The Mavs activated Samaki Walker from IR.  To make room for Walker on the
roster, Erick Strickland was placed on IR with a strained left shoulder.

With Walker's entrance into the game last night late in the 4th quarter,
he became the youngest player to ever play for the Mavs.  Born 2/25/76, he
was 20 years, 8 months, and 15 days.  Mashburn was the youngest at 20
years, 11 months, and 6 days.


Indiana Pacers at Dallas Mavericks

It looked like the same old Mavs for the first 4 minutes of the game as
Indiana jumped out to an 8-0 lead, of which Antonio Davis had 4.  The Mavs 
then went on a 19-10 run to take the lead at 19-18.  The Mavs led 29-24 
after one.  The 3 Js combined for 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 minutes in 
the quarter.  [It was Mashburn's first start of the season.]

The Mavs led 37-30 with 8:30 left before breaking open the game.  Led by
Derek Harper, the team went on a 18-5 run to go up 55-35 with 2 minutes
left.  Reggie Miller collected a technical with 2 minutes left in the 
quarter for comments to the ref.  Shocking me, the Mavs were up 63-38 at 
halftime and shot 60% (27-45) FG for the half including 5 3-pointers.  
The Mavs shot 14-20 FG in the 2nd quarter.  They had 8 turnovers (4 each
quarter) in the half, but Indiana had 6.  They were dominating in the 
paint and fast breaks - heck, with a 25 points game, they were dominating.  
After the 0-8 start, the Mavs went on a 63-30 run.  Derek Harper scored 10
points in the quarter on 5-5 FG.  Jim Jackson joined Harper as the only 
Mav in double figures with 11 points as the Mavs had very balanced scoring 
with 10 Mavs scoring.  Miller led the Pacers with 15 points.

Indiana scored the first 5 points of the 3rd quarter.  The Mavs answered
with a 12-1 run.  During that run, the Mavs were up 69-44 with 9 minutes 
left in the 3rd quarter when Reggie Miller decided he had enough.  Miller 
gave Loren Meyer an obvious fore arm to Meyer's chest and was called for 
the foul.  Miller jawed off at the ref and collected his 2nd technical and
was ejected.  He then got in the ref's face and mouthed off at him for a 
full minute.  [He may have to pay for that.]  The Mavs ended their run at
75-44 with 7:50 left.  Indiana answered with a 18-5 run to end the 
quarter (and worry the fans).  The Mavs were up 80-62 after the half.

Indiana would go on small runs in the 4th, but the Mavs would build the
lead back into the twenties.  The Pacers never got closer than 17.  Samaki
Walker made his NBA debut a humorous one.   Walker checked in with 3
minutes left in the game.  The Mavs in bounds the ball and the whistle 
blew.  I was dying of laughter.  Technical foul on the Mavs - they had 6 
guys on the court.  Walker forgot to tell Gatling that he was out.

Dallas won 103-82.  The Mavs bench scored 52 points.  Dallas scored 27
points on the fast break compared to only 10 points by Indiana's break.
Of course, they lost 2 points when Dale Davis ran behind the defense and
was wide open for the dunk on the break and the on-the-money pass went
right through his hands.

Chris Gatling had the highlight of the game when as the Mavs were running,
Kidd passed it to Gatling who took it in for the jam, Davis went up to
block it, and Gatling just powered it in over Davis.  Boom.


Quotes:
Jim Cleamons "Fortunately, we found a way to get off to a good start and 
were able to build a lead and hold on to it.  If my bench is consistent, 
then that helps me in terms of my rotations and substitutions.  When they 
play a disappearing act, that leaves me groping as to where to go for some 
help.  Anytime the bench can give it some effort, then we play pretty well."

Cleamons: "We talked earlier that we wanted to win at home and we were
disappointed that we dropped our first two home games.  We needed to get 
this thing started in the right direction.  Our defense gave us an
opportunity to win and get the ball in the open floor."

Cleamons: "Fortunately, we found a way to get off to a good start and were
able to build a lead and hold on to it.  If my bench is consistent then 
that helps me in terms of my rotations and substitutions.  We talked 
earlier that we wanted to win at home and we were disappointed that we
dropped our first two home games.   We needed to get this thing started in 
the right direction.  Our defense gave us an opportunity to win and get 
the ball in the open floor."

Cleamons: "It's a start in the right direction.  We got the ball in the 
open floor and our defense generated our offense.  That's how it's 
supposed to work.  Those guys [the 3 Js] in a good flow, and we rode them."

Jason Kidd: "With this performance everybody was on top of their game
offensively and defensively.  Hopefully, this is the week that it all 
comes together.  Everybody contributed on the bench.  Now we're excited 
and we have to do the same thing when we play Minnesota.  Everything was 
in sync now, it is just a matter of us doing that on a consistent basis."

Kidd: "[His parents, high school coach, and Cleamons] all called and told 
me to play my game and that's what I tried to do.  Even when they scored, 
we came right back at them and put the pressure on.  We're not a 
half-court team.  We'd rather be in a track meet.  I hope everybody sees 
light at the end of the tunnel like I do."

Kidd: "It was just a matter of time.  We have to run.  That's the way we
played in the past, and that's the way we have to play now."

Kidd: "Everyone touched the ball.  It was no one person who had all the
points.  It was all 12.  Hopefully that can be the case all season."

Derek Harper: "If there's any such thing as a must win after five games, 
this was it.  Our backs were to the wall because we had such a slow start. 
I decided to come out aggressive and we played aggressive defense.  That 
allowed us to run and get easy baskets."

Harper: "We have to play with a lot of force, like we did tonight, in
order for us to win."

Jamal Mashburn: "We've had our problems, but we're still very talented 
players.  People may have forgotten that. But we know how to play with 
each other and when we're clicking like that we can make it look pretty 
easy."

Jim Jackson: "Everything clicked.  It was fun.  Now we've got to keep
this feeling."

Larry Brown: "The Mavericks were just quicker to the ball.  They took it 
to the basket.  They were great.  Then their bench came in and they were 
great. It was just a good old-fashioned whuppin'." 

Brown: "Their starters played good.  But their bench was sensational."

Brown: "They were quicker to the ball, they took it to the basket, they
were great.  Then their bench came in and played great.  I didn't see one 
guy out there that didn't contribute.  We need to keep working it."

Dale Davis: "It's frustrating.  We just need a spark.  We have to pick it 
up, one through 12.  It's a matter of playing a total of 48 minutes. 
We're playing in spurts instead of a complete game, and that's killing us."

Ind-Dal boxscore