The NBA fined Erick Dampier $5,000 and upgraded his flagrant foul from a level 1 to a level 2 for his foul on Shawn Marion during Thursday's Phoenix game. Dallas at San Antonio (April 7) Dallas was again without Adrian Griffin and Devin Harris. San Antonio was missing Robert Horry as his father-in-law passed away. The game stayed close in the 1st quarter with the largest lead just 4 points. Michael Finley nailed a 3-pointer with a fraction of a second left in the quarter to give San Antonio a 27-26 lead after 1. Josh Howard had 15 points. Dallas led 28-27 with 10:40 remaining and San Antonio went on a 14-2 run, including 2 3-pointers by Nick Van Exel, to go up 41-30 with 6:10 to go. Dallas answered with a 14-2 run to re-take the lead at 44-43 with 2:20 left and the game stayed close the rest of the quarter. Finley hit another 3-pointer as the quarter came to an end to give the Spurs a 53-51 lead at the half. Jason Terry had 10 points on 5-5 FG in the 2nd quarter. Dallas shot 51% FG and San Antonio shot 42.5% FG in the 1st half, but the Spurs also hit 6-11 3-pointers. The game stayed close in the 3rd quarter with Dallas holding small leads, besides 2 ties, and Dirk Nowitzki came out shooting. A 3-pointer by Van Exel pulled the Spurs within 65-67 with 2:25 left, but San Antonio would not score again in the quarter, but Dallas only scored 4 points themselves. Dallas led 71-65 after 3. Nowitzki had 12 points in the quarter as Dallas out-scored San Antonio 20-12. The 4th quarter saw Dallas continuing to hold a single-digit lead, none larger than 7 points. A jumper by Tony Parker pulled San Antonio within 86-89 with 1:40 to go. Dallas missed, San Antonio missed, and DeSagana Diop was fouled with 49 seconds remaining. He hit 1-2 FT to give Dallas a 4 point lead. Tim Duncan got the ball in the paint, but traveled [correct call, but I was surprised it was called]. Dallas ran time off the clock before Nowitzki missed with 17 seconds left. San Antonio didn't call timeout and Bruce Bowen missed a 3-point attempt with 8 seconds to go. Jerry Stackhouse was intentionally fouled and he hit both free throws for the final margin. Dallas won 92-86. It was a good win for the Mavs and, even though the game was close, Dallas looked to be the crisper team. Tim Duncan looked sluggish and Manu Ginobili was limping. The Mavs overcame their 1st half problems where San Antonio had 10 offensive rebounds and they only had 4 offensive boards in the 2nd half. Dallas also struggled getting their own offensive rebounds with only 4, but the Mavs shot much better than the Spurs. San Antonio did out-rebound Dallas 40-34 overall, but Dallas out-rebounded San Antonio 18-15 in the 2nd half. For the game, Dallas shot 51.4% (36-70) FG including 3-7 3-pointers and San Antonio shot 37.8% (31-82) FG including 10-20 3-pointers. Dallas shot 17-22 FT and San Antonio shot 14-21 FT. Dallas had just 13 assists and San Antonio had 18 assists. Both teams were fairly clean with Dallas having 9 turnovers and San Antonio having 12 turnovers. The teams split the series 2-2, with both teams winning one on the other's homecourt. Dirk Nowitzki only had 11 points including 4-13 FG in the 1st half, but had 19 points including 7-11 FG in the 2nd half. He also had 10 rebounds in the game. Josh Howard was fairly quiet after his stellar 1st quarter where he scored 15 points. He had 22 points including 9-13 FG and 10 rebounds in the game. Jason Terry had 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Jerry Stackhouse started and had 12 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. With the injuries and Stack starting, Dallas only had 11 points off the bench. DeSagana Diop had 3 points, 1 rebound, and 4 blocks in 22 minutes and Erick Dampier had 5 points and 4 rebounds in 26 minutes. The bench was key for San Antonio staying in the game as they got good performances from Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel. Finley had 14 points including 4-12 FG, but 3 of those were 3-pointers, and 3 rebounds. Van Exel had 14 points including 4-4 3-pointers in 16 minutes. Manu Ginobili led the way for the Spurs with 22 points. He also had 4 assists. Tim Duncan had a quiet 13 points including 5-15 FG and 9 rebounds. Tony Parker struggled with just 10 points on 5-15 FG, 3 assists, and 5 turnovers. He did have 6 rebounds. Quotes Avery Johnson: "I thought we had a couple of good stretches of basketball throughout the game. We competed throughout the 1st half and for longer stretches than the last time we faced this team in Dallas. We got lots of contributions from so many and had a strong 2nd half. Ginobili hurt us at times, but for us Josh Howard was the difference. He got us off to such a great start, then Dirk took over." Johnson: "No question this was a big win for us. I thought we showed a lot of mental toughness. The crowd here tried to get them back in it and Duncan hit a tough shot on us, but it didn't shake us. We stayed mentally and physically tough. I was really pleased with the way we finished out the game. It was good to even up the series with this team." Johnson on Nowitzki: "They kept Dirk at bay in the 1st half, but I thought he showed tremendous leadership in the 2nd half. You can see why he has a hard time scoring against this team - he was double- and triple-teamed a lot during the game." Johnson on Terry: "Jason wasn't 100% for us tonight, but he played big and gave us some offensive punch." Johnson on Howard: "We'll take it. It's a back-to-back game for him coming off a tough injury and a tough fall last night." Dirk Nowitzki: "Josh Howard was just phenomonenal. He just came out on fire. He has improved so much since coming into the league and he was great today. I started off slow and really had to settle down and let the game come to me in the 2nd half." Nowitzki: "I thought our defense did a great job on Tony Parker and of course Tim Duncan. If we play defense and get rebounds, that opens up a lot of opportunities for us in the open court. It gives an opportunity to fill the lanes and get some easy baskets." Nowitzki: "They frustrated me a little in the 1st half and I couldn't find my rhythm. But I trusted my teammates and made plays where they counted." Nowitzki on his 1st half struggles: "More than anything, I had to settle down. I was able to find my rhythm pretty quick there [in the 2nd half]." Nowitzki on the recent 3 game losing streak: "Those 3 losses in a row put us in a tough spot. This is a big win and now we have an opportunity for another big win tomorrow night. We need to run them all if we really want this thing." Josh Howard: "This was a hard fought victory. We came out aggressive and they came out aggressive. So this is a big win. But whatever happens, happens because we know in the playoffs, somewhere down the road, we are going to end up facing this team at some point." Howard: "It's gotten to the point where they can't put a 4 on me. I think I've proven that. I can't let a 4 guard me if we're going to win. I mean, I did it in the 1st half and Dirk did it in the 2nd half." Howard on his technical foul while defending Ginobili: "That's just him flailing. I ain't got anything else to say about that. Everybody knows that's how he plays." Jason Terry: "Now we know the potential of this team. These are the champions. You're not going to walk in here and have an easy game. Thank God for the MVP [Nowitzki]. He came to play tonight." Terry on Nowitzki: "Thank God for the MVP. That says a lot about your leader when he gets challenged and keeps answering the call. That's what he did." Terry on Nowitzki: "That's why he's our MVP. The coaching staff has been asking him to step up a lot over the last few games and he did just that in a game we really needed." Terry: "We've got a long way to go. This is just one game. We haven't lost sight of our vision. We want to keep playing well going into the playoffs and get healthy." Jerry Stackhouse on defeating San Antonio: "I guess this was supposed to be big, but it feels like no big deal. We knew we could do it, we knew we had to do it, and now that we did it, it's like, I don't know. This team is funny that way, but I love it. It's the world champs, so it's got to mean something, but nothing was decided. The real test is going to be in the playoffs." Stackhouse: "Dirk is our main scorer. He is our leader. They did a good job on him early but as the game went on we found ways to get him some shots. Josh Howard kept us afloat offensively and then Dirk was huge in the 2nd half and down the stretch. Later when they left guys open so they could double Dirk, he did a great job finding the open man and passing out of the double." Stackhouse: "They're going to have to do something different in the future. I don't think they're going to be able to play Bruce Bowen on Dirk anymore and put Tim Duncan on Josh." Stackhouse: "All of these games are important. We have to take each one individually and go out and give our best effort." Stackhouse: "Tonight was a big night for us, but so is tomorrow night. If we stub our toe tomorrow night then this one means nothing." Stackhouse: "We can't be satisfied with just tying up the series with this win. We're going to probably see this team somewhere down the road in the playoffs." Stackhouse on San Antonio's defense on Nowitzki: "They were doing some funky things to him. But he took advantage of it." Marquis Daniels: "We're still trying to get that #1 spot. When we're healthy and playing well, we feel like we can play with anybody." Daniels: "We're playing good basketball right now, so hopefully we can keep it going and gain ground on the Spurs. Who knows, anything can happen on this road trip and maybe we can come up with the #1 spot." DeSagana Diop on defending Duncan: "We just tried to throw at lot at him and make him work." Gregg Popovich: "It was a hell of a game both ways. It was a great competitive game. The difference was Dirk Nowitzki. He's an MVP player and we couldn't stop him. He did a great job in the 2nd half. To his credit, he took it over. He was the difference." Popovich: "Obviously, the difference in the game was Dirk. He put on an MVP performance. We just couldn't stop him. He took it away." Popovich on Nowitzki: "He averages 30 points a game. He's an MVP candidate. He didn't do anything different than he does against anyone else." Tim Duncan: "The shots were there for us tonight, we just weren't able to knock them down. Tony [Parker] and I had an off night. I had shots that I took that I can make, I just couldn't get the shots to go down early on. We were there at the end of the game tonight, we just couldn't get over the hump." Duncan: "Honestly, they just played solid defense. More than anything, I just put the onus on myself. I had shots that I took that I can make. It's just about making shots." Duncan: "If I make a shot or 2, all of a sudden I can loosen up the defense and things can change. I just couldn't get that shot to go down early on, and it just made the rest of the game tough." Duncan on Nowitzki: "He was great down the stretch. He made some great moves, made some tough shots, and was just the difference in the game. Down the stretch there, we were right where we wanted to be. We were right within striking distance and just couldn't get over the hump." Duncan on Nowitzki: "He was great tonight. He made all the shots down the stretch and made some great moves. His play down the stretch was the difference tonight." Duncan on losing 2 straight: "It's a situation you obviously don't want to be in, but those 2 games are gone. Our concern now is these next 2 games. They're going to be big for us. We have to shift our focus to that." Tony Parker: "All night long, I just had a bad rhythm. In the 1st half, I was going too fast and got a couple of turnovers. In the 2nd half, I kind of shut it down a little bit." Bruce Bowen: "When you have 2 top teams going against each other this is what you expect. You have to give them credit tonight. They played a good game. When you allow a team like Dallas to shoot 50% you are going to make it tough for yourself to win." Bowen on defending Howard: "We didn't make too many changes on him in the 2nd half. He was able to score 20 points in the 1st half. That is a credit to him as a player. I expect him to continue to get better." Bowen: "[Struggling from the field] happens in basketball and that is why you have to play defense every night. You can't count on whether the ball is going to go in or not every night, but you can count on your defense being there each and every night." Michael Finley: When you have 2 of the better teams in the conference it is going to be a battle out there. It was definitely a game that had playoff intensity." Finley on Dallas: "They have an offensive scheme and we have a defensive scheme. They try to make mismatches on the offensive end. With Dirk being 7-feet he can shoot over the top of people. He is hard to shut down 1st because of the number of shots that he takes and 2nd because he is able to put the ball on the floor. The thing that you can do is to make them take tougher shots." Finley on Nowitzki: "At 7 feet, there's a lot of guys he can just shoot over. He's been making a living doing that." Dallas Mavericks 92, San Antonio Spurs 86 at San Antonio (April 7) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 26 25 20 21 - 92 .524 .429 .514 .773 San Antonio 27 26 12 21 - 86 .339 .500 .378 .667 Halftime: San Antonio 53-51 3rd Q: Dallas 71-65 Technicals: Manu Ginobili 1:14 2nd, Gregg Popovich 0:41 2nd, Josh Howard 0:35 2nd, Avery Johnson 0:35 2nd, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 9:36 3rd Refs: Michael Smith, Steve Javie, Tom Washington Attendance: 18,797 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Adrian Griffin (strained left hamstring) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Dirk Nowitzki 42 11-24 1-3 7-8 30 0-10 2 0 1 0 2 Josh Howard 34 9-13 1-1 3-5 22 1-10 1 1 4 1 0 DeSagana Diop 22 1-1 0-0 1-2 3 0-1 0 0 4 0 4 Jason Terry 41 7-13 0-1 0-0 14 1-5 4 2 1 2 1 Jerry Stackhouse 38 4-9 1-2 3-3 12 0-2 2 3 1 0 0 Josh Powell 14 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Erick Dampier 26 1-5 0-0 3-4 5 2-4 1 0 5 1 1 Marquis Daniels 14 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 2 3 4 1 0 Darrell Armstrong 9 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 1 1 0 Totals 48 36-70 3-7 17-22 92 4-34 13 9 21 6 8 San Antonio Spurs REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Bruce Bowen 33 2-4 1-3 0-0 5 1-3 1 0 1 2 1 Tim Duncan 38 5-15 0-0 3-6 13 3-9 3 2 3 0 2 Nazr Mohammed 15 0-2 0-0 1-4 1 1-2 0 1 3 0 1 Tony Parker 32 5-15 0-0 0-0 10 2-6 3 5 2 0 0 Manu Ginobili 32 7-18 1-6 7-8 22 0-3 4 1 1 0 1 Michael Finley 32 4-12 3-5 3-3 14 0-3 2 0 0 0 0 Rasho Nesterovic 5 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Fabricio Oberto 21 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 4-8 2 2 3 0 1 Brent Barry 15 1-3 1-2 0-0 3 3-5 1 0 3 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 16 5-8 4-4 0-0 14 0-0 2 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 31-82 10-20 14-21 86 14-40 18 12 17 2 6 New Orleans at Dallas (April 8) It was the 2nd night of a back-to-back for both teams. Adrian Griffin and Devin Harris remained out. A 3-pointer by Jason Terry started and ended an 8-2 Dallas run to put Dallas up 10-3 with 9:55 left. A 3-pointer by Jerry Stackhouse gave Dallas a 21-9 lead with 5:55 remaining. New Orleans did connect on consecutive buckets to pull within 19-25 with 1:35 to go. But Dallas scored the last 4 points of the quarter and led 29-19 after 1. Dallas took off in the 2nd quarter and never looked back. 4 straight points put Dallas up 43-25 with 7:20 left. The Hornets got no closer than 14 points the rest of the quarter. 4 straight points by Dirk Nowitzki gave Dallas a 55-35 lead with 1:20 remaining. Dallas led 56-39 at the half. A 3-pointer by Nowitzki gave Dallas a 69-47 lead with 6:10 left. New Orleans did score the next 7 points, but they would get no closer than 15 points. Dallas led 78-60 after 3. After New Orleans opened the 4th quarter with a jumper, Dallas scored the next 6 points to go up 84-62 with 9:30 to go. Dallas led in the 20s the rest of the game and took their largest lead at 96-67 with 5 minutes remaining. Dallas won easily 101-77. It was a surprisingly easy win for the Mavs - not surprising that Dallas won as they had won the last 17 vs the Hornets, but the ease with which they won. The Mavs were coming off an emotional win vs the Spurs and New Orleans was still fighting for a playoff berth and had won 5 of their last 6 games. Dallas shot 49.4% (39-79) FG including 7-14 3-pointers and New Orleans shot 44.4% FG including 1-4 3-pointers. Dallas shot 16-21 FT and New Orleans shot 12-16 FT. Dallas out-rebounded New Orleans 48-30 including 15-9 offensive. The Mavs doubled the Hornets with 24 assists to their mere 12. The loss all but eliminated the Hornets from the playoffs. Because of the blowout, no Mav played more than 31 minutes. Dirk Nowitzki had 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists in 29 minutes. Josh Howard had 19 points and 8 rebounds including 5 offensive in 27 minutes. Jason Terry had 19 points and 3 assists in 30 minutes. Jerry Stackhouse continued to start and was looking to pass instead of score as he had 8 assists and 9 points in 31 minutes. He did have 5 turnovers, though. DeSagana Diop had 4 points on 2-2 FG, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 17 minutes and Erick Dampier had 6 points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes. Marquis Daniels had 13 points. Rasual Butler had 14 points and 7 rebounds and P.J. Brown had 12 points and 7 rebounds. No other Hornet was in double-digits. David West shot just 1-7 FG as part of his 4 points. Rookie sensation Chris Paul had 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Quotes Avery Johnson: "I was really concerned about this game tonight. Byron Scott has done as good a job as any coach in the league considering what his team has been through on and off the court and to have them in playoff contention is amazing. I told him before the game that he was my Coach of the Year." Johnson: "Chris Paul and Speedy Claxton are both tough covers. You didn't see their best efforts tonight. At the same time, I thought we competed at a high level and we had some carryover from our game last night with San Antonio. I thought the guys came out focused overall. We had some periods where the defense slipped and we will continue to clean that up and work on it. You can't shut anybody out in this league. We needed to rebound the basketball against this team and try to contain some of their penetration. I thought we did a decent job of that." Johnson: "Jason Terry is a heck of a shooter and he has a tough job every night in guarding the toughest position in basketball, which I think is the point guard position. He had 2 guys he had to deal with tonight. I thought Jason's energy defensively was a big key. Every time Erick Dampier plays good, seems like the Mavs have a good game. We need him to be more consistent." Johnson on Terry guarding Paul: "We challenged our big guys to give Terry some more help. When we played them earlier in the season he had a beeline to the basket and pretty much did whatever he wanted to do. Damp and Diop did a good job getting in their and trying to help Jason. I also thought Marquis did a really nice job on him in a stretch there." Dirk Nowitzki on not having to play in the 4th quarter: "Well its great, coming off a back-to-back and a very emotional win last night. To come out tonight and still have the energy and to hold them under 80 was great. We were really moving the ball tonight. Ever since we lost those 3 games in a row I think we've got back to playing the defense we have all season. The way we have won all these games is by being physical, rotating well on defense, and rebounding." Nowitzki: "It was kind of weird tonight no playing in the 4th quarter. We're only 1 game behind San Antonio. Each game actually means something for us and we're going to go for it. It should be exciting down the stretch." Nowitzki: "We really approached this game like a must win. We just made up a game last night on San Antonio in the lead and we didn't want to turn around and hand it right back. That's the focus we had." Nowitzki: "After we lost 3 straight, we refocused defensively. That's something we take pride in. We've gone back in the last couple of games to things we do best." Nowitzki on the San Antonio win: "It was great. We had a tough loss down there a few weeks ago. We were up the whole 1st half and in the end we couldn't pull it out, but to know that we can go in any building in the league and win is big. We went in there and won without Devin and Griff, 2 big pieces of our team, and we made a lot of big plays. Our defense was phenomenal last night on Parker, on Duncan, and we did the job." Jason Terry: "My job is to come out and be aggressive. Be aggressive at both ends of the floor every night. If I'm going to be one of the leaders on this team, I have to do that." Jerry Stackhouse: "We didn't want to let down after last night. We got them on their heels early and kept it up." Stackhouse: "We wanted to come out and set the tone early, and we didn't want to let down. That team is playing for something and playing hard, and we got them on their heels." Marquis Daniels on defending Paul: "We tried to force him into things that he's not use to doing. We threw different looks at him. We put me on him sometimes, a bigger guard. JT did a good job on him as well as Armstrong and Josh. We did a good job overall on defense and our bigs helped out a lot on the pick-and-rolls. He's a great player, but we just did a good job tonight." Byron Scott: "Terrible. I thought we started off terrible with no sense of urgency. No resistance on the defensive end. We played like the game did not mean a thing. That wasn't everybody obviously, but as a team, collectively, we were awful. Simple as that." Scott on if Dallas took it seriously: "I think they did take us seriously. I think they have the last couple of times that we've played them. Again, we looked more scared than anything. They are a very good basketball team, that if you come out and don't play at their level as far as playing at a high intensity, then they are going to wear you out off the floor. Basically, that is what they did to us." Scott: "You know when you have kids at that stage where they stand up, take about 2 or 3 steps, and fall back down? That's where we are." Scott on West only playing 6 minutes in the 2nd half: "He was very lackadaisical. So he didn't need to play." Chris Paul: "They beat us from start to finish. They came out aggressive and we were back on our heels." David West: "The fact of the matter is this basketball team, they don't let you go out there and do what you want. They try to take things away from you. Can we take anything positive away from this game? I don't know." West: "They do a good job of taking a lot of stuff away. I was trying to give Chris [Paul] outlets, but they weren't giving us clean passing lanes, shots were contested. You're playing against all 5 guys, no matter who has the ball. That's why they're going to be there in June." West: "We just need to move past this one and get ready for the next one. Next week is going to be a tough week for us. We need to be able to bounce back at home." P.J. Brown: "They did whatever they wanted to do. They showed why they are one of the top 3 teams in the league." Brown on the loss and playoff race: "It hurts. We can't afford to lose any games so it hurts our chances. It makes our chances even slimmer now." Rasual Butler: "We absolutely knew they were going to come out and play hard. But we thought it was going to be a closer game than this. You have to take your hat off to them. They played really hard and well tonight." Butler: "We have to put pressure on ourselves, but that has been the game plan the whole time. We try to win all of our home games and split on the road. We think that we can do that, that is our goal, and that is what we will attempt to do." Butler: "They were shooting the ball really well. So when that happens you can't give up too many 2nd shots, you can't give up easy shots. We did a little bit of both of those things and they capitalized on the opportunity every time we did it." Dallas Mavericks 101, New Orleans Hornets 77 at Dallas (April 9) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 29 27 22 23 - 101 .492 .500 .494 .762 New Orleans 19 20 21 17 - 77 .456 .250 .444 .750 Halftime: Dallas 56-39 3rd Q: Dallas 78-60 Technicals: none Refs: Bill Spooner, Joe Forte, Tommy Nunez Jr Attendance: 20,336 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Adrian Griffin (strained left hamstring) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jerry Stackhouse 31 3-7 1-2 2-2 9 0-4 8 5 1 1 0 Jason Terry 30 8-12 3-5 0-0 19 0-2 3 3 1 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 29 6-12 1-1 7-8 20 2-8 5 1 2 2 1 Josh Howard 27 9-17 1-2 0-2 19 5-8 2 0 2 0 1 DeSagana Diop 17 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-3 0 0 4 0 2 Marquis Daniels 29 5-12 1-2 2-2 13 0-3 3 1 2 1 1 Erick Dampier 25 2-4 0-0 2-3 6 3-10 0 1 2 0 0 Josh Powell 22 2-4 0-0 3-4 7 1-3 0 2 1 0 0 Darrell Armstrong 19 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 1-2 3 0 0 2 0 Rawle Marshall 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 1 0 0 0 DJ Mbenga 6 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 2-3 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 39-79 7-14 16-21 101 15-48 24 16 17 8 5 New Orleans Hornets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Rasual Butler 30 5-10 0-1 4-5 14 1-7 1 0 1 1 1 Chris Paul 27 4-6 1-2 0-0 9 1-5 5 2 2 0 0 Linton Johnson 23 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 1-1 0 1 3 0 1 David West 21 1-7 0-0 2-2 4 1-1 0 3 1 0 1 Marc Jackson 23 4-10 0-0 1-2 9 1-3 2 4 2 0 0 P.J. Brown 29 5-9 0-0 2-2 12 2-7 1 1 1 1 0 Desmond Mason 26 3-7 0-0 1-2 7 1-2 1 0 1 1 0 Speedy Claxton 19 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 0-0 1 4 4 0 0 Aaron Williams 17 3-6 0-0 0-1 6 1-4 1 2 3 0 0 J.R. Smith 13 1-4 0-0 2-2 4 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Moochie Norris 6 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Kirk Snyder 5 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 0 1 Totals 48 32-72 1-4 12-16 77 9-30 12 18 19 3 4 Dallas at LA Clippers (April 10) Devin Harris remained out, but Adrian Griffin did return to action after missing 15 straight games - but he only played 2 1/2 minutes as the team wanted to bring him back very slowly. The Clippers were without Corey Maggette, who has been out for a while. Dirk Nowitzki hit a bucket to pull Dallas within 10-12 with 6:35 remaining and they wouldn't score again until 2:20 left. The Clippers weren't so great themselves during that span as they scored just 6 points. 4 straight free throws gave the Clippers a 24-12 lead with 1:30 to go. Jason Terry hit a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left and that capped the quarter scoring. The Clippers led 26-17 after 1. Dallas shot just 7-22 FG in the quarter. The Clippers had the shooting woes in the 2nd quarter and Dallas scored the first 6 points of the quarter to pull within 24-26 with 10:30 left. A dunk by Chris Kaman gave the Clippers a 30-26 lead with 8:40 to go and they would not connect on another shot until 25 seconds left in the quarter (though they did hit some free throws). Dallas went on a 9-1 run to go up 35-31 with 4:55 remaining. 2 free throws by Jerry Stackhouse gave Dallas a 45-35 lead with 1:10 left. Marquis Daniels hit a 3-pointer as the quarter ended to give Dallas a 50-40 lead at the half. The Clippers shot just 3-14 FG in the 2nd quarter as Dallas out-scored them 33-14. Both teams were throwing up bricks in the 3rd quarter and Dallas' lead hovered around 10 points. Dallas led 61-53 after 3. Dallas "out-scored" the Clippers 13-11 in the 3rd quarter as Dallas shot 4-16 FG and the Clippers shot 5-19 FG. Dallas led 67-57 with 7:55 remaining and the Clippers went on a 10-2 run to pull within 67-69 with 3:35 to go. But a bucket by Jason Terry and 2 free throws by Dirk Nowitzki gave Dallas a 73-67 lead with 2:35 remaining. Brand hit a jumper and Dallas missed as the shot clock ran out. A 3-pointer by James Livingston pulled the Clippers within 72-73 with 1:30 left. Then it was back to the theme of the game as Nowitzki missed, Brand missed, and Terry missed and there were 30 seconds to go. Shaun Livingston was fouled with 17 seconds left, but he only hit 1-2 FT and it was a tie game. Dallas got the ball to Nowitzki and they ran the clock down. Nowitzki rose over Kaman and nailed a fade away jumper with .7 seconds remaining. The Clippers called timeout and advanced the ball. The inbounds pass into the paint was off and Erick Dampier was able to bat it away and time expired. Dallas won 75-73. Well, it definitely wasn't pretty. 75 points was the fewest Dallas has ever scored in a win. And it was only thanks to free throws that both teams were in the 70s. Dallas shot 37.3% (28-75) FG including 3-13 3-pointers and the Clippers shot 35.2% (25-71) FG including 3-7 3-pointers. Dallas shot 16-18 FT and the Clippers shot 20-27 FT. Dallas had the slight edge on rebounds in out-rebounding the Clippers 45-41 including 14-13 offensive. The numbers are uglier looking just at the 2nd half where both teams shot slightly above 30% FG and the Clippers out-scored Dallas 33-25 - usually a quarter score, not a half. Dirk Nowitzki had a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds, but he only shot 6-19 FG. He did have the game winner, though. Jason Terry had 15 points, 4 rebounds, and just 1 assist. Marquis Daniels was one of the few to shoot well and had 13 points on 6-8 FG. He also had 4 assists. Josh Howard had 9 points including 3-13 FG and 7 rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse started and had 8 points including 2-11 FG, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. DeSagana Diop had 2 points and 3 rebounds and Erick Dampier had 2 points and 2 rebounds. Dallas could not control Chris Kaman (yes, Kaman) as he had 22 points including 9-16 FG and 12 rebounds including 6 offensive. Elton Brand struggled with just 13 points including 4-15 FG - he shot just 1-7 FG in the 2nd half. He did have 9 rebounds, though. Cuttino Mobley had 10 points including 4-13 FG. All 8 of James Singleton's points came in the 4th quarter. The Clippers were hurt by in-game injuries and illness as Sam Cassell (flu) and Vladimir Radmanovic (groin) hardly played. Quotes Avery Johnson: "It was a low scoring, grind-it-out kind of game and we feel fortunate to get out of here with a victory. Both teams played good defense and we couldn't get our offense into gear in the 2nd half. This is another game that we proved to ourselves that we can win basketball games with our defense. I don't know if we would have won this game in the past. Now we are a different team." Johnson: "We are fortunate to win the game, especially with the way we shot the ball, but we had a lot of players step it up tonight." Johnson on Nowitzki's shooting struggles: "All you're going to remember is the last shot. That's all that matters." Dirk Nowitzki: "It was a little frustrating for me offensively. I kept my confidence. It really wasn't working for me great today. I'm glad it did for 1 play. When it comes down to the last shot, you don't think about what happened before. I had a good look - it felt good leaving my hand. You have the ball in the last seconds, you just want to help your team win, that's it." Nowitzki: "Down the stretch when it comes down to the last shot, you have to forget about what happened before and concentrate and follow through on the shot. It felt good when it left my hands, but we won this game with defense." Nowitzki on his game winner: "Down the stretch, you don't think of what happened before. You just concentrate on the follow through. I took my time and took my 1 dribble left and it felt good when the ball left my hand." Nowitzki on his game winner: "That's what my team needs me to do. I'm the go-to guy. You don't really think too much about it. You just have the ball in the last few seconds and you want to help your team win." Nowitzki: "If we're strong defensively, that is what will ultimately win it for us. It has always been the key for us in the playoffs. If we rebound and defend are keys. We have a lot of weapons that we can use. We should be all right offensively." Jason Terry: "We need to get an offensive rhythm and get some easy baskets - points in the paint and points in transition - to make it easy on ourselves. That's our game." Terry: "We just couldn't buy a basket in the 2nd half. Defensively we were getting stops and it worked out in the end. We think we can win games with our defense and that is what we were able to do tonight. You have to give the Clippers a little credit. They made us take tough shots, but at the same time I know 25 points by us in the 2nd half just isn't going to happen." Terry on the game winner: "Coach drew up the play for Dirk, and that's the way we like it. You're in good hands with Allstate and Dirk was Allstate tonight. We got the ball to him and he got it done. That's why he is an MVP candidate." Mike Dunleavy: "I was real pleased with our defensive effort tonight. I thought our guys did a great job of starting the tone of the game the right way. The 2nd quarter was the only one where we had a number of mistakes in our coverages and they got away from us a little. In the 2nd half, to hold a team to 25 points like that is pretty strong." Dunleavy: "It was a night that we had a lot of guys banged up and injured. Sam [Cassell] got sick right before the game, he said his stomach was messed up, and then he came out and tried to play a little bit, but he said he was just dizzy and couldn't go. Vladi [Radmanovic] has got a pulled groin and Corey [Maggette] is out with a back. Our guys played with a lot of energy, they played really hard, and defensively they did the job." Dunleavy: "If we get that type of defensive effort every night, I'll take our chances." Dunleavy on Brand's struggles: "He hasn't had many this year but he did tonight. He had some great looks that he just didn't put in the basket. And it was just too bad that it was on a night where we were struggling for offense." Dunleavy on the possible playoff matchup with Dallas: "I don't think either team walks away thinking they have a major edge. I think they know if we play really well we can beat them and we know if they play well that they can beat us. Somebody has to stay focused for a full 48 [minutes]." Elton Brand: "As a team we didn't shoot well. Personally I got great looks, but just didn't knock them down." Brand: "I feel that we match up well with that team. We've got people that can defend them. We have quickness at point guard and length to guard Nowitzki and their bigs." Brand: "I'm very optimistic. We've lost 3 in a row, but it's just so many intangibles. Maggette is out with the back injury and Sam Cassell got a case of the flu right before the game. There are a lot of things that go into it. It's disappointing, but we'll bounce back." Chris Kaman: "The 2nd quarter is what killed us. We didn't come out and play the way we needed to and we'll learn from it. Hopefully we'll get to play these guys in the playoffs because I think we match up well with them." Shaun Livingston on his missed free throw near the end: "I rushed them. I wanted that moment to happen. I took my time on the 2nd one, but there's nothing I can do about that now." Dallas Mavericks 75, Los Angeles Clippers 73 at LA (April 10) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 17 33 11 14 - 75 .403 .231 .373 .889 LA Clippers 26 14 13 20 - 73 .344 .429 .352 .741 Halftime: Dallas 50-40 3rd Q: Dallas 61-43 Technicals: LA Clippers defensive 3 seconds 10:40 2nd Refs: James Capers, Bob Delaney, Zach Zarba Attendance: 17,691 (cap 19,060) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jason Terry 37 7-16 1-5 0-0 15 0-4 1 1 5 0 1 Jerry Stackhouse 35 2-11 0-3 4-4 8 1-5 4 3 1 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 41 6-19 0-1 8-8 20 3-14 2 4 2 1 0 Josh Howard 39 3-13 1-3 2-2 9 3-7 3 3 3 0 0 DeSagana Diop 22 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 2-3 0 0 3 0 4 Marquis Daniels 23 6-8 1-1 0-0 13 1-1 4 0 3 0 1 Josh Powell 14 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 0 1 2 1 0 Erick Dampier 13 0-2 0-0 2-4 2 2-2 0 0 3 0 0 DJ Mbenga 12 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-6 0 1 2 0 0 Adrian Griffin 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 28-75 3-13 16-18 75 14-45 15 14 24 2 6 Los Angeles Clippers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shaun Livingston 42 4-15 0-0 1-2 9 1-6 6 0 3 0 1 Cuttino Mobley 34 4-13 0-4 2-2 10 0-3 2 1 2 2 1 Elton Brand 36 4-15 0-0 5-7 13 4-9 3 2 2 0 3 Quinton Ross 28 0-4 0-0 2-2 2 0-5 0 1 3 0 0 Chris Kaman 41 9-16 0-0 4-6 22 6-12 1 0 3 1 1 Zeljko Rebraca 19 1-2 0-0 2-2 4 0-0 0 2 1 0 3 James Singleton 14 2-3 2-2 2-2 8 1-3 1 0 1 0 1 Daniel Ewing 13 1-1 1-1 2-2 5 0-2 0 1 1 1 0 Sam Cassell 7 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Vladimir Radmanovic 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 1 1 1 0 0 Walter McCarty 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 1 0 Totals 48 25-71 3-7 20-27 73 13-41 14 9 19 5 10 Dallas at Golden State (April 12) Devin Harris remained out for Dallas and Baron Davis remained out for Golden State. It was the 2nd night of a back-to-back for Golden State. Dallas shot 1-8 FG to open the game and the Warriors went up 11-2 with 7:45 remaining. Golden State led 15-8 with 5:10 to go and Dallas scored the next 11 points to go up 19-15 with 2:35 left. A dunk by Josh Howard and 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki as the quarter ended gave Dallas a 27-19 lead after 1. Nowitzki had 15 points. After their 1-8 FG start, Dallas shot 9-14 FG the rest of the quarter. Marquis Daniels hit 2 free throws to open the scoring for the 2nd quarter, but Monta Ellis answered with a 3-pointer and Dallas' lead was in single-digits for the next 8 minutes. Dallas led 41-37 with 5:50 remaining and Golden State went on a 6-1 mini-run to take a 43-42 lead with 2:45 left. Dallas did score the next 5 points to go up 47-43 with a minute to go. Dallas led 49-48 at the half. Both teams shot around 37% FG in the half. The game stayed close with both teams holding small leads in the 3rd quarter. A 3-pointer by Ellis gave Golden State a 77-74 lead with 2:10 remaining and the Warriors would hold a small lead the rest of the quarter. Golden State led 82-78 after 3. Troy Murphy had 11 points and Jerry Stackhouse had 10 points in the 3rd quarter. Golden State led 86-82 with 9:15 left and the Warriors went on an 11-2 run to go up 97-84 with 5:50 to go. 5 straight points gave Golden State their largest lead at 106-89. Golden State won 114-102. The good news is this is the last Dallas will see of the Warriors this season. The bad news is the loss basically killed Dallas' chances of getting the #1 seed in the West. The Mavs never looked sharp in the game, even before Golden State took off in the 4th, and got the loss they deserved. For the game, Golden State shot 48.7% (37-76) FG including 5-14 3-pointers and Dallas shot 44.2% (38-86) FG including 5-20 3-pointers. Golden State shot 35-43 FT and Dallas shot 21-25 FT. Golden State out-rebounded Dallas 45-38 and both had 14 offensive rebounds. The Warriors had lost 9 straight going into this game and had to be happy to face the Mavs, whom they've played well against all season. It was Golden State's 3rd win vs Dallas this season - the only team to win 3 vs the Mavs and only 4 would win 2 vs Dallas this season (Lakers, Spurs, Suns). It wasn't the names that killed Dallas, it was Monta Ellis and Ike Diogu. Ellis had 17 points including 6-9 FG, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists off the bench. Diogu had 22 points on 5-7 FG and 12-13 FT and 9 rebounds. Jason Richardson had 25 points including 10-12 FT, 5 rebounds, and 6 turnovers. Troy Murphy had 16 points including 7-10 FG and 6 rebounds. Derek Fisher had 11 points and 9 assists. Dirk Nowitzki again had a double-double with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Josh Howard had 18 points, but shot just 5-14 FG. He also had 5 rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse again started and had 16 points. Jason Terry had 10 points on 5-17 FG and 0-6 3-pointers and 6 assists. Marquis Daniels had 12 points. The centers didn't do the job as DeSagana Diop didn't attempt a shot and had 3 rebounds and 5 fouls and Erick Dampier had 2 points on 1-4 FG and 3 rebounds. Quotes Mike Montgomery: "[Diogu] played very well, he and Monta [Ellis]. We got 51 points off the bench. For whatever reason, this is a team we've had success against. Nowitzki is a hard guard for us, 51 points last game. 51 points off the bench is huge for us. I thought Monta and Ike were really good ... Ike was active, he was really good tonight. That's probably the best he's played just in terms of getting to the boards, being active, finishing shots. And I thought our guards did a good job of getting the ball to him." Montgomery: "Tonight the guys came out, everybody played to win, everybody contributed and shared the ball. It was a great atmosphere. They're a good group of guys, they haven't turned on each other. They've gotten discouraged like anybody would, but they've kind of hung together. This is adversity, let's see how we react to it. We want to finish the year on a positive note, we want to stay together. Adversity brings out the true character and we have to show what we have." Jason Richardson: "Maybe once you beat a team that's good like that, especially once or twice at their place, it gives you confidence that you can play against them. I don't know why it is. I just know we needed a win real bad." Richardson on the win: "Huge. We're on a 9 game losing streak. We were playing on national TV. We didn't want to go out and embarrass ourselves getting blown out in the game." Ike Diogu on Ellis: "Dude's a bullet. He's the fastest dude that I've seen in the league. Us young players know what we can do, and we take advantage of that when we get in the game." Diogu: "I don't really look at myself as a rookie anymore. I just saw an opportunity to play tonight and made the most of it." Diogu on the win: "It's good and bad at the same time. We've beaten the Mavs 3 times this year and they're a playoff team. That just shows that we should of been a playoff team. We can beat playoff teams ... It's motivation for next season. Everybody is going to remember this feeling." Avery Johnson: "This is one of the most disappointing games that I have been a part of as Maverick coach." Johnson: "We didn't get our defense set. They were loosey goosey, playing free, playing easy, no pressure. We knew that coming in - that is what happens in these situations. I am highly disappointed because every single time we have a game like this I have to say I failed. I have been waiting for 79 games to get some internal leadership and I haven't gotten it yet. 79 games and it's very disappointing. This is one of the most disappointing losses that I have been a part of as Maverick coach. At the same time it's my fault. Same thing you always get, it's my fault ultimately." Johnson: "Just blame me like we always do, blame me." Johnson: "We had no energy, no emotion, no concentration, just nothing. We were disinterested in playing basketball tonight. We didn't earn our paycheck. We need to give Mark Cubin a rebate, all of us. We need to give him a rebate on the amount of money he is paying us. But it's not always about winning and losing, but we didn't earn it." Josh Howard: "Some teams have your number. They come to compete against us every time we play. Out there as far as what we did, we didn't get back in defensive transition enough. They hit a lot of big shots - contested or not - they hit shots. It is hard, but Golden State has NBA players just like San Antonio has NBA players, so we just have to come out and be ready and come to play in games like this." Jason Terry: "This is it. It's as disappointing as it gets for us." Jerry Stackhouse: "We still have a lot that we need to prove. Once the playoffs get here, it doesn't matter what seed we are or who we are playing. I am glad that the Golden State Warriors are not one of the 8 teams going because we have had a tough time against them this year. They are a difficult team to play. They have nothing to lose. They have something to build on for next year. Our only concern is us." Stackhouse: "We're still a great team in a great position. We still have a lot that we want to prove once the playoffs get here, no matter what seed we are or who we're playing. But I'm kind of glad the Golden State Warriors aren't 1 of the 8 [playoff teams]. We've had a tough time against them this year." Darrell Armstrong: "At the end of the season every year, they play like this. They play good, but they ain't going no ... where." Golden State Warriors 114, Dallas Mavericks 102 at Golden State (April 12) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Golden State 19 29 34 32 - 114 .516 .357 .487 .814 Dallas 27 22 29 24 - 102 .500 .250 .442 .840 Halftime: Dallas 49-48 3rd Q: Golden State 82-78 Technicals: Golden State defensive 3 seconds 1:12 1st, Dirk Nowitzki 2:42 4th Refs: Danny Crawford, Rodney Mott, Jason Phillips Attendance: 17,527 (cap 19,596) Golden State Warriors REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Derek Fisher 37 4-8 0-1 3-4 11 0-0 9 4 4 2 0 Jason Richardson 34 7-15 1-4 10-12 25 2-5 1 6 3 2 0 Mike Dunleavy 36 3-9 0-1 3-4 9 1-7 2 2 3 0 2 Troy Murphy 28 7-10 1-2 1-2 16 2-6 3 1 2 0 0 Adonal Foyle 14 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 2-5 0 0 1 0 1 Monta Ellis 28 6-9 2-3 3-4 17 1-3 4 2 2 1 1 Ike Diogu 23 5-7 0-0 12-13 22 2-9 0 0 3 0 2 Andris Biedrins 20 2-4 0-0 3-4 7 3-5 0 1 3 0 1 Will Bynum 12 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 2 0 0 1 0 Mickael Pietrus 8 1-7 1-3 0-0 3 1-3 1 0 1 1 0 Totals 48 37-76 5-14 35-43 114 14-45 22 16 22 7 7 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jason Terry 35 5-17 0-6 0-0 10 0-3 6 3 2 1 0 Jerry Stackhouse 33 6-12 1-3 3-4 16 1-3 1 4 2 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 36 11-22 2-4 5-6 29 2-10 4 1 2 4 0 Josh Howard 34 5-14 1-2 7-8 18 2-5 2 2 4 2 1 DeSagana Diop 19 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2-3 0 1 5 1 0 Marquis Daniels 24 5-8 0-1 2-2 12 0-3 2 3 2 0 0 Erick Dampier 20 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 2-3 0 0 4 1 3 Josh Powell 15 3-4 0-0 2-2 8 3-4 0 0 1 1 0 Darrell Armstrong 10 1-3 1-3 1-1 4 0-0 3 0 4 2 0 Adrian Griffin 10 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 2 0 1 0 0 Rawle Marshall 3 0-1 0-1 1-2 1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 DJ Mbenga 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 1 3 0 0 Totals 48 38-86 5-20 21-25 102 14-38 20 15 30 12 4 Dallas at Phoenix (April 13) After the loss to Golden State, Avery Johnson basically conceded that Dallas had no shot at the #1 seed and elected not to play Jerry Stackhouse and DeSagana Diop in resting both. Devin Harris was activated after missing 17 straight games, but he only played in the 1st half, as planned. Phoenix hit 3 3-pointer to go up 10-6 with 10:25 remaining. Phoenix 3-pointers surrounded a layup by Marquis Daniels to give Phoenix a 30-18 lead with 2:25 left. Phoenix led 36-25 after 1. Tim Thomas had 14 points including 4-4 3-pointers and Shawn Marion had 11 points including 2-2 3-pointers. Phoenix shot 8-9 3-pointers in the quarter. A 3-pointer by Eddie House gave Phoenix a 43-29 lead with 9:25 to go. Phoenix led between 14 and 10 points the rest of the quarter. Marion converted an alley-oop near the quarter's end to give Phoenix a 60-45 lead after 3. Phoenix shot 54.5% FG and Dallas shot 39.5% FG in the half. A 3-pointer by Raja Bell gave Phoenix a 69-51 lead with 8:50 remaining. Dallas scored the next 8 points to pull within 61-71 with 6:20 left. The teams traded baskets and then Bell connected on consecutive 3-pointers and Marion got another alley-oop to give Phoenix a 79-62 lead with 5:10 left. Phoenix led 86-66 with 2:45 left and Dallas scored the next 9 points to pull within 75-86 with 1:25 to go. Phoenix led 90-77 after 3. It was an ugly quarter with a 3 ugly flagrant fouls, but fortunately no one got hurt. Bell had 11 points including 3-3 3-pointers and Nowitzki had 10 points in the 3rd quarter. House hit 2 free throws to open the 4th quarter and Dallas then went on a 7-1 run to pull within 84-93 with 9:05 left. But Phoenix then hit 2 free throws and a 3-pointer. Dallas then went on a 10-2 run to pull within 94-100 with 5:30 to go. Mike D'Antoni had seen enough and brought Steve Nash, Marion, and Bell back in to the game. The teams traded baskets twice and then Bell hit a 3-pointer and Thomas hit a 3-pointer to put Phoenix up 110-98 with 2:55 left. Dallas got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Phoenix won 117-104. Though they didn't play to lose, Dallas really didn't take this game seriously. The flagrant fouls (there were 4 called, 2 for each team) were probably the only surprise as neither team is known for its physicalness. The story of the game was Phoenix's 3-point shooting. The Suns shot an amazing 16-24 3-pointers - that also incurred some of Avery Johnson's wrath as he told his team before the game to stay on their shooters and the Mavs didn't do a good job of doing so. Phoenix shot 54.2% (45-83) FG and 11-16 FT. Dallas shot 44.2% (38-86) FG, 4-16 3-pointers, and 24-31 FT. The Mavs did out-rebound Phoenix 50-37 including 19-9 offensive, but the Mavs couldn't overcome also those Phoenix 3s. Phoenix had 27 assists and Dallas had just 13 assists. The Suns had 3 players with 20+ points. Shawn Marion led the way with 29 points including 12-16 FG. He also had 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Tim Thomas had 22 points including 6-7 3-pointers and 5 assists. Raja Bell had 21 points on 8-9 FG and 5-5 3-pointers. Boris Diaw had 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Steve Nash was happy just to pass the ball to the hot shooters and had 13 assists. He also had 6 points on 3-9 FG and 5 rebounds. Eddie House had 13 points off the bench. Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 36 points including 12-12 FT and also had 11 rebounds. Dallas is just 1-5 when a Mav has more than 35 points (4 by Nowitzki (and the 1 win) and 1 by Terry). Josh Howard had 18 points and 5 rebounds. Jason Terry had 18 points including 8-20 FG. Adrian Griffin started and had 2 points and 7 rebounds in 20 minutes. DJ Mbenga started for the first time this season and had 3 points and 5 rebounds in 14 minutes. Erick Dampier had 4 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 fouls in 18 minutes - the Mavs played some without a true center. Marquis Daniels had 9 points and 4 rebounds. Darrell Armstrong provided a spark in Dallas' comeback attempt and had 12 points and 4 rebounds. It was the last regular season road game for Dallas. The Mavs finished with a record of 27-15 on the road. It is the 3rd best road record in the league. Quotes Mike D'Antoni: "It was a good solid effort, defensively and offensively. In the 1st half we didn't miss anything. Shawn Marion, Tim Thomas came out playing really well. Obviously we shot the 3 really well tonight. They got a little testy and so did we, but overall it was good atmosphere out there. We won a nice game. If we can play them or anyone else in the conference finals, I will feel very comfortable. They are a good team and they really battled tonight. They lost last night against Golden State and it is not going to be the same thing. But at the same time, we feel good about where we are and they feel good about where they are. I am sure they would like to take another shot at us in the conference finals as well as we would. They are good team, no doubt about that." D'Antoni: "We got a little testy out there, they got a little testy out there. It was a nice atmosphere. Our guys had a lot of spirit and a lot of fight. Maybe too much fight, but it looked good." D'Antoni on recovering from Dallas' comeback attempt: "We didn't want to lose. I thought it was too important for our psyche. Our guys had a lot of spirit and a lot of fight. We're relying more on fighting, and offensively we're gifted." D'Antoni on subbing 4 key players back into the game in the 4th: "It was a gamble to bring them back. And if someone had gone down I would have probably been ran out of town, but they fought too hard to lose. They deserved to win it." D'Antoni on Phoenix's recent struggles: "We were off our game for a while and we wanted to make sure we won against Sacramento and Dallas. We will see what we do the rest of the weekend. Everyone looked good and everyone contributed. Raja Bell was 8 for 9, and it was hard to point at one guy for tonight because it was really a team effort." Steve Nash: "We feel a little more confident now. We feel like we got a little bit of our swagger back. We're just competing more, we're a little more physical and it's got to be that way. Mike [D'Antoni] always says we can't be small and slow." Nash on Nowitzki: "It's fun to play against him. There's a little more at stake playing against one of your best buddies. It's fun to get the win and I feel for him because I know how I'd feel if we lost." Shawn Marion: "It was just like playoff atmosphere out there. They got back in the 4th quarter, but we came back and closed it out. We did what ever it takes. We got some big stops when we need to and hit some big shots when we needed to." Raja Bell: "Dallas and us are 2 of the better teams in the west, there's always some emotions. Steve is playing against the Mavs and with a big playoff series last year, we expected nothing less tonight. We did a great job tonight helping each other out defensively and really being aggressive on both ends of the court. When we play like that we're tough." Bell: "Shooting 16-24 on 3s, that's not bad, 66%, we'll take that. We had a lot of guys knocking down shots, that's what happens when you get productivity across the board. It's hard for one guy to go cold. Everybody is going to have their moments of being hot." Tim Thomas: "That is what we do best, we shoot the 3-ball. We do a great job of spacing the floor. With the spacing that we have and me being able to shoot the basketball, it makes things a whole lot easier." Avery Johnson: "Tonight we played a very small stretch of decent basketball out of a 48 minute game. You have to give them a lot of credit. They were fresh, they were energized, a lot of the ways that we talked about, combating their 3-point shooting we didn't do. Even the times that we were in their faces, they still seemed to make some shots. We've been defending the 3 pretty well this year, but it didn't happen tonight." Johnson: "Offensively we had a rough 1st half. I thought we got it in gear a little bit in the 2nd half by scoring 59 points, but we didn't get any stops because they scored 57. Again, our season is not over because of 2 disappointing losses. We pretty much know where were going to finish now. The only thing that really matters to us is to get guys healthy, mentally and physically. We'll continue to try to do that, and hopefully when we lace them up next Saturday or Sunday we'll be ready to play. We're going back home. We've got 2 big games against Utah and the Clippers and hopefully we'll finish on a high note." Dirk Nowitzki: "We kept battling in the 2nd half but we dug ourselves a pretty big hole against a great offensive team. They were shooting the lights out and Raja and Tim Thomas, they were on fire. Down the stretch, Raja hit some big shots when we were right there. You've got to give them credit, they spread the floor well and Stevie finds the shooters and when they shoot the ball from the outside like that, they're tough to beat." Nowitzki on the physical play: "It's coming down to the playoffs, and that's what playoff basketball is all about. You try to make things tough and the competition gets better and everybody tries to play harder. I don't think there was anything unnecessary out there. We're just getting ready for the playoffs." Jason Terry: "We fought back. I'm proud of our effort in the 2nd half. This is definitely a team that we know we can beat. We'll see. The playoffs are around the corner and we have a lot to look forward to. They scored when they needed to score, and that's our defense not being at its best. We know that when we're at the top of our game and our defense, come playoff time we'll be able to get those stops. To give up 8 of 9 3s in the 1st quarter is totally embarrassing. At the same time, that's what they do. That's how they play, and if you'll let them get away with it, you're in for a long night." Phoenix Suns 117, Dallas Mavericks 104 at Phoenix (April 13) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Phoenix 36 24 30 27 - 117 .492 .667 .542 .688 Dallas 25 20 32 27 - 104 .486 .250 .442 .774 Halftime: Phoenix 60-45 3rd Q: Phoenix 90-77 Technicals: Dirk Nowitzki 2:46 3rd, Dallas delay of game (2nd) 9:31 4th Flagrant fouls: Raja Bell 3rd, Erick Dampier 3:35 3rd, Tim Thomas 2:46 3rd, Darrell Armstrong 8:16 4th Refs: Gary Zielinski, Jack Nies, Jim Clark Attendance: 18,422 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Amare Stoudemire (right knee surgery), DeSagana Diop (resting) Phoenix Suns REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shawn Marion 34 12-16 2-2 3-5 29 1-5 1 2 4 3 1 Tim Thomas 33 8-13 6-7 0-0 22 1-5 0 2 3 3 0 Boris Diaw 39 7-15 0-0 2-3 16 3-8 6 1 1 0 2 Raja Bell 31 8-9 5-5 0-0 21 2-2 2 2 4 2 0 Steve Nash 30 3-9 0-2 0-0 6 1-5 13 2 0 1 0 Leandro Barbosa 24 2-7 1-4 1-2 6 0-4 4 0 2 1 0 James Jones 17 1-4 0-0 2-2 4 0-6 0 3 2 0 0 Eddie House 17 4-9 2-4 3-4 13 0-1 0 0 2 0 0 Brian Grant 14 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 1 0 3 0 0 Totals 48 45-83 16-24 11-16 117 9-37 27 13 21 10 3 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Dirk Nowitzki 41 12-23 0-3 12-12 36 6-11 2 3 2 0 1 Josh Howard 35 7-15 0-1 4-5 18 1-5 1 0 2 1 0 DJ Mbenga 14 1-4 0-0 1-2 3 2-5 0 0 1 0 2 Adrian Griffin 20 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 2-7 2 1 3 0 1 Jason Terry 40 8-20 2-8 0-0 18 0-2 3 3 1 3 0 Marquis Daniels 20 4-9 0-1 1-2 9 2-4 1 1 0 1 0 Devin Harris 7 0-0 0-0 2-4 2 1-1 1 1 2 0 0 Josh Powell 16 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-4 0 1 0 0 0 Erick Dampier 18 1-2 0-0 2-4 4 3-7 1 2 5 1 1 Darrell Armstrong 27 4-7 2-3 2-2 12 1-4 2 3 2 2 0 Rawle Marshall 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-86 4-16 24-31 104 19-50 13 15 18 8 5 Utah at Dallas (April 16) Devin Harris did not play as his leg was bothering him [don't know how this will affect him for the playoffs]. I was surprised that the Mavs did not rest any players in this game. Utah was still fighting for a playoff berth and a loss would knock them out. The teams traded leads early on. Utah led 22-19 with 3:30 left and Dallas scored the next 14 points to go up 33-22 with 8 seconds to go. Jarron Collins got a putback at the quarter buzzer. Dallas led 33-24 after 1. Josh Howard had 11 points and Erick Dampier had 8 points and 6 rebounds. Utah scored the first 6 points of the 2nd quarter to pull within 30-33 with 10:25 remaining. A 3-pointer by Devin Brown pulled Utah within 35-38 with 8:05 left and Dallas went on a 12-2 run to go up 50-37 with 3 minutes to go. Dallas wasn't able to build on that lead and the Mavs led 56-48 at the half. Dallas shot 14-21 FT and Utah shot 2-4 FT in the 2nd quarter. Marquis Daniels left the game late in the 2nd quarter with a sore left hamstring and did not return. Utah pulled within 57-61 with 9:30 remaining and Dallas went on a 15-3 run to go up 76-60 with 6:50 to go. Dallas led in the teens the rest of the quarter until a 3-pointer by Darrell Armstrong with 13 seconds left gave Dallas a 20 point lead. Dallas led 92-72 after 3. Dallas out-scored Utah 36-24 in the 3rd quarter. Andrei Kirilenko's back was bothering him and he left the game late in the 3rd quarter and did not return. Utah did pull within 88-100 with 5:50 left, but Dallas then pushed their lead up to 106-89 with 3:15 to go. Dallas won 111-95. I was really surprised how easy this win was as Utah was playing for something and Dallas was not. With the loss, Utah was formally eliminated from the playoffs (though they would have also been eliminated when Sacramento won later that night). Dallas was simply the much better team. There were lots and lots of whistles blown and Dallas shot 46-55 FT and Utah shot 26-37 FT. Dallas shot 42.6% (29-68) FG including 7-13 3-pointers. Utah shot 50.8% (33-65) FG including 3-9 3-pointers. Dallas out-rebounded Utah 41-33 including 18-13 offensive. Utah had 20 turnovers and Dallas had 15 turnovers. With the win, Dallas reached 60 wins for the 2nd time in team history. [I've said it before and I'll say it again, 60 wins is an incredible number.] One more game to go in the regular season. Dallas had 5 players in double-digits. Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points on 4-13 FG and 14-14 FT and 7 rebounds. Josh Howard had 18 points and 5 rebounds. Jason Terry had 16 points including 3-12 FG and 6 assists. Adrian Griffin and DeSagana Diop started, giving Dallas their preferred starting lineup for the first time in ages. Griffin had 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals in 28 minutes. Diop had 5 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 fouls. Erick Dampier was solid with 13 points and 12 rebounds including 7 offensive in 21 minutes. Jerry Stackhouse was back to his 6th man role and had 20 points (though he had just 1 rebound and 1 assist). Carlos Boozer had a double-double with 21 points including 9-15 FG and 11 rebounds. Mehmet Okur had 17 points and 5 rebounds. Rookie Deron Williams had a nice outing with 16 points on 7-11 FG and 9 assists in his hometown. Andrei Kirilenko had 9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 turnovers in 25 minutes before sitting out the 4th quarter. With San Antonio's win on Monday, Dallas was formally locked into the #4 seed. And with Memphis' win over the Clippers tonight, Memphis clinched the #5 seed and will face Dallas in the 1st round. Quotes Avery Johnson: "We are excited about winning tonight. What an exciting accomplishment for the team to tie a franchise record with 60 wins. We know we are here to try and win a championship, but tying the [team] record - and I have been here for both of them - is a really special and unique deal, especially in the Western Conference. No disrespect to the Eastern Conference, but to be a part of the Southwest Division, which I think is the best division top to bottom, and to be a part of this Western Conference, which is really hard to win night in and night out." Johnson: "We were okay defensively. We didn't have a great offensive 4th quarter, but overall the ball moved. We thought Damp and Stack set the tone for us coming off the bench. I thought Griff did a nice job on Kirilenko. Josh Howard got us off to a really nice start tonight. There are still things we need to work on, but overall we are getting ready to start the 2nd season." Johnson on having his usual starting 5: "It has been some time. We were 9-8 in March and we were missing 4 guys. I don't know how many teams with the schedule that we had could have gone 9-8 with the chance to win 2 other games that we let slide away. We lost to a team we hadn't played well against all year and Phoenix caught us on a back-to-back night and they seemed like they made all of their shots against us." Johnson on winning 60 games: "We have big goals, but it's no small feat. I don't think anyone before the season thought we were a 60-win team." Dirk Nowitzki: "We were aggressive on both ends of the floor. On defense we got some good stops. Offensively, we drove the ball a lot and got to the foul line a lot, which was great. We're a great foul shooting team. It was an all around good game." Nowitzki on 60 wins: "That's always a special season. That's a lot of games to win, especially in the Western Conference. [In the West] there are a lot of great teams so that's always something special, but unfortunately, I've won 60 twice and I've been a 4th seed twice, or a 2 seed, whatever we were before. Unfortunately, San Antonio bettered us both 60 win seasons but that's how it goes and now we'll go for the playoffs." Nowitzki on the race with San Antonio for 1st: "Obviously we don't really have to play for anything other than keeping our rhythm for the playoffs." Josh Howard on the race with San Antonio for 1st: "I don't even pay attention to that any more. We're just going into the playoffs trying to get ourselves better. We want to keep playing great basketball like we've been doing and hopefully end up playing in June." Jason Terry on having the usual starting 5: "It's been awhile. With us it doesn't matter. Whoever is out there is able to get the job done. It's our system." Jerry Stackhouse: "We set the tone early. We were able to come out defensively and get some stops. They scored some early baskets, but they were tough baskets over the top. Our offense was pretty efficient in the 1st half, pretty much the whole game." Stackhouse: "We made a conscious effort to get into the bonus before they did. There were a lot of fouls called both ways, but more the most part we were the aggressors. It's always good for us to put points on the board at the line when the clock is stopped." Stackhouse: "Those are guys that are physical. I think when you know you're playing physical guys, you want to try to match their physicality and their intensity from the start, and that's what we were able to do and that's what I was able to do early in the game." Stackhouse: "In the 1st quarter when you look up and [Dampier has] 8 points and 6 rebounds, it's going to be a good night for the Mavs. A lot of what we do rests on those guys. When he and DeSagana got numbers like that early on, it normally bodes well for us." Stackhouse on not starting: "I always put it in Avery's court. I trust him more than I've ever trusted probably any coach that I've ever played for other than Dean Smith. I know when it's that time he's going to call on me, and he trusts me to do what I do out on the basketball court. So whether it's starting or whether it's coming off the bench, we're all right." Stackhouse on the end of the season: "We've survived. We managed throughout the year with a lot of things happening and here we are with 60 wins. There are not a lot of guys that ever played in the league that can say they've been on a team that won 60 games. That's something that we can be very proud of. We can continue to build on that and we're a really good team with a chance to be a great team." Stackhouse on winning 60 games: "60 wins is big. A lot of good players in this league never play on a team that wins 60. It took me 11 years to do it. But it's not our goal." Erick Dampier: "I felt like we played pretty good. We came out from the start of the game with a good defense effort. We're getting ready for the playoffs and we've got to come out and be ready to play. We have to get in that playoff mode. We're looking forward to starting the playoffs." Dampier: "I'm just trying to do whatever I can to help this team win. Whether it's more production in rebounds or playing defense, and I've got to find ways to get myself into the game while I'm out there." Dampier: "I know that every shot is not going to go in so I know I can get some rebounds on both ends, and find ways to score when I get those opportunities." Jerry Sloan on the free throw difference: "It was a tough situation. I know we've got to overcome that but it shouldn't make any difference who you are. That's the thing that upset me this time. We made some mistakes but we also had some situations where I think we could of hung in there a little better if we'd had a couple of things go our way. But every time they got into that position or in the same situation, they're shooting free throws. 55 free throws for that team. They're good, I'm not going to take anything away from them because they're a great team, but it's frustrating." Sloan on not making the playoffs: "I had said it would be a big disappointment if the team didn't make the playoffs. I'm not sure that we have enough guys that are hungry enough to want to be in the playoffs. The toughness to be able to get there sometimes doesn't show up. I take responsibility for that. That's my job to make them tougher or whatever it takes for them to be able to play." Andrei Kirilenko: "Everyone knows they're a good team and right from the beginning they started showing it. I think we had a couple good stretches where we were down 11 or 12 points and cut the lead to about 3 points, but to beat them we need to come to play for the entire 48 minutes." Kirilenko on not making the playoffs: "It's so bad. It's not what we wanted. We fought back and fought back. But it's too late to have chance now." Carlos Boozer on Dallas' free throws: "They're an aggressive offensive team so we had to make a decision to either let them shoot or make them earn it. We decided to put them on the free throw line." Boozer on not making the playoffs: "We needed some luck to make the playoffs, but it was too late. We ran out of time. ... If we would have been healthy by March and had the lineup we had tonight, we would have been okay." Mehmet Okur on Dampier: "He played with much energy, pushing whatever is in his way." Matt Harpring on not making the playoffs: "It hurts. You play this game for a reason: to get to the playoffs and give yourself a chance to win a championship. If you're out of the playoffs, you can't win a championship." Deron Williams: "There were really a lot of things we didn't do well. We didn't rebound well, they out-hustled us really. They wanted the game more than us; it wasn't just free throws. It's tough and frustrating, it was a must win for us and to go out and play how we did it's frustrating." Williams: "It was a must win for us and we go out and don't really perform well. It's tough, frustrating, and we can't make the playoffs now." Dallas Mavericks 111, Utah Jazz 95 at Dallas (April 16) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 33 23 36 19 - 111 .400 .538 .426 .836 Utah 24 24 24 23 - 95 .536 .333 .508 .703 Halftime: Dallas 56-48 3rd Q: Dallas 92-72 Technicals: Utah defensive 3 seconds 6:08 2nd, Dirk Nowitzki 10:25 4th, Kris Humphries 10:25 4th, Jerry Sloan 10:25 4th Refs: Tim Donaghy, Ken Mauer, Ed Malloy Attendance: 19,961 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Milt Palacio (left knee inflammation) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jason Terry 37 3-12 3-6 7-8 16 0-2 6 4 3 2 0 Adrian Griffin 28 1-4 0-0 4-4 6 1-3 1 0 4 3 0 Dirk Nowitzki 36 4-13 0-2 14-14 22 1-7 4 2 1 0 0 Josh Howard 32 7-12 1-1 3-4 18 1-5 2 1 4 3 0 DeSagana Diop 24 1-1 0-0 3-6 5 4-5 2 1 5 2 1 Jerry Stackhouse 25 6-13 2-3 6-7 20 1-1 1 1 1 1 0 Erick Dampier 21 4-6 0-0 5-6 13 7-12 0 2 5 0 1 Josh Powell 16 1-1 0-0 3-4 5 1-4 0 1 1 1 0 Darrell Armstrong 11 2-3 1-1 0-0 5 1-1 2 2 1 0 0 Marquis Daniels 6 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 1-1 1 0 0 0 0 DJ Mbenga 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Rawle Marshall 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 29-68 7-13 46-55 111 18-41 19 15 26 12 2 Utah Jazz REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Deron Williams 36 7-11 2-2 0-0 16 0-1 9 0 2 2 0 Andrei Kirilenko 25 2-4 0-0 5-8 9 2-3 3 5 3 1 2 Carlos Boozer 34 9-15 0-0 3-3 21 4-11 1 2 3 0 0 Matt Harpring 23 1-5 0-2 5-8 7 0-3 2 0 5 0 0 Mehmet Okur 33 5-12 0-1 7-8 17 2-5 1 4 4 0 0 Devin Brown 30 3-9 1-4 0-0 7 2-3 2 1 5 1 0 Kris Humphries 18 1-1 0-0 1-4 3 0-2 0 1 5 0 0 Jarron Collins 16 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 3-3 0 2 3 0 0 Keith McLeod 12 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 0-0 2 3 1 3 1 Greg Ostertag 9 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-2 0 1 2 0 0 C.J. Miles 4 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 33-65 3-9 26-37 95 13-33 20 20 33 7 3 patricia