Dallas at Memphis (November 4) Dirk Nowitzki did not play due to his sprained ankle and Adrian Griffin and Greg Buckner were out, so the Mavs were down to just 8 players available. Fortunately, they were facing the poor Memphis Grizzlies. The game started out similar to the Toronto blowout game as Memphis scored the first 6 points while Dallas missed 4 straight shots. Juwan Howard came alive and carried the team as he scored 16 of Dallas' first 17 points (the one other point off a Nash made technical free throw for defensive 3 seconds) and Dallas led 17-14 with 5 minutes left. Dallas led 21-18 with 3:17 left and Memphis closed the quarter with a 10-2 run to go up 28-23 with 25 seconds remaining. A dunk by Michael Finley with a second left cut Memphis' lead down to 28-25 after 1. Memphis led 30-29 with 10:37 to go and Dallas scored the next 10 points to go up 39-30 with 6:47 left. Dallas held a single-digit lead the rest of the quarter and led 50-43 at the half. Howard had 26 points including 12-16 FG. Dallas shot 49% FG and Memphis shot 36% FG. Dallas was hurting themselves by only shooting 7-14 FT. Dallas held a small single-digit lead most of the 3rd quarter as they were unable to pull away. Memphis tied the game twice at 61-61 with 4:41 remaining and at 63-63 with 3:38 remaining, but were unable to take the lead. Dallas led 72-66 after 3. The Mavs scored the first 4 points of the 4th quarter to take their first double-digit lead at 76-66 with 11 minutes to go. Memphis scored the next 4 points, but Tim Hardaway answered with a 3-pointer and Howard made a layup to give Dallas an 81-70 lead with 7:50 left. Lorenzen Wright (who was having a monster game) scored 6 straight points to pull Memphis within 78-83 with 6 minutes to go, but Dallas countered with 2 buckets. Memphis again pulled within 5 points at 84-89 with 2:35 left. Steve Nash continued his terrible night by missing a 3-pointer, but Jason Williams gave the Mavs a big gift when he attempted a behind the back pass that went to no one and Hardaway picked up the loose ball and fed Finley, who ran down the court for the break away dunk with 2 minutes left. Memphis was unable to rally at the end and Dallas won 94-85. One of these days the Mavs will play well. It wasn't this night. And the amazing thing is that Dallas is 3-1 - a sign of a good team is that they win even if they do not play well. Let's hope that saying is true as the Mavs must be a really good team. Of course, it helps that you face a Philly team missing 3 of their starters and Memphis, one of the worst teams in the league. Dallas did try to help Memphis by shooting just 18-31 free throws. Yuch. And Steve Nash had an absolute terrible night with just 8 points including 2-13 FG and 0-6 3-pointers, 4 assists, and 4 turnovers. He also missed his first free throw of the season (now 12-13). Nash's backup, Tim Hardaway, wasn't much better with 13 points including 4-13 FG and 2-8 3-pointers and 5 assists in 29 minutes. That's 6-26 FG from the point guards. This game would not have been won if not for the production of Juwan Howard. Howard had 36 points including 16-23 FG and 8 rebounds. Memphis didn't give props to the hot hand and did not provide double teams when Howard got the ball until midway through the 2nd half and Howard took full advantage as his shot and jump hook were falling. Michael Finley was the 3rd Mav in double-digits with 24 points on 9-18 FG and 6-10 FT, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. He struggled in the 1st half with just 2-7 FG, but picked it up in the 2nd half. Danny Manning started for the injured Dirk Nowitzki and provided 8 points, a team high 11 rebounds, and 3 steals. Shawn Bradley was a non-factor in this game as he had 2 points on 1-1 FG and just 1 rebound in 29 minutes. He didn't do the job defensively either. For Memphis, Lorenzen Wright did almost everything he could to give himself a birthday win, but didn't get enough help. Wright had an awesome 33 points including 13-17 FT and 26 rebounds. Jason Williams had 21 points, 6 rebounds, and just 4 assists. The 21 points was good, but a number of his missed shots (did shot decent, 8-17 FG) were ill timed and not in the team flow. Shane Battier was the only other Grizzly in double-digits with 11 points including 3-9 FG. As bad as Dallas played, Memphis played worse. There is just not much talent there besides Wright. Battier showed promise, but he is a rookie. Michael Dickerson' had nothing with 3 points on 1-10 FG. 2nd year player Stromile Swift still looks lost out there and rookie Pau Gasol didn't show much. And Jason Williams just does not understand the team game - and that is their point guard. Memphis [about the 5th time I nearly typed Vancouver] shot just 34.2% FG including 4-20 3-pointers while Dallas shot 47.4% FG including 2-18 3-pointers. Take away the shooting of Wright and Williams and the rest of the Grizzlies shot just 21% (8-38) FG. Memphis was out-rebounded 52-42 including 13-5 offensive, but Dallas again came out with a win despite lossing the rebounding war. Nowitzki and Buckner are doubtful for tonight's game against Charlotte and Griffin is questionable. Quotes Don Nelson: "I was worried. We couldn't knock them out. I thought we had them several times, but we could not make the knockout shot. We have a veteran team, coming to play. We have a bunch of injuries and they took care of business." Nelson: "We sure needed somebody to step up. I didn't even think Mike had a very good start. And [Howard] just carried us on his back in the 1st half. I'm not sure we'd have even been close had he not had that super game. I should learn by now never to anticipate or expect anything." Michael Finley: "We didn't play one of our better games. They had opportunities to win the ballgame, but we made some big shots, some big stops and got the win." Steve Nash: "Juwan saved us. Other than Juwan, we didn't play particularly well. We needed this win. With a lot of guys injured, and me as a no-show, Juwan came up big for us." Juwan Howard: "This is nothing new to me. I've been in a zone before. I think every basketball player loves to experience that feeling. You go out there and you've got the hot hand, and it seems like everything is going your way." Howard: "I think every basketball player loves to experience that feeling. You going out there and you have the hot hand and everything is going your way. Your confidence is so high. You have to take advantage of this opportunity. Tonight, I just tried to stay within the system and do what's best to help the team. I didn't try to go out and get 50 points, or do anything spectacular. I just tried to stay within the system and when it was my chance to deliver, I tried to step up." Howard: "When your teammates go out that you depend on for scoring and rebounding, it's up to the rest of the team to step up. Not just one guy, but the whole unit collectively." Howard: "That's what it's about when a teammate goes out that you depend on for so much scoring and rebounding. We knew we were short going in, so everybody had to step up." Howard on Wright: "He had a huge day. It was a heck of a birthday present, but I'm pretty sure he'd rather have a victory instead of all the points and rebounds." Tim Hardaway: "We feature a lot of players and tonight we featured Juwan. They played him straight up and he made them pay." Hardaway on Wright: "He had a huge night. Any time you get 33 and 26, you've had a huge night. Sometimes it will be like that, but he's going home with an L." Sidney Lowe on Wright: "Lorenzen had a monster game, an absolute monster game. You can count on that. Maybe not the monster game every night but you can count on Lorenzen every single night to come play hard and contribute." Lowe on Williams: "It's sort of unfair when you look at Jason coming up with 5 turnovers again. I looked at the other games and just about 3 per game are because guys didn't catch the ball. But I thought he played hard." Lorenzen Wright: "It really doesn't matter to me what my stats were. It's not about my birthday; it's about wins. Winning is the only thing I think about." Wright: "I've been going out there trying to win. I hate to lose so my statistics didn't matter." Wright: "I'm always thinking rebounds first and other things come with the rebounds - going hard to the basket, getting fouled and tip-ins. I just try to get as many as I can. I try to get 20 rebounds every time I step on the court." Wright: "We're improving but not enough. We need to learn how to take the lead late in the game and hold it. I think once we learn how to do that, it's all over." Shane Battier: "We've got to learn when to take jump shots and when to go inside. We're not going to win a lot of games shooting 34%." Dallas Mavericks 94, Memphis Grizzlies 85 at Memphis (November 4) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 25 25 22 22 - 94 .583 .111 .474 .581 Memphis 28 15 23 19 - 85 .393 .200 .342 .784 Halftime: Dallas 50-43 3rd Q: Dallas 72-66 Technical fouls: Memphis defensive 3 seconds 9:00 1st, Shawn Bradley 4:37 1st, Don Nelson 4:09 1st, Memphis defensive 3 seconds 8:56 2nd, Memphis defensive 3 seconds 10:33 3rd, Lorenzen Wright 4:21 2nd Refs: Nolan Fine, Bill Spooner, Derek Richardson Attendance: 13,177 (cap 19,405) Did not play due to injury: Dirk Nowitzki (sprained ankle), Greg Buckner (sprained ankle), Adrian Griffin (back spasms) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Juwan Howard 43 16-23 0-0 4-8 36 2-8 3 3 5 1 0 Danny Manning 34 4-8 0-1 0-2 8 1-11 3 1 4 3 1 Shawn Bradley 29 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 2 2 5 2 2 Michael Finley 42 9-18 0-3 6-10 24 2-8 5 3 1 2 1 Steve Nash 35 2-13 0-6 4-5 8 0-4 4 4 2 0 0 Evan Eschmeyer 9 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 0 3 0 0 Donnell Harvey 19 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 0-4 2 0 4 1 1 Tim Hardaway 29 4-13 2-8 3-4 13 0-4 5 2 2 2 0 Totals 48 37-78 2-18 18-31 94 5-42 24 15 26 11 5 Memphis Grizzlies REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shane Battier 42 3-9 2-5 3-4 11 1-3 5 2 4 4 0 Stromile Swift 31 1-9 0-0 6-8 8 2-7 0 0 4 2 0 Lorenzen Wright 44 10-21 0-0 13-17 33 9-26 2 5 2 1 1 Michael Dickerson 31 1-10 1-6 0-0 3 0-2 2 1 3 0 0 Jason Williams 37 8-17 0-5 5-6 21 0-6 4 5 1 1 1 Pau Gasol 17 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 1 4 2 1 2 Nick Anderson 18 1-5 1-4 2-2 5 0-4 0 1 2 0 1 Brevin Knight 11 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 1 1 3 0 0 Tony Massenburg 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 Grant Long 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 26-76 4-20 29-37 85 13-52 15 20 22 10 5 patricia