Memphis at Dallas (February 26) Not only does Memphis have one of the worst teams in the league, but they also played the night before and were missing 3 players. This should have been an easy night for the Mavs and it was. Dallas led 16-13 with 5:35 remaining in the 1st and went on an 18-8 run to go up 34-21 after 1. Dallas shot 14-20 FG in the quarter. Raef LaFrentz had 11 points. Dallas' lead stayed in the teens during the 2nd quarter. Don Nelson was playing with lineups (and some nasty looking ones at times), so the Mavs did not completely blowout Memphis in this quarter after looking so dominating in the 1st quarter. Even with the funky lineups, Dallas led 58-43 at the half. Michael Finley was really clicking and had 16 points. No Memphis player was in double-digits. Dallas took their largest lead at 83-61 with 2 minutes remaining in the 3rd. Dallas led 84-68 after 3. Danny Manning hit a 3-pointer for the chalupa bucket to give Dallas a 101-80 lead with 4 minutes left. Memphis made a little surge by nailing a couple of 3-pointers, but it was far too little, too late. Dallas won 104-91. Dallas saw the best team in the league with their first game with the new players from Denver and saw the worst team in the league with their second game with the new players. They won both games handily. With the 2 days off between the Sacramento game and this game, Dallas was able to put some more offensive and defensive plays in the game - they even played the zone some (only basically ran 2 plays and pure man-to-man in the Sac game). How dominating was Dallas in this game? Dallas held a 33-0 edge in fast break points. Dallas shot 50% FG and Memphis shot just 41% FG. It didn't help that Memphis was _starting_ at point guard a player on a 10-day contract [not a knock against Eddie Gill (who did have 20 points in their previous game), but a sign of Memphis' problems]. It was nice to see Michael Finley have such a nice game. Finley had 30 points including 12-18 FG, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. He was hitting his shots and driving to the basket. Raef LaFrentz looked good in his 2nd game as a Mav. He had 17 points and 6 rebounds. As a Mav fans, we're not used to seeing a Mav dunk home offensive putbacks - LaFrentz has done that in both games. Dirk Nowitzki had 17 points and 6 rebounds in only playing 26 minutes and Don Nelson tried to reduce his minutes some to give him some rest. Nelson also limited Steve Nash's minutes as he just played a season low 22 minutes. Nash had 8 points (4-10 FG), 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Nick Van Exel had 12 points in 28 minutes off the bench. Memphis was led by Shane Battier's 18 points and he had 8 rebounds. Pau Gasol seemed quiet with just 15 points, but also had 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Lorenzen Wright had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Rodney Buford had 14 points including 5-18 FG and Will Solomon had 14 points. One thing I forgot to mention in my last article when talking about the new players, Nick Van Exel has an unique free throw shotting style. He seems to find the free throw line too close to the basket as he stands about 2 feet behind the line to shot. He is shotting 78.4% FT this season, so what ever works. With the win, Dallas has 40 wins for the season. And with 40 wins, Dallas tied the team record to fastest to 40 (57th game), also done in 87-87. [The team hit 40 in the 62nd game in 86-87, the team's best season record ever at 55-27.] Dallas also finished February with a record of 7-4. Quotes Don Nelson: "We put more things in our offensive sets. We were able to run more things. It is tough to play us and defend us. When we are shooting the ball, which we can do, we are difficult to play. It is just a matter of time to get through this next period of games and play at a high enough level to win and just get better and better. This is our 40th win and comes very early for this franchise and the remaining games we will do well. We just have to get better as a team." Nelson: "We played the bench. Mike had a good feel and a good rhythm. We are ready to take our next step, which is 3 good days of practice and then play a very tough defensive team [Miami]. It will be difficult for our team to win. It is all happening in the right way and at the right time." Nelson on the new players: "I am okay with everyone. These aren't easy games to play sometimes. I fooled around with some different combinations. We were able to maintain a 20 point lead throughout most of the game. It was never in jeopardy. It was kind of a perfect game and I wanted to get Steve and Dirk some rest, which I did." Nelson: "It's tough to play us, because I can put different people in different spots and make it very difficult to defend us. When we're shooting the ball, which we can do, we're difficult to play." Nelson: "It's difficult to defend us. When we're shooting the ball, which we can do, we're difficult to play. It's just a matter of time to play a number of games and get better and better and prepare for the playoffs. In the remaining games, I think we'll do well, but we have to just get better as a team." Nelson on a play where Nowitzki brought the ball up on the break and found LaFrentz for the jam: "LaFrentz got the call on a lot of play calls. He's able to run the floor and how about the fast break led by one 7-footer to another, when Nowitzki pushes the ball up the floor and hits LaFrentz on the other side? How many times have you seen that in the NBA? Not very much." Nelson on Finley: "Mike had a good feel and had a good rhythm. I've been waiting to see that." Michael Finley: "I got into a nice groove and made the most of it." Finley: "I felt like I got into a nice groove. My teammates were finding me when I was open and I just made the most of the situation. I was slashing to the basket, bringing attention to me, and then getting my teammates involved." Finely: "I was trying to be more consistent overall and mix in different things on offense. We knew that offensively we could get anything we wanted against that team. We wanted to let them know early that there was no way they were going to get a win tonight." Finley: "I haven't been as aggressive as I need to be. I've needed to put the injury behind me, to be more consistent overall shooting my jumper and getting to the basket. Tonight I was able to do that early." Finley: "I needed to go back to the basics and become more aggressive. I needed to slash to the basket, mix it up, and be unpredictable." Steve Nash on only playing 22 minutes: "Yes, the rest helps my body a bit. So it's a positive thing." Raef LaFrentz: "Tonight it felt like a much more relaxed atmosphere. It was one of those games where you just jump on them early and take them out." LaFrentz: "I think we got the first game jitters out of the way. [Saturday] was a pretty stressful situation to be in, but we came through with a W with the new team. Tonight it felt like a much more relaxed atmosphere." LaFrentz: "There were more shots out there than I could handle. I was just trailing on the break and they were sagging in so far, so I just kept shooting it and most of them went in." Nick Van Exel: "It's pretty easy to play with these guys because of their offense. It's pretty similar to what we ran in Denver." Van Exel: "In our first game here we played the best team and then in the second game we played the worst team so it was a lot easier tonight. The new guys were a lot more calmer out on the court, more relaxed. It was a good win and it gave Steve a chance to get healthy. I played almost 30 minutes and it gave me a chance to get some good work in out there." Van Exel: "We have been working on a lot of zone just in case we have to go with Steve and I at the 1 and 2 spots. A lot of teams have bigger 2 guards so we have been working a lot on zones lately." Van Exel on playing with Nash: "We compliment each other and with both of us out on the court it makes our fast break better and we can both penetrate and find open shooters." Avery Johnson: "Right now, we're trying to get Steve some rest. He hasn't had rest all year. Nellie is trying to get me some minutes, get Nick some minutes. The new guys are having a blast." Sidney Lowe on Dallas: "That's a tough team. That is a very, very, very good ball club. They set the tone early and took it to us. They got out and ran the floor. Their [big men] really got out there and ran the floor. We couldn't run with them. They are so unselfish but yet they can take you one-on-one. They are willing to make that extra pass. They're good. They were just too good for us. Lowe on missing players: "Yeah we were. We just played last night and we're short on numbers. Guys are a little tired. But you just try to tell the guys to dig it out and do the best you can - just keep working and working. But it is hard to judge yourself against a team like this. They are so good and they'll have 5 guys on the floor that can flat out shoot the basketball. But they are unselfish and they are tough. This is a tough ball club." Shane Battier on missing players: "It's 9 men out and we don't have a choice. If we don't play hard, we can really get embarrassed out there. We have a lot of pride as professionals. We could make a lot of excuses, but we don't try to make any excuses for ourselves. We don't want to be anybody's sacrificial lamb. We are shorthanded, but we are going to fight." Battier on Dallas: "Their depth is amazing. They can come at you in waves. People say, 'Well, they have to make shots,' but they've got so many shot makers that it is rare that everyone is going to be off on that team. It's going to make for a real interesting playoffs. They are unconventional. You really can't guard them the way you guard your typical NBA team, and that throws a new dimension into the game. You have to be a little more innovative when you guard them because of guys like Dirk and Raef. I like this team, and I think they are going to do very well in the playoffs." Dallas Mavericks 104, Memphis Grizzlies 91 at Dallas (February 26) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 34 24 26 20 - 104 .547 .350 .500 .765 Memphis 21 22 25 23 - 91 .418 .375 .410 .773 Halftime: Dallas 58-43 3rd Q: Dallas 84-68 Technicals: Evan Eschmeyer 0:35 3rd Refs: Jack Nies, Jim Clark, Violet Palmer Attendance: 19,970 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Grant Long (strained right groin), Brevin Knight (thigh cramps), Jason Williams (sore toe) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Johnny Newman 20 1-5 1-4 0-0 3 0-0 0 0 4 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 26 6-11 2-5 2-2 16 2-9 6 1 2 3 1 Raef LaFrentz 31 8-15 1-3 0-0 17 2-6 2 0 3 0 2 Michael Finley 40 12-18 0-1 6-7 30 2-8 8 0 1 0 1 Steve Nash 22 4-10 0-1 0-0 8 1-6 7 3 1 1 0 Evan Eschmeyer 16 1-2 0-0 1-1 3 1-3 0 2 5 1 1 Nick Van_Exel 28 4-8 2-4 2-2 12 0-4 3 1 0 1 0 Eduardo Najera 19 3-7 0-0 1-2 7 2-3 0 0 1 1 0 Wang Zhizhi 8 1-3 0-1 1-2 3 1-2 0 1 0 0 0 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 8 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0-2 0 1 0 1 0 Avery Johnson 16 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 2 1 0 0 0 Danny Manning 6 1-2 1-1 0-0 3 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 42-84 7-20 13-17 104 11-44 28 10 18 9 5 Memphis Grizzlies REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Pau Gasol 32 5-11 0-0 5-5 15 2-9 5 3 0 0 0 Shane Battier 40 6-14 2-3 4-5 18 5-8 4 3 3 1 2 Lorenzen Wright 32 8-13 0-0 1-3 17 3-7 1 3 2 0 0 Eddie Gill 27 4-6 0-1 0-0 8 0-1 4 2 4 2 0 Rodney Buford 44 5-18 1-4 3-4 14 2-6 3 1 4 0 0 Stromile Swift 24 1-7 0-0 1-2 3 0-5 1 1 1 0 1 Will Solomon 28 5-9 3-7 1-1 14 1-5 3 2 1 1 0 Tony Massenburg 8 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 1-2 0 0 1 0 0 Antonis Fotsis 5 0-4 0-1 0-0 0 3-4 0 0 2 0 1 Totals 48 34-83 6-16 17-22 91 17-47 21 16 18 4 4 patricia