Injury report: Gary Trent missed both the Portland and Golden State games with a strained left hamstring. He is still listed as day-to-day. Still no new word on Steve Nash's return or Robert Pack's. Last I heard, Nash may return for the Portland game Saturday and Pack will be out at least a week longer than Nash. Not Mavs news, but my sincerest condolence to family, friends, and fans of Bobby Phills. The NBA has lost one of the good guys. Even though Saturday's game is 2.5 days after the accident, I hope Reunion has a moment of silence before the Portland game in remembrance of Phills. Dallas at Portland (at Porland) The 1st quarter was a close one with 4 ties and 3 leads changes and neither team holding more than a 6 points lead. Portland led 25-22 after 1. Portland led 38-30 with 6 minutes left and Dallas scored the next 10 points to take a brief 40-38 lead with 3 minutes to go. Portland led 46-45 at the half. Brian Grant had 10 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 13 points. Portland was up 52-51 with 9 minutes remaining and went on a small 9-2 run to go up 61-53 with 6:30 left. Portland led 64-59 with 5:30 remaining and scored the next 6 points to take a 70-59 lead with 2:45 left. Portland led 78-67 after 3. Portland shot 13-22 FG and Dallas shot 7-18 FG in the 3rd. Damon Stoudamire had 10 points in the quarter. Portland led 78-71 with 10:30 left and scored the next 8 points to go up 86-71 with 9:15 to go. Dallas could not get no closer than 12 points most of the rest of the game - they got within 11 points with 27 seconds left - and most of the Mavs' starters sat for a good chunk of the 4th quarter as the Mavs had a game the next night. Portland won 107-94. It was a tale of two halfs. One of these days the Mavs will learn that it is a 48 minute game and how not to have big lapses after half or quarter breaks or timeouts. Michael Finley shot 4-5 FG in the 1st quarter and only 1-4 FG in the 2nd quarter and 1-7 FG in the 2nd half. He finished with only 12 points in 35 minutes. It was only the 3rd time in the last 25 games where he played less than 40 minutes. Dirk Nowitzki led the team in scoring with 19 points and Cedric Ceballos chipped in 18 points and 11 rebounds. 12 of Damon Jones' 15 points came in the 4th quarter and all of his points were off of 3-pointers. Scottie Pippen had 17 points on 7-9 FG and 3-4 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Damon Stoudamire had 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Detlef Schrempf had 17 points - 14 of which came in the 4th quarter - and 7 rebounds. Quotes Mike Dunleavy: "I thought we had good concentration. Our defense was strong and we kept some of their main guys away from the basket and we executed on offense. In the 2nd half we were more focused." Damon Stoudamire: "We played solid defense the whole 2nd half. We were able to really shut down the guys that were getting it done for them. When we did that, we were able to get the ball off the glass and get out." Stoudamire: "With the way Dallas plays defense - they do a lot of switching - we knew we were going to get a lot of open looks. It was like shooting practice for a lot of our guys." Stoudamire: "Everybody was going through the motions in the 1st half, for both teams. There was a lot of good offense, but there wasn't any defense played." Scottie Pippen: "We did a better job finding guys for layups and dunks in the 2nd half. We just took our time and were much more patient. We found the tempo we need to play instead of playing their tempo." Detlef Schrempf: "We finally got used to their switching on defense and did a better job helping each other out making good passes. How many assists did we have? 32? Yeah, that sounds right." Don Nelson: "We hung around in the 1st half, but then they took it away from us in the 3rd quarter. Portland's intensity level went up." Nelson: "We hung around in the 1st half, but they took it away from us in the 3rd quarter. Portland is the deepest team I've seen this season. In the 3rd quarter, they had us inside and then outside." Nelson: "Portland is a really good team. In the 3rd period when Portland made the 3s, they had us inside and then outside. I wasn't very happy with the 3rd quarter." Nelson: "This team is playing as hard as they can play and playing as well as they can play. We're losing a lot of close games, and we're not going to really be able to turn this thing around until we get healthy. It's really that simple. We're playing a game with 7 or 8 guys and it's been a terrible injury [crisis] here. But I'm proud of the team and the way they've been playing. They're playing hard and they're playing pretty damn well." Shawn Bradley: "They came out on the floor in the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half, established a lead, and then they fended us off. Yes, they came out in the 2nd half and turned it up, but I think we just started missing shots, more so than we did in the 1st half." Cedric Ceballos: "They're so good. Sometimes deep teams don't utilize all of their guys, but they do. It's great to have all those All-Stars and not have one of them selfish, none of them looking for themselves. Man, they are getting better and better, too." Ceballos: "They do a real good job of doing what they're supposed to do. That's a squad out there. If we could do that, it would be great. We missed some shots and they put a little more pressure on with their big unit. Sometimes you can put out the fire if you go blow-for-blow with them, but we didn't do that." Dirk Nowitzki: "They have 12 players that can play, whether it's small ball or big ball. They push the ball all the time because they always have fresh guys in there. They have so many weapons. Portland Trailblazers 107, Dallas Mavericks 94 at Portland (January 10) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Portland 25 21 32 29 - 107 .583 .368 .532 .727 Dallas 22 23 22 27 - 94 .492 .438 .481 .591 Halftime: Portland 46-45 3rd Q: Portland 78-67 Technicals: Dallas Illegal D 6:00 1st Refs: Dick Bavetta, Bill Spooner, Dee Kantner Attendance: 19,980 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Arvydas Sabonis (viral infection), Steve Nash (sprained right ankle), Gary Trent (strained left groin) Portland Trailblazers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Brian Grant 30 6-10 0-0 2-2 14 0-8 3 1 3 1 0 Scottie Pippen 33 7-9 3-4 0-0 17 2-8 6 3 2 1 1 Rasheed Wallace 28 5-9 0-1 3-4 13 2-7 1 1 2 0 1 Steve Smith 35 3-7 2-4 2-2 10 5-5 6 1 3 1 0 Damon Stoudamire 33 7-16 0-3 3-3 17 1-5 6 3 1 2 0 Stacey Augmon 20 3-5 0-0 0-0 6 2-4 1 1 0 0 0 Detlef Schrempf 20 7-12 2-3 1-2 17 2-7 1 1 3 0 0 Jermaine O'Neal 7 1-1 0-0 2-2 4 0-1 0 1 2 0 0 Greg Anthony 15 0-6 0-4 0-0 0 0-0 4 0 1 0 1 Bonzi Wells 19 3-4 0-0 3-7 9 1-2 4 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 42-79 7-19 16-22 107 15-47 32 13 18 5 3 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 35 6-16 0-3 0-0 12 0-2 5 2 0 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 36 6-13 1-3 6-8 19 0-3 1 0 1 2 0 Shawn Bradley 30 3-10 0-0 2-2 8 4-9 1 0 3 1 1 Cedric Ceballos 31 7-12 0-2 4-6 18 4-11 2 2 1 0 0 Erick Strickland 25 2-7 0-1 0-0 4 0-1 4 3 2 2 0 Damon Jones 24 5-9 5-6 0-0 15 1-3 3 2 0 0 0 Sean Rooks 13 2-2 0-0 1-4 5 1-1 0 1 3 0 0 Greg Buckner 17 1-2 0-0 0-2 2 1-1 1 0 4 2 1 Hubert Davis 29 5-6 1-1 0-0 11 0-2 3 1 1 2 0 Totals 48 37-77 7-16 13-22 94 11-33 20 11 15 9 2 Dallas at Golden State (Jan. 11) Dallas led 8-7 with 8:45 left and went on a commanding 25-5 run, including all of Michael Finley's 11 points in the quarter, to go up 32-13 with 2 minutes left. Dallas led 34-16 after 1. Cedric Ceballos also had 10 points in the quarter. But the Mavs apparently lost focus during the quarter break and couldn't find the basket in the 2nd quarter. Golden State scored the first 7 points, with 6 of those coming from Jason Caffey, of the 2nd before Hubert Davis finally scored for Dallas with 9:10 left. Caffey picked up his 3rd foul with 9:20 left and sat out for the rest of the half. Dallas led 43-29 with 5:40 left and Golden State scored the next 7 points to pull within 36-43 with 4:15 remaining. Dallas led 53-48 at the half. Dallas only shot 5-17 FG in the quarter and Finley had 0 points. The Mavs pushed their lead up to 60-52 with 9:30 to go, but Golden State went on a 9-2 run to pull within 61-62 with 7:25 left on a 3-pointer by Mookie Blaylock. Dallas did keep their small lead and led 81-75 after 3. Golden State pulled within 6 points 3 times in the first 6:30 of the 4th quarter, but Dallas answered each with 2 points, 5 points, and 5 points. Dallas led 98-87 with 4 minutes left. A 3-pointer and 2 free throws by Donyell Marshall pulled Golden State within 92-98 with 3:20 left. Ceballos hit a jumper with 3 minutes left and Vonteego Cummings answered with a jumper with 2 minutes remaining. Ceballos banked in a tough shot with a minute left to put Dallas up 102-94. Caffey hit 1-2 free throws and Dirk Nowitzki hit 2-2 free throws. Blaylock nailed a 3-pointer with 40 seconds to go to pull within 98-104, but Dallas hit 4-5 free throws down the stretch to hang on for the win. Dallas won 109-102. This team just can not do things the easy way. They had a commanding 18 point lead after 1 and nearly blew it. They just weren't focused in the 2nd quarter. Cedric Ceballos had another moster game with 29 points including 11-19 FG, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. Michael Finley had 21 points including 6-10 FT (amazing since he is a 81% shooter), 8 rebounds, and 10 assists. Dirk Nowitzki, who didn't looked like he had his head into the game at times, had 17 points on 4-11 FG and 9-10 FT. Antawn Jamison took advantage of Erick Strickland and Greg Buckner guarding him for a good chunk of time and had 28 points including 12-19 FG and 14 rebounds. Donyell Marshall had 21 points and 16 rebounds. Quotes Don Nelson: "It's not like we're giant-killers. We've only won 10 games going into this one. Both [teams] have injuries and problems. This game isn't important to a lot of people, but it's important to me and the guys on our team. We had a hard fought game involving two teams that aren't doing too well, but I thought it was pretty good basketball." Nelson on Ceballos: "He had the hot hand and we went to him. We called his number twice, and we got 2 baskets out of him [at the end]." Nelson: "Ceballos had the hot hand and we went to him when things weren't running smoothly." Nelson on his last game in Golden State: "I'm not happy or sad it's my last game. It's a road game and we're trying to get to 11 wins. It's really that simple." Michael Finley: "We're better than them. Simple as that." Finley: "I'm staying as optimistic as possible. Believe it or not, there's a portion of the schedule coming up where we can win 11 of 12 games, or 10 of 11 games. If we do that, we're right back in it. Whether we're going to do that is another story." Cedric Ceballos: "We had to get this one. We had to play Portland last night, and we have to play them again, but everyone else on the schedule this month is scrambling just like us. I said all along that this was the month where we could make up for our first month." Ceballos: "The 1st half we made baskets and in the 2nd half we didn't [in the Portland game]. Tonight we retaliated blow-for-blow. We jumped out in the 1st quarter, but we knew they would come back because they're an NBA team. We matched baskets on their runs." Shawn Bradley: "Any time you jump out with a big lead in the 1st quarter in the NBA, it's almost the worst thing that can happen. For the rest of the game you can get lulled into what coach calls fools gold. You know they're going to come back; they have pride and they're going to work hard. Every little basket that they make is going to be a boost for them." Garry St. Jean: "This was like going to the orthodontist. This was an extremely frustrating loss, probably the most frustrating loss since I've come aboard. We came out of the box not focused, not ready, and dug ourselves a deep hole. We did claw back from it, but there were so many mental mistakes that it made it very difficult to get over the hump." Antawn Jamison: "The key is not putting yourself down by 20 points or 15 or what ever it was. Our offensive execution just isn't there, especially at critical points in the game. There were opportunities we should have taken advantage of, but we didn't." Donyell Marshall: "We are spending so much time spending energy making those big comebacks that it appears our brains are not functioning to the level we need them to execute and make that 4th quarter comeback." Dallas Mavericks 109, Golden State Warriors 102 at Golden State (January 11) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 34 19 28 28 - 109 .508 .385 .487 .848 Golden State 16 32 27 27 - 102 .465 .333 .442 .724 Halftime: Dallas 53-48 3rd Q: Dallas 81-75 Technicals: None Refs: Bennett Salvatore, David Jones, Michael Smith Attendance: 9,887 (cap. 19,596) Did not play due to injury: Steve Nash (sprained right ankle), Gary Trent (strained left groin), Erick Dampier (left knee rehad) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 45 7-19 1-1 6-10 21 4-8 10 3 0 2 1 Dirk Nowitzki 40 4-11 0-4 9-10 17 0-4 1 5 3 2 2 Shawn Bradley 21 5-7 0-0 3-3 13 3-6 0 0 5 0 2 Cedric Ceballos 40 11-19 1-2 6-6 29 5-12 5 2 3 1 0 Erick Strickland 27 4-7 0-0 0-0 8 0-1 6 0 3 3 1 Sean Rooks 19 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 1 0 1 0 2 Greg Buckner 18 2-4 1-2 0-0 5 1-5 2 1 6 2 1 Hubert Davis 26 4-7 2-4 4-4 14 0-2 2 1 5 0 0 Damon Jones 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-78 5-13 28-33 109 14-42 27 14 26 10 9 Golden State Warriors REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jason Caffey 34 5-15 0-0 1-4 11 7-9 2 4 6 0 0 Antawn Jamison 45 12-19 0-0 4-6 28 5-14 4 4 4 1 0 Donyell Marshall 40 7-13 1-1 6-9 21 5-16 3 1 5 2 2 Mookie Blaylock 33 5-11 3-6 0-0 13 0-0 6 1 3 1 0 Sam Mack 30 1-10 1-4 4-4 7 0-1 2 0 3 1 0 Adonal Foyle 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 0 0 0 Jamel Thomas 9 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 3 1 1 0 Vonteego Cummings 26 7-14 0-4 0-0 14 0-2 5 0 2 2 0 Tony Farmer 12 1-2 0-0 4-4 6 2-3 1 1 1 0 0 Sam Jacobson 7 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-86 5-15 21-29 102 19-46 24 16 25 8 2 patricia