Jason Kidd will have his #5 retired by the University of California in
March when the school closes the doors to Harmon Gym.


Dallas Mavericks at Sacramento Kings

The teams traded baskets to open the game and the game was tied 4-4 with
10 minutes left.  Sacramento went on 10-2 run as Dallas committeed 4
turnovers in the first 4 minutes of the game to go up 14-6 with 8 minutes 
remaining.  Sacramento led 24-18 with 4:22 to go.  Sacramento continued to 
shoot lights out and went on a 6-2 run to go up 30-20 with 3 minutes 
remaining.  Sacramento led 36-24 after 1.  Sacramento shot 74% (14-19) FG 
and hit 7-8 FT and Dallas shot 48% FG and hit 1-1 FT.  Mitch Richmond had 
14 points and Billy Owens had 8 points.  Jason Kidd had 7 points and 
George McCloud had 9 points.

Neither team hit anything in the first 2 minutes of the quarter.  Owens 
hit 1-2 free throws for the first point of the quarter 3 minutes into the 
quarter.  The ugly play continued as Sacramento led 39-29 with 7 minutes 
to go.  Sacramento went on an 8-2 run including a T on Chris Gatling for 
complaining (and he then sat for the rest of the quarter) and concluded 
by a 3-pointer by Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf to go up 50-31 with 3:50 remaining.  
Dallas responded with a 14-4 run behind 9 points from Jamal Mashburn to 
cut Sacramento's lead down to 9.  Abdul-Rauf hit the last basket of the 
quarter to give Sacramento a 56-54 lead after 1.  Sacramento shot 58% FG 
including 3-4 3-pointers and 9-11 FT and Dallas shot 49% FG and 6-8 FT.  
Richmond had 18 points including 7-8 FG and 5 assists, Owens had 9 points 
and 8 rebounds, and Abdul-Rauf had 11 points (all in the 2nd).  McCloud 
had 9 points, Mashburn had 9 points in 10 minutes, Samaki Walker had 7 
points, and Kidd had 7 points and 5 assists.

Sacramento led 62-51 with 7:45 left when Dallas went on 10-2 run, 
including 6 points from McCloud, to make it a game at 64-61 with 4:17 to 
go.  The Kings scored the last 4 points of the quarter to give Sacramento 
a 69-94 lead after 3.  Abdul-Rauf had 16 points and McCloud had 17 points 
including 8 in the 3rd.

Sacramento was up 77-68 with 10:40 left.  Dallas scored the next 6 points
including 2 baskets from Gatling to cut Sacramento's lead down to 77-74
with 8:49 remaining.  Sacramento scored 4 points then Gatling scored 4
points.  Sacramento was up by 3 at 81-78 with 6:17 to go.  Corliss
Williamson hit a hook shot, Billy Owens fouled out of the game, and Oliver
Miller hit a short hook.  Gatling had a pretty drive for the layup to
bring the Mavs within 1 at 83-82 with 5:09 left.  Tyus Edney took it all
the way for the layup a minute later.  In the shot of the night, Gatling
stumbled, drove baseline, and flipped the ball in over his shoulder.
Sacramento led 85-84 with 2:48 to go.  Williams slammed in a missed shot.
Jim Jackson missed a layup, but got the rebound and fed the cutting
Gatling for 2 and the foul.  He missed the extra.  Sacramento was still
up by 1 at 87-86 with a minutes remaining.  Abdul-Rauf hit 2 free throws.
Mashburn missed a shot and Richmond hit 2 more free throws with 22 seconds
left.  Abdul-Rauf hit 2 more free throws for the game's final points.
Sacramento 93, Dallas 86.

Unfortunately for the Mavs, only one player showed up in the 4th for the
Mavs.  But that player did make the most of it as Chris Gatling had 14 of 
the Mavs 20 points in the 4th.  Gatling finished the game with 21 points 
and 9 rebounds.  Inside the arc, McCloud had a nice game with 17 points
including 7-11 FG (but 0-3 3-pointers).  Mitch Richmond and Mahmoud
Abdul-Rauf led the Kings with 24 points and 22 points respectively.  The
Mavs shot themselves out of the game by only shooting 1-15 3-pointers (the
one make came from Jason Kidd).


Quotes
Garry St. Jean: "Obviously this was a solid, important win for our 
ballclub.  Again I thought we were very, very strong in the first half, 
we played very well.  The beginning of the third wasn't terrific, and 
even a period there in the fourth."

St. Jean: "It hasn't clicked enough this year for us, so it was sure nice
to see.  It's very important to us as a team that [Richmond and
Abdul-Rauf] both play well."

St. Jean: "I don't know if this ballclub is going to give us 48 minutes on 
a consistent basis.  What they showed me tonight was the courage to hang 
in there for a tough win following a real tough [loss] to the Lakers."

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf: "This could have been another one that we let slip 
away.  We kept our composure for the most part.  Gatling played a game 
toward the end, he basically kept them in the game.  It's good to get a 
win after losing several close ones."

Abdul-Rauf: "I told myself two games ago, 'Mahmoud, just go in and play 
your game regardless of the situation.'  I felt good from the beginning of 
the game.  It's the best I've felt this season.  I just have to relax and 
have fun."

Jim Cleamons: "We missed some easy shots and Gatling missed a free throw 
that would have tied it.  The ball just wasn't falling.  We couldn't get 
over the hump to get the lead."

Cleamons: "If we started out better we wouldn't have had such a hard 
time coming back.  We had a chance down the stretch but horseshoes and 
hand grenades is the only thing that counts when its close.  We missed 
some easy shots.  The ball just wasn't falling."

Jason Kidd: "We gave up a lot of easy shots in the first half.  The 
second half we picked it up defensively.  It's frustrating that we 
couldn't get over the hump."

Dal-Sac boxscore