The NBA named Steve Nash and Richard Hamilton (Was) as Players of the Week for the week ending December 16. Nash averaged 26.5 points including 61% FG and 7.3 assists as Dallas went 3-1. Hamilton averaged 28.5 points as Washington went 4-0. [The NBA is naming a PoW for each conference this year instead of just one PoW for the entire league, which was what was done in the past.] It is the 9th time a Mav has been named a Player of the Week and Nash becomes the 7th Mav to receive such an honor. On Saturday, Dallas activated Donnell Harvey and placed Johnny Newman on IR with left knee tendinitis. Minnesota at Dallas (December 15) Minnesota took an early 8-3 lead with 9:10 left and Dallas scored the next 7 points to go up 10-8 with 8 minutes remaining. The teams traded buckets and Minnesota scored the next 7 points to go up 17-12 with 4:15 to go. Dirk Nowitzki answered with a 3-pointer and the game stayed very close the rest of the quarter as Minnesota either held a 1 or 2 point lead or the game was tied. Minnesota led 27-25 after 1. The game remained close in the 2nd quarter with neither team able to build much of a rally as Dallas' largest lead in the quarter was 3 points and Minnesota's largest lead was 5 points. Wally Szczerbiak hit a 3-pointer with 23 seconds remaining to give Minnesota a 60-57 lead at the half. Radoslav Nesterovic and Kevin Garnett connected on layups to open the 3rd quarter to give Minnesota their largest lead at 64-57 with 11:15 to go. Dallas then went 13-2 run to go up 70-66 with 7:45 remaining. Michael Finley converted a 3-point play and Steve Nash hit a 3-pointer to give Dallas an 81-72 lead with 5:30 left. Dallas held a single-digit lead the rest of the quarter and led 90-82 after 3. Finley hit 1-2 free throws and a 3-pointer and Steve Nash hit a technical free throw (Anthony Peeler on a minor scuffle inside) gave Dallas a 101-89 lead with 8:45 remaining. Minnesota pulled within 7 points on a Chauncey Billups 3-pointer at 96-103 with 7:10 left, but 2 Nash free throws and 3-pointers by Finley and Tim Hardaway surrounded an Anthony Peeler layup to give Dallas an 111-98 lead with 5:45 left. Minnesota made a couple of small pushes over the remainder of the game, but Dallas had an answer each time. Dallas won 125-117. Dallas faced an opponent who had been playing really well and responded with a very good game. Of course, it helped that Minnesota had played the night before and were completing a string of 4 games in 5 days. The Mavs held their own against a good rebounding team by only being out-rebounded by 1 (40-41) and only giving up 13 offensive rebounds. 125 was by far the most points Minnesota had allowed this season and Dallas' shooting 52.5% FG was well above the 46% FG average for Minnesota opponents. Dallas received solid performances from all 5 starters and a good boast from the bench, even with a tight rotation of just 8 players playing. Michael Finley was the high man with 30 points and 6 assists. It's hard to criticize a player who had 30 points, but Finley was a defensive liability in this game. Finley's man scored time after time and the Mavs eventually switched Finley to guarding the less potent point guard and put Steve Nash on Wally Szczerbiak. Even then, I saw Finley get burned a number of times in the 4th quarter. Nash had a solid game with 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists, capping a great week for Nash. Dirk Nowitzki had a double-double with a quiet 21 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists. And there was a re-appearance of Juwan Howard. Howard had 19 points and 6 rebounds while defending Kevin Garnett most of the night. Howard struggled in the 1st quarter, but picked it up the rest of the game and played well. Surprise starter Evan Eschmeyer also played well (for him), though not much stats to show for it. Tim Hardaway again had a nice game with 16 points (including 2 jacks that had first me and then my mom saying "No Timmy...Good shot!") and 6 assists. Looks like his slump is over. Eduardo Najera again provided energy and contributed 10 points including 3-4 FG and 4 rebounds in 16 minutes. Of the 8 who played, only Adrian Griffin had a poor/uneventful game. Shawn Bradley again did not play due to his sprained ankle. Minnesota was led by Wally Szczerbiak with 27 points including 10-15 FG (lot of jumpers), 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Kevin Garnet had a poor, for him, performance with just 23 points, only 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. He wasn't as dominate as he normally is against Dallas. Joe Smith had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Radoslav Nesterovic had 12 points and 6 rebounds and only 2 of his 3 second violations were called - he likes camping in the paint. Terrell Brandon had a very poor outing with just 8 points on 4-16 FG, but did have 5 rebounds and 8 assists. Gary Trent had a nice return to Dallas with 13 points and 5 rebounds off the bench. Anthony Peeler was the 6th 'wolf in double-digits with 11 points. The rematch is tonight in Minnesota. It will be interesting to see if the Mavs continue to play well, as they have in the last 3 games, and what adjustments Minnesota will make. Minnesota has revenge on their mind and are 10-1 at home, so the Mavs need to come out strong. Quotes Don Nelson: "This game was a special game because we respect their team a great deal. They are really an excellent team. We did not expect anything other than a tough ball game. It was one of the first games that we put all of our players together on the same page for 48 minute game and they all played real well. Defensively we moved the ball and we made our shots and it was one of the first games we had everyone clicking. I actually expected to have more games like that, lots more, but I'll take it. It is a step in the right direction. I don't think we can take this game too seriously because it was a back-to-back game for them and it was a tough game last night for them and then they flew here. Occasionally that does drain a team. We did our job and got our job done and did a very good job tonight, probably one of our best offensive games of the year. I was a little disappointed down the stretch. I thought they scored too quickly too easily when we were protecting our lead. We were able to continually score at our end and we ran the clock down to have an effect on the game." Nelson: "They did zone us a lot, but we attacked their zone and the things that we worked on in our last practice really helped us. Ball movements were crisp and good. We scored a very high percentage against it and they did show it enough that we had to attack it. They were in their zone maybe 15 or 20% of the game." Nelson: "Our zone was very effective. I think it was more effective than theirs during the times that we used it, and we used it quite a lot. The old cliche is you trap a trapping team and you zone a zone team. They're probably not very good against it." Nelson on Najera: "He played another good, solid game. I thought he had an effect on this game. He was tough and went after rebounds and was physical and did the things that we want him to do. He wasn't as effective offensively, but he did some really good things and I think the more he plays the more comfortable he will get." Nelson on Hardaway: "Timmy stepped up and lead the team when it needed leading and made shots when we needed shots. He really gave us a solid effort again. That combination of Timmy and Nash was very effective again." Dirk Nowitzki: "All of us were on fire from outside and that was the difference. The 3-point shooting was great and we held them off." Nowitzki on Howard: "He looked great. He played great defense on Kevin Garnett all night. Offensively, he knocked some shots down and got his confidence, and he was a big player across the line." Steve Nash: "Offensively tonight we clicked, shot a good percentage, made a lot of 3s and moved the ball well. Everything was working for us. I still think we have some work to do defensively. Really the difference tonight we played well defensively in the 3rd quarter and that was the game." Nash: "We shot it really well from 3. Things were clicking and guys were getting open. They were moving the ball and got a lot of open looks and made them." Nash: "We got a lot of open looks on the break, and we made them. Everything was working for us." Nash: "It was an important game tonight because we play them again on Tuesday at their place and it takes a little pressure off of us going into their building." Nash on Dallas' inconsistent play in the season: "I think we've been unsettled at times because we haven't known from game to game who was going to play well. We just haven't been able to get everyone playing well at the same time. It's not because anyone's waiting for a trade or anything else." Tim Hardaway: "Everybody's clicking. Everybody is finding the open man and everybody is feeling good about each other. Everybody is trusting one another on offense and defense. We're having fun right now." Hardaway: "Tonight was a good test. We learned what we need to do to win as a team." Eduardo Najera: "Nellie said that this was the first game where everything clicked on all cylinders. Yeah, this game and last game. Everybody is finding the open man and everyone is feeling good about each other. Everybody is trusting one another on offense and defense. We're having fun right now." Najera: "Tonight was a good test for us and we're starting to learn what we need to do to win and that's play hard on defensive and trust each other on offense." Flip Saunders: "For the fans, this was a fabulous game to watch. Tonight you had two teams that made a lot of great plays. I think neither team was very good defensively - you had both teams shoot 53%. Their big 3 came at us and made big plays. We had some mental breakdowns - they had about 6 or 7 run-outs and those are easy buckets to give. They played extremely well. They did some really positive things. They gave us some problems." Saunders: "I think we played hard. You know, we may have been a step slow yet we were in position to be here a lot. I think worse, we had more mental breakdowns, maybe that is fatigue. But everyone in this league has to do this [back-to-backs]. We had pretty good energy, we just had some mental mistakes that you can't have against a good team on the road." Saunders on Dallas scoring 125 points: "Well they also made some shots. We also scored 115. It was high possession game. Sometimes when there's that many possessions, there is going to be more points. It was bound to be high scoring. They exploited us defensively, they hurt us in some areas. We would maybe get 1 or 2 stops but we couldn't get the 4 or 5 stops that we have been getting over the last couple of weeks. The good news is that we get to play them back up at our place on Tuesday night. So that's the positive." Saunders: "It was almost like old junior high, cherry picking. You can't ever let guys run and get behind you, and we did it 3 straight times. So we went from being up 7 to a tie score in about 30 seconds. That's where they got rejuvenated." Saunders: "The things they do off the dribble defensively gave us problems. We were a step slow, but it was more mental breakdowns. Maybe that's what fatigue is. But that's the way this league is." Kevin Garnett: "You have to understand, Nash was running around doing whatever he wanted to do. He's kind of weird sometimes when he's in the flow of the game. We can't allow him that type of freedom if we're going to stop them. We made a run at the end, but it wasn't enough to get us over the barrier. I think it's good to play them back to back because they are still fresh in our minds." Garnett: "Considering we've played 4 games in 5 days, we didn't get blown out tonight. We still had a shot to win." Wally Szczerbiak: "They are very good, skilled team. I don't think we did too well in our zone. We're going to have to sure up some things with our zone before we play them again." Szczerbiak: "We'll look forward to seeing them at home. We've got to make some adjustments to their pick and rolls - they got whatever they wanted on the floor." Joe Smith: "We know they have some shooters on that team. We've got 2 days to find a way to get out to their shooters a little quicker. I'm quite sure everybody will be [fired] up for that game." Dallas Mavericks 125, Minnesota Timberwolves 117 at Dallas (December 15) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 25 32 33 35 - 125 .525 .524 .525 .857 Minnesota 27 33 22 35 - 117 .537 .444 .527 .810 Halftime: Minnesota 60-57 3rd Q: Dallas 90-82 Technicals: Eduardo Najera 10:13 4th, Anthony Peeler 8:47 4th Refs: Derrick Stafford, Tommy Nunez, Leroy Richardson Attendance: 19,485 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Shawn Bradley (sprained ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Juwan Howard 43 6-10 0-0 7-8 19 2-6 0 4 3 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 44 7-15 2-4 5-7 21 1-15 6 1 2 1 0 Evan Eschmeyer 19 0-4 0-0 2-2 2 2-4 1 1 3 0 0 Steve Nash 38 9-17 3-7 4-4 25 1-5 7 4 2 0 0 Michael Finley 46 10-18 3-5 7-8 30 0-2 6 2 1 0 0 Eduardo Najera 16 3-4 0-0 4-4 10 2-4 1 0 4 1 1 Tim Hardaway 21 6-10 3-5 1-2 16 0-2 6 0 3 0 0 Adrian Griffin 13 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 1 0 2 2 1 Totals 48 42-80 11-21 30-35 125 9-40 28 12 20 4 2 Minnesota Timberwolves REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Kevin Garnett 40 8-13 0-1 7-8 23 1-5 5 2 3 0 2 Joe Smith 34 6-10 0-0 3-4 15 6-13 1 1 2 2 1 Radoslav Nesterovic 22 6-11 0-0 0-0 12 2-6 1 2 3 0 1 Terrell Brandon 34 4-16 0-0 0-0 8 2-5 8 1 4 2 0 Wally Szczerbiak 45 10-15 2-4 5-7 27 2-5 5 1 5 1 0 Chauncey Billups 14 2-5 1-2 1-1 6 0-1 6 1 4 0 0 Gary Trent 25 6-11 0-0 1-1 13 0-5 1 1 2 0 0 Sam Mitchell 5 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Anthony Peeler 21 5-9 1-2 0-0 11 0-0 1 1 3 0 0 Totals 48 48-91 4-9 17-21 117 13-41 28 11 26 5 4 patricia