Wang Zhizhi is now in Dallas. He is not joining the team in Miami, but will be on the bench for the Phoenix game. [Still, my money is that the Mavs put him on IR with some reason while he learns the Mavs' system on offense and defense (changes have occurred from last season). I'd guess for Eduardo Najera to be activated.] Dallas signed Omar Cook, released Darrick Martin, activated Evan Eschmeyer, and placed Cook on IR with tendinitis in his left foot. Cook is a rookie guard who came out after his freshman year at St. John's. The Mavs are looking at him as a project. Dallas at Houston (November 17) Dallas shot out to a 10-2 lead with 9:11 remaining, but Houston then went on a 21-4 run to go up 23-14 with 4:47 to go. Steve Francis had 13 points during that run. Houston led 36-26 after 1. Francis had 17 points including 6-7 FG. Houston shot 13-21 FG (including 1-5 FG to open the game) and Dallas shot 9-21 FG. Steve Nash scored the first 4 points of the 2nd quarter, but Houston answered with the next 4 points. Houston held a 7 to 12 point lead most of the rest of the quarter. Nash nailed a 3-pointer and Shawn Bradley had a dunk to close the quarter. Houston led 56-52 at the half. Nash had 14 points in the 2nd quarter. I don't think anyone was expecting what came in the 3rd quarter. Houston came out of halftime shooting lights out and Dallas did not show up at all. Houston led 56-54 with 11:30 to go and went on a 15-4 run to go up 71-58 with 7:28 remaining. And it got worse. Houston led 78-66 with 5:18 left and went on a 16-2 run to go up 94-68 with a minute remaining. Dirk Nowitzki hit a jumper, but Walt Williams drained a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left to give Houston a 97-70 lead after 3. Houston out-scored Dallas 41-18 in the quarter. Triple yuch. Houston shot 15-20 FG and Dallas shot 9-20 FG in the quarter while Cuttino Mobley had 16 points on 5-5 FG, 2-2 3-pointers, and 4-4 FT. Don Nelson decided to let his stars watch the game from the bench in the 4th as Nowitzki, Michael Finley, Nash, and Juwan Howard sat the entire quarter. Houston opened the 4th with a 11-3 run to go up 108-73 with 7:50 remaining. Houston took their largest lead at 41 points at 118-77 with 4:25 to go and won easily 124-87. And here I thought that Dallas would have learned some lessons in their blowout loss to Detroit in the pervious game. Instead they showed that they can play worse. The 37 point loss was the 7th worst in team history. Dallas' defense went from porous in the 1st half to non-existent in the 2nd half. Houston shot 63.2% (24-38) FG while Dallas shot just 37.8% (17-45) FG in the 2nd half. Dallas, as a whole, played like crap. Their zone defense was completely ineffective as it allowed open shot after open shot after open shot. And there was no defense in the paint. Add to Dallas' woes, their rebounding, as usual, stunk. Houston out-rebounded Dallas 50-29 and Dallas had just 7 offensive rebounds. When you shot 44% FG and allow your opponent to shot 57.5% FG and get out-rebounded by such a large number, you are going to lose. Houston had a 1-2 punch of Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley shooting lights out with Francis having 33 points including 13-18 FG and 9 rebounds and Mobley having 20 points including 7-9 FG, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. And Walt Williams was feeling it with 21 points including 4-8 3-pointers. Kevin Willis, who normally hurts the Mavs, had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Houston didn't get much from anyone else, but they didn't need anyone else. Dallas had Steve Nash and no one else. Nash had 21 points, 19 in the 1st half in almost matching Francis' 20 1st half points, on 9-15 FG, but just 4 assists with 2 turnovers. The other 4 starters were in double-digits, but just barely. Michael Finley had 11 points. Dirk Nowitzki had 13 points on just 4-7 FG. Juwan Howard had 13 points. Greg Buckner had the only double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. That is two blowouts in a row for Dallas. Quotes Rudy Tomjanovich: "Boy, did we need that game. I felt all along that we're a good offensive team. Our shooting has been suffering. We really let it out. We got into the open floor, got them rotating. We did a tremendous job of spacing the floor, moving the ball and knocking down the shots. Steve was amazing. Everybody played good. We got our defense going and then got the break going, and it seemed like the dam broke as far as our shooting. One guy started making some, and the other guys did too. It seems to take off the pressure." Tomjanovich: "This was a big win because we wanna be in the hunt and this is going to be a very competitive year. Luck is a part of it, but you have to beat the teams that are going to be in the playoffs." Tomjanovich: "In the 2nd quarter we got lackadaisical, but we got the defense going in the 3rd and then for the offense, it seemed like the dam broke." Steve Francis: "It all comes back to defense, we played better defense tonight compared to the first 9 games. When we play good defense we're able to get in our transition game, and that's what helped us get going tonight. The transition game starts the microwave, and we all started to heat up." Cuttino Mobley: "Man I love it. When guys are hitting their shots, it is so much easier for Steve and myself. We just moved the ball around and we took over after the 1st quarter. I think we came out aggressive in the 2nd half, we did a lot of fast breaking." Mobley: "I was playing all-around ball in the 1st half. In the 2nd half, I said I would come out real aggressive just in case it was a close game. I would have my rhythm. I came out aggressive. Steve saw me. Glen saw me. I hit a couple of shots. We started fast breaking, everybody hitting. It was fun." Walt Williams: "That was very fun, getting out on the break, running. The way we pushed the ball up enabled guys to get in the paint and find guys wide open. We just played ball." Glen Rice: "That was fun. We were working hard, talking on the defensive end. We can go out there and do that each game. We have the talent to really put it on teams. I've been saying it all along." Don Nelson: "It was a long night for us. They did to us what they've been able to a lot of other teams on occasion. I am concerned, but Houston is simply a tough matchup for us." Nelson: "They're a good shooting team and when they get hot they can have games like this. Their guard play really hurt us tonight." Nelson: "We're concerned. We're working hard on our defense, and we're working hard on our rebounding. It was a little discouraging. They got us spaced out and they made their shots." Michael Finley: "We couldn't score, we couldn't stop them, we couldn't rebound. Everything that could go wrong went wrong, basically. We've just got to go back to the lab and figure out something individually, and take it upon ourselves to improve and collectively come together and improve." Finley: "Houston went to their strength. Their isolation guys were making the plays, and the others helped out. We couldn't score, and we couldn't stop them." Finley: "We've got to go back to the lab. I'm not too concerned because it's not even December yet, but we can't let this blow up in our face." Dirk Nowitzki: "They outplayed us. They were better on offense and defense and all across the board." Nowitzki: "Houston stepped it up in the 2nd half and we didn't." Nowitzki: "Houston has a lot of great one-on-one players, and we're not a great team defending one-on-one. Mobley and Francis are so great and in a one-on-one game they make it look so easy. The whole league has a problem with Houston's guards. They are just so quick and tough to defend." Nowitzki on Francis and Mobley: "The whole league has problems with those two guys. They're so athletic, it's almost a joke." Steve Nash: "It's not fun. When you're in a stretch like this and on a night like this its hard to find something to build on. I can't understand why we are playing like this and we have to figure things out. We have to pride ourselves more on defense." Nash: "I don't think I've experience something like this with this team for over a year and a half. We can't understand why it's happening, but that's our job - to figure out what it is." Houston Rockets 124, Dallas Mavericks 87 at Houston (November 17) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Houston 36 20 41 27 - 124 .650 .350 .575 .735 Dallas 26 26 18 17 - 87 .465 .308 .440 .643 Halftime: Houston 56-52 3rd Q: Houston 97-70 Technical fouls: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 5:45 1st, Mobley 2:02 1st, Houston defensive 3 seconds 6:37 2nd Refs: Terry Durham, Sean Corbin, Bill Kennedy Attendance: 11,978 (cap 16,285) Houston Rockets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Glen Rice 37 1-5 0-3 4-4 6 0-6 3 1 2 1 0 Kenny Thomas 24 4-9 0-0 1-2 9 4-5 1 3 4 2 0 Walt Williams 33 8-15 4-8 1-2 21 0-2 2 1 2 2 0 Steve Francis 37 13-18 1-3 6-8 33 4-9 3 2 3 0 0 Cuttino Mobley 35 7-9 2-2 4-4 20 0-7 5 0 1 1 1 Kevin Willis 24 5-8 0-0 3-6 13 2-12 0 1 0 1 1 Moochie Norris 19 3-4 0-1 2-4 8 1-2 6 2 0 0 0 Oscar Torres 10 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 1 1 0 Eddie Griffin 8 3-5 0-1 2-2 8 0-3 0 0 0 0 1 Terence Morris 7 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 1-2 1 0 0 0 0 Kelvin Cato 6 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 46-80 7-20 25-34 124 12-50 21 10 13 8 3 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 30 4-10 0-2 3-4 11 1-1 4 2 1 1 0 Juwan Howard 28 6-11 0-0 1-2 13 1-5 1 2 2 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 29 4-7 1-1 4-5 13 0-6 2 1 3 0 0 Greg Buckner 31 5-9 0-1 0-0 10 5-10 2 2 5 0 0 Steve Nash 31 9-15 3-6 0-1 21 0-2 4 2 3 1 0 Adrian Griffin 25 3-10 0-0 0-0 6 0-1 1 1 4 1 0 Tim Hardaway 21 0-6 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 2 1 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 25 4-7 0-0 0-0 8 0-2 0 1 2 2 3 Danny Manning 13 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 0 0 3 1 0 Darrick Martin 7 0-4 0-2 1-2 1 0-0 0 0 2 2 0 Totals 48 37-84 4-13 9-14 87 7-29 16 12 26 8 3 Seattle at Dallas (November 20) The game stayed close in the 1st quarter with the teams trading leads to start. Calvin Booth scored 9 of Seattle's first 11 points. Seattle scored 6 straight points to go up 17-12 with 3:55 left. Seattle scored the last 6 points of the quarter to go up 30-20 after 1. The teams traded 2 points to open the 2nd quarter and Seattle scored the next 8 points, capped by a 3-pointer by Desmond Mason, to go up 42-22 with 9:10 remaining. Steve Nash answered with a 3-pointer. Seattle led 46-29 with 5:25 to go and Dallas went on a 13-2 run to pull within 42-48 with 2 minutes left. Seattle scored the last 4 points of the quarter on free throws and led 54-44 at the half. Seattle led 68-56 with 8:10 left in the 3rd quarter and Dallas scored 9 straight points to pull within 3 points at 65-68 with 6:20 to go. Dallas was not able to pull even and Seattle led 74-71 with 3:40 remaining. Gary Payton then took over as he scored the next 10 points and Predrag Drobnjak and Mason hit jumpers to give Seattle a 88-71 lead after 3. Seattle continued their run in the 4th quarter as Mason converted a 3-point play to give Seattle another 20 point lead at 91-71 with 11:20 to go. Dallas responded with a 17-5 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Nash, to pull within 88-96 with 4:47 left. Seattle scored the next 6 points to put their lead back in double-digits at 102-88 with 3:17 to go. Dallas scored the last 4 points of the game and Seattle won 105-97. Another poor outing by Dallas. At least this one was not a blowout and the Mavs did show some signs of life. It was a 3rd loss in a row for Dallas and the Mavs have lost 4 of their last 5. Again, shooting woes and defense killed Dallas. Dallas shot just 41.2% (40-97) FG and Seattle shot 53.4% (39-73) FG. But, you say, Dallas made 1 more field goal than Seattle - what's so bad about that? Seattle consistently took it at the Mavs and the Mavs' interior defense stunk. The Mavs' fouled Seattle 24 times and Seattle shot 24-28 FT while Dallas shot just 9-10 FT. The shocking stat was that Dallas out-rebounded Seattle 51-38 including 21-6 offensive. It was far and away the largest rebounding difference for the Mavs this season and only the 3rd time this season Dallas had a plus in offensive boards (and the other 2 at just 1 and 2 more). The last time Dallas won the rebounding war but lost the game was 1/13/00. As for the players, Gary Payton was awesome. He had 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists in playing all but 2 minutes. Calvin Booth came back to Dallas with a vengeance as he set his career high with 24 points including 12-12 FT, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Desmond Mason was the 3rd Sonic in the 20s with 20 points and 5 rebounds. For Dallas, Michael Finley led the way with 26 points and 6 rebounds. Steve Nash had another nice game with 25 points including 5-10 3-pointers and 6 assists. Juwan Howard had a double-double with 12 points including 4-12 FG (has to find his shot in the AAC - just 39.2% FG at home, but shoot 52.4% FG on the road) and 13 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki again played poorly, but had an excuse as he was suffering from a sinus infection. He had 14 points including 5-19 FG and 1-7 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Shawn Bradley started, but only played 11 minutes as Don Nelson did not like the way Bradley was playing against the athletic Seattle centers (though Booth was scoring on him, Bradley look okay for his overall performance and should have been played more, IMO). Bradley had 2 points and 7 rebounds. Adrian Griffin is such a pest. He had 12 points (as his shot continues to amaze me) and 5 steals - and they weren't cheap steals, he took the ball away. Quotes Nate McMillan: "Our guys did a good job of doing what they do best tonight. They shot the ball extremely well. They gave us some big bodies. Our big guys were responsible for 34 points tonight. I think they had 23 in the 1st half. It was just better ball movement by the team tonight. We didn't hold on to it a lot. I thought we moved the ball and shared the ball well." McMillan on Payton: "A couple of nights ago he didn't hit those big shots. Tonight he did. I think this team will win because we have a guy who is not afraid to put this team on his back. But we don't necessarily want him to carry us. Tonight he picked his spots. It was just a good floor game by Gary tonight." McMillan on Booth: "I'm sure he was up for this. He told me a couple of days ago that he would play this game. His ankle felt better and he did a very good job for us. I thought he was big defensively. For a moment there I thought he was feeling it. He had a couple of fadeaways. But I thought both big guys played well. Predrag had been off for a month and came in with one practice. He did a good job of spacing and knocking down shots. " Gary Payton: "We came out and played well. We needed the road win. We are a team that works hard. When we work hard good things happen. It was good for us and now we just have to complete it and go down to San Antonio and try to get one there too." Payton: "Coach says I've got to be our step-up guy when things start happening. He started calling all my plays and it was my job to make the baskets." Calvin Booth: "I knew they were going to make a couple of runs. They are a very good offensive team. I was part of that last year to see them come back a couple times, so luckily we stopped a couple of their runs and we had little runs of our own that kept the lead and we were able to finish it off." Don Nelson: "It was a disappointing game for me and the effort by some of our players wasn't up to par. We were looking old and we had a lot of connotations that weren't favorable, but I still think this team will come around. I think this team will be a good team, but we have a lot of growing to do together and a lot of support we have to find. It is in that locker room, somewhere. It looks like things will get tougher before they get easier. We are going through a hard time right now. I wish I had some easy answers but I don't." Nelson: "This was a game we needed to win in a worst way. We are going on the road now for 2 more hard games and it doesn't look like it is going to get any easier for us. We have to find a way. It is my job to find a way to get these guys to play better basketball than these guys are playing. Even early when we were winning games I wasn't satisfied with the way that we were playing. We were not content with the way that we won. There were some things that seem to be missing. We couldn't get everybody playing well together. It was always one guy that played well and 2 or 3 that didn't. It was that kind of situation even though we won some games." Nelson: "I am surprised, I thought we would get a tremendous effort tonight and we didn't get it. We had to play some energy guys like Harvey to get us back into the game and I appreciate that effort he gave tonight. We need that kind of effort from our veteran players and if they don't have it then we have to make some hard decisions whether those players can continue to play for us and we are at that kind of stage right now. We have to come together and we are going to give them the opportunity to do that, but they need to do that. They need to make a contribution in some way and if not, we will have to look elsewhere or for other answers on how this team is going to come together. It is frustrating right now, as you can imagine." Nelson: "I am very concerned, but I am not yet panicked. I've been in this business a very long time. I've gone through hard times before and this is a very hard time, the first time we've gone through something like this in about a year and a half when the team isn't playing well. It is my job to get them to play well and find some combinations to do that and evidently the team is asking me to come up with some solutions because they don't seem to be interested in finding them. If that is the case then I am going to have to in some way change our lineup, figure out a combination that works better and players that will play harder than we've seen." Nelson: "It was a disappointing loss but those things happen and you go through some ups and downs during a season. We have to rectify this as soon as possible. It is very difficult when you are playing back-to-back games and you are on the road as much as we are at this particular time. This isn't as difficult a start as we've had in the past. We've had opportunities and we've capitalized on them early. Whether it be a player being out like in Philly when we played them on the road or played well enough to win against some teams that weren't very good but there have been a lot of teams that had tougher schedules than us and are doing much better. We have to find ourselves. It's not easy. We are going to keep at it. I liked our practice yesterday. Coach Harris did a great job in the concentration level on the defensive end. It was good for a while, but when we substituted it wasn't. We didn't get energy off the bench that we needed. You would think that veteran players would know how to do that." Nelson on not playing Bradley in the 2nd half: "I thought we had to play energy guys like Donnell to get back into the game." Michael Finley: "Individually, we all have to be man enough to accept that we are not getting the job done. We need to check ourselves. We've got guys in the locker room who are man enough to know they are not up to par." Finley on Booth: "We knew what we had in Calvin. Obviously, he had something to prove tonight. He wanted to go out and score 100 points against us. He had a big game. My hat's off to him." Dirk Nowitzki: "We fell in a deep hole early and it's hard to come back on a good team like Seattle. They played very well and they made shots. We just looked like we didn't have any energy. We had some stretches where we started to come back, but when you fall down early it's hard to come back." Nowitzki: "I really don't know what's wrong. We just have to pick it up and play better. We really haven't played that great together yet." Nowitzki: "We're a little sluggish and we're playing tentative right now. It concerns us when we lose 3 games in a row with 2 blowouts and 1 at home." Nowitzki: "The last 3 teams really picked us apart [defensively]. Maybe they were on fire, but maybe it was our defense too." Nowitzki on playing with his sinus infection: "I shouldn't have played. I didn't help the team at all out there. I think it was a stupid decision to play." Nowitzki on Payton: "He's one of the best players in the league. He's going to get his points, but the other players hurt us and made shots. Calvin Booth was phenomenal. It was really the other players that won the game for them." Juwan Howard on Nelson being concerned: "I think that makes all of us. He's not the only one." Adrian Griffin on Payton: "Tonight, he really showed me why he's an all-star. In that 3rd quarter, I think he ran off 10 straight points and single-handedly made most of the plays for them. You could tell that he wanted the ball in his hands and he knows what to do in crucial times. He made some tough plays and made some tough shots with people in his face. Give credit where credit is due. He turned it up and they got the victory." Griffin: "Offense is only half of it. Defense is where you really win games. Like tonight, when your offense isn't going well you can always have a solid defensive effort. Hopefully tomorrow we can definitely turn it around." Seattle Sonics 105, Dallas Mavericks 97 at Dallas (November 20) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Seattle 30 24 34 17 - 105 .563 .333 .534 .857 Dallas 20 24 27 26 - 97 .451 .308 .412 .900 Halftime: Seattle 54-44 3rd Q: Seattle 88-71 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 2:39 1st Refs: Joe Forte, Don Vaden, George Toliver Attendance: 18,949 (cap 19,200) Seattle Sonics REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rashard Lewis 27 4-8 1-2 0-0 9 2-7 1 0 5 0 0 Desmond Mason 41 7-14 1-2 5-7 20 1-5 2 1 2 1 2 Calvin Booth 29 6-10 0-0 12-12 24 2-6 5 1 1 0 0 Brent Barry 42 4-6 0-2 0-0 8 0-8 5 2 0 0 0 Gary Payton 46 11-22 0-1 3-5 25 1-5 10 5 3 2 0 Predrag Drobnjak 16 4-6 0-0 2-2 10 0-2 0 0 1 0 0 Shammond Williams 23 2-5 1-2 0-0 5 0-1 2 2 0 1 0 Art Long 12 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 0-4 1 1 2 0 1 Earl Watson 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 2 0 0 Totals 48 39-73 3-9 24-28 105 6-38 26 13 16 4 3 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Juwan Howard 26 4-12 0-0 4-4 12 6-13 0 3 3 0 1 Dirk Nowitzki 34 5-19 1-7 3-4 14 3-7 6 0 5 1 0 Shawn Bradley 11 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 4-7 1 0 1 0 1 Michael Finley 48 12-23 2-5 0-0 26 1-6 3 2 4 1 0 Steve Nash 41 10-19 5-10 0-0 25 0-1 6 2 0 0 0 Greg Buckner 23 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 2-5 2 0 5 1 0 Tim Hardaway 9 0-4 0-1 0-0 0 1-2 2 1 1 0 0 Danny Manning 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Donnell Harvey 18 2-3 0-0 2-2 6 2-7 0 0 3 0 2 Adrian Griffin 26 6-11 0-1 0-0 12 2-3 1 1 2 5 0 Totals 48 40-97 8-26 9-10 97 21-51 21 10 24 8 4 Dallas at Charlotte (November 21) The game stayed close as Dallas' largest led was 3 points and Charlotte's was 5 points. Dallas scored 7 straight points to go up 19-17 with 1:20 remaining. Dirk Nowitzki hit a hook shot at the quarter's end to give Dallas a 23-21 lead after 1. Dallas opened the 2nd quarter with a 13-1 run to go up 36-23 with 8:34 to go. But Charlotte answered by scoring the next 13 points to tie the game at 36-36 with 5:37 left. The Hornets were unable to take the lead, though. Juwan Howard hit a turnaround jumper with less than a second remaining to give Dallas a 48-42 lead at the half. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with a 10-1 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Nowitzki, to go up 58-43 with 10 minutes left. Charlotte again answered by scoring the next 9 points to pull within 52-58 with 7:45 remaining. Dallas slowly rebuilt their lead and led 73-60 after 3. Dallas opened the 4th quarter with an 8-2 mini-run to take an 81-62 lead with 8:41 remaining. Baron Davis picked up a technical for complaining to the refs and a minute later picked up a 2nd technical when he took off his headband an threw it on the court in frustration after another non-call (there were lots of non-calls both ways in this game). Dallas led 84-70 with 4:40 left and Charlotte made one last push by scoring the next 6 points to make it an 8 point game at 76-84 with 2:23 to go. But Michael Finley drained a 3-pointer to put the nail in the coffin. Dallas won 89-78. It wasn't pretty, but it was an improvement and a win. The Mavs defense made an appearance, but their shooting woes continued. Charlotte only had 78 points including 38.9% (28-72) FG. But Dallas shot just 39.1% (34-87) FG themselves. And Charlotte was hurt by the fact that they were missing two starters in David Wesley and Jamal Mashburn. As such, Dallas focused on Charlotte's best remaining player: Baron Davis. Davis had just 13 points including 5-15 FG, 6 assists, and 4 turnovers as the Mavs tried to keep the ball out of his hands. The other key stat in the game was turnovers. Dallas had just 7 turnovers (they usual have a low number) while Charlotte turned the ball over 21 times. The Mavs were led by Michael Finley's 22 points. Finley also had 7 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki, playing despite suffering from a head cold, had 17 points including 6-19 FG and 11 rebounds. Shawn Bradley started and played well, was very active as seen by his 4 steals, and was effective defensively. He had 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Steve Nash took a back seat this night with just 12 points and 6 assists with 5 fouls. Greg Buckner started and didn't do much in 17 minutes. Juwan Howard did not start for the first time since his rookie year - it was not punishment; Nelson just wanted more oomph coming off the bench. He had 16 points and 5 rebounds. Elden Campbell led the way for Charlotte with 19 points on 3-9 FG and 13-14 FT and 8 rebounds. Lee Nailon, starting for the injured Mashburn, had a nice game with 18 points and 9 rebounds. Stacey Augmon was the 4th Hornet in double-digits with 10 points and 7 rebounds. Interesting note: Apparently the key stat (besides point difference) in Mavs games is assists. Every game that Dallas has had fewer assists than the opponent, Dallas has lost. Quotes: Don Nelson: "The pressure was mounting and we responded with a good game. This was 3 [losses in a row] for us, and that was way too many. I hope we don't have to go there the rest of the season." Don Nelson: "We were fortunate to play Charlotte when they had some injuries, but it's only an opportunity when you take advantage of it." Nelson: "We missed some good shots and some good opportunities, but we were still able to pull it out. Juwan played well coming off the bench. I asked him to come off the bench in order to bolster our scoring. He was very productive, added a spark to the team, and picked up the slack when we needed it." Nelson: "We followed a good game plan, which was to focus on Davis. I felt we did a good job of containing him." Nelson: "Juwan played well coming off the bench. I asked him to come off the bench in order to bolster our scoring. He was very productive, added a spark to the team and picked up the slack. I asked him to make a sacrifice and he was happy to do it." Michael Finley: "It was a real good victory for us. After losing 3, we needed a win. It was ugly tonight, but we'll take it. We didn't shoot the ball well, but we were still able to win." Dirk Nowitzki: "We actually looked pretty good at times. Of course, it wasn't perfect, but it's a step in the right direction after the last 3 games." Dirk Nowitzki: "The last 3 games were terrible. We approached this as a must-win. We knew without Wesley and Mashburn they didn't have a whole lot of shooters on the perimeter. We really stepped it up defensively." Nowitzki: "We really stepped it up defensively today. We focused on keeping them out of the paint and wanted to force them to shoot from the perimeter." Steve Nash: "It's good to get a win anywhere - at home, on the road, at a neutral site, we'll take them anywhere." Nash: "We played with a little more passion. There were a couple of guys missing [for Charlotte], but it's just as important to get the win. We shared the ball tonight. Lately we have been a little stagnant and not doing that as well." Juwan Howard on not starting: "I had to prepare myself mentally for a situation like this, because I've never experienced this before playing basketball. But I told [Nelson] I've always been the type of guy that'll do whatever it takes to help the team win. I've been making sacrifices all my life, and this is one big one that I'll do for the team and I'll do it again if I had to." Paul Silas: "I'm proud of them because they didn't quit and they came back until they simply didn't have enough fire power. And they did it without 2 starters. There's no worries right now. If I had my guys intact and I had George Lynch and we were still losing games, then we would be worried." Silas: "Dallas knew we were shorthanded and came right at us. We battled, but just didn't have enough firepower. Our turnovers killed us, that was the ballgame." Silas on Davis' comments about his ejection: "If he doesn't learn, then this is a negative. But I think he will and I think he will learn to keep his composure. He's still 22, he's not a veteran yet and he's not always going to act like one." Baron Davis on his ejection: "All I can do is apologize for my unprofessional behavior, it will never happen again. I mean, that's all I can say. I can't comment anymore, I can't say what I really feel, you guys know that." Dallas Mavericks 89, Charlotte Hornets 78 at Charlotte (November 21) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 23 25 25 16 - 89 .435 .222 .391 .895 Charlotte 21 21 18 18 - 78 .382 .500 .389 .833 Halftime: Dallas 48-42 3rd Q: Dallas 73-60 Technicals: Baron Davis 8:41 4th, Baron Davis (ejected) 7:43 4th Refs: Danny Crawford, David Jones, Dee Kantner Attendance: 8,932 (cap 19,925) Did not play due to injury: David Wesley (strained right arch) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Greg Buckner 17 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-3 1 1 2 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 34 6-19 2-3 3-4 17 4-11 3 0 3 1 0 Shawn Bradley 32 3-7 0-0 0-0 6 1-5 2 1 5 4 5 Michael Finley 41 9-21 1-3 3-3 22 2-7 2 2 2 1 0 Steve Nash 33 5-13 0-5 2-2 12 0-4 6 0 5 0 0 Juwan Howard 27 6-10 0-0 4-4 16 1-5 0 0 4 0 0 Adrian Griffin 26 2-8 1-4 2-2 7 1-2 4 0 0 1 1 Tim Hardaway 22 2-6 0-3 2-2 6 0-0 0 3 0 1 0 Donnell Harvey 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Evan Eschmeyer 4 1-1 0-0 1-2 3 1-2 0 0 1 0 1 Totals 48 34-87 4-18 17-19 89 11-39 18 7 22 9 7 Charlotte Hornets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK P.J. Brown 33 3-4 0-0 3-3 9 2-11 2 3 2 2 3 Lee Nailon 45 8-19 0-0 2-3 18 1-9 0 3 2 0 0 Elden Campbell 31 3-9 0-0 13-14 19 3-8 3 3 3 0 0 Stacey Augmon 42 5-10 0-0 0-0 10 2-7 4 3 1 1 0 Baron Davis 33 5-15 1-2 2-4 13 2-5 6 4 4 2 0 Jamaal Magloire 15 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 1-4 0 2 3 0 1 Jerome Moiso 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 0 0 0 Bryce Drew 21 1-4 1-1 0-0 3 0-2 3 0 0 0 0 Robert Traylor 6 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 1 3 0 0 Matt Bullard 10 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 3 0 0 Totals 48 28-72 2-4 20-24 78 11-48 18 21 21 5 4 patricia