[Had a cold during the 4 games in 5 nights and fell _way_ behind, so the
game write-ups are shorter than usual.]
On November 25 Dallas released Doug Christie. Despite what you may have
read, it was not a friendly departure nor purely due to injury. At the
end of the last game Christie was with the Mavs, Christie's dominating
wife was visibly upset and they were in Seattle by the next game, with
rumors that they packed their stuff before they left. Comments were made
by the team after the release that things just didn't work out, it was
decided that it would be best for both parties to part ways, and the team
decided to go in a different direction - comments that are not usually
made when injury is the full reason for releasing a player or a friendly
parting.
Josh Howard suffered a sprained right ankle near the end of the Memphis
game on November 26. It was diagnosed as a moderate sprain and it was
originally thought he would be out 3 weeks. He is heeling quicker than
expected, but will still be out for a while longer. [In other injury
news, Jerry Stackhouse remains out with still no time frame for his
return.]
With Howards' injury, the Mavs signed former Mav Adrian Griffin. Griff is
a blue-collar worker and defensive player and is a welcomed addition.
Jason Terry suffered a strained right hamstring during the San Antonio
game. He continued to play with the injury for the Spurs game and played
in pain 2 nights later vs New Orleans. He played the 1st half on Monday
vs Chicago, but the hammy tightened up during halftime and he was unable
to play in the 2nd half. He did not play in the Indiana game due to the
hammy.
The NBA named Avery Johnson and Flip Saunders (Det) as Coaches of the
Month for November. Dallas went 10-4 in November and Detroit went 11-2.
Dallas at Miami (November 25)
Dallas went on a 13-2 run to go up 23-14 with 3:25 to go. Dallas led
27-22 after 1. Dallas opened the 2nd quarter with a 15-5 run to go up
42-27 with 7:40 left. Miami got no closer than 9 points the rest of the
quarter. Dallas led 57-45 at the half. Miami scored the first 6 points
of the 3rd quarter, but Dirk Nowitzki ended their run with a 3-pointer.
Miami scored 10 straight points to pull within 62-63 with 6 minutes
remaining, but Dallas then went on an 11-3 run to go up 74-65 with a
minute left. A 3-point play by James Posey capped the quarter scoring.
Dallas led 74-68 after 3. Miami scored 6 straight points to pull within
74-76 with 9:15 to go, but Dallas then scored the next 10 points to go up
86-74 with 6 minutes remaining. Miami would get no closer than 8 points
the rest of the way as, except for once, Dallas would score on the next
possession following a Heat bucket. Dallas won 103-90.
It was a well played and entertaining game by Dallas and the Mavs had an
answer to each Miami run. Miami missed all 11 3-pointers they attempted
while Dallas shot 8-15 3-pointers. All 10 starters were in double-digits
(but only 20 points total from the benches). Josh Howard was the high
man with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points and 8
rebounds. Erick Dampier had 17 points and 6 rebounds. Jason Terry had a
double-double with 10 points and 10 assists - 2 less than the entire Heat
team had. The guards had fun against Dallas as Dwyane Wade had 23 points
and Jason Williams had 24 points. Alonzo Mourning continued to play well
in Shaquille O'Neal's absence. Mourning had 13 points (though just 3-9
FT), 7 rebounds, and 6 blocks. Antoine Walker shot just 1-13 FG.
Quotes
Avery Johnson: "The 1st half was well played. We came out in the 2nd half
and got a cushion. They made a run, like all good teams do, and got the
score down to 2. We made some adjustments and took off from there. I
really liked the pace of the 4th quarter. Although Jason Williams
penetrated and beat us several times. This is a very good Heat team."
Johnson: "They made a run. They're a very good basketball team. The 2nd
half, they got it within 2, and we just suggested 'stay tough minded'.
And we were able to get somewhat of a cushion."
Johnson: "We thought if we could keep their bench under control, we would
be okay. Nobody expected Walker to shoot like he did, or whatever. We
were just really fortunate that they missed some shots."
Johnson: "We did what we needed to do on the road. We haven't arrived
defensively yet, but we are getting there. We have made great improvement
in that area and hopefully we'll continue to improve. We thought that if
we could keep their bench under control, we would have a chance to win the
ball game. We were very fortunate that Miami missed a lot of shots. We
didn't expect Antoine Walker to shoot that bad."
Johnson on Howard: "Josh has been steady. He had a tough task tonight to
guard Dwyane Wade. He didn't have any blocks tonight, he usually has 1 or
2 blocks per game. He had a double-double tonight. He can be a special
player when he puts his game together. He was very consistent and played
well."
Johnson on Nowitzki: "He wanted to drive the ball a little tonight so that
opened up his outside shot. He hit 2 key 3 pointers in the 4th quarter."
Johnson on Mourning: "He is a true warrior. You can't say enough about
what he has done. I loved Zo since he's been in the league. I've run
into him a few times when I was a player. What a testimony to
perseverance. He's a wonderful example to a lot of people who may not
have everything they need to be a complete player."
Dirk Nowitzki: "It's a fun place to play. It's a great city. The fans
get into it. Obviously, the team they have is great, so it's easy to
motivate yourself."
Nowitzki: "They kept on coming. We knew they were going to still attack.
Whatever they threw at us late, we stood our ground and played tough."
Nowitzki on his 3-pointers: "Obviously, the first one I made kind of
helped the 2nd I made. You get the confidence that the ball goes in.
Luckily, the ball went in."
Josh Howard: "You have to be ready for guys like Dwyane night in and night
out. Right now, we are jelling. We still have things we need to work on.
One of these days, we will have a perfect game and we will not have
anything to say."
Howard on the 4th quarter: "We stayed mentally focused especially on the
offensive end. We made sure that they only got one shot and we got the
rebound. We went down and finished on the other end. We hit some big
shots and we hit our free throws at the end, which was big."
Howard: "We know how to play well with a lead. We let them slip back in,
but we kept fighting and finished the game."
Jason Terry on 10 assists: "I knew it was a matter of time, but those guys
knocked down shots. We got out in transition, which helps. Any time you
can get out in transition you've got a chance for assists, because guys
are running the lanes and finishing strong at the basket."
Erick Dampier: "It is up to us to be mentally focused and prepared. We
are ready to work when we are out there on the floor. I think we kind of
had a let down in the 3rd quarter. We might have turned the ball over a
couple of times and missed a couple of baskets here and there. Teams are
going to make runs and I think we responded with one. I think every win
is a confidence builder for us. We are just going to keep playing hard
and try and win as many games as we can."
Dampier: "It doesn't matter who I am playing against. I just try and go
out there and do whatever I can to help this team win. Some nights it
might be playing better defense, some nights it might be rebounding and
some nights when I get the opportunity, I score. I think we were just
taking what the defense gave us. That is our plan every night."
Stan Van Gundy: "I thought that in the 1st half we did not match their
speed, energy, or intensity. I thought that we came out in the first 15
minutes of the 2nd half playing extremely hard and with great energy to
get back into the game. On the offensive end I just didn't do a good job
finding stuff for us to run. We got unorganized, we did not move the ball
and we took several bad shots. I just, quite honestly, couldn't find
anything for us that we needed to get. I'm upset with myself for not
finding an answer for us offensively. We shot the ball very poorly
especially from 3 - we didn't even make one. You put all of those things
together and it was a tough loss."
Van Gundy: "We made some good runs at them, but we could not just get over
the hump."
Van Gundy: "A couple of times I subbed people, thinking we were tired.
Virtually every time I subbed, the first minute or 2 was bad. I probably
should have stayed with the people who were playing well."
Van Gundy: "Josh Howard was great. He was huge for them."
Van Gundy: "Eric Dampier had a great night. The guy is averaging 5 points
a game and comes in and scores 17. He was a real presence in the paint."
Van Gundy on Walker: "The guy's been playing extremely well and he had a
bad night."
Alonzo Mourning: "It is difficult when you know you had an opportunity to
win. I don't think we made the right decisions down the stretch to pull
the win out. The best thing about this league is that you have the next
game to have an opportunity top make some changes. It is a 48 minute game
and teams go through ups and downs. In the 1st quarter, they were up and
we were down. We put ourselves in a position to win but did not finish it
out."
James Posey: "Dallas has been scoring a lot of points. And now that
Avery's the head man, they've got defense to go with it as well."
Posey: "We just dug ourselves a hole and couldn't get out."
Jason Williams: "I don't really care about my offensive night. We just
need to get some wins."
Udonis Haslem: "We had defensive breakdowns when we got them down to 2.
They switched to the zone. I think we got a little flat-footed
offensively. We were just standing around and lost our ball movement.
Teams are throwing a lot of zones at us the last couple of games, so we
have to figure out how to deal with that."
Haslem: "We are not going to make shots every night, but it boils down to
defense. When we got the lead down to 2, we had some breakdowns
defensively and it caused easy buckets for them."
Haslem on playing against the zone: "We got flat-footed. We have to
continue to have movement. The big guys have to flash in and out of the
lane."
Dallas Mavericks 103, Miami Heat 90 at Miami (November 25)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Dallas 27 30 17 29 - 103 .492 .533 .500 .875
Miami 22 23 23 22 - 90 .507 .000 .438 .690
Halftime: Dallas 57-45
3rd Q: Dallas 74-68
Technicals: Dirk Nowitzki 0:47 1st, James Posey 0:47 1st
Refs: Ed Malloy, Mark Wunderlich, Mike Callahan
Attendance: 20,246 (sellout)
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Josh Howard 41 11-19 1-2 2-2 25 3-11 1 0 3 1 0
Dirk Nowitzki 40 7-16 4-5 5-6 23 0-8 1 1 2 0 0
Erick Dampier 33 6-9 0-0 5-6 17 2-6 1 1 4 0 2
Jason Terry 30 4-7 1-3 1-2 10 0-0 10 4 3 0 0
Marquis Daniels 40 4-10 0-0 6-6 14 2-9 4 6 2 4 0
Devin Harris 21 2-6 0-0 2-2 6 1-2 2 2 0 2 0
Keith Van_Horn 21 3-7 2-5 0-0 8 0-2 0 0 0 0 0
DeSagana Diop 13 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 0 3 0 0
Josh Powell 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 48 37-74 8-15 21-24 103 8-40 19 15 17 7 2
Miami Heat REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
James Posey 39 3-5 0-0 4-5 10 1-3 0 0 3 0 0
Udonis Haslem 36 6-8 0-0 2-2 14 2-8 2 0 3 1 0
Alonzo Mourning 28 5-8 0-0 3-9 13 3-7 0 0 1 0 6
Jason Williams 40 11-20 0-4 2-3 24 1-6 5 4 0 2 0
Dwyane Wade 39 7-19 0-3 9-10 23 0-0 4 5 4 5 0
Antoine Walker 21 1-13 0-4 0-0 2 2-3 0 1 4 0 0
Jason Kapono 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 1 0
Wayne Simien 11 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 3-6 0 0 0 0 0
Gary Payton 19 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 1 1 3 0 0
Shandon Anderson 4 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Totals 48 35-80 0-11 20-29 90 12-35 12 12 19 9 6
Memphis at Dallas (November 26)
Both teams were on the 2nd night of a back-to-back and Memphis was without
Mike Miller (concussion). Dallas jumped out to an early 18-8 lead with
6:45 left and decided that they did not have to play the rest of the game.
Memphis then went on a 21-7 run to go up 29-25 with 40 seconds to go.
Memphis led 31-27 after 1. Pau Gasol had 16 points. Memphis opened the
2nd quarter with a 17-6 run to take a 46-31 lead with 7:50 remaining [yes,
that's a 38-13 run from Dallas' early start]. Dallas did then go on a
10-1 run to cut Memphis' lead down into single-digits, but Memphis
eventually built their lead back into double-digits and led 60-49 at the
half. A jumper by Lorenzen Wright gave Memphis their largest lead at
77-60 with 5:45 remaining and the Grizzlies led in the teens the rest of
the quarter. Memphis led 87-75 after 3. Dallas did open the 4th quarter
with a 8-2 run to pull within 83-89 with 8 minutes left. A 7-1 run put
Memphis' lead back in double-digits at 99-86 with 5 minutes to go and
Dallas would get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way. To add
injury to insult, Josh Howard sprained his ankle with 2 1/2 minutes left
and the game out of reach and he will be out for a while. Memphis scored
the last 6 points of the game and the final score was their largest lead.
Memphis won 112-92.
After playing well against Miami, Dallas pulled out this stinker. I kept
wondering during the game if this was the same team I had watched the
night before. The Mavs had no energy, no cohesion, no offense, no
defense, and no clue. I couple of times I got so frustrated that I
screamed aloud, "What are you doing???" Dallas opened the game shooting
8-9 FG, but shot a mere 21% FG the rest of the way while allowing Memphis
to shoot 57.6% FG (they opened shooting 3-8 FG). Given those numbers,
it's easy to see how this became such a blowout. Pau Gasol led the way
for Memphis with 36 points and 15 rebounds. He also had 5 assists. The
guards hurt Dallas as Damon Stoudamire had 22 points and 8 assists and
Bobby Jackson had 15 points. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man for Dallas
with 27 points to go with 9 rebounds and Josh Howard had 17 points and 9
rebounds before leaving with his injury.
Quotes
Mike Fratello: "I was concerned when we got down 18-8. They were hitting
their shots - they made their first 6. I was saying that we had to get
this under control; get some of these shots not to fall and have a chance
to work our way back into it. After we worked our way into it, the
critical point was when we went to that next group: Bobby, Burks, Hakim,
Jake, and whoever the other guy was on the floor at that time. That group
had to hold their own while we gave the other group a break so they could
try and come back and try and build on what we had."
Fratello on Gasol: "The energy that Pau brought was very evident and his
teammates played off of it. When you see your guy, right from the start,
get you going and is after it, making things happen, it brings everyone up
to another level. Pau was certainly spectacular tonight."
Pau Gasol: "I was upset about last night [against Houston]. I didn't play
at a high level and felt I let the team down. I wanted to bounce back and
be aggressive from the get go."
Shane Battier on if he was concerned when Dallas went up 18-8: "Not
really; that's what they do. It seems like every team, doesn't matter who
you are, gets down early in the 1st quarter. If you can weather that
storm and not go crazy trying to come back from that, you can play with
these guys. They're a really good home team. There is a reason why they
had won 14 straight. You have to keep your composure and remain calm.
Once we got it back within 23-22, we knew it was a 0-0 game."
Battier: "It was a huge win for us. For some of us, this was our first
win in this building. It's great to come in here and beat one of the best
home teams."
Battier on Gasol: "Pau had a monster game for us. He was really upset at
the way he played last night against Houston, only scoring 9 points and
not being aggressive. He wanted to come out aggressive tonight. He had
17 in the 1st quarter and was phenomenal for us tonight."
Avery Johnson: "Take your hats off to Memphis. We got off to a decent
start tonight and thought we were playing pretty good, but they just went
on a run and got the lead at the end of the 1st period and never looked
back. Pau Gasol was outstanding. We had no answer for him. He pretty
much did whatever he wanted to do. He even got 5 assists tonight, along
with 36 points and 15 rebounds."
Johnson: "This was probably one of the worst games that we've had since
I've been the head coach. They deserved to win. They were the aggressor,
they looked energized, rested, enthusiastic. We got discouraged and
couldn't get a grip on it. There was a stretch in the 4th quarter where
we got the lead down a little bit, but they came back and hit 2 3s on us."
Johnson: "We've been playing some pretty decent basketball. We would like
to win every game, but we can't and now we will just get ready for this
road trip."
Johnson on Howard: "We are waiting on word about his ankle. Nobody will
feel sorry for us. We just have to make some adjustments. If you have 5
players, you will have a chance to win. We will just keep going down the
rotation, see who we have and what situation makes sense."
Dirk Nowitzki: "We couldn't stop them all night long. They got layups all
night long. We lost the game on the defensive end."
Nowitzki: "Nothing really went our way. It started defensively. We
couldn't stop them all night long."
Nowitzki on Gasol: "He is a good player, but he's not that good. We
should have had an answer for him."
Josh Howard on his ankle: "I knew I rolled my ankle right away. I've
never really had an ankle sprain before. When they cut the tape for the
X-ray, the ankle was already swollen. We'll see what it looks like
tomorrow."
Jason Terry: "They just played with more energy than we did and the
aggressor usually wins these types of tough ball games. This game is over
and now it's time to start of new streak. That's where our focus is at.
We'll look at some things we did wrong and correct it and I know we can
play much better."
Terry on the defensive problems: "We're all guilty, me more than others."
Terry on what needs to change: "We just need to come out and play
aggressive and play our style of basketball and that should do it."
Terry on going on the road: "It's a good time to play another game and
they're coming up quick now and that's the main thing - when you have a
bad performance, it's good to have another one come up quick so you can
get it out of your system.
Keith Van Horn on if Memphis had more energy: "I wouldn't say necessarily
more energy. I think our rotations defensively were not the way they
normally are. I just don't think that mentally we were into the game as
we should of been, and offensively I really felt that we were out of sync.
Our spacing wasn't very good and felt we were rushing things instead of
settling down and really executing. On both ends of the court we
struggled, but that happens and now we just need to bounce back against
Toronto."
Van Horn on Gasol: "He got a lot of points from driving from the high post
and we didn't do a good job of containing him, not necessarily in the
post, but his penetration from the free throw line. It's tough to double
team a guy from the free throw line. It's up to the individual defender
to try to contain him and keep him from getting to the hoop, which we
didn't do a great job of tonight."
Van Horn on if penetration is one of the things Johnson has emphasized:
"It is and it's something you don't generally see from big men, but he
was really getting into the paint tonight. Us bigs need to take that
responsibility on our shoulders and keep our guys out of the paint as
well."
Memphis Grizzlies 112, Dallas Mavericks 92 at Dallas (November 26)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Memphis 31 29 27 25 - 112 .576 .467 .554 .719
Dallas 27 22 26 17 - 92 .456 .357 .437 .714
Halftime: Memphis 60-49
3rd Q: Memphis 87-75
Technicals: Avery Johnson 1:44 2nd
Refs: David Guthrie, Greg Willard, Tim Donaghy
Attendance: 20,135 (sellout)
Memphis Grizzlies REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Pau Gasol 42 13-23 0-1 10-13 36 4-15 5 2 0 0 2
Shane Battier 37 3-8 1-2 4-5 11 1-2 5 0 5 2 2
Lorenzen Wright 25 2-3 0-0 1-2 5 1-5 0 2 4 1 0
Eddie Jones 38 3-7 2-4 0-0 8 0-6 1 4 2 4 0
Damon Stoudamire 36 8-14 3-5 3-5 22 1-4 8 3 4 0 0
Bobby Jackson 31 6-12 1-3 2-2 15 2-3 2 0 5 1 0
Jake Tsakalidis 6 0-0 0-0 2-2 2 0-1 0 0 3 0 0
Hakim Warrick 12 5-5 0-0 1-3 11 2-3 0 3 3 1 0
Antonio Burks 12 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 2 1 2 1 0
Anthony Roberson 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 48 41-74 7-15 23-32 112 11-39 23 15 28 10 4
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Josh Howard 38 5-11 2-2 5-6 17 4-9 2 2 5 1 1
Dirk Nowitzki 33 9-20 1-5 8-10 27 3-9 2 2 4 0 0
Erick Dampier 29 4-7 0-0 1-2 9 5-7 0 1 3 0 1
Marquis Daniels 26 3-6 0-1 0-3 6 2-3 3 1 3 2 0
Jason Terry 25 2-4 1-2 0-0 5 0-1 1 3 2 0 1
DeSagana Diop 8 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 0 0 5 0 0
Keith Van_Horn 29 1-5 1-2 7-8 10 2-7 0 3 2 4 0
Devin Harris 31 5-11 0-1 4-6 14 0-0 1 3 1 2 1
Josh Powell 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 1 0 0
Darrell Armstrong 11 1-4 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 1 2 1 2 0
Rawle Marshall 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
DJ Mbenga 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals 48 31-71 5-14 25-35 92 17-39 11 18 28 11 4
Dallas at Toronto (November 28)
Dallas scored 8 straight points to take a 16-9 lead with 5 minutes to go.
Dallas led 28-19 after 1. Jason Terry had 11 points and Chris Bosh had 10
points. Toronto used a 12-2 run to go up 42-40 with 1:20 left. Toronto
led 46-44 at the half. Morris Peterson opened the 3rd quarter with a
3-pointer, but Dallas then went on an 11-2 run to go up 55-51 with 8:20
remaining and the game stayed close the rest of the quarter. Dallas led
69-66 after 3. The game stayed close with the lead see-sawing back and
forth over the first 9 minutes of the 4th quarter. Toronto scored 9
straight points to go up 89-83 with 2 minutes to go. Dirk Nowitzki ended
the run with a 3-pointer and, after some sloppy ball by both teams,
Nowitzki hit another 3-pointer to tie the game at 89-89 with 50 seconds
remaining. Toronto missed on 2 attempts and Dallas set up their offense
and Nowitzki hit a jumper to give Dallas a 2 point lead with 18 seconds
left. For some strange reason, Toronto took a lot of time before getting
a shot off, but Matt Bonner's shot went in with 2 seconds left to tie the
game. After a timeout, Dallas got the ball into Terry and he drove and
his floater went in as the buzzer sounded to give Dallas the victory.
Dallas won 93-91.
After shooting just 2-10 FG in the 1st half, Dirk Nowitzki came alive in
the 2nd half half and he scored 13 points in the 4th quarter, including
the 2 key 3-pointers that brought Dallas back from being down by 6 with 2
minutes left. He had 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. Jason Terry
was the hero with the game winner and finished with 26 points including
11-18 FG and 6 assists. Devin Harris was the only other Mav in
double-digits scoring with 16 points including 7-11 FG. Erick Dampier had
11 rebounds including 7 offensive. Marquis Daniels played with a cold.
Chris Bosh continued his strong month with 26 points including 12-15 FT
(more than the entire Dallas team attempted) and 10 rebounds. Mike James
had 22 points including 4-5 3-pointers. Matt Bonner was the only other
Raptor in double-digits with 11 points.
Quotes
Avery Johnson on the last play: "I know that play went in and JT made the
shot, but Coach Del Harris made that play. I know I had of couple of
things that I wanted to do, but Coach gave me a suggestion on something
that he ran before and he liked. That's what's good about having a good
experienced coach like Coach Harris. So even though it went in, [we had
to at least get the ball in play] for us to at least have a chance for
that ball to go in, we have to give a game ball to Coach Harris."
Johnson on Terry's game winner: "We wanted to get the ball to JT. He's
our guy and we like him in the 4th quarter. It was a tough win and I'm
really proud of the way our guys hung in there."
Johnson on Terry: "He's our guy, we like him in the 4th. He came out
ready to play tonight. This was just a tough, tough win. I was really
proud of how our team hung in there. When we were down by 6 with a couple
of minutes left to go in the game we could of easily folded, but
fortunately we won this game."
Johnson on Terry: "JT misses free throws then comes back and gets the game
winner. That's being tough minded."
Johnson on Nowitzki: "He had some shots that just didn't fall. We finally
got him closer to the basket. When we got him closer to the basket, he
seemed to have made them pay with his size, shooting over their point
guard when they were switching. We felt that we did a better job of
executing in the 2nd half."
Dirk Nowitzki: "Yes, it was kind of frustrating, my performance all night
long. I had a couple great looks in the 1st half - all those turnarounds
and thats usually my game - nothing really seemed to fall and I couldn't
really get involved. My team was behind me 100% and they kept telling me
to do what I do and thats score. I thought we got lucky down the stretch
with a couple of bounces our way and that was enough to win the game and
Jason Terry made a huge floater at the end of the game."
Nowitzki on his shooting: "I was actually surprised how open I was, even
in the 2nd half when I was shooting a little better. I found myself open
a lot and that's why I was kind of frustrated I couldn't make those open
shots. But the team was great. In every timeout they said, 'Keep on
shooting and keep on doing what you're doing.' I was able to knock them
down at the end."
Nowitzki on his offensive rebound and 3-pointer late in the game: "Yes, I
hit that 3 before. We were down 6 at that point with like a minute and a
half to go so I knew if I got a clear look at it, it was going up no
matter what, and I was shooting for it. I was lucky the ball bounced
right back to me and it was good that it went in and I got the second one
on a fast break. It looked a little odd leaving my hands and I was lucky
it rolled in. We made some lucky plays down the stretch to win."
Nowitzki on if the last play was for Terry: "The 2nd one was. The 1st one
was where I came off the screen and they double-teamed me and we didn't get
the ball in and we called another timeout. So, we knew that they were
not going to let me catch the ball to win the game so we changed the call
in the 2nd timeout and called Jason Terrys number and he came off that
screen. He's a clutch shooter for us - back in the 1st game in Phoenix he
made a floater to send us into overtime at the buzzer. We know he's a
clutch shooter and he showed it again tonight."
Jason Terry on the last play: "It was definitely a blessing from God. I
was praying in the huddle I would hit the last shot. The first time they
came off and denied Dirk and we had to get another timeout. Still praying
in the huddle, the coach called my name. I've been in that situation time
in and time out and I love it. I want the ball in my hands. I got to the
basket, threw it up, and it went in. I work on that shot a lot."
Terry on the game winner: "That is something I've worked on all summer
long. You take 1 or 2 dribbles and float it up. It takes less than 2
seconds, so it was perfect."
Terry: "I tried to come out and be aggressive, thats what the guys want me
to do. We're very successful when I get that done. Take your hat off to
Toronto, they're not as bad as their record shows. They played hard and
they have a lot of talent on that ball club."
Terry on Bonner's shot near the end: "Wow, I don't know how we leave him.
They made us pay; we made a lot of defensive errors. When we didn't make
errors, we made stops and came down and had good looks. You can't make
errors against any team in this league."
Terry on Nowitzki: "That's why he is our MVP. He relishes those
situations and we told him to just keep shooting it."
Terry: "Coming off a tough loss at home, it was important for us to come
in here and get a win, no matter how. With guys out of the lineup, we
needed it. It was a total team effort."
Erick Dampier on his block on James late in the game: "It was a late
switch. If you study his game, you know he wants to drive left and jump
into you with the pump fake. I let him get in the air first and that was
my chance to block the shot."
Sam Mitchell on Dallas' last play: "It had nothing to do with that. We
lost the game with 1:21 [left in the game] - they miss the shot, ball
falls on the floor and we don't get an offensive rebound, again, they
throw it out and hit a 3. We get the rebound, different game - we're up 6
with the ball with 1:21 to go, nothing else to say."
Mitchell on if it is the effort: "I don't know, you saw the play just as
good as I did. I don't think it's effort. How many games we go?
Sacramento, we get a stop, [they] get an offensive rebound, kick it out,
hit a 3. Phoenix, the Clippers, we're not getting the rebound or a stop
when we have to have it. Forget the last play, the game should have never
come to that. I had guys that could make shots for us to stay in the game
and be up 6 with 1:21 to go and lost the game because we don't get a
rebound, again."
Mitchell: "The effort is there but we got to start getting results. And
it ain't major things, it's the little things. We're losing the game on
the little things, not getting the rebound when you have the opportunity
to get it."
Mitchell on Nowitzki: "The man is an all-star, nobody has shut him out in
how many years has he been in the league. Nobody has shut him out yet and
guess what - news flash - nobody shut him out tonight. That has nothing
to do with the game, we lost the game right there because we don't get an
offensive rebound and the ball hits the floor."
Chris Bosh: "We just have to work on our mental concentration down the
stretch of a game. They just got the loose balls down the stretch and we
came up short again. Some teams can afford to make mistakes down the
stretch and still win. That's not the case for us."
Jalen Rose on coming off the bench: "I'm just doing what I have to do,
like I've done since I've been here and I've done everywhere I've ever
been. I was told before the game by Sam that he thought it would be
better for the team if I came off the bench. I told him okay. You can
look at the newspapers all across the NBA. You can pull out stats on a
lot of guys, and everyone goes through slumps throughout the season. I'm
not different. I guess when you're a 1-13, no, 1-14 team, your rope is a
little bit shorter."
Rose: "Our starting lineup has been basically interchangeable since the
beginning of the season. We've probably had 2 consistent starters who've
probably started every game. The other 3 spots are interchangeable and
I'm not immune to that. I'm just ready to play and when my number is
called, I'll be ready. Like I said, a slump only lasts as long as you let
them. As long as you are not making plays or getting the opportunity to,
I'll come to practice tomorrow, keep working and keep a positive attitude.
During a bad season, Jalen Rose is not about to be the sideshow. So if
that's what you're waiting for, it's not about to happen."
Mike James: "The bottom line is this, right here, at the end of the game,
you have to make plays. They made plays and we didn't and that's what it
all comes down to. It doesn't matter what you do in the 1st 3 quarters,
it doesn't even matter what you do in the 1st 45 minutes, it's what
happens in the last 3 minutes that counts the most. We couldn't finish
and they did. I told Chris this just now in the locker room, I said, it
hurts now and nobody wants to hear it, but an old cliche says that before
you can understand how to win together, you have to first understand how
to lose together. Then you can appreciate when you start winning and you
can understand the grind of where you've come from to get where you are
now. No matter how bad this hurts, you have to keep your head up."
Jose Calderon: "I try to play hard today. My 12 teammates play hard
today. And always, in the last moment, we lose the game."
Calderon: "I don't know what it means or what happens. "We need to work.
It's 1 month. We have to forget November."
Dallas Mavericks 93, Toronto Raptors 91 at Toronto (November 28)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Dallas 28 16 25 24 - 93 .471 .350 .443 .615
Toronto 19 27 20 25 - 91 .492 .294 .447 .857
Halftime: Toronto 46-44
3rd Q: Dallas 69-66
Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 9:30 2nd
Refs: Anthony Jordan, Rodney Mott, Ed F. Rush
Attendance: 15,789 (cap 19,800)
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Jason Terry 41 11-18 4-6 0-2 26 0-1 6 0 2 3 1
Darrell Armstrong 21 1-4 0-1 0-0 2 0-1 3 0 3 2 0
Dirk Nowitzki 40 12-29 3-9 2-2 29 1-11 5 0 1 1 0
Marquis Daniels 38 2-9 0-0 2-2 6 3-8 3 3 2 0 0
Erick Dampier 27 2-6 0-0 0-2 4 7-11 2 0 5 1 1
Devin Harris 30 7-11 0-1 2-3 16 0-1 4 2 0 0 0
Keith Van_Horn 25 3-10 0-3 2-2 8 4-8 0 1 2 0 1
DeSagana Diop 17 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 0 2 4 0 3
Totals 48 39-88 7-20 8-13 93 15-43 23 8 19 7 6
Toronto Raptors REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Jose Calderon 39 4-10 0-2 0-0 8 1-3 8 3 1 0 0
Mike James 39 8-14 4-5 2-2 22 0-5 4 2 2 0 0
Chris Bosh 35 7-14 0-0 12-15 26 3-10 0 3 3 0 1
Morris Peterson 28 4-9 1-5 0-0 9 0-5 3 1 2 1 0
Rafael Araujo 10 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 2 2 1 0
Matt Bonner 30 5-10 0-3 1-1 11 3-8 0 0 2 1 0
Jalen Rose 21 3-7 0-1 1-1 7 1-4 1 0 1 0 0
Charlie Villanueva 20 2-9 0-0 0-0 4 4-5 2 0 1 0 0
Joey Graham 12 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 0-3 0 1 3 0 0
Darrick Martin 5 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 1 1 0
Totals 48 34-76 5-17 18-21 91 12-45 18 14 18 4 1
Dallas at Milwaukee (November 29)
Dallas scored 10 straight points to go up 22-10, but Milwaukee answered
with a 9-1 run. Bobby Simmons hit a jumper as the quarter ended. Dallas
led 27-23 after 1. The game stayed close in the 2nd quarter with both
teams holding small leads. Simmons hit 2 free throws with less than a
second left to give Milwaukee a 55-54 lead at the half. Milwaukee scored
the first 9 points of the 3rd quarter to go up 64-54 with 8 minutes left.
But the Bucks could not get their lead larger than 10 points as Jason
Terry went nuts and scored 14 points in the quarter. Terry hit a
3-pointer near the quarter's end. Milwaukee led 79-76 after 3. The game
stayed close in the 4th quarter with both teams holding 4 point leads
during the quarter. Marquis Daniels converted a 3-point play to give
Dallas a 98-95 lead with 2:50 left, but Dallas would not score again for
over 2 minutes and the Bucks kept going to the line. But Milwaukee did
not take full advantage as they only shot 3-6 FT to tie the game with a
minute left. After Dallas missed on 2 attempts, Simmons got a layup to
put Milwaukee up 100-98 with 33 seconds left. After a Dallas timeout,
Terry drove for a runner to tie the game with 28 seconds left. Maurice
Williams missed with the clock running down and, after a timeout, Terry
missed at the buzzer. Overtime at 100-100. Milwaukee scored the first 5
points of overtime (and again missed a free throw). The teams traded
buckets and jumpers by Dirk Nowitzki surrounded a layup by Devin Harris
to put Dallas up 108-107 with 50 seconds left. But T.J. Ford answered
with a 3-pointer to give Milwaukee back the lead with 30 seconds to go.
Nowitzki missed with 20 seconds left and Andrew Bogut was intentionally
fouled and hit both free throws. Dallas had trouble getting a look, but
Terry drained a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left and the Mavs sent Ford to
the line. He only hit 1-2 FT, making it just a 2 point game. Out of
timeouts, the ball was inbounded to Terry and he quickly brought the ball
up and Bogut was back defensively but Terry went at him and lofted the
15-footer which Bogut easily swatted and that was game. Milwaukee won
113-111 in overtime.
It was another close game, but this time Dallas came up short. As Jason
Terry fully admitted, he over-drove and should have pulled up on his last
attempt to have a better chance. But it was thanks to Terry that the Mavs
were even in this game, much less taking it to overtime. Terry had a Mavs
career high 37 points including 14-23 FG. Dirk Nowitzki struggled in
shooting 5-22 FG as part of his 18 points. He also had 12 rebounds. It
was a quartet performance for the Bucks. T.J. Ford had 24 points, Bobby
Simmons had 26 points, Andrew Bogut had 19 points (and 14 rebounds), and
Maurice Williams had 16 points. Michael Redd did not play due to a
strained right quad. Thus ended Dallas' string of 4 games in 5 nights (in
4 cities as 3 were on the road) - Dallas went 2-2 in losing the 2nd nights
of the back-to-backs.
Quotes
Terry Stotts: "Certainly beating Dallas - as well as they were playing - is
nice coming off back-to-back losses. We wanted to have a winning month -
we didn't want to lose 3 games in a row and 2 at home. It's certainly good
to beat Dallas, but more importantly for us, it's nice to get back on
track. Without Joe [Smith] and Michael [Redd], they were into it. They
got off to a slow start, bounced back, and it was a good game after we
tied it back up early in the 1st."
Stotts on Williams' shot at the end of regulation: "It ended up in Mo's
hands. That wasn't necessarily the design. It was an initial action to
create something and then after that we played off of it and the ball
ended up in Mo's hands. There was a 4 to 5 second differential so the
goal was to run an offensive set and try to get a good shot out of it. It
wasn't necessarily for one particular guy."
Stotts on Bogut: "Andrew played a terrific game. He had a pretty big block
at the end. We had lots of contributions from lots of people."
Stotts on injuries: "That's where depth comes in. With Michael [Redd] and
Joe [Smith] out everybody contributed. Look down the list. Everybody did
something well to help us win."
Andrew Bogut on his last block: "Just seeing Jason Terry running at me
full speed, I was thinking about taking the charge. Then he slowed up. I
don't know what he was trying to do, but I just got a hand up there and
was trying to contest it, and he put it right in there."
Bogut on other's contributions: "That was key. When 2 of your stars are
out, the bench needs go out like that. We see opportunities to come in
and maybe prove to coach that we're worthy of more minutes. Charlie Bell,
Danny G. and some of those guys did an unbelievable job coming off the
bench. We need that injection in games like this, especially with Dallas
coming in from Toronto last night - they had a tough game there."
Bogut on a winning November: "Every month we want to have a winning month.
Every month we want to be a playoff team, at the 6th or 7th seed,
especially with the way the Eastern Conference is this season. We're in
as tough a division as there is in the NBA."
T.J. Ford on playing without Redd: "We really saw it as an opportunity to
play off of each other, put points on the board and play free. We weren't
all looking for one person to score all the points."
Ford on his 3-pointer late in the game: "I knew [Simmons] was going to
kick it out to me and I had confidence in my shot tonight."
Ford on Terry: "In this league you can't stop everybody. You just try to
limit shot attempts. We got him at the end."
Maurice Williams on playing without Redd: "A game like this is just one
game, but when you lose one of your leaders it's always big. To say hey,
we beat a good team without our star player, that builds confidence in the
team."
Williams on other's contributions: "With Mike being out, thats a lot of
scoring. We needed people to step up and do some more scoring. A lot of
guys stepped up and the bench came in and played well. With Mike and Joe
out - you can't leave Joe out - we stepped and beat a really good team."
Avery Johnson: "Tonight we came into this game very concerned about their
rebounding. They dominated us on the boards. We battled. We had a tough
shooting night, but lets take our hats off to Milwaukee, they deserved to
win this basketball game.
Johnson on Ford's 3-pointer: "He broke our defense down. Unfortunately we
just didn't get in the right spots. I think the guys really tried -
nobody wanted to screw up.
Johnson on Ford: "He broke our defense down. Unfortunately, we just
didn't get in the right spots. We'll keep working at it. I think the
guys really tried."
Johnson on Harris in overtime: "We needed something. JT looked like he
was out of gas. Dirk's shots weren't falling. Devin gave us a spark
there for a little while and kept us going. He was making some good
decisions."
Johnson on Nowitzki's struggles: "Dirk's shots will fall, but that's
definitely not why we lost tonight. They deserved to win this basketball
game."
Johnson on Nowitzki's struggles: "His shots will fall. I thought he had
some pretty good looks, but that's not why we lost - definitely not why we
lost. Our defense let us down."
Johnson on the loss: "We don't make excuses. We don't blame anybody. We
look inward. We don't look outward when something goes wrong. There is a
lot of fight in this team."
Dirk Nowitzki: "The defense was horrible. It wasn't great from the
beginning on. We were trading baskets, and we've got be better than
that."
Nowitzki on his struggles: "I was the Bucks' 6th man today. It's
frustrating. It was a tough night for me."
Nowitzki on his missed shot late in the game: "With Ford on me, I knew I
could back him down and get the turnaround. That's a shot I make 9 out of
10 times. It's on me. I'll take the blame. It was a tough night for
me."
Nowitzki on his struggles: "I'm never going to make excuses. That's on
me. I've got to find a way to be productive, and I wasn't."
Jason Terry on his last attempt: "I should have pulled up for the 3, on
the road. That was the play we wanted. It was just on me whether I took
the 3 or the 2. I just can't make that mistake in that situation."
Terry on his last attempt: "Yep, too deep. I should have pulled up for
the 3. You just can't make a mistake in that situation. I tried to go to
my bread and butter, but some nights you have to switch it up. I'm pretty
sure that 3-pointer was there. This is a tough loss right now."
Devin Harris: "We had a chance to win it in regulation and the overtime.
We just made some errors defensively down the stretch."
Harris: "They played well. Hats off to them as they finished off the game.
They did what they needed to do to win."
Harris: "We had the game right where we wanted it. We had a chance to win
so that is all you can really ask for. You always want to finish off a
road trip well."
Milwaukee Bucks 113, Dallas Mavericks 111 OT at Milwaukee (November 29)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Milwaukee 23 32 24 21 13 - 113 .479 .545 .488 .771
Dallas 27 27 22 24 11 - 111 .480 .462 .478 .778
Halftime: Milwaukee 55-54
3rd Q: Milwaukee 79-76
4th Q: 100-100
Technicals: Jamaal Magloire 4:16 3rd, Maurice Williams 9:23 4th
Refs: James Capers, Joe DeRosa, Matt Boland
Attendance: 14,996 (cap 18,717)
Milwaukee Bucks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
T.J. Ford 46 7-12 2-3 8-10 24 0-4 7 3 3 0 0
Maurice Williams 36 6-15 2-3 2-2 16 1-1 3 3 4 0 0
Bobby Simmons 42 9-14 0-1 8-10 26 4-7 2 4 2 1 0
Andrew Bogut 40 7-14 0-0 5-6 19 6-14 1 2 3 0 2
Jamaal Magloire 32 3-4 0-0 1-4 7 1-8 2 2 0 1 1
Charlie Bell 26 3-10 1-1 2-2 9 1-4 3 1 3 2 1
Toni Kukoc 19 2-6 1-3 1-1 6 0-2 2 0 1 0 0
Dan Gadzuric 12 3-5 0-0 0-0 6 1-5 0 0 5 0 1
Jiri Welsch 12 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 1 2 0
Totals 53 40-82 6-11 27-35 113 14-46 21 15 22 6 5
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Jason Terry 51 14-23 3-5 6-8 37 0-1 3 0 0 1 0
Marquis Daniels 44 9-14 0-0 3-3 21 3-4 4 2 6 1 0
Dirk Nowitzki 46 5-22 1-4 7-7 18 0-12 2 3 2 1 2
Josh Powell 9 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 3 1 0
Erick Dampier 28 3-6 0-0 1-2 7 3-8 2 1 4 0 1
Devin Harris 33 5-14 0-1 1-2 11 1-4 2 2 3 0 0
Keith Van_Horn 27 5-7 2-3 2-3 14 3-3 2 1 6 0 0
DeSagana Diop 24 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 1-4 0 0 4 1 3
Darrell Armstrong 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 2 1 1 0 0
Totals 53 42-88 6-13 21-27 111 11-37 17 10 29 5 6
San Antonio at Dallas (December 1)
San Antonio jumped out to an early 10-2 lead with 9:40 to go, but that
would be the largest lead of the game as it stayed tight throughout.
DeSagana Diop tipped in a miss at the quarter buzzer to give Dallas a
23-22 lead after 1. Tony Parker had 10 points in the quarter. The teams
traded leads throughout the 2nd quarter and the largest lead was just 4
points. San Antonio led 45-43 at the half. It was the same story in the
3rd quarter with the largest lead being just 5 points. San Antonio led
66-65 after 3. It was the same story in the 4th quarter with the largest
lead again 4 points and the game went down to the wire - with the loser
going to shake their heads at how many free throws they missed during the
game. Dirk Nowitzki hit 1-2 FT and Marquis Daniels hit 1-2 FT to give
Dallas an 86-85 lead with 1:05 to go. Tony Parker turned the ball over
under the Spurs' basket with 50 seconds left, but a few seconds later
Keith Van Horn threw the ball out of bounds (the bone-head play of the
night). And Tony Parker drove uncontested for the easy layup to put San
Antonio up with 35 seconds remaining. Nowitzki bricked another shot and
Michael Finley was intentionally fouled and hit both free throws with 22
seconds left. After a timeout, Devin Harris drove for a quick layup and
Finley was again fouled. He hit 1-2 FT and San Antonio led 90-88 with 18
seconds remaining. After a timeout, Harris tried to drive but Brent Barry
stayed in front of him and Harris settled for a fade-away 18-footer, which
missed. Parker was fouled and hit both free throws with 12 seconds to go.
Marquis Daniels missed a 3-point attempt, but ran down the rebound and got
behind the arc and was fouled by Barry. He hit the first 2 and
intentionally missed the 3rd and Tim Duncan got the rebound and was shoved
by 2 Mavs. But instead of calling the foul, ref Bennett Salvatore
amazingly called a travel [the Spurs had a couple of problems with the
refs - not something I like to see, even it if benefits my team]. So it
was Dallas' ball out of bounds with 3 seconds left and down by 2 points.
The ball was inbounded to Nowitzki on the baseline and Bruce Bowen got a
piece of the shot and that was game. San Antonio won 92-90.
TNT got their wish with a very entertaining game. There were 15 ties and
26 lead changes during the game, including 10 in the 4th quarter. The
Mavs can only look to themselves with all their missed free throws for
this loss (plus the bone-head turnover followed by the terrible defense).
Dallas shot 11-18 FT in the 4th quarter and missed 11 free throws in the
game (San Antonio wasn't much better and missed 10 free throws). Both
teams focused defensively on the opposing star, including double-teaming
off the ball. Tim Duncan only had 13 points including 4-12 FG and Dirk
Nowitzki continued his struggles with just 14 points including 3-13 FG.
Duncan had 14 rebounds and Nowitzki had 9 rebounds and a game high 6
assists. Again it was a guard who hurt the Mavs as they could not contain
Tony Parker all night. Parker had a game high 30 points including 13-23
FG. Michael Finley had a much better outing in his 2nd visit as an
opponent to the AAC with 15 points and started in place of the injured
Manu Ginobili [always a wince for Mavs fans when one of the opponent's key
players is out]. Jason Terry tweaked a hamstring during the game, but
continued playing (which is one of the reasons the play was called for
Devin Harris late in the game). Terry had 18 points and Marquis Daniels
had 24 points. Darrell Armstrong started for the injured Josh Howard, but
only played 2 minutes before Avery Johnson went with a different lineup.
It was the first time this season Dallas lost consecutive games.
Quotes
Gregg Popovich: "It was a great game. Either team could have won that
game. 2 good basketball teams. Just a great game both ways."
Popovich on missed free throws: "I thought it was going to be our undoing.
As we all know, free throws win and lose a lot of games. Luckily, we hit
ours down the stretch."
Popovich: "Finley had a great game. He was a lot more confident with the
system."
Tony Parker: "I was making more outside shots. That opened it up for me.
I was looking at the basket and decided to be more aggressive."
Parker on the defense on Nowitzki: "We just have to mix it up. I thought
we did a great job of not giving him a lot of open shots."
Bruce Bowen on defending Nowitzki: "It takes some history, some studying
in what they do. Dirk isn't going to pop off the dribble a lot, but you
have to be aware of him setting up in certain spots. It's more about
paying attention to him than anything else."
Michael Finley on a missed free throw near the end: "I missed a big one.
Jason was talking trash in my ear a little bit. I kind of wanted to laugh
and that's probably why I missed the first one, but I still had the
opportunity to knock down some and be able to give us a little bit of a
comfortable lead."
Finley on the defense on Nowitzki: "We just wanted to make his shots tough
and limit his catches and shot opportunities."
Finley: "The first game [vs Dallas], I had a few butterflies. It was a
lot more exciting to come back and play in Dallas."
Finley: "Starting helped me get out the jitters early and just go play.
Getting that first shot helped. ... We just wanted to win because they
are one of the better teams."
Avery Johnson: "We're making progress, but it was just a tough loss."
Johnson: "The guys battled. You have to take your hat off to the team
that played like a championship team down the stretch."
Johnson: "We made too many mistakes down the stretch, a couple of silly
mistakes. It's a tough loss for everybody. This is something we're going
to have to fight through."
Johnson: "Physically, I thought we battled. I thought it was a war out
there. My team is a hard working team. We are showing potential in what
we are trying to accomplish."
Johnson: "We held our own defensively in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and
were not as good as I wanted in the 4th. We didn't get the stops down the
stretch."
Johnson on Nowitzki's struggles: "It's something we will have to fight
through. I wanted to make a point tonight that we could still win when he
doesn't shoot well, but we just had too many mistakes at the end of the
game."
Johnson on Nowitzki's struggles: "Well, he got some good looks tonight.
Sometimes during a 2, 3 game stretch like this, it happens. Again, nobody
is going to give us anything. We have to earn it."
Dirk Nowitzki on his last shot: "I had a good look at it. Give Bruce
credit. Every time I touched it, a big guy ran at me. Both teams made an
effort not to let the other team's main guy beat them."
Nowitzki on his last shot: "It was kind of a set play, but we executed it
a little wrong. I had a good look at it. You've got to give Bruce
credit. He made it to the ball and tipped it, and that was that. We had
a lot of chances to tie it and we blew them all."
Jason Terry: "Parker hurt us on his penetrations. Give him credit for
being aggressive and attacking the basket."
Terry: "It's a tough game, a tough loss. It's a long season. We're
definitely going to learn from this one though. This is a game we felt we
definitely should have won."
Keith Van Horn on his turnover late in the game: "When I got that
turnover, it was big. We were up by 1 and we made some mental mistakes,
myself included. You can't afford to do that."
San Antonio Spurs 92, Dallas Mavericks 90 at Dallas (December 1)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
San Antonio 22 23 21 26 - 92 .500 .273 .467 .655
Dallas 23 20 22 25 - 90 .409 .364 .403 .686
Halftime: San Antonio 45-43
3rd Q: San Antonio 66-65
Technicals: San Antonio defensive 3 seconds 6:29 2nd, Tim Duncan 3:42 3rd
Refs: Bennett Salvatore, Marc Davis, Mark Ayotte
Attendance: 20,076 (sellout)
San Antonio Spurs REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Bruce Bowen 38 2-7 1-4 2-4 7 0-5 1 0 4 0 1
Tim Duncan 39 4-12 0-0 5-8 13 3-14 2 2 1 0 1
Rasho Nesterovic 24 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 2-7 0 1 3 0 0
Michael Finley 35 5-12 1-3 4-6 15 0-3 2 2 3 2 0
Tony Parker 40 13-23 0-1 4-7 30 1-4 5 2 5 1 0
Nazr Mohammed 18 4-8 0-0 2-2 10 1-5 1 0 3 0 1
Brent Barry 16 2-3 1-1 0-0 5 1-3 1 1 4 0 0
Robert Horry 15 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 0-3 0 1 1 1 0
Nick Van_Exel 15 2-3 0-0 2-2 6 0-1 2 1 0 0 0
Totals 48 35-75 3-11 19-29 92 8-45 14 10 24 4 3
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Marquis Daniels 43 8-21 0-1 8-12 24 3-8 3 2 4 1 0
Dirk Nowitzki 42 3-13 1-1 7-8 14 1-9 6 0 4 0 0
Erick Dampier 28 3-4 0-0 1-4 7 3-7 1 1 2 0 2
Darrell Armstrong 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Jason Terry 38 8-15 2-5 0-0 18 1-2 0 1 3 2 0
Keith Van_Horn 35 2-8 1-4 7-8 12 0-3 0 3 4 1 0
Devin Harris 26 3-10 0-0 1-3 7 2-5 4 1 2 1 0
DeSagana Diop 17 4-5 0-0 0-0 8 4-9 0 1 3 1 1
Adrian Griffin 9 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-3 0 0 1 0 0
Totals 48 31-77 4-11 24-35 90 14-46 14 11 23 6 3
New Orleans at Dallas (December 3)
Dallas scored the first 12 points of the game as New Orleans missed their
first 5 shots. Dallas led 23-15 after 1. Dirk Nowitzki picked up his 3rd
foul early into the 2nd quarter and sat for the rest of the quarter, but
Dallas continued to lead. Devin Harris drove for a layup and was fouled
near the end of the 2nd quarter. He hit the extra free throw to give
Dallas a 49-40 lead at halftime. Dallas continued to lead, but not pull
away, in the 3rd quarter and led 75-67 after 3. The Hornets pulled within
75-78 with 8:25 to go, but the Mavs then went on a 19-5 run, with 14
points by Nowitzki, to go up 97-80 with 1:30 left. Dallas won 97-88.
It wasn't an easy win, but it was good to see Dirk Nowitzki finally get
his shot going (after 3 poor outings). 16 of Nowitzki's 30 points came in
the 4th quarter. Adrian Griffin got the starting nod this outing (a
different starter each outing so far for the injured Josh Howard) and
played really well with his defense, rebounding, and even hitting several
open shots. Jason Terry, playing with a gimpy hammy, joined Nowitzki in
shooting well. Terry had 20 points including 7-11 FG. Once again, the
opposing guards killed Dallas as Chris Paul had 25 points and Speedy
Claxton had 21 points. They didn't get much help as only one other Hornet
was in double-digits. New Orleans had played the night before in a tight
win vs Philadelphia.
Quotes
Avery Johnson: "We had a pretty good 2nd half for us. The Hornets just
kept fighting back. They have 2 terrific point guards that are playing at
a high level right now. Paul is playing like a veteran and Speedy is
playing like Speedy. I was a teammate with Speedy at Golden State and I
know what he can do when he is healthy. Those guys were a 2 man band
tonight and we couldn't get them under control like we wanted, but we made
some adjustments in the 4th quarter on the pick-and-roll and threw in a
little zone and fortunately we were able to keep control of the game."
Johnson: "I thought Adrian Griffin was our MVP tonight. He did a pretty
good job defensively and made some open shots and more than anything he
got 7 rebounds and 2 blocks."
Johnson: "Offensively we still have some work to do. We will keep working
on it and try to see if we can hang in there with a terrific Chicago
team."
Johnson on Nowitzki: "He was aggressive and when he is aggressive and
mixing his game up they don't play him for one particular area of his
game. He showed his post-up game, his driving and 3-point ability, his
in-between game, and mixed in 1 offensive rebound - that is still a work
in progress."
Johnson on Nowitzki: "Sometimes with great players when they make up their
mind they want to do something, they just do it and they're pretty hard to
stop."
Dirk Nowitzki: "We really set the tone early. We jumped up to a nice
little lead there. I felt good in warmups and hit my first couple of
shots; obviously, you're confidence goes up a little bit."
Nowitzki: "I've worked too hard to struggle this much. I have confidence
in my shot. There will always be nights when your shot isn't going to be
there. I felt good in warmups. My first couple of shots went in and that
helps in building confidence."
Nowitzki: "Tonight I got involved in the offense. I felt good in the 1st
half, my shot was there. I got good looks all night."
Nowitzki: "It was good that in the 4th quarter we found a way to stop
them. We mixed in a zone a little bit on defense and that really helped.
Offensively, we just made some plays."
Nowitzki on Paul and Claxton: "Their guards are really crafty in there.
They got in the lane some with the pick-and-roll coverage we had. Their
point guards have been doing that all season long."
Nowitzki: "I got good looks all night. I know I've got to be aggressive
for this team. I can't be passive and stay back. I've got to be
aggressive and drive and get to the line. At least make the defense play
me."
Marquis Daniel on not wanting to lose 3 straight: "Yeah, that was
something we didn't want to do. We got Dirk going - he was shooting the
ball really well tonight and so was Jason Terry. We just wanted to come
into this game and get as many people to help out as possible. Griffin
did a good job tonight on Mason as well."
Daniels on Paul: "We did a pretty good job on him. He's so talented;
he's a very quick point guard and does a lot of great things so we just
wanted to do a good job of containing him and contest all of his shots."
Devin Harris: "We gave up a lot penetration tonight; we didn't do a good
job with that at all. But, on the other hand, we wanted to get some
penetration on offense ourselves and their defense presented a lot of
opportunities and we took advantage of them."
Harris: "With us being so banged up right now it's tough, but if Dirk is
giving this kind of effort every night then were going to be tough to
beat."
Byron Scott on the 1st quarter: "Yes, we got off to a very sluggish start
for whatever reason. We knew they were going to be ready tonight after
losing 2 in a row. After an emotional game last night, I knew our guys
were going to be a little drained, but again, no excuses. We could have
come out and played a little better in the 1st quarter."
Scott: "We were soft. That's why we got down 12-0. We were soft the
whole game."
Scott: "At one point, we had it down to 3. I think Rasual lost the ball,
they came down and we are then down by 5, instead of 1. Come down again,
it is the same thing and all of a sudden it goes from 3 points to 8
points. Careless turnovers at the wrong time, we had bad shots at the
wrong time. Again, we have a young team we have to live through those
situations and try to teach them to get better at it."
Scott on the Hornets not having defeated Dallas since 1999: "I haven't
been here that long. For me, it was last year a few times and twice this
year. I know that is 14 or 15 in a row, but just like any other streak it
will end sooner or later."
Scott on Nowitzki: "I think Dirk is one of the best players in the league.
The thing that I knew from him after having 2 sub-par games and not
shooting the ball real well, he's going come out and bring fire tonight."
Speedy Claxton: "I wouldn't say we gave up - we fought until the finish.
They were making shots down the stretch, Dirk kind of put them on his back
and took over. We also got off to a bad start - they got off to a 12
point lead quickly - and we were fighting back for the whole game."
Claxton: "I think we are real good. A lot of people didn't expect us to
have 8 wins at this time, but if you look around, we have a good group of
guys. And we can only continue to get better."
Chris Paul: "I always thought this game was a wonderful game. I thought
we had a great chance because we have been playing really well. We had a
close game, if some rebounds had gone our way, we would have been right in
there at the end."
Paul: "I think we are a lot better than most people think. That is one
thing we keep talking about in the locker room that a lot of times the
only people that expect us to win is us. We just have to come out and
play hard night in and night out."
P.J. Brown on losing again to Dallas: "It's very frustrating. We can't
figure these guys out. We don't know what it will take to get over the
hump."
Brown on Nowitzki: "He made everything. He stepped up big time. We have
to take a page out of San Antonio's book. I look at them and he's
shooting 8-22, 8-24. We need to see what they're doing because we
definitely don't have any success against him."
David West: "We came out sluggish. We didn't have a lot of energy in the
beginning. We weren't getting any stops and we were fighting up hill the
whole time."
Dallas Mavericks 97, New Orleans Hornets 88 at Dallas (December 3)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Dallas 23 26 26 22 - 97 .485 .500 .486 .808
New Orleans 15 25 27 21 - 88 .463 .250 .440 .769
Halftime: Dallas 49-40
3rd Q: Dallas 75-67
Technicals: none
Refs: David Jones, Eric Lewis, Monty McCutchen
Attendance: 19,651 (sellout)
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Dirk Nowitzki 32 10-17 2-2 8-9 30 1-8 1 0 3 1 0
Adrian Griffin 35 4-8 0-0 0-0 8 2-7 1 1 1 1 2
Erick Dampier 21 1-5 0-0 1-2 3 4-7 0 2 4 0 2
Marquis Daniels 32 5-11 0-0 3-4 13 0-3 5 3 4 2 0
Jason Terry 38 7-11 2-3 4-4 20 0-3 3 2 2 2 2
Devin Harris 27 4-7 0-0 4-5 12 1-5 5 2 3 0 1
DeSagana Diop 26 0-3 0-0 1-2 1 3-8 1 2 3 1 1
Keith Van_Horn 25 5-12 0-3 0-0 10 0-2 2 1 4 0 1
Rawle Marshall 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Josh Powell 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 2 0 0
DJ Mbenga 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0
Totals 48 36-74 4-8 21-26 97 11-43 18 15 27 7 9
New Orleans Hornets REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Desmond Mason 30 1-5 0-0 1-3 3 0-2 0 2 3 0 0
David West 35 3-10 0-0 3-4 9 1-4 2 3 5 0 2
P.J. Brown 34 2-6 0-0 1-1 5 1-6 1 1 3 0 1
Chris Paul 39 9-16 0-2 7-8 25 0-6 5 0 4 3 0
J.R. Smith 28 4-9 1-3 2-3 11 1-2 1 4 4 0 0
Chris Andersen 20 1-1 0-0 3-4 5 1-4 0 1 3 0 0
Speedy Claxton 32 9-18 0-1 3-3 21 2-5 2 2 3 2 0
Rasual Butler 19 2-8 0-1 0-0 4 2-3 0 1 1 0 2
Kirk Snyder 2 1-1 1-1 0-0 3 0-0 1 0 0 0 0
Arvydas Macijauskas 1 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 48 33-75 2-8 20-26 88 8-32 12 14 26 5 5
Dallas at Chicago (December 5)
The starting point guard wasn't going to go off against Dallas this night
as the game was just 3 minutes old when Kirk Hinrich took an inadvertent
Nowitzki elbow to the chin and was down for the count before even hitting
the floor. Play was eventually stopped and Hinrich was taken to the
locker room (and eventually the hospital where everything proved to be
okay) with a concussion and did not return. Both teams held 5 point leads
during the 1st quarter, but were unable to put any distance between them.
Ben Gordon, the back up point guard who went off against the Mavs, nailed
a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to give Chicago a 23-22 lead after 1.
Dallas shot poorly in the 1st quarter, but shot much better the rest of
the game. Keith Van Horn scored 5 straight points to give Dallas a 7
point lead, but Chicago then scored the next 9 points and the game
remained close. Darius Songaila hit a jumper near the quarter's end.
Dallas led 53-51 at the half. Jason Terry's hamstring acted up and he did
not play in the 2nd half. Outside of 2 ties, Dallas held a single-digit
lead throughout the 3rd quarter. The Mavs scored the last 7 points of the
quarter to go up 79-71 after 3. Darrell Armstrong had the play of the
night near the end of the 3rd when he ran down and caught up to Eric
Piatkowski on the break to block the dunk attempt. A 3-pointer by
Nowitzki gave Dallas the largest lead of the game at 86-76 with 7:20 left,
but Luol Deng answered with a 3-pointer. Consecutive 3-pointers by the
Bulls pulled Chicago within 89-90 with 4:35 to go, but they couldn't get
over the hump. Nowitzki's elbow struck again as another inadvertent elbow
connected with Deng's mouth and a tooth got knocked loose. After a brief
visit to the bench, Deng returned to action. Dallas led 97-93 with 1:40
left and Chicago missed on 2 attempts and Dallas missed on 2 attempts and
Songaila was fouled on the rebound. He hit 1-2 FT to pull Chicago within
94-97 with 45 seconds remaining. Dallas ran the shot clock down and Devin
Harris missed, but DeSagana Diop was fouled going after the rebound. He
hit 1-2 FT with 25 seconds to go. After a timeout, Songaila missed a
jumper and Dallas hit 4 free throws to close the game. Dallas won 102-94.
It was a tight, entertaining game throughout, only marred by the ugly
throw-back unis Chicago wore - red shirts and dark blue shorts. The Mavs
were active and hustled throughout and were rewarded with a 46-30
rebounding edge, including 15-8 offensive. Dallas also had a season high
29 assists, with Devin Harris filling in nicely for the injured Jason
Terry with 10 assists. Harris also had 5 steals. Dirk Nowitzki was a
stud offensively and had 35 points. He only had 6 rebounds, though the
very active Adrian Griffin took 2 out of his hands. Griff had a
double-double vs his team from last year with 14 points and 12 rebounds
including 5 offensive. Erick Dampier also had double-digit boards with 11
rebounds including 5 offensive. Marquis Daniels was solid with 18 points,
7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Per usual, the bench led the way for Chicago.
Ben Gordon had 26 points. It was the 7th straight game and 13th out of 17
games that an opposing point guard had 20+ points. Luol Deng was right
behind Gordon with 25 points including 10-15 FG. Add in Darius Songaila's
13 points and that's all but 30 of Chicago's points from 3 bench players.
It was Dallas' 7th straight win in Chicago (the last loss was in 1997).
Quotes
Avery Johnson: "Tonight we obviously did some good things in this game,
especially vs one of the hardest playing teams we've seen all year. They
are disciplined, tough, and play the game the right way."
Johnson: "We struggled covering Ben Gordon in the 1st half, but I thought
we did a better job in the 2nd. The same went for Deng."
Johnson: "We came out wearing our hard hats tonight, or we wouldn't have
had a chance. 15 offensive rebounds - when did a Dallas team last do
that? We put a lot of emphasis on that this year. Adrian Griffin and Van
Horn really helped us there tonight. Marquis made some good decisions,
which his 7 assists showed. Devin with his 10. Dirk was also aggressive.
He showed all parts of his game with his post-up, shooting 3s, and
penetrating. We really like that from him."
Johnson on Nowitzki: "Dirk was aggressive. Dirk really mixed up his game
again. He showed you the post-up game tonight, he showed you the 3, the
pull-throughs on the drive."
Johnson on Harris and Terry: "Devin did a great job for for us, especially
with his 10 assists. Jason hurt his hamstring and couldn't get it lose
for the 2nd half."
Dirk Nowitzki: "Chicago is a great team, especially at home. Tonight they
hit big shots and just kept coming back against us. We were up 10, and
then they hit 2 big 3s to close that gap. They play a physical style and
we were just glad to get a win here."
Nowitzki: "Chicago is a great team at home. We knew that coming in, and
they kept stepping up and hitting big shots all night. We were lucky to
get the win here."
Nowitzki: "I hit the 3 to put us up 10 points, but they kept coming. They
came back and hit 2 big shots right after that and were right back in the
game."
Nowitzki on rebounding: "It is a strength for us, especially when we go
big. It will be even greater when we get healthy. Tonight Griffin was
great. When we get Josh and his length back it will be more for us. I
like our athleticism and it is the best I've seen in 7 or 8 years here."
Nowitzki on Armstrong's block: "I saw it coming from half court. It's one
of his specialties. It was an awesome play and just another in our
overall high energy tonight."
Nowitzki on Hinrich's injury: "I saw an opening and was driving to the
basket. I really don't know what happened as I thought I got fouled. I
saw Chandler all the way and that's why I accelerated to the basket. I
never saw Hinrich there. It's unfortunate; you hate to see players get
hurt. Hopefully, he'll be all right."
Jason Terry on his hamstring: "It was good to rest my hamstring in the 2nd
half. I'll get treatment and see how it feels."
Devin Harris: "Everybody did what they do best."
Harris on Armstrong's block: "He's been doing that for 50 years. That's
one thing he always does in practice. If you don't get it off the
backboard, he's going to pound it."
Darrell Armstrong on his block: "I guess they figured that old man wasn't
even warmed up. But they found out real quick."
Armstrong on his block: "I still got the hops. I just don't jump anymore.
The crowd comes here to be entertained and I just wanted to give them
something."
Scott Skiles: "There are some stats that pop out at you. You don't want
to give Dirk 35 points. And their 2nd chance points and offensive
rebounds for them. Really, it felt like they just out-hustled us most of
the game. A couple times we tried to buckle down and get the stop and we
were not able to secure the rebound. If everyone knew exactly what we
were supposed to be doing out there, they would be shocked at how bad we
were."
Skiles on things that went wrong: "Our defensive scheme, our plan. As I
said before the game, we have yet to get serious about the defensive end
and out-play people. Until we do that we are going to be an up-and-down
team. I thought by this point in the season a lot of our guys would learn
that lesson, but so far they haven't."
Skiles on the rebounding deficit: "It appears what is happening to us is
that when we finally do get after them for 2 or 3 possessions, we don't
have enough energy to go get the ball. That is distressing, for sure."
Skiles: "What we are seeing is we have 1-1/2 guys who are not doing what
they are supposed to do on a certain defensive possession. The ball is
going up and we had a couple guards on long rebounds who were nailed to
the ground. A couple times balls came near us and we did not get off our
feet. They just out-hustled us. You have to give them credit. They
wanted it more than we did in the 4th quarter."
Skiles: "Adrian Griffin played great. Devin Harris really hurt us. His
numbers were good, but he really broke us down on several occasions at key
moments. If you are going to let that team come down and pass it around
the perimeter and shoot 48% and go to the offensive board, they are tough
to beat. We had our chances at the end, but they are going to win that
kind of game."
Skiles on Hinrich: "Apparently, he has a concussion of some sort. That is
all we know at this point."
Ben Gordon: "We made a run, but our defense wasn't really up to par. This
includes myself and my teammates. We just weren't in the game defensively
at times. I think that was the main problem. We just have to pick up our
defensive intensity."
Gordon on Griffin: "I wasn't surprised at his performance. Having played
a full season with him, I know what kind of player he is. He knew all our
plays, he was anticipating and he was hustling."
Gordon on Hinrich: "Kirk is our catalyst, offensively and defensively.
When you lose Kirk, you're taking a lot of intangibles, things he brings
to the game.''
Chris Duhon on defense: "Everyone hasn't committed to playing. At times,
I guess we think that since we're shooting the ball better we can just
out-score teams. But that's not the way we win games and that's not the
way we can win games. We have to rely on our defense to win games."
Duhon: "Everybody hasn't committed to playing [defense]. That's everybody
as a whole. At times we think because we're shooting the ball better we
can just out-score teams. That's not the way we can win games."
Duhon on losing Hinrich: "It definitely hurts us in a lot of ways. We
were still in the game with opportunities to win. But no one was guarding
anyone and we keep allowing teams to shoot a high percentage and score
over a 100 points. When we do that, we're going to lose a lot of games.
We didn't rebound, we didn't get loose balls, we didn't defend, we didn't
challenge shots, we didn't do anything."
Duhon on Griffin: "He's always been a guy who's going to hustle. He got a
lot of loose balls and a lot of rebounds. He gave their team a spark."
Dallas Mavericks 102, Chicago Bulls 94 at Chicago (December 5)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Dallas 22 31 26 23 - 102 .507 .333 .481 .800
Chicago 23 28 20 23 - 94 .490 .391 .459 .739
Halftime: Dallas 53-51
3rd Q: Dallas 79-71
Technicals: none
Refs: Ron Garretson, Ron Olesiak, Jess Kersey
Attendance: 21,733 (sellout)
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Marquis Daniels 38 7-11 0-0 4-5 18 3-7 7 2 3 1 1
Jason Terry 18 0-3 0-2 2-2 2 0-1 2 2 2 0 0
Dirk Nowitzki 39 14-28 1-4 6-6 35 0-6 1 1 1 2 0
Adrian Griffin 37 5-10 0-0 4-6 14 5-12 3 2 2 2 0
Erick Dampier 28 3-6 0-0 0-0 6 5-11 2 3 1 1 0
Devin Harris 36 6-14 0-0 1-2 13 1-3 10 2 2 5 0
Keith Van_Horn 21 4-8 3-6 2-2 13 0-3 0 3 4 1 0
DeSagana Diop 20 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 1-3 3 0 3 0 3
Darrell Armstrong 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 0 1 0 1
Totals 48 39-81 4-12 20-25 102 15-46 29 16 19 12 5
Chicago Bulls REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Chris Duhon 31 2-8 1-5 2-2 7 0-1 5 2 5 2 0
Kirk Hinrich 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Michael Sweetney 23 2-6 0-0 4-6 8 4-7 4 2 2 0 1
Andres Nocioni 17 4-6 3-3 0-0 11 1-2 0 2 1 1 1
Tyson Chandler 28 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 1-7 1 2 3 2 2
Ben Gordon 42 8-19 4-9 6-7 26 0-1 4 4 3 0 0
Luol Deng 38 10-15 1-2 4-6 25 2-5 0 0 2 3 0
Darius Songaila 31 6-10 0-2 1-2 13 0-3 1 0 3 0 0
Eric Piatkowski 15 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 0-3 2 2 3 1 0
Othella Harrington 7 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0
Eddie Basden 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 1 0 0 0
Totals 48 34-74 9-23 17-23 94 8-30 18 15 22 9 4
Dallas at Indiana (December 6)
It was the 2nd night of a back-to-back for Dallas and Indiana was fresh
back from a 5 game West coast trip. Jason Terry was unable to play due to
his strained right hamstring [and the Pacers were again without Jamaal
Tinlsey and Austin Croshere]. It was an ugly 1st quarter of basketball
with lots of bricks and turnovers. Dallas did a little better job than
Indiana and held small leads throughout the quarter and led 22-16 after 1.
5 straight points gave Dallas their first double-digit lead at 33-23 with
8:30 remaining, but Indiana scored the next 4 points and Dallas' lead
remained in single-digits the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 46-40 at
the half. Dirk Nowitzki had 17 points in the half. Dallas scored the
first 6 points of the 3rd quarter [which was classified as a run in this
offensively challenged game] to go up 52-40 with 9 minutes to go as
Indiana did not score for the first 3 minutes of the quarter. Dallas'
lead hovered around 10 points for the rest of the quarter and Dallas led
66-55 after 3. A 3-pointer by Darrell Armstrong [the Mavs' first 3 of the
game] gave Dallas their largest lead at 71-57 with 10:20 to go. Indiana
finally found some offense in going on a 12-2 run to pull within 69-73
with 6 minutes to go as Dallas went dry from the field for over 4 minutes.
A jumper by Devin Harris ended Dallas' drought, but then the 2 teams went
scoreless over the next 2 minutes. Jermaine O'Neal got a layup with 3:40
left to again make it a 4 point game, but Dallas answered on their next
possession in starting a 6-0 run to put the game away. Dallas won 84-75.
It definitely wasn't pretty basketball with lots of bricks (81 missed
shots) and turnovers (38), but Dallas found a way to grind it out, thanks
in large part to Dirk Nowitzki's offensive fire power. Indiana only shot
34.3% FG (23-67 [tying the opponent record for fewest field goals made])
and had just 11 offensive rebounds while Dallas shot 46.4% (32-69) FG.
The Pacers shot poorly from the line in missing 12 free throws (27-39).
It was the 27th time in team history that an opponent had 75 points or
less. Nowitzki was one of the few to shot well (11-19 FG) and had a
double-double with 31 points and 11 rebounds. Devin Harris had 15 points
and 5 assists in starting for Jason Terry. Keith Van Horn was the only
other Mav in double-digits with 11 points [but Dallas only played 8
players]. Adrian Griffin started for the 3rd straight game (and will
probably continue doing so while Josh Howard remains out) and had another
good game of doing dirty work that doesn't show up in the stats. Darrell
Armstrong frustrated Indiana by taking 3 charges. Indiana didn't have
much besides Jermaine O'Neal, who was playing with a viral infection.
O'Neal had 25 points including 11-14 FT and 13 rebounds. Ron Artest was
the only other Pacer in double-digits with 15 points.
Thus ends Dallas string of 8 games in 12 nights. Dallas went 5-3 during
the stretch. [And I'm finally caught up!]
Quotes
Avery Johsnon: We are very pleased with this win. We played a hard-nosed,
tough-nosed, well-coached team. Ron and Jermaine are a handful. They
showed you why they are a tough defensive team in the 4th quarter. We
didn't get to the free throw line as much as we wanted, tonight."
Johnson: "We will never get enough credit for our defense. It's all about
perception, no matter what we do. We could hold a team to 3 points and in
some circles we're still a bad defensive team. We are trying to meet the
challenge of playing it every night, like the Pacers, Pistons, and Spurs
do. We're not there yet, but we're trying."
Johnson: "We never get enough credit for our defense. We've got to do it
more consistently.
Dirk Nowitzki: "I thought I was aggressive early. I took it to the basket
some and not only settled for jumpers."
Nowitzki on the injured players: "That's 40 points [missing]. So there
are some shots I have to take. I jacked up 28 shots [Monday]. That's a
lot of shots. But I have to be aggressive now. We don't really have a
great scoring team out there. We only scored 80-something. But it was
enough to win."
Keith Van Horn: "This was a ride it out type of game. It was very similar
to a playoff game. I thought we did a good job early on, establishing our
post up game with Dirk and Dampier."
Van Horn: "I was impressed that we were able to grind it out and get a
dirty, Eastern Conference playoff-type of win. It wasn't a typical Dallas
victory."
Van Horn: "It was a grind-it-out game. It was very similar to a playoff
game. To be honest, it reminded me of some of the Eastern Conference
playoff games I've been in. These are the kinds of games we have to win."
Van Horn on defense: "It's starting to be what were known for and that was
our one goal coming into the season, to try to be a good defensive team,
and I think it showed tonight. This was an important game. This was our
4th game in 5 nights and the 2nd of a back-to-back. Its nice to win these
last 2 after losing the tough game in Milwaukee like we did. Its tough,
these kind of road trips. But when 7 o'clock rolls around were ready to
play. Its nice to give a 110% effort and get a win and have something to
show for it."
Devin Harris: "We responded to the runs with a big stop or a big rebound
and we scored on the other. We found a way to counter, whether it was out
of a timeout by executing a play or everybody staying tough-minded."
Harris on Nowitzki: "Dirk got us off to a good start in the 1st half and
we kind of rode him all the way in. We just tried to limit our mistakes
and play smart basketball. We saw what they were trying to do early and
we concentrated on taking that away in the 2nd half. We've always been a
team that has settled for jump shots and now we try to concentrate on the
paint, both offensively and defensively."
Harris: "We were able to get Dirk a lot of good shots in the 1st half.
Because of that, we kind of rode his back most of the night. Me, I tried
to get to the basket as much as I could. But at the same time, still try
to take good quality shots and play a smart game. We saw what they did in
the 1st half and we tried to take that away from them in the 2nd half. "
Harris: "I think our teams in the past would shot a lot of jump shots and
not worry about the inside game. With Dirk, were getting him the ball
down on the block a lot with his back to the basket and from there were
able to run our offense off of him a lot. And its been successful."
Adrian Griffin: "Any win is a big win in this league, because you never
know when they're going to matter. They were able to cut the lead down to
4 or 5 in the 4th quarter, but we held them off. This may be a situation
where we look back at the end of the season and say, these 1 or 2 wins
were big for us."
Griffin: "Our defense starts with our coach working us at it everyday. I
think that you separate yourself from the rest of the league on the
defensive side of the ball. Thats what were striving for."
Rick Carlisle: "We were sluggish. We were behind early and the entire
game, which isn't a good situation. I thought we fought back and the guys
on the bench gave us some energy. It was disappointing. Dallas is one of
the top 3 teams in the West and I thought this would be a great
opportunity for us."
Carlisle: "We had a lot of guys who struggled, and Dallas was a large part
of that. They're a top team, they really are. ... We didn't have enough
answers."
Carlisle: "I don't believe in excuses. Performance is shared by everybody,
including the coaches. Inconsistency has been a nemesis for us. What we
have to look at where we're at in terms of embracing the idea of team.
I've got to look at the film, analyze it and sleep on it. I have strong
belief in these guys and their abilities."
Carlisle: "The one thing we have to look at as a group is where we are in
terms of embracing the idea of team. It may be at a point we need to make
some changes. We may not. That's a judgment that I have to make. But I
have a strong belief in these guys and a strong belief in their ability to
play together because they've shown they can do that."
Jermaine O'Neal: "I don't know about our offense or their defense. All I
know is until all 15 of us want to win, it won't happen. It's not an
on-off switch and we seem to think it is. It's not that easy in this
league."
O'Neal: "We are, to a certain extent, a poor team right now. I really
have no answers. You can talk about soul-searching, you can talk about
whatever you want to talk about, but until we collectively 1 through 15
want to win the games, we aren't going to win. Simple as that. I just
apologize to the public. It's just extremely disappointing."
Ron Artest: "Sometimes we try to pull out the win, but tonight we
couldn't. We have to keep working hard and get everyone to come around.
If we keep at it, good things will come at the end."
Stephen Jackson: "We just have to keep working at it. We need to get
everyone on the same page and get confidence in ourselves. We have a lot
to improve on and I hope it happens soon. They came out better and did
what they needed to win. We just have to try and get better."
Jackson on Nowitzki: "He's one of the best players in the NBA. You have
to take your hat off to him, the way he carries his team."
Danny Granger: "I was very pleased to be able to start tonight. That is
always your goal. You don't like to do this with circumstances, being
injured. But it was a chance for me and I tried to take advantage of it.
I played hard, made some rookie mistakes but I think I learned from them.
We have several great players and our role is to compliment them and come
in and pick up where we can help. I am glad I got the additional time
tonight."
Dallas Mavericks 84, Indiana Pacers 75 at Indiana (December 6)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Dallas 22 24 20 18 - 84 .484 .286 .464 .818
Indiana 16 24 15 20 - 75 .396 .143 .343 .692
Halftime: Dallas 46-40
3rd Q: Dallas 66-55
Technicals: Stephen Jackson 0:27 3rd
Refs: Jack Nies Violet Palmer, Derek Richardson
Attendance: 14,627 (cap 18,345)
Did not play due to injury: Jason Terry (strained right hamstring)
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Devin Harris 39 4-11 0-0 7-7 15 1-4 5 2 3 2 0
Marquis Daniels 34 4-7 0-0 0-2 8 0-4 1 5 5 0 0
Dirk Nowitzki 36 11-19 1-3 8-9 31 0-11 2 4 2 0 3
Adrian Griffin 34 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 1-5 1 2 3 3 0
Erick Dampier 36 3-8 0-0 0-0 6 3-8 0 2 4 0 0
Keith Van_Horn 29 4-11 0-3 3-4 11 1-4 1 1 2 2 0
Darrell Armstrong 22 2-7 1-1 0-0 5 1-3 4 2 3 0 0
DeSagana Diop 10 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 0 0 6 1 1
Totals 48 32-69 2-7 18-22 84 8-41 14 19 28 8 4
Indiana Pacers REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Stephen Jackson 33 3-9 0-2 1-1 7 0-5 1 6 2 1 0
Sarunas Jasikevicius 29 1-6 1-3 6-6 9 0-2 1 2 0 0 0
Ron Artest 38 6-15 0-5 3-8 15 1-2 2 3 3 5 1
Danny Granger 28 2-8 0-1 5-6 9 4-7 1 1 1 0 1
Jermaine O'Neal 41 7-17 0-0 11-14 25 4-13 2 1 3 1 3
Fred Jones 25 3-6 1-2 0-0 7 0-3 1 2 2 0 0
Jeff Foster 24 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 2-6 0 0 3 1 2
Anthony Johnson 19 0-4 0-1 0-2 0 0-0 2 2 4 3 0
David Harrison 3 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 2 0 0
Totals 48 23-67 2-14 27-39 75 11-38 10 19 20 11 7
patricia
[phew!]