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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
DALLAS (AP) -- The Golden State Warriors made the Mavericks sweat
a little before Dallas was able to secure its 30th victory.
Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points and nine rebounds and Howard Eisley
had 20 points and eight assists while starting at point guard as
the much-improved Mavericks held off the Warriors' late charge for
a 101-95 victory Saturday night.
"If this was a year ago, I don't think we'd be sitting here
with the win," said acting Mavericks coach Donn Nelson. "There's
no question about that. We should beat these teams at home, but we
are young. We get fired up for the Miamis of the world, but
sometimes we get caught off guard when the Golden States of the
world come in here."
The Mavericks survived despite an off-game from top scorer
Michael Finley, who finished with seven points -- 14.7 under his
season average.
"Other guys have been stepping up a lot lately," Mavericks
center Christian Laettner said. "Michael struggled tonight and we
won. We're showing that we can be an all-around good team and pick
up the slack when our stars have off nights."
After trailing by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter,
Golden State pulled to 99-91 with 1:25 left on rookie Marc
Jackson's three-point play.
But Nowitzki hit two free throws with 1:08 left to close out the
Warriors as the Mavericks improved to 30-18, their best record
after 48 games since going 31-17 in 1987-88.
"We always talk about how we have a deep team," Nowitzki said
after Dallas got 31 points from its reserves. "Everybody stepped
up tonight and the bench has stepped up in the last few games. We
really needed them tonight."
Eisley, subbing for injured starter Steve Nash, moved from
shooting guard as Nash missed the game with a recurring left
hamstring injury.
Hubert Davis and Laettner added 15 points each for the
Mavericks, who won for the sixth time in their last eight games.
The Mavericks have beaten the Warriors in seven straight
meetings.
Bob Sura scored 28 points, Jackson had 27 and Antawn Jamison 16
to pace the Warriors, who lost their fourth in a row and fell to
5-18 on the road.
The Mavericks opened the fourth quarter with Greg Buckner's
three-point play and two free throws from Nowitzki for a 79-68
advantage.
A 13-4 spurt capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Davis
extended the Mavericks' lead to 94-76 with 5:53 to play.
Davis connected on three 3-pointers over a span of 1:36 in the
fourth quarter to help the Mavericks lead by as many as 20.
"They were doubling Dirk (Nowitzki) and doubling Mike (Finley)
and we had good matchups down low," Davis said. "So we swung the
ball around and I was able to knock down some open shots."
The Mavericks finished the third quarter with a 7-0 run to take
a 74-68 lead into the final quarter.
Golden State held a 52-50 halftime lead despite Jamison going
scoreless for the game's first 18:09. Jackson had 16 first-half
points, Sura added 15, and Jamison finished the second quarter
strong with nine points.
Jamison started the night averaging a team-high 25 points per
game, but the Mavericks' consistent double-teaming forced the ball
out of his hands.
"Anytime you play against Dallas, they're going to try to take
away your bread and butter," Jamison said. "They double-teamed me
a lot. They did a good job of that."
Game notes
The Warriors were minus starting guard Larry Hughes, who
was out with a recurring right thumb injury. ...To replace Nash,
Nelson moved Eisley to point guard, Finley from small forward to
shooting guard and inserted Gary Trent into the starting lineup at
forward. .. Golden State coach Dave Cowens started Jackson in place
of Hughes. ...Laettner hit his first 3-pointer of the season in the
third quarter. "I wanted to show that Dirk (Nowitzki) isn't the
only big guy who can shoot it," Laettner said.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Golden State Clubhouse
Dallas Clubhouse
RECAPS
Minnesota 108
Toronto 105
Denver 105
Washington 100
Detroit 88
Cleveland 81
Orlando 96
Atlanta 84
Dallas 101
Golden State 95
Milwaukee 104
Indiana 85
San Antonio 90
Houston 88
Utah 111
Seattle 91
Vancouver 91
Chicago 84
LA Clippers 90
Portland 89
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Antawn Jamison Official Site
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