RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- The Dallas Mavericks are the
team of the 90s.
Dallas defeated the Grizzlies 91-88 on Saturday to move to 7-4 on the season. The Mavericks are a perfect 4-0 when they score in the 90s.
Dirk Nowitzki and Hubert Davis had 20 points apiece for the
Mavericks, who won their second game in as many nights. They
defeated the Sonics in Seattle the previous night for their first
comeback win of the season, erasing a 17-point deficit.
Nowitzki also grabbed 10 rebounds to record his third
double-double of the season and second in as many nights.
"We all have to take it to another level," said Nowitzki.
"For me, it's rebounding, scoring when I can and just playing
harder on defense."
The Mavs evened the season series at one game apiece after
Vancouver won in Dallas 10 days ago 101-74.
"They kicked our butts in Dallas," said Davis. "It wasn't a
thing of trying to get it back. We thought we were better. We just
wanted to play better this time around and I thought we did that."
Michael Finley scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter
as Dallas came back from an 80-72 deficit with 7:42 left in the
game.
Vancouver had a chance to tie the game after rebounding a Dallas
miss, but Damon Jones missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer
as he didn't hear coach Sidney Lowe screaming for a timeout.
"Once we got over halfcourt, that's when we were going to call
the timeout," said Lowe. "But they said they didn't hear me or
see me and we ended up taking a 3."
The Grizzlies shot just 7-for-17 in both the third and fourth
quarters after shooting 50 percent in the first half.
"I'm not sure if we're tired, but we're not shooting the ball
well in the fourth quarter," said Lowe. "We have wide open shots
and that's what you work for. You just have to knock them down.
Part of it is not executing properly, but some of it is just not
shooting the ball well. There's not much you can do about that
except stay in the gym and shoot the ball."
The Grizzlies were playing without their leading scorer, forward
Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who flew home to Atlanta on Friday to be with
his mother after she suffered a stroke. He will return for Monday's
home game against Denver.
Vancouver was led by Othella Harrington's 23 points. Michael
Dickerson scored 18 points before spraining his ankle late in the
third quarter. He didn't return.
"It's a situation where you've been handed a gift," said Dallas coach Don Nelson. "You have to accept the gift. You don't play this team very often without their best player. And then to get an additional gift in the fourth quarter and have their two best players out of the lineup, you just don't want to not win that game."
Davis, averaging just 6.1 points a game, started and played 39
minutes in place of Greg Buckner, who sprained his foot in Friday's
win at Seattle.
Vancouver dropped its fourth straight game and fell one game
under .500 for the first time this season.
Game notes
Abdur-Rahim snapped his streak of 228 consecutive games
played and started. He last missed a game on April 4, 1997 at Utah
due to a thigh contusion. Grant Long got his first start of the
season in his place. ... This was the 21st meeting between the
clubs. Dallas leads the overall series 17-4 and is 9-1 at General
Motors Place. ... This was the fifth of six games in nine days for
the Mavericks in this their longest road trip of the season.
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NBA Scoreboard
Dallas Clubhouse
Vancouver Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 111
Milwaukee 102
Washington 109
Boston 89
Minnesota 94
Atlanta 84
Miami 86
Portland 80
New Jersey 97
Indiana 92
Houston 94
Phoenix 89
Denver 87
LA Lakers 86
Utah 109
Chicago 64
Dallas 91
Vancouver 88
Seattle 86
LA Clippers 83
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