The NBA suspended DJ Mbenga for 6 games for going in to the stands during
Tuesday's game 4 in Phoenix. Mbenga went into the stands (at the urging
of Darrell Armstrong) with Mark Cuban and the team's security man to see
what was occurring between Avery Johnson's wife and some fans. Mbenga
returned to his seat (he was on IL and in dress clothes sitting behind the
bench) without any interaction with the fans. The NBA has a hardline rule
about players entering the stands and Mbenga (and Armstrong) should have
known better to leave the bench area. The big question was why was DJ
given a 6 game suspension when Antonio Davis was given a 5 game suspension
for jumping over the scorer's table (he was playing in the game) and going
into the stands to see what happening with an altercation with Davis's
wife and some fans. That was my gripe about the suspension - the league
should have a hard line rule against players going into the stands. In
fact, I think they should publically set a mandatory minimum number of
games suspension for players going in to the stands (such as the case for
players leaving the bench when an on-court scuffle occurs), with more
games possible if situations warrant. But DJ getting 6 games instead of
5 actually helps the Mavs [and maybe that was the league's thinking] as a
player suspended by the league for more than 5 games can be put on the
suspended list instead of having to serve the suspension on the active
list, which would leave the team with just 11 active players (though the
extra game does hurt DJ's pocket more). [For instance, Clifford Robinson
was on the active list with New Jersey during the playoffs while serving
part of his 5-game suspension for violating the league's anti-drug
policy.]


Game 5: Phoenix at Dallas (June 1)

Dallas made a change to the starting lineup in inserting DeSagana Diop in
place of Keith Van Horn. Dirk Nowitzki hit a 3-pointer, but Shawn Marion
answered right back with a 3-pointer and the game was tied at 9-9 with 7
minutes to go. Josh Howard hit a 3-pointer and Nowitzki hit another
3-pointer and 2 free throws by Nowitzki gave Dallas a 17-9 lead with 5:30
remaining. Boris Diaw converted a 3-point play, but Diop then got a
layup and converted a 3-point play to give Dallas a 22-12 lead with 4:35
left. A bucket and 3-pointer by Jason Terry gave Dallas their largest
lead at 32-18 with a minute to go. Jerry Stackhouse hit a jumper with a
couple of seconds left to give Dallas a 36-23 lead after 1. Nowitzki had
13 points - more than the 11 total he had in game 4. Dallas' defense in
the quarter was good in forcing 3 Phoenix 24-second violations. Phoenix
only shot 6-18 FG and committed 7 turnovers while Dallas shot 14-28 FG
including 4-6 3-pointers. A bucket by Diaw and 3-pointer by Tim Thomas
pulled Phoenix within 28-36 with 10:20 remaining. A jumper and dunk by
Howard and a free throw by Terry gave Dallas a 45-32 lead with 6:35 left.
The teams traded 2 points and then Dallas missed their next 4 shots and a
jumper by Steve Nash and 3-pointer by Thomas pulled Phoenix within 41-47
with 4:05 left as Dallas fell in love with the outside shot. Stackhouse
hit a 3-pointer, but Thomas answered right back with a 3-pointer. A
3-pointer by Raja Bell (which would end up being his only points of the
night) pulled Phoenix within 51-54 with 1:30 left. 2 free throws by Nash
pulled Phoenix within 1 point with 30 seconds to go, but a layup by
Nowitzki capped the quarter scoring. Dallas led 58-55 at the half.
Thomas had 11 points in the quarter. Phoenix shot 13-23 FG including 4-8
3-pointers in out-scoreding Dallas 32-22 in the 2nd quarter. The game
stayed close in the 3rd quarter with Dallas hanging on to a small lead.
Howard picked up his 4th foul with 9:10 left and sat the rest of the
quarter. A 3-pointer by Thomas tied the game at 64-64 with 6:40
remaining - the first tie since 5 minutes into the game. Thomas drove
from up top for the dunk and was fouled and hit the extra free throw to
give Phoenix a 69-68 lead with 5:25 (their first lead since 3:15 into the
game). Stackhouse briefly gave Dallas back the lead with a jumper, but
Leandro Barbosa hit a jumper and Thomas nailed consecutive wide open
3-pointers to give Phoenix a 77-70 lead with 3:30 remaining and Dallas
called timeout. Nowitzki then dominated the game the rest of the way.
Nowitzki hit 2 free throws, Devin Harris drove for 2 and was fouled and
hit the extra free throw [as a Mav finally attacked the basket] (it would
be his only points of the night), Nowitzki hit a jumper, and Nowitzki
drained a 3-pointer to complete the 10-0 run and give Dallas an 80-77
lead with 1:20 to go. Phoenix did score the next 4 points to go back up
by 1 with 30 seconds left, but a driving layup by Stackhouse gave Dallas
an 82-81 lead after 3. Nowitzki had 11 points and Thomas had 12 points in
the rollercoaster 3rd quarter. A long jumper by Barbosa gave Phoenix an
83-82 lead with 11:10 left, but Howard nailed a 3-pointer and Nowitzki
nailed an open jumper to give Dallas an 87-83 lead with 10:25 to go. 2
free throws by Barbosa pulled Phoenix within 88-89 with 9:10 remaining.
Bell fouled Howard (not in the penalty) and had an extra swipe after the
whistle blew and the ref called a technical on Bell and there was a
timeout. During the timeout, Mike D'Antoni went nuts complaining about
the technical and picked up a technical himself. Nowitzki hit the 2
technical free throws and then hit the free throw fade-away jumper.
Barbosa hit a jumper, the teams traded misses, and Nowitzki nailed a
3-pointer to give Dallas a 96-90 lead with 7:50 remaining, but Nash
answered with the quick 3-pointer. Nowitzki then hit 2 free throws, got a
layup, hit 2 free throws, and hit 2 more free throws to give Dallas a
104-93 lead with 5 minutes left as Phoenix missed 4 straight shots - it
also completed a 15-5 Nowitzki run. Nash hit a jumper, but Stackhouse hit
a short jumper. Barbosa missed a reverse layup and Stackhouse was fouled
driving and hit 1-2 FT to give Dallas a 107-95 lead with 4:10 to go. Nash
pushed the ball up and Terry fouled him and compounded the problem by
making an extra swipe after the whistle blew and Terry was assessed a
technical (and Terry was subbed out). Nash hit all 3 free throws to pull
Phoenix within 9 points. But Nowitzki tipped in a Harris miss (with the
shot clock running out), Nash missed inside, and Howard drove and got the
floater and was fouled. He hit the extra to give Dallas a commanding
112-98 lead with 3 minutes left. The icing on the cake was a 3-pointer
by Nowitzki with 1:45 remaining that gave Dallas a 17 point lead and
Nowitzki 50 points in the game. And the decoration on the cake came at
the other end when Nowitzki knocked the ball away and then Terry got a
dunk on the break to give Dallas a 117-98 lead with 1:30 to go. A
meaningless 3-pointer by Diaw with 10 seconds left capped the scoring.
Dallas won 117-101. Dallas leads the series 3-2.


It was an up-and-down game that fortunately ended with a strong up for
Dallas. The Mavs came out strong and opened a double-digit lead on
Phoenix in the 1st quarter (their first double-digit lead of the
series) - a quarter that included 3 24 second violations by the Suns due
to Dallas' defense. But then Dallas forgot how to play the defense as
Phoenix got hot in the 2nd quarter and Dallas forgot on the other end
how to attack the basket as they kept settling for outside shots [driving
me nuts]. Phoenix out-scored Dallas 32-22 in the 2nd quarter. Thanks to
their 3-point shooting, Phoenix built a 7-point lead with 3 1/2 minutes
left in the 3rd quarter, but Dallas then out-scored Phoenix 47-24 the
last 15:15 of the game, thanks in large part to the dominating game by
Dirk Nowitzki. Dallas helped themselves pull away by being really clean
with the ball as they had just 3 turnovers in the 2nd half and 9 total
(Phoenix had 13 turnovers). Dallas out-scored Phoenix 35-20 in the 4th
quarter as Phoenix shot just 6-17 FG. For the game, Dallas shot 47.2%
(42-89) FG including 9-17 3-pointers. Phoenix shot 45.6% (36-79) FG
including 10-24 3-pointers. Dallas shot 24-28 FT and Phoenix shot 19-20
FT. Dallas continued the prefect streak in the playoffs in out-rebounding
the opponent as Dallas had a 49-35 edge on the boards including 16-6
offensive (giving the Mavs a 21-8 edge in 2nd chance points). The Mavs
even out-assisted Phoenix 24-21. It's a due-or-die game 6 for the Suns in
Phoenix on Saturday night at 7:30 pm on TNT.

Dirk, Dirk, Dirk! What an outstanding performance in such a key game.
Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points in the 4th quarter (while Phoenix had just
20 points) - in fact, Nowitzki out-scored Phoenix 29-21 in the last 14
minutes he was on the court. He finished with 50 points on 14-26 FG
(after starting just 6-16 FG) including 5-6 3-pointers and 17-18 FT.
Nowitzki's 50 points bested his old team playoff record of 46 points. He
also had 12 rebounds and 3 assists in his 43 1/2 minutes. Josh Howard's
streak of the Mavs wining when he scores 20+ points this season remained
intact - now at 24-0. Despite foul trouble, he had 23 points including
9-15 FG and 7 rebounds in 31 minutes. [One streak did end as Dallas had
lost the last 10 times that Danny Crawford had officiated a Mavs playoff
game (also note that the Mavs did win the first playoff game Crawford
officiated way back on 4/28/01 (game 3 vs Utah)).] Jason Terry still
wasn't fully clicking offensively and had 13 points (though shot a better
6-13 FG), but he did have 9 assists and 3 rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse
contributed 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists off the bench. DeSagana
Diop's presence continued to to alter Phoenix's inside attacks. Diop had
7 points, 9 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 2 blocks. Devin Harris
only had 3 points, but they were a critical 3 points as they happened when
momentum started to turn for Dallas and showed Dallas how to attack the
basket (when they had been settling for outside shots). He also had 5
rebounds in his 18 1/2 minutes. Harris had the bizarre play of the night
where he jumped over the Suns' bench while saving the ball and couldn't
figure out how to get back to the court and ended up jogging up the
sideline aisle to near the Mavs' bench where Avery Johnson helped him over
the scorer's table. Adrian Griffin had a positive affect and was active
in keeping the ball alive for Dallas. Griff missed the 3 shots he
attempted [needs to make those, though] and had 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
Keith Van Horn had 4 points and 3 rebounds in 15 minutes. Darrell
Armstrong missed his only attempt and had 1 foul for his only stats in 4
minutes. Marquis Daniels and Josh Powell got in for the last minute of
the game and Erick Dampier did not play, coach's decision.

Phoenix lost despite having 3 players with 20+ points and 5 in
double-digits. Fortunately for Dallas, Steve Nash's circus shots were not
falling and he shot just 5-17 FG including 1-6 3-pointers - he did hit all
9 of his free throws, though. Nash had 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 11
assists. Tim Thomas had his shot going for most of the game, but missed
his only attempt (a layup) in the 4th quarter. Thomas had a team high 26
points including 9-14 FG and 6-8 3-pointers (missing his last 2 attempts).
Shawn Marion had a double-double with 20 points including 9-13 FG and 10
rebounds in 38 minutes. Boris Diaw had 16 points and 9 rebounds - but
those points included a meaningless 3-pointer at the end of the game.
Leandro Barbosa didn't have an outstanding game and had 14 points, 1
rebound, and 3 assists in 29 minutes. Raja Bell played despite his sore
calf and struggled this night. He was pulled with 9 minutes left in the
4th quarter (after getting his technical) and did not return as Dallas
kept attacking him. Bell had 3 points on 1-5 FG and 1-4 3-pointers, 2
rebounds (both offensive), and 3 assists in 29 minutes. James Jones hit
his only attempt for 2 points and had 3 rebounds in 14 minutes. Eddie
House missed his 3 attempts and had 1 rebound and 1 assist in 10 minutes.
It was a short 8-man rotation for Phoenix.


Quotes
Avery Johnson: "Well, this was a good win for us to tonight. I thought we
had a lot of energy. I thought we got off to a good start tonight. We
were pretty aggressive. You know, scored 36 points in the 1st quarter
and our defense was pretty good. We had a big let down in the 2nd
quarter. But, again, these guys, they battled. This is the Western
Conference Finals. Teams are evenly matched. And, you know, we had an
outstanding 4th quarter, which we haven't had in a while. So, again,
obviously Dirk, you know, had a big game with the 50 points. But, again,
we had a lot of contributions from a lot of guys. You know, guys like
Adrian Griffin, you know, he doesn't score tonight, but he had 7 rebounds.
And DeSagana Diop, you know, getting him back in the lineup and him giving
us a lot of energy. So, just a good overall team effort. Stack with 38
big minutes tonight. Josh Howard. And, again, we did some nice things
tonight. But, again, the game was right there nip and tuck for a while
and we were able to kind of get away from them."

Johnson on Thomas: "Yeah, Tim was really good tonight. And he got away
from us a little bit. You know, they made 10 3-pointers tonight and 6
were his. If you'd of told me Tim were to go 6-8 from the 3-point line
and score 26 points and Nash would have 20 and 11 and we would still win,
I would take it."

Johnson on Diop: "Well, I think the beauty of it is, you know, when we cut
his minutes down in the last series, and then when he came back for game
7, he looks a little reenergized now. And he had that broken nose, and he
was in bad shape coming into this series. And he didn't get on the court
that 1st game. But he seemed to have recovered from the broken nose and
just learning how to, you know, deal with that now. And, you know, he's
doing a lot of little things for us. And for him to be able to play 29
minutes, you know, at this pace, boy, we need it because we need his
interior defense in a bad way."

Johnson on Phoenix's 2 technicals in the 4th quarter: "You know, it is a
part of the game. You know, I got 1, I thought it was a goal tended
call, basket interference call in Phoenix. So I got hit with 1. Now
tonight they got hit with 1. We got hit. So, again, it's a very intense
series. This is 2 teams that are really warriors, that are going at it.
Everybody wants the prize, you know. Everybody. They have scouts that
scout and know all of our plays and we have scouts and coaches and
players. You know, everybody wants it and nobody is going to give in.
And they got away from us the last game. We were fortunate to get away
from them a little bit this game. But who knows what's going to happen
from game to game. That's just how great of a series this is."

Johnson on letting Phoenix back in the game in he 2nd quarter: "Well,
okay, 'lack of killer instinct at times'. We are playing against the
Phoenix Suns and we are 1 of 4 teams playing. So what happens in this
situation is, it's hard to have a quote, unquote, killer instinct, because
when you're beating a team, they're not just going to let you blow them
out by 30 in the regular season like that may happen and you go on to the
next city. It just don't work like that. I hope we don't give up when
we're down. They're not going to give up when they're down. They can
score in bunches. All right. And we were able to make some shots
tonight. So it's no really putting anybody away with a big lead.
Obviously they beat us by 20 the last game and kind of got away from us,
but that's a rare deal during this time of the year."

Johnson on Nowitzki in the 4th quarter: "Yeah, you know, it was pretty
special what he did. And you know, he was really disappointed, you know,
with the last game. And I'm not going to tell you everything that went on
behind the scenes, but we were all disappointed."

Johnson on Nash: "Yeah, just give him about 7 different looks. And one of
the looks that we gave him, Tim Thomas showed us that don't try that one
again, all right. So we'll throw that pick-and-roll defensive scheme out
of the out of our play book."

Dirk Nowitzki on if he had to work himself into the game: "Yeah,
absolutely. You know, after last game, you know, I never really found my
rhythm. And today, I just wanted to be aggressive, you know, no matter
what happens. You know, I took the first 2 shots right away to the
basket, I missed them. But, you know, I was just aggressive trying to
make some stuff happen. And the 2nd quarter I got cold there, missed a
couple of jump shots in a row, next thing you know they're right back in
the game. And, you know, in the 3rd quarter, when we were down 7, you
know, I just saw the whole season swimming away. And they just kept
making shots. And, you know, all this great season we had, the great
playoff run so far, just kept swimming away. So at that point I just
said, you know, let's go. Whatever we need to do. We need to get some
stops. I'll shoot the ball, I'll drive the ball, whatever really we need
to get this win. And we got some good stops. We did some adjustments in
that one timeout and we were able to get some stops and run away with it.
So obviously, you know, a great win."

Nowitzki on what he took from his poor game 4: "Well, nothing really. I
mean, like I said, I was never really able to find my rhythm in that game.
You got to give them credit. They made me take tough shots and I just
never had it the whole night. So, you know, the best thing or the good
thing in the NBA is there's always the next night. Obviously in the
playoffs it's a little, well if you have a bad game it hurts a little more
than in the regular season. But came in yesterday, got some shots up, and
really didn't do anything different. Just had an aggressive mind set
today, and I thought as a team we just came out swinging today. I thought
in game 4, you know, they were the aggressors, and we were just back
pedaling all game. And today it was us. We really came out firing. We
were up 10 early. But you got to give them credit, they kept coming,
coming, and kept making shots, and that's why they're a tough team."

Nowitzki on the technicals with Thomas: "I mean, it's a regular playoff
play. You know, there wasn't really much said. We were bumping each
other a little bit, exchanged a couple of words. But I mean, that happens
a ton in the regular season and in the playoffs every possession means so
much more, and the emotions run high. So I don't think that was a big
deal."

Nowitzki on Johnson during film session on Wednesday: "Well, I can let out
that Avery got on me pretty good yesterday, you know. We watched the film
session and, you know, he let me have it. So that's really about all that
happened. And, like I said, Avery is a great coach. He can be tough on
his players, but, you know, he's always pushing us forward and trying to
get the best out of his team, and he's been doing a great job all season
long and obviously whatever he did yesterday in the film session worked
and we got the win."

Nowitzki on Diop: "Yeah, I mean, we need him. He's big. You know, before
the series started, we weren't quite sure if we were able to use our
centers, you know, a whole lot in this series. But, you know, with his
activity and the way he runs back on fastbreak, he's making it work. You
know, he's been active on the glass. He's protecting the paint for us,
and that's really what he's been doing all season long, him and Damp. And
so he's big, he's been big in all our wins, and we expect more of the same
on this Saturday."

Nowitzki on Dallas' mental toughness: "Yeah, I just think we've been
through a lot all season long. You know, we fought through some injuries.
We had some step backs here and there. We lost, we were up 3-1 against
San Antonio, next thing you know we had to go into a game 7. So we had to
fight through a lot this season, we had to stick together as a team, and,
you know, when we're down 7, I think everybody just realized we don't want
this to be over yet. Let's just step it up defensively a little bit and
leave it all out on the court, you know, and worry about the next game
tomorrow. So, I think that's what we did. We came together as a team and
played some good defense there in the 4th and just kept attacking."

Nowitzki on his free throws: "Yeah, you know, I haven't really been doing
a great job this series getting to the line. I had some good free throw
games against San Antonio. Was able to get there a lot more. And, you
know, you got to give Phoenix credit. They play with a smaller guy like
6-8, 6-9. They're taking the drive away and making me take tough fade
aways and tonight I didn't really want to settle for anything. You know,
if the shot was there, I want to take it. If not, just keep attacking.
If they double-team me, swing at an open teammate and let him make the
play and just not force a whole lot, as I did I thought in game 4. I
forced a couple turn-arounds against a double-team, which weren't great.
So, you know, just try to take whatever they give me, and obviously it
worked a lot better today than it did in game 4."

Nowitzki on Howard: "Well, we need him to play at a high level. You know,
obviously missed him a lot in game 1 and he's been toughing it out. His
ankle's been really sore. But he's stepped it up for us. You know, he's
probably our best perimeter defender out there. We need his athleticism
on the perimeter on both ends of the floor. He can drive the ball, put it
on the floor, he worked on his little in-between shot. So I think he's
big for us, and all season long and all playoffs long, and we need more of
the same, you know."

Jason Terry on Nowitzki: "Great performance. He didn't settle tonight.
When he got it going; he kept it going and we made sure he got the ball."

Terry: "In the 4th quarter, we went to what was working so we did a good
job. At the same time, we have to be persistent; we have to attack.
That's what we did in the 4th quarter."

Terry on when Dallas got down 7 points in the 3rd quarter: "Snap out of it
quick. That 7 could have gone to 14 quick. We came on a run; Dirk had a
big basket, and Devin had a big and-1 and we got back into it."

Terry on focusing on Thomas instead of Nash in the 4th: "We still worry
about Nash. We just made a little adjustment. It's a game of runs and
Tim Thomas played a great game tonight. He's a guy we definitely have to
pay attention to."

Jerry Stackhouse on down 70-77: "We just made an adjustment from the
standpoint that we knew that we needed to rotate to Thomas a little
quicker and so we just wound up switching it and not letting him get any
space. And put then onus on our bigs to try to play Nash a little bit.
And I think Dirk and those guys did a good job not letting him take
advantage of the pick-and-roll once we did the switch."

Stackhouse on mental toughness: "Well I mean, I think we had some mental
breakdowns too. I think there were points in the game where, you know, we
allowed them to get back. We had a pretty, you know, nice lead early in
the 1st quarter. Our defense was doing good things. When then they made
some adjustments and we're getting their shooters free and then we had to
make another adjustment to kind of, you know, combat that. So I think
overall, just mentally staying in the game and staying with the
adjustments that we were trying to make, that's proving our toughness
right there."

Stackhouse on game 4's blowout loss helping: "Well I mean, I think that
game 4 was just a bad game for us. I mean, I think we knew that once we
came back and looked at the film - you can't really feel it during the
game, but I think after the game and going back and watching it and saw
how poor we played, you know, and in a game like that, like I said, I
think we got a little complacent and hopefully we got over that hurdle and
we won't do that again. We tried to bring that same focus and we've done
it all year. I mean, we've had bad games and always seem to bounce back
and play well in that next game. And hopefully we can continue that, you
know, in game 6 and not try to make it any more drama than needed be."

Stackhouse on Nowitzki: "Well I mean, I think Dirk was huge. I mean, the
numbers speak for themselves. I mean, to get 50 points in the game like
this. I mean, everybody contributed. But I think that the fact that how
he did it, you know, he did it in dramatic fashion, making 3s, making
clutch shots when we needed them. And I just think, you know, he had a
rough game 4 and he came in and bounced back. So I knew our team would
respond, but, you know, I think he responded, you know, great."

Stackhouse on Nowitzki: "I mean, I think early on, he was a little passive
from the stand point of settling a little bit. And, I mean, it's hard
with a team like that that sometimes gives you shots that you know you can
make, but if you are a little more persistent, you can get a little better
shot. And I think in that 2nd half, he didn't settle for any of those
fade aways or anything. Everything once he got it, he got to his spot
where he wanted to shot the ball and if they didn't allow him to get to
that spot, then he just put the ball on the floor and drove it and was
able to get some dunks and and-1s. And I think, and Josh, you know, the
same way Josh did some, you know, they had switch-outs on him with Diaw
and guys that were in foul trouble who didn't want to foul. And just
persistently drove them and we were able to get something good."

Devin Harris on his 3-point play late in the 3rd quarter: "Ah, man, I was
[excited], all that. The first little bit of the game I was struggling, I
got some tough calls, but anything I can do to help I'm going to do it."

DeSagana Diop: "I just try to come and get offensive rebounds and make
hustle plays, like I've been doing all season. We had to get this one,
and I was ready to play."

Adrian Griffin on an elbow he took from Marion: "Marion, I've got a lot of
respect for him. He plays hard, and I was just playing hard defense.
Sometimes, emotions get the best of us. ... He caught me a little bit in
the chin. We'll see."

Griffin on Phoenix's 2 4th quarter technicals: "1 technical can change a
game. But if you get 2, that's 2 points and the ball. That's a big
momentum swing."

Darrell Armstrong: "The way we did it, especially being down 7 points in
the 3rd quarter, 77-70. All of a sudden we made a big run to get back in
the game and then outscore them 35-20 in the 4th quarter."

Armstrong on the series getting intense: "It's going to get like that.
You get tired of seeing each other, especially when you don't like each
other. It's going to get a little tense. Guys are starting to talk to
each other now. That's part of the game. That's part of the series. We
just have to keep our focus and continue to play Mavericks basketball."

Armstrong on Nowitzki: "50-cent, and the win. That's all you have to say
about Dirk. He took things personal and played like an MVP."

Mike D'Antoni: "Dirk was unbelievable. Great game. And we had a shot at
it in the 3rd quarter and we just couldn't hold the lead. And give them
credit, and they came back and won the game."

D'Antoni on the 2 4th quarter technicals: "Well, it didn't help us any,
that's for sure. You know, I was hoping it would go the other way. But,
yeah, that hurt us. It was a 1 point game and Raja got a foul and then
the 2 technicals made it 5 points at the end of the thing, flurry. But,
you know, definitely a turning point. But then give them credit. Dirk
was just unbelievable. We just couldn't stop him. And did a great job."

D'Antoni on Nowitzki: "Well, I don't expect that, but it doesn't amaze me.
The guy, you know, is one of the best players in the league. Has had a
phenomenal year. And he just did everything right tonight and, you know,
got to the line too many times. We needed to do a better job. We didn't
do as good a job. But give him credit."

D'Antoni on Bell: "For sure he's not 100%. He's still struggling a little
bit. As long as the series goes, he gets a little better and he'll be
ready to go in game 6. You know, this goes back to our house and we got
to take care of business. If we do, we'll be back here and tee it up
again."

D'Antoni on Howard: "I imagine when contract comes time he'll be talked
about a lot. The guy's good. He's played well. He's blossomed in to a
great player. And, you know, he's so athletic. He's tough to get under
control. And you're right, he's a guy that, you know, right under Dirk,
he's the next guy that's hard to guard. He causes a problem for us. Does
a great job."

D'Antoni on Nowitzki in the 4th: "Just his talent, I mean, just being
7-feet and shooting the ball probably better than anybody on the planet.
And when he's on those rolls, and then he's shooting the ball so well, he
would pump fake and we bit and put him to the line and he got loose. He
came up with an unbelievable game that should make them win. I think it
did. And, you know, again, it's 3-2. We go back to Phoenix. We need to
hold serve and then we'll come back see if he can do it again."

Steve Nash on talking with the refs: "Well, I just felt like we just
couldn't get a break so I was trying to plead a little bit of our case so
that maybe we'd get a call down the line. But, you know, I think that
regardless, they made a lot of shots when it counted. And, you know, even
if we didn't get a call, it wasn't really the telling factor necessarily.
I thought they played really well."

Nash on the 4th quarter and Nowitzki: "Well, he played great. Obviously,
he was unbelievable. But we just got a lot of bad breaks. You know,
Shawn fought around in front, did a great job, and for some reason they
called a foul. So that's his 4th, he goes to the bench. You know,
they're in the bonus, I think. Then they make a shot, then we get the
double-technicals, the ball on the side, and they score - a bunch of stuff
just happened against us. And they made all the shots at the same time.
So, you know, you give them credit for that."

Nash on Nowitzki: "He was outstanding, obviously. I don't know what his
line was, but it didn't feel like he missed very often. And, he was
tremendous, what can I say."

Nash on Thomas: "Tim was unbelievable. You know, he went on that run
there and he made a bunch of 3s for us and gave us a 77-70 lead. And we
were in good position. And then we didn't score a ton after that."

Nash on Howard: "Yeah, Josh is a tough cover. He's a great athlete. He's
shooting the ball well. And, you know, he's a tough cover."

Nash on Dallas' defense on him: "Not really. No. You know, I missed a
lot of good shots tonight. And, you know, just had one of those nights.
I felt good. I felt like a lot of them were going in and they just didn't
fall for me."

Nash on game 6: "Well, obviously want to play well, you know. We didn't
actually play very well, but we fought well for a long time tonight. And
then they got separation from us and we didn't play well after that. So
we just want to play a better game and, you know, put together 48 minutes
like we did in game 5, 4 - what game was that, 4? Yeah, 4. I'm losing
track. We've gone to 7 games almost 3 times now."

Shawn Marion: "Something happened when I think we did have a 7 point lead.
I think I got my 4th or 5th foul and I came out. I came out and I think
we lost a little bit of something there. We were trying to keep it up,
but [Nowitzki] got it going and it was hard to shut him off."

Marion on if Bell slowed the team down: "I think we were spacing out
enough tonight. I think everybody was contributing. It was just a
variety of things. We had a couple of missed a calls here and then a
couple of fouls here, and then we just got discombobulated in that 4th
quarter. One thing we had it going our way then the next thing you know
we just went the other way."

Marion on Dallas claiming he threw an elbow at Griffin: "I don't throw
elbows. I'm not a dirty player. I'm asking: Do you think I'm really
worried? Do you think I threw an elbow? I didn't throw no elbow, so I
don't care."

Boris Diaw on Nowitzki: "It's always difficult to guard Dirk down the
stretch. He's just a great player and with his size he can shoot over
anybody."

Diaw on down 2-3: "Of course it's tough but we've been down before. And
we know how to react and come back home and try and win one."

Diaw on Nowitzki: "I think you give credit to our team to get him down a
little bit last game. But Dirk's that good. We just caught him when he
had a night off, and I think tonight he was ready and focused to come back
in the game."

Diaw on if the team enjoys adversity: "I don't think we enjoy it, but I
think we're more ready, more aggressive and we play our best when we have
our backs to the wall."

Raja Bell on his technical: "It was a weird play. I walked away from the
situation and there hadn't been a call. Josh was yelling at me. I was
walking away and then [ref] Kenny [Mauer] came in after the play [to call
a technical]."

Tim Thomas on Dallas: "They did everything possible to win the ballgame.
We're looking forward to coming back here."

Thomas on Dallas: "They took care of home court. Now it's time for us to
go home and win a game and come back here and try to steal another one."

Thomas on what he called Nowitzki to earn his technical: "If I could say
the word, I would, but there's a lot of females around here. You get it?"

Thomas on the double-technical with Nowitzki: "I was just trying to take
the ball from him. I never in my life saw Dirk talk so much, but I know
where I'm from, if I was going to get punked by him, I'd never be able to
go back. That was definitely not going to happen. He's a hell of a
basketball player. Man to man, though, I wasn't going to let that
happen."

Thomas on Nowitzki shooting 18 free throws: "18 [Expletive], that sums it
up. Ain't nothing left to say. Can I just put on my shirt and get out of
here?"


Game 5: Dallas Mavericks 117, Phoenix Suns 101 at Dallas (June 1)

1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Dallas 36 22 24 35 - 117 .458 .529 .472 .857
Phoenix 23 32 26 20 - 101 .473 .417 .456 .950

Halftime: Dallas 58-55
3rd Q: Dallas 82-81
Technicals: Phoenix defensive 3 seconds 1:32 1st, Dirk Nowitzki 0:41 2nd,
Tim Thomas 0:41 2nd, Raja Bell 8:55 4th, Mike D'Antoni 8:55 4th, Jason
Terry 4:00 4th
Refs: Danny Crawford, Kenny Mauer, Jack Nies
Attendance: 20,977 (sellout)
IL: DJ Mbenga (Dal, suspended), Amare Stoudemire (Pho)


Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Devin Harris 18 1-3 0-0 1-1 3 3-5 1 0 3 0 0
Jason Terry 34 6-13 1-2 1-2 14 2-3 9 3 5 0 1
Dirk Nowitzki 43 14-26 5-6 17-18 50 1-12 3 1 2 1 0
Josh Howard 31 9-15 2-5 3-4 23 1-7 2 3 5 2 1
DeSagana Diop 30 3-5 0-0 1-1 7 5-9 1 0 2 1 2
Jerry Stackhouse 39 7-18 1-3 1-2 16 2-3 5 2 2 0 0
Adrian Griffin 23 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 1-7 3 0 2 1 1
Keith Van_Horn 15 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 1-3 0 0 1 0 0
Darrell Armstrong 4 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Marquis Daniels 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Josh Powell 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 48 42-89 9-17 24-28 117 16-49 24 9 23 5 5

Phoenix Suns REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Raja Bell 29 1-5 1-4 0-0 3 2-2 3 0 4 0 0
Steve Nash 39 5-17 1-6 9-9 20 0-6 11 3 3 1 1
Shawn Marion 38 9-13 1-3 1-1 20 0-10 0 1 5 1 0
Tim Thomas 41 9-14 6-8 2-2 26 0-3 1 1 5 0 0
Boris Diaw 39 6-14 1-1 3-4 16 4-9 1 3 4 1 2
Leandro Barbosa 29 5-12 0-0 4-4 14 0-1 3 1 3 0 0
James Jones 14 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-3 1 1 1 0 1
Eddie House 10 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 0 0 0
Totals 48 36-79 10-24 19-20 101 6-35 21 13 25 3 4


patricia
Go Mavs!


--
Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com
For NBA stuff: http://www.dfw.net/~patricia/index.html
For Mavs stuff: http://www.dfw.net/~patricia/mavs.html