The Dallas Mavericks had the 2nd best record in the Western Conference at the end of January 27 and that meant that Don Nelson and his coaching staff are the All-Star coaches for the West. Sacramento had the best record in the West, but Rick Adelman was ineligible as he coached the All-Star team last year and coaches are not allowed to coach in consecutive seasons. Nelson, Del Harris, Donn Nelson, Sidney Moncrief, and Charlie Parker (the bench assistants) are all heading for Philly for the All-Star game February 10. It is the 2nd time Nelson has been an All-Star coach (first in 1992) and the 1st time a Mavs coach has been selected. Congrats to Nellie and his assistants! The reserves for the All-Star game will be announced tomorrow (Tuesday) and it is expected that Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash will be named to the Western Conference team. [If both don't make it, I and many others will be upset as both are no-brainers for this year.] Dirk Nowitzki was named as Player of the Week for the week ending January 27. Dirk averaged 29.5 points and 9.8 rebounds as Dallas went 4-0. It is the 2nd time this season (1st was Steve Nash for Dec. 16) that a Mav has been named Player of the week. Allen Iverson (Phi) was also named as Player of the Week while averaging 37 points as Philadelphia went 3-1. [The NBA is naming a Player of the Week for each conference this season.] Dallas at LA Clippers (January 26) The LA Clippers held a single-digit lead for the first half of the 1st quarter. The Clippers led 13-9 with 7:10 remaining and Dallas went on a 10-3 run to go up 19-16 with 5:05 left. Dallas held a single-digit lead the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 34-31 after 1. Dirk Nowitzki and Juwan Howard had 11 points each. Dallas continued to hold a single-digit lead as they were unable to build the lead larger than 8 points and the Clippers were unable to get closer than 1 point. Dallas scored 6 straight points to take their first double-digit lead at 67-56 with a minute to go. Dallas led 70-58 at the half. Both teams were shooting over 55% FG, but Dallas out-rebounded the Clippers 21-8. Nowitzki had 17 points, Howard had 17 points including 7-11 FG, and Quentin Richardson had 17 points including 5-6 3-pointers. Dallas led 75-64 on a 3-pointer by Nowitzki, but the Clippers scored the next 8 points to pull within 72-75 with 9:15 remaining. Dallas led 86-78 on another 3-pointer by Nowitzki with 6:25 left, but the Clippers went on a 10-2 run to take the lead at 89-88 with 3:15 to go on a slam dunk by Michael Olowokandi. Dallas took the lead back with consecutive buckets. A Richardson 3-pointer again gave the Clippers a 1 point lead, but Nowitzki converted a 3-point play to give Dallas a 97-95 after 3. The Clippers shot an amazing 14-18 FG and 6-8 3-pointers in the 3rd quarter, yet they were still down by 2 points thanks to Dallas' 12 point halftime lead and the Mavs shooting 12-21 FG. Erik Piatkowski had 15 points in the 3rd quarter, including 4 3-pointers. The Clippers hot shooting did not extend into the 4th quarter as they could not even find the basket as they missed 8 straight shots to open the quarter. Dallas scored on each possession they had and used a 17-0 run, including 8 points from Tim Hardaway, to open the the quarter to take a commanding 114-95 lead with 8:30 left. Darius Miles hit a jumper with 8:10 to go to finally end the Clippers' drought. Richardson scored the next 5 points to pull the Clippers within 102-114 with 6:30 remaining. Dallas led 118-106 with 5:25 left and scored the next 7 points to go up 125-106 with 4 minutes remaining and had full control of the rest of the game. Dallas won 133-112. How quickly this game turned. I kept thinking that the Clipper could not substain the great shooting night they were having, but I didn't expect it to fall off so dramatically. After 3 quarters, Dallas was only up by 2 points, but just 3 1/2 minutes into the 4th quarter Dallas was up by 19 points. The Clippers shot 61.7% FG and 63.2% 3-pointers through 3 quarters, but just 26.9% (7-26) and 20% 3-pointers (2-10) in the 4th quarter. And Dallas shot over 52% FG for each quarter and 57.6% FG overall. It was a balanced attack for Dallas as the Mavs had 5 players with 19 or more points. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 28 points and 7 rebounds and Juwan Howard was right behind him with 27 points including 11-16 FG and 7 rebounds. Steve Nash had a double-double with 20 points and 11 assists and only had 1 turnover. Tim Hardaway also had 20 points, with 13 of them coming in the 4th quarter, including 4-6 3-pointers and also dished out 9 assists. Eduardo Najera had a career high 19 points including 6-9 FG and had 6 rebounds. Adrian Griffin chipped in 8 points on 4-6 FG, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals. Quentin Richardson went nuts in this game. He had 31 points on 12-19 FG and 7-12 3-pointers. Off the bench. He could not be stopped. Elton Brand had 18 points including 8-11 FG and 7 rebounds. Jeff McInnis had 17 points and 9 assists. All of Eric Piatkowski's 15 points came in the 3rd quarter and he hit 4-6 3-pointers. Michael Olowokandi was the 4th Clipper in double-digits with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Quotes Don Nelson on the run-and-gun game: "We thought we were in the old ABA. This was a fun game. What a shootout." Nelson: "When they shoot as many 3s as they did tonight, you usually don't win. But we were equal to the task. It was just a shootout. It was like old-time basketball from the ABA, and both teams just let it go. It was a fun game to play in, I'm sure." Nelson on Dallas: "This is just an incredible team. They are really fun to coach. I don't even want a day off the way we are playing. The coach has no complaints about anything." Dirk Nowitzki: "They're an unbelievably hot team, and that's why it's a great win for us. We knew they play very well at home and they have great energy. But we made some great shots, Timmy was on fire, and we were able to grind it out." Nowitzki on missing Finley: "It's amazing what we've done missing our 2-time All-Star. We can't wait to get him back to see how much better we'll be." Steve Nash on missing Finley: "We've been able to get a lot of performances out of a lot of different people. We're a better team with Michael, but we've learned to grow while he's not here. We're a tough team when we get hot." Tim Hardaway: "We're all doing the things we need to do to win. We're helping each other out, playing good defense, playing good offense, and trusting one another. This team can play. If we can play good enough defense and rebound the ball, we can beat anybody." Eduardo Najera: "As a player, we all love to score. On this team it's going to be hard to score all the time because we have so many great shooters, but it's fun." Alvin Gentry: "What can you say? I wasn't discouraged by the way we played. I was discouraged by the way they played. What do you do with Nowitzki? We tried everything we could think of. We gave a great effort, especially in the 3rd quarter." Gentry: "I wasn't discouraged by the way we played. The Mavericks discourage you by the way they they shoot the basketball. They are a heck of an offensive basketball team." Gentry: "There's not a lot that I can say. They're assassins. Everything we tried to do, they had an answer for. And it usually was Nowitzki. I'm a little discouraged by the way we boxed out. I thought we gave them too many second shots." Gentry: "We tried everything. We had 112 points in a regulation game, but whatever we tried the Mavericks had an answer for. We made a run at them, came up with some stops, even got ahead by 1. But they're so potent offensively that 3 minutes later, were down by 12." Gentry: "I never thought that I'd walk out here after scoring 112 points and lose by 20 points. They're so potent offensively." Gentry: "We played well, but the Mavericks played much better and shot the ball well." Gentry: "They always give us a hard time. Last year, of all the teams we faced, there was never really a game against them that we had a good chance of winning." Gentry on Nowitzki: "He's truly one of the great players in the league. People compare him to Larry Bird, but I think he's more like Rick Barry. He's quicker than Bird, more athletic than Bird. He handles passes off the dribble better than Bird." Elton Brand: "We really fought hard and came back at them, but they have so many offensive weapons, it's tough to stop them all." Quentin Richardson: "They are definitely one of the top teams in the league, and they don't even have Michael Finley." Richardson: "They're definitely one of the top teams. They just came out and really got it going today. It shows you what they can do when they get it going." Richardson on Nowitzki: "He's a great player. He's come a long way. He's 7 feet tall and shoots like that. What can you say?" Richardson on Nowitzki: "He's a great player. When you're 7 feet and can shoot as well as he can, there's not much you can do." Richardson on Nowitzki: "He's a great player. He's come a long way and he's getting better every time I see him. When you're 7 feet and you can shoot as well as he can shoot, its pretty tough to stop." Dallas Mavericks 133, Los Angeles Clippers 112 at LA Clippers (January 26) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 34 36 27 36 - 133 .594 .524 .576 .750 LA Clippers 31 27 37 17 - 112 .526 .483 .512 .667 Halftime: Dallas 70-58 3rd Q: Dallas 97-95 Technicals: LA Clippers defensive 3 seconds 3:02 2nd, Juwan Howard 9:43 3rd, Michael Olowokandi 8:43 4th, Dirk Nowitzki 6:41 4th Refs: Luis Grillo, Tom Washington, Jason Phillips Attendance: 19,311 (sellout) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Juwan Howard 40 11-16 0-0 5-5 27 3-7 0 1 4 0 1 Johnny Newman 19 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 1 0 1 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 47 9-19 3-6 7-8 28 1-7 1 3 3 2 2 Adrian Griffin 33 4-6 0-1 0-0 8 2-7 1 2 3 3 0 Steve Nash 33 7-15 3-6 3-4 20 0-4 11 1 1 1 0 Eduardo Najera 34 6-9 0-0 7-9 19 3-6 0 0 3 1 0 Tim Hardaway 24 7-13 4-6 2-2 20 0-0 9 0 2 1 0 Wang Zhizhi 4 2-3 1-2 0-0 5 1-1 0 0 1 1 0 Shawn Bradley 5 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 2 1 0 Charlie Bell 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 49-85 11-21 24-28 133 10-34 23 8 20 10 3 Los Angeles Clippers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Elton Brand 39 8-11 0-0 2-4 18 2-7 3 0 4 1 0 Corey Maggette 23 0-5 0-3 0-1 0 0-4 4 5 3 0 2 Michael Olowokandi 24 7-12 0-0 1-1 15 5-8 3 3 5 0 1 Jeff McInnis 39 5-13 2-5 5-6 17 0-2 9 0 4 3 0 Eric Piatkowski 26 5-9 4-6 1-1 15 0-3 2 1 1 1 1 Darius Miles 28 2-8 0-1 1-2 5 1-1 6 3 2 0 2 Sean Rooks 16 4-5 0-0 0-0 8 1-1 1 0 2 0 1 Quentin Richardson 31 12-19 7-12 0-0 31 1-3 2 1 1 0 0 Earl Boykins 13 1-3 1-2 0-0 3 0-0 3 0 1 1 1 Harold Jamison 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 44-86 14-29 10-15 112 11-30 33 14 24 6 8 patricia