Dallas at Houston (January 18) Keith Van Horn did not play due to a sprained left ankle and Houston was again a MASH unit as 6 key players were out with injuries, including Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Stromile Swift. As such, it was expected to be a win for the Mavs. Houston came out playing ugly and Dallas matched them, but the Mavs still held small leads. 8 minutes into the game, only 20 points had been scored as Dallas led 13-7 on a 3-pointer by Jerry Stackhouse with 4 minutes remaining. Houston did score the next 5 points. Dallas scored the last 4 points of the quarter (over the last 2 minutes of the quarter) to go up 19-14 after 1. Jason Terry opened the 2nd quarter with a 3-pointer. A 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki gave Dallas a 35-23 lead with 6:35 to go. Dallas scored 6 straight points to go up 47-32 with 55 seconds left. A layup by Lonny Baxter with 8 seconds left ended Houston's 2 1/2 minute scoring drought. Dallas led 49-34 at the half. Both teams shot around 42% FG, but Dallas out-rebounded Houston 23-11 and shot 15-20 FT while Houston shot 4-7 FG. The teams traded 3-pointers to open the 3rd quarter and then traded 2 points and then it was the Nowitzki show. Nowitzki scored the next 11 points, capped by a rare 4-point play, and then Josh Howard got a bucket to give Dallas a commanding 67-39 lead with 6 minutes remaining. A long 3-pointer by Stackhouse gave Dallas their first 30+ point lead and kicked off 7 straight points scored by the Mavs to give Dallas their largest lead at 78-43 with 2:55 remaining and garbage time arrived early. Dallas led 82-50 after 3. Nowitzki had 13 points in the 3rd quarter. Houston got no closer than 27 points in the 4th quarter. Dallas won 103-76. It was the 3rd straight blowout by Dallas, but this wasn't much of a surprise as Houston has been struggling mightily with so many key players injured. It was the 7th straight loss for Houston. Houston never led in the game. How much of a blowout was it? Dallas bested Houston in all but 3 stats - they were even for offensive rebounds, Houston had 2 more steals, and Houston had 1 less turnover. Dallas shot 50% (34-68) FG including an impressive 11-17 3-pointers. Houston shot 40.8% (29-71) FG including 5-14 3-pointers. Dallas shot 24-31 FT and Houston shot 13-23 FT. Dallas out-rebounded Houston 38-29. Dallas did a good job sharing the ball with 25 assists and Houston had 16 assists. The Mavs had 9 blocks, including an always impressive block by Darrell Armstrong preventing a fast break layup during garbage time. Dirk Nowitzki was on fire as he had 29 points on 10-14 FG, 4-4 3-pointers, and 5-5 FT in 27 minutes. His rebound numbers remained low with 4 boards in this game. Josh Howard had 18 points including 8-10 FT, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. Devin Harris had 16 points including 6-8 FG, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. No other Mav was in double-digits. Jason Terry's shot wasn't falling and he had 8 points on 3-9 FG and 3 assists in 26 minutes. Jerry Stackhouse also struggled with his shot in shooting 2-9 FG, but he had a team high 6 assists to go with his 8 points. Stack also had 3 steals. The center duo worked well with 15 combined rebounds and 4 blocks (2 each). DeSagana Diop had 2 points and 7 rebounds and Erick Dampier had 7 points and 8 rebounds including 4 offensive. Adrian Griffin still does his job quietly and missed his 2 attempts and had 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Rafer Alston was the high man for Houston with 17 points. He also had 6 assists and 4 steals, but also turned the ball over 5 times. Luther Head didn't go off against Dallas like he did in the first game (28 points). Head had 16 points including 5-15 FG, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. David Wesley was the only other Rocket in double-digits with 10 points. Despite being an offensive focus with Houston's injuries, Juwan Howard had just 9 points including 3-9 FG. He also had 6 rebounds. Quotes Avery Johnson: "On a night like tonight, we played a Houston team that is really banged up and got the win. Houston played hard but we just made more shots. They are decimated with injuries. When they are healthy, we know this game would have been a war. We were even in the 1st quarter. It was easier to be in our situation and it is very tough for Houston." Johnson: "It was nice to get the big lead and to spread out the minutes a little bit. But we are a flawed basketball team and we are still working through some things. We have to keep working hard and trying to get better." Johnson: "We just made a few shots and got going pretty well. I'm happy with our hustle, I'm happy with our play, but we're not world beaters." Johnson: "It's a very tough road trip for us and it was key to get this win in the first game." Johnson on Van Gundy's comment that Dallas is better this year than last: "It's a good comment because Coach Van Gundy has been around and through the wars and we"ll take it in stride and wait and see how things turn out. We still have a lot of work to do." Dirk Nowitzki: "We were focused and I thought we moved the ball around better than we have in a while." Nowitzki: "Our concentration was great. We were focused, moved the ball well on the offensive end, and got big stops defensively." Nowitzki: "The Rockets have a lot of guys out, but these kinds of wins don't come easy. You still have to come to play and execute the way you do as if Tracy [McGrady] and everyone else were still out there." Josh Howard: "They are really down on their luck with injuries, but you can't make excuses and you have to play the game. It was a nice win because it is very hard to win here in Houston." Howard: "This is a good test to see where our team is on this long road trip. We have been playing great basketball the last few games and we wanted to show everybody that our great defense will create our offensive opportunities." Jason Terry: "We caught them at half-throttle with all their injuries, but they played hard. It was an all-around effort on our part. It's not that we are playing that well but that we are playing very hard. We have a lot at stake and we were ready to play." Terry: "We had it going tonight offensively. Defensively we did a good job. It was an all-around effort." Jerry Stackhouse: "They are a team if we moved the ball around we knew we could get any shot we wanted to." Stackhouse: "We know Houston isn't the team they are right now, but I appreciate the focus we had. We came out and did what we needed to do, and hopefully, set the tone for the trip." Stackhouse: "This was a good win to start off the long road trip. We are all going to be together for 10 days and the team will have an opportunity to bond and this is an important time for us to come together." Stackhouse: "The only thing we need to be working on right now is getting stronger and improving our seeding for the playoffs." Stackhouse: "We have a goal in mind to be sure we are healthy for the playoffs. When the game is in hand then I am coming out of the game so I can be healthy for the playoffs." Erick Dampier: "We always want to start a road trip on a good note. We went out and played together as a team and we knocked down our shots." Dampier on Houston's injuries: "This is the NBA and it doesn't matter who is out on the court. We approached this game like their starters were going to play." Dampier on not starting: "It was a coaching decision and it was out of my hands. I will do whatever I can to help the team win when I am out on the court and try and get my hands on whatever I can." Jeff Van Gundy: "They're very good, they whipped us. Once the whipping started, I don't think we competed as hard as I would have like to have seen us, but that was after the whipping started taking place." Van Gundy: "Like I said, we got whipped by a superior team tonight. I thought the 1st quarter we hung tough and then they got away from us when we tried to put our bench in the game, and I think that's one of the things they're very superior in. They've got tremendous quality depth and that took it from 4 or 5, to 10 and 12 [point leads] right away. Then in the 3rd quarter, obviously, Nowitzki went on that little spurt that took it to a blowout." Van Gundy: "It's the 2nd game in a row we gave up 50% shooting. The rebounding numbers were closer than it really was. That was more made up after they had whipped us. This is the first game those 9 [Houston] guys as a group - we weren't competitive tonight as far as we weren't in the game. Other than that, we've been in the game." Van Gundy: "We looked like we really wanted to play and once it got hard, I think a little bit of our resolve left us. Like I said, the 9 guys that we've had over the past stretch of games haves competed hard and have competed well and then tonight, I thought, from the mid-2nd quarter on, we didn't have anything in the tank. We didn't really have resolve to fight our way back. Van Gundy on encouraging his team: "It's not necessarily about encouraging them, it's about playing winning basketball, stuff that gives you a chance to win. They're bright guys, they understand what it takes to win." Van Gundy: "It's disappointing the way it's gone at home. If you're a fan that comes a lot, it's tough to watch right now. We're going to try to put a better product on the floor certainly." Juwan Howard: "We got our butts kicked. It's embarrassing to experience something like that tonight. It's very disappointing for all of us that really care about what's happened to this team. The fans aren't happy, the organization's not happy, and each and every guy on this team and the coaches are equally disappointed." Howard on defending Nowitzki: "He is a tough match-up. At his size of 7 feet, he almost plays like a guard. He can shoot the basketball really well, obviously, and he is very good off the dribble. He is a smart player." Rafer Alston on what went wrong in the game: "For one, it got a little tough for us offensively, but by the same token, we started missing our assignments defensively, not keeping them off the boards, losing our men in transition. There were a lot of mental breakdowns. The disheartening thing is we played them real tough in the 1st quarter so you know that you can play with them. Can you sustain it was the key tonight. They got rattled for a few minutes at a time, but they were able to keep playing. Before you knew it, they turned a 5-point lead into a 25-point lead." Howard on turning the season around: "You keep fighting, you can't quit. We're not going to lay down. You have to keep digging it out and try to find ways to correct it and get better. We will do that." Alston: "You're facing a team that thrives on playing an up-tempo game. They thrive on turnovers and we had a lot of them tonight. They thrive on pounding the basketball and crashing the boards and we allowed them to do all of that. If you take some of that away, then you'd see a more competitive game." Alston on turning the season around: "We all believe that we can win. We have to continue to work together and to work harder to try to figure out a way to run off some victories." David Wesley: "When I finally hit the bench, I had to fight back tears. It's frustrating. That's the bottom line. To go out there every night and lose, that's not what we want to do. Whether we're doing what it takes to do, I guess not." Ryan Bowen: "You look at what you did wrong in this game and we have a road trip coming up - that's where our focus needs to be. What we can do to get ready for Friday is our focus. We need to regroup tomorrow and move forward to the next game." Dallas Mavericks 103, Houston Rockets 76 at Houston (January 18) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 19 30 33 21 - 103 .451 .647 .500 .774 Houston 14 20 16 26 - 76 .421 .357 .408 .565 Halftime: Dallas 49-34 3rd Q: Dallas 82-50 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 6:33 1st Refs: Derrick Stafford, Tom Washington, Pat Fraher Attendance: 15,966 (cap 17,974) Did not play due to injury: Keith Van Horn (sprained left ankle), Jon Barry (right calf strain), Tracy McGrady (back spasms), Stromile Swift (eye injury) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 32 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-3 4 2 1 1 0 Jason Terry 26 3-9 2-6 0-0 8 0-1 3 1 1 1 0 Josh Howard 32 5-9 0-0 8-10 18 0-4 3 3 3 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 27 10-14 4-4 5-5 29 0-4 0 1 2 1 0 DeSagana Diop 20 1-1 0-0 0-2 2 3-7 1 0 0 0 2 Devin Harris 31 6-8 2-2 2-4 16 1-5 5 1 1 1 0 Jerry Stackhouse 19 2-9 2-3 2-2 8 1-3 6 3 0 3 0 Erick Dampier 17 2-5 0-0 3-4 7 4-8 2 1 1 0 2 Josh Powell 13 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 0-1 0 0 3 0 2 Darrell Armstrong 12 2-6 1-2 4-4 9 0-1 1 3 1 1 1 DJ Mbenga 11 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 4 0 2 Totals 48 34-68 11-17 24-31 103 10-38 25 15 17 8 9 Houston Rockets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rafer Alston 35 7-15 2-6 1-3 17 0-2 6 5 1 4 1 David Wesley 34 4-10 0-2 2-3 10 1-3 2 2 4 1 0 Luther Head 46 5-15 2-5 4-7 16 0-4 4 2 3 2 0 Juwan Howard 31 3-9 0-0 3-4 9 1-6 1 1 2 0 0 Dikembe Mutombo 23 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 4 0 1 Lonny Baxter 20 4-10 0-0 0-0 8 6-7 0 2 3 1 1 Chuck Hayes 14 0-1 0-0 2-4 2 1-2 1 0 0 0 0 Moochie Norris 14 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 1 1 3 2 0 John Lucas 13 4-7 1-1 0-0 9 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Ryan Bowen 9 1-1 0-0 1-2 3 1-2 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 29-71 5-14 13-23 76 10-29 16 14 22 10 3 patricia