I forgot to mention in the last report that the Mavs released Erick
Strickland.  Strickland only played in 2 games and spent most of the
season on IR.  Strickland had a non-guaranteed contract and the date
non-guaranteed contracts become guaranteed is Friday.

Dallas placed Samaki Walker on IR with a sprained left ankle and activated
Fred Roberts.


Dallas Mavericks at Philadelphia 76ers  (January 8)

Derek Harper and A.C. Green led a players-only meeting prior to the game.

Jim Jackson did not play due to attending his grandmother's funeral.

Iverson did not start due to missing a pre-game meeting.
Dallas had a new starting lineup with A.C. Green, Jamal Mashburn, Eric
Montross, Michael Finley, and Sam Cassell.

Derrick Coleman injured his left pinky late in the 1st and did not return.
Apparently it was a pretty serious injury as he was later hospitalized.
Philly led 27-20 after 1.

Mark Davis drove for the layup to put Philly up 32-25 with 10:35 left.
The Mavs then went on a 8-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from Sam Cassell to
take an 33-32 lead about a minute later.  The game was tied 54-54 when
Dallas went on a 14-5 run including 6 points from George McCloud.  Dallas
led 61-54 at the half.  McCloud had 16 points including 3 3-pointers in 
the 2nd quarter.

Dallas opened the quarter with a 12-2 run including 5 points from Cassell
and 5 from Jamal Mashburn.  Dallas led 73-56 with 6:05 left.  Dallas
continued to pull away and led 88-66 after 3 with 6 more points from
Cassell and 4 more from Mashburn.  Philly only scored 12 points in the
quarter while shooting 22% (5-23) FG.  Dallas shot 57% (12-21) FG in the
quarter.

Philly could not get closer than 14 points in the 4th.  Dallas 111,
Philadelphia 93.


With the win, Dallas swept the season series vs Philadelphia 2-0.  It was
the first time in 10 years that the Mavs swept Philly.

George McCloud had a great game with 23 points including 8-12 FG and 4-7
3-pointers in 21 minutes.  Michael Finley performed nicely in his first
start for the Mavs, filling in for Jim Jackson, with 17 points including
7-11 FG and 9 rebounds.  Sam Cassell had 21 points and Chris Gatling had
22 points including 7-9 FG and 8 rebounds.  Allen Iverson led the way for
Philly with 22 points including 4-9 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Jerry Stackhouse chipped in 21 points including 8-22 FG and 0-5
3-pointers, 9 rebounds, and 6 turnovers.  Clarence Weatherspoon was the
only other 76er to reach double figures.  He had 16 points and 7
rebounds.


Quotes
Jim Cleamons: "George McCloud had a wonderful first half and that inspired
us.  It got us some confidence. When you shoot the ball pretty well, it 
can cure a multitude of sins."

Cleamons: "This is a little bit different.  George McCloud had a wonderful
1st half and that motivated us.  We changed the lineup a little bit and 
things worked out.  I think George will be comfortable coming off the 
bench."

Cleamons: "We got after them a little bit tougher, held them to some 
perimeter shots, kept them off the free-throw line and made them earn 
their shots.  We were also able to get out on transition."

George McCloud: "Any time you make 3 or 4 shots in a row, and you've got 
the hot hand, your teammates are looking for you.  For me, that was the 
key - getting the ball in position where I could take my shot."

McCloud: "They kind of expect this out of me and I expect this out of 
myself.  Whether I come off the bench or start, my role doesn't change. 
When I come into the game, I come in to score."

McCloud: "It's a new lineup, but my job is still to score.  My job is to 
try to lift the team with my scoring."

McCloud: "We had to bounce back after a loss like that [to New York]. This
is the NBA and you can't let a game like that get you down."

Derek Harper: "All eyes were on us to see how we'd respond, and I'm proud 
of how we bounced back.  I think [the meeting] helped us.  When you get 
beat like we did in New York, you've got to do whatever you think is 
necessary.  As one of the captains, I thought we should just get together
and air things out."

Jamal Mashburn: "It's nice to play a team struggling like we are, maybe 
even worse.  We were 10 games in the hole, and coming off that loss last 
night, we knew we needed this game badly.  The veterans just stepped up 
and reinforced what we all knew had to be done."

Johnny Davis: "[Coleman] split [his finger] on the rim.  That's the way 
it looked to me.  Once Derrick got injured, we never really got anything 
going.  We couldn't make any shots.  Defensively, we had breakdowns 
throughout.  Part of it is the schedule, but we can't lay it all on that. 
The guys were tired tonight, a back-to-back after a West Coast trip, but 
we had to make the best of it, which we didn't do tonight."

Johnny Davis: "That was an ugly game from a standpoint that once Derrick
got injured, we couldn't get anything going.  We couldn't make any shots, 
and defensively we had too many breakdowns.  We wanted to play hard, but 
we didn't have it in us."

Allen Iverson on why he missed the pre-game meeting: "Personal reasons.
Traffic, that's what it was.  You know, no big deal.  I got held up in 
traffic, that's all.  I wish I didn't, but that's the way it goes 
sometimes."

Iverson: "I gotta keep playing basketball.  Yeah, [the 7 game lossing
streak] bothers me, but we have to stick together and stay with each 
other.  This is going to test our hearts and see what we're really 
about.  We'll see how many people on this team are selfish, how many 
have attitude problems.  We can see what people are made of.  I feel 
good about us because we're still sticking together.  Nobody's jumping 
down anybody's throats."

Dal-Phi boxscore