In the 7 games since Michael Finley really struggled in the Miami game (Nov. 11 where he had 4 points in only 23 minutes), Finley has taken off averaging 25.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 7 games. Dallas at Houston (Nov. 23) The out-manned Mavs made a battle out of it against the struggling Houston Rockets. Dallas only had 8 players in uniform as Steve Nash had a sprained right ankle and Randell Jackson was (still) out with a deep thigh bruise and Cedric Ceballos (flu) and Robert Pack (strained right hammy) were back in Dallas. Houston corrected the mistake they made a week earlier and often pounded the ball inside against the under-sized Mavs. Dallas scored the first 4 points of the game. Houston scored 7 consecutive points, including 5 points from Charles Barkley, to go up 9-6 with 9 minutes left. Houston led 13-12 and went on a 13-2 run to go up 26-14 with 4 minutes remaining. Houston led 32-24 after 1. The Rockets led 39-28 a minute and a half into the 2nd with Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon on the bench and Dallas rattled off 14 consecutive points with 10 of those points coming from Dirk Nowitzki. Dallas led 48-43 and Houston scored 9 straight points with Barkley and Olajuwon back in the game to go up 52-48 with 2:45 left. Houston led 57-54 at the half. Barkley had 17 points in the half and Michael Finley and Nowitzki had 18 points each. Houston led 57-56 30 seconds into the 3rd quarter and Dallas fell apart as Houston went on a 19-4 run to go up 76-60 with 7:30 to go. Houston led 83-66 on a 3-pointer by Steve Francis and then the Mavs made a rally to pull within 10 points at 74-84 with 2:30 left. Bryce Drew hit a 3-pointer to put Houston up 94-79 after 3. Francis had 11 points in the quarter. Houston led in the teens in the first half of the 4th quarter as the Mavs could not mount a rally. Houston scored 6 straight points to go up 109-87 with 5:30 left. Houston won 119-99. The Rockets had 18 layups and 9 dunks in the game. 2 of those dunks came on set plays off of timeouts into Olajuwon for the quick two. Houston shot a season high 53.3% (48-90) and Dallas shot 46.2% (42-91). Charles Barkley had a monster game with 26 points on 10-15 FG and 6-10 FT and 15 rebounds - which is the type of game he should have had since the Mavs had no one who could stop him. Shandon Anderson was clicking with 16 points on a perfect 7-7 FG and 2-2 FT. Michael Finley had another strong performance with 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists - so much for his sore heel slowing him down this season. Dirk Nowitzki continued his improvement with a career high 31 points including 12-19 FG and 5 rebounds. Barkley made a layup at the end of the half after a Mavs' miss with 3 seconds left, but those 2 points were taken off the board before the start of the 3rd quarter after Don Nelson's successful argument with the refs. Nelson: "There's no way in a gym by myself can [Barkley] go from one end of the court to the other in 3 seconds. Now, he could have done that 10 years ago, but there's no way he can do that now. And I told him that at halfcourt." Quotes: Rudy Tomjanovich: "We came out in the third period with a lot more focus. I was especially pleased we didn't let them get back in the game." Tomjanovich: "Charles was phenomenal. He was just explosive. I still think he is one of the best players in the league. He really attacked the basket and ignited the team." Charles Barkley: "It's been a very frustrating, disappointing season. Tonight was the first game I played at what I felt like was my capabilities. For the first time this season I felt like I had a clear mind. I had to accept the fact that I know when I go to practice tomorrow, there's going to be beepers and cell phones going off when we're trying to meet. I understand that before the game when we're supposed to get ready for the game when we used to watch tape there's going to be BET on. I understand and accept the fact that when we're supposed to leave at 4 o'clock, guys are not going to show up until 4:30. I've been miserable all season. That's the way the game is. But I made up my mind, that I'm not going to let all these other things bother me again all season. I'm going to go out and play like Charles Barkley can and do my part. I have not played well. I have not been mentally into it. It's been frustrating to go to work under those circumstances. But that's no excuse. I'm going to play better the rest of this season." Barkley: "This has been a very frustrating and disappointing season thus far. Tonight was the first night this year that I played up to my ability." Cuttino Mobley: "[Barkley] showed he was ready to play. It affected the whole team. We follow him." Steve Francis: "I can't say too much about what a lift Charles was." Francis on the win: "We needed it just because. Because we've been so close in so many games, because we had so many chances and didn't get it done. Just because. The thing is I really do believe we have a good team and I think we can be successful. I know that's really hard for somebody to accept on the outside. But I knew we could play like this. There was no doubt. I swear. We've been in almost every game until the last 3 or 4 minutes." Don Nelson: "I told them before the game that fatigue might be a factor, and it was. We were running on empty." Nelson: "We needed great performances from 6 guys, and we didn't get it." Nelson: "We've got to play the hand that we're dealt. Right now we have a lot of injuries, but we just have to play through it. I thought that my team played hard tonight. We came out sluggish the start of the 3rd. I thought the Rockets were a lot more ready to play. Maybe they were surprised we were as close at halftime, but they had a lot of energy and we didn't." Hubert Davis: "We were just outmanned. We played real hard, but things didn't work out. We seemed tired in the 3rd quarter, and we made some runs. But it wasn't enough." Dirk Nowitzki: "I just had a good game offensively, and tonight most of my shots were going down. I'm always running on the break, and Charles wasn't picking me up. I just had a good game, and that's it." Nowitzki: "All season long, I've had a lot of open looks. I've just missed too many, and tonight most of my shots were going down. I can score even more, I think. If I just made 2 or 3 more wide open shots a game, I'd be scoring a lot more." Michael Finley: "It was tough, because I think we made it tough. I think the 1st half we put ourselves in a good position to win the ballgame. But when we came out in the 2nd half, they started the 3rd quarter real strong and we never recovered." Finley when asked if the shortage of players had an effect: "We just have to strap it up and do it again. That has to be our attitude to go in there and get a win. Hopefully this won't happen again." Finley on the injuries: "What can I do about it? I don't have a magic wand to make everybody better. I can't use [injuries] as an excuse." Finley: "You still have to play the games. We can still win with the personnel we've got out there. Maybe not as much, but even [vs Orlando] I still think we can win." Houston Rockets 119, Dallas Mavericks 99 at Houston (November 23) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Houston 32 25 37 25 - 119 .527 .346 .533 .700 Dallas 24 30 25 20 - 99 .494 .250 .462 .800 Halftime: Houston 57-54 3rd Q: Houston 94-79 Dallas' largest lead: 48-43 5:24 2nd Dallas' last lead: 48-45 5:10 2nd Houston's largest lead: 117-91 3:26 4th Lead changes: 3 Technicals: Dallas Illegal D 2:17 2nd Refs: Bernie Fryer, Kevin Fehr, Bill Spooner Attendance: 15,088 (cap 16,285 Did not play due to injury: Cedric Ceballos (flu), Steve Nash (sprained right ankle), Robert Pack (strained right hamstring), Randell Jackson (bruised right thigh) Houston Rockets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Walt Williams 22 4-7 1-4 1-1 10 0-3 4 2 1 1 0 Charles Barkley 33 10-15 0-1 6-10 26 7-15 4 1 1 1 0 Hakeem Olajuwon 29 4-7 0-0 0-0 8 0-6 3 1 0 0 3 Shandon Anderson 29 7-7 2-2 0-0 16 2-5 4 4 4 3 1 Steve Francis 37 7-20 1-7 2-2 17 1-4 7 3 3 2 0 Carlos Rogers 20 5-10 0-0 0-0 10 3-8 0 1 3 1 0 Cutino Mobley 26 5-12 1-4 4-4 15 2-2 3 5 4 1 1 Bryce Drew 25 5-9 4-6 0-0 14 0-2 4 0 1 0 0 Kelvin Cato 8 1-1 0-0 1-3 3 0-0 0 1 0 0 1 Matt Bullard 7 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-2 0 0 1 0 0 Kenny Thomas 4 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 0 2 1 0 0 Totals 48 48-90 9-26 14-20 119 15-48 29 20 19 9 6 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 42 13-29 1-3 2-3 29 3-8 6 4 1 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 43 12-19 2-5 5-6 31 2-5 2 3 2 2 0 Sean Rooks 17 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 1-1 0 0 4 0 0 Hubert Davis 40 6-11 0-3 2-2 14 1-5 6 4 2 2 0 Erick Strickland 39 2-12 0-1 2-2 6 2-4 3 3 5 2 0 Shawn Bradley 24 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-6 1 2 3 1 2 Rick Hughes 29 5-8 0-0 1-2 11 0-3 0 1 1 0 0 Bruno Sundov 6 1-6 0-0 0-0 2 4-5 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 42-91 3-12 12-15 99 13-37 19 17 18 9 2 Dallas at Orlando (Nov. 24) The Mavs were again limited to 8 dressed players as Cedric Ceballos, Steve Nash, Robert Pack, and Randell Jackson were not available. Orlando jumped out to an early 14-4 lead with 6 minutes left as Tariq Abdul-Wahad scored 6 straight points. The Mavs answered with a 14-4 run to tie the game at 18-18 with 2:15 to go. But Darrell Armstrong was the man in this game and he hit 3 3-pointers in the last 2 minutes and Orlando led 29-23 after 1. Orlando led 31-23 with 10:45 left and Dallas went on a 11-3 run to tie the game at 34-34 on a 3-pointer by Michael Finley. Orlando led 40-38 with 5:30 left and went on a 13-2 run to go up 53-40 with 3 minutes remaining. Anthony Parker hit a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left to give Orlando a 61-49 lead at the half. Armstrong had 22 points including 5-8 3-pointers and 7 assists in the half and Finley had 20 points. Neither team had a huge rally in the 3rd quarter. Dallas pulled within 4 points on a jumper by Dirk Nowitzki at 66-62 with 6:45 remaining, but could get no closer. Orlando led 81-73 after 3. Orlando scored the first 7 points of the 4th quarter to go up 88-73 with 10:30 to go. Dallas went on an 12-2 run that included 6 points from Rick Hughes to pull within 4 points at 88-92 with 4:15 left. Neither team was able to mount a rally over the next two minutes and Orlando led 101-96 with 2:10 remaining. The teams traded misses over the next minute and Chris Gatling hit a long jumper with 1:10 left. Erick Strickland hit 1-2 free throws and Gatling hit 1-2 free throws and Orlando led 104-97 with 55 seconds to go. Strickland hit a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left, but the Mavs wasted 13 precious seconds before fouling Abdul-Wahad with 28 seconds left. He hit 1-2 free throws and Bo Outlaw blocked Nowitzki's layup attempt with 24 seconds left. Armstrong got a pretty reverse slam on the break to give Orlando a commanding 107-100 lead with 16.5 seconds left. The Mavs turned the ball over twice and Orlando got 2 easy baskets in the last 10 seconds (plus a free throw on a dumb foul by Sean Rooks). Orlando won 112-100. Orlando scored 8 points in the last 28.4 seconds - though they could have safely ran the clock out instead of scoring the last 5 points. The Mavs only played 7 players (Bruno Sundov stayed on the bench). Michael Finley racked up his 13th 48 minute complete game as a Mav - that is as many 48 minute games as the rest of the Mavs 48 minute games combined. Dallas committed a season high 26 turnovers - the previous high was only 17 turnovers and the team was averaging only 13.8 turnovers before this game. Finley finished with 35 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. Dirk Nowitzki had 20 points and 9 rebounds. Though he had a near triple-double, I wouldn't call Erick Strickland's performance good due to his turnovers, lossing Darrell Armstrong a number of times, and poor shooting. Strickland had 13 points including 5-15 FG, 9 rebounds, a career high 11 assists, and a career high 8 turnovers. Rick Hughes looked nice in the limited minutes he had in the 4th quarter and had a beautiful drive across the lane ending with a baby hook over 3 Orlando players. Darrell Armstrong was awesome in this game. He had 33 points including 12-20 FG and 6-11 3-pointers and 14 assists. Chris Gatling also had a strong game with 19 points and 12 rebounds including 8 offensive. The was a moment of levity at the end of halftime where the players were all ready to resume play and inbound the ball, but the refs were no where to be found. After a brief delay, the refs finally joined the players on the court. Quotes Doc Rivers: "That was a nice win, obviously. It put us at .500, so that was a really important win for us." Rivers: "The turkey is going to taste a little better now. Getting back to .500 was very important for us. And everyone knew it." Rivers: "We knew if we kept the pressure on, kept running, we might be able to wear them down. And I think they wore out at the end." Rivers: "Darrell was awesome." Darrell Armstrong: "I got off to a slow start, missed a couple of shots early. Then all of a sudden, I heated up. You have to keep the mind set of a point guard and the mind set of a shooter, too, because if you're hot, you've got to look at the basket. There's no reason to get hot and quit looking at it. You've got to stay aggressive sometimes." Armstrong: "All of a sudden I just heated up. I looked over and saw Chucky Atkins coming in to get me. But Doc pulled him back, and I kept going. You can heat up quickly in this league, and you can lose it just as fast." Armstrong: "We didn't want to be home on Thanksgiving saying, 'We should have done this. We could have done that.' This was one we had to have. I think you could tell by the way we came out, and by the way we finished." Chris Gatling: "It just seemed like we answered every run they made. And that's how you win games in this league. You have to be there to win at the end." Gatling: "When my number was called, I just tried to execute it to the best of my ability." Don Nelson: "I think you can ask for more than coming close. When we needed to hit shots, they didn't go in. But that was a pretty gutsy effort, I thought, and no one will ever know by reading the score." Nelson: "I thought it was really a gutsy performance by us. Nobody will ever know by reading the score. I thought we were in a good position to win that game, and when we needed to make our shots, they didn't go in. We got good shots." Nelson: "Fatigue was a factor, we could not play the way we wanted to. We had trouble handling the ball, and we don't have a point guard, and they capitalized on that. Our turnover ratio was way too much. We don't turn the ball over too much, it's unlike us, but there's a reason for it." Nelson: "We're not going to be a great defensive team with the personnel we have, even at full strength. Our players are too offensive minded. We don't have the right mentality. We don't have individual stoppers." Nelson: "I'm pretty proud of the way they played. They didn't have much in their tank, and they gave me everything they had." Erick Strickland: "Turnovers killed us." Strickland: "We were right there. I wish we had another opportunity to get out there and hit some shots, but we didn't finish it and we ended up on the short end of the stick." Strickland: "We're down in numbers and guys are tired, but that's no excuse. We had a chance to win a game and we didn't finish it. We played our hearts out, and they made some good defensive plays." Michael Finley: "We're a running team, and a running team is going to give up points in transition. We're short handed and undersized right now. When you have those two things working against you, it's tough to defend anyone." Shawn Bradley: "We were right there. The difference was their homecourt. We lost by 12, but it was a 4 point game. The turnovers just killed us." Dirk Nowitzki: "I think only having 7 of us playing tonight was tough on us, especially playing back-to-back games and flying in late [Tuesday] night. You have to give those guys on the other side credit; they played well enough to win the game." Orlando Magic 112, Dallas Mavericks 100 at Orlando (November 24) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Orlando 29 32 20 31 - 112 .474 .412 .462 .760 Dallas 23 26 24 27 - 100 .486 .318 .446 .786 Halftime: Orlando 61-49 3rd Q: Orlando 81-73 Technicals: None Refs: Hue Hollins, Sean Corbin, Rodney Mott Attendance: 12,741 (cap 17,248) Did not play due to injury: Cedric Ceballos (flu), Steve Nash (sprained right ankle), Robert Pack (strained right groin), Randell Jackson (bruised right thigh) Orlando Magic REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Ben Wallace 23 3-6 0-0 1-2 7 4-8 1 2 1 0 3 Monty Williams 27 4-11 0-0 2-2 10 2-5 5 2 2 1 0 Michael Doleac 14 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 1-6 0 3 2 2 0 Tariq Abdul-Wahad 26 7-9 0-0 2-4 16 2-2 1 4 5 6 0 Darrell Armstrong 37 12-20 6-11 3-3 33 0-4 14 5 2 5 0 John Amaechi 8 0-4 0-0 2-2 2 1-2 1 1 1 0 0 Bo Outlaw 22 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-5 3 1 3 0 3 Chris Gatling 30 6-11 0-0 7-10 19 8-12 0 1 1 0 1 Anthony Parker 21 2-9 1-4 0-0 5 0-2 1 1 2 1 0 Chucky Atkins 11 2-8 0-1 0-0 4 1-1 3 0 0 0 0 Pat Garrity 21 5-9 0-1 2-2 12 0-0 1 3 5 0 0 Totals 48 43-93 7-17 19-25 112 20-47 30 23 24 15 7 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 48 15-34 2-8 3-3 35 1-7 8 4 2 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 43 8-13 1-1 3-3 20 1-9 1 2 5 0 1 Shawn Bradley 36 5-13 0-0 1-1 11 4-5 0 1 3 3 1 Hubert Davis 43 5-12 2-7 2-3 14 1-2 6 7 3 0 0 Erick Strickland 43 5-15 2-6 1-2 13 4-9 11 8 2 3 1 Sean Rooks 12 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-3 1 2 4 0 0 Rick Hughes 15 3-3 0-0 1-2 7 3-6 0 1 4 0 0 Totals 48 41-92 7-22 11-14 100 15-41 27 26 23 8 3 patricia