Dallas faces Sacramento in the 2nd round of the playoffs. It is the first time the 2 have faced each other in the playoffs. 2nd round schedule: Game 1: Saturday May 4 at Sacramento 5:30 pm NBC Game 2: Monday May 6 at Sacramento 8:00 pm 21/TNT (TNT blacked out locally) Game 3: Thursday May 9 at Dallas 8:30 pm 21/TNT Game 4: Saturday May 11 at Dallas 2:30 pm NBC *Game 5: Monday May 13 at Sacramento TBD 21/TNT *Game 6: Wednesday May 15 at Dallas TBD 21/TNT *Game 7: Saturday May 18 at Sacramento TBD NBC *if necessary Adrian Griffin's back is still bothering him. He received an epidural shot on Friday and did not play in Saturday's game. He is probable for Monday's game. Eduardo Najera suffered a broken right thumb (shooting hand) during warmups prior to Saturday's game. He was able to play in Saturday's game despite the injury and is probable for Monday's game. Michael Finley suffered a strained back during Wednesday's practice and did not participate in Thursday's practice. He is reportedly fine now and did play in Saturday's game. Dirk Nowitzki was named to the All-NBA 2nd team and Steve Nash was named to the All-NBA 3rd team! Nowitzki was named to the 3rd team last year, the first time a Mav ever made an All-NBA team. Michael Finley received 5 points in the voting and Raef LaFrentz received 4 votes. Dirk Nowitzki is on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week. It is the first time a Mav has ever made SI's cover. Game 1: Dallas at Sacramento (May 4). After playing 3 great games against Minnesota, Dallas slipped back to the annoying form of started out sluggish and allowed Sacramento to go up 11-4 with 8:10 remaining. Fortunately, 7 points was the Kings' largest lead of the quarter as they were not shooting very well themselves and were committing turnovers. Michael Finley hit a jumper with 2 seconds left, but Sacramento made the quick outlet pass to Bobby Jackson who streaked in behind Dallas' defense for the layup at the buzzer. Sacramento led 27-24 after 1. Dallas only shot 10-30 FG and Sacramento was slightly better at 11-27 FG. Predrag Stojakovic had 9 points and Vlade Divac had 9 rebounds. Sacramento led 31-24 with with 10:25 remaining and Dallas went on a 13-5 run to take a 37-36 lead with 6:20 to go. Chris Webber picked up his 3rd foul with 5:15 left and sat for the rest of the quarter. The game stayed close the rest of the quarter with Dallas' largest lead just 1 point and Sacramento's largest lead just 5 points. Hidayet Turkoglu hit a 3-pointer to give Sacramento a 55-50 lead at the half. Both teams picked up their shooting in the 2nd quarter as both shot 50% FG. Finley had 11 points. A 3-pointer by Steve Nash pulled Dallas within 53-57 with 11:20 to go, but Sacramento scored the next 6 points to go up 63-53 with 8:11 left. Dallas pulled within 63-69 with 6:15 left, but the Kings were playing very well in the quarter and scored the next 9 points to take a 78-63 lead with 3 minutes remaining. Nash nailed a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left and Sacramento led 82-74 after 3. Webber had 13 points in the quarter. Dallas was ice cold in the 4th quarter. Nick Van Exel hit a runner in the lane to pull Dallas within 81-91 with 9:10 remaining, but Dallas would not score another field goal until 7 minutes later. Sacramento was not able to build much on their lead during that time, though, as they were not shooting very well themselves and were turning the ball over some and Dallas did hit 5 free throws. Nash finally hit a jumper for Dallas with 2:11 left and Sacramento led 99-88. But Doug Christie answered with a 3-pointer and the teams traded misses. The subs came in and the stars left the court with a minute remaining. Sacramento won 108-91 (their largest lead of the game). Sacramento leads the series 1-0. Dallas played a very poor game and Sacramento was simply the better team in this game. The Mavs had trouble shooting and were not playing a team game. Dallas shot a mere 38.9% FG including 6-23 3-pointers and only had 13 assists (the team playoff low for assists is 12). Sacramento shot 46.2% FG (only 4-18 3-pointers), had 27 assists, and out-rebounded Dallas by 10 boards. In addition, the Kings only had 4 turnovers in the 2nd half [they have been turnover prone lately]. Sacramento out-scored Dallas 26-17 in the 4th quarter and Dallas shot just 5-19 FG in the quarter. The Kings won easily despite Chris Webber only playing 31 minutes due to foul trouble. Webber did finish with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks before fouling out. Peja Stojakovic led the way with 26 points - 10-15 2-pointers and 1-7 3-pointers and 10 rebounds. Vlade Divac had a strong 1st quarter and had 18 points and 16 rebounds for the game. Mike Bibby shot poorly, but played a key role with his assists, defense, and steals. He had 11 points including 4-12 FG, 8 assists, and 3 steals. Doug Christie also had a poor shooting game with 6 points including 2-10 FG, but also had 8 assists. Bobby Jackson contributed 12 points off the bench and Hedo Turkoglu had 7 points. Scot Pollard, Gerald Wallace, Lawrence Funderburke, and Chucky Brown saw just 7 combined minutes on the court. No one with Dallas had a good game - Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel were the closest to playing to their normal level. None of the Mavs who attempted more than 5 shots shot 50% FG. Dirk Nowitzki started shooting just 1-8 FG and finished with 23 points including 8-24 FG and had 5 turnovers. He did have 14 rebounds, though. Michael Finley had 21 points and 5 rebounds. Steve Nash had a poor outing with 12 points including 4-12 FG, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Eduardo Najera showed guts in playing with a broken right thumb (his shooting hand) and defending Webber. He had 4 points on 2-2 FG and 3 rebounds in 18 minutes. Raef LaFrentz was dismal. It was extremely rare when he did something positive on the court. He had just 3 points including 1-7 FG, 6 rebounds, and 5 fouls in the 25 minutes he was on the court. Nick Van Exel had 15 points. Johnny Newman had 3 fouls and nothing else in the 9 minutes he was on the floor to defend Stojakovic. Greg Buckner faired better with 4 points and 7 rebounds (4 offensive) in his 17 minutes. Shawn Bradley was called on for 4 minutes and his sweeping hook stemmed the tied of a Kings' run. Wang Zhizhi did have 7 points, but did not look good in his 11 minutes. Evan Eschmeyer got off the bench for the last minute of the game. Adrian Griffin did not play due to back spasms. As poorly as Dallas looked in this game, the good news is that it was just one game in a long 7 game series. Dallas needs to get back to playing better team basketball and making better decisions on the court. Quotes: Rick Adelman: "Obviously, we're really pleased with the win. Pleased with the way our guys approached the game. We wanted to try to make them make shots over people, with pressure on people, wanted to win the boards, and wanted to make sure they guarded us, where they wanted to take quick shots and turn the ball over. I thought it was a really solid game all the way through for us. Got a lot of contributions from a lot of people." Adelman on going to the post early: "We wanted to go to it all the time, put pressure on them, but when you're trying to push the ball and you're trying to create things for yourself; if you want to post-up every time, you're going to walk it up every time. And we did not want to do that. We wanted to go at them in the post, but we wanted to have a nice mixture where they had to guard a lot of other things too. When we needed a basket, we were going there. The 1st playoffs game is always the toughest, cause you don't know what they are going to do and they don't know what we're going to do. And once you get a feel, know you can kind of establish, and see how you respond, how you adjust. But I was pleased with the mix we had. I thought Peja really got us going early. I thought he was really terrific all night at both ends. I thought Hedo did a nice job defensively too. Nowitzki is a handful. You just got to keep making him work. You know he's going to score. I thought those guys mentally stayed with it, even though you know he's going to get his points." Adelman on Divac: "He was terrific, what can you say. He got 16 rebounds and he was a force inside. He made them guard him, he got them in foul trouble. The best thing about Vlade is when he's active and he was very, very active tonight all over the floor. I think that was true of our whole team. That was one thing we wanted to establish because Dallas is a difficult team because, in transition, you never know what's going to be thrown at you. 5 guys are going to have to be active all the time. You can't relax. I thought there were a couple of times in the 1st quarter where we scored and we started celebrating. Well, you celebrate and they're going to celebrating 5 seconds later. that's something you've got to learn. I thought as the game went on, we did a better job in transition. And that's a key for us, transition defense against this team." Adelman on Divac and Webber in the post: "We thought we had an advantage there. I think we can do a better job of getting them the ball. They did a nice job of trying to front them and side them. We have to do a better job of getting them the ball. Having Chris out with foul trouble and Vlade got 5 fouls and the other guys stepped up. But those 2 guys have to make a statement for us inside. We have to make their guys guard us. We have to put pressure on them. It's going to be real hard to defend this team for 48 minutes and stopping them, but if you make them guard us, it makes it easier at the other end too." Adelman on learning what the other team is doing: "I really believe it and I said it a couple of days ago that John Stockton hit it right on the head: 'Every game is a series in itself.' I had no idea, I really did not have any idea what was going to happen tonight, because I don't think we played once - we played them the day after the trade, we played them late in the year when the game didn't mean anything to us, they were playing well. So you don't really know - when you step out on that court, when the pressure and the playoff atmosphere at Arco - what's going to happen. But know I think both teams have that idea. But the next game is going to be an entity all to itself. Forget this one. You try to do the best that you can, but you know they're going to play better. And you know you have to adjust. I think every game we play in this series is going to be a different ball game. The team that keeps consistent and keeps staying with their scheme is the team that is probably going to win." Adelman: "They're a little different than us because of their mobile big people, especially Nowitzki. You know that they're going to push it, you know that they're going to get things in transition, you know that they're going to try to create mismatches. We want to push it too. We want to see if we can get early, easy baskets too. But at the same point, we want to play pick-and-roll, we want to play out of the post, we want to play off the elbow, and we want to do it in the flow. With us, it doesn't necessarily mean a quick shot; cause if you take a quick shot, you bail them out and you give them an opportunity to get scoring even quicker. That's why in the 4th quarter, I called that timeout, I didn't know what we were doing. We want to take 3 quick shots and gave them 3 great opportunities for quick 3s to get them back in the game. We have to learn that. We have some weapons inside. We can still push it, we can still look for a quick good shot, and if we don't have it, then make them pay. And that's what we're trying to accomplish." Adelman on 2nd chance points and offensive rebounds: "It's always been a key, I really felt, the transition defense, the 2nd chance points, the offensive boards. You can't give them those and we have to get more than our share and you can't turn it over. You do those 3 areas against this team and you give them too many opportunities to score, too many chances to hurt you, and the more you take care of those ares, the hard it is. Now they're coming down and they have to run plays rather than just get things in transition. I think that area is always going to be crucial - the turnovers, the rebounding, and then making sure they get no easy baskets in transition." Chris Webber on going inside: "I can't let the things that discourage you during the season from going into the post discourage you from going into the post during the post season. Just trying to take strong post-ups and hope they don't flop and hope that I get some respect in the post cause I try to be a good player." Webber on easy post play: "I don't think it was easy at all. I was on the bench it felt like the whole game. I don't think it was easy at all. I think we're going to have a good game on Monday." Webber on being frustrated in the 1st half: "Honestly, yes. It's just the fact that you want to do well and you want your team to do well. So it's just a bit of frustration when you don't personally do well, but the overall picture is for us to win. When I got my 3rd foul it seemed like a minute into the 2nd quarter. I just sat on the bench and really just kept counting in my head, just counting and trying not to think of anything, just counting numbers. Go into the locker room, just close my eyes and try to take a little nap and try to relax for a second and just come out ready to play. That's all you can do, is just slow yourself down. but it's frustrating when you don't know what you are doing wrong or how the pace of it is going. I fouled out of maybe one game all season and have been in foul trouble these last 8. I'm just glad we got the win and hopefully we can keep it moving." Webber on Turkoglu: "Hedo is one of our most versatile player, if not the most versatile player, on the team. I think he can play so many positions and do so many things. Hedo is a key for us to win, especially in this series where they create matchup problems where Vlade or myself are checking a little guy outside. Hedo is very important. He knows he's important. So what he didn't have a good series against Utah. That happens and that's our boy and let's keep going. And that's how we feel about that situation. Utah, we don't even remember that because that doesn't matter right now. We just got to play for today." Webber on defense: "I think everyone gets caught up in how great we play offense and you don't look at the defense. But you don't get fast breaks with taking the ball out and giving it to your point guard. You get fast breaks off of steals and turnovers. I just look at that as something else that someone has been putting on us. First we're not a good road team, then we're not experienced, then we don't play D. We're a good team for a reason. We're not just some offensive players trying to get lucky enough to win like The Fish That Save Pittsburgh. We know that you really have to play defense. I think we pay very much attention to defense and to say that we don't is a discredit to coach and his staff. If you all were in the locker room, you all would hear how much they preach defense." Webber on Divac and his 9 rebounds in the 1st quarter: "He talks about, 'Ask the young guys how it is to run up and down the floor,' but he is the anchor here. He's the man." Webber on being aggressive: "I felt like I started off from the tip. I remember missing 4 easy shots in the post. That was my mind frame today, to go into the post and try to do some positive things for our team." Webber on improvements needed: "I'm sure we can get better in a lot of areas. I know, especially in shooting, myself and a couple of other guys on the team felt like we missed some easy shots. You can always be more focused in the next game. I'm sure that's a lot of ways we can come back and be better. But, like Vlade said, it's kind of hard to tell right after the game." Vlade Divac: "They got better floppers than me. That's for you, you write about me, 'I'm flopping.' See how they flop? They do a better job." Divac on the fast pace to start the game: "You'll have to ask the younger guys. For me, it was tough running up and down the floor the first couple of minutes without any conclusion on what you are going to do. I guess it was excitement, 2nd round. It was just a lot of energy there from both teams. I think we played smart the whole game. Tried to take advantage of things where we are just really better." Divac on Nowitzki: "I think that Peja did a great job playing defense on him and he did not have a good shooting night. It's going to happen. It's a long series and it was just one game that he struggle. I'm sure in the 2nd game he'll be better." Divac on defense: "Well maybe for you guys, but for us it's not really a surprise. We won a lot of games this year defensively, so when we need it, it's there." Divac on the 1st quarter: "I was ready. In my mind, I tried to be aggressive. I saw opportunities where I could play offensively and defensively be a factor for my team. It worked well. Like I said, it's a long series. It happened tonight, but we have to be focused and ready for the 2nd game." Divac on improvements needed: "It's hard to say right after the game. Tomorrow we'll watch the game film and see where we can improve. I thought it was an exciting game. Both teams played a different style of basketball [than] we did against Utah. So it was exciting as a player on the floor, I don't know for the fans, but I guess it was exciting for them too." Divac: "We know that it's an advantage for them to play small and run those pick-and-rolls. It's our advantage to try to go inside. It's like an exchange." Predrag Stojakovic: "They're capable of making big shots, but they didn't do it today. They'll be back and better." Stojakovic: "We can still play better. We can do a much better job of getting the ball to Chris and Vlade, and we have to. We have to go to those guys in post-up situations because they don't have an answer for them. They either are going to have to [defend] them one-on-one or double team them. And those guys are great passers who will find people on the perimeter." Mike Bibby: "Vlade Divac really played well tonight. He did that hook shot that he does so well and scored when we needed him to score. He played well, but I don't expect anything different. We helped each other a lot on defense. We are happy with this win and we have 3 more to get. We need to continue to push the ball up the court and get back in transition defense." Bobby Jackson: "We know we have to step up defensively because its the playoffs and because Dallas is a very offensive team. People don't think that we have a chance in this series, so I think we have to come out focused and just play our game. We know what we have to do to come out here and win. Defense is going to be the key in winning this series. We came out aggressive tonight and just played our game. We need to worry about what we need to do and not so much about what they are doing. We feel real comfortable getting out there and running up and down the court and that's what we have to do with Dallas." Jackson on Webber: "I looked up and he had 18 points. That guy can put points on the board extra fast. He knows that they don't have anybody who can stop him." Jackson on Divac: "They don't have anyone who can stop the guy. Look at their lineup - they're thin. We're not big, but we're bigger than their big men. We've got to punish them inside. If we don't, we're playing their game." Don Nelson: "Game 1 is out of the way and I was a little disappointed in the way that we played. I thought we rushed things. We looked like we didn't have anything that we could bank on offensively. I think we give a lot of credit to Sacramento for that, made it uncomfortable for some of our offensive sets. I thought Rick did a really good job of that. Somethings he was doing offensive, which we're used to, but for whatever reason, I thought we were not patient enough against some of his defensive schemes. We handled them so well, the same types of things, the series before and maybe they're better at them. I thought it was a game in which we really didn't have anyone who played up to their potential and that's why it was disappointing. But it's just Game 1 and we will get better as the series does along. I didn't think it was their best game either. I thought there was a lot of room for improvement on their part and they beat us handily. We know that they are the best team in basketball regular season and we know that they are really good and we have to play at a higher level if we want to compete against them, it's really that simple. I thought we rushed our offense way too much, took early shots. We didn't look like a solid playoff team tonight. I was very disappointed with our shot selection. Everyone got in a hurry when we got down a little bit, we weren't patient enough. There is a big difference in playing in the open court, playing fast paced basketball, and taking good shots and we didn't do both, or do either as a matter of fact. We need to get back to the drawing board and basically each individual needs to start playing better and I need to do a better job of getting them to understand the defensive schemes. We actually had it pretty right in what we thought they were going to do - they did those things and did them better than we anticipated or we didn't counter them very well. So we have to do a better job of that, which I think we'll do in Game 2." Nelson: "Defensively they did a lot with what we call spot-5 with their center clogging things up and we didn't counter very well. We weren't in our proper places. I will say that part of our problem was Eddie Najera, you talk about strange things happen, broke his thumb in warmups tonight and was really suffering. I couldn't play him his normal minutes. I didn't think he was very effective because of it. I thought he played hard, but that was a factor in my rotation for sure. I thought they made it uncomfortable for us and to play our normal game. We have to do a better job of attacking them. I don't want to get too specific in exactly what they did, but it was anticipated and we thought we had the courters taken care of, but we execute very well." Nelson: "Sometimes the coach doesn't know the sense of urgency. Each individual who has the ball is what we call the boss - he has the ball, he has to take it upon himself to know what is a good shot and a bad shot and a good early shot and a bad early shot. I didn't think we did a very good job of that and that's including everybody that played in the game, especially my big 4, my big 4 scores who you would expect to do a better job of that. There is a lot of room for improvement there. We just looked like we were in a huge hurry to do whatever it is we were doing. And we need to be more patient and we need to attack them and we'll do a better job in Game 2." Nelson on if the time off affect their timing and rhythm: "Well, it looked like it. I wouldn't use that as an excuse cause I'd never pass up the time off - I thought it was the best thing that could happen for our team and I still do. We weren't sharp, we didn't make shots like we're used to making. But you know what, I want to credit Sacramento for that. I thought they really did a good job of making it uncomfortable to shoot the shots the we normally get. But our counters, and the player know what we should do in the counters, and we didn't do that. We just want along and took challenged shots instead of doing the next thing, which of course, is to penetrate and to make the next pass and to get them spread out and spaced out. We need to do a better job of that. Normally, this team when they re-group will do that. Coach will tell them what he thinks they need to do and they normally do a good job of that." Nelson on the mentality of thinking every shot is going to go in: "That's the mentality we have. Sometimes we carry it to an extreme. I think we have to understand that when our shots are challenged, there is a counter to that. And we need to do that. Just didn't think we did a very good job. Again, I want to give all the credit to Sacramento. I thought when we did that, their counter was to step up defensively and they did a great job of that. We didn't make the extra pass tonight. I think against a good defensive team, like Sacramento can be, and their scheme of things, we need to make the extra pass and we'll show them tomorrow exactly where it is. We showed them in the huddle, but they obviously didn't see it in the game." Michael Finley on if the layoff affected the team: "I think it affected us a little bit to the fact that we came out a little bit sluggish. We hadn't played in 5 days and to get into an intense competition like tonight, we were a little step slow. But we still had opportunities to make it a ball game, but we were missing shots that we usually make and also you have to credit Sacramento's defense. They played a pretty good defense during some key stretches." Finley: "They played us the way that they played us during the regular season. They were a little bit more aggressive than the regular season and, as a result, they made our shots tougher. We didn't have a lot of open looks at the basket and the open looks that we did have, we missed. We'll go back to the drawing board and work on somethings offensively that can definitely benefit us and come out Monday with a better game plan than we did today and hopefully that will be enought to get us a win." Finley: "Interior-wise, defensively it's going to be important. They have 2 quality guys inside in Vlade and Chris, but at the same time, those guys were in foul trouble. It's just going to have to be a total team effort, for the guys on the perimeter and the guys on the inside. We just have to take it upon ourselves individually to take the challenge and make it a little bit tougher for them to get good looks at the basket and getting scoring opportunities and I think we'll make those adjustments come Monday." Finley on the end of the roll Dallas was on rom the Minnesota series: "It was frustrating, but at the same time, we knew that as good as it may seem that we wouldn't go undefeated in the playoffs. It's a long series. You can't win the series in one game, unless it is Game 7. So, fortunately enough for us, you have possibly 6 more games. We were in a good rhythm, but we knew at one point that this type of game was going to happen where our shots weren't falling. In those types of games, we still have to find a way to win and tonight we just couldn't find a way. Hopefully if the situation arises again in this series, we'll know how to handle it better and find a way to win." Dirk Nowitzki: "Offensively I think we had our looks, we just looked real flat out there. We just couldn't make any shots out there. Defensively, we didn't play great either. To sum it up, we just didn't have a great game. It's going to be a tough series and we wanted to win one out here, and we still have a chance to do that on Monday. They attacked me with a smaller guy, and in transition they were always able to find me and they did a pretty good job. My post-up game, I really didn't finish well enough around the basket as I had wanted to. Hopefully we will be better on Monday." Nowitzki: "My first couple of shots were flat and I just couldn't find my rhythm, like I did in the first series." Nowitzki: "In warmups, I didn't feel great. I tried to hang in there and my first couple shots were just flat. I was pushing it up there a little bit and just never really found my rhythm like the first series. I don't think that the whole week off was great for us." Nowitzki: "I don't know what it was. Sometimes it happens. I can't feel great every game." Nowitzki: "The layoff wasn't good for us. We lost some rhythm." Nowitzki on Webber: "He's awesome. He's a great low post player and he played aggressive." Nowitzki: "Frustrating is a bit much. We lost one game now. It's going to be a long series, hopefully." Steve Nash: "We didn't shoot the ball well. But they played good defensively, you have to give them credit. The crowd definitely gives them a huge lift, but I don't want to take anything away from their effort. They really did a good job defensively, and conversely, we didn't do a very good job offensively - and I think the two really led to a long night. We turned it over a few times and got them going on the break, and I think most of their fast breaks were off turnovers. We have to take better care of the ball." Nash: "We didn't shoot the ball well, but they played good defensively. Maybe it was just rust. It was a long week and we definitely were not up to the task." Nash: "We didn't shoot the ball well. We weren't ourselves." Nash: "A few of us just didn't make the shots we normally make." Nash: "We didn't break down their defense." Nash: "I did a poor job, and we collectively did a poor job of getting ourselves good shots and making them. We definitely had a lot we could have made, but we also weren't as sharp as we normally are." Nash: "It's a long series, but at the same time you can't say there's plenty of time. You can't dig yourself a huge hole. We have to come out and get the next one." Nick Van Exel: "The same thing we had been doing in the whole 1st round, they did it to us. We got a taste of our own medicine. I've been saying the team that plays the best defense that night is going to win the game. Tonight, the better team won." Van Exel: "It's tough to have a week off. They were more into a rhythm." Van Exel on the break: "That's never good to take that much time off. It gets you out of game shape. It's like training camp - no matter how hard you train over the summer, that first day you feel like you're about to die." Van Exel: "We were just waiting for something special to happen. It just didn't happen for us tonight." Van Exel on Divac: "Vlade really handled the inside. If he keeps getting off like that, we're going to be in trouble." Van Exel: "We definitely have to find a way to contain Vlade. We've got to stop their penetration. And we have to make some shots. That's it." Van Exel: "We knew this was going to be easier for them. We knew they'd be the old Sacramento Kings - not the Kings we saw in the 1st round." Raef LaFrentz: "You have to take your hat off to them tonight, they played well. I thought their defensive effort was good, and they knocked down shots. That was a big run for them in the beginning. That's the point in the game where we try and make our run. It was the reversal tonight and they jumped on us at that point and it was catch up. On Monday we will go in with the same focus - big game, got to win it. As far as our game plan, I don't know yet. We will have a chance tomorrow to sit down and watch films and see where our breakdowns were and attack it from there." LaFrentz on Sacramento's run that put them up by 15 points in the 3rd: "That was a big run for them. That's normally when we make our runs. But they turned the tables on us." LaFrentz: "We wanted to come in here and get a split. We knew we weren't going to sweep. That wasn't on our mind. We expected this to be a long, hard fought series." Eduardo Najera on his broken thumb: "It was just an accident. But I'm going to adjust to it. Obviously, I don't put up that many shots. I just have to go out and rebound and play defense. And when I have an open shot, take it." Najera: "It was just an accident. Somebody threw me a pass and it just hit me in the thumb." Game 1 Sacramento Kings 108, Dallas Mavericks 91 at Sacramento (May 4) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Sacramento 27 28 27 26 - 108 .520 .222 .462 .720 Dallas 24 26 24 17 - 91 .433 .261 .389 .682 Halftime: Sacramento 55-50 3rd Q: Sacramento 82-74 Technicals: Sacramento defensive 3 seconds 3:02 2nd, Scot Pollard 9:38 2nd, Hidayet Turkoglu 8:01 4th, Nick Van Exel 8:01 4th Refs: Bennett Salvatore, Ken Mauer, Scott Foster Attendance: 17,317 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Mateen Cleaves (sprained left ankle), Adrian Griffin (back spasms) Sacramento Kings REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Predrag Stojakovic 42 11-22 1-7 3-3 26 4-10 1 3 3 0 0 Chris Webber 31 8-19 0-0 4-6 20 5-10 1 4 6 0 3 Vlade Divac 35 6-10 0-0 6-8 18 3-16 3 1 5 1 1 Doug Christie 40 2-10 1-6 1-2 6 2-4 8 2 2 2 0 Mike Bibby 38 4-12 1-1 2-2 11 1-3 8 3 2 3 0 Hidayet Turkoglu 25 3-7 1-2 0-2 7 0-4 2 0 1 0 0 Bobby Jackson 22 5-9 0-2 2-2 12 1-4 4 0 0 3 1 Scot Pollard 4 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 1-1 0 0 1 0 0 Gerald Wallace 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Lawrence Funderburke 1 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Chucky Brown 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 43-93 4-18 18-25 108 17-53 27 13 22 9 5 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Eduardo Najera 18 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 1-3 0 0 3 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 43 8-24 0-2 7-9 23 4-14 1 5 1 2 0 Raef LaFrentz 25 1-7 0-2 1-2 3 2-6 0 1 5 0 3 Michael Finley 45 8-19 1-4 4-5 21 1-5 2 2 1 1 1 Steve Nash 36 4-12 3-6 1-1 12 0-5 5 4 1 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 31 7-15 0-4 1-1 15 1-3 3 2 4 1 0 Johnny Newman 9 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 3 0 0 Greg Buckner 17 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 4-7 2 0 2 0 1 Shawn Bradley 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Wang Zhizhi 11 2-4 2-3 1-4 7 0-0 0 0 4 0 0 Evan Eschmeyer 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 35-90 6-23 15-22 91 13-43 13 14 25 4 5 patricia Go Mavs!