front court and Grant Long was all over Pack trying to commit the foul or force the turnover with 17 seconds left [and disgustingly no foul was called]. Long got the steal and Atlanta used their last timeout. Blaylock missed a 3-pointer. Two free throws by Finley and a layup by McLeod capped the scoring. Dallas won 89-85. The officiating in the game was absolutely pathetic. Forget the stats, Shawn Bradley has been playing very well defensively. Quotes Don Nelson: "I thought we were on the road again. Anyway, it was good to be home and it was sure nice to get a win, a hard-earned win, nonetheless a win. I think we can play a lot better than the way we've been playing. We found a way to scratch out this win so I think that's the important thing." Nelson: "We were a tired team and it would have been a kick in the teeth to lose the game after the lead we had. I'm happy we found a way to win." Michael Finley: "It was a long, long, long, long, long road trip and it felt good to somehow get a win over a team like Atlanta. At least the road trip showed us what it takes to win. We did what we needed to do to keep the lead down the stretch." Finley: "Sooner or later I knew we'd knock down a couple of big shots. The great thing is I didn't have to create those shots, my teammates found me. It's a step in the right direction. Hopefully it will be contagious." Robert Pack: "The game gave us a lot of confidence. We came off a tough road trip and we came together tonight. I believe that we showed a lot of character to get this win." Lenny Wilkens: "With Steve Smith out, we've been having trouble getting started in games and it happened again tonight. We proved we could do it in the 2nd half, but we were just a little short." Roshown McLeod: "I just want to do anything that I can to make this team win. We came up a little short tonight but if we continue to make the progress that we made in the 2nd half and carry it over to the next game, then we can take it another step forward." Dallas Mavericks 89, Atlanta Hawks 85 at Dallas (February 23) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 17 30 23 19 - 89 .400 .455 .407 .947 Atlanta 20 18 21 26 - 85 .400 .250 .372 .654 Halftime: Dallas 47-38 3rd Q: Dallas 70-59 Atlanta's largest lead: 15-7 4:02 1st Dallas' largest lead: 70-53 1:49 3rd Lead changes: 3 Technicals: Atlanta Illegal D 8:27 2nd, Atlanta Illegal D 4:33 2nd, Don Nelson 9:24 4th Refs: Dan Crawford, Leroy Richardson, Rodney Mott Attendance: 13,387 (cap 18,042) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK A.C. Green 22 4-8 0-0 0-0 8 1-2 0 0 3 1 1 Cedric Ceballos 30 3-11 1-3 0-0 7 0-3 0 1 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 35 3-10 0-0 3-3 9 2-4 1 1 4 1 4 Michael Finley 40 7-11 2-2 6-6 22 2-9 6 3 4 0 0 Steve Nash 22 1-5 1-3 1-1 4 0-5 4 0 0 0 0 Robert Pack 26 6-13 0-1 3-4 15 0-0 8 2 1 2 0 Gary Trent 33 4-13 0-0 4-4 12 3-10 3 2 5 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 5 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Hubert Davis 15 2-5 1-1 0-0 5 0-0 1 0 3 0 0 Chris Anstey 12 2-4 0-1 1-1 5 1-5 0 1 4 0 0 Totals 48 33-81 5-11 18-19 89 9-39 23 12 26 4 5 Atlanta Hawks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK LaPhonso Ellis 26 4-9 0-0 1-2 9 2-11 2 2 3 0 0 Alan Henderson 23 4-14 0-0 5-6 13 5-7 2 0 1 0 2 Dikembe Mutombo 42 2-5 0-0 6-11 10 3-12 1 1 2 0 5 Mookie Blaylock 40 10-22 2-9 0-1 22 1-4 4 4 0 4 0 Ed Gray 15 2-9 1-4 1-2 6 0-1 1 1 2 0 0 Tyrone Corbin 12 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 1 0 0 1 Anthony Johnson 30 3-7 1-1 0-0 7 1-3 4 1 3 0 0 Grant Long 25 0-3 0-0 2-2 2 2-3 1 1 3 1 1 Roshown McLeod 22 7-16 0-2 2-2 16 2-4 2 0 2 0 0 Mark West 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2-3 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 32-86 4-16 17-26 85 18-49 18 12 17 5 9 Denver at Dallas (February 25) This was a game that was over shadowed by injuries. Denver lost Raef LaFrentz when he blew his ACL driving to the basket early in the 1st quarter. His knee simply buckled while driving - no Mav touched him. Dallas led 14-12 with 4 minutes left in the quarter and then went on a 10-3 run. With 40 seconds left, Cedric Ceballos drove to the basket on a break and was taken down hard from behind by Loren Meyer. It was a very scary sight to see. Meyer was assessed a flagrant foul. Ceballos was able to stay in the game and shot the free throws. He committed an intentional foul after the Mavs missed a shot so that he could sub out and go to the locker room. He did return to the game in the 2nd quarter and played (with Don Nelson unaware of it) with a fractured right wrist and a sprained left wrist. Dallas led 26-17 after 1. Ceballos had 14 points in the quarter. Dallas built up a 14 point lead at 38-24 with 6:20 left. Denver connected on the next 5 points. The Mavs led 44-38 at the half. Nick Van Exel had 14 points in the half, but only scored 2 points in the 2nd half. Dallas led 46-40 a minute into the 3rd, but Denver went on a 10-1 run to go up 50-47 with 8 minutes to go. Denver led 54-51 a minute later and it was Dallas' turn to rally as the Mavs scored the next 11 points to go up 62-54 with 4:12 left. Denver scored 6 of the last 8 points of the quarter. Dallas led 67-62 after 3. Danny Fortson had 9 rebounds in the quarter. Dallas led 73-66 with 9 minutes left when Denver scored the next 9 points to go up 75-73 with 6:30 left. The Mavs responded with a 13-2 run as Denver shot 1-8 FG and committed 3 turnovers. Denver was unable to recover. Dallas won 90-81. Dallas held a 20-9 edge in second-chance points. Denver only shot 9-26 FG in the 4th. Gary Trent had 8 of Dallas' last 12 points in the game. Quotes Don Nelson: "That was a pretty special win tonight. It was a team we feel we will be competing against for the next position. It felt like a real good win to us." Nelson: "Cedric Ceballos had a gutsy performance. He hurt his wrist and really couldn't do much with his right hand. I didn't know how bad it was until he shot the free throw [left handed] at the end." Nelson: "To win shooting 38% is remarkable. But defensively we were very good." Nelson: "Defensively we were very good. We carried out our game plan extremely well. It was a solid game plan. One in which I think helped us win the game." Nelson: "Bradley was fantastic tonight. He blocked five, but he must have changed 15. They shoot 35% for the game because he's in the game; it's not because of our other great defensive players out there." Cedric Ceballos: "I knew it was broken right away. I just told them I was all right, just tape it, so I could keep playing. I knew it was going to be a long time before I played basketball again." Ceballos: "It was a lot harder than the last time [last season when a shove from Danny Manning resulted in a knee injury that ended Ceballos' season]. He had no play on the ball, same as Danny Manning. He was behind the play, so he went for my body. It was a foolish play. I'm not going to say it was intentional, but it was just foolish. Michael Finley: "It's going to be a big loss for us, being that Ced is just starting to roll and that the first five [starters] is just starting to roll. For him to go out at this time is going to be tough for us." Gary Trent: "You have to make sure you win games with defense. That's how you win games, with defense. In the stretch, we had a couple of big baskets and we won the game." Shawn Bradley: "We had a game plan before we went out there tonight and we executed that game plan. If someone comes in the lane, they know even if I don't get a block shot, they know I'm 7-6." Mike D'Antonio on LaFrentz's injury: "Any time somebody is playing as well as he is playing goes out for the rest of the year, it's tough. It's tough for him." D'Antonio: "We have to have a couple of guys step up. We had a chance to win this one. We were kind of off synch all night and we still had a chance to win." Antonio McDyess: "We didn't get anything accomplished. I think we had a lack of energy and intensity and they came and kept scoring on us and we couldn't get back." McDyess: "It seems like those two wins [vs the Lakers and Utah] didn't mean anything because we didn't beat Dallas. If we would have come in and beat Dallas, people probably would have looked at us different, but right now, we're the same Nuggets." McDyess: "Just to have [Bradley] there present, it's tough to score. He's so big and long. He's tough to shoot over." Bryant Stith: "It just seems like when it comes to the physical well-being of our players for the past 5 years. We've just lost one player after another to potential career- and season-ending injuries. It's frustrating for us, and I know it's frustrating for Raef, because he was playing so well for the team.'' Dallas Mavericks 90, Denver Nuggets 81 at Dallas (February 25) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 26 18 23 23 - 90 .403 .250 .388 .813 Denver 17 21 24 19 - 81 .403 .240 .356 .650 Halftime: Dallas 44-38 3rd Q: Dallas 67-62 Denver's largest lead: 54-51 6:53 3rd Dallas' largest lead: 38-24 6:19 2nd Lead changes: 6 Technicals: Michael Finley 0:39 1st, Nick Van Exel 2:59 3rd Flagrant fouls: Loren Meyer 0:39 1st Refs: Jess Kersey, Ken Mauer, Marc Davis Attendance: 13,203 (cap 18,042) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Cedric Ceballos 34 6-14 0-1 8-12 20 5-13 1 2 1 0 0 A.C. Green 20 2-6 0-0 1-2 5 2-7 1 0 2 0 0 Shawn Bradley 36 1-7 0-0 6-6 8 2-11 0 3 4 1 5 Michael Finley 44 8-16 2-3 2-2 20 0-4 3 3 3 1 0 Steve Nash 31 2-6 0-3 3-3 7 0-4 5 1 0 2 0 Robert Pack 19 2-6 0-0 2-2 6 1-4 3 2 2 1 1 Dirk Nowitzki 5 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Hubert Davis 16 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 Gary Trent 27 7-17 0-1 4-5 18 3-5 0 0 3 1 2 Samaki Walker 8 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 0 0 1 2 1 Totals 48 31-80 2-8 26-32 90 14-50 14 13 17 8 9 Denver Nuggets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Eric Washington 16 1-6 1-3 0-0 3 0-3 2 0 1 2 1 Antonio McDyess 40 5-18 0-1 3-4 13 8-10 2 1 5 1 3 Raef LaFrentz 4 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 0-2 0 1 0 0 0 Chauncey Billups 33 5-11 1-3 3-3 14 2-4 3 1 3 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 37 7-15 2-7 0-0 16 0-1 2 1 3 1 0 Danny Fortson 40 5-10 0-0 5-10 15 8-24 0 1 6 2 0 Bryant Stith 31 3-8 2-5 0-1 8 0-1 1 2 2 0 1 Cory Alexander 28 2-10 0-4 2-2 6 0-4 6 3 3 3 1 Loren Meyer 8 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 2 2 0 1 Keon Clark 3 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 1 Totals 48 31-87 6-25 13-20 81 18-51 16 13 25 9 8 Dallas at Utah (February 26) The Mavs came in with a game plan for the 2nd game of 3 in a row, and it wasn't pretty. Dallas had a brief lead at 10-9 with 6:30 left. Utah went on a 10-2 run. Utah led 19-14 after 1. Utah led 31-23 with 8 minutes remaining and went on an 11-1 run to go up 42-24 with 4:30. The tank was on as Dirk Nowitzki was the only starter to play in the quarter. Utah led 52-34 at the half. The Mavs were ice cold and only shot 4-18 FG in the quarter. The blowout continued in the 3rd quarter as A.C. Green, Shawn Bradley, Michael Finley, Steve Nash, and Gary Trent did not play in the 2nd half. Utah led 68-44 after 3. Dallas shot a woeful 2-15 FG in the quarter. The Dallas reserves did manage to pull Utah's lead into the teens in the 4th quarter, but were unable to get closer than 13. Utah won 80-65. Dallas shot a pathetic 29.4% FG (20-68) including 0-8 for 3-pointers. Quotes Jerry Sloan: "I'm offended sometimes when we play like the game is a joke. Some people may say that's old fashioned and demanding and all those things, but we have to play like we are interested and want to be here." Sloan: "People don't want to see games like this. I've been in this league since 1965, and I've always thought it was important to do the job." Bryon Russell: "Dallas didn't come to play tonight, but we did our job. They didn't present a challenge, but a W is a W." Russell: "I don't think Dallas came to play at all. They didn't have any intention of trying to beat us, and that's too bad." Don Nelson: "We tried to get some rhythm for the guys that didn't play and to rest my starters. I was hoping to stay competitive and stay in the game, but that didn't happen. So we did the next best thing and played the game out." Nelson: "It was a game that I thought we had to be careful of. I don't want to burn up all of the starters and then not have anything left for tomorrow." Nelson: "I used this as a game to hope that our reserves could keep it close, and have a chance to insert the starters back in. But when that didn't happen, I made the decision that I'm just going to let the reserves play it out and hope that they can get a good feel to their game." Samaki Walker: "We couldn't get it going. Of course, we played a lot of reserves tonight. Who knows, there's no saying that if we kept our starters in we could have come back." Michael Finley: "After the first quarter I kind of figured what our coach was going to do. He felt like he could give his major minute guys a rest and go out and try to win tomorrow." Finley: "[Nelson's] philosophy basically was to pretty much save the guys that were getting major minutes for [tonight], being that we have to compete in a back-to-back-to-back. So I understand." Utah Jazz 80, Dallas Mavericks 65 at Utah (February 26) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Utah 22 30 16 12 - 80 .371 .375 .371 .735 Dallas 16 18 10 21 - 65 .333 .000 .294 .735 Halftime: Utah 52-34 3rd Q: Utah 68-44 Technicals: Don Nelson 5:43 4th, Todd Fuller 4:04 4th, Samaki Walker 4:04 4th Refs: Tommy Nunez, Greg Willard, Bennie Adams Attendance: 19,911 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Jeff Hornacek (sore knee) Utah Jazz REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Bryon Russell 32 6-11 1-2 4-6 17 2-7 1 2 1 2 0 Karl Malone 29 3-8 0-0 7-8 13 2-10 2 5 2 1 1 Greg Ostertag 27 1-6 0-0 2-2 4 3-9 0 1 4 1 1 Shandon Anderson 24 3-8 0-2 4-4 10 4-5 3 2 3 1 2 John Stockton 26 3-6 1-1 3-4 10 1-2 5 0 2 1 0 Howard Eisley 34 5-12 1-2 1-1 12 0-5 6 1 2 1 0 Greg Foster 14 2-7 0-0 1-2 5 3-5 0 2 1 0 0 Adam Keefe 19 1-2 0-0 3-5 5 0-4 1 1 4 1 0 Chris King 7 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 2 0 0 Todd Fuller 19 1-6 0-0 0-2 2 1-5 0 5 2 1 0 Jacque Vaughn 9 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 26-70 3-8 25-34 80 16-53 18 20 24 9 4 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Dirk Nowitzki 36 1-7 0-2 3-4 5 1-7 0 3 5 1 2 A.C. Green 7 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 Shawn Bradley 11 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 0 0 3 0 2 Michael Finley 12 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 3 2 1 0 0 Steve Nash 9 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 Gary Trent 14 2-4 0-0 2-4 6 1-4 0 2 2 0 0 Robert Pack 24 4-7 0-0 10-10 18 0-1 2 3 4 0 0 John Williams 23 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-3 0 0 2 2 1 Hubert Davis 32 2-11 0-3 0-0 4 0-4 2 1 4 0 0 Samaki Walker 28 3-7 0-0 5-10 11 2-8 0 2 5 0 0 Chris Anstey 25 1-12 0-1 5-6 7 2-4 2 0 1 3 0 Erick Strickland 19 2-8 0-2 0-0 4 0-1 0 1 1 1 0 Totals 48 20-68 0-8 25-34 65 10-41 10 16 29 7 5 Sacramento at Dallas (February 27) Then the Mavs got to see if their gamble of limiting the minutes of key players in the Utah game played off as the team faced their third team in three nights (and 5th team in 6 nights and 7th team in 9 nights). It started out as a close game and was tied 9-9 with 7:40 to go. Sacramento scored the next 8 points to go up 19-11 with 4 minutes remaining. Sacramento led 29-23 after 1. The Kings led 39-30 with 6 minutes left, but Dallas went on an 8-2 run and Sacramento only led 41-38 with 3 minutes left. Dallas closed the half with a 9-2 run capped by a slam dunk by Michael Finley off a miss by Gary Trent. Dallas led 49-45 at the half. Sacramento opened the 3rd quarter with an 11-3 run to take the lead at 56-52 with 7:43 remaining. The game was tied at 59-59 and at 61-61 with 3:40 to go. Dallas closed the quarter with a 10-2 run to go up 71-63 after 3. Dallas led 79-69 with 7:40 remaining. Vernon Maxwell hit a 3-pointer and a layup to reduce Dallas' lead down to 81-74 with 5 minutes to go. The Mavs built their lead back up to 10 at 87-77 with 3:30 left. A 3-pointer by Chris Webber pulled Sacramento within 6 at 82-88 with 2:30 left. Dallas answered with a layup by Trent, a layup by Robert Pack, and two free throws by Pack to pull ahead 94-82 with 1:40 left. The Kings again pulled within 6 at 96-90 after a short jumper by Webber with a 1 minute left, but they were unable to score again. Dallas won 97-90. The Mavs had an awesome game on the offensive boards with 28 offensive rebounds and dominated Sacramento with second change points. Gary Trent had a huge game as 19 of his points came in the 2nd half. Quotes Don Nelson: "We took a big gamble [by resting key players in the Utah game] and it paid off. The worst thing would have been to fire all our cylinders against Utah and then have nothing left [vs Sacramento]. It turned out okay." Gary Trent: "The rest we got was key. We were tired and flat in Utah but [vs Sacramento] we came out with some energy. I guess Nellie knew what he was doing. He's been in the game 40 years." Trent: "We were outmanned in Utah and Nellie decided to rest us for a more winnable game. Nellie caught some flak for it but what he did last night helped us to win today. It was a great win for us. " Trent: "They made a good run at the end but our guys were just feeling it. We're trying to jell. It was a great win for us. We needed it bad." Rick Adelman: "They outworked us, out-rebounded us and beat us to loose balls. Gary Trent had a big night for them. Besides scoring points he killed us on the offensive board. They played really good defense, too." Adelman: "[Trent] had a big night. He shot the ball extremely well and he was very aggressive on the boards. That's been our problem on this road trip. They just killed us on the offensive boards." Adelman: "We turn it over too many times and it makes it tough to win on the road. As the game progressed, they really outworked us." Chris Webber: "I love Trent's game. He was hitting his jumpers, which if he doesn't do they don't win. He's improving. One part that he needed to be more consistent with was his jumper from 15 feet." Dallas Mavericks 97, Sacramento Kings 90 at Dallas (February 27) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 23 26 22 26 - 97 .394 .500 .400 .526 Sacramento 27 18 18 27 - 90 .486 .188 .430 .591 Halftime: Dallas 49-45 3rd Q: Dallas 71-63 Technicals: Dallas Illegal D 3:19 1st, Dallas Illegal D 11:31 2nd, Sacramento Illegal D 7:05 2nd, Vernon Maxwell 5:17 2nd, Dallas Illegal D 4:34 4th, Sacramento Illegal D 2:40 4th Refs: Bob Delaney, James Capers, Bruce Alexander Attendance: 15,009 (cap 18,042) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 43 8-22 2-3 0-0 18 3-4 2 0 2 1 0 A.C. Green 11 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 Shawn Bradley 24 1-4 0-0 1-4 3 4-5 0 0 4 0 5 Steve Nash 29 2-9 0-1 0-0 4 1-2 4 1 2 1 0 Hubert Davis 10 1-4 0-1 1-2 3 0-2 0 0 1 0 0 Gary Trent 39 14-25 0-0 1-3 29 7-16 1 1 5 1 2 Robert Pack 35 6-16 0-0 7-9 19 2-7 6 3 2 4 0 Erick Strickland 13 4-7 1-1 0-0 9 2-4 0 2 2 2 0 John Williams 21 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 6-7 1 2 2 0 1 Samaki Walker 15 3-11 0-0 0-1 6 2-9 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 42-105 3-6 10-19 97 28-59 14 11 20 9 8 Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Chris Webber 37 8-16 1-1 0-3 17 4-14 2 5 4 0 3 Corliss Williamson 28 5-9 0-0 0-2 10 2-8 2 0 2 0 0 Vlade Divac 37 8-18 0-0 4-6 20 5-9 0 5 4 0 2 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 22 2-8 0-1 2-2 6 2-4 1 2 1 0 0 Jason Williams 34 3-12 1-4 1-2 8 1-6 7 1 0 2 0 Lawrence Funderburke 20 5-6 0-0 0-0 10 0-3 0 1 3 1 0 Vernon Maxwell 26 4-9 1-6 2-2 11 0-2 2 1 5 2 0 Jon Barry 21 1-5 0-3 4-5 6 3-7 1 2 2 0 0 Predrag Stojakovic 15 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 2 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 37-86 3-16 13-22 90 17-53 17 19 21 5 5 patricia