Dallas activated Robert Pack and placed Bruno Sundov on IR with a "strained lower back" [but we all know that it is just stashing a player on IR]. Pack made his return to the court vs Utah. He only played 6 minutes, but did start (Nelson's philosophy is that a player shouldn't lose his starting position due to injury). The NBA fined Dennis Rodman $3,500 for failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection from the Utah game. Shawn Bradley missed the Philadelphia and New Jersey games due to the flu. Head coach Don Nelson missed the New Jersey and Phoenix games due to the flu. Utah at Dallas (Feb. 24) Utah held small leads through most of the 1st quarter and used a 6-1 mini-run to go up 19-11 with 1:30 left. Utah led 22-16 after 1. Utah shot 10-23 FG and Dallas shot only 6-22 FG in the quarter. Utah led 26-20 with 8:30 remaining and Dallas went on a 11-2 run, including 9 points by Cedric Ceballos, to go up 31-28 with 4 minutes remaining. Utah scored 6 straight points and Ceballos hit a jumper at the buzzer. Utah led 40-38 at the half. Ceballos had 13 points in the 2nd quarter. Utah opened the 3rd quarter with a 10-1 run to go up 50-39 with 8:30 to go. Dennis Rodman picked up a technical foul during that run for throwing John Stockton to the ground. Dallas slowly chipped away at Utah's lead and the Jazz led 58-53 with 2:30 left. Dallas then scored the next 6 points to go up 59-58 with a minute left. Utah scored the last 4 points of the quarter to lead 62-59 after 3. A 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki gave Dallas a 66-64 lead with 10:30 remaining. Utah scored the next 4 points and then the game switched between a tie and 2 point Utah lead over the next 3 minutes. The game was tied at 72-72 with 6:45 left. Jeff Hornacek got a layup and Bryon Russell nailed a 3-pointer to give Utah a 77-72 lead with 4:40 left. Rodman received his 2nd technical for taunting Karl Malone (trash talking to him and pointing his finger at him) and was ejected with 4 minutes left. Hornacek hit the technical free throw and Malone hit 2 free throws to put Utah up 80-72. Russell drove for a layup with 3 minutes left, but Dallas wasn't ready to give up. Michael Finley converted the 3-point play and hit a short jumper to cut Utah's lead down to 82-77 with 2 minutes left. Stockton hit 2 free throws and Finley got a slam dunk with 1:45 to go. Russell hit 2 free throws and Erick Strickland got a layup and converted the 3-point play with 1:10 remaining to cut Utah's lead down to 86-82. Russell hit 1 of 2 free throws, but Steve Nash missed a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left. Stockton hit 2 free throws and the teams traded 2 meaningless 3-pointers to cap the scoring. Utah won 92-85. Well, it was an ugly game that Dallas did not deserve to win. Actually, neither team deserved to win. Dallas shot only 40.2% FG and Utah shot only slightly better at 41.9% FG. Bryon Russell was the offensive force for Utah with 25 points including 4-7 3-pointers. Karl Malone chipped in 18 points and 10 rebounds and Jeff Hornacek had 14 points and 7 rebounds. Cedric Ceballos tried to carry the team but didn't receive enough help. He had 26 points and 7 rebounds. Erick Strickland (16 points) and Michael Finley (only 14 points including 6-18 FG - and he started ice cold, shooting 2-13 FG) were the only other Mavs in double-digits. Strickland got popped in the face mid-way through the 2nd quarter and left the game (and was ticked about the injury), but did return with 4:45 left in the 3rd and had 8 points in that 4:45. Dirk Nowitzki had a terrible game and finished with 9 points on 4-13 FG, but did have 9 rebounds. Robert Pack returned to action but only played 6 minutes, but did start. Dennis Rodman had 12 rebounds in his 31 minutes before being ejected. Quotes Jerry Sloan on Russell: "It was nice to see him shoot the ball so well. When he does that, it makes a big difference for our team." Sloan: "When we've gotten something out of the 3 position, we haven't lost many games the last 15 years," Sloan on Ostertag: "He played real well. He helped us inside." Bryon Russell: "It feels good, I'll tell you that. I shot over 50%; that makes me kind of happy. That's what this team needs me to do." Russell: "It was a good game tonight for me. I hope the slump's over. I'm just waiting to see what happens tomorrow night." Russell on Rodman: "He does stupid things. He's a great player and he's a great actor. But Karl did a good job tonight of maintaining his composure. He didn't get caught up in Rodman's tactics. He just played the game." John Stockton on Russell's 3-pointer with 5 minutes left: "I drove, and everybody came to me. Bryon did a good job of getting open and making the shot. That gave us a nice boost - a well-timed boost." Greg Ostertag: "It's always a lot of fun to come back home. I want to play well when I come here. And when I play good, I kind of rub it in, say 'You guys should have drafted me.'" Karl Malone: "One of our biggest wins of the season, considering all the B.S." Malone on Rodman's comments that got him tossed: "Don't know and don't really give a rat's ass. You know what, guys? Don't ask me any Dennis Rodman questions. Just ask me Dallas Mavericks questions. That's who I got ready for. You guys make a bigger deal out of it than it is. It's just one game in a long season, and it's the Mavericks on the schedule. That's how I look at it." Jeff Hornacek on Rodman: "It's not a problem for me. He got a couple illegal screens in, but you don't look at him. You keep playing. We did a good job of ignoring it all and just kept playing." Hornacek: "We didn't pay any attention to him. When you as players can avoid paying any attention to him, then it has no effect. It will affect their team more than it will ours." Hornacek: "He looked like he was trying to get that second technical. It was just a matter of time before the referee said, 'OK, that's enough. Let's kick him out.'" Don Nelson: "We were just terrible offensively. I don't know how else to say it." Nelson: "The tough thing is, this was a winnable game if we'd had any offense from the people we normally rely on." Nelson: "I think Dennis plays with emotions and you have to accept that as part of what he brings. At least I'll say this, he was out there competing and gave it everything he has. I didn't think that all of our guys competed at the level we have been. So I'll credit him with that. I think that's one of what you guys call distractions, or things that happen by having Dennis on our team. We have to roll with those punches and accept that there's going to be things like this and deal with them, and we're really working on doing that." Nelson on Rodman's ejection: "That didn't have anything to do with this loss. I think our offensive performance was terrible. I don't fault Dennis. That's the way he is." Cedric Ceballos: "What can you say? They've been together a long time and they know all the tricks. They know how to get the calls and make the big shots when the game's on the line." Michael Finley: "Dennis has a rep, whether it's a good one or a bad one, that was put on him before he was on the Mavericks and it's probably going to follow him for the remainder of his career. If you had to choose who is in the wrong between him and the guy he's guarding, they're going to pick Dennis even though it's not him many times." Erick Strickland on Rodman: "I think he's frustrated, because Karl is the ultimate, extra flopper. He knew it was some bull, but that's the way it is. Usually Dennis is getting into Karl's head, but I think maybe tonight Karl got into Dennis a little bit." Dennis Rodman, asking for more trouble: "David Stern and Rod Thorn, they need to get their asses kicked. It's ridiculous. Just let Dennis Rodman play. I'm not throwing cheap blows. I'm not out there trying to kill anybody. The referees have got to understand, people are not here to see them. I do my thing. I try to help the team win. I can't do that if I'm getting kicked out. It's unfair to me." Rodman: "The NBA has gotten to the point where you have to wear a diaper to come play basketball, and a Karl Malone can sit there and be a little baby about it, and the referees are sitting here falling into his little game. It's kind of pathetic. It's the NBA strictly picking on me. I don't get it." Utah Jazz 92, Dallas Mavericks 85 at Dallas (February 24) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Utah 22 18 22 30 - 92 .425 .385 .419 .833 Dallas 16 22 21 26 - 85 .429 .294 .402 .769 Halftime: Utah 40-38 3rd Q: Utah 62-59 Dallas' largest lead: 33-30 3:09 2nd Dallas' last lead: 66-64 10:29 4th Utah's largest lead: 54-43 6:44 3rd Lead changes: 9 Technicals: Dennis Rodman 10:28 3rd, Dennis Rodman 4:02 4th (ejected) Refs: Derrick Stafford, Mike Callahan, George Toliver Attendance: 18,187 (sellout) Utah Jazz REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Bryon Russell 36 8-13 4-7 5-6 25 0-3 0 1 2 3 0 Karl Malone 40 8-21 0-0 2-4 18 3-10 6 3 2 1 2 Olden Polynice 16 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 0-4 0 0 3 1 0 John Stockton 26 2-10 0-1 4-4 8 0-3 10 3 1 1 1 Jeff Hornacek 35 6-11 0-1 2-2 14 2-7 0 1 3 2 1 Howard Eisley 26 5-9 1-3 0-0 11 0-2 6 2 4 2 1 Greg Ostertag 28 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 2-10 0 1 1 0 6 Quincy Lewis 12 1-5 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 Jacque Vaughn 11 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 1 1 0 0 Armon Gilliam 10 3-8 0-0 2-2 8 5-6 1 1 2 0 0 Totals 48 36-86 5-13 15-18 92 12-47 23 15 20 11 11 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Dirk Nowitzki 41 4-13 1-5 0-0 9 1-9 1 3 2 2 1 Dennis Rodman 31 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 2-12 2 1 5 0 0 Sean Rooks 20 1-6 0-0 1-1 3 3-5 2 2 0 0 1 Michael Finley 37 6-18 0-1 2-3 14 2-4 6 1 2 1 0 Robert Pack 6 2-4 0-0 1-2 5 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Steve Nash 28 2-9 1-3 0-0 5 0-2 3 3 1 0 0 Erick Strickland 20 6-12 1-4 3-3 16 1-2 2 0 2 0 0 Cedric Ceballos 33 11-19 2-4 2-2 26 3-7 0 4 3 0 2 Shawn Bradley 15 3-5 0-0 0-0 6 1-1 1 2 4 2 1 Hubert Davis 9 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 1 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 35-87 5-17 10-13 85 13-44 18 17 20 5 5 Denver at Dallas (Feb. 26) Denver jumped out to an early 10-2 lead with 7:40 left and maintained a single digit lead for the next 5 minutes. Denver led 20-17 with 3:20 remaining and Dallas then went on an 8-3 mini-run to take a 25-23 lead with 1:20 to go. Denver led 28-27 after 1. Denver opened the 2nd quarter with a 12-4 run to go up 40-31 with 7:45 left. Dallas answered by scoring the next 8 points to pull within 39-40 with 5:15 left. Raef LaFrentz hit a jumper and then Dallas scored the next 6 points to take a 47-42 lead with a minute to go. Dallas led 51-46 at the half. Robert Pack had 14 points. Neither team had a rally in them for the 3rd quarter as Dallas' largest lead of the 3rd was 5 points, Denver's largest lead was 2 points, and there were 3 ties. Dallas led 77-75 after 3. Dallas led 87-85 with 6:40 left and scored the next 5 points to go up 92-85 with 5 minutes remaining. Denver scored the next 7 points, capped by a dunk by Keon Clark, to tie the game at 92-92 with 3:40 to go. Shawn Bradley hit a free throw and Cedric Ceballos had a slam dunk, but Nick Van Exel again tied the game at 95-95 with 2:45 left on a 3-pointer. Clark made 1 of 2 free throws with 2:25 left. Pack drove for a layup and was fouled. He made the free throw to give Dallas back the lead at 98-96 with 1:25 remaining. Antonio McDyess missed a jumper with a minute left and Erick Strickland missed a jumper with 50 seconds to go. Finley blocked a layup attempted by Bryant Stith and McDyess missed inside and Strickland got the rebound with 29 seconds left. Denver did not foul and Pack missed with 7 seconds left. Denver got the ball to a wide open Stith behind the 3-point line and he launch [and my mom got a very loud "Nooo, NOOOOOOOOOOO!" in her ear] and the buzzer sounded and the ball bounced off the front of the rim. I was so relieved that I didn't even notice McDyess slam in the miss. But it was too late and Dallas won 98-96. Ah, the Mavs got really lucky for a change. I thought for sure that 3-pointer was going to go in. But it didn't and the Mavs came away with a break. The man of the game was unquestionably Robert Pack. Pack had 22 active points and 12 assists. Cedric Ceballos also had 22 points and 7 rebounds. Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki weren't their normal productive selfs and only had 12 and 13 points respectively. For Denver, Antonio McDyess led Denver with 22 points. Keon Clark had a very nice game with 20 points on 7-10 FG and 6-10 FT and 13 rebounds. Nick Van Exel put up the points, but not the numbers. He had 17 points including 6-21 FG and 12 assists. Quotes Don Nelson: "We got a little lucky. But we deserve a little break because we haven't gotten many of them this year. We'll take it and not worry about it." Nelson: "Tonight, for all the good defense we played in the game, they got an open 3-pointer at the end. We deserve a little break because we haven't had one all year. It was a strange game." Nelson: "We double teamed a lot, and it helped us against that last shot McDyess missed. That was a huge miss." Nelson: "Mike Finley obviously is still ill. He was not looking well before the game. We played him sparingly throughout the game. He didn't have the best game, but he gave me whatever he had. We'll take a win against anybody with Mike not being 100%." Nelson: "I thought Dirk was okay offensively, but he passes up too many shots down at the end. When we got him open, he's reluctant to take his rhythm shots he takes all game long. I know it's just a maturity thing, but when we get him open, he really needs to take those shots." Nelson on Pack: "He can have the game ball. No question about it. What he does best, Denver has a hard time guarding, and that's the screen-and-roll. He got in the paint and to the basket all night long. He really was our offense with Mike struggling. He and Ceballos really had to take over." Robert Pack on his game winning 3-point play: "It really wasn't supposed to be me. It kind of ended up in my hands. I saw Dice kind of leaning one way and I just tried to get to the basket and create some contact." Pack: "[McDyess] was really trying to stop me from getting to the paint, and I was able to get the basket and the foul." Pack on his missed jumper with 7 seconds left: "We didn't leave me enough time to penetrate and I just tried to get Nick back on his heels and pull up, but it didn't go in." Pack: "We made it tough for ourselves, but we came through in the end. That's what we have to do. If we miss the playoffs, God forbid, we're going to look back and see 6 or 7 games that he should have won. That's been our Achilles' heel this season." Pack: "When Dennis fouled out, we knew we had to stay together and rebound as a team. He was really doing his job out there on the boards but after he left, we got a couple of tough rebounds with the game on the line. This was a real good win for us. We've struggled in close games." Pack: "They couldn't handle the pick-and-roll. If they decided to jump one way, I went the other way and tried to get to the paint as fast as possible and try to create a shot for the other guys." Pack: "We knew Denver was right in front of us and that this was a game we really needed. We all knew that. It's the team we're going after the hardest right now." Pack on playing against his former team: "This was personal, but it was a good personal. There were no hard feelings. There still aren't." Cedric Ceballos on Pack: "He has unbelievable speed, and he has a knack of finding open people going toward the bucket. He brings intensity to the team, a fire that we need all of the time. We haven't had a true point guard start for us in a long time because of Robert's injury." Ceballos: "[Pack] brings a fire, a spark, an enthusiasm to this team. It's that unbelievable speed. It gets us going, and other teams can't stop it." Michael Finley: "Robert played a big game, hit some big shots down the stretch. I was happy for him and happy for the team. He gives us a lot of energy. He's a guy who wants to get up and down, put pressure on the other team's defense and just make it an up-tempo game. It makes us hard to defend." Finley: "Everybody had to step up. We made some big defensive stops and got some big rebounds." Dan Issel: "When Robert's healthy, Robert's a heck of a player, and he was doing a good job of getting to the goal tonight. If he didn't have an open look, he wasn't forcing it, he was passing off. I would say that Robert was the biggest player for Dallas that kept us from winning the game." Issel: "We executed and played hard. We were down 7 with 3 minutes to go. We executed the plays, but they just didn't go in the basket. here's nothing you can do about that. I wouldn't have changed anything we did down the stretch. We got good looks for the people we wanted shooting the ball. Sometimes it just doesn't go in the basket." Issel on Rodman: "I didn't think he had any effect on the game, other than his rebounding and his hustle. He plays hard." Nick Van Exel: "[Pack] is a guy who when he is coming at you with a full head of steam is going to be hard to stop. Tonight he was in full gear and he played well for them." Van Exel on the last play: "The play was designed to go for the lob first, and then get the ball to me to create. When I got the ball, they ran 2 men at me, so I had to kick it out." Bryant Stith on his 3-point miss at the buzzer: "I thought it was in. It just didn't get over that front rim. All my shots were like that tonight. It's just one of those inexplicable things that makes you shake your head." Stith: "I had a wide open shot and a good look at a 3-pointer to win the game. I just didn't get it over the front iron." Stith: "Tonight was difficult, because we played well enough to win. Offensively, we didn't hit our open shots tonight and that killed us down the stretch, especially when they were double teaming McDyess and Clark in the low post. We were not able to covert to the outside." Dallas Mavericks 98, Denver Nuggets 96 at Dallas (February 26) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 27 24 26 21 - 98 .475 .286 .460 .842 Denver 28 18 29 21 - 96 .493 .250 .437 .714 Halftime: Dallas 51-46 3rd Q: Dallas 77-75 Technicals: Dennis Rodman 11:10 3rd, Nick Van Exel 5:00 4th, Dallas Illegal D 3:44 4th Refs: Jack Nies, Monte McCutchen, Marc Davis Attendance: 18,187 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Tariq Abdul-Wahad (lower back spasms) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Erick Strickland 27 3-8 0-2 3-3 9 0-4 1 0 2 0 1 Dennis Rodman 34 2-3 0-0 2-2 6 2-14 0 0 6 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 39 6-15 1-3 0-0 13 1-8 4 1 3 2 0 Michael Finley 37 6-14 0-0 0-0 12 1-5 1 1 2 1 1 Robert Pack 38 7-15 0-0 8-9 22 0-1 12 3 3 2 1 Cedric Ceballos 30 10-19 0-1 2-3 22 4-7 1 2 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 21 4-8 0-0 1-2 9 1-3 0 1 6 2 1 Hubert Davis 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 0 0 0 Steve Nash 7 1-3 1-1 0-0 3 0-1 2 0 0 0 0 Sean Rooks 1 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Greg Buckner 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 40-87 2-7 16-19 98 9-44 21 10 23 7 4 Denver Nuggets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antonio McDyess 36 11-20 0-0 0-1 22 1-6 1 3 4 0 5 James Posey 27 4-6 1-1 4-4 13 3-4 1 2 2 0 0 Raef LaFrentz 17 2-5 0-1 0-0 4 2-5 1 2 5 0 0 Bryant Stith 41 4-13 0-4 1-2 9 3-10 4 1 0 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 42 6-21 3-9 2-2 17 0-2 12 1 1 0 0 Keon Clark 30 7-10 0-0 6-10 20 2-13 3 2 3 1 1 Chris Gatling 18 1-6 0-3 0-0 2 2-3 1 3 3 0 0 Popeye Jones 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 George McCloud 26 3-6 1-2 2-2 9 1-6 4 1 3 0 3 Totals 48 38-87 5-20 15-21 96 14-49 27 15 22 1 9 Dallas at Boston (Feb. 28) Boston scored 6 straight points to go up 11-5 with 8:45 left. Boston maintained a 1 to 6 point lead the rest of the quarter. Boston led 29-26 after 1. Boston led 43-40 with 5:50 to go and then Dallas fell to pieces as Boston went on a 16-2 run to go up 59-42 with 2 minutes remaining. Boston led 63-47 at the half. Dallas shot 6-19 FG in the 2nd quarter while Boston shot 13-29 FG. Antoine Walker had 16 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points including 7-11 FG, but had 0 rebounds for the half. Upset with the 1st half of play, Don Nelson benched starters Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki for almost all of the 3rd quarter (Finley was inserted back into the game with less than a minute left). Boston pushed their lead up to 78-58 with 6:40 left before Dallas decided to rejoin the game. The Mavs then went on a 16-1 monster run to pull within 74-79 with 2:20 left. Sean Rooks had 9 points during the run. Finley hit a jumper at the end of the quarter and Boston led 85-79 after 3. Rooks had 11 points including 5-5 FG in the quarter (his total for the game). Dallas continued their rally back by scoring the first 6 points of the 4th quarter to tie the game at 85-85 with 9:30 left. Vitaly Potapenko hit a jumper and then Dallas scored the next 8 points to go up 93-87 with 6:40 to go. The teams traded baskets and then Boston scored 6 straight points to tie the game at 95-95 with 4:15 remaining. Nowitzki hit a 3-pointer to give Dallas back the lead and Cedric Ceballos hit a jumper with 2:30 left to put Dallas up 100-95. Walker hit 2 free throws and Nowitzki nailed another 3-pointer with 2 minutes to go. Neither team could produce anything over the next minute and a half. Walter McCarty hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left and Dallas only led 103-100. Steve Nash was immediately fouled and he hit 1 of 2 free throws. McCarty missed a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left and Dallas capped the scoring with 4 free throws. Dallas won 108-100. It was a tale of two halfs. The Mavs looked terrible in the 1st half shooting only 38.1% FG (compared to 47.3% FG for Boston) and being out-rebounded 16-32 including 7-15 offensive. For the 2nd half, Dallas turned things completely around and shot 56.4% FG (while Boston shot 32.4% FG) and out-rebounded Boston 22-17 and only allowed 5 offensive boards for Boston. Antoine Walker had 16 points including 7-14 FG in the 1st half and only 7 points including 1-7 FG in the 2nd half. Dirk Nowitzki led the way in scoring with 26 points including 10-15 FG, but only had 2 rebounds. Erick Strickland had 19 points, including 10 points in 6 minutes in the 3rd quarter, in 19 minutes. Michael Finley had 17 points and Cedric Ceballos had 16 points. Sean Rooks was key to the Mavs' comeback with all 11 of his points coming in the 3rd quarter. And Dennis Rodman snagged 16 rebounds. Walker finished with 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists, but his lack of production in the 2nd half hurt his team. Paul Pierce had 21 points and 5 rebounds. Vitaly Potapneko had 19 points and 9 rebounds. Quotes Don Nelson called the 1st half "the worst half we've played all year." Nelson on benching Dirk and Finley to open the 3rd: "There was no energy. There was no effort. So I benched the guys who didn't give us the effort and went with guys who would at least play hard and maybe get us back into the game." Nelson: "What have I got to lose? What it does is it puts the onus on the starters. When they see the bench playing that hard and getting us back in the game, they're not going to go through the motions. I understand that over the course of 82 games, you're going to lay an egg. But you can't accept that, not as a coach." Nelson: "We took a gamble. I was very disappointed with the guys that have been carrying us all year. They haven't come out like that very many times this year, but I didn't like it, so I decided to start Dennis Rodman and 4 guys from Pismo Beach and see if they could get us back in the game. When that happens, your starters feel so guilty that it almost forces them, whether they feel like playing or not, to give you an effort. So we took a gamble, we got back in the game and we credit our bench with this victory." Nelson: "We took a gamble because I didn't like the energy of the starting team. The gamble paid off and we got back in the game. I credit our bench with this victory. No question." Nelson: "It is a great win, but I don't treat it like I normally would in this situation because I was disappointed with the way we came out. But it happens once in a while that you can win a game like this." Sean Rooks: "I was sitting there in the 1st half and was surprised to be put in there to start the 2nd half. It was a huge win. We weren't happy with our performance in the 1st half." Dirk Nowitzki: "I didn't play good defense and got no boards. Coach really jumped on me at halftime because I didn't give the effort. I tried to come back with it in the 2nd half." Nowitzki: "Offensively I had my game going, but rebounding-wise I didn't do my job. I was just feeling it and they did a great job of finding me. I was wide open." Michael Finley on Dirk's 3-pointers: "I don't know what they were doing. They left Dirk open twice. Then they had to pay for it." Finley: "I think in the 1st half we were just sleepwalking through it. The 2nd half was a different story." Finley on being benched to open the 2nd half: "I still disagree with the tactics, but it worked out for him and it worked out for the team, so I guess that's why he's the coach and I'm a player. But from my and Dirk's perspective, looking at what the guys were doing on the court from the bench, we didn't want to be the ones to blame when we got back in there. So I think we took upon ourselves to keep up the intensity, keep working hard and do the things that those guys did starting the 2nd half for us." Rick Pitino: "We ran out of a little gas there after playing an excellent 1st half. We scored 63 points in the 1st half and did it with defense and by getting out on the break. We didn't do that in the 2nd half." Pitino on Nowitzki: "They spotted him up and fed him. He's a big guy who's a great shooter. He made the big shots when they needed him." Paul Pierce: "We didn't take care of business. We got lackadaisical out there. You have an 18-point lead in your own house, you're supposed to put them away. We let them get back in." Pierce: "We just turned the ball over too much in the 2nd half. We got a big lead, relaxed and it cost us the game." Pierce: "We gave the game away - it's as simple as that. We played a certain style - swinging the ball around, finding the open man, hitting the boards and playing solid defense - and we were able to build a big lead. Then, we just stopped doing all of that in the 2nd half. There was too much 1-on-1, we stopped swinging the ball - we just didn't play the same. We got lackadaisical and it cost us a game." Pierce: "Real simple, we turned the ball over too much. We had a big lead and relaxed too much. Coach kept telling us that with the effort we gave in the 3rd quarter that they would get back into the game. I guess they did." Antoine Walker in the Mavs' different line-up to open the 2nd half: "It caught us off guard a little. Then they came back with their starters [in the 4th quarter], and they came through." Walker: "I think everybody here knows we let a golden opportunity get away from us. We came to play in the 1st half. But we didn't play smart when we had them on the ropes. We didn't put the game away." Kenny Anderson: "I can't put my finger on how we can lose a game like this. It's like we're 2 different teams. We did everything according to plan and got the lead we wanted, but at that point we became a different team. We fell apart. If I knew what to do to stop it, I'd run out on the court and do it. But I can't explain it. I just know it's frustrating." Dallas Mavericks 108, Boston Celtics 100 at Boston (February 28) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 26 21 32 29 - 108 .493 .357 .469 .771 Boston 29 34 22 15 - 100 .442 .267 .413 .800 Halftime: Boston 63-47 3rd Q: Boston 85-79 Boston's largest lead: 78-58 6:40 3rd Dallas' largest lead: 108-100 final Technicals: Tony Battie 11:19 2nd Refs: Jim Clark, Violet Palmer, Ted Bernhardt Attendance: 16,981 (cap 18,624) Did not play: Calbert Cheaney (personal) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 32 6-15 1-3 4-4 17 0-4 1 3 1 0 0 Dennis Rodman 40 2-4 0-1 0-0 4 4-16 3 2 3 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 30 10-15 2-5 4-5 26 1-2 3 1 1 2 1 Robert Pack 20 1-5 0-0 1-2 3 0-0 8 4 1 0 0 Erick Strickland 19 4-10 2-4 9-10 19 1-4 0 0 0 1 0 Cedric Ceballos 29 7-14 0-0 2-3 16 1-2 0 1 1 0 0 Shawn Bradley 8 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 1 0 3 0 1 Steve Nash 26 2-4 0-0 3-5 7 0-2 8 0 3 2 0 Hubert Davis 8 0-2 0-1 1-2 1 0-0 1 1 1 1 0 Damon Jones 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Greg Buckner 9 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 2-2 0 1 1 0 0 Sean Rooks 16 5-6 0-0 1-2 11 2-4 1 3 5 0 1 Totals 48 38-81 5-14 27-35 108 12-38 26 18 20 6 3 Boston Celtics REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antoine Walker 40 8-21 0-2 7-11 23 5-6 7 1 4 0 1 Adrian Griffin 36 3-7 0-0 0-1 6 2-6 6 3 4 3 0 Vitaly Potapenko 24 8-12 0-0 3-3 19 3-9 0 2 4 0 0 Kenny Anderson 46 4-15 2-3 2-2 12 0-1 7 5 1 3 0 Paul Pierce 25 8-15 1-3 4-4 21 1-5 1 4 5 2 0 Danny Fortson 11 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 2-5 0 1 3 0 0 Eric Williams 14 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 3 1 1 0 0 Walter McCarty 20 4-13 1-7 2-2 11 1-4 1 1 5 1 0 Doug Overton 3 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 Tony Battie 21 1-2 0-0 2-2 4 6-11 2 1 3 0 0 Totals 48 38-92 4-15 20-25 100 20-49 27 21 31 9 1 Dallas at Philadelphia (Feb. 29) The Mavs took an early 14-8 lead, but Philadelphia answered with an 11-2 run to go up 21-18 with 3 minutes left. Philadelphia led 29-28 after 1. Allen Iverson had 15 points and Robert Pack had 10 points. Philadelphia led 39-38 with 6:30 remaining and the Mavs decided not to play any more. Philly scored the next 12 points to go up 51-38 with 2 minutes left. Philadelphia led 53-42 at the half. Iverson had 18 points in the half. Dallas only shot 5-23 FG in the 2nd quarter while Philly shot 10-17 FG. Philadelphia continued to build on their lead in the 3rd quarter and pushed it into the 20s and led 71-48 with 5 minutes left. The Mavs had no comeback rally in them for this game and Philadelphia led 80-59 after 3. Iverson's scoring barge continued as he had 12 points in the quarter. The blowout continued in the 4th and Philly won easily 106-87. Gag. The Mavs had _no_ interior defense, much less any weak side help. For all the criticism he receives, the Mavs really missed Shawn Bradley for this game. Philadelphia had 70 points in the paint (while Dallas only had 32 points in the paint). Philly kept driving to the basket and the Mavs did nothing to even try to stop them. Philly shot 63% (46-73) FG while Dallas struggled shooting only 38.8% (33-85) FG. You know the Mavs had a really bad game when the only player you can say had a good game was Sean Rooks, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Michael Finley was the high scorer for Dallas with only 15 points. Dirk Nowitzki (10 points including 4-14 FG) and Cedric Ceballos (3 points including 1-10 FG) had terrible games. And it was obvious that Dennis Rodman would have rather been elsewhere. He had 0 points and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes. It was questionable whether or not Allen Iverson would play as it had been recently found that he had a partially torn rotator cuff. He did play and had a monster game with 35 points including 15-18 FG (and all but 4 field goals came near the basket) and 5 assists. Theo Ratliff also benefited from the Mavs' lack of interior defense with 19 points including 9-10 FG. Toni Kukoc chipped in 13 points off the bench. Philly did lose Tyrone Hill to injury during the 3rd quarter. He suffered a partial tear of his right Achilles' tendon and is expected to be out a few weeks. Quotes Larry Brown: "We got to run and get easy shots. We didn't settle for jumpers. Allen was phenomenal. He wasn't even sure he was going to play tonight, and he came out and played hard on both ends of the court. The fact that he has been playing since the Lakers game injured and hasn't said anything is bigger than anything he did tonight." Brown: "Allen was phenomenal. There was a question whether he was going to play or not. He played great at both ends of the court." Brown: "I think this was one of our better games. I hope we win the games we're supposed to win. I don't see [Dallas] getting blown out much; I hope we played the way we're capable of playing." Brown on Hill's injury: "It's a killer injury. He's the one physical inside player we have. He means a lot to our team. [Geiger is] going to have to play. He's been asking for an opportunity. I don't like for it to happen that way, but he's got it." Allen Iverson: "My jumper hasn't been falling. So I was saying to myself before the game I was just going to get easier shots. I was going to the basket more. If I'm given a wide-open shot, I'm going to take it because I have the confidence that I can make a wide-open shot. I just tried to make a conscious effort to just try and get to the basket and shoot the ball better than I have been." Iverson: "I've been playing bad and I'm human. That's just the way it goes. I can't be great every night. I can't do it. It's not humanly possible. People play bad night in and night out but you never hear about it. When it's me, all the criticism comes at me. I've been playing with this injury, but I don't make excuses. If I felt I couldn't play, I wouldn't step on the basketball court. I knew I was hurt. I didn't want to risk anyone telling me I couldn't play." Iverson: "This is what I do. I put it on the line. I love my teammates. I love what I do. It would kill me more to sit and watch a game." Theo Ratliff on Iverson: "We know he's a warrior. He wants to be out there on the floor but we don't want him to do anything to put him in jeopardy for the rest of the season." Toni Kukoc: "To feel really comfortable out there, you need a tight game where each possession counts. It's those situations where you really see how your teammates react when I'm in and I'm out. That will be the true measurement of how comfortable I am." Don Nelson: "Tonight we had nothing. This is the worst game we've played all year, and I definitely credit Philly's defense. It's very good. We didn't give very much competition tonight, but that's the NBA. You have a few of these every year, and this was one of them for us." Nelson: "It was one of those games that we were going to be out of it, and it was going to be a blowout. You could see that, I think, fairly early that we didn't have anything." Nelson: "It's not like we didn't see this coming. No matter how much you warn a team, they almost have to go through a real bad game before they see the light. It probably wouldn't have mattered if [Iverson] was sitting out. It was our night to stink up the joint, and we did a real good job of it." Nelson: "It didn't matter what the plan was. Nothing was going to work when we play like that. We didn't have anything on either end of the floor. I think we were mentally and physically fatigued, and we let that carry out on the floor. It was one of those games that we were going to be out of, and it was going to be a blowout. You could see fairly early that we didn't have anything. We didn't have any legs. We didn't have any mental toughness, physical toughness. It was just a very bad game for us." Michael Finley on Iverson's injury: "I knew he was going to play, but I kind of wish he didn't. [The injury] forced him to go to the basket more. He was making the layups and pretty much playing as if it wasn't bothering him." Finley: "We've won two games playing terrible. Sooner or later it was a false sense of security, and it came to a head tonight where we played terrible and a team played great. When those two things are going, we were on the losing end of that one." Finley: "It seems like everyone had a little bit of success and got satisfied. We've done nothing. We haven't even scratched the surface of success. We have so far to go to even sense success. To be overconfident against anyone is ridiculous." Robert Pack on Iverson: "Man, that patch was a decoy. Allen put that patch on like something was wrong with his shoulder. He's an all-star player, but tonight we made it a little easier for him. Unfortunately for us, defensively we weren't there." (Iverson wore a patch on his right shoulder) Dennis Rodman: "My calf was a little sore today. I thought I was going to tear a muscle in my calf like I've done the last couple of years. We played [horribly] anyway. We didn't have a chance to win it, so I said I wasn't going to go out there and exert myself any more than I have to." Rodman: "I thought I was going to tear a muscle, like I have the last couple years. We played like [expletive]. We didn't have a chance to win, so I didn't want to exert myself more than I had to. We're a young team, a scrappy team, a very small team. We just hoped to sneak one. [But] we don't have a great team, hell no." Philadelphia 76ers 106, Dallas Mavericks 87 at Philadelphia (February 29) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Philadelphia 29 24 27 26 - 106 .629 .667 .630 .667 Dallas 28 14 17 28 - 87 .394 .368 .388 .933 Halftime: Philadelphia 53-42 3rd Q: Philadelphia 80-59 Dallas' largest lead: 14-8 7:47 1st Dallas' last lead: 30-29 10:29 2nd Philadelphia's largest lead: 98-70 5:47 4th Technicals: Don Nelson 4:21 1st, Allen Iverson 8:15 4th Refs: Terry Durham, Leroy Richardson, Dee Katner Attendance: 17,586 (cap 20,444) Did not play due to injury: Shawn Bradley (flu) Philadelphia 76ers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK George Lynch 33 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 3-8 3 4 3 1 1 Tyrone Hill 20 4-5 0-0 0-0 8 0-3 0 3 2 0 0 Theo Ratliff 29 9-10 0-0 1-1 19 2-4 2 2 3 2 3 Allen Iverson 37 15-18 1-1 4-5 35 0-2 5 4 3 2 0 Eric Snow 34 3-6 0-0 0-0 6 0-7 11 4 1 5 0 Aaron McKie 24 2-6 1-1 2-2 7 0-7 4 1 2 1 0 Matt Geiger 14 3-8 0-0 0-0 6 1-5 0 2 0 0 0 Toni Kukoc 28 5-9 0-1 3-4 13 0-3 4 1 1 0 1 Kevin Ollie 9 0-1 0-0 2-4 2 0-4 2 0 0 0 0 Jumaine Jones 6 2-3 0-0 0-2 4 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Todd MacCulloch 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Ira Bowman 3 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 46-73 2-3 12-18 106 6-43 31 23 15 11 5 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 32 7-14 0-1 1-1 15 1-2 3 3 1 2 0 Dennis Rodman 19 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-3 0 1 3 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 26 4-14 0-3 2-2 10 2-5 2 2 2 1 0 Erick Strickland 21 3-10 0-1 3-4 9 4-4 2 1 0 2 0 Robert Pack 22 3-7 2-2 4-4 12 0-0 4 3 0 0 0 Sean Rooks 21 6-11 0-0 0-0 12 4-11 2 2 3 1 1 Greg Buckner 19 4-7 2-2 1-1 11 0-1 0 0 2 1 0 Cedric Ceballos 27 1-10 0-2 1-1 3 0-4 0 3 2 1 0 Steve Nash 22 1-3 1-3 0-0 3 0-2 3 2 4 0 0 Hubert Davis 17 2-5 0-1 2-2 6 0-0 1 2 1 1 0 Damon Jones 14 2-4 2-4 0-0 6 1-2 3 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 33-85 7-19 14-15 87 12-34 20 19 18 9 1 New Jersey at Dallas (March 2) Dallas scored 7 straight points to go up 22-11 with 5:30 left. Dallas led 28-15 with 1:45 left and New Jersey scored the next 6 points to pull within 7 points. Dallas led 30-24 after 1. Erick Strickland had 12 points and Michael Finley had 10 points in the quarter. Dallas led 37-29 with 10 minutes to go and New Jersey rattled off the next 9 points to go up 38-37 with 7 minutes remaining. Dallas answered with a 13-4 run to regain their 8 point lead at 40-42 with 1:30 left. Dallas led 54-49 at the half. Strickland had 16 points and Stephon Marbury had 13 points. The Mavs built their lead up to 13 points at 68-55 on a 3-pointer by Strickland with 8:30 remaining. New Jersey then scored the next 7 points and Dallas' lead stayed in single digits the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 84-79 after 3. Dallas led 91-85 on a 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki with 8:30 left and New Jersey scored the next 9 points to go up 94-91 with 6 minutes to go. The game was tied at 98-98 with 1:30 left. Strickland hit 2 free throws with 1:15 left and Dennis Rodman got the putback on his 2nd attempt to put Dallas up 102-98 with 38 seconds left. New Jersey called timeout and then got the ball to an open Scott Burrell who drained the 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining. Strickland had the ball and got trapped by Marbury and Keith Van Horn along the sideline and they stripped him of the ball and called timeout with 5.3 seconds left. New Jersey got the ball into Marbury, but Strickland used the Mavs' foul to give and there was only 2.2 seconds left. New Jersey got the ball into Van Horn with Rodman right in his face and he threw up the tough, off-balanced jumper that went in at the buzzer. New Jersey won 103-102. Aaarrrgggg! Talk about you prayer shots. Well, I guess that the Mavs didn't really deserve to win this as their matador defense was again in full view. Only twice (and both of those in the 4th quarter) did I see weak side help for the Mavs in this game - Dirk giving help for a great block on Elliot Perry (and then draining a 3 at the other end to give Dallas a 96-94 lead) and Nash and ?Strickland? stepping in front of a driving Johnny Newman (Nash was called for the foul, but at least there was help). It's tempting to rag of the refs for this game, but I actually felt that they did a good job. However, it would be nice if the Mavs could get the benefit of a doubt, especially on their homecourt. I felt that Strickland was fouled in that trap at the end (but Strick should have called timeout) and it was yet another game where Finley had 0 free throw attempts. In fact, Dallas only attempted 6 free throws. There were a lot of good performances for both team. Keith Van Horn had 23 points including 10-16 FG (and, of course, the game winner) and 11 rebounds. Stephon Marbury was the high scorer for New Jersey with 25 points and had 11 assists. And Johnny Newman was the spark off the bench with 23 points including 9-14 FG and 4-6 3-pointers. For the Mavs, Erick Strickland was in the zone. He had a career high 31 points including 12-20 FG and 7 rebounds. Michael Finley started strong offensively and finished strong with the all-round game and had 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. Dirk Nowitzki had a strong 2nd half and finished with 21 points (15 in the 2nd half) including 9-16 FG and 5 rebounds. Dennis Rodman was a monster on the boards with 21 and also had a key bucket near the end of the game. He had 4 points. He player great defense at the end of the game, but was one of the culprits in not supplying weak side help for most of the game. Quotes Don Casey: "We made plays, and that's the sign of a team which is gaining confidence. You know that you'll come up with something. That's why this is so good for us and for Keith. It's a big shot and a big play and we didn't falter at the end. We've been saying it all year. This is a maturation process." Casey: "Yes, Virginia, we do have a last-game play. That was a great play. The basketball player took over and made the big shot. I was happy for him. He had Rodman all over him and he shot it with authority." Keith Van Horn on his game-winner: "I think [Rodman] did a great job of playing defense. He put his hand up and tried to contest my normal shot, and I just had to move it to the side and throw up a prayer. Luckily, it was answered." Van Horn: "It didn't feel good. I barely even saw the rim. You've heard the term 'prayer' before. That was the true definition of a prayer. [Rodman] was right in my face. I had to adjust, move the ball to the right and throw it up there. I didn't really get a good look at the rim. It was luck." Scott Burrell on his 3-pointer with 30 seconds left: "Strickland left me to go help on Steph and he left me open. But I was 0-3. They were counting me out, I guess." Stephon Marbury: "We showed a lot of heart and a lot of character tonight. We could have easily folded but we didn't." Donnie Nelson: "[Rodman] played terrific defense on the last shot of the game. I don't know how you can guard a guy any better than that." Nelson: "It was a hard loss for us. I thought we competed well. Our energy was good. They posed some match up problems for us. We threw everything and the kitchen sink at them and couldn't come up with a solution." Nelson on the loss: "Dad's not as sick as I am, I'll tell you that." [Don Nelson missed the game due to the flu.] Erick Strickland on the turnover: "They double-teamed me, and Stephon bumped me and got under me a couple of times. There was nothing I could do. They started swiping at my arms, and they didn't call anything." Dennis Rodman: "You just can't say the last shot lost the game for us. I think the couple of possessions before that lost the game. You can't just go out there and dribble the ball ... dribble ... dribble ... dribble ... and then expect something to happen. You've got to make something happen and try to win the game." Rodman: "My effort doesn't matter if we don't win, does it? I'm not used to this. It's very difficult for me. I figured I would come here, generate some excitement, some life for this team. But for whatever reason, we're not getting that whole team effort. It's very disappointing, because people here are tired of losing. I know I'm not used to losing. I'm out there busting my butt. I'm 39 years old - I shouldn't be having to do that. But I get paid to perform, and I'll perform." New Jersey Nets 103, Dallas Mavericks 102 at Dallas (March 2) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% New Jersey 24 25 30 24 - 103 .515 .391 .484 .429 Dallas 30 24 30 18 - 102 .418 .526 .439 1.00 Halftime: Dallas 54-49 3rd Q: Dallas 84-79 Dallas' largest lead: 68-55 8:24 3rd Dallas' last lead: 102-101 0:30 4th New Jersey's largest lead: 94-91 6:04 4th Technicals: None Refs: Danny Crawford, Ron Olesiak, Rashan Michel Attendance: 13,757 (cap 18,187) Did not play due to injury: Shawn Bradley (flu) New Jersey Nets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Kendall Gill 22 5-12 0-0 1-2 11 3-4 0 2 2 0 0 Keith Van_Horn 34 10-16 2-4 1-2 23 2-11 1 2 2 1 1 Jim McIlvaine 26 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 4-7 0 1 1 0 5 Kerry Kittles 23 3-7 0-2 0-0 6 1-4 2 1 0 1 1 Stephon Marbury 38 10-23 2-5 3-6 25 0-3 11 2 2 1 2 Lucious Harris 25 3-6 0-2 0-0 6 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Johnny Newman 26 9-14 4-6 1-4 23 3-5 1 1 0 0 0 Scott Burrell 22 1-4 1-3 0-0 3 2-7 1 0 2 2 0 Jamie Feick 14 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-6 1 0 2 0 1 Elliot Perry 10 1-4 0-1 0-0 2 0-2 1 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 44-91 9-23 6-14 103 15-49 19 11 12 5 10 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Erick Strickland 42 12-20 5-6 2-2 31 2-7 1 2 2 1 0 Dennis Rodman 33 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 7-21 0 1 0 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 42 9-16 3-3 0-0 21 1-5 3 1 3 0 3 Michael Finley 45 10-24 1-2 0-0 21 5-10 7 2 2 0 1 Robert Pack 24 3-9 0-1 3-3 9 0-2 9 4 1 3 0 Cedric Ceballos 26 4-16 0-4 0-0 8 2-5 1 0 2 1 0 Steve Nash 17 2-3 1-2 1-1 6 0-1 2 2 2 0 0 Hubert Davis 9 1-4 0-1 0-0 2 0-2 1 0 1 0 0 Sean Rooks 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Greg Buckner 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 43-98 10-19 6-6 102 17-53 24 12 13 5 4 Dallas at Phoenix (March 4) Phoenix held a 22-17 lead and then Clifford Robinson hit 2 consecutive 3-pointers and converted the technical free throw (called on Rodman for throwing the ball into the stands) to give them a 29-17 lead with 2 minutes left. Phoenix led 31-20 after 1. Robinson had 15 points including 4-7 3-pointers. Phoenix led 35-24 with 10:45 left and Dallas went on a 12-2 run to pull within 36-37 with 7:30 left. The game stayed close and was tied at 50-50 with 3:30 to go. Phoenix then scored the next 7 points to go up 57-50 with a minute remaining. Phoenix led 60-52 at the half. Robinson had 21 points including 8-11 FG and 4-7 3-pointers and Cedric Ceballos had 13 points. Phoenix led 64-58 with 9:25 remaining and went on a 12-2 run to go up 76-60 with 5:20 left. Dallas scored the next 6 points and Phoenix led 76-66 with 3:40 remaining. Phoenix led 84-74 after 3. Phoenix led 90-80 with 9:50 left and Dallas went on an 8-1 run, with 6 points from Ceballos, to pull within 88-91 with 5:30 left. Then the Mavs fell apart with sloppy passes that led to easy Phoenix points as Phoenix scored the next 9 points to go up 100-88 with 3:10 left. The Mavs would not challenge the rest of the way and Phoenix won 110-96. The final score was not a good indication of this game. The Mavs were in the game and hanging around until 5 minutes left. With Dallas within 3 points with 5:30 left, Finley missed a 3-pointer and Phoenix got a layup. Dallas then had 2 sloppy passes that Phoenix intercepted and 3 misses as the Suns pushed their lead up to 100-88 with 3:10 left. Sloppy play in the last 5 minutes of the game took the Mavs out of it. Clifford Robinson killed the Mavs in the 1st half with 21 points and Rodney Rogers killed the Mavs in the 2nd half with 14 points in the 4th quarter. Robinson finished with 27 points including 10-17 FG and 5-10 3-pointers and Rogers finished with 29 points including 10-13 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 10 rebounds. Tom Gugliotta had a solid game with 18 points and 14 rebounds and Jason Kidd had 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 14 assists. Cedric Ceballos had a great game with 33 points including 13-19 FG and 7 rebounds. Michael Finley chipped in 22 points but didn't have a very good game. Dirk Nowitzki (11 points) and Erick Strickland (10 points including 4-14 FG) were the only other Mavs in double digits. Strickland also had 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Dennis Rodman snagged 19 rebounds. Quotes Scott Skiles: "That's was a good win because that team gives us a lot of trouble. Their biggest strength is our biggest weakness. They have good 1-on-1 players and our weakness in a lot of cases is just defending people 1-on-1." Rodney Rogers: "It feels good, just to have your teammates feel comfortable with you and have the confidence that if they can get me the ball late in the game, I can knock the shot down. I'm enjoying it. I'm having a good time with it. If they keep finding me, I'm going to keep on shooting it." Rogers: "Kidd and Penny didn't really have it going tonight so me and [Gugliotta] had to pick it up. At first, I didn't try to shoot a lot of jump shots - I tried to get it going by going to the basket. Then I took some shots outside and it came for me." Rogers: "Just to have your teammates feel comfortable with you and have that kind of confidence that they give you the ball late in the game is something I'm not used to. I'm not used to winning like this, I'm having a ball. If they keep finding me, I'll keep shooting." Clifford Robinson: "We knew they play really well from behind - most of the time, that's where their coming from. They play more loose under those circumstances. We knew we would have to play 48 minutes and not sleep on those guys." Tom Gugliotta: "They were doing some crazy stuff to us with the small lineups, and we lost match ups in transition. It hurt us, but eventually the smoke and mirrors disappeared and we focused on what we had to do." Donnie Nelson: "It didn't seem like the spunk was there for a lot of the guys. I don't know what it was, but too many of them seemed to be fighting through something all night." Nelson: "It was good to see us come back and make it a real competitive game but we're real disappointed in that locker room. We're tired of coming close and we need to put some of these games home." Nelson: "We knew it was an uphill battle coming in here and asking for a victory against these guys. They've been on a roll and we knew we had our work cut out for us." Nelson: "Cedric seemed to be on a real roll out there. We need him to score and rebound like that." Nelson: "Basically we got on Cedric's shoulders coming back. He always has big games here, and he seemed to be in a real rhythm out there." Erick Strickland: "[Robinson and Rogers] are our nemeses. Robinson and Rogers seem to kill us every time. No matter what we did, we couldn't stop them." Cedric Ceballos: "It's just a fun situation for me here. I'm always in a relaxed state here, not worried about anything. I just wanted to enjoy myself tonight." Ceballos: "Once we almost went ahead we just didn't take advantage of it. If we did do something small, we turned around and made it into something big by not getting back in transition." Phoenix Suns 110, Dallas Mavericks 96 at Phoenix (March 4) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Phoenix 31 29 24 26 - 110 .493 .375 .462 .789 Dallas 20 32 22 22 - 96 .443 .400 .435 .727 Halftime: Phoenix 60-52 3rd Q: Phoenix 84-74 Dallas' only lead: 3-2 11:14 1st Phoenix's largest lead: 76-60 5:22 3rd Technicals: Dennis Rodman 1:47 1st Refs: Joe Forte, David Jones, Tommie Wood Attendance: 19,023 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Rex Chapman (flu) Phoenix Suns REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Clifford Robinson 39 10-17 5-10 2-3 27 0-5 4 0 2 1 2 Tom Gugliotta 43 8-13 0-0 2-2 18 4-14 3 1 2 1 0 Luc Longley 22 4-8 0-0 0-0 8 2-5 0 1 1 0 0 Jason Kidd 37 6-16 0-3 1-2 13 0-5 14 4 2 2 0 Anfernee Hardaway 43 4-17 1-4 2-2 11 2-5 8 1 4 3 0 Rodney Rogers 32 10-13 3-4 6-8 29 5-10 4 2 2 2 0 Randy Livingston 11 1-5 0-3 2-2 4 1-2 3 0 1 0 0 Corie Blount 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 3 0 0 Shawn Marion 10 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 2 1 1 Tobey Bailey 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Mark West 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 43-93 9-24 15-19 110 14-46 36 11 19 10 3 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Dirk Nowitzki 34 4-10 1-3 2-2 11 1-3 2 1 2 0 1 Dennis Rodman 36 3-5 0-0 0-2 6 8-19 0 5 3 1 0 Shawn Bradley 21 2-10 0-0 3-4 7 4-4 0 0 1 1 0 Erick Strickland 36 4-14 2-4 0-0 10 1-8 7 4 5 3 0 Michael Finley 37 9-17 1-3 3-4 22 1-3 4 2 1 1 0 Cedric Ceballos 32 13-19 1-3 6-8 33 2-7 0 3 3 0 0 Robert Pack 23 1-7 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 9 1 2 0 0 Sean Rooks 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 Greg Buckner 13 1-2 1-1 0-0 3 0-2 0 1 1 1 0 Steve Nash 4 0-1 0-1 2-2 2 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 37-85 6-15 16-22 96 17-47 22 18 20 7 2 patricia