Prior to the Atlanta game, Dallas activated Greg Buckner and Johnny Newman and placed Evan Eschmeyer (sprained left ankle) and Donnell Harvey (sprained right ankle) on IR. Atlanta at Dallas (December 29) The surprise of the night came before the game even started - Michael Finley was not on the court. Just prior to tipoff, he came out in a suit. Finley was suffering from a strained right hamstring. It was his first regular season game missed in his career - snapping his iron man streak of 490 consecutive games played (381 with Dallas). And it also snapped his 360 consecutive games started. Both were the longest active streaks. Finley: "Very strange sitting on the sideline for a game that meant something. If this was a playoff game, I'd have played. But in order for me to play in playoff games this year, the best thing for me and the team was to take a night off." The Mavs gave Finley to option of making a brief appearance to keep his streak active, but he elected not to. Mark Cuban: "We gave Mike that option. But he said, 'Nah, that wouldn't be right.'" Dallas took an 18-14 lead on a 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki with 6:15 left. Atlanta answered with 9 straight points to go up 23-18 with 4 minutes remaining, but Dallas closed the quarter with a 14-4 run to take a 32-27 lead after 1. Steve Nash had 14 points on 6-6 FG and 1-1 FT and Nowitzki had 12 points on 5-6 FG. Atlanta pulled within 30-34 on a 3-pointer by Toni Kukoc with 11:30 to go, but Dallas went on a 10-2 run to go up 44-32 with 8:45 remaining. Atlanta again ate into Dallas' lead and Dallas led 49-43 with 6:10 left and Dallas again answered with 9 consecutive points to take a 58-43 lead with 2:50 left. The Mavs scored the last 5 points of the quarter and led 66-47 at the half. Dallas shot 57% FG and Atlanta shot 42% FG. The sharp shooting of Nash and Nowitzki continued in the 2nd quarter as both hit both field goals they attempted and Nowitzki was twice fouled on a 3-point attempts and hit all 3 free throws both times. The two combined for 42 points on 15-16 FG, 5-5 3-pointers, and 7-7 FT in the half. Dallas took their first 20 point lead at 68-48 with 11:11 remaining. Dallas led 85-70 with 3:40 left, but Atlanta wasn't quite done as they scored the next 10 points to pull within 80-85 with 37 seconds left. A 3-pointer by Nash gave Dallas an 88-80 lead after 3. Jacque Vaughn got a layup to open the 4th quarter, but Dallas then scored the next 10 points to go up 98-82 with 8 minutes to go. A 3-pointer by Nash again gave Dallas a 20 point lead at 105-85 with 6:45 left and Atlanta would get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way. Dallas won 113-97. With Michael Finley out, the Mavs relied on Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash to step up - and they did big time. Nowitzki had 35 points on 12-17 FG, 3-7 3-pointers, and 8-8 FT and 12 rebounds while Nash chipped in 29 points on 12-18 FG, 4-6 3-pointers, and 1-1 FG and 10 assists. The two combined to shoot an amazing 68.6% FG - and most of them were outside shots. As a team, Dallas shot 48.3% FG while Atlanta shot 40.9% FG. And for the 8th time this season, Dallas out-rebounded their opponent. Dallas had 52 rebounds and Atlanta had 45 rebounds. Juwan Howard had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Danny Manning started, but only played 15 minutes and had 4 points on 2-3 FG. Adrian Griffin started, but only played 8 minutes and did not score as his back seemed to be bothering him again. Eduardo Najera was aggressive as usual and had 10 points on 2-8 FG and 6-6 FT and 8 rebounds off the bench. Johnny Newman played well fresh from IR with 9 points including 2 3-pointers and 6 rebounds in 15 minutes. Greg Buckner did not shot well, but was needed on the floor and had 5 points including 2-9 FG, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. Tim Hardaway's shot deserted him for this game as he shot a nasty 1-11 FG including 1-7 3-pointer and had just 5 points, but did dish out 5 assists. Shawn Bradley only played 7 minutes (I think all in the 2nd quarter) and had 2 points on 1-2 FG (one missed dunk and one made dunk) and Wang Zhizhi did not score in his 2 minutes on the court. Atlanta was led by Shareef Abdur-Rahim with 21 points including 11-14 FT, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Jason Terry had 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Dion Glover had 16 points including a poor 6-20 FG, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists and DerMarr Johnson had 16 points and 8 rebounds. Jacque Vaughn chipped in 11 points and 5 assists. The win was Dallas' 9th straight win - the 2nd longest in team history and currently the longest active streak in the NBA. Dallas finished with a record of 11-3 in December - 7-1 at home and 4-2 on the road. Dallas tied San Antonio for the best record in the league for December. Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki should both get consideration for Player of the Month for December. Nash averaged 22.1 points on an amazing 54.8% FG, 50.8% 3-pointers, and 85.3% FT and 8.1 assists. Nowitzki averaged 22.2 points including 49.5% FG and 10.2 rebounds. [Tim Duncan will likely be named Player of the Month for December as he averaged 26.7 points including 51.7% FG, 13.1 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks.] With the win, Don Nelson achieved his 1,000 career coaching win, joining Lenny Wilkens (1,242) and Pat Riley (1,054) as the only NBA coaches to reach the 1,000 win mark. I've seen a lot of strange things from Nellie in his 310 games with Dallas, including an amazing 149 wins. From stall ball where the offense did not start until 7 seconds left on the shot clock, to hack-a-Rodman, to hack-a-Shaq, to hack-an-OP, to hack-a-Foyle, to hack-a-Bowen (and a couple of other players), to 5 guards on the court at once, to Erick Strickland guarding Shaquille O'Neal, to number of other things that had me shaking my head. Every once in a while an amazing thing would happen - those strange tactics would work. Here is a coach who isn't afraid to try things out of the norm if he thinks it might give his team an unexpected edge. This is also a coach that did not reach the 1,000 win mark the easy way. If a team won every single game it played, it would be 16 games into the 13th season before it hit the 1,000 mark. But Nelson did not go to winning teams. He had to be convinced to take the Milwaukee job during the 76-77 season when they fired head coach Larry Costello with a 3-15 record. Nelson, who was in his 1st year as an assistant, had no head coaching experience. The team finished 27-37 under Nellie and would only have 1 other losing season in his 11 year tenure with the Bucks. Golden State was 20-62 in 87-88 and finished 43-39 in Nelson's 1st year. Nelson had 4 winning seasons with Golden State and 2 lossing season sprinkled in the middle. Golden State was struggling at 14-31 when Nelson was fired in 94-95. He struggled with rookie Chris Webber, who was traded the summer prior to Nelson being fired. The only winning situation that Nelson ever stepped into was when he took over the Knicks. New York went 55-27 in 94-95. They went 34-25 under Nelson's short tenure in 95-96 before he was fired for again clashing with a star player (Patrick Ewing). Nelson had to be convinced to step in as GM for a mightly struggling Dallas franchise - and this after the team had traded away their best player in Jason Kidd. Owner Ross Perot said no to firing head coach after the 96-97 season, but finally allowed the long overdue ax to fall December 4, 1997 as the Mavs were 4-12 and Nelson stepped in as head coach. Dallas is a team that Nelson has rebuilt. This team won 53 games last year and is currently 21-9 this year. Only 1 player (Michael Finley) remains from prior to Nelson's arrival in Dallas. 1,000 wins is quite an accomplishment for a coach willing to go to struggling places. It took Nelson 24 season to hit achieve the milestone (took Wilkens 23 seasons and Riley 19 seasons). Congrats Nellie! Quotes Don Nelson: "The best thing about the 1,000th win is that it happened very quickly and it's over. We can stop talking about it. I am glad to get it behind me. It was the 1st time I coached a game without Mike out on the floor. I felt a little naked and quite worried about the game because of that. The other guys chipped in and the big 2 played an outstanding game and didn't miss many shots. It was an incredible performance by those 2. Nelson: "Any time you go through these numbers things, it makes a lot of news, but I don't think numbers are what we're after in this business. The best thing about it is that it happened very quickly and we can get on with our lives." Nelson: "The best thing about 1,000 wins is that it happened quickly and now its over. The thing I tell the players is let's just concentrate on one priority: let's all win, then everybody gets the attention, everybody gets to be an all star. I want to lead by example, and that's why I have not made a big deal of this." Nelson: "The gave me the game ball, they messed my hair up, they thought I was George Karl. They couldn't wait to get their greasy hands in my hair. They are a great bunch of guys and it is a pleasure coaching them." Nelson: "That's 9 in a row and counting. I feel real good about the way we played tonight. I thought the ball movement was great. We knew we would have to attack their zone defense which they play a lot. Our ball movement was crisp and we did make shots." Nelson: "We were able to activate Johnny who stepped in and helped us and Buckner. We needed both of their services tonight. We thought Griffin hurt himself again and he didn't look right out there so I didn't stay with him too long. We really needed the 2 activated guys. I don't think they were sharp, but I really needed their bodies and needed them to fill and do a good job which they did, but we know they can play a lot better than that." Nelson on missing Finley: "It's not hard to adjust on a 1 or 2 game situation, but the problem arises when you have to do it for a long period of time. The team can step up and plug a hole for a short period of time, but over a longer time is where we miss a player. Even though it is a minor injury, it is better to nip it in the bud and to take care of it where he is not going to miss a month or 2 because of some serious injury because we allow him to play because of some silly streak. We convinced Mike not to fool around with it and to take care of it. The streak is over and he can start a new one. It didn't take much to convince him. He knew. His heart wanted to play, but his mind told him to sit out." Dirk Nowitzki: "We always come prepared. That's why we have a lot of coaches. Nellie is a great game coach. Whatever he sees in there, he is able to change things in the huddle. That's why he is one of the best coaches in the league and we love to play for him." Nowitzki: "We are finding ways to win. Even when we don't play well, we make big plays at the end, big shots and big stops. At the beginning of the year we lost some big games down the stretch. We now find a way to pull it out at the end." Nowitzki on Nelson's 1,000th win: "It is very special. We were just glad to be able to get it for him. Hopefully we can get a lot more wins for him." Nowitzki on Nelson's 1,000th win: "It was special to get it for him tonight. He's a really special coach. He's a great game coach and that's why he's one of the best." Nowitzki on missing Finley: "It is a weird feeling. Since I've been here he has always played. We have to fight through this period. Hopefully it will not be that long. It's not all about streaks. It's about getting healthy. A streak would be nice if he was healthy. It's all about winning in this league." Steve Nash: "We got out and ran early and really pushed the ball up the court. We were able to open them up a bit and moved the ball and made some easy shots for ourselves." Nash on Atlanta's zone defense: "Coach put us through a lot of preparation. Their zone was effective against Miami in their comeback. We knew we had to be aggressive." Nash on winning 9 straight: "It's fun, but we know we are a poor performance away from ending it. We still put as much pressure on ourselves as we did without the streak. I think in this league it is very important to stay even keeled. It is fun, but you try to down play it and stay focused." Nash: "Mike loves to play and he is a big competitor and he's a great team player so it was very difficult for him not to play. I think we could all feel his pain. He hasn't missed a game his whole career and it was really difficult for him and for us. Luckily we made enough shots." Nash on Nelson's 1,000th win: "That's unbelievable. It's an incredible milestone. He has been in the league a long time and it's quite a legacy to leave that kind of mark on the game." Eduardo Najera: "They told us before the game that we needed to pick it up, so we knew what we had to do." Mark Cuban on Nelson's 1,000th win: "It's really great - I can't wait for 2,000. It's funny, we made such a big deal when he got to 900, it took so long to get from 800. But from 900, he got to 1,000 in a season and a half. He has really turned this franchise around and got the guys going, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy." Lon Kruger: "They're a good team. They shot the ball well and they gave us some problems." Kruger: "Well, every game you see things you like and things you don't like. Overall, we have a lot of work to do in several areas and we're going to just keep plugging away." Kruger on his starters: "They got us off to a good start and we had some good contributions, but we still have to work on some things." Jason Terry: "Dallas is no doubt a contender in the west. They've been together for a couple of years now and they just keep adding pieces. They're on the right track. They have what it takes. We made a good run. I knew we had at least one in us, but they're a veteran team. They withstood our run and made a run right back at us. We were hanging with them and battling. Then they started beating us to loose balls. At one point, Nash and Nowitzki went 15 for 16. How do you deal with that? Nowitzki is an all-star for real. He made me a believer tonight." Terry: "They are definitely contenders in the West. Nowitzki made a believer out of me. I knew he could shoot the ball, but the way he plays. Nash will run it down your throat so fast. When Finley's out there, man." Toni Kukoc: "We didn't stop Nash and Nowitzki in the 1st half and in the 2nd half we traded buckets. We made a run, but we couldn't sustain it in the 4th quarter. From here, we just need to try to get healthy. We're a young team with plenty of new guys trying to find a way to work together. It would be nice to get to the point where Dallas is playing right now." Kukoc on his sore back: "The longer I sit on the bench, the more it stiffens up." Dallas Mavericks 113, Atlanta Hawks 97 at Dallas (December 29) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 32 34 22 25 - 113 .500 .435 .483 .731 Atlanta 27 20 33 17 - 97 .419 .357 .409 .670 Halftime: Dallas 66-47 3rd Q: Dallas 88-80 Technical fouls: Shawn Bradley 9:00 2nd, Don Nelson 0:37 3rd, Howard 8:32 4th, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 7:54 4th Refs: Joe Forte, Marc Davis, Scott Foster Attendance: 20,032 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Michael Finley (strained left hamstring) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Juwan Howard 31 7-12 0-0 0-3 14 3-8 2 2 5 0 1 Danny Manning 15 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-3 1 1 3 0 1 Dirk Nowitzki 43 12-17 3-7 8-8 35 1-12 1 1 2 2 2 Adrian Griffin 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 2 0 0 0 0 Steve Nash 39 12-18 4-6 1-1 29 1-4 10 4 0 0 1 Greg Buckner 26 2-9 0-1 1-2 5 2-6 2 2 4 3 0 Shawn Bradley 7 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 1 2 Tim Hardaway 25 1-11 1-7 2-4 5 0-2 5 4 3 0 1 Eduardo Najera 29 2-8 0-0 6-6 10 3-8 2 1 4 1 0 Johnny Newman 15 3-6 2-2 1-2 9 2-6 1 1 1 0 0 Wang Zhizhi 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 42-87 10-23 19-26 113 12-52 27 16 23 7 8 Atlanta Hawks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shareef Abdur-Rahim 37 5-12 0-0 11-14 21 3-11 0 4 5 2 3 DerMarr Johnson 33 5-11 3-5 3-4 16 1-8 1 1 3 2 0 Hanno Mottola 25 2-8 0-1 0-0 4 3-5 0 1 2 0 1 Dion Glover 44 6-20 0-3 4-6 16 2-5 5 1 1 1 0 Jason Terry 35 8-17 1-4 1-2 18 1-5 5 3 4 2 0 Nazr Mohammed 12 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 2-4 0 1 0 0 1 Jacque Vaughn 25 5-8 0-0 1-1 11 1-2 5 0 3 2 0 Toni Kukoc 7 1-1 1-1 0-1 3 0-1 0 2 0 0 0 Cal Bowdler 8 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 3 0 0 Mark Strickland 12 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-3 0 1 2 0 1 Reggie Slater 2 1-1 0-0 0-1 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 36-88 5-14 20-29 97 13-45 16 14 23 9 6 Have a safe and happy New Year! patricia