Dirk Nowitzki returned to action in the Utah game after missing the last 4 games due to a sprained left ankle. He may sit out tonight's game vs Phoenix (in post-game comments, Nowitzki mentioned he'd sit; in a radio interview today, Don Nelson said he expects Nowitzki to play). Tonight's game vs Phoenix is the last game of the regular season. Dallas currently has a record of 57-24 - the same record as San Antonio and the Lakers. The playoffs start Saturday and Game 1 for Dallas is Sunday at 2 pm (Central) in the American Airlines Center. We still don't know who the opponent will be - it could be Minnesota, Portland, Utah, or Seattle. There are a lot of variables remaining for who it will be, but we'll know after tonight. The full schedule will be released tomorrow. Dallas also has to submit a 12-man playoff roster by 2 pm tomorrow. The 12-man roster is set for the entire playoffs - if a player is injured, you can not replace him with a player not on the 12-man roster. Don Nelson has not announced who of the 15 players on Dallas' roster will be left off playoff roster. Tariq Abdul-Wahad is the only one for sure not on the roster and Danny Manning is likely not on the roster. My guess is that Shawn Bradley makes the playoff roster and Evan Eschmeyer gets left off. Utah at Dallas (April 16) The game stayed close in the 1st quarter with neither team holding more than a 4 point lead as there were 5 ties and 6 lead changes. Greg Buckner hit a jumper at the buzzer to give Dallas a 25-21 lead after 1. Michael Finley carried Dallas in the quarter as he had 15 points including 3 3-pointers. Dallas opened the 2nd quarter with an 8-2 mini-run to go up 33-23 with 8 minutes left. The teams traded baskets and Utah scored the next 9 points to pull within 35-34 with 5:20 to go. Dallas scored the next 7 points and maintained a single-digit lead the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 48-44 at the half. Utah scored the first 6 points of the 3rd quarter to go up 51-48 with 10:30 left. Finley (not a typo) then went on a 11-5 run to give Dallas a 59-55 lead with 7:45 remaining. Karl Malone hit a crazy flip shot inside to give Utah a 62-61 lead with 5 minutes to go and Dallas scored the next 8 points to take a 69-62 with 1:50 left. Dallas led 70-65 after 3. Scott Padgett converted the 3-point play to pull Utah within 2 points, but Nick Van Exel made the nice lob to Finley for the alley-oop and Dallas hit 3 free throws to go up 75-68 with 10:15 remaining. Utah hit 2 buckets, but a MONSTER slam by Finley kicked off 6 straight points for Dallas and the Mavs led 81-72 with 6:25 to go. Utah would get no closer than 7 points the rest of the way. Dallas won 96-87. Dallas won the game despite being suckered into playing at Utah's pace. Dallas only had 8 fast break points in the game as it was more of a slow-down, half-court game (Utah had 14 fast break points). It was an ugly looking game with the slow pace and the refs allowing lots of contact [another poor officiating job]. Dallas won despite shooting just 40.5% FG. Utah shot 42.5% FG. Michael Finley was a stud in this game with 35 points including 13-23 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points - 20 in the 2nd half - and 6 rebounds in his first game in a week. Nick Van Exel was the only other Mav in double-digits with 11 points and 5 assists, but shot a poor 2-11 FG. He did play a key role in the game, though, as Steve Nash really struggled in the game. Nash simply looked like he had no energy and had just 2 points on 1-6 FG, but did have 7 assists. Eduardo Najera started (upping Dallas' record in Najera starts to 10-1) and provided his usual hustle and energy which far exceeded his stats of 6 points and 8 rebounds, including 5 offensive. [He also got hacked pretty hard on a break where the refs came up with one of the more bizarre calls of simply ball out of bounds - the refs had huddled and everyone assumed that they were discussing whether it was a flagrant foul 1 or 2.] Raef LaFrentz had a nice 8 points and 10 rebounds in 28 foul limited minutes. He left during the 3rd quarter to get 4 stitches over his right eye [and got called for a foul for using his chin to hit a Jazz player on the elbow], but did return to play later in the game. The surprise performance came from Shawn Bradley. Bradley only had 6 points and 3 rebounds, but those numbers do not reflect his good play - he played defense and altered shots, including 3 blocks, in playing 20 minutes (most while LaFrentz was out). Utah was led by Karl Malone's 24 points. He also had 7 rebounds, but committed 7 turnovers. Andrei Kirilenko had 18 points and was credited with 6 blocks [don't recall that many]. Scott Padgett was the only other Jazz player in double-digits with 15 points including 6-8 FG and 5 rebounds. John Stockton only had 7 points including 3-10 FG, but did have 9 assists and 3 steals. Quotes Don Nelson: "We have put ourselves in a position to win our last ball game and have a chance to win the division. San Antonio has a tough game at Utah. They are tough to beat at home. They are sure playing hard. They played hard against us and it was tough for us to get the win. It is a good position to be in. That is the good news about this win. There is no bad news except that Steve Nash was feeling a little weak when I put him in there in the 4th quarter. I think he kept us alive even though he didn't shoot a very good percentage. He ran our ball club and had some really nice assists and kept our head above water. Finley rose to the occasion and found some holes in their defense and was the only guy that was really active, I thought Dirk looked okay; we've seen him better. I am sure glad to have this game under our belt. I don't know if he will play tomorrow, but I think he needs another game under his belt. Anyways, we have a shot and that is better than not having a shot." Nelson: "We still think San Antonio is going to win the division. All they have to do is win one more game. But it's at Utah. And that ain't easy, baby." Nelson on Finley: "When your team is unhealthy and you have a lot of players out, he has to step forward. I have put a lot of pressure on Mike to be that guy and he's responded. He had a couple of nice baskets by cutting through the paint and finding openings. He has been on for quite a while. He was player of the week." Nelson on Nowitzki: "I think it was fatigue. He was not used to playing in an NBA game and it takes a lot of energy. I thought he was a bit weak. I don't know about the ankle, a bit tentative, I think. We didn't see him coast-to-coast. Usually he gets a rebound and starts our fast break, but we didn't see any of that tonight. He was just a step slow. It is to be expected. He missed a couple of games and he needed this game to get back in rhythm. He wasn't as sharp as he had been." Nelson on Najera: "He scores a little more, his cuts are a little sharper, and he's playing like a veteran." Nelson on Bradley: "I thought Shawn was a factor. I put him in a couple of tough situations and Shawn was going to look good sometimes and not so good others in the same game usually. The bottom line is that the last two Utah games, Bradley has been a factor in the game and that is really good to see." Michael Finley on the playoff position race: "We just have to continue to win to go into the playoffs on a positive note." Finley: "I'm playing pretty well right now. My teammates encouraged me to be aggressive. They say when I'm aggressive, offensively we are a better team. So I'm just trying to take that upon myself to carry that over from the season into the postseason, and hopefully that can get us farther than where we finished last season." Dirk Nowitzki on his sprained ankle: "It wasn't great. I've just got to play through the pain. I don't want to lose my rhythm before the playoffs." Nowitzki: "I'll have to play through some pain for the rest of the year. It's just the way it's going to be for the rest of the playoffs." Nowitzki: "Some movements are still a little sore, but that's the way it's going to be for the rest of the playoffs. But I've just got to fight through it and maybe have the surgery in the off-season. Here and there I felt it tweak a little bit, but it wasn't really serious." Nowitzki on probably not playing vs Phoenix: "I wanted to make 1 of the last 2 games. I decided to play today and get an extra day of rest to see how the ankle reacts." Steve Nash on his exhaustion that limited his effectiveness: "It's been lingering for 82 games." Nash on Bradley: "We'd like to see Shawn be a little more proactive and embrace a more active role and be more aggressive. But I think we all know that the fire has to come from within and, hopefully, he's starting to generate some fire." Nick Van Exel: "It was tough. I thought, defensively, we did a great job. We got to the free throw line - maybe that's what slowed the pace down for us. We finally shot a lot of free throws. That's stopping the clock, but our defense is getting better. We held them under 90 points, and that is pretty good for us." Van Exel on Finley: "He had a quiet 35 tonight. He's been playing pretty solid. There isn't another guy that you'd rather have as the last person on your food chain, and that's the guy we have to swing the ball to; he's normally the last one hiding in the corner. He's been knocking those shots down all week." Shawn Bradley: "They were able to control the game tempo a little more than we'd wanted them too. With the guys we have and the talent we have on this team, Michael Finley has really stepped up big the last little while. The last couple weeks, he has really stepped up as we prepare for the playoffs." Bradley on if the game was special: "Not other than this giving us a chance to win the division. We haven't taken ourselves out of that position. More than anything, that is what tonight meant." Jerry Sloan: "They just kept putting guys out there and we couldn't defend them. We put them on the free throw line and we also threw the ball away a lot. You're not going to beat a team like this if you have 22 turnovers. We missed a lot of layups. We had the ball inside quite a bit, but we missed a lot of layups. We just couldn't put it in the basket." Sloan: "You have to come with the whole package if you want to beat this team and we didn't come with the whole package tonight." Sloan: "I'm looking for someone to step up and play. Act like you want to win, instead of acting like you want to get it over with." Sloan on Finley: "We tried a lot things, but nobody seemed to be able to guard him. He kind of had free reign out there. There were a lot of other reasons we lost the game. We had layups that were there that we didn't capitalize on because we were just floating around. You have got to come with a lot better package than this if you are going to beat this team. They're a great team. You have to be quick to the basketball. We didn't seem to have too much of that. I am looking for someone to step up and act like they want to win. We look like we are interested in getting the game over. Teams that want to win against us just have to have a 5 or 6 minute finish because we spend a lot of time complaining." Karl Malone: "We had turnovers, opportunities and didn't capitalize on it. Now we've got our work cut out for us. We'll just play and see what happens. The whole thing has been frustrating. It's been an interesting year. Now we've got one left and it's big. We've just got to go out and play." John Stockton: "We had some opportunities. We had some decent looks. We just missed some shots at the end." Bryon Russell on possible 1st round opponents: "It don't matter who we play. Dallas, Sacramento, San Antonio. It don't matter because whoever we play, we've got to find some way to beat them. It's up to us." Russell on Finley: "He just took control. He hit big shots, he hit wide open shots, he hit tough shots." Dallas Mavericks 96, Utah Jazz 87 at Dallas (April 16) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 25 23 22 26 - 96 .418 .333 .405 .875 Utah 21 23 21 22 - 87 .451 .222 .425 .895 Halftime: Dallas 48-44 3rd Q: Dallas 70-65 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 3:22 4th Refs: James Capers, Joe Forte, Leon Wood Attendance: 20,068 (sellout) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Eduardo Najera 33 2-7 0-0 2-4 6 5-8 1 0 3 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 37 8-17 1-3 7-7 24 0-6 2 3 2 3 1 Raef LaFrentz 28 2-4 0-1 4-4 8 5-10 0 3 5 2 2 Michael Finley 40 13-23 3-4 6-7 35 1-6 1 2 0 1 2 Steve Nash 25 1-6 0-1 0-0 2 0-2 7 3 3 1 0 Nick Van_Exel 26 2-11 0-2 7-8 11 0-2 5 2 1 1 0 Greg Buckner 15 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 2 0 2 1 1 Adrian Griffin 8 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 1 2 1 2 0 Shawn Bradley 20 2-5 0-0 2-2 6 0-3 0 0 2 2 3 Wang Zhizhi 7 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Johnny Newman 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 32-79 4-12 28-32 96 12-41 19 16 19 13 9 Utah Jazz REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Karl Malone 39 10-19 0-0 4-4 24 2-7 3 7 4 1 0 Andrei Kirilenko 38 6-11 0-2 6-6 18 2-4 2 3 2 2 6 Jarron Collins 18 0-3 0-0 1-2 1 3-6 1 1 2 0 0 Bryon Russell 24 3-11 1-4 0-0 7 0-4 2 1 5 1 1 John Stockton 38 3-10 0-0 1-1 7 0-2 9 4 4 3 1 DeShawn Stevenson 10 1-6 0-0 1-2 3 1-2 0 2 3 0 0 Donyell Marshall 23 3-8 0-0 0-0 6 3-10 1 1 3 0 1 Scott Padgett 24 6-8 1-2 2-2 15 1-5 1 0 4 0 1 John Starks 4 0-2 0-1 2-2 2 1-1 0 1 0 0 0 Greg Ostertag 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 Quincy Lewis 14 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 0 2 2 2 1 Totals 48 34-80 2-9 17-19 87 13-44 19 22 29 9 11 patricia Go Mavs!