Jamal Mashburn was on the bench Friday night in street clothes.  He had 10
stitches in his right cheek and began non-contact conditioning Thursday.
The stitches will be removed Monday.
Mashburn: "I don't have any headaches or blurry vision, so I think I'm OK.
I was scared because when I fell I grabbed my head and just felt a big 
dent, like a hole in my head."


Chicago Bulls at Dallas Mavericks  (Nov. 29)
The first quarter contained a couple of mini-runs by both teams.  Dallas
tied the game at 10-10 and again at 14-14.  Chicago then went on a 12-1
run, including 8 points from Michael Jordan, to close the quarter.  Jordan
had 8 points and Dennis Rodman had 12 rebounds - the Mavs had 12 rebounds
total.  The Mavs only shot 22% FG in the quarter while Chicago shot 44%
FG.

The Mavs opened the 2nd quarter with a 9-3 run to put the game at 29-24.
Chicago responded with a 15-4 run to pull ahead 44-28 with 5 minutes left.
Chicago led 61-42 at the half.  Jordan had 23 points and Scottie Pippen,
who took full advantage of Cleamons' stupid small lineup that several 
times had Derek Harper guarding him, had 18 points on 9-11 FG.  Chris
Gatling was the only Mav in double-figures with 19 points (18 in the 2nd
quarter).  Chicago out-rebounded Dallas 32-17.

The Mavs managed to pull within 63-51 in the 3rd quarter, but they could
get no closer than that.  Chicago went on a 13-6 run to go up 76-57.
Chicago led 83-67 after 3.

The final score was Chicago 116, Dallas 97.

Chicago never trailed in the game.  Jordan finished with 36 points
including 4-5 3-pointers, Pippen with 32 points and 10 rebounds, and
Rodman had 19 rebounds.  Jason Kidd had a season high 17 assists with only
6 points including 2-9 FG (the only two makes were when he was actually
looking to shoot when he caught the ball - if he looks to pass first and
then shoots, it's most likely going to miss).  Another great game by
Gatling was thrown down the drain.  Gat finished with a career high 35
points and had 11 rebounds.  I disagreed with several lineups Cleamons put
on the floor in matching up with the Bulls.  He seemed to be reacting to
the substitutions that Phil Jackson made.  Jackson often went to a smaller
lineup since starter 7-footer Luc Longley is injured and Cleamons
responded by pulling his big men instead of taking advantage of the height
mis-matches.  I was also wondering why Kidd, Jackson, and Gatling were on
the floor in the last 3 minutes of the game.  You don't risk injury to
your best players in garbage time.


Quotes:
Phil Jackson: "I felt tonight we had some overmatched situations we could 
exploit.  Jim tried to do things differently on defense but we were ready 
to counter.  Scottie and Mike were special tonight.  They can make this 
game look easy."

Jackson: "Michael and Scottie seemed to be in a flow tonight.  What they 
were doing was very special.  The rebounding by Rodman in the first half 
is what kept us out of any trouble."

Michael Jordan: "We were able to counter everything he threw at us.  He
tried to get all the calls like he did when he was with us.  His team
really works hard but it would have been hard for anybody to stop us
tonight."

Jordan: "I'm happy about our winning.  I'm shooting the ball well, I'm 
getting good looks.  I've been able to get into a good rhythm, but 
tonight was one of those nights when I wanted to get everyone involved, 
especially Scottie."

Scottie Pippen: "Tonight, the rhythm was there.  The shots were there and 
I took advantage of it.  Everyone knows that Michael is the type of guy 
that wants to go out and score and put up big numbers.  I don't think it's 
fair to say he needs help scoring.  I think our club likes having more 
versatile guys that can handle the ball and open up the court."

Jim Cleamons: "They, indeed, are still the world champions.  I'm accustomed 
to seeing it.  We were a little shell-shocked and distracted in the first 
half.  We were the straight man to their comic routine.  I've been in that
locker room for seven years and I know their mentality.  They were 
outstanding."

Cleamons: "The thing we have to understand as a basketball team is that 
you have have to be able to sustain an effort over a period of time."

Cleamons: "We were shell-shocked in the first half or distracted, playing 
like there was somewhere else we wanted to be.  We were playing straight 
man to their comedy.  The second half we were better, but by then the 
horse was already out of the barn."

Jason Kidd: "We didn't play too well early, but I don't think we were
shell-shocked.  I don't know what Coach is talking about there."
 
Kidd: "People talk about my stats being down.  But last year was one of
those years.  People were hurt.  I had to score more.  I'm happy with my
play this year.  I don't think I need to score a lot of points to be
effective."  [Someone needs to point out the Mavs' record to Kidd.]

Oliver Miller: "We didn't come out with any energy, no enthusiasm at all.
They didn't even have a great game.  They half-stepped it.  They weren't
the Chicago everyone knows.  We should have taken it to them, the way I
know this team can."

Jim Jackson: "I think you respect them more because you know they can
execute at any time.  When you're out there, you can't make any mistakes.
You have to play almost a perfect game."

Jackson: "Michael doesn't have to dunk anymore.  He shoots that fadeaway 
and, though he's barely exerting himself, you really can't do a thing about 
it."

Chi-Dal boxscore