All-Star results: East defeated the Avery Johnson coached West 122-120 in the All-Star game. Dirk Nowitzki had 10 points and 6 rebounds in 16 minutes. Dirk Nowitzki WON the 3-point Shooting Contest on All-Star Saturday night! He officially had 14 points in the 1st round (tied for 2nd most) to advance to the finals. He had 18 points in the Finals to win the event as Gilbert Arenas (Was) had 16 points and Ray Allen (Sea) had 15 points. Jason Terry finished 4th in the event with 13 points in the 1st round. The Del Harris coached Sophomores defeated the Rookies 106-96 on All-Star Friday night. Devin Harris had 6 points, 7 assists, and 3 steals for the Sophomores. Congrats to Don Nelson for his nomination for the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach! The vote for the inductees from the 16 finalists will occur April 3 - a nominee needs at least 18 of 24 votes to become an inductee. The Mavs had Rawle Marshall and Josh Powell swap places on Monday as Marshall was recalled from the NBADL and Powell was assigned to the Fort Worth Flyers of the NBADL. LA Clippers at Dallas (February 21) Zeljko Rebraca returned to action for the Clippers after having been out for a while with heart problems. Dallas went on a 10-1 run early in the game to go up 12-5 with 9 minutes to go. Dallas held a single-digit lead the rest of the quarter and led 31-25 after 1. Josh Howard had 12 points including 5-5 FG. A 3-pointer by the recently acquired Vladimir Radmanovic pulled the Clippers within 36-38 with 8 minutes left, but they could not pull even as Dallas would hold a 1 to 7 point lead the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 55-50 at the half. Dallas shot 56% FG and the Clippers shot 54% FG in the half. Dallas led 62-58 with 8:55 remaining and the Mavs scored the next 11 points to go up 73-58 with 5:20 left. A 3-pointer by Radmanovic ended Dallas' run and kicked off 9 straight points by the Clippers to pull them within 67-73 with 3:50 to go. The Clippers were unable to get any closer the rest of the quarter and Dallas led 81-73 after 3. Elton Brand had 10 points in the 3rd quarter. Dallas only shot 6-19 FG in the quarter, but also shot 14-15 FT while the Clippers shot just 2-4 FT. The 4th quarter saw more of the same from most of the first 3 quarters as Dallas still held a single-digit lead and was not able to put much distance between themselves and the Clippers. A bucket by Shaun Livingston pulled the Clippers within 84-86 with 7:20 to go, but it then became the Dirk Nowitzki show as he scored the next 6 points and aggressively snagged 3 rebounds to give Dallas a 92-84 lead with 6 minutes left. And then Dallas ignored the hot Nowitzki in not getting the ball to him the next few times down [as I'm screaming for them to get it to him - his next attempt (a miss) didn't come until 2:20 had passed]. The teams combined to throw up 8 bricks over the next 2 1/2 minutes before Sam Cassell nailed a 3-pointer with 3:20 left. After more misses, Radmanovic hit 1-2 FT, Cuttino Mobley stole the ball, and Radmanovic drained a 3-pointer to pull the Clippers within 91-92 with 1:35 remaining. Dallas missed on 2 attempts, Elton Brand missed with the clock running down with 34 seconds to go, and Nowitzki missed with 16 seconds left. After a Clipper timeout, Nowitzki blocked a long attempt by Cassell with 7 seconds to go and Josh Howard was intentionally fouled with 3.9 seconds left. Howard missed both free throws, but Jerry Stackhouse snagged the rebound and was fouled. He missed his first free throw, but made the second to make it a 2 point game with 1.2 seconds left. After the Clippers' last time to advance the ball to half court, DeSagana Diop pressured the inbounds pass and Livingston threw it towards Brand under the basket, but the pass went sailing over his head - Diop must have tipped it as the refs ruled that time expired instead of it being Dallas' ball where Livingston inbounded it. Dallas won 93-91. It wasn't the prettiest of wins, in fact it got really ugly in the 4th quarter. The teams combined to shoot 2-20 FG and 2-6 FT in the last 6 minutes of the game and only scored 8 points (with Dallas only scoring 1 point). In the 4th quarter, Clippers shot 6-20 FG and Dallas shot 4-17 FG as the Clippers "out-scored" Dallas 18-12 - but fortunately Dallas had an 8 point lead going in to the quarter. For the game, Dallas shot 42.9% (33-77) FG including 1-8 3-pointers. The Clippers shot 46.2% (36-78) FG including 6-14 3-pointers. Dallas shot 26-36 FT and the Clippers shot 13-18 FT. Dallas out-rebounded the Clippers 44-40 including 12-10 offensive. Both teams scored 22 points off of the other team's turnovers - Dallas had 17 turnovers and the Clippers had 18 turnovers. Josh Howard was the high man with 23 points on 9-11 FG and 5-10 FT. He also had 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Dirk Nowitzki had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Adrian Griffin was the only other Mav in double-digits with 13 points. Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse were off as Terry had 9 points including 3-10 FG and Stackhouse had 5 points including 2-9 FG. DeSagana Diop had 9 points and 8 rebounds and Erick Dampier had 4 points and 5 rebounds. Devin Harris missed all 5 shots he attempted and hit 2 free throws. Keith Van Horn was also cold in shooting 1-5 FG, but did hit 6 free throws. Marquis Daniels had 3 points in 10 minutes. All 5 Clipper starters were in double-digits (but they only got 11 points from the bench). Elton Brand led the way with 20 points including 8-20 FG. He also had 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks, and a career high 5 steals. Chris Kaman had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds including 5 offensive. Cuttino Mobley had 18 points. Sam Cassell had 17 points and 3 steals. Vladimir Radmanovic only hit 3-pointers - 3-6 3-pointers, 0-6 2-pointers - and had 10 points and 7 rebounds in his 2nd game as a Clipper and 1st as a starter. Note: since most haven't seen him in a couple of years, I saw Vin Baker warming up prior to the game. Unlike the last time I saw him, he was in good physical shape. Quotes Avery Johnson: "We were really fortunate to win this game. We got off to a decent start offensively, but we weren't very good defensively. Our defense wasn't as good as we wanted it to be. Mobley, Cassell, and Brand put a lot of pressure on your defense. This is a tough game for a lot of teams to win coming out of the break. I am really looking forward to getting back to practice. We had a lot of sloppy turnovers that we normally don't get." Johnson: "Both teams played hard. They were trying to win this game just like we were. Both teams gave it their best shot and fortunately we won. 3 of our top scorers [Nowitzki, Terry, Stackhouse] went 12-40 and that's not going to happen many nights. We missed a couple free throws down the stretch. The guys that we had on the line, I live with those guys every day of the night." Johnson: "I thought Sagana did a good job on the inbounds with 1.2 seconds left. He made that pass go higher than what they wanted. We won the game on the boards. We got 30 points in the paint. We did some good things offensively even though we didn't shoot a high percentage." Johnson: "Josh Howard carried us offensively, got us off to a great start. I thought Dirk got a stop at the end of the game. Overall individually and as a team our defense wasn't very good." Dirk Nowitzki on the 4th quarter: "I tried to stay aggressive. That's what the team wants me to do. I tried to make things happen during that stretch." Josh Howard: "This was a tough game. These are the hardest games when you come off a break. We're getting back into the swing of things. Guys went out and had a good vacation, but it's always good to get a win no matter how we get it." Howard: "It's always good to win, no matter how you get it. It's tough to get back into the mindset after almost a week off." Howard on why Dallas won: "Defense. It wasn't that good the whole game, but it was good enough at the end." Howard: "We had a couple of miscues out there - not just turning over the ball but also not running the offense efficiently enough and letting them score when they wanted to on the defensive end. I think they shot a better percentage than we did, so it's just a matter of us getting back into practice, getting the repetitions, and getting back into our game plan." Howard on his shooting: "I guess that came from working out at Wake Forest when I was on break. I did a good job with that. I missed 2 big free throws, Stack missed 1, but when it came down to that last possession, we did a good job." Adrian Griffin: "Coming off a break there are games like this. It wasn't pretty at all but down the stretch I thought we made some good plays. I thought Dirk did a good job of rebounding the ball. I think he rebounded - by himself - about 4 or 5 straight rebounds in the 4th quarter and that was big for us." Griffin on Howard switching on to Brand for the last play: "A lot of times you just want to switch because you don't have time to really fight over screens. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. We kind of got mixed up but we were fortunate that Josh made a great play of pushing Elton back a little bit so the ball could go over his head, because that was obviously a mismatch." DeSagana Diop: "It was a tough game. We just wanted to get the W." Mike Dunleavy: "I loved how hard we played tonight, but I wasn't quite crazy about some of our decision making. We made some great defensive plays, but we gave the ball right back on turnovers, throwing passes away, or we traveled. We just played out of control at times. Defensively when we're set we are really good. We got into too many opportunities on the offensive end where we were playing their tempo, their type of game, and it hurt us - and I just hope we learned a lesson from some of the game, understanding when we were good during this game and when we were bad. The good time was when we had our defense set and our guys knew what they were supposed to be doing, and it wasn't when we let them get into the open court, because that's who they are and they are really good at it." Dunleavy on the 2nd to last play: "Well, we ran a pick-and-roll, they switched it, and we talked about them potentially switching it and then the decision making is the point guard goes against them 1-on-1, you're in the bonus or advance the ball and get the post-up match-up. Sam went against them 1-on-1 and missed the shot." Dunleavy on the last play: "They switched, they were small on [Brand]. Probably, I'm not complaining about the referees at all, you'll probably see that the guy was held in the paint, but it's okay. At the end of a game maybe things aren't seen or things aren't called. It's not an issue. The pass was just maybe he led him a little bit too much. I liked the idea. I liked the execution of it. We got the small matchup and we had the pass going in. If he catches that, he's going to score it and at 1.2 it was pretty good." Dunleavy on Kaman: "He did not get the ball enough in that 2nd half. I mean here's a guy who goes 6-7 in the 1st half and he gets 2 shots in the 2nd half other than the free throws that he got. That's ridiculous. That's the message I told our team. What were we thinking about?" Elton Brand: "Were not taking positives away from losses. We know we are a good team and I know we had a big chance to win. We wanted to win this game and we're not trying to take any positives away. I think they're a good team and they beat us, but we had some chances." Brand on the last play: "A good pass but just kind of overthrown a little bit. The play was for us to pass. First of all we didn't box out to get the rebound, you know we'd have more time to set up the play, so that was disappointing we didn't get that free throw board." Brand on defending Nowitzki: "We had a good plan against a great player. We did a good job against him." Sam Cassell: "We should have gotten this game. We know it and they know it. The main thing is my guys know that we can play with them." Cassell: "I missed a few shots today that I normally make, especially the last one in particular. That's just how the game goes." Cassell on his last shot late in the game: "I don't think [Nowitzki] tipped it. I just shot it short. I shot it short over a 7-foot guy." Cassell on his last shot: "I just shot the thing short. I wanted to drive it, but the lane was filled up, so I just tried to shoot over a 7-foot guy. He didn't block it, it just came up short." Cuttino Mobley: "We just got to be there for 48 minutes with good teams. Dallas is the best team in the West, at least the best record. They're that for a reason. They utilize all their players, which I commend Avery on. Everybody gets their [isolations], everybody gets their touches, and then they're scrappy." Mobley on Stackhouse rebounding Howard's missed free throw: "It was a long tip, it came off hard and was really high. They tipped it one way and the next thing you know Stack gets it." Mobley: "Losing by 2 points hurts because you think about all the plays that you gave up. I think we were tired last week when we lost those 3 games. Guys were ready for the break. Tonight we played hard but stupid." Shaun Livingston on the last inbounds pass: "I tried to throw it up, to give [Brand] a chance. There was a little bit of a hold on him. Unfortunately, it went their way. It could have been a better pass too." Dallas Mavericks 93, Los Angeles Clippers 91 at Dallas (February 21) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 31 24 26 12 - 93 .464 .125 .429 .722 LA Clippers 25 25 23 18 - 91 .469 .429 .462 .722 Halftime: Dallas 55-50 3rd Q: Dallas 81-73 Technicals: none Refs: James Capers, Phil Robinson, Derrick Stafford Attendance: 19,584 (sellout) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jason Terry 34 3-10 1-3 2-2 9 1-2 4 2 1 1 0 Adrian Griffin 27 5-9 0-0 3-4 13 1-6 4 3 3 3 0 Josh Howard 37 9-11 0-0 5-10 23 3-7 3 3 1 3 1 Dirk Nowitzki 36 7-18 0-1 3-3 17 1-10 2 2 3 1 1 DeSagana Diop 25 4-7 0-0 1-1 9 2-8 0 0 2 1 1 Erick Dampier 23 1-1 0-0 2-4 4 2-5 0 2 1 0 0 Jerry Stackhouse 21 2-9 0-3 1-2 5 1-3 1 3 5 1 0 Keith Van_Horn 14 1-5 0-1 6-6 8 0-1 0 1 0 0 0 Devin Harris 12 0-5 0-0 2-2 2 1-1 2 0 0 0 0 Marquis Daniels 10 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 33-77 1-8 26-36 93 12-44 16 17 17 10 3 Los Angeles Clippers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Cuttino Mobley 39 8-13 0-1 2-2 18 0-3 3 3 4 2 3 Sam Cassell 33 7-18 3-7 0-0 17 1-3 1 4 5 3 1 Vladimir Radmanovic 38 3-9 3-6 1-2 10 2-7 2 1 3 1 2 Elton Brand 38 8-20 0-0 4-4 20 1-8 4 3 4 5 4 Chris Kaman 41 6-9 0-0 3-6 15 5-13 1 4 4 1 1 Shaun Livingston 22 3-6 0-0 1-2 7 0-2 2 3 3 1 1 Daniel Ewing 13 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 2 0 1 0 0 Zeljko Rebraca 12 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 1-2 0 0 2 0 0 James Singleton 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 36-78 6-14 13-18 91 10-40 15 18 26 13 12 Memphis at Dallas (February 23) Memphis came in with a 4 game winning streak and Dallas was on a 3 game winning streak (and 12 straight wins at home). Lorenzen Wright open the game with a bucket and Dallas then scored the next 8 points to go up 8-2 with 10:15 remaining. Dallas led 15-11 with 6:10 left and Memphis went on a 20-5 run to go up 31-20 with a minute to go. Memphis led 31-22 after 1. Chucky Atkins had 12 points on 5-6 FG. Memphis' lead hovered around 10 points and the Grizzlies led 40-31 with 7:20 remaining. A 3-pointer by Shane Battier kicked off 10 straight points by Memphis to give them their largest lead at 50-31 with 4:30 left. Dallas was able to chip into Memphis' lead and a 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki pulled Dallas within 40-52 with 2:35 to go. Pau Gasol hit consecutive buckets to give Memphis a 16 point lead. Jason Terry hit a jumper and thought he was fouled [but the same non-call occurred at the other end (lots and lots of non-calls in this game)] and a ticked off Terry stole the inbounds pass and stepped behind the line and nailed a 3-pointer. Dirk Nowitzki then stole the ball and got a layup on the break with 45 seconds to go. Neither team would score over the rest of the quarter. Memphis led 56-47 at the half. Nowitzki had 10 points in the 2nd quarter. For the half, Memphis shot 60.5% FG and Dallas shot 51.4% FG. Though Dallas committed 7 turnovers and Memphis had 6 turnovers, Dallas converted Memphis' turnovers into 13 points and Memphis converted Dallas' turnovers into 6 points. Memphis led 58-49 with 10:25 to go and a 3-pointer by Terry kicked off 12 straight points by Dallas to put the Mavs up 61-58 with 7:10 remaining. A 3-pointer by Bobby Jackson tied the game at 70-70 with 3:20 left, but Dallas scored the next 6 points and held a single-digit lead the rest of the quarter. Jerry Stackhouse hit a jumper near the quarter's end to give Dallas an 81-76 lead after 3. Nowitzki had 10 points and Jackson had 10 points in the 3rd quarter. Dallas shot 14-22 FG and Memphis shot 7-20 FG as Dallas out-scored Memphis 34-20 in the 3rd quarter. Memphis scored the first 4 points of the 4th quarter to pull within 80-81 with 10:45 to go. Dallas led 83-82 with 7:20 left and scored the next 8 points to go up 91-82 with 3:45 remaining. Jackson converted a 3-point play with 3:30 left, but Memphis could get no closer than 6 points the rest of the way. Dallas won 97-87. It was a tale of 2 halves. Memphis shot 60.5% FG in the 1st half and scored 56 points and only shot 27.5% FG and had 31 points in the 2nd half. [Dallas shot 51.4% FG and had 47 points in the 1st half and shot 47.5% FG and had 50 points in the 2nd half.] In the 4th quarter, Memphis only had 11 points including 4-20 FG. Dallas also struggled in the 4th quarter in shooting 5-18 FG as part of 16 points. For the game, Dallas shot 49.4% (38-77) FG including 6-10 3-pointers and Memphis shot 43.6% (34-78) FG including 7-17 3-pointers. Dallas shot 15-21 FT and Memphis shot 12-14 FT [again, the refs didn't call much so it was up to the players to adjust]. Dallas out-rebounded Memphis 41-36 including 12-11 offensive. Memphis only had 12 turnovers, but Dallas took full advantage of the Grizzlies miscues in scoring 22 points off of those turnovers. Memphis scored 8 points off of Dallas' 10 turnovers. It was Dallas' 13th straight home, besting the longest ever team home winning streak. For the first time since mid-January Dirk Nowitzki scored 30+ points. Nowitzki had 31 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Jason Terry was hot with 23 points including 9-11 FG and 3-4 3-pointers. Jerry Stackhouse had 12 points and 5 assists. Devin Harris had 10 points including 4-5 FG, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Josh Howard sprained his ankle during the 1st quarter and returned to action in the 2nd quarter, but was unable to play in the 2nd half. He had 7 points in 20 minutes. DeSagana Diop had 2 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks and Erick Dampier had 1 point including 0-5 FG and 10 rebounds including 6 offensive. Adrian Griffin had 7 points. Keith Van Horn had 2 points on 1-3 FG and 5 fouls in 12 minutes and Marquis Daniels had 2 points in 7 minutes. Pau Gasol had 18 points, but only shot 3-9 FG in the 2nd half. Bobby Jackson also had 18 points, but only shot 3-11 FG in the 2nd half. He also had 7 rebounds. All 12 of Chucky Atkins' points came in the 1st quarter - he made his first 5 shots and missed his next 5 shots. Shane Battier had 11 points and 7 rebounds. Mike Miller had 9 points including 4-10 FG and 7 rebounds. Quotes Avery Johnson: "The reason why we won this game tonight is because of the fans. I want to personally thank the fans. They are the reason why we won the game tonight. They stayed with us the whole game. Nobody was booing or questioning the players, our fans stuck with us tonight for 48 minutes. We can talk about Dirk was strong, Josh got injured, Stack was quick, our centers were good on Gasol throughout the game. I can go over and over about the game, but thank you fans!" Johnson: "They didn't hear much from me at halftime. No throwing chairs, VCRs, or Gatorade bottles. No getting in somebody's face or wringing their neck. They need to get busted sometimes. Tonight just wasn't the night for it." Johnson: "Memphis is a terrific, well-coached team. You saw that for most of the game. We were fortunate to come play some strong 4th quarter and 2nd half defense. We held them to 31 points in the 2nd half. I thought we were much more physical in the 2nd half. You got an example of how tough it is to win in the Southwest Division." Dirk Nowitzki: "They really came out firing from all angles. I thought they really set the tone physically and they really came out ready to play. Obviously, we beat them twice at their place and they came out very aggressive and really took it to us." Nowitzki on the deficit: "Was it 19? Dang, I didn't know it was that big." Nowitzki: "Right before the half, we got our confidence up and made a great push. We got some steals, got some layups and made some shots. That really carried through the 2nd half. In the 2nd half, I thought we were the aggressors. We drove to the basket." Nowitzki: "Defensively, we were much better in the 2nd half. We made it a lot tougher, the catches, the drives. We contested shots. We rebounded. We feel like when we play defense, we give ourselves a great chance to win." Nowitzki: "We have to protect our home court. We've been doing a great job lately of fighting back when we've been down. It's good to get wins at home and obviously that's big in the playoffs. You've got to be a force at home." Nowitzki on picking up his offense in the 2nd half: "I felt I had to make a couple of more shots if we were going to win. Josh has been carrying us, and the whole team had to pick it up. I got some good looks and made some shots." Josh Howard on his sprained ankle: "I tried to go, but when I got in back in the game I couldn't cut. We'll see how it feels tomorrow." Jason Terry: "For a minute there it looked like they were going to blow us out on our home court. We've seen that from them before, previously when they beat us at home earlier in the season and we couldn't get in it. But tonight we stayed with it and give credit to our fans, they gave us energy when we needed it." Terry: "Late in the 1st half, the fans got into it. We got a couple of steals. We got a basket. Dirk hit some shots. We started feeding off of the energy of the crowd. That's what we needed tonight." Terry: "The main thing tonight is we won it again with our defense. We gutted it out." Terry: "We won it again with our defense. In the 4th quarter, we needed stops. We continued to get stops, we rebounded and came back down on the other end and executed." Terry on continuing to play well after the all-star break: "Coach Johnson challenged everyone individually and then we challenged each other and you saw that in our performance tonight. Everyone held each other accountable. Dirk was blocking shots, Damp had 10 rebounds, Devin was pushing the ball like he usually does, and Stackhouse played big off the bench. We're a deep team that believes in our system and we want to continue to play hard, especially at home." Jerry Stackhouse: "We knew we really weren't playing good defense in the 1st half, but in the 2nd half we really buckled down and challenged them everywhere on the floor. Whenever we play like that we do pretty well defensively." Stackhouse: "We were still a little sluggish in the 1st half from the last game over to this game, but I think we got all of that out of us now. It was a huge win for us because they are a very good team and it took a huge effort from us in the 2nd half to beat them." Stackhouse: "We figured out their defense in the 2nd half. We made some adjustments at the half and were able to get some easy baskets and that took them out of their rhythm a little bit." Stackhouse on defense: "We've still got to shoot the ball, and we're still really adept at shooting ourselves out of holes. But we are making it easy on ourselves now by not trading baskets with teams." Devin Harris: "We had a very mediocre 1st half. That 1st half wasn't us. Defensively, I don't know where we were. Mars, maybe. But that comeback at the end of the 2nd quarter set up our 2nd half." Mike Fratello: "I thought the game was determined in the 2nd quarter. We had a 19-point lead, then we had some critical turnovers at that point that I thought gave them some energy; they cut the deficit down at halftime. They put together a big 3rd quarter because we did not defend the same way we had. We had turnovers down the stretch in the 4th quarter; we had gotten ourselves back into it where it was 70-70 at one point. We had open shots we just didn't make that we did make in the 1st half. That's not defense; that's making shots. There were other shots that they played good defense on; which you have to give them credit for. Sometimes it comes down to you make them and the game turns your way, you don't make them and it turns the other way." Fratello: "They beat us in transition a lot. They had numbers and they were making layups; 3-on-2 or 2-on-1. The misses and the turnovers led to transition opportunities. If you make the shots, they are taking it out of bounds, and if you are not turning it over, they are not running it down your throat." Pau Gasol on the 2nd half: "We weren't as sharp. We weren't able to keep that intensity. We let them play their game, and you can see they're playing with a lot of confidence. It's not only Dirk. They have a lot of guys making big shots. They have a swagger and you understand why." Mike Miller: "When you play as well as we did for a half, it's tough [to lose]. We stressed that they would come out in the 2nd half like that. They got the crowd into it, and then we didn't execute." Shane Battier: "They're good. They knew they weren't playing well and they took it to another level. That's what teams contending for a championship do. It's what we aspire to be someday. We're not there yet. We're not even close." Bobby Jackson on Dallas' comeback: "They just wanted it more. They forced turnovers in the last 4 minutes of the 2nd half. We didn't execute well, we didn't get back, we didn't do anything well. We did all the right things the first 12 minutes of the game; we did all the wrong things from there on out. When you get a team like that down, you have to be smart about what you do and we weren't smart. We didn't take care of the ball when it was time to take care of the ball." Dallas Mavericks 97, Memphis Grizzlies 87 at Dallas (February 23) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 22 25 34 16 - 97 .478 .600 .494 .714 Memphis 31 25 20 11 - 87 .443 .412 .436 .857 Halftime: Memphis 56-47 3rd Q: Dallas 81-76 Technicals: none Refs: Ron Garretson, Matt Boland, Rodney Mott Attendance: 19,912 (sellout) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 20 3-7 1-1 0-0 7 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 40 12-23 2-4 5-5 31 0-6 4 1 1 1 4 DeSagana Diop 25 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 1-5 0 0 4 2 3 Jason Terry 38 9-11 3-4 2-2 23 1-3 6 1 1 1 0 Adrian Griffin 27 2-4 0-0 3-4 7 3-8 0 2 0 1 0 Jerry Stackhouse 28 6-14 0-0 0-0 12 1-2 5 1 1 1 1 Devin Harris 21 4-5 0-0 2-4 10 0-4 3 2 3 0 0 Erick Dampier 23 0-5 0-0 1-2 1 6-10 0 0 0 0 2 Keith Van_Horn 12 1-3 0-1 0-2 2 0-2 0 0 5 0 0 Marquis Daniels 7 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 38-77 6-10 15-21 97 12-41 19 10 17 7 10 Memphis Grizzlies REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Pau Gasol 37 8-18 0-0 2-4 18 0-3 4 2 1 0 0 Shane Battier 37 5-10 1-2 0-0 11 4-7 3 1 5 1 1 Lorenzen Wright 14 3-6 0-0 0-0 6 0-1 0 0 1 0 2 Eddie Jones 35 1-5 1-2 4-4 7 0-4 1 0 4 3 1 Chucky Atkins 27 5-10 2-5 0-0 12 0-1 3 2 2 1 0 Jake Tsakalidis 26 3-3 0-0 0-0 6 4-6 0 2 4 0 2 Bobby Jackson 32 5-16 2-6 6-6 18 2-7 2 1 1 0 0 Mike Miller 31 4-10 1-2 0-0 9 1-7 1 2 0 1 0 Hakim Warrick 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 34-78 7-17 12-14 87 11-36 14 12 20 6 6 Toronto at Dallas (February 25) Josh Howard did not play due to a sprained right ankle. Dallas again got out to a slow start in shooting 1-7 FG to open the game and Toronto jumped out to a 10-2 lead with 8:10 left. A 3-pointer and a jumper by Charlie Villanueva gave Toronto their first double-digit lead at 19-9 with 5:15 to go. Toronto's lead ranged between 8 and 11 points the rest of the quarter. Toronto led 32-22 after 1. Toronto shot 12-14 FT and Dallas shot 2-4 FT. After Devin Harris shot 1-2 FT to open the 2nd quarter scoring, Villanueva hit another 3-pointer and got a putback and Morris Peterson nailed a jumper to give Toronto a 39-23 lead with 10:10 remaining. Dallas did score 7 straight points to pull within 38-45 with 6:50 left, but a 3-pointer by Joey Graham ended Dallas' run. Villanueva hit a 3-pointer, Marquis Daniels got a layup, and Mike James hit consecutive 3-pointers to give Toronto a 61-43 lead with 4:15 remaining. Toronto led 51-67 at the half. James had 11 points including 3-4 3-pointers in the 2nd quarter and Dirk Nowitzki had 10 points. Toronto shot 8-12 3-pointers in the 1st half. Consecutive layups by Adrian Griffin pulled Dallas within 55-69 with 9:30 left, but the 3-point barrage continued as Peterson hit consecutive 3-pointers to give Toronto their first 20 point lead at 75-55 with 8:40 to go. Consecutive 3-pointers (one by Villanueva and one by James) gave Toronto their largest lead at 86-62 with 6:25 remaining. Jerry Stackhouse hit 6 straight free throws and a layup by Jason Terry pulled Dallas within 70-86 with 3:35 to go. Toronto led 91-74 after 3. Stackhouse had 12 points in the 3rd quarter. Stackhouse opened the 4th quarter with a dunk, but Toronto had an answer with a bucket by Chris Bosh. A 3-pointer by Terry pulled Dallas within 81-95 with 9 minutes left and, after the teams traded misses, Peterson hit a 3-pointer to put Toronto up 98-81 with 7:55 to go - Toronto had shot 14-20 3-pointers at that point in the game. After 2 minutes of scoreless play, Dallas started their comeback with a 3-point barrage of their own. Keith Van Horn hit a 3, Nowitzki hit a 3, and Terry hit a 3 to pull Dallas within 90-98 with 4:15 remaining. Peterson hit a 3, but Nowitzki was fouled attempting a 3 and he hit all 3 free throws. Bosh hit a jumper and Darrell Armstrong, freshly inserted into the game, hit a 3-pointer to pull Dallas within 96-103 with 3:35 left. Stackhouse hit 2 free throws and Terry hit another 3 to pull Dallas within 2 points with 2:40 to go. After Armstrong stole the ball, Armstrong found Stackhouse for the quick layup to tie the game at 103-103 with 2 minutes remaining. The teams traded misses over the next minute and Nowitzki nailed a jumper to give Dallas their first lead of the game at 105-103 with 50 seconds left. James missed, but Toronto got the rebound and Villanueva was fouled and he hit both free throws with 30 seconds to go. After a Mavs timeout, Nowitzki turned in to a double-team and Villanueva simply took the ball out of Nowitzki's hands and Toronto called timeout with 12 seconds left. Toronto ran the clock down and Nowitzki blocked James' layup attempt and it rolled along the back of the rim and off and time expired and we had overtime at 105-105. Toronto only shot 5-17 FG in the 4th quarter as Dallas out-scored them 31-14. Terry opened the overtime with a jumper. Villanueva picked up his 6th foul early in the overtime (James and Bosh also had 5 fouls going in to overtime). Nowitzki hit a fade away jumper to give Dallas a 109-105 lead with 3:50 to go. Bosh converted a 3-point play and James hit a bucket to put Toronto up 110-109 with 2:20 left. consecutive hoops by Nowitzki put Dallas back up at 113-110 with 50 seconds to go. Nowitzki got a block, but Peterson got a block at the other end with 25 seconds remaining. Freshly inserted Matt Bonner nailed a 3-pointer with 12.4 seconds left to tie the game. Dallas ran the clock down and Nowitzki nailed a 17-foot fade away over Bonner with a second left. After a timeout, the ball was inbounded to Peterson in the corner and he turned and his wild heave was no where close to the rim (Nowitzki was credited with a block, so he might have gotten a piece of it). Dallas won 115-113. Coming back from 24 points down was the 2nd largest comeback in team history [largest 25] and was the largest lead given up in Toronto's history. It was a wild game where 3-pointers ruled. Toronto got their large lead almost purely due to the 3s and Dallas got back in the game with a string a 3s while Toronto (finally) missed some 3s [Toronto shot 2-8 3-pointers after shooting 14-20 3-pointers in the first 40 minutes of the game and Dallas shot 6-10 3-pointers in the 4th quarter]. Toronto also hurt themselves with turnovers. The Raptors had 17 turnovers which Dallas converted into 21 points - 6 turnovers in the 4th which Dallas converted into 11 points. For the game, Dallas shot 45.6% (41-90) FG including 8-21 3-pointers and Toronto shot 46.3% (37-80) FG including 16-28 3-pointers. Dallas shot 18-27 FT and Toronto shot 23-26 FT. Dallas out-rebounded Toronto 45-41 including 18-8 offensive. All hail Dirk! After Jason Terry hit a bucket to open the overtime, Dirk Nowitzki scored the rest of Dallas points in the extra session (8). He shot 4-5 FG and had 2 rebounds and 2 blocks in overtime. For the game, Nowitzki had 32 points including 13-23 FG, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Jason Terry was the 3-point bomber for Dallas with 5-9 3-pointers. He had 27 points. Jerry Stackhouse started and struggled in the 1st half with just 4 points including 1-5 FG. He came off the bench for the 2nd half and produced with 18 points on 4-8 FG and 10-10 FT. For the game, he had 8 assists. Darrell Armstrong did not have many numbers, but provided a spark when he was inserted midway through the 4th quarter. He had 3 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in 15 minutes. Marquis Daniels started the 2nd half and had 10 points and 6 rebounds for the game. Erick Dampier had 5 points and 9 rebounds including 5 offensive. DeSagana Diop had just 2 points and 2 rebounds in 14 minutes. Adrian Griffin had 6 points and 3 rebounds and Keith Van Horn had 5 points and 6 rebounds. Devin Harris had 3 points on 3-4 FT in 9 minutes. It is very rare that a team will have 4 players with 20+ points and lose, but that's what happened to Toronto. Chris Bosh had 29 points, 13 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 5 turnovers. Charlie Villanueva had 23 points including 4-6 3-pointers. Mike James had 25 points including 5-9 3-pointers, 7 assists, and 5 turnovers. Morris Peterson had 20 points including 5-8 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. The rest of the team scored just 16 points. Quotes Avery Johnson: "The Mavericks won. That's the good news. We were not very good in the first 3 and a half quarters but between the 4th quarter and overtime we out-scored them 41-22. Lot of heart by our team. We gave the game ball to Darrell Armstrong. I thought he was incredible tonight. Jerry Stackhouse was big for us in the 2nd half. Obviously, Dirk Nowitzki's shot there at the end to put us ahead was great. A lot of mistakes tonight but again, what do you want me to do. I love this team. There's something really unique about this team. I failed this team because my practices aren't good enough, my film sessions aren't good enough, where I can get us in a position to play well. So I failed in that area, but we're trying to get things right. Teams are coming in here dropping 30-some points on us in the 1st quarter. We've been digging ourselves in a hole, so I'll continue to work on finding the right formula to help get us off to better starts. Maybe I won't call timeouts as quick as I used to. We'll have to do something. I'm really excited about this win. Jason Terry didn't miss a shot when I called a play for us tonight, so that was big also." Johnson on if the bad starts are really his fault: "Yes. They're on me. I don't think I'm doing a good enough job in our pregame meeting. I don't think I'm doing a good enough job emphasizing how important it is to get off to better starts. I think there's been some confusion in regards to the game plan and that's my fault. I take full responsibility." Johnson on what's unique about the team: "How many teams in our league can do what we've done in the last 2 games? We're supposed to be not very good defensively and we're supposed to be a team that's soft. I don't know how many physical teams that could overcome what we did. This is what I call mental toughness in the 4th quarter and on. Now the coach has to find a way to get it going in the first 3 quarters." Johnson to the team after the game: "Y'all going to drive me crazy." Dirk Nowitzki: "We've been down before. We knew if we could find a way to make a little push, we'd have a chance. With the shooters we have, anything is possible." Nowitzki: "We have to find our sense of urgency a little bit earlier. We gave up almost 70 in the 1st half. It looked like we just went through the motions." Nowitzki: "It's tough to win games like that. We really got lucky." Nowitzki on his block of Mike James' shot at the end of regulation: "I almost blocked it in. That would have been a heartbreaker." Nowitzki on Johnson taking responsibility for the slow start: "That's what coach is there for, to take pressure off the players, but really it's a team effort." Jason Terry on Armstrong's play: "That goes to show you that everyone on this team is special. This team is special. We have special guys." Jerry Stackhouse: "It says we need to play better early. Everybody's aware that we need to do some things not to put ourselves in that kind of position. But [the wins] have got to be beneficial to us somewhere down the line. We know we're a pretty good team. But there's a couple other pretty good teams out there too." Devin Harris on the comeback: "There is only one word to say: awesome. We played awesome. They kept fighting, but we were bound to make a run. We couldn't hit a 3 in the 3rd quarter to save my life but in the 4th quarter, it was raining 3's. The guys got us back in it and we're all really proud of it." Harris on Armstrong: "He sparked the game. He picked up the ball, picked up the pressure, hit a 3. He did everything possible to get it going. We just ran out of time for him to make a big run." Harris on Dallas getting down so big: "We need to figure it out. It was pretty frustrating. We fell asleep in the 1st half, but we woke up. We try to stay out of that situation as much as possible." Darrell Armstrong: "I took the challenge against Mike James. I love the challenge. I love any challenge. But I knew he was shooting the ball well, playing well. All I did was try and put pressure on them, and I know pressure better than anybody. Pressure doesn't bother me. What I tried to do was get them to turn the ball over, make them play my game." Armstrong on his defense on James: "I think you can get an edge on the guy, you can thrash him like it is game 7 in the playoffs. I just felt like I had an edge. I always feel like that. I'm going to try and come back in the next game and do the same thing. Hopefully I can keep that edge. Seems to me like that edge was there, and I could see him getting frustrated." Armstrong on being inserted into the game: "I knew we needed a little boost, we needed some intensity. It looked like they were about to run off into the sunset, but here came the Lone Ranger." Sam Mitchell on Dallas comeback: "We knew the guys were going to shoot 3s. 3 of the 3s were off long rebounds that we can come up with. They got 18 offensive rebounds and they scored on every one. And 3 of the 3s the ball bounced long and we didn't come up with it. We go into zone cause we're in foul trouble and we tell our guys make sure you know where Dirk and Jason Terry are. Look at the tape, we've got guys standing there right in front of them. Go out and don't let them shoot the ball, but young guys can't figure out what we're thinking at times." Mitchell: "You have to know who you're guarding, you'd think that'd be obvious by now. You have to know who you're guarding and make it as difficult as possible for the guy to catch the ball." Mitchell: "We didn't get to the free throw line, we didn't rebound, we turned the ball over, and we still had an opportunity to win the basketball game. We just make mistakes." Mitchell: "How many before we are going to learn? I can count 13, 14 games like this." Mitchell on turnovers and 2nd chance points: "They're not little things, they're big things. We have to get the ball, [get] long rebounds, we have to come up with them. Every time they got one, they scored. Every time." Mitchell on Bonner on Nowitzki for Nowitzki's game winner: "The thinking is Chris [Bosh] has 5 fouls the last 6 minutes of the game into the overtime. We can't get Chris his 6th foul in case we go into another overtime and [then] I got my best player sitting on the bench. So somebody else has got to try and guard him. I thought Matt did a good job. He shot a 17-foot fade away jump shot. So what do you say?" Mike James: "I think that with guys getting into foul trouble we had to change up our defensive game plan and then going zone hurt us a little bit, but we had so many guys with 4 or 5 fouls that we had to stay in it. And then there were a few spurts where we tried to go man [defense] and I think that there were like 3 guys playing zone and 2 guys playing man and the call just wasn't triggered to everyone and we gave up some open looks at the end of the game and so that gave them momentum that allowed the crowd to get into the game. It's not the fact of us getting tentative, it's the fact that we've got to step up and make the plays, and Dallas made the plays, Dirk made the plays he needed to make to help his team win and the rest is history." James: "It's another game we had in our grasp and we allowed it to get away from us at the end." Morris Peterson: "We played well, we played well enough to win the game. Down the stretch we allowed them to get 2nd chance shots. We allowed them to hit 3-pointers and get back into the game. Against a team like that who's so dangerous offensively we've got to step up and make plays, and on the offensive end we did. On the defensive end we broke down and 2nd chance points and 3-pointers and rebounds killed us." Peterson: "We should be learning be learning from this. ... We're definitely angry," Dallas Mavericks 115, Toronto 113 OT at Dallas (February 25) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 22 29 23 31 10 - 115 .478 .381 .456 .781 Toronto 32 35 24 14 8 - 113 .404 .571 .463 .885 Halftime: Toronto 67-51 3rd Q: Toronto 91-74 Technicals: Toronto defensive 3 seconds 0:40 1st, Jason Terry 6:12 2nd, Avery Johnson 6:12 2nd, Mike James 6:12 2nd, Sam Mitch 6:12 2nd, Adrian Griffin 3:41 2nd Refs: Bennett Salvatore, Jason Phillips, Tim Donaghy Attendance: 19,791 (sellout) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Dirk Nowitzki 42 13-23 1-5 5-7 32 3-11 3 3 4 2 4 Jerry Stackhouse 41 5-13 0-3 12-12 22 2-3 8 2 1 0 0 DeSagana Diop 14 1-3 0-0 0-2 2 0-2 1 0 3 0 1 Jason Terry 48 11-20 5-9 0-0 27 1-1 4 1 3 0 0 Adrian Griffin 16 3-7 0-0 0-0 6 0-3 1 1 2 1 0 Erick Dampier 30 2-6 0-0 1-3 5 5-9 0 1 2 0 1 Keith Van_Horn 22 2-7 1-3 0-0 5 3-6 0 0 0 0 0 Marquis Daniels 23 3-8 0-0 4-4 10 4-6 3 1 2 0 0 Devin Harris 9 0-0 0-0 3-4 3 0-1 1 0 1 0 0 Josh Powell 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 1 Darrell Armstrong 15 1-2 1-1 0-0 3 0-3 3 0 4 1 0 Totals 53 41-90 8-21 25-32 115 18-45 24 9 23 4 7 Toronto Raptors REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Chris Bosh 44 10-20 0-0 9-9 29 6-13 2 5 5 0 1 Charlie Villanueva 32 8-12 4-6 3-4 23 1-7 1 0 6 1 0 Antonio Davis 13 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 4 1 0 Mike James 40 7-17 5-9 6-7 25 0-3 7 5 5 0 0 Morris Peterson 48 7-18 5-8 1-2 20 0-5 1 1 2 0 1 Loren Woods 16 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-4 1 0 0 0 5 Eric Williams 14 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Jose Calderon 28 2-5 0-1 4-4 8 0-3 3 2 3 1 0 Matt Bonner 21 1-4 1-3 0-0 3 0-2 0 0 2 0 0 Joey Graham 10 1-2 1-1 0-0 3 1-2 0 1 2 0 0 Totals 53 37-80 16-28 23-26 113 8-41 15 17 30 3 7 Philadelphia at Dallas (February 27) Dallas was short-handed as Josh Howard (sprained ankle), Devin Harris (strained quad), and Keith Van Horn (ill) were out. Philadelphia was missing Samuel Dalembert (ankle injury). The Mavs took to heart their coach's concern about the recent poor starts and jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first 79 seconds that had the crowd roaring. Chris Webber got a bucket and a 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki caused Maurice Cheeks to call timeout a little over 2 minutes into the game. Dallas used a 9-2 run to go up 26-8 with 5:30 to go. Philly then went on a 10-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Kyle Korver, to pull within 18-28 with 2 minutes left. Dallas connected on 6 straight free throws to close the quarter to take a 37-20 lead after 1. Nowitzki had 17 points and 8 rebounds in the quarter. Dallas shot 50% FG including 4-4 3-pointers and 13-13 FT. Philly shot 37% FG and 5-7 FT. Dallas out-rebounded Philly 19-4 including 6-1 offensive. Allen Iverson hit 1-2 FT, Jason Terry nailed a 3-pointer, Shavlik Randolph hit 1-2 FT, and a layup by Marquis Daniels gave Dallas a 42-22 lead with 10:35 remaining. After a bucket by Iverson, a dunk by Erick Dampier again put Dallas' lead at 20 points, but Philly then went on a 12-4 run to pull within 36-48 with 4:15 to go. Kevin Ollie hit a jumper with 15 seconds left to cut Dallas' lead in half from their largest. Dallas led 55-45 at the half. Philly shot 9-15 FG and 7-10 FT in the 2nd quarter [and still did not have a 2nd chance point]. Nowitzki sprained his ankle 45 seconds into the 3rd quarter and went to the lockerroom. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with a 9-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Terry, to go up 64-47 with 9:30 left. Dallas held a 14 to 17 point lead over the next 6 minutes. Korver hit 2 free throws and a 3-pointer and a jumper by Iverson pulled Philadelphia within 67-77 with 2:25 to go. Terry hit a 3-pointer and jumper to give Dallas an 84-69 lead after 3. Terry had 13 points in the 3rd quarter. [Philly finally got a 2nd chance bucket in the 3rd quarter - it would be their only one of the game]. The crowd cheered as Nowitzki returned to the bench and then started the 4th quarter. Dallas continued to lead in the teens as Philly was trying to whittle away at Dallas' lead. Dallas led 93-79 with 9:35 left and the 76ers went on an 8-2 run to pull within 87-95 with 3:45 remaining. Erick Dampier hit 1-2 free throws (his first missed free throw after making 5 straight), the teams traded a couple of possessions and 2 buckets, and Korver drained a long 3-pointer to pull Philly within 92-98 with 1:45 to go. But Terry found Dampier for the dunk on Dallas' next possession. Webber missed, Dampier missed, and Iverson missed with a minute left. Dallas ran some time off the clock and Nowitzki was fouled. He hit both free throws. Korver missed a quick shot and a bucket by Terry capped the scoring. Dallas won 104-92. It was an exciting start by the Mavs, only slightly diminished by them not being able to stay up big throughout [though getting up big early sometimes scares me as teams can lose focus with big leads]. The Mavs did lead throughout the game. Add the fact that Dallas had so many key players injured, it was a surprising and solid performance for the Mavs. And now they can focus on the big game (Thursday in San Antonio). It wasn't shooting that hurt Philly, it was rebounding. Dallas out-rebounded Philadelphia 45-28 including 14-4 offensive - the 76ers only had 2 2nd chance points. Dallas shot 45.6% (36-79) FG including 9-17 3-pointers and Philadelphia shot 50% (33-66) FG including 3-11 3-pointers. Dallas shot 23-27 FT and Philly shot 23-30 FT. All hail Dirk! Despite spraining his ankle during the 3rd quarter, he played the entire 4th quarter and had 11 of Dallas' 20 points in the quarter. For the game, Nowitzki had 32 points and 13 rebounds. Jason Terry remained white hot behind the arc. He had 24 points on 9-14 FG and 6-7 3-pointers. Terry also had 7 assists. Marquis Daniels started in Josh Howard's absence and he had 15 points and a game high 8 assists. Darrell Armstrong again contributed nicely in filling in for Devin Harris - his numbers don't say much, but he had a positive effect on the game. Armstrong had 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists in 25 minutes. DeSagana Diop had 6 points and 7 rebounds including 5 offensive and Erick Dampier had 9 points and 5 rebounds - you knew Philly was in trouble when the 2 combined to shoot 7-8 FT. Adrian Griffin had 4 points and 8 rebounds including 4 offensive. Jerry Stackhouse struggled with just 6 points including 2-11 FG and 3 rebounds. He didn't have an assist for the first time in 11 games. Due to the injuries, it was a short 8-man rotation. Allen Iverson played all 48 minutes and had 29 points including 9-10 FT, 6 rebounds, and 6 turnovers. Kyle Korver had 19 points including 3-7 3-pointers and 4 rebounds. Chris Webber also had 19 points. He had 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Andre Iguodala was quiet with just 5 points including 2-6 FG and 5 rebounds in 28 minutes. John Salmons had 9 points and 4 rebounds. Quotes Avery Johnson: "I thought it was a gutsy performance by our team. We were missing 3 key people in Devin, Van Horn, and Josh. Everybody contributed. Jason Terry was really special tonight. He battled some foul trouble, but he came back and was really focused and made shots. Dirk came back after he rolled his ankle and gave us a lift when we needed it. Stack's offense wasn't there tonight, but he did some other things that helped us on the floor. Marquis started and was as aggressive as I've seen him all year with 16 points and 8 assists. I could go on and on." Johnson on the quick start: "It was definitely something we wanted to do. The guys came out with a lot of energy, getting to loose balls and offensive rebounds, and that's how we want to play." Johnson: "I think our start helped us tonight. These guys were all over the place, locking in defensively. I thought that was huge for us to set the tone because Philly was fighting up hill pretty much all game. They made some runs, but we weathered the storm. To hold this team to 90 points is pretty special. They shot 50% from the field, but we did some good things overall." Johnson: "Dirk was aggressive early in the game, not looking to just shoot jumpshots, he got to the basket. I thought Griff was really active in getting in there and getting some key steals for us to get the ball to those guys. We have 23 assists and 12 turnovers and that is pretty good for us. I thought we were active and alert. They have been disappointed in how they have been starting games; they know they are better than that." Dirk Nowitzki: "We wanted to start fast, and that dunk by Marquis Daniels kind of set the tone for us to be aggressive on both ends of the floor. DeSagana Diop was all over the floor with the offensive rebounds and keeping balls alive and the rest of us just kind of fed off that." Nowitzki on his ankle: "It was a lob, I was going for the ball and I landed on Griff's foot. It was a little stiff and I got it re-taped. I felt all right in the 4th quarter." Jason Terry: "We had great ball movement. Darrell Armstrong, Marquis moved the ball. They got in the lane and penetrated; I spotted up and knocked down the shot when it came to me." Terry on winning with 3 guys out: "It's all about staying humble and knowing that we are a deep team, so if guys do go down or someone gets sick, we have other guys that can fill that roll; that are ready and have been working hard to come in and know the game plan and then execute it once they are out there. Take your hat off to Marquis tonight. He had no idea he was going to play that many minutes and he had a great game. Terry on Nowitzki going out: "We knew we were okay. We had the lead and luckily we had the depth. Collectively, we did the job and worked it out until he got back." Terry on Thursday's game vs San Antonio: "This is another game where we must come out and execute our game plan, our system. I like our chances. It's going to be a hostile environment. They are the champions, so it is on us to go in there and play with energy and play our game." Marquis Daniels on missing 3 players: "It just shows our depth and how guys stay ready. Hopefully those guys will be ready by Thursday when we go down to San Antonio to face the Spurs." Darrell Armstrong on winning despite missing 3 players: "It's definitely impressive. Even Avery came in here after the game and said 'I am more excited about this game with all the guys that were out.' Dirk went out for a long period of time and we didn't know if he was going to come back. Then he shows up and plays like a warrior. We see Keith in warmups shooting; then the next thing you know in the huddle after starting lineups we were wondering 'Where's Keith?' We didn't know he had gotten ill. This is impressive. We already have Josh Howard out. This just show you the kind of team we have." Armstrong on when Nowitzki went out: "You are more concerned about if he is going to be ready for the next game. If he is all right in a couple days; that's when you are most concerned. He came back and was getting offensive rebounds and was playing and hitting big shots. You appreciate that in a guy that scores so many points for you and is learning how to be a leader. That to me is leading by example. Even when he is hurt, he is coming out there playing hard and getting big stops." Armstrong: "In a game like this, you hope you correct all the things you need to correct. We did some good things, but we had some injuries. Dirk came back and showed great leadership. That's what your leaders do." Maurice Cheeks: "I think that was the difference was that we started out so poorly and against a team like Dallas you're going to be going uphill the whole time and I just thought the way we started the game it was a tough way to get back into the game. Now we battled to get back into the game, I think we got back within 8, but that was late in the 4th quarter. But when you put yourself in the hole against a team like the Mavericks it's going to be tough to climb out of. We tried but we just weren't good enough to do it." Cheeks on falling behind early: "It is a tough way to start the game when you put yourself in a hole against a team like the Mavericks. The pressure bothered us a little." Cheeks on going small: "Our smaller lineup kind of got us back in the game, but you have big guys for them like Nowitzki, those guys were rebounding the ball." Cheeks on not playing Iguodala the last 18 minutes of the game: "I just had guys in the game and I liked going with those guys." Allen Iverson: "Yeah, with a team being good like they are and them being at home, it's just that much harder to try and play up hill all game. And that's what we had to do was fight a deficit the whole game, and with a good team like this at home you can't do that, and we found out the hard way." Iverson: "We had our chance to get back in the game in the 3rd quarter when Dirk went down but Jet and Marquis picked up their games and we didn't." Chris Webber: "We still put a good effort out there. We don't like losing, but I like the way we fought." Andre Iguodala on not playing the last 18 minutes of the game: "We came back and got back in the game, so it was a better lineup, better matchups for the team." Kyle Korver: "That was definitely a good start for them and a bad start for us. We started off, I don't know how many we were down, but it just kind of took the air from out of us for a little bit. We fought back, a couple of plays at the end a couple of shots go in and out, a couple calls don't go our way, a ball drop out of our hands, and other than that we're right there at the end of the game. But it didn't work out tonight." Korver on if the team ran out of gas: "It does take a lot of energy to come back, especially on a team like them. They shot the ball well and to make a come back on them when they are shooting the ball like that you really have to come up with a lot of energy. It seemed like they were working hard on our defense and they just made that one extra pass, and Jason Terry hit a 3 or Dirk hit a 3 or something, and they hit a lot of timely shots. That's why they've got the record they do. They're a good team." Dallas Mavericks 104, Philadelphia 76ers 92 at Dallas (February 27) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 37 18 29 20 - 104 .435 .529 .456 .852 Philadelphia 20 25 24 23 - 92 .545 .273 .500 .767 Halftime: Dallas 55-45 3rd Q: Dallas 84-69 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 10:46 3rd, Philadelphia defensive 3 seconds 8:06 3rd Refs: Kevin Fehr, Ed F. Rush, Michael Smith Attendance: 20,425 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Josh Howard (sprained right ankle), Keith Van Horn (ill), Samuel Dalembert (sprained left ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jason Terry 33 9-14 6-7 0-0 24 1-2 7 1 4 2 0 Adrian Griffin 29 2-6 0-1 0-0 4 4-8 2 0 3 2 0 Marquis Daniels 38 6-16 0-0 4-7 16 1-2 8 0 2 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 33 11-20 3-6 7-7 32 3-13 2 1 0 0 0 DeSagana Diop 23 2-4 0-0 2-2 6 5-7 0 2 4 1 1 Jerry Stackhouse 35 2-11 0-2 3-3 7 0-3 0 4 4 0 0 Darrell Armstrong 25 2-5 0-1 2-2 6 0-5 3 2 3 1 0 Erick Dampier 24 2-3 0-0 5-6 9 0-5 1 2 3 0 0 Totals 48 36-79 9-17 23-27 104 14-45 23 14 23 8 1 Philadelphia 76ers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Allen Iverson 48 10-22 0-2 9-10 29 1-3 6 6 1 1 0 Kevin Ollie 28 2-3 0-0 2-2 6 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Chris Webber 39 9-17 0-1 1-1 19 1-8 4 1 4 2 1 Andre Iguodala 28 2-6 0-1 1-3 5 1-5 2 1 2 0 0 Steven Hunter 16 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 0-2 0 2 2 0 2 Kyle Korver 36 6-11 3-7 4-5 19 0-4 2 1 4 2 1 John Salmons 29 3-5 0-0 3-3 9 1-4 3 2 5 1 0 Shavlik Randolph 9 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-1 0 0 1 1 0 Matt Barnes 8 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-0 1 0 3 0 0 Totals 48 33-66 3-11 23-30 92 4-28 19 13 22 7 4 patricia