It's been a busy 4 days for me and I've finally got this finished [I _knew_ I should have made sure I finished the Minnesota write-up before the Boston game]. The big news, of course, is that the trading deadline passed with Dallas making the biggest trade of the day. No surprise that Dallas made a move - Don Nelson is still here. So, Dallas traded Juwan Howard, Tim Hardaway, Donnell Harvey, their 2002 1st round draft pick, and $1 million to Denver for Raef LaFrentz, Nick Van Exel, Avery Johnson, and Tariq Abdul-Wahad. As someone said, it was a bad day to be a Mav with a last name starting with H (except for Harvey, who will probably like actually seeing court time). Why Dallas made the trade: 2 words - Raef LaFrentz. He's young (25 1/2), can shot block, plays center (also plays power forward), can shot from the outside, and fits perfectly into the system Don Nelson likes to run. With LaFrentz on the court, the Mavs should be able to better spread the court and opponents will have lots of fun trying to guard all of Dallas' shooters. Though neither is a true center, LaFrentz is more of a center than Howard is. Howard has a range only out to 18-feet. LaFrentz can shot 3-pointers and can draw opposing centers outside and open up the lane some for players to drive to the basket. He can also block shots and can help on defense. He is a finesse player and not a banger. He is a good addition and an upgrade from Howard. He is a restricted free agent this summer and Dallas will put big money (probably not maximum) to re-sign him - but that doesn't matter (as long as Mark Cuban doesn't mind spending money) as with the contracts of the other 3 players in the trade, Dallas will be way over the salary cap for many years to come. [The Tim Duncan fantasy is long gone - it never had much of a chance of happening and the new TV contract made it almost impossible.] Dallas also liked [but I don't] getting Nick Van Exel. Nelson is very concerned with Steve Nash's health and was also concerned about Tim Hardaway's durability. Van Exel can play big minutes. He does have an elbow injury that will require surgery in the off season, but shouldn't hinder him from playing [now that he is out of Denver]. Why Denver did it: 1 word - MONEY. LaFrentz was the price they had to pay to have Dallas take the bloated contracts of Abdul-Wahad, Johnson, and Van Exel. Not including this season, Abdul-Wahad has 5 years, $33.75 million left on his ridiculous contract; Johnson has 2 years, $10.4 million left on his contract; and Van Exel has 4 years, $49.6 million left on his contract. Howard only has 2 years left on his contract and then Denver looses $20.7 million off their cap. They can buyout Hardaway's contract this summer for $1 million. The 1st round draft pick and $1 million were the sweeteners that made this deal happen. Kiki Vandeweghe also got student Donnell Harvey back and we'll see if he can actually develop Harvey into a good player. My opinion LaFrentz: As said above, I like him and how he fits into this team. Van Exel: Those who know me or read my stuff for some time won't be surprised that I don't like the addition of Van Exel. He has been a problem child his entire career. The fact that he forced his way out of Denver in demanding a trade and then sitting out the 5 games before the trade (and yet able to play in the game after the trade) bothers me and still has me questioning his maturity. He has always been a me, me, me, me, me player and was the high scorer for Denver (21.4 points). Dallas needs him to play a role. Can he do it? For the short term, I think he can. For the long term (past the summer), I don't think he can. He's just 30 and has a number of years left in his career. I think he will be fine for the rest of the season, but would like to see Dallas move him on during the summer (unless they really, really, truly believe he has fully accepted his role with the team - but I can't help but doubt that will happen). Maybe being so close to his son (lives in Garland) will help in Van Exel's desire to fit in with Dallas. Avery Johnson: I've always liked AJ. He provides the veteran leadership the team lost with losing Hardaway. Some Spurs fans wish he was still there as he had a way of motivating David Robinson. He won't play many minutes unless someone gets hurt, but he's a great lockerroom presence. Plus, he can't burn us for those 2 layups a game he seems to average against us. He's a spot shooter - there are spots from the court that he has focused on and is accurate at, you'll notice them the more you see him play (a foot or so from top corner of the free throw line is on of his favorites). Tariq Abdul-Wahad: Where has his game gone? Hopefully he will find it because he is signed though 06-07. He is a good defender, but hasn't been able to shoot in the NBA (43.5% FG is his season high). Unless a miracle happens and his game returns, look for him to spend lots of time on IR. The irony is that he was one of the players Nelson really wanted in the 1997 draft (he went #11, Dallas had #15). Howard: I feel bad for Howard. He finally got out of Washington, where he was boo'ed a lot. Was with a winning team with Dallas and adjusted his game to fit in with Dallas asked him to do. And now he is stuck in Denver, probably for 2 years. Ouch. But, LaFrentz is a better center and younger. Hardaway: I really, really feel bad for Hardaway. Here is a guy who signed with Dallas as a free agent. He chose to come here. He adjusted his game (and it took a month or so) to what Dallas needed. And Dallas turned their back on him. With Hardaway and Hubert Davis, this team has shown that it has no loyalty if you are not a star. Ya, it's a business, but I don't like that. Van Exel is an on-court improvement to Hardaway and AJ does replace Hardaway's off-court presence. Well (with a half smile), at least he won't be driving me nuts any more with jacking up 3s. Harvey: Doesn't bother me to see him go and maybe the move will be good for him. He was never going to get minutes in Dallas. I could be wrong, but don't see him developing into a solid NBA player. Yes he's young, but I just don't see the desire and will to work on his game that a player needs to make it in the NBA instead of just relying on talent. 1st round pick: Big deal. People point to Jamaal Tinsley (#27) and Tony Parker (#28), but for every find in the last 8 1st round picks, there is a Jeryl Sasser, Samuel Dalembert, Gerald Wallace, Primoz Brezec, Erick Barkley, ... Plus, the pick wasn't going to get minutes here. Overall If it wasn't for 3 words, I'd give this trade a strong approval. The team improved, both short and long term, at center. Dallas got the top 2 scorers from a team while only giving up their 4th best scorer. Dallas got the top 2 assist men (Van Exel and AJ) from Denver and their top rebounder and a league leader in shot blocking (LaFrentz). But, the Mavs also got the uncertainty of Nick Van Exel. Trade Quotes Don Nelson: "It been quite a day, a busy day. It's unfortunate that it had to happen on the day of a game. It puts us a bit behind the 8-ball for this particular game, but we feel it's well worth it in the long run, the remaining part of the season and also for the playoff picture. It's also important for the future of our franchise. We thought it was an opportunity that doesn't come a long very often and something we needed to do. It was available because we have an owner, Mark Cuban, who will spend the money to get the players." Nelson: "I just felt that we needed to get a little deeper. And we did that." Nelson: "I love this team, which has probably played at a higher level than any I ever had. But I don't think our team is any better than the others that we are fighting for a playoff position. I think this may elevate us, and I hope it will give us a real chance to win our division." Nelson: "We had elevated ourselves to a position where we actually had a better record than our team. I really didn't think our team is better than the other 7 schmoes that we're battling against for playoff positioning. We were just another schmoe out there. Now, I think this may elevate us to the point where it will give us a real chance to win our division." Nelson: "I've made a lot of trades in my 25 years and I feel really good about this one. It gives the players the opportunity to prosper in a bit of a different style. We're looking to get our team stronger for a better playoff position and I think we've done that. We've accomplished quite a lot with the move that we made today. It's unfortunate that we lost some outstanding players who have really helped us all in their own way. They won games for us, they've made our team better and it's hard to say goodbye to those players. It's not an easy thing; I don't take trades lightly because you are affecting people's lives. It's movement of families and friends, but again that's the nature of the business and part of the business is that you do what you need to do to get your team better and I feel that we've done that today." Nelson: "I think everything's going to work out. This is a very, very fine group of men, the ones that left and the ones that remain. They're just winners. I think we're adding winners to the locker room. We'll see how things go, but I'm not going to be concerned about that." Nelson on LaFrentz: "One of the problems that we had with Juwan was that he was a power forward and with the lineup that I put out there most of the time centers guarded him. It was unfair to him because he was always going against a stronger, tougher, more physical guy on a normal night and it affected his performance some. When he was able to match up with power forwards he did a much better job. They weren't going to put their center on Nowitzki and that caused some problems. We're getting more of a legitimate center, not that he is a center, but he plays there quite a lot. He also can play power forward. He's more of a shot blocker and you've seen the amount of layups that we give up on a consistent basis. It's quite a concern and Bradley hasn't been as big of a factor this year in that department. We needed to address that and we have. It makes my team more consistent." Nelson: "I visualize Nick doing similar things that Tim was doing, except that he's younger. Timmy was aging and Nick is more capable of pushing the ball up to keep the break going. And on penetrations, Timmy's injuries slowed up his penetration. Nick gives us that. He's not like Steve in that Steve's so fast and quick with all his moves, while Nick is more under control. Nick's a terrific passer and shooter. I was worried that Steve was getting worn down. We needed to be more deep. Also we now have that third point in AJ, and that's a luxury not many teams have. AJ is a wonderful man." Nelson on Van Exel: "I think both he and Steve will play together down the stretch. Nick is a big-shot maker and a big-game player. He always plays his best against the best teams. That was a factor in our thinking for the playoff situation. He has the capability of doing that." Nelson on Harris and Van Exel: "He was the biggest fan to do this deal. They had some problems when Nick played for him in Los Angeles, but the respect that Del has for his ability is second to none. He thought it was a move that would help us. We relied heavily on Del's opinion. Del was the biggest fan for us to do this deal. We know who Nick Van Exel is and I hope he gets along with me and I'm going to work hard to try to accomplish that." Nelson on trading Hardaway: "Well, he's a close friend. We've been friends for a long, long time and he knows the nature of the business. I simply called him and told him that I made a deal and he said 'Where am I going and who am I going with'. He treated it very professionally. It's hard because you become attached to your players and it's not a pleasant day when they have to move on." Mark Cuban on Harris and Van Exel: "Del was the first one to stand up and say you are crazy if you don't do this. It was X number of years ago and we are 2 different people now and this guy can help this team a lot." Michael Finley: "Well, trades are funny because you have to give up something to get something and for us we gave up 3 guys who were very close to me. Juwan, Donnell, and Tim were not only teammates, but were my friends so it's hard for me to see those guys go. But on the other hand you get some other quality guys in Nick, Raef, and Avery. Hopefully the trade will help us in the long run, especially the playoffs." Dirk Nowitzki: "It's always tough to see teammates go, but that's the business. They were a great bunch of guys and really great lockerroom guys. We always had fun together so that's always the sad part, but we want to get better. The new guys are going to be phenomenal and they are really going to help our team." Nick Van Exel: "I am real excited to be here. What a game tonight (Dal-Bos), I don't know what to say other than I am excited to be here. What these guys have right now is a championship caliber team. Hopefully with these 3 new additions, we can help." Van Exel on how to beat the Lakers: "I just think it is a mental thing. We have a great opportunity with me, Steve, and AJ to run the pick and roll, kick it out to the shooter, and go to the basket and make plays for ourselves." Van Exel on his role: "It doesn't matter as long as we win. This team here, these guys just play basketball and I just want to play basketball." Van Exel on his relationship with Harris: "We really haven't had one since we left the Lakers. We are definitely going to sit down and talk. I was real surprised that Del stood up for me." Raef LaFrentz: "To be quite honest, my head is still spinning. I am very excited to be here and like Nick said, this is a great opportunity for the 3 of us to come into a championship caliber team." LaFrentz: "It's my first time changing teams. Fortunately, I'm going to a great team. I'm looking forward to winning and looking forward to being in the playoffs." Avery Johnson: "I am glad to be back in Texas. This is very exciting. Even though I am excited for myself, I am really excited for Nick and Raef. Nick, some time ago with the Lakers, had a chance to be in the playoffs and he was kind of successful against my team, the Spurs. This is new ground for him and I am really excited for both of them. I really think we are going to be some key additions for this team. Naturally, we are overloaded now at the point guard position. I've worked with Coach Nelson years ago in Golden State, so I know his system. I am just glad to be back in Texas, glad to be in Dallas and glad to be in the playoff hunt. I am so glad I can watch the satellite now, hoping for some teams to win and some to lose." Johnson on what he can tell Dallas about San Antonio: "A few that I don't want to give away now. There are a few tweaks that we can use in a playoff situation. I know pretty much the strategy that we used against the Mavericks. It is not just the Spurs, there are a lot of teams out there that are top in the West. I just think this team needs to improve defensively. We have a great offense here and try to stay away from those 30 point quarters." Johnson on the playoffs: "We definitely have the make-up for it. I just have a sense that chemistry is here. To win a championship, you must have 2 MVP caliber players. We probably have 3 or 4 in that category and we have some serious coaching. Don Nelson is one of the best coaches in the league right now. We have a lot of characteristics that it will take to win a championship. I think Mark and his staff have given the Mavericks a chance to win a championship." Tariq Abdul-Wahad: "You just go to a team that is going to be a winning team. That's another challenge. I am excited. I can deal with it. It's fine by me." Denver GM Kiki Vandeweghe: "We needed a bold stroke and something that would change the chemistry and the condition of the team, in both players and the salary cap situation and our future salary cap situation," Vandeweghe: "We did what we felt was the best. We obviously had a very tough situation in Nick Van Exel. We wish him well. We wish all our players well. We're very sorry to be losing the players that we're losing. But we feel we got some good ones in exchange and made a deal that puts us in position to do very well in the future. It's a good thing that we've ended the speculation. We made a move that we hope to look back on as the start of something good." Vandeweghe: "I'm probably being cursed in Sacramento and Los Angeles. No question, Dallas just got a lot better. The Mavericks now have a team that can make a championship run. But you don't count somebody else's money when you make a deal. You have to do what's best for you." Vandeweghe: "We were in a financial box. We didn't have much flexibility at all in how we could improve this team." Vandeweghe on trading LaFrentz: "It was extremely hard. It was very, very hard. I think he has a tremendous upside. He will be a great asset to the Mavericks and he will be able to play off great players like Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley." As a result of the trade, Dallas released Charlie Bell. Bell got stuck in a numbers crunch as Dallas had the maximum 15 players on the roster and traded away 3 players and received 4 players. Dallas also placed Shawn Bradley on IR with a sore right knee and placed Adrian Griffin on IR with back spasms - this move was made because a traded player has to come into an active roster spot. Due to the trade, Dallas only had 8 players available for Thursday's Boston game. Minnesota at Dallas (February 19) (This game was prior to the trade). Kevin Garnett was not at the game as he was attending his grandfather's funeral. Dirk Nowitzki was playing with a cold. The game stayed close for most of the 1st quarter with 7 ties and 3 lead changes. Dallas scored 5 straight points to take a 25-18 lead with 1:50 left. Dallas led 30-24 after 1. Dallas led 36-29 with 9:10 remaining and Minnesota scored the next 10 points to go up 39-36 with 7:42 to go on a 3-pointer by Anthony Peeler. But Dallas scored the next 5 points to re-take the lead. Dallas scored the last 7 points of the quarter to go up 56-46 at the half. Steve Nash had 10 points and Wally Szczerbiak had 11 points in the quarter. Dallas led 58-46 with 11:45 remaining and Minnesota went on a 19-2 run, including 13 points from Chauncey Billups, to go up 65-60 with 7:40 to go. A 3-pointer by Tim Hardaway gave Dallas a 76-74 lead with 1:20 left, but Szczerbiak hit a 3-pointer and Billups had a layup and 3-pointer to close the quarter. Minnesota led 82-76 after 3. Minnesota shot 12-19 FG and Dallas shot 8-20 FG. Billups had a team (both Dallas and Minnesota) record 24 points in the quarter on 7-11 FG, 5-7 3-pointers and 5-5 FT. Dallas scored the first 5 points of the 4th to pull within 81-82 with 11:10 remaining. Minnesota led 84-83 with 8:35 left and went on a 21-6 run to make it a blowout at 105-89 with 2:50 to go. Minnesota won 117-100. It is always a worry that when a team is missing its star player that the other players will step up their game and Minnesota did a good job of doing just that. And Dallas did not do a good job of simply playing basketball in the 2nd half - both offensively and defensively. Dallas shot just 31.9% FG in the 2nd half (7-27 FG in the 4th quarter) while allowing Minnesota to shot 58.5% FG in the 2nd half. With those numbers, it is not surprising that Minnesota out-scored Dallas 71-44 in the 2nd half. Chauncey Billups' monster quarter in the 3rd quarter helped him to a team high 36 points including 6-12 3-pointers and 10-12 FT and had 7 assists. You would have thunk that Dallas would have considered guarding him after he hit 3 straight 3-pointers early in the 3rd. Wally Szczerbiak also stepped up in Kevin Garnett's absence with 31 points including 12-19 FG and 13 points in the 4th and 5 assists. Radoslav Nesterovic had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Joe Smith also had a double-double with 10 points (including a poor 4-12 FG) and 12 rebounds. Sam Mitchell had 10 points as all 5 starters were in double-digits. Mitchell also had 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Minnesota only had 13 points off the bench, but their starters did plenty to carry their team to the win. With Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley combining to shot just 5-29 FG, it is no surprise that this was blowout. Finley had 10 points including 3-19 FG and 0-5 3-pointers and only 2 rebounds and 4 assists. Nowitzki had just 9 points including 2-10 FG, but did have 12 rebounds (all defensive) and 5 rebounds. Steve Nash was the high man with 24 points and 6 rebounds, but only had 3 assists and had 4 turnovers. Adrian Griffin was perfect with 15 points on 7-7 FG and 1-1 FT. Juwan Howard had 12 points and only 4 rebounds. Each of the 6 bench players scored in single-digits, but none deserve mentioning. Quotes Flip Saunders: "The one thing I told our guys that even with Kevin Garnett, we want to share the basketball so that we are not a team that is predictable. We played at a high level. We played extremely well. We changed defenses a lot. We were able to keep some confidence in ourselves and keep trying to control the tempo of the game with out defense. Offensively, I told our guys to be aggressive and Chauncey and Wally were aggressive. There is no question that Chauncey's 11-point barrage set the tone for the game the rest of the way. We were going to find a way to hang in there." Saunders: "There's no question that Chauncey's 11-point barrage in 2 minutes at the beginning of the 3rd quarter pretty much set the tone that, 'Okay, it's going to be a game the rest of the way and we're going to find a way to hang around and hang in there.' I was proud. I told our guys, 'All we've got to do is go out and execute our game plan and give yourselves a chance.' That's what we did." Wally Szczerbiak: "The coaches prepared us very, very well for this game. They deserve a lot of credit. They didn't take this game for granted. They did their homework; they scouted very well. They gave us the confidence and the game plan to go out there and execute it. Sure we made a lot of shots, sure we played well, sure we made each other better and stepped up and covered for our leader, but at the same time, that is why you play every game. Every night, the game starts at 0 and we came out with a huge win and a great effort." Szczerbiak: "Our zones gave them a lot of trouble. They didn't know what to run against us. A lot of times they get a lot of shots in transition and we were doing a good job of getting back and getting our zones setup because we were making so many shots. That was a big key. We were hitting 3s, making each other better; we were running the floor, getting a great effort from our big guys, and as a result we won." Szczerbiak: "I couldn't be happier for Chauncey because he's gotten a bum rap so far. He's been on other teams and he's been traded a lot, but people don't give him credit for what he can do. He's come up big for us in big games this year." Szczerbiak on Billups: "A lot of people don't give him a lot of credit for what he can do on the floor, but he's come up big for us in big games. I love playing with him at the point guard. He's going to carry us as far as this team's going to go. He's really stepped up and matured and done a great job." Chauncey Billups on his 24 point 3rd quarter: "I was in a zone there, but I didn't come out looking to take over, but I noticed at the start of the 2nd quarter that they were going under the screen-and-roll at the top of the key. I struggled a little bit from the field in the 1st half, so they started going under it and it opened up. I hit the first 2 and I knew I was in a zone." Billups: "The team fed off my energy. Wally started getting hot. Everybody played well. It was a collective effort tonight." Billups on what Saunders said at halftime: "He told me to just be aggressive. In the 2nd quarter, I missed a couple and it took my aggressiveness away a little bit. I didn't want to get out there and just be shooting shots when other guys were open, so it kind of mental for me. I said, 'I got to play.' Steve Nash was going at me, so I had to keep the pressure on him on my offensive end, and I did that." Don Nelson: "It was an extremely hard loss to take, especially since they were undermanned. I think that through a season you have some great wins and some tough losses and you know which one this was. We didn't show up. I couldn't get a good performance out of anybody. We played about every card we had and we came up deuces." Nelson: "This was a huge game for us if we wanted to win our division. We were outplayed, out-coached, out-manned, out-shot, out everything. You can't look very far for what the reasons are. I don't know, I don't know if the players know. It was just one of those games, I hope. We haven't had many of those this year. We haven't had many hard losses and this is one that stings. This was a great opportunity without Garnett. I want to give them all the credit. We couldn't guard man-to-man, we couldn't guard zone. It was one of those games and I'll accept it as that and we'll pick up the pieces and hope we have a better effort the next time out." Nelson: "This one really stung because the coaches knew it was a great game and a great opportunity." Michael Finley: "It was a tough game, a tough loss for us. Nothing could go our way, offensively or defensively. It just was a bad loss." Finley: "They made some big shots, a lot of contested 3's. We would go down to the other end and either turn the ball over or take a bad shot. If you keep doing that possession after possession that really adds up. As a result of that they beat us." Finley on Dallas' defense: "We just need the energy. I don't think the energy was there from the jump ball till the end of the game. Defensively we need to be a lot more consistent." Finley: "It was like we were playing in mud." Finley: "We just have to put this one behind us and go back to the drawing board. We have to come out with a lot more energy in these upcoming games and hopefully the outcome will be a lot different." Dirk Nowitzki: "No one was really shooting the ball well. Our defense lately has been brutal. We can't stop anyone. It was a bad day for us. Besides Steve, no one was on. It would have been a huge win for us and that's why we're frustrated because they are in our division and we're trying to win the division. They came in here without Kevin and beat us. We have to regroup and try to get back on track. Our man-to-man defense lately is terrible. We just got to go back to the basics, keep them in front of us and make them shoot tough shots." Nowitzki on missing Garnett: "We knew it was going to be a tough game even without him. They still have a lot of great players and they showed it tonight. They made big shots and stopped us when they needed to. We didn't take them lightly. We had a nice lead in the 1st half, but in the 2nd half they were just on fire." Adrian Griffin: "True, this is the NBA and it's difficult to keep people in front of you every night. But we just didn't have the mental focus tonight." Shawn Bradley: "They came to play better than we did tonight. We need to recover and bounce back." Bradley: "We know when a superstar player and one of the great players on the team is out, other guys are definitely going to step up, because they have to." Minnesota Timberwolves 117, Dallas Mavericks 100 at Dallas (February 19) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Minnesota 24 22 36 35 - 117 .516 .458 .500 .769 Dallas 30 26 20 24 - 100 .455 .269 .402 .826 Halftime: Dallas 56-46 3rd Q: Minnesota 82-76 Technicals: Minnesota defensive 3 seconds 1:56 2nd, Don Nelson 6:44 3rd, Minnesota defensive 3 seconds 0:47 3rd, Dirk Nowitzki 6:19 4th, Don Nelson (ejected) 2:49 4th Flagrant fouls: Joe Smith 5:25 3rd Refs: Ron Garretson, Tony Brothers, Gary Benson Attendance: 20,035 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Kevin Garnett (grandfather's funeral), Gary Trent (strained left hamstring) Minnesota Timberwolves REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Sam Mitchell 34 4-9 0-0 2-4 10 2-8 5 0 3 1 0 Joe Smith 32 4-12 0-0 2-2 10 4-12 1 1 5 3 0 Radoslav Nesterovic 39 8-13 0-0 1-3 17 2-11 2 1 4 1 1 Chauncey Billups 38 10-23 6-12 10-12 36 0-2 7 2 1 2 2 Wally Szczerbiak 45 12-19 3-5 4-4 31 0-4 5 4 3 2 0 Anthony Peeler 27 3-8 2-7 0-0 8 0-3 1 1 1 0 1 Felipe Lopez 12 2-2 0-0 1-1 5 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 Loren Woods 13 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-4 0 1 1 1 0 Totals 48 43-86 11-24 20-26 117 8-44 22 12 20 10 4 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 25 7-7 0-0 1-1 15 1-4 2 0 3 1 0 Juwan Howard 27 5-12 0-0 2-2 12 2-4 0 2 2 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 36 2-10 1-4 4-4 9 0-12 5 1 2 1 1 Michael Finley 37 3-19 0-5 4-4 10 0-2 4 1 2 0 0 Steve Nash 34 9-20 3-8 3-3 24 1-6 3 4 1 0 0 Evan Eschmeyer 12 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 4-9 1 3 3 1 0 Tim Hardaway 22 2-6 2-6 0-1 6 0-1 5 3 3 0 0 Johnny Newman 11 3-5 1-2 0-0 7 1-1 0 0 2 0 0 Wang Zhizhi 8 2-4 0-1 2-2 6 1-1 1 0 0 1 0 Eduardo Najera 15 1-5 0-0 2-4 4 2-3 0 0 2 1 0 Shawn Bradley 13 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 2-3 1 0 3 0 0 Totals 48 37-92 7-26 19-23 100 14-46 22 14 23 5 1 Boston at Dallas (February 21) With the trading deadline having passed and Dallas trading away 3 players and taking on 4 (and the 4 having to go onto an active roster spot), Dallas only had the minimum 8 players available to play in this game. Boston mostly held small leads in the 1st quarter, with the largest just 6 points. Boston led 30-28 after 1. Dirk Nowitzki had 14 points. Boston opened the 2nd quarter with a 14-2 run to take a 44-30 lead with 8:35 remaining. But a 3-pointer from Johnny Newman ended that run and Dallas scored 5 more points to pull within 38-44 with 6:40 to go. Walter McCarty hit a 3-pointer at the quarter's end and Boston led 60-48 at the half. Dallas only shot 8-22 FG in the quarter while Boston shot 12-26 FG. Nowitzki had 20 points and 9 rebounds and Paul Pierce had 14 points in the half. Dallas scored the first 8 points of the 3rd quarter to pull within 56-60 with 9 minutes remaining. But Boston scored the next 9 points to go up 69-56 with 6:45 left. Boston led 74-60 with 3:30 to go and Dallas went on an 8-1 run and the teams traded 3-pointers to close the quarter. Boston led 78-71 after 3. Both teams shot poorly with Boston shooting just 6-16 FG and Dallas shooting 7-20 FG. Dallas opened the 4th with a 6-1 mini-run to pull within 77-79 with 10 minutes remaining. A 3-pointer by Wang Zhizhi tied the game at 84-84 with 7 minutes to go, but Boston scored the next 4 points to re-take the lead. Boston led 90-86 with 4:35 remaining and both teams went ice cold as neither scored over the next 2:30. Nowitzki hit a 3-pointer to pull Dallas within 1 point at 89-90 with 2:05 left. Boston remained cold and missed on 2 attempts. Michael Finley hit a jumper with 1:20 remaining to give Dallas their first lead since the 1st quarter. Erick Strickland missed a 3-pointer with a minute to go and Steve Nash nailed a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left. Kenny Anderson missed and Nash hit 2 free throws to give Dallas a 96-90 lead with 24 seconds remaining. Strickland missed a 3-pointer, Tony Battie got the rebound, but he went up for the layup instead of kicking the ball out for another 3-pointer attempt. 2 more free throws from Nash capped the scoring. Dallas won 98-92. Boston fell apart in the 4th quarter - the 4th was the only quarter Dallas out-scored Boston. Dallas had 27 points in the 4th while Boston had 14 points. Boston shot just 6-21 FG in the 4th (Dallas shot 10-23 FG) including 1-11 FG in the last 4 minutes of the game. And Boston got nothing from their 2 big guns as neither Paul Pierce (0-2 FG) nor Antoine Walker (0-3 FG) scored in the 4th quarter. Dirk Nowitzki had a monster game with a 20-20 with 33 points and 23 rebounds. He also had 8 assists and 4 blocks. Michael Finley had 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists and only 2 turnovers despite playing a number of minutes at point (Finley at point causes a lot of people to wince). Steve Nash had 16 points on 3-9 FG, 3-4 3-pointers, and 7-7 FT in just 32 minutes despite being the only point on Dallas' roster. He's suffering from a leg injury and has not been practicing. No other Mav was in double-digits. Johnny Newman only had 8 points, but did a good job defending Pierce. Pierce had 17 points and 6 rebounds and Walker had 16 points and 7 rebounds. Tony Battie had 17 points and 9 rebounds. 7 of Erick Strickland's 15 points came in the 4th quarter. Kenny Anderson had 10 points including 4-12 FG, 9 assists, and 6 turnovers. Boston lost despite having 5 players in double-digits while Dallas just had 3. The new Mavericks arrived during the 2nd quarter and watched the exciting (but not pretty) finish from Mark Cuban's luxury box. Avery Johnson looked to be really into the game. The reffing was terrible in this game. They were calling hardly any contact a player had with a shooter. Wang Zhizhi was hit attempting a 3-pointer, Dallas got the rebound, and Nowitzki was hit attempting a 3-pointer - the same call missed twice on one possession! Quotes Don Nelson: "This was a very special win. It was a hard game to play and I had a lot of tired guys. The new players are going to be welcomed because we are nicked up and tired and we need some help, but what a game. You might think 23 and 33 is pretty good by Nowitzki, Nash was sensational down the stretch, and Finley stepped up when we needed him." Nelson: "Johnny Newman gets the game ball. Defensively he did a great job. He did an outstanding job. He followed our game plan almost perfectly. We really followed our game plan extremely well and he led the way. He had a tough assignment, wasn't real good offensively, but on the defensive end he was as solid as a rock." Nelson: "Johnny Newman did a great job on defense. They call him Johnny Old-man, not Newman, but we're giving him the game ball tonight." Michael Finley: "It's a good win for us given the circumstances, a limited roster, and losing friends and teammates to the trade. With all those distractions we still were able to come away with the win. That shows a lot about the team, the core of the team that we still have here and hopefully with the additions of the new guys coming in from Denver they can just add to that and make us a better team." Finley: "Tonight it showed that with the core guys, it always comes back to us. It's up to us to continue to be consistent and continue to lead." Dirk Nowitzki: "We just had to step it up, and that's what we did. I tried to be more aggressive on the offensive end, and go after the ball." Nowitzki: "In the 1st half Boston got what they wanted on offense. They made shots and penetrated very well and it wasn't a great effort defensively in the 1st half for us and we knew we had to step it up if we wanted to win the game and that's what we did. We did a great job on Walker and Pierce in the 2nd half. We tried to deny them the ball and made every shot hard. We rebounded the ball well and went on to win the game." Nowitzki: "Our offense is always going to be there, we just need our defense to be there every night. We've got to work on that and if we play defense like we did tonight in the 2nd half we should be able to win a lot of games." Johnny Newman on defending Pierce and Walker: "It was back-and-forth. That's what had to be done. We had to stop those guys. When they have big games, they get W's." Jim O'Brien: "We just couldn't hold on there at the end. They hit some big shots and played really good defense against us in the 4th quarter. We didn't swing the basketball enough in the 2nd half like we did in the 1st half." O'Brien on Nowitzki: "He is a great player, just a great player - 23 rebounds and 33 points. He's a terrific player. They are a very, very talented team, obviously, and they got more talented today." Paul Pierce: "It's definitely a tough game to swallow, but the Dallas Mavericks are a tough team. They take away a lot of things you want to do offensively, and we didn't keep our composure the way we should have. You have to learn how to put teams away." Pierce: "They took away a lot of the things we wanted to do offensively. We just didn't keep our composure." Pierce: "They changed up what they were doing. They took us out of a lot of our sets by denying the ball, and they switched a lot. We just didn't execute in response to what they were doing defensively." Pierce on the difference between the 1st and 2nd halves: "We stopped running. We stopped doing the things that got us the lead. It's pretty simple, we tried to play a half court game and in the 1st half, we turned them over and in the 2nd half we didn't fast break and it was hard to get those easy points." Antoine Walker: "We didn't take them lightly or we would have never built the lead or come out as well as we did. We didn't take them lightly; we never take nobody lightly. They still have 3 All-Stars on the floor, so you can never take them lightly. 9 times out of 10, you are playing 8 guys out on the floor anyway. The only thing you worry about is foul trouble. We built the lead, but we were unfortunate. We let one slip away from us. We gave one away, but we have to try and finish this trip up with one more win." Walker on allowing Dallas to comeback: "It's a point in the season when you are jockeying for playoff position and this is something we can't let happen; we tried to avoid, but they came back." Walker: "The referees let them be physical, for some apparent reason. And with Paul and I in foul trouble, it was tough. We tried to fight through it, but we didn't." Walker: "We wanted to go 5-2 on this trip. But we blew the lead. They didn't do anything spectacular. We had the game under control and we let it get away." Erick Strickland: "They did a good job of taking things from us and we didn't do a good job of adjusting. We hate to give up a game like this, but give them credit. They hit the big shots. Kind of like we did against the Lakers." Strickland: "Exact same thing in reverse. We took away the Lakers' strengths and got back in the game, and Dallas took away our strengths and did it to us." Dallas Mavericks 98, Boston Celtics 92 at Dallas (February 21) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 28 20 23 27 - 98 .417 .400 .412 .857 Boston 30 30 18 14 - 92 .484 .261 .424 .700 Halftime: Boston 60-48 3rd Q: Boston 78-71 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 8:56 1st, Jim O'Brien 4:20 2nd, Antoine Walker 8:07 3rd, Johnny Newman 8:07 3rd Refs: Ed F. Rush, Courtney Kirkland, Mike Smith Attendance: 20,013 (sellout) Did not play due to trade: Nick Van Exel, Raef LaFrentz, Avery Johnson, Tariq Abdul-Wahad Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Danny Manning 23 4-10 0-0 0-0 8 0-4 1 1 3 4 0 Johnny Newman 43 3-9 1-5 1-2 8 0-1 1 4 5 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 45 12-23 3-6 6-6 33 5-23 8 3 2 1 4 Michael Finley 45 10-20 2-5 2-2 24 1-10 6 2 2 0 0 Steve Nash 32 3-9 3-4 7-7 16 0-4 4 4 0 0 0 Eduardo Najera 28 2-5 0-1 2-4 6 4-7 0 3 5 3 1 Evan Eschmeyer 10 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 3-5 0 2 3 0 1 Wang Zhizhi 14 1-7 1-4 0-0 3 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 35-85 10-25 18-21 98 13-54 20 19 21 8 6 Boston Celtics REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Paul Pierce 43 5-12 0-2 7-9 17 0-6 1 1 5 1 2 Antoine Walker 36 7-16 2-5 0-0 16 0-7 2 4 4 1 0 Tony Battie 33 8-13 0-0 1-4 17 5-9 0 2 4 1 0 Kenny Anderson 38 4-12 0-0 2-2 10 0-3 9 6 2 1 0 Kedrick Brown 19 1-4 0-2 0-0 2 0-7 1 0 1 0 0 Erick Strickland 29 6-15 2-8 1-1 15 0-3 1 0 1 1 0 Eric Williams 20 1-3 0-1 1-2 3 0-4 3 1 4 2 0 Vitaly Potapenko 8 2-2 0-0 2-2 6 2-4 0 2 1 1 0 Walter McCarty 14 2-8 2-5 0-0 6 0-1 1 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 36-85 6-23 14-20 92 7-44 18 17 23 8 2 Sacramento at Dallas The new Dallas players appeared in their first game as Mavs after having 1 practice with the team. And the game was against Sacramento, the team with the best record, and on NBC. Both teams held small leads in the 1st quarter with the largest just 5 points as there were 7 lead changes. Sacramento led 25-24 after 1. Chris Webber had 14 points. The game stayed close in the 2nd quarter. The game was tied 36-36 with 6 minutes left and Sacramento scored the next 7 points to take a 43-36 lead with 4:35 to go, but Dallas scored the next 8 points to go up briefly at 44-43 with 3 minutes left. Vlade Divac picked up his 4th foul and did not play in the 2nd half. Peja Stojakovic scored the last 7 points of the quarter to give Sacramento a 52-48 lead at the half. Stojakovic had 11 points in the quarter. Sacramento led 63-57 with 7 minutes remaining and Dallas went on a 18-2 run to go up 75-65 with 33 seconds left as Sacramento missed 11 straight shots. Dallas led 77-67 after 3. Steve Nash scored 13 consecutive points for Dallas in the quarter, started by 3 3-pointers. Nash had 15 points in the quarter and Webber had 10 points. Dallas shot 11-18 FG and Sacramento shot 5-21 FG in the 3rd. A 3-pointer by Doug Christie pulled Sacramento within 72-79 with 10:30 remaining, but Nick Van Exel scored the next 4 points. Bobby Jackson hit a layup, but that was the last time Sacramento was within single-digits as Dallas had an answer for everything Sacramento tried. Dallas took their largest lead at 110-91 with 1:20 to go on a 3-pointer by Johnny Newman. Dallas won 111-97. The new players fit in well in this game and helped the Mavs to a surprising dominating win over Sacramento. With the new players, Dallas simplified the offense (only had 2 basic plays) and defense (no zoning) for this game. Still, Raef LaFrentz was often seen asking where he was supposed to be. It was an exciting game as the fans were on their feet most of the time from midway through the 3rd quarter to the end of the game. Dirk Nowitzki had his 2nd consecutive 20-20 game with 26 points and 21 rebounds (all offensive - a team record for a non-OT game). It was the first time ever a Mav player had consecutive 20+ rebounding games [now, since Dirk has learned how to rebound, we need to teach him how to get offensive rebounds too (getting greedy)]. Steve Nash was awesome with 28 points on 10-13 FG, 4-4 3-points, and 4-5 FT and 8 assists. He was the key for Dallas' dominating 3rd quarter where Dallas out-scored Sacramento 29-15. Michael Finley struggled (2-10 FG) until the 4th quarter where he had 11 points including 4-4 FG. He finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Johnny Newman had 13 points, but it was again his defense that Don Nelson started the post-game interview talking about. Newman helped hold Peja Stojakovic to just 5 points in the 2nd half. Evan Eschmeyer started at center, but only played 9 minutes as the team played well with LaFrentz on the court. Look for LaFrentz to start the next game. After early jitters, LaFrentz looked good in his first game ever on NBC. He had 14 points including 2 3-pointers (one of them in Dallas' 3rd quarter run), 6 rebounds (Dirk was hogging the boards), and 2 blocks and was part of the reason Vlade Divac had such a poor game. Not surprisingly, Nelson elected to use LaFrentz and Nick Van Exel on the court at the same time most of the game, as the 2 would be familiar with each other's game. Van Exel did not look to score much and had 8 points including 3-9 FG and 8 assists. At one point, he broke down the defense and passed up a wide open layup (he should have taken the shot) to pass out to Finley in the corner for a 3-pointer. LaFrentz played 31 minutes and Van Exel played 30 minutes. Tariq Abdul-Wahad only played 6 minutes and did not score and Avery Johnson only got in for 3 minutes and had 2 points on one of his layups that used to drive me nuts. Chris Webber was the high man for Sacramento with 28 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists, but did not score in the 4th quarter. Stojakovic had a poor outing with 16 points (11 in the 2nd quarter) including 5-16 FG and 6 rebounds. Mike Bibby had 13 points and 7 assists, Doug Christie had 13 points and 5 rebounds. and Bobby Jackson had 13 points. Divac had terrible game with 0 points on 0-7 FG and 7 rebounds in just 15 minutes. He was so ineffective that Sacramento elected not to play him in the 2nd half. Quotes: Don Nelson: "Johnny Newman did a great job on Stojakovic. He made it difficult for him and he was a big reason why we won. The new guys fit in as well as they could with 1 day of practice. They were able to play and fit into our system. We basically ran 2 plays that they picked up yesterday. It was a real simple game plan. We just made it simple and did the best we could. I want to win games, but this one I didn't care because we have a really good team. Not a great one, but hopefully one day we will be. We were very good and you can see some pieces that we didn't have before and we can play with most teams. We will get better and better as the practices go by and we learn to play together. I thought we had energy and did the things that we were supposed to do and we were able to win against an awfully good team." Nelson: "Don't get too excited about this game. It was a very good win for us. But we haven't proved ourselves. We're not world-beaters yet. So don't put us in some category we're not in." Nelson: "Most good teams play together for a year or 2. That is what Sacramento did and now they have the best record in basketball. We've got a bunch of guys we've thrown together. We have 4 new guys and it is going to take a while. I don't want to get too excited about this game. It was a very good game and it was a special game that we will all remember." Nelson: "We work as hard as anybody on defense. We have to do it collectively because we don't have any great defenders. Raef is a presence and is a tall body that can block shots and he also has an offensive game. That is a hard combination to find. Nick is a fine, fine player. He is able to make plays and sees the game. He can shoot the ball with range. We were most worried about Nash breaking down. We like our team. Now it is just getting better and better and gearing up for the playoffs." Nelson: "I coached Avery at Golden State a while back and he is a much better player now. Unfortunately there won't be a lot of time for him if we stay healthy. He is a great piece for this team to have because Nash has missed periods of time in the last few years. Abdul-Wahad has desire to play defense and could fit in nicely with the Najera, Buckner role." Michael Finley: "Nick said before we played that this is a statement game. He said, 'We shouldn't just beat this team. We should dominate them.' The statement is that this shows if we do face them in the playoffs, we know we can beat them." Dirk Nowitzki: "We looked good and the new guys fit in well. It will be a while before we really know how to play with each other, but the future is bright." Nowitzki on his rebounding: "The ball kind of bounced into my hands a lot of times. It's all overrated." Nowitzki: "There will be nights when our jump shots don't fall. Then, when that happens, we'll see what this team is made of." Nowitzki on Nash's 13 straight points: "He can do that in a heartbeat. He's the heart and soul of the whole team." Steve Nash: "At first I just got a couple of open looks and knocked them down and then I got my confidence going. I started consciously to look for my offense a little more after that. It was a little early to be that assertive. But when you get your confidence going like that, it makes it easy." Nash on the new guys: "I think they are going to make us a better team. We can really spread the floor and give a lot of different looks and I think we have a really high talent level." Nash on when he and Van Exel are on the court together: "We're just going to have to guard people. We are small, but we can use our quickness to our advantage, take teams out of what they normally do." Raef LaFrentz: "[Sacramento has] the best record in the league, but we took care of business today and I'm sure there will be many more meetings." LaFrentz on the 3rd quarter: "Steve did a great job of pushing the basketball and he hit a couple of big 3s and really took over the game. Dirk did a great job of rebounding and they led us today." LaFrentz: "There's just no comparison. Before the game I hadn't been that nervous in a long time and I think if you speak with Nick and all the other guys, they felt the same way. It's a loud environment, a playoff type environment and thats where this team is going and I feel fortunate to be a part of it." LaFrentz: "Up until the game started, I was awful nervous and it's been a long time since I felt like that. I mean, the atmosphere here was wild, like playoff atmosphere, and I just had to settle down." LaFrentz: "It will take some time, but its my job to compliment them. It's my job to come in and blend in with this team as it is with all 4 of us. This team was rolling before we got here and its our job to add the small things that will make this team better." LaFrentz: "The whole room is capable offensively. Right now, the job of the 4 of us is just to compliment the other guys." LaFrentz, jokingly, on having to ask a number of times during the game where he is supposed be: "I'm not that bright. I'll be relying on those guys for some time to come." Nick Van Exel: "I was so nervous today. I didn't expect to be in a game of this magnitude this year. I was real nervous and finally glad that I settled into the game." Van Exel on if Dallas have a chance to be a special team: "It does, but we have a lot of work to do, especially the 4 new guys. We have a lot of talent, but talent alone doesn't win championships. If we keep playing like this and keep improving we've got a good shot." Van Exel on the best thing about the game: "The win because I didn't want to come into this first big game and lose because I would have been thinking that it was my fault. The win was definitely the best thing." Van Exel on not taking the open layup and passing outside to Finley for 3: "I could have dunked that one. I was just trying to get the crowd into it." Rick Adelman on Dallas' run in the 3rd quarter: "We were stuck on 64 for a long time. They made shots and we missed about 4 or 5 open shots. They got to running and took control and we got impatient. They are a good team." Adelman: "We've got to make it tougher. We've got to get better defensively. We're just not doing it right now, and they exposed it more than other teams." Adelman on Sacramento's problems on the road: "We have to be more consistent. We are not defending the way we need to on the road. We can win on the road. We've won here, we've won in San Antonio, we've won a lot of places, but its obvious that we haven't been as consistent as we need to beat the defensive end, and that is what is hurting us more than anything else." Adelman on Dallas' new players: "They are good. It just makes them that much deeper. They've got that many more weapons to go to. It was a good trade for them." Chris Webber on the 3rd quarter: "We were up 64-60 and the next thing I knew we were down 69-64. They are going to be tough to beat because they have so many weapons. You have to have versatility to win, and they have versatility." Webber on the trade: "For them, it was great. For the other side, I don't know. Anytime you get these players that fit into Don Nelsons system, I think the Mavs accomplished what they wanted to." Mike Bibby on the 3rd quarter: "They hit some big shots. We didn't rotate and they were wide open. That happens. We just have to pick it up on our defensive end." Bibby on the trade: "That puts them up there real good. It should help them, offensively, a lot. We'll see how it works out in the long run." Dallas Mavericks 111, Sacramento Kings 97 at Dallas (February 23) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 24 24 29 34 - 111 .509 .500 .506 .708 Sacramento 25 27 15 30 - 97 .425 .316 .402 .810 Halftime: Sacramento 52-48 3rd Q: Dallas 77-67 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 11:21 2nd, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 6:09 2nd Refs: Joey Crawford, Jess Kersey, Michael Henderson Attendance: 20,181 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Mateen Cleaves (bilateral plantar fasciaitis), Brent Price (strained lower back), Gerald Wallace (chicken pox) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Johnny Newman 32 5-12 2-4 1-2 13 1-1 0 0 4 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 43 8-16 1-3 9-11 26 0-21 3 3 4 1 2 Evan Eschmeyer 9 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 0 0 0 0 1 Michael Finley 39 6-14 2-4 1-4 15 1-7 1 0 1 2 0 Steve Nash 31 10-13 4-4 4-5 28 1-3 8 4 1 2 0 Raef LaFrentz 31 6-11 2-5 0-0 14 2-6 2 1 1 0 2 Nick Van_Exel 30 3-9 0-2 2-2 8 0-4 8 3 1 1 0 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 1 3 0 0 Eduardo Najera 12 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Wang Zhizhi 3 1-2 1-2 0-0 3 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Avery Johnson 3 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Danny Manning 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 41-81 12-24 17-24 111 6-46 23 12 17 7 5 Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Predrag Stojakovic 40 5-16 1-4 5-6 16 3-6 0 3 1 0 0 Chris Webber 45 12-21 0-0 4-5 28 5-14 6 1 2 2 2 Vlade Divac 15 0-7 0-0 0-0 0 2-7 2 1 4 1 0 Mike Bibby 33 6-15 0-2 1-2 13 1-4 7 2 1 2 1 Doug Christie 38 4-9 2-5 3-3 13 1-5 3 3 3 1 1 Hidayet Turkoglu 22 3-8 0-1 2-3 8 0-4 2 1 2 3 0 Scot Pollard 21 1-2 0-0 2-2 4 1-5 1 1 1 0 1 Bobby Jackson 23 5-13 3-7 0-0 13 0-3 4 0 4 0 0 Lawrence Funderburke 3 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 37-92 6-19 17-21 97 13-48 25 13 18 9 5 patricia (phew)