After the game in Detroit Wednesday night, the players had a rough plane
ride home.  There was a heavy storm in Dallas, so the plane had to fly
around for a while before being diverted to Austin.  The ride into Austin
was extremely rough as the storm had by then reached Austin.  A couple of
players decided they had enough, so Derek Harper, Tony Dumas, and George
McCloud took two cabs back to Dallas.  Frank Zaccanelli and Mark Aguirre
joined them for the 3 1/2 hour drive.

A large number of Mavs are sponsoring sections of tickets for charity,
organizations, or under privileged kids.  The sections are: O-Zone (Oliver
Miller), Cloud 9 (George McCloud), The Dogs (Loren Meyer), Kidd Klub,
Gatling's Gang, Mash Unit, Harper's House, and Mock's Block (Samkai
Walker).


Miami at Dallas game

The first quarter wasn't all that pretty for Dallas, but Miami wasn't
playing that well either and was only up 24-19 after 1.  Dallas had 6
turnovers in the quarter.

The Mavs played better in the first 5 minutes of the 2nd quarter and 
managed to take a 32-28 lead with 6:40 left.  The Mavs then fell to pieces
and Miami took full advantage of it by going on a 17-1 run to go up 45-33.
George McCloud hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the half.  Miami led
50-41.  McCloud was the only Mav in double figures with 10 points.  Tim
Hardaway had 15 points and Alonzo Mourning was held to just 2 points even
though Loren Meyer and Eric Montross were having foul trouble.  Jason Kidd
looked terrible and had 4 turnovers in the half.  The Mavs had 8 more
turnovers in the 2nd quarter to up their total to 14 for the game.  Both
teams were shooting 42% FG for the game.

The Mavs opened the 3rd playing like crap and it looked like another
blowout was on.  Miami built up 17 points leads a couple of times
including 68-51 with 3:41 left.  Behind the hustle and play of Chris
Gatling, the Mavs went on a 26-7 run over the next 7 minutes to get back
in the game with a 77-75 lead with 8 minutes left in the game.  Gatling 
scored 9 points and grabbed a number of rebounds and Jamal Mashburn 
drained 2 open 3-pointers during the run.  Mashburn and Gatling were 
joined on the court by Derek Harper, Oliver Miller, and Tony Dumas (who 
actually played good D) during the rally.  The game went back and forth
over the next 4 minutes.  Kidd and Jim Jackson were brought in for Harper
and Dumas.  Dallas went up 82-81 on a Jim Jackson layup with 4:25 left.  
And that was it for the Mavs.  Mourning dunked with 3 minutes left to put 
Miami up 83-82.  Mourning hit a hook shot 50 seconds later and Dan Majerle 
end the 7-0 run by hitting a 3 and sealed the game.  Mourning concluded
the scoring by dunking in the final seconds of the game.  Miami won
91-84.  

Mourning scored 6 points during the final 3 minutes of the game.  The Mavs 
closed the game by missing 5 shots (including a couple of not open 3-point 
attempts by Mashburn), 3 free throws, and committed 1 turnover in the last 
3 1/2 minutes of the game as Miami went on a 10-2 run.  Dallas was 0-5 on 
free throws in the 4th quarter (0-4 by Gatling and Jackson missed the
Illegal D technical).  


Quotes:
Pat Riley: "We played very well for three quarters.  They closed the game 
a couple of times and it became a game again.  We made some big plays and 
we kept rebounding the ball and our defense really picked it up."

Riley: "Kurt [Thomas] was an opportunistic player tonight.  He was getting 
second shots and loose balls and played well defensively.  Every night 
it's a different guy."
   
Alonzo Mourning: "We've played together for quite a bit now and we 
understand what it takes down the stretch to win ball games.  We got in 
the huddle with Dan Majerle and he said, 'This is what all the hard work 
is about.  You just have to dig down and win this thing.' And we did it."

Mourning: "They double-team you out of respect for your game.  It's 
important for me to make good decisions in the post when they do double 
me.  You've just got to be patient and take what the defense gives you."

Tim Hardaway: "I'm running up the floor, making things happen for my 
teammates.  We took it to the hole strong tonight.  That's what the coach 
keeps saying is that we take too many outside shots.  Instead, let's take 
it to the hole."

Jim Cleamons: "We had a nice little thing going.  But it's like you get 
close, but you forget what got you there.  We had some ball movement.  We 
got the ball from one side to the other. They had some missed assignments 
on the defensive end and we took advantage of it.  Unfortunately, we didn't
do well enough to bring the baby home.

Cleamons: "You've got to have quite a bit of pride and I was happy the 
guys showed in the third quarter that they were going to stand up and
defend what was theirs.  But unfortunately we came up a little bit short."

Cleamons: "We've got a long way to go.  But the happy part is the team is
energized and realizes, if it comes with the type of energy they exhibited
in the second half, there is a light at the end of the tunnel."

Jim Jackson: "If we had played as hard in the first half as we did in the 
second, we could have won this game.  These are the kind of games that we 
have to close out.  The effort was great, but at the same time it needed to 
be there a little sooner."

Chris Gatling: "I'm encouraged by this game, oh yes.  We're showing
improvement.  Everything is coming together, slowly but surely."

Gatling: "You've got to understand, this team has only been together for
two months.  There are guys coming off injuries, guys who haven't really
played together.  We're taking out lumps and bruises right now, but we're
mending as a team.  We're coming together.  That's how you win.  That's 
how you build."

Mia-Dal boxscore