The Mavs have interviewed Dave Wohl for the GM/vp of bball operations
position.  Don't look for the team to hire anyone soon as Wohl is the
first person to actually be interview.

Former Mav update: Bernie Bickerstaff resigned as head coach for Denver
and assistant Dick Motta was promoted to head coach.  Motta was given a 
multi-year contract.  [Gotta wonder how Dale Ellis feels having Motta as 
his coach again considering how much he disliked it the first time 
around.]  In a related note, a lot of joking went on Tuesday night about 
whether or not Mavs radio color guy (and former Motta assistant) Brad 
Davis was going to be heading to Denver.  [Denver does currently have 3 
assistants.]


Dallas Mavericks at Boston Celtics (Nov. 24)

David Wesley (sore foot) and Pervis Ellison (fractured big toe) did not
play.

Jim Jackson hit a 19-footer to tie the game at 10-10.  Boston responded 
with a 10-0 run to go up 20-10.  Boston led 29-20 after 1.  Boston was up 
37-28 with 7:34 left in the 2nd and then scored the next 6 points.  
Boston scored the last 6 points of the quarter to go up 56-40 at the half.
Dana Barros and Frank Brickowski had 11 points each and two other Celtics 
were in double figures.  Boston shot 60% FG in the half.  Boston led 84-63 
after 3.  Boston was up by 25 at 89-64 with 9:37 left.  The Mavs woke up 
and went on a 25-6 run to cut Boston's lead down to 95-89 with 1:22 
remaining.  Rick Fox made a layup and Boston hit a couple of free throws 
to seal the game.  Boston 105, Dallas 91.

Dallas never led the entire game.  The Mavs only shot 1-10 3-pointers.


Quotes:
Dana Barros: "I just need to get my rhythm.  I just stayed more 
aggressive tonight and it paid off.  It's hard playing two different 
positions.  You just need to go out and do your job."

Dino Radja: "We built a big lead and when you play that kind of a game, 
it's easy.  You've got to play six months.  You really don't have time 
to think about who you're playing.  You just play the game and then look 
up and see who you play."

Jim Cleamons: "We need to live through the hard times, but if we put in 
an honest effort every night, we're gonna see good results at the end.
I don't think we should be 3-9, but the reality is we are."

Cleamons: "We need to play four 12-minute quarters, not just one.  We 
played with more effort in the fourth quarter.  We played like we wanted 
to win."

Cleamons: "What this team has to do is learn through the hard times, until
the good times come.  But you can't learn through the hard times until you
learn to give a consistent effort."

Jim Jackson: "We have the talent here.  We just need to keep ourselves 
out of the deep holes early.  As you saw tonight, once we start to get 
going, we are all right.  But as I said, when we get down early, 
sometimes it's too late."

Chris Gatling: "It seems like all teams get hot against us."

Dal-Bos boxscore


San Antonio Spurs at Dallas Mavericks  (Nov. 26)

Dallas led 30-24 after 1 as Dallas made 6 of 7 of their first shots and
hit 4 3-pointers.

Dallas scored the first 3 points of the 2nd quarter.  Both teams went into
a dry and turnover-prone spell.  San Antonio was up 50-49 at the half.
Dominique Wilkins had 16 points and Chris Gatling had 14 points.   

Jim Jackson opened the 3rd with a 3-pointer.  The game was tied 67-67 with 
4:45 remaining.  Dallas went on a 13-7 run to close the quarter and go up 
80-74 after 3.

Dallas was up 82-81 before going on a 10-2 run that was capped by a
jumper by Gatling to put Dallas up 92-83 with 4:20 left.  The Spurs
responded by going on a 8-2 run capped by a 3-pointer by Vernon Maxwell to 
cut the lead down to 94-91.  Derek Harper hit 2 free throws and Wilkins 
hit a 3-pointer to put the game at 96-94 Dallas with 1:30 remaining.  
Gatling made a basket with 50 seconds left and Jason Kidd hit 2 free 
throws to put Dallas up 100-94 with 24 seconds left.  The teams traded 2
points.  Sean Elliott hit a 3-pointer to put the game at 102-99.  George
McCloud hit 1-2 free throws and Vinny Del Negro hit a long jumper.
103-101 Dallas with 3.8 seconds.  The Spurs fouled Gatling who hit both
free throws to seal the win.  Dallas 105, San Antonio 101.

Dallas shot 9-10 FT and only committed 1 turnover in the last 2 minutes.  
The Mavs also shot 13-15 FT and only had 2 turnovers in the 4th quarter.  
Gatling scored 10 points in the 4th.  The Mavs shot season highs at 56.7%
FG and 84% FT and committed a season low 11 turnovers.


Quotes:
Jim Cleamons: "We avoided turnovers and we hit our free throws.  It's as 
plain as the nose on your face.  Those are the things we have to do to 
win ball games."

Cleamons: "There are several times in the first half where I thought we
had them on the ropes, but in our anxiety to score we turned the ball 
over.   We have to have better decisions when we have possession of the 
basketball, that is a mindset."

Cleamons: "We can play better, but I'm happy with the win.  It's as 
plain as the nose on our face what we need to do to win.  When we take 
care of the ball and make free throws, we can play."

Cleamons: "I'm happy with the victory, but we can certainly play better.
I'm not terribly pleased with our defense, but I give San Antonio credit.
they were 10-24 on 3s.  They shot really well."

Jason Kidd: "This is a guy [David Robinson] who won the MVP.  It was 
nice not to have to double-team him.  No doubt they're going to be a lot
better when he gets back in the lineup, but they did a good job of
hanging in there tonight."

Kidd: "Everybody felt good shooting the ball.   You have to give San 
Antonio credit, they never gave up.  That is what kept them in the game.
We made our free throws and that is the most important thing when you 
are in a close game."

Kidd: "We took care of the ball and got the ball to the right people."

Chris Gatling on his play: "It was nothing fancy.  We just looked at the 
lineup and figured out where our advantage was.  Then we used it."

Gatling: "I think we're learning.  We're getting confidence in one
another.  The main thing is just go and execute your play when your number
is called."

Derek Harper: "If we'd shot free throws like that all season, we'd be 
about 7-6 instead of 4-9.  That's how you put the thing to bed."

Harper: "Obviously, they weren't going to go away.  They have a lot of
guys who can hit 3-point shots and did at the end.  But we did what we had
to do from an execution standpoint.  We got good shots, got the ball
inside to Gat and that forced them to double-team.  We got some very
comfortable things offensively."

George McCloud: "I don't care if they have David Robinson or not, a win 
is a win and we got what we desperately needed.  I'm not saying it was a 
great game, but we'll take it."

Bob Hill: "I thought we were great.  We hung in all night.  But Gatling 
was a little too much for us to deal with inside."

Hill: "We hung in all night long.  Our togetherness was a lot better 
and we moved the ball.  Gatling was a little bit too much for us to 
deal with inside.  We couldn't stop him when we needed to.  You have to 
give them credit, their spacing was good and they stretched us out."

Dominique Wilkins: "We played better, but you have to give their team 
some credit.  They hit some huge shots, jump shot after jump shot.  We 
had a couple of missed opportunities down the stretch that kind of hurt 
us.  I felt we should have won the game."

Vernon Maxwell: "It was a tough game.  I felt we made a great effort.  
We are just coming up short."


SA-Dal boxscore