The big news of the week is that the troubled teen has more trouble. Leon Smith was arrested in Chicago yesterday on a misdemeanor charge of aggravated assault. After spending the night in jail, he was released this morning on $100 bond. Smith appeared at his ex-girlfriend's high school yesterday morning and told her that he would kill her brother if she told her brother about his visit and then produced a gun. Upon seeing the gun, the 16-year-old girl fled and reported the incident to school authorities and the police. The police were looking for Smith for questioning about the incident and Smith turned himself into the police last night. Smith had returned to Dallas before Thanksgiving after leaving early an Atlanta based after-care program the the NBA's player assistance program had placed him in. His court date is December 23. And for the injury report (long): Erick Strickland will be out 6 to 8 weeks with a sprained sternoclavicular joint in his left shoulder. The injury occurred during the New York game when Strick was hustling after a loose ball and collided with Charlie Ward diving for the ball. Strick left the game with a painful grimace on his face and later returned to Dallas for further analysis where the full extent of the injury was discovered. With the injuries to Hot Rod Williams and Erick Strickland and the status of Smith and the other injuries the Mavs have had, the NBA granted the Mavs an injury exemption to carry 4 players on IR. As part of obtaining that exemption, Strickland was placed on IR and Gary Trent was activated. Trent, who is recovering from a slightly torn left hamstring, is still not ready to return - no target date for his return has been set and latest reports are "mid-December". He should be practicing with the team again when the team returns from the 5 game road trip. The Mavs used the injury exemption to placed Randell Jackson on IR with a deep thigh bruise and signed guard Damon Jones. Jones was unexpectedly released from Golden State on November 30. He had a solid game with 17 points including 6-6 FG and 5-5 3-pointers the previous day, but he had a clause in his contract where it would become guaranteed for the season if he was on the roster December 1 and the team decided that they did not want his contract guaranteed. Jones flew into Chicago Thursday and signed with the team after he cleared waivers at 5 pm and played for the team Thursday night. Continuing with the injury report, Steve Nash only played in 7 (painful) minutes in the Cleveland game and was then sent home to have a MRI on his sprained right ankle - no word yet on the result. Robert Pack is still not playing due to his strained right groin and no word as to when he will return. Chicago at Dallas (Nov. 27) The 1st quarter was a closely constested quarter with the Bulls controlling the pace with their boring slow-down offense. The Mavs held small leads most of the quarter and led 24-20 after 1. Dallas led by 4 to 9 points for the first half of the 2nd quarter and led 41-32 with 5:40 left. Chicago rattled off 12 straight points as Dallas missed 8 shots and Chicago led 44-41 with 1:31 remaining. The teams traded 2 points and Dallas scored the last 4 points lead 47-46 at the half. The Mavs led 53-50 with 7:50 to go and scored the next 11 points and led 64-50 with 5:30 left. Chris Anstey hit a layup and Dallas scored the next 5 points to go up 69-52 with 1:20 left. The Bulls scored the last 4 points of the quarter and Dallas led 69-56 after 3. Dallas out-scored Chicago 22-10 in the quarter and Dirk Nowitzki had 11 points including 5-7 FG in the quarter. Dallas led 75-58 with 10:45 left and led in the teens the rest of the way. Chicago pulled within 89-79 with 2 minutes left, but Hubert Davis answered with a 3-pointer which dowsed any Chicago hopes of a last minute comeback. Dallas won 95-83. A win is a win is a win. It was an ugly game and the Mavs couldn't do it the easy way. They'd have a decent lead and, instead pulling away, they would allow Chicago to get back into the game. The 2nd quarter was pretty sloppy, but the team did better (and Chicago did worse) in the 3rd quarter. Dallas was only called for 2 fouls in the 2nd half and Chicago did not shoot a free throw in the 2nd half. Shawn Bradley had a nice game and altered a number of shots. He had 17 points including 6-8 FG, 6 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Michael Finley, as usual, led the way with 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists and Dirk Nowitzki had 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. Elton Brand looked good for Chicago and had 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. With 4.9 seconds left in the half and Dirk Nowitzki shooting free throws, one of the Bulls players on the court saw that they still had their 20 second timeout left and asked the coach if they should call timeout. After a little bit of talking, the timeout was called. The coaching staff should have know that they still had the 20 instead of a player having to point it out [20s don't carry over to the next half]. Quotes: Don Nelson: "I don't care if we broke 100 points or not - it's just good to win a game. It's wonderful. I'm just so happy to have some of our players back, even though they weren't sharp, obviously. We proved that." Nelson on Chicago's slow down tempo: "They do that to everybody, not just us. It's not easy to score against that team. We knew that was coming." Nelson: "It's good to win one. They lulled us into playing slow in the 1st half. I didn't like the 1st half, but the 3rd quarter was a good quarter for us." Nelson: "We're just so happy to have some players back. They're not sharp. We proved that. But it's good to have them back on the floor, and hopefully it'll be downhill a little bit." Nelson: "Shawn Bradley was a major factor in the game. We had a good game plan inside and the guys did a good job outside." Erick Strickland: "We won, but everybody felt we should have closed it out even bigger than we did. We should have been up by at least 20 at the end on that team." Strickland: "It's just good to get a win going into that [5 game] road trip. That's all I can say about it." Strickland on the game's slow pace: "We knew it was going to kind of be like that, so we had to kind of just fight through it. That was all we could do." Strickland on the slow pace: "We knew the way it was going to be. We had to bring it to them. We're happy with the win but we felt we should have extended it in the 2nd half better than we did." Strickland: "We know we can score. But we've got to stop the other team sometimes." Michael Finley: "We had to pick up our intensity. I think we lost it in the 1st quarter and part of the 2nd quarter and gave them life." Finley: "With a team like that, who's struggling, similar to us, you don't want to give them life and confidence. We just wanted to put it on them right from the jump." Finley: "Winning this game before we go out on the 5 games in 7 days road trip is big for us. Fortunately for us, we came out and played well enough to win tonight." Finley on the 1st half: "I thought to myself, 'Not tonight.'" I had confidence in my teammates. We knew we had lost the lead because we weren't playing well. All we had to do was keep our poise and play better defense." Finley: "With or without Michael Jordan, I've always taken extra pleasure in playing my best against my hometown team. And we all had to play well tonight because this was a win we had to have." Dirk Nowitzki: "I didn't feel very well before the game and I didn't want to play at all, but it was a big game for us. At halftime, I decided I had to do something in the 2nd half and it worked out pretty good." Shawn Bradley: "I did what I was supposed to do." Bradley: "It was a must win for us. In the 3rd quarter, I needed to do my job, which is defense and rebounding." Bradley: "It was a must win for us. It was Chicago, who's not doing very well this year, but if you let them stay in the game they might be able to get you late." Tim Floyd: "We struggled with the fact that we couldn't get ourselves to the [free throw] line. The margin of fouls was 27-12 and turnovers was 19-13. Those are things we ought to be able to control and do a better job of." Floyd: "You've got to be able to get yourself to the line. That's our responsibility." Floyd: "We struggled with our turnovers [12] in the 2nd half. We also struggled with the fact that we could not get ourselves back to the line. We never shot a free throw in the 2nd half. You have to be able to get yourself back to the line." Floyd: "Our margin for error is not great. We had 8 offensive fouls tonight. That's far too many." Hersey Hawkins on Chicago scoring only 4 points in the first 11 minutes of the 3rd quarter: "I didn't even know that. But we've come out probably 4 or 5 times this year and not played particularly well in the 3rd quarter. It's nothing new. I don't think they were doing anything particularly special. I think we just missed a lot of shots." Elton Brand: "This was the second night in a row we played against a set of twin towers. I'm not saying they're as good as [Tim] Duncan and [David] Robinson but Bradley and Nowitzki are pretty talented and pretty athletic players." Brand: "Two nights in a row we played against twin towers. It's hard to match that. But Bradley and Nowitzki are talented just like Duncan and Robinson, and it's hard to match up against them. They not only block shots, they alter shots." Randy Brown: "I figured that what we had to do was play good defense, and we would be able to steal a win." Brown: "We were aggressive going to the basket all night long. They didn't foul the whole 2nd half? You win like that when you don't foul." Dickey Simpkins on the 1st half: "We were playing hard and doing all the things we were supposed to do to get control of the game. And it was a very winnable game." Dickey Simpkins on Chicago not shooting any free throws in the 2nd half: "I have never seen this ever in my life. I guess there's always a first for something in the NBA." Dallas Mavericks 95, Chicago Bulls 83 at Dallas (November 27) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 24 23 22 26 - 95 .500 .444 .493 ,944 Chicago 20 26 10 27 - 83 .486 .100 .439 .833 Halftime: Dallas 47-46 3rd Q: Dallas 69-56 Chicago's largest lead: 3 points Dallas' largest lead: 17 points Lead changes: 2 Technicals: Erick Strickland 1:31 2nd Refs: Mike Mathis, Tom Washington, Scott Wall Attendance: 14,436 (cap 18,871) Did not play due to injury: Robert Pack (strained right groin), Randell Jackson (deep thigh bruise), Toni Kukoc (back spasms) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 46 9-20 1-1 5-6 24 1-5 5 3 0 0 2 Dirk Nowitzki 34 6-11 0-2 5-5 17 0-6 3 0 1 4 0 Shawn Bradley 35 6-8 0-0 5-5 17 1-6 1 1 2 1 5 Steve Nash 35 3-7 1-3 0-0 7 0-3 7 3 3 0 0 Erick Strickland 26 3-9 0-0 0-0 6 1-2 7 2 1 1 0 Sean Rooks 12 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 0 0 3 1 0 Cedric Ceballos 24 5-11 0-0 0-0 10 2-3 0 1 2 0 0 Hubert Davis 28 4-6 2-3 2-2 12 0-7 4 3 0 0 0 Totals 48 37-75 4-9 17-18 95 6-34 27 14 12 7 7 Chicago Bulls REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Ron Artest 28 3-9 0-3 0-0 6 1-9 4 1 3 1 0 Elton Brand 36 9-17 0-0 0-0 18 4-9 5 2 3 1 1 Will Perdue 19 1-5 0-0 3-4 5 3-5 1 1 3 0 0 Randy Brown 36 6-11 0-0 0-0 12 0-2 6 3 5 0 2 Hersey Hawkins 39 0-4 0-2 3-3 3 0-2 1 5 2 3 0 Kornel David 26 4-7 0-0 1-1 9 0-5 1 3 5 0 0 Chris Anstey 15 3-10 0-1 2-2 8 2-3 0 0 2 1 0 Dedric Willoughby 21 5-11 1-4 1-2 12 0-1 2 0 2 0 0 Corey Benjamin 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 Dickey Simpkins 17 5-8 0-0 0-0 10 3-7 2 3 1 0 0 Totals 48 36-82 1-10 10-12 83 13-43 22 19 27 6 3 Dallas at New York (Nov. 29) The Mavs scored the first 4 points of the game and should have went home then. Dallas led 10-9 with 6:15 left and New York went on 15-4 run to go up 24-14 with 1:45 remaining on a 3-pointer by Charlie Ward. With 3:20 left in the 1st, Erick Strickland went hustling after a loose ball and collided with Charlie Ward diving for the ball. Strick left the game grimacing and did not return due to a sprained left shoulder. New York led 29-18 after 1 as Ward hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. The 2nd quarter made the 1st quarter look good by comparison. The Mavs could not find the basket and New York extended their lead to 40-22 with 6:40 left. The Mavs pulled within 16 points at 30-46 with 3:10 remaining, but New York closed the quarter with a 10-1 run to go up 56-31 at the half. Dallas shot 4-25 FG in the quarter. Things did not get any better for Dallas in the 2nd half as they saw New York's lead rise into the 30s. New York led 91-59 after 3 and won 107-82. Yuch. Charlie Ward couldn't miss and had 25 points including 8-9 FG and 7-8 3-pointers. Kurt Thomas enjoyed kicking his former team and pitched in 20 points (most of them in the 1st half) on 10-14 FG. New York shot 51.5% (46-90) FG and Dallas shot 35.2% (31-88) FG. New York out-rebounded Dallas 52-38 - getting out-shot and out-rebounded is a good formula for a loss. Quotes Jeff Van Gundy: "Certainly if we can have Marcus [Camby] for some minutes, it will obviously give us a better chance. I thought guys in the rotation did a nice job tonight. They played well at both ends of the floor. Obviously Charlie [Ward] had an unbelievable night, but Andrew [Lang] did good things, too. I thought everybody did." Van Gundy: "You have to get some inside scoring. I thought Kurt did that. He made a couple of jump shots and got some scores inside." Marcus Camby: "I'm still not 100%, but I'll probably not be 100% for the rest of the year. It's going to take more rest than the week I had, but I'm fine with it. I wanted to play, just to see how I felt. It's pretty sore now, but it's a good thing we had a cushion and I could get a rest." Charlie Ward: "You always dream of opportunities like that. You never thought of me being the guy that could have a hot hand. It was different. I'm far from being a shooter, but tonight was a good night." Ward: "You always dream of having good games like that when you feel like you can't miss. I've never experienced it. I've felt like that in football before when I hit every target. It's good to have one of those in basketball." Ward: "You never thought of me being the guy that could have a hot hand. I'm far from being a good shooter. But tonight was a good night." Ward: "I was wide open, so I kept shooting and they kept going in. In other games, I have not been that open all the time as much as I was tonight. I tried to do the best I can because some night's are going to be good and some are going to be bad." Chris Childs: "I'd like to be in that situation, but the way [Ward] was shooting and the way teams are leaving him - I don't know what their thinking was. Once he hit 1, you say, 'Okay.' He hits 2, and it's, 'Okay, I gotta get out there.' Then 3 and 4, and you're still not running out after him? I wanted him to hit No. 8, but I think his wrist got tired, his legs got tired, so he passed it to me. I should have kept passing it to him and made him shoot it." Allan Houston: "I think you now have to change the scouting report on the Knicks and [Ward]. I'd be surprised if people continue to leave him open and don't rotate to him. It just makes us that much better. We say it to him every game: 'Don't stop shooting.' He looks at me and says, 'Don't worry, I'm not.'" Kurt Thomas: "My teammates really made it easy for me tonight. I was just fortunate enough to get some shots to go down for me. I just wanted to play well in front of my friends and family back home in Dallas who don't really get to see me that much. It's nothing personal between Kurt Thomas and the Dallas Mavericks. Kurt just wanted to go out and show the fans in Dallas-Fort Worth that he can still play this game." Don Nelson: "Well, what can I tell you but we were awful. I think their defense had a lot to do with that. This was the worst game that we have played. As some of you know we are devastated with injuries, and we have a lot more now to deal with. It's not a pretty picture at this point. It was a difficult night for everybody." Shawn Bradley: "There is no explaining it - they just beat us up. It's like someone took you behind the barn and taught you a thing or two." Bradley: "They just got it going and we did not. The guys felt pretty good coming into the game tonight. But we just got a good old fashioned whuppin'. It's like someone took you behind the bar and taught you a thing or two. That's what New York did to us tonight. There's no explaining it. They just beat us up, played better than us and scored a heckuva lot more points than we did." Michael Finley: "When things go bad, they go real bad. But I'm fine - physically." Steve Nash on his ankle: "It doesn't feel good, and it's pretty infected. But I could have kept going." Cedric Ceballos: "This could wake us up for the rest of the road trip, or it could put us down under. Hopefully this is the opportunity for us to wake up and see what's going on." New York Knicks 107, Dallas Mavericks 82 at New York (November 29) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% New York 29 27 35 16 - 107 .481 .778 .511 .889 Dallas 18 13 28 23 - 82 .347 .375 .352 .737 Halftime: New York 56-31 3rd Q: New York 91-59 Dallas' largest lead: 6-2 10:01 1st Dallas' last lead: 10-9 6:18 1st New York's largest lead: 97-62 10:30 4th Lead changes: 3 Technicals: None Refs: Ron Garretson, Hank Armstrong, Rashan Michel Attendance: 19,763 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Robert Pack (strained right groin), Randell Jackson (deep thigh bruise) New York Knicks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Latrell Sprewell 37 7-18 0-0 1-1 15 1-4 8 2 1 0 0 Kurt Thomas 25 10-14 0-0 0-0 20 1-6 0 0 1 0 1 Andrew Lang 21 5-9 0-0 0-0 10 3-9 1 1 3 2 0 Allan Houston 27 7-13 0-1 1-2 15 0-3 7 3 1 0 1 Charlie Ward 30 8-9 7-8 2-2 25 0-3 5 3 0 2 1 Marcus Camby 11 1-5 0-0 2-2 4 4-8 1 0 0 1 1 Chris Childs 25 4-6 0-0 0-0 8 0-2 1 3 3 0 0 DeMarco Johnson 23 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 2-3 0 2 5 0 0 Rick Brunson 16 0-2 0-0 2-2 2 0-3 5 1 1 2 0 Chris Dudley 16 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 3-7 0 1 3 0 1 Mirsad Turkcan 9 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 0 0 3 1 0 Totals 48 46-90 7-9 8-9 107 15-52 28 17 21 8 5 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 37 7-21 3-6 3-3 20 4-8 2 2 1 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 35 4-9 2-4 0-0 10 0-5 6 1 0 0 0 Shawn Bradley 28 6-8 0-0 3-4 15 0-3 3 1 2 0 2 Steve Nash 17 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 0-1 0 4 1 1 0 Erick Strickland 9 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 0-1 0 1 2 1 0 Cedric Ceballos 32 3-20 0-1 4-4 10 6-6 1 0 2 1 0 Hubert Davis 37 2-7 1-2 0-0 5 0-4 4 1 0 1 0 Sean Rooks 19 3-7 0-0 2-2 8 2-5 1 2 3 0 1 Rick Hughes 19 3-8 0-0 2-6 8 2-5 1 1 1 0 0 Bruno Sundov 7 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 1 1 2 1 1 Totals 48 31-88 6-16 14-19 82 14-38 19 14 14 5 4 Dallas at Cleveland (Nov. 30) The 1st quarter looked like a carry over from the New York game. Cleveland exploded to a 26-7 with 5:30 left as Cleveland was hitting everything and the Mavs could not find the basket. Cleveland led 38-19 after 1. Cleveland shot 15-19 FG and Dallas shot 8-25. Michael Finley missed all 7 attempts he had - including a couple of layups. A hook shot by Mark Bryant to open the 3rd quarter gave Cleveland a 21 point lead. But Dallas decided to re-join the game and came roaring back with a 14-2 run to pull with 33-42 with 7:15 remaining. The Cavs would hold a 9 to 13 point lead the rest of the quarter. Andrew DeClercq converted the 3-point play with 6 seconds left to give Cleveland a 57-43 lead at the half. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with a 12-2 run as Finley finally started to make some shots (he was 0-10 in the 1st half) and Cleveland led 59-55 with 8:50 left. A 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki cut Cleveland's lead down to 63-60 with 7 minutes remaining, but Cleveland then scored the next 13 points to go up 76-60 with 3:20 to go. Dallas scored 7 consecutive points to pull within 69-78 with a minute left. The teams traded baskets and Cleveland led 80-71 after 3. Brevin Knight got a layup on a break to give Cleveland an 82-71 lead a minute into the 4th, but Dallas responded with a 10-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Hubert Davis, to pull within 81-84 with 9 minutes to go. Cleveland led 89-86 with 6 minutes left and went on a 10-1 run [with the Mavs' only point coming off an illegal D technical free throw] to go up 99-87 with 3 minutes remaining. Cleveland led 101-91 with 2 minutes left, but the game wasn't over as Shawn Bradley hit a jumper and Davis drained 2 3-pointers to cut Cleveland's lead down to 101-99 with 51 seconds to go. Shawn Kemp was fouled and hit 2 free throws with 34 seconds left. Davis missed a jumper and Kemp hit 2 free throws with 22 seconds left. Finley missed a 3-pointer and Lamond Murray shot 1-2 free throws with 16 seconds left and that was game. Cleveland won 106-99 Hubert Davis had 16 points, including 4-6 3-pointers, in the 4th quarter. He finished with 27 points including 6-10 3-pointers and 5 assists. Though he struggled mightily offensively, Michael Finley had a solid all around game with his 2nd career triple-double. Finley had 14 points including 6-24 FG, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists in 48 minutes - and he did not have a turnover, despite handling the ball a lot. Dirk Nowitzki also shot poorly (6-17 FG) in getting his 20 points. For Cleveland, Shawn Kemp dominated with 25 points including 11-15 FT and 11 rebounds. Andrew DeClercq had a nice game with 17 points and 15 rebounds and Brevin Knight was a little pest with 16 points, 10 assists, and 5 steals. Steve Nash only played 7 minutes in the 1st quarter due to his sprained right ankle. And they were 7 painful minutes. The Mavs would inbound the ball to Nash and be running down the court while Nash had to slow down the pace and walk the ball up the court. This team does not fit into a slow, half court game. Quotes Randy Wittman: "We made that one interesting, didn't we?" Wittman: "To start the game, our guys were really ready to play and it showed in the 1st. Defensively, we got it going pretty good. We got after them defensively and got a lot of easy baskets." Wittman: "It's always a little bit scary when you jump out to a big lead early in the game like that. We relaxed a little bit. Our second unit came in and kind of thought everything was going to continue in the same flow. We began walking a little bit at both ends of the floor and gave them a breath." Wittman: "That's been a bugaboo with us. We've got to eliminate that. You don't want to lose a game like that. When you get a team down, you've got to stomp on them, not let them get back in." Wittman: "We made a lot mistakes - leaving Davis open like we did late. We were asleep a little bit, but we hung in there." Brevin Knight: "We stood our ground and won the game." Andrew DeClercq: "You'd think we'd learned enough lessons that if we don't play hard for 48 minutes any team can come back and get you." Shawn Kemp: "We're a young team and we have to learn to keep the pressure on the opponent. If we have a chance to take a team out, we have to do it. The first unit did pretty good, the second unit struggled tonight." Don Nelson: "Yes, it's nice to win games. But it's nice to be competitive enough to have a chance to win, too. You can't win until you have a chance to win. I'll take this one over New York any time, because we competed and found a way to get back in the game." Nelson: "It felt like a terrible night coming on in the 1st quarter. I'm proud of the way the team battled back and got back in the game." Nelson: "They get a superstar call for Shawn Kemp down the stretch for 2 free throws. I'm not saying it was a bad call, I'm saying they got that call. Dirk Nowitzki was driving in, getting hammered and didn't get the call." Michael Finley on his triple-double: "It was bittersweet, because I would rather have the win. Triple-doubles will come throughout the season and throughout my career. We just didn't have the fire. The 1st half was a terrible display on our part." Hubert Davis: "I didn't really do anything different in the 4th. Our guys made some nice penetration runs and I happened to be the guy to get the ball." Davis on Finley: "He's so athletic and talented. Mike can play 3 of 4 positions. He's an All-Star." Steve Nash: "Let's just hope that we've reached the bottom with all the injuries." Cleveland Cavaliers 106, Dallas Mavericks 99 at Cleveland (November 30) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Cleveland 38 19 23 26 - 106 .447 .400 .442 .813 Dallas 19 24 28 28 - 99 .424 .364 .409 .792 Halftime: Cleveland 57-43 3rd Q: Cleveland 80-71 Dallas' only lead: 2-0 11:43 1st Cleveland's largest lead: 40-19 11:43 2nd Technicals: Cleveland Illegal D 2:10 2nd, Shawn Kemp 8:59 3rd, Cleveland Illegal D 10:37 4th, Cleveland Illegal D 3:45 4th Refs: Danny Crawford, Greg Willard, Bennie Adams Attendance: 11,033 (cap 20,562) Did not play due to injury: Robert Pack (strained right groin), Erick Strickland (sprained left shoulder), Randell Jackson (right thigh bruise) Cleveland Cavaliers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Lamond Murray 31 4-8 0-0 4-6 12 1-8 7 2 1 1 2 Shawn Kemp 37 7-19 0-0 11-15 25 6-11 2 5 3 1 3 Andrew DeClercq 34 8-12 0-0 1-1 17 5-15 1 2 2 0 3 Brevin Knight 39 7-15 0-0 2-2 16 3-4 10 2 3 5 1 Bob Sura 36 4-12 3-6 4-4 15 2-7 4 0 3 1 0 Danny Ferry 18 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 2-3 0 2 3 2 1 Andre Miller 9 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 0-0 2 1 0 0 0 Mark Bryant 7 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 1 3 0 0 Cedric Henderson 8 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Wesley Person 21 3-7 1-4 2-2 9 3-7 2 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 38-86 4-10 26-32 106 22-55 28 15 20 10 10 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Cedric Ceballos 37 3-10 0-0 3-4 9 3-6 1 4 5 3 0 Dirk Nowitzki 42 6-17 2-6 6-6 20 3-8 5 5 4 0 1 Shawn Bradley 26 5-6 0-0 1-2 11 2-3 1 2 4 0 1 Steve Nash 7 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 Michael Finley 48 6-24 0-5 2-3 14 5-12 11 0 2 2 1 Hubert Davis 32 9-16 6-10 3-3 27 0-1 5 1 3 0 0 Rick Hughes 31 5-9 0-0 3-4 13 4-5 0 3 4 0 0 Sean Rooks 17 2-4 0-0 1-2 5 0-5 0 1 3 0 1 Totals 48 36-88 8-22 19-24 99 17-40 24 16 26 5 4 Dallas at Chicago (Dec. 2) Dallas opened the game scoring the first 6 points and slowly built up their lead to 11 points and led 32-21 after 1. Ron Artest opened the 2nd quarter with a layup and the Mavs then scored the next 8 points to go up 40-23 with 9 minutes left. Dallas built their lead up to 50-30 with 3:20 left and led 55-37 at the half. It looked to be a blowout when Dallas took a 76-52 lead with 3 minutes left on a layup by Dirk Nowitzki, but the Bulls had other thoughts and Dallas doesn't know how to do things the easy way. Corey Benjamin nailed a long jumper at the end of the quarter and Dallas led 80-61 after 3. Chicago chipped away at Dallas' lead in the 4th quarter as Dallas struggled offensively. Dallas led 90-78 with 4:30 left and Chicago went on a 9-2 run to pull within 85-90 with 2:40 remaining on a dunk by Elton Brand. The teams traded layups. Michael Finley hit 2 free throws and Dirk Nowitzki seemed to put the nail in the coffin by draining a 3-pointer as the shot clock was winding down to give Dallas a 97-87 lead with a minute left. Artest hit a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left, but Dallas hit 5 free throws down the stretch to seal the game. Artest had a meaningless 3-pointer with 8 seconds left. Dallas won 101-95. I said it for the last Bulls game and I'll say it again: a win is a win is a win. But I wish they could do it easier. It wasn't fun watching the Mavs' big lead slip away in the 4th quarter. As usual, the Mavs got killed on the boards. Chicago out-rebounded Dallas 55-37 including 23-10 offensive. Until the last 2 minutes of the game where Dallas shot 6-8 FT, the Bulls were getting to the line much more than Dallas - through 46 minutes Chicago shot 25-36 FT and Dallas 11-16 FT. Michael Finley enjoyed his return home and had 30 points including 12-21 FG and 9 rebounds. Cedric Ceballos showed signs of life with 14 points - 12 of which came in the 1st half. Dirk Nowitzki had a quiet (except for the 3-pointer) 18 points. He did have the tough defensive assignment where he guarded Elton Brand a lot. Brand only had 14 points including 4-11 FG but did gather 9 rebounds. Ron Artest led the way for Chicago with 20 points and former Mav Chris Anstey had 11 points including 3-11 FG and a career high 15 rebounds including 7 offensive. Damon Jones had a nice debut fresh off the airplane. Jones had flown in earlier in the day and signed a contract with the Mavs after he cleared waivers (5 pm). He played 26 minutes at point for the team despite not having practiced with them. As such, the Mavs did not run many set plays while Jones was on the court. Jones came in and had a nice assist to Ceballos on his first trip on offense, another to Finley on his 2nd, and nailed a 3-pointer a few minutes later. He was a little too offensive minded for a point [from what I've heard, he's a shooting guard trying to learn the point], but did very well in his first game, especially without having a practice. He had 13 points and 3 assists. Quotes Don Nelson: "Any road win is a great game for us. We've obviously been struggling all year. We played a superb ballgame for most of the time tonight. Our ball movement was good and crisp, and I didn't call many plays because they moved the ball that well." Nelson on Finley: "There's no doubt in my mind he should be an All-Star. He's always been an All-Star in my mind and always will be. We have to win more games for him to get recognition, but he's everything for us." Nelson: "I was happy for [Finley] to have a big game here, especially with his family in the stands. There's no doubt he's an All-Star. We probably need to win more games for him to get the recognition, but he does everything for us. He's an All-Star in my mind and always will be." Michael Finley on Nelson's All-Star comments: "I hope my coach would say that. I'm just trying to do whatever I can do to help this team." Finley: "It really felt good. Coach told us to go out and play, and he really didn't call a lot of plays. We just got into a rhythm and played well. Yes, it means something extra coming home. It's a chance for friends and family to see me play. I had to get about 40 tickets tonight." Finley: "It's always good to beat the Bulls, no matter who's in that other locker room. And a road win is a road win. I don't care whether it's Chicago or Timbuktu." Finley: "You see those 6 banners up there it also motivates you. It's good to come back not only because I'm going against the Bulls, but because it gives my family and friends a chance to see me up close and personal." Finley: "It's always good to beat the Bulls no matter who's on their roster. Growing up here, the Bulls have always been one of my favorite teams. To come back and beat them here was great." Finley: "Given the situation as far as injuries, we played well. But we almost let it get away in the 4th quarter." Cedric Ceballos on Damon Jones: "I played summer league [with Jones]. I know he can play. I don't know why he got released [by Golden State], but we're happy to have him." Tim Floyd: "We were real discouraged with how we came out in the 1st half. We did nothing to disrupt their shooters and they had their way with us." Floyd: "In the 2nd half we played the way we should have the whole game." Floyd: "This was the first time that we had 2 or 3 days of work and showed no improvement. We did nothing to disrupt their shooters and they did not have to put the ball on the floor to beat us. They had their way." Dallas Mavericks 101, Chicago Bulls 95 at Chicago (December 2) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 32 23 25 21 - 101 .507 .308 .476 .708 Chicago 21 16 24 34 - 95 .421 .167 .386 .694 Halftime: Dallas 55-37 3rd Q: Dallas 80-61 Chicago never led Dallas' largest lead: 76-51 2:53 3rd Technicals: Shawn Bradley 9:48 4th Refs: Ted Bernhardt, Steve Javie, Derrick Collins Attendance: 22,109 (cap 21,711) Did not play due to injury: Steve Nash (sprained right ankle), Robert Pack (strained right groin), Gary Trent (slightly torn left hamstring), Toni Kukoc (back spasms) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Cedric Ceballos 32 6-13 0-0 2-2 14 1-3 2 1 5 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 31 6-10 1-2 5-6 18 1-5 3 3 5 2 0 Shawn Bradley 23 2-2 0-0 2-2 6 0-5 1 0 6 0 6 Hubert Davis 41 3-10 1-4 0-3 7 0-2 6 1 0 0 0 Michael Finley 47 12-21 0-1 6-6 30 3-9 2 1 2 1 1 Rick Hughes 23 3-7 0-0 1-2 7 2-6 1 2 2 0 0 Damon Jones 26 5-13 2-6 1-2 13 1-2 3 1 1 0 0 Sean Rooks 17 3-8 0-0 0-1 6 2-5 1 1 3 0 2 Totals 48 40-84 4-13 17-24 101 10-37 19 10 24 4 9 Chicago Bulls REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Kornel David 18 1-6 0-0 2-2 4 1-1 1 0 3 1 0 Elton Brand 31 4-11 0-0 6-8 14 5-9 2 3 4 0 2 Dickey Simpkins 21 2-7 0-0 1-4 5 1-3 2 0 1 0 0 Randy Brown 26 6-8 0-0 0-1 12 1-3 4 3 1 0 0 Hersey Hawkins 35 1-4 0-1 1-2 3 1-4 0 1 3 1 0 Ron Artest 26 8-13 2-4 2-2 20 2-6 3 3 2 2 0 Corey Benjamin 17 4-9 0-2 2-4 10 1-1 2 0 3 0 0 Chris Anstey 21 3-11 0-0 5-5 11 7-15 2 1 5 2 1 Michael Ruffin 11 1-4 0-0 2-2 4 3-4 0 1 0 0 0 Dedric Willoughby 26 4-13 0-5 4-4 12 1-5 5 2 1 1 1 Will Perdue 8 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 0-4 1 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 34-88 2-12 25-36 95 23-55 22 15 24 7 4 patricia