Well, the Mavs ended the season with a thud losing to hapless Golden State Warriors and again getting blown out by the Lakers. The Mavs finished the 1997-98 season with a 20-62 record. Martin Muursepp did not play in the last two games due to bronchitis. Khalid Reeves played in the games despite a sprained left ankle and Erick Strickland played with the stomach flu. Reeves did not play in the 2nd half of the Lakers game due to the ankle. The games The Mavs were at Golden State April 16 and did not play well during long stretches. The first quarter was tight with a lot of lead changes and only small 1, 2, and one 4 point leads. Golden State led 26-25 after 1. Then came the 2nd quarter where Dallas couldn't find the ocean if they were at the Santa Cruz boardwalk. Golden State went on a 13-4 run to go up 49-35 in the 2nd and led at the half 49-37. Dallas shot 22% FG in the 2nd quarter. Dallas did rally back in the 3rd quarter as they finally were able to find the rim (they shot 55% FG in the 3rd). Golden State led 54-39 when the Mavs went on a 12-2 run to get back in the game at 51-56 midway through the quarter. Golden State led 66-62 after 3. The 4th stayed close with Dallas slowly pulling even with Golden State. Dallas led 80-78 with 4:37 left. Golden State scored the next 5 points and Hubert Davis hit the jumper (Dallas' first basket in 3 minutes) and Golden State led 83-82 with 1:30 remaining. Tony Delk hit a layup. Shawn Respert missed a 3-pointer and Muggsy Bogues threw a touchdown pass to Jim Jackson for the easy layup with 19 seconds left. A Golden State free throw capped the score as Golden State won 88-82. Jackson had 25 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals, Delk had 22 points, and Erick Dampier had 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Michael Finley had 20 points including 9-25 FG, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists, A.C. Green had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Davis had 16 points. The Mavs' final game of the season was in LA versus the Lakers on April 17. And the Mavs played like they always do against the Lakers and Shaquille O'Neal - not very well and O'Neal dominates. The Lakers led 31-21 after 1 and 56-46 at the half. O'Neal had 19 points including 9-11 FG in the half. Then came the dreaded 3rd quarter. The Lakers went on an 11-0 run to make it a blowout at 76-54 with 5:40 left in the quarter. They led 88-68 after 3. The Mavs did try to rally back in the 4th going on a 14-6 run to pull within 96-84 with 7:46 left. With O'Neal back on the court and the extra motivation of the announcement that Seattle (who the Lakers are fighting for division championship) lost to San Antonio, the Lakers went on a 15-2 run to go up 109-84 with 5 minutes left. The Lakers won 124-95. I did resist the temptation to switch over to the Seattle-San Antonio game or the Utah-Phoenix game early in the Mavs' 4th quarter was rewarded for my masochism by getting to see two great Mavs plays. The Mavs inbounded the ball on their baseline to Shawn Bradley who tap-passed the ball to Michael Finley for the over the head, back to the basket slam dunk. About a minute later, Bradley's lob pass to Finley was slightly high and about two feet from the basket, but Finley controlled it with his right hand and brought it around in a pretty smooth motion for the scoop shot. The Lakers shot 61.8% (47-76) FG and 25-36 FT and Dallas shot 41.1% (39-95) FG and 13-15 FT. O'Neal had 43 points on 18-22 FG and 7-13 FT, 5 rebounds, and 4 blocks, Eddie Jones had 21 points on 9-14 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 6 assists, and Kobe Bryant had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Finley had 31 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals and Hubert Davis had 21 points. How bad was the Mavs' non-answer for O'Neal this season? In the 3 games that O'Neal played against Dallas he shot 74.6% (50-67) FG - a Mavs opponent record. patricia