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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
DALLAS (AP) – The Dallas Mavericks made sure they did not start
their most important road trip of the season mired in a losing streak.
|  | | Baron Davis draws a foul from Mavericks center Shawn Bradley, who blocked five shots. |
Michael Finley had 31 points and 10 rebounds and Dirk Nowitzki add 27 points as the Mavericks snapped a two-game skid with a 103-100 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night.
Dallas, which wrapped up a stretch of seven home games in eight
days, is trying to improve its playoff seeding. The Mavericks face
a tough five-game road trip that opens Monday night in Utah and
includes games against Portland, the Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento
and Houston.
"To lose three in a row would have been disastrous," said Nash. "Now, we've got to try to steal a few on the road. It's going to be a very tough trip."
Steve Nash had 22 points for the Mavericks, who lost more than two in a row only once this season, a string of three consecutive defeats Jan. 11-15.
Utah, Portland, the Lakers, and Sacramento are ahead of the
Mavericks in the standings, and Houston is fighting for the eighth
and final Western Conference playoff spot.
But Dallas, which is sixth in the conference standings, is 19-13
on the road this season.
"We're confident on the road," said Nash.
Shawn Bradley had 10 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots
for the Mavericks.
"This was huge for us," said Bradley. "It wasn't pretty at
the end, but we did what we needed to do. This is going to be a
brutal trip that will determine where we'll be in the playoffs."
David Wesley and Elden Campbell each had 25 points for the
Hornets, who lost two straight for the first time since dropping
four in a row Feb. 1-6.
Dallas concentrated its defense on Charlotte's top scorer, Jamal
Mashburn. Mashburn went 3-for-17 from the field and finished with
10 points, 10.4 under his average.
Charlotte had been the league's hottest team, winning 13 of 15
before Friday night's overtime loss at Chicago and Saturday night's
defeat. But Hornets could not stop Finley, Nowitzki and Nash.
"Their big three were hot for them tonight," said Charlotte's
P.J. Brown, who had 13 points and 11 rebounds. "They were on fire and we couldn't find a way to stop them. This team is good and we knew this would be a tough game."
The Mavericks seemed to have the game in hand midway through the
fourth quarter with a 7-0 run, capped by Juwan Howard's basket, for
a 95-81 advantage.
But the Hornets rallied with a 13-2 spurt, capped by Brown's two
free throws with 1:20 left, that cut the Mavericks' lead to 97-94.
Dallas moved out to a 101-94 lead with 52.8 seconds remaining on
Bradley's layup and Finley's two free throws .
Brown's basket and Campbell's dunk with 21 seconds remaining
reduced Dallas' lead to 101-98.
Nash made one of two free throws with 13.7 seconds remaining,
Mashburn missed inside for the Hornets, and Nowitzki converted one
of two foul shots with 4.6 seconds. Campbell's basket at the buzzer
reduced the final margin to three points.
"We were able to fight back by getting some defensive stops,"
said Charlotte's Baron Davis. "But this is a tough team to fight
back on because they have so many weapons. And Shawn Bradley made
some key plays for them down the stretch that made it tougher for
us to close the gap."
The Hornets finished the third quarter with a 17-7 run, cutting
Dallas' lead to 73-69.
Dallas missed seven of 11 free throws in the third quarter,
including all four attempted by Howard in the quarter.
The Mavericks climbed out of an 8-0 hole at the start of the
game and entered the second quarter with a 34-22 lead.
Dallas held a 57-45 halftime advantage behind Nash's 16 points.
Game notes
Coach Don Nelson waited until game time before deciding
that Nash would play. Nash played only 13 minutes in Dallas' game
at Minnesota on Wednesday night due to a sore right hip flexor.
Nash had 14 first-quarter points on Saturday night, hitting all
four first-quarter 3-pointers. ...The Mavericks activated Obinna
Ekezie off the injured list and placed Donnell Harvey on the
injured list due to right elbow tendinitis. ... Charlotte had been
14-4 since the All-Star break before Saturday night. ... Dallas
reserve Mark Bryant was not with the Mavericks because of
team-approved personal reasons.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Charlotte Clubhouse
Dallas Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 117
Denver 105
Dallas 103
Charlotte 100
Utah 119
Washington 93
Seattle 93
Houston 90
Golden State 103
Detroit 95
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