Dallas at Sacramento (December 2) Dallas shot out to an 18-6 lead as the Mavs made their first 8 shots and Sacramento shot 2-10 FG. Sacramento scored 5 consecutive points to pull within 18-23 with 4 minutes remaining and Dallas held on to a single digit lead the rest of the quarter. Lawrence Funderburke tipped in a Vlade Divac miss at the quarter's end and Dallas led 32-29 after 1. With Dallas holding a small lead, the Mavs got a defensive rebound and pushed the ball up fast and Dirk Nowitzki was fouled hard driving to the basket, but there was no call. Don Nelson went nuts [I went nuts] and was ejected with 8:02 left. Not only did Dallas lose out on 2 free throw attempts for Nowitzki, but Sacramento benefited from 2 technical free throws. A frustrated Nowitzki picked up a technical 13 seconds later for saying something to the refs. Sacramento made all 3 technicals and Dallas' led 38-34 with 7:49 to go. Dallas responded by scoring the next 9 points to go up 47-34 with 5:20 left. Dallas led 49-39 with 4:12 remaining and went on an 11-3 run to go up big at 60-42 with 1:18 to go. Dallas led 62-44 at the half. Dallas shot 63% FG and Sacramento shot 32% FG. Dallas had 18 fast break points and Sacramento had none. Steve Nash had 14 points and Divac had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with a 7-2 run to take their largest lead at 69-46 with 10:13 remaining. Dallas led 80-61 with 4:39 to go and went away from what got them their large lead as they settled for playing a half court game and a lot of one-on-one play. Sacramento came roaring back with a 19-3 run, capped by a jumper by Bobby Jackson at the buzzer, to cut Dallas' lead down to just 83-80 after 3. Doug Christie left the game near the quarter's end with a laceration between his index and middle fingers on his right hand and did not return. Peja Stojakovic had 12 points and Jackson had 11 points in the quarter. Divac was fouled on a 3-point attempt as the shot clock was expiring [dumb, dumb foul] and made all 3 free throws to make it a tie game at 83-83 with 11:37 left. Dallas was clinging to a small lead and led 88-85 with 8:05 left. Sacramento scored the next 6 points to go up 91-88 with 6:11 left. Nash and Michael Finley nailed 3-pointers to put Dallas back on top at 94-91 with 5 minutes remaining. Mike Bibby finally made a basket (his only one of the game) and Hidayet Turkoglu hit a jumper to give Sacramento a 95-94 lead with 3:53 to go. The teams traded layups and Nash hit another 3-pointer to give Dallas a 99-97 lead with 3 minutes left. Divac had a layup and Funderburke scored 4 points inside and Sacramento led 103-99 with 1:36 remaining. The teams traded misses and there was just a minute left. Nowitzki drained a clutch 3-pointer and was fouled when Turkoglu ran into him [dumb, dumb foul]. He hit the free throw for the rare 4-point play and the game was tied 103-103 with 56 to go. Adrian Griffin cleanly stole the ball from Stojakovic, but the ref called a foul and it was free throws for Stojakovic as Dallas was in the penalty [it was the wrong call, but I can understand missing this call]. Stojakovic missed the first free throw and hit the second free throw with 40.4 seconds left. Finley missed a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining [had a good look], but Griffin got the rebound and Dallas called timeout. Nowitzki was fouled going for the layup with just 6 seconds to go and hit both free throws to give Dallas a 105-104 lead. Timeout Sacramento. Stojakovic rose for the outside jumper and Nowitzki went up with him and cleanly blocked the shot, but the ref unbelievably called a foul on Nowitzki with just 0.2 seconds left. It was a terrible call and the Mavs went nuts [extremely fortunate that no technicals were call]. Stojakovic went to the line and made the first. He missed the 2nd and time expired on the rebound and we had overtime at 105-105. A 90% free throw shooter missed 2 free throws within 40 seconds at the end of regulation - at least the game was not ended on that terrible call. Both teams were scoreless over the first minute and a half of overtime. Nowitzki made consecutive baskets to give Dallas a 109-105 lead with 2:45 remaining, but Turkoglu answered with a 3-pointer. The teams traded misses and there were less than 2 minutes to go. Griffin hit a open jumper as Sacramento's defense was late rotating, Bibby missed, and Nowitzki hit a jumper to give Dallas a 113-108 lead with 1:06 left. Turkoglu was fouled with a minute left, but only hit 1 of 2 free throws. Nash made a layup to give Dallas a 115-109 lead with 50 seconds remaining. Jackson missed a 3-pointer and Johnny Newman was fouled on the rebound (Sacramento in the penalty). Newman hit both free throws with 43 seconds left. Sacramento was unable to score despite Dallas connecting on just 1-2 free throws 3 times - the Kings' only points the rest of the way was a meaningless 3-pointer by Jackson with 5 seconds left. Dallas won 120-114 in overtime. What a great game - too bad it was marred by poor officiating (surprising since it wasn't a bad crew). I'm sure that Kings fans can point out calls/missed calls from their side to complain about. Dirk Nowitzki's block was clean - live and all replay angles showed no body contact at all. Steve Nash called it "the game we won twice." Dallas played very well for 2 1/2 quarters and Sacramento played very well in their 3rd quarter comeback as Dallas settled for the half-court game. Kudos the the Kings' fans who played a strong role in Sacramento's comeback. They started cheering like crazy when Sacramento was down by 15 points and stayed nuts the rest of the way - definitely gave their team a boost . The 4th quarter was just war. Dallas looked the better team in overtime. It was Dallas' first overtime game this season and Sacramento's first home loss. Dallas shot 51.7% (45-87) FG while Sacramento shot 41.2% FG, but Dallas allowed the Kings to snag a very high 20 offensive rebounds. The star of the game was Dirk Nowitzki with team highs 32 points, 7 of which came in overtime, and 14 rebounds in 50 minutes. Steve Nash tied his career high with 31 points including 12-17 FG and 4-5 3-pointers and 6 assists. Michael Finley was the 3rd Mav (no others) in double-digits with 19 points, a team high 7 assists, and 3 steals. Juwan Howard had a quiet 7 points and 9 rebounds. Vlade Divac was a monster on the boards with 17 rebounds including 12 offensive (one off an opponent record) to go with his 25 points. Predrag Stojakovic was again in the 30s against Dallas with 31 points and 8 rebounds. Hidayet Turkoglu came off the bench and had 18 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 9 rebounds in 43 minutes. Bobby Jackson filled in nicely for the struggling Mike Bibby (just 2 points) with 16 points. A needed win against a very good team. Next up, the Lakers, who are undefeated at home. [Note: Since the Mavs announcers had it incorrect and someone asked me at work, the reason that there was not time on the clock after Stojakovic's missed free throw at the end of regulation was that it does take clock time to grab a rebound (the clock does not start until the ball is touched by the rebounder) and call timeout - the refs decide how much time, but obviously more than .2 seconds. Nowitzki grabbed the rebound and the officials then ruled that time expired. If Stojakovic had made the free throw Dallas would have been able to call time out and advance the ball to the front court. They would not have had enough time to catch-and-shoot (rules say, need .3 seconds to catch-and-shoot), but would have been able to lob in the in-bounds pass and someone try to tap the ball in.] Quotes Donn Nelson: "We need to beat teams like Sacramento and get some road wins, so this was a great victory for us. It is very tough to get a win in this building." [Note: Don Nelson does not address the media following games in which he is ejected.] Nelson: "If that game doesn't prove that you're never out and never in in Sacramento, I don't know what does. The game had everything. I'm kind of emotionally shot right now. But it was a fabulous effort by the entire team." Nelson: "This was just one of those magical NBA games that seemed like it had 5 or 6 fabulous moments. We knew that this team was gonna come back. They are too veteran, too savvy, too proud, especially in this building." Nelson: "This game, more than anything, is a testament to our resilience as a young team that should be in a position to win our share of these games now. We hope this is a confidence boost that we can take to Los Angeles." Nelson on his reaction on the "foul" at the end of regulation: "I'm an emotional coach, so you kind of get caught up in the game whether you like the call or not. You've got to keep your composure somewhat. I think I pushed the line to the limit on that one, but I'm certainly happy I didn't get a T." Michael Finley: "We almost gave it away, but I knew we were going to win if we got to overtime. But that was the hard part, for Peja to miss that free throw." Dirk Nowitzki: "It was a game of 2 different halves. The 2nd half, they got the fast break points. But in overtime we were the better team." Nowitzki on the phantom foul at the end of regulation: "It was all ball, I was surprised. It was a tough call, a late decision. Peja is a human being. I thought when he went to the line it was over." Nowitzki: "I thought I had a block. It was a tough call. Stuff like that happens. Peja is a human being too, and you know he missed a free throw and it sent us into overtime. I thought when he went to the line it was going to be pretty much over. Fortunately for us he missed the free throw." Nowitzki: "It was all ball. We were just lucky when the game moved on." Nowitzki: "This is the toughest building to me in the league. It's a testament to their style of play, the fans, the high-octane brand of basketball they have here." Steve Nash: "That was a great game. They have a great crowd here. I think that was a factor of why they came back in the game. Any time you face adversity that was presented to us, and come out on top, it is a great feeling." Nash on Nowitzki's 4-point play: "That was huge. He gets a lot of those because he gets his elbow out when he shoots and often gets hit. That's not the first time he's done that, but with the timing of it tonight, it was a huge play." Nash on the "foul": "I thought it was questionable. It wasn't the first [questionable call]. I've never seen so many guys fall on the ground in a basketball game [when Kanter called a foul on Nowitzki's block]." Rick Adelman: "It's a tough loss. The ball went everything but in. We didn't play well. They shoot 62% and we shoot 32%; there is something wrong. That just should not happen. These games are always tough games when you come back from a road trip. Dallas dominated the overtime." Predrag Stojakovic: "We didn't start this game very good. We got off to a slow start; we were down 20 points at halftime. We came back and had a great run in the 3rd and 4th quarter. I had a chance to finish the game. I had 2 free throws at the end, but I missed the [second one] and we went into overtime. We just didn't find enough energy to finish the game." Stojakovic on the phantom foul: "Of course I was fouled, that's what the referee called. I had a chance to finish it and I didn't." Hidayet Turkoglu: "It was a great comeback. You look back and a 23-point comeback is pretty good. It was a great effort, but we made a couple mistakes so we lost the game." Bobby Jackson: "We had a chance to win it at the end with Peja at the free throw line. We loved our chances; we had an 89-90% free throw shooter at the line at the end of the game, you are going to take those chances. He probably was tired, he played 49 minutes. His legs were probably gone. But we fought back after we dug a big hole. For us to be successful we can't dig a big hole like that. Something like that takes a lot out of everybody." Jackson: "It was a tough loss, we didn't want to lose to them at home. We dug ourselves a big hole and got out of it. I would take my chances anytime with Peja at the line." Mark Cuban during halftime (repeat, at halftime): "It's an embarrassment for the NBA when the refs try to subjectively pick what calls they want to make and what calls not to make. When that happens, you have the coach getting thrown out of the game and the stars getting thrown out, and that's not right. You had one ref calling the game, another ref watching the game, and another ref afraid to blow the whistle. You expect so much from the players, you should also expect objectivity from the refs. They lost control of the game and they didn't know what they were doing." Dallas Mavericks 120, Sacramento Kings 114 OT at Sacramento (December 2) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 32 30 21 22 15 - 120 .561 .381 .517 .759 Sacramento 29 15 36 25 9 - 114 .411 .417 .412 .806 Halftime: Dallas 62-44 3rd Q: Dallas 83-80 4th Q: 105-105 Technical fouls: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 1:12 1st, Don Nelson 2 (ejected) 8:02 2nd, Dirk Nowitzki 7:49 2nd, Bobby Jackson 10:58 3rd Refs: Joey Crawford, Mike Callahan, Dee Kantner Attendance: 17,317 (sellout) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 32 2-3 1-2 2-4 7 1-6 2 2 5 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 50 11-23 1-3 9-10 32 3-14 4 2 4 0 3 Shawn Bradley 11 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-2 0 0 4 0 3 Michael Finley 45 7-19 2-7 3-4 19 0-3 7 1 3 3 0 Steve Nash 44 12-17 4-5 3-3 31 1-3 6 2 2 1 0 Evan Eschmeyer 7 2-2 0-0 1-2 5 1-1 0 0 1 0 1 Juwan Howard 30 3-7 0-0 1-2 7 1-9 2 2 2 0 0 Tim Hardaway 13 2-5 0-2 1-2 5 1-1 1 0 1 0 0 Johnny Newman 9 0-1 0-1 2-2 2 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Danny Manning 24 4-8 0-1 0-0 8 0-2 3 0 3 1 0 Totals 53 45-87 8-21 22-29 120 8-42 26 10 25 6 7 Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Scot Pollard 13 2-5 0-0 1-1 5 3-5 0 0 2 0 0 Predrag Stojakovic 49 10-20 1-3 10-13 31 2-8 4 2 4 1 0 Vlade Divac 47 8-18 0-1 9-11 25 12-17 4 1 3 0 1 Mike Bibby 30 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 6 4 4 0 1 Doug Christie 27 3-13 0-1 3-3 9 0-0 4 0 1 1 0 Hidayet Turkoglu 43 7-15 3-4 1-2 18 0-9 3 1 5 0 1 Lawrence Funderburke 25 4-10 0-0 0-0 8 3-10 1 0 2 1 0 Bobby Jackson 31 7-16 1-3 1-1 16 0-2 3 2 5 2 0 Totals 53 42-102 5-12 25-31 114 20-51 25 10 26 5 3 patricia