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Show C4 i The Day DAILY HERALD Wednesday, November 3, 2004 Star of the day 1ASKETBALL Dallas Maverick Dirk NowitzW scored 29 of his 33 points over the first three quarters in Tuesday's game against the Sacramento Kings. Nowitzld leads Mavericks to win over Kings THE ASSOCIATED mmr I PRESS While the Dallas Mavericks have an overhauled roster, a more conventional ro- -' tation and a new commitment to ' defense, they also still have ; Dirk Nowitzki witzki scored 29 of his 33 points over the first three quar-- ; ters, helping Dallas to a steady lead, then came through by I making two free throws with 15.5 seconds ROUNDUP left to seal a 107-9- 8 victory over the ; mento Kings on Tuesday night. ' The Mavericks scored the ' game's first seven points and ' led by at least that many from : the end of the first quarter until Chris Webber hit a long jumper The with 3:12 that made it on a ; Kings got within 103-9- 8 three-poiplay by Brad Miller with just under a minute left. Nowitzki kept them from getting any closer by rebounding a missed 16-- f ooter by Peja and cashing in at the ; foul line. He came through on ; the other end, too, forcing Bobby Jackson to heave up a wild 3--; pointer that clanged off the ; backboard with about six left. Josh Howard rebounded and made two more free throws to pad the lead. The tight finish was no sur-- , prise considering these were the NBA's two teams last season. Sacramento ended Dallas' season in the first round e of the playoffs, a beating that led to major including rookie changes Devin Harris running the offense instead of Steve Nash, as well as the addition of Erick Dampier to give the Mavericks a true center for the first time in many years. But it was Nowitzki who wasted no time making his presence felt. He had an assist on the game's first basket and scored ll the second one on a nice with Harris, marking the No. 5 pick's first career as sist, in Detween, uampier brought fans to their feet with a blocked shot that forced the violak Kings into a DALLAS season. - r- -' 11 7 . it, . 1 AK ic f ? sec-.on- TIM SHARP Associated Press Sacramento Kings Chris Webber (4) has the bail stripped by Dallas Mavericks Michael Finley, right, as the Mavericks ' Erick Dampier defends during the first half Tuesday night in Dallas. g five-gam- pick-and-ro- shot-cloc- tion. Dallas' lead peaked at 19 midway early in the second half, then Sacramento got within until Nowitzki hit a high-arcin- 10 g over Miller as the third quarter ended. Nowitzki celebrated by backpedaling all the way to the bench at the other end of the court while the sellout crowd of 20,041 stood and cheered. Nowitzki scored 10 points in the first and second quarters and the buzzer-beate- r gave him nine in the third. He took only one shot in the fourth, finishing He made both his attempts and had 10 rebounds and five assists. Harris had eight points, six assists and five rebounds. He showed his poise by making a nice pass to Michael Finley for a but dunk that made it 103-9was replaced by veteran Jason Terry with 58 seconds left after making a potentially costly rookie mistake. Dampier scored nine points in the first quarter, but just two more. He also had three of his 3, first five rebounds in the first period. Finley scored 18 and Harris finished with eight points and seven assists. Miller led Sacramento with 24 points, and Webber had 2 1 points and 10 rebounds. f orJ2 was just points. Mike Bibby, who used to have huge games against Nash, was held to just eight points. Maurice Evans started in place of the injured Doug Christie (foot) andscored just two points. Matt Barnes had 17 off the bench and Jackson scored 7 Pistons 87. Rockets 79: At Auburn Hills, Mich., the defending NBA champions were too much for another dynamic duo. Rasheed Wallace, one of five Pistons to score in double figures, had 24 points to help Detroit defeat the Houston Rock NBA J" Continued from CI r was sent from the Milwaukee Bucks to the ; Lakers, has a dominating center in the prime of his career been traded. That assumes, however, that O'Neal is still at the the top of his game. "Well, any team without Shaq is not as good. I don't care who's left," offered San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, whose team is considered by many to be the favorite in the West. "If (Tim) Duncan wasn't on our team, we wouldn't be as good. If (Kevin) Garnett wasn't on Minnesota, they wouldn't be as good. "But at the same time it doesn't mean they (Lakers) are a bad team. They're going to be a competitive team, and Kobe's going to want to put them on his shoulders and do some things. And he's such a great player, he's going to have a good amount of success with that." Bryant remains in the stronger of the two conferences, but there's no question the East is vastly improved both by the addition of O'Neal, and by the success shown by Larry Brown's team last spring when the Pistons upset the Lakers and became the first team in 25 years to win a title without a true superstar on its roster. Detroit returns almost the same exact lineup, tinkering only to strengthen its bench with the additions of Antonio McDyess, Derrick Coleman and Carlos Delf ino. The last was on Argentina's Olympic champi' onship team. The Pistons won over many casual fans last June by picking apart the Lakers behind the ef- -' ficient playmaking of Chauncey Billups, the mid-ranshooting of Richard Hamilton and the beneath-the-boarenergy of Ben Wallace. The old winning formula surrounding one or two super-star- s no with role players longer sits unchallenged as the best way for NBA teams to Abdul-Jabba- build. But that doesn't mean the; old recipe is dead. What happened to the Pistons, in some minds, . Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, playing their first regular-season game together, found out what Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal did during their last five games together with the Los Angeles Lakers: The Pistons, relentless on defense and on offense, are tough to beat. McGrady missed 12 of 18 shots and finished with 18 points after scoring just three during the first half. Yao had just seven shooting. points on Detroit's entire starting lineup from last season is back, and all five players scored at least 10. Aside from Rasheed Wallace's big night on shooting, Chauncey Billups had 17, Richard Hamilton scored 15, Ben Wallace had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Tayshaun Prince scored 10 while smothering McGrady defensively much like he did against Bryant during the NBA Finals. The Rockets' Shot just 39 percent. Charlie Ward had 13 points, Maurict) Taylor had 12 and Jim Jackson added 10. Rasheed Wallace, Billups and Prince made early in the fourth quarter to cap a 13-- 2 run, putting th4 Pistons ahead After Detroit's stingy deviolafense forced a tion midway through the fourth, Ben Wallace's tip-jagave the Pistons a 76-6-6 lead. The Rocket&didnt get closer than five after that Detroit had one last chance to enjoy its accomplishment from last season. Before the game, the Pistons westfpresented with championship rings by commissioner David Stern. When the nine returning tons walked to center court for their rings during a ceremony, they wore huge, black belts provided by Rasheed Wallace that read: World Heavyweight Wrestling well-balanc- I US P IT- - 68-31-. Shot-cloc- k Champion. Antonio McDyess was ejected from his Pistons debut for kicking the ball while complaining about a foul. McDyess was called for a foul as he jumped for a rebound with 5:51 left in the second quarter. As McDyess walked down-cour- t, he dropped the basketball, kicked it and was ejected because of a new NBA rule. Brent Barry as a free agent. Dallas, meanwhile, made wholesale changes by allowing Steve Nash to leave for Phoenix, acquiring Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Terry and Erick Dampier and parting ways with Antawn Jamison and Antoine Walker. "I would say that it's a big jumble and we don't know who is going to come out of it on top," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. There's been talk that the balance of power has shifted from West to East because of the Pistons' success and ONeal's move, but the Western Conference still has more teams able to compete for a championship. Denver, coming off a dramatic turnaround that gave the Nuggets their first playoff appearance since 1995, added Kenyon Martin without having to trade a player. Utah revamped its frontcourt by signing free agents Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur, and Phoenix overhauled its backcourt by bringing in Nash and Quentin Richardson. "I would say this year only 15 teams in the Western Conference think they're making the playoffs, which is all of them. And only 10 of those 15 think they're going to get home-couadvantage," Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "Two teams that think they're going to get home-couadvantage aren't even going to make the play- offs: So it's a difficult assignrt ANN HEISENFELT Minnesota Timberwohes forward Walry Szaerblak, Associated Press center, splits the defense of Detroit Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace, right, and Ben Wallace, left, to pass to a teammate during the first ' quarter in Minneapolis last Friday. They were a really true team and they played with great balance, they played unselfishly, they had depth and they happened to be right place at the right time and maybe catch the Lakers when they were at a point where they were'a little off," said Indiana coach Rick Carlisle, whose team lost to Brown's in the Eastern Conference finals. "That's no knock on Detroit, but being opportunistic is one of the things that is really important in this league." The Heat were certainly op-in-th- ..l'.l I i ." I . portunistic when they seized upon the availability of O'Neal it first came up in a talk between Lakers owner Jerry Buss and Heat president Pat Riley about Rileys interest in rejoining the Lakers as coach and acquired him for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant. Also opportunistic were the Houston Rockets, vy ho sent Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato to Orlando for reigning scoring champ Tracy McGrady. The Spurs found a way to plug their biggest hole, signing outside shooting specialist ATLANTIC DIVISION W ment." The Van Gunay brothers now have the two most powerful centers in thfele&gue at their disposal: Jeff enters his second season with YaoMing, and Stan takes oven from Jackson ' as O'Neal's coalw Doc Rivers hB taken over in coach Boston, while Jim O'Brien hag moved down the road to Philadelphia. The New Jersey Nets, winners of two of the last three Eastern Conference titles, have been decimated by the trades of Martin and Kerry Kittles and an injury to Jason Kidd that will sideline him for the early part of the season. The expansion Charlotte Bobcats joined the league as its 30th franchise, debuting in the new Southeast Division as part of the league's realignment from four divisions to six. Pet L fcaA's'i 0 New Jersey "le:; New Yo 0 0 SOUTHEAST .000 0 .000 Pet GB Atlanta W M . 0--0 0--0 W-- 0 0--0 M ,W 0 (HI Away Conf W-- 0 0--0 L 110 Sir Hon ltl'ilflCC.M 00 . 0 Charlotte 8 . 0 0 0 0 Orlando ' Washington Conf Away DIVISION W Miami Home -' H IJrXlJU'.V.'jM" 9 Philadelphia 0 0 Sir L1C GB t'JWC- 0 " 00 mh: W3 04 M H) M M VW M W Home Away Conf H 'WX W-- 0 '. . 04 W-- 0 00 K .000 ; W ' .000 .000 L,' ' , CENTRAL DIVISION W L Detroit 1 0 Chicago 0 0 Cleveland 0 0 Indiana 0 Milwaukee 0 Pet t000'.- -r 0 .000 0 JOOO 0 0 .000 0 0 JDOO - Str L10 GB 0 ; W-- 0 "16 , M l (H) W-- 0 (HI 0--0 M W-f- l 0-- 0 M 04 W-- 0 00 0--0 M M H Away Conf W H 00 04 04 04 " M) , . 1 . Western Conference DIVISION SOUTHWEST L Pet 0 tOOQ 0 0 .000 0 0 SanAntonio 0 Houston 0 W Dallas 1 Memphis New Orleans . - Str L10 GB Home W W-- 12 00 W-- 0 0--0 .000 W W W-- 0 0--0 0 .000 12 04 W4 04 1 .000 1 1 04 0--1 l . 00 04 04 0--1 DIVISION NORTHWEST Str W4 L Pet Denver W 0 0 J300 Minnesota 0 0 .000 Portland 0 0 .000 Seattle 0 0 .000 04 04 04 04 Utah 0 0 m 04 W4 L10 Str W4 L10 GB Home Away Conf 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 Away Conf W4 W4 W4 , 04. PACIFIC DIVISION W L Pet Golden State 0 0 .000 LA. Clippers 0 0 .000 LA Lakers 0 0 .000 Phoenix 0 0 .000 Sacramento 0 1 .000 gold-plate- d rt might be more indicative of a fluke than a fundamental shift. Cartoni Conference ets in the first game of the NBA : 99-9- 3. NBA STANDINGS GB ' 04 04 04 04 12 Home 04 04 04 04 04 W4 W4 W4 M 1 04 04 04 04 04 04 0--1 0--1 ,04 0 Dallas at New Orleans, 6 p.m. Sacramento at San Antonio, 6:30 p.m. Atlanta at Phoenix, 7 p.m. LA Lakers at Utah, 8:30 p.m. Seattle at LA Clippers, 8:30 p.m. Portland at Golden State, 8:30 p.m. Tuesday's results Detroit 87, Houston 79 Dallas 107, Sacramento 98 Denver at L A. Lakers, late Today's Games Indiana at Cleveland, 5 p.m. Houston at Toronto, 5 p.m. Milwaukee at 0rlando,5 p.m. Philadelphia at Boston, 5:30 p.m. Washington at Memphis, 6 p.m. Miami at New Jersey, 6 p.m. New York at Minnesota, 6 p.m. Thursday's Games Washington at Charlotte, 5 p.m. Cleveland at Miami, 6 p.m. Minnesota at Denver, 8:30 p.m. NBA SCOREBOARD PISTONS 79, DETROIT 87 MAVERICKS HOUSTON (78) Jackson 10. Taylor 18. Ward 7. McGrady 8 Lue 6 4. 2. Weattierspoon Totals 12, Yao 1 9 6 4 13, Nactibar 2 Mutomtn 5. Howard 0 0. Bowen 0 0. - DETROIT (87) R 10, 15. Wallace 24. 3. McDyess Hunter 3 B Wallace 15. Billups Hamilton.5-165-DolfinoO-- 17. Houston 18 20 21 Detroit 19 16 22 Goals Houston R Taylor Prince Wallace Delfino 20 28 (Nactibar Jackson Ward (Billups Hunter DALLAS (107) Howard McGrady Detroit 47 (B Wallace 20 (Hamilton Technicals A Daniels M M Daniels Assists 7). Total 8. Tony 0. 6. Bradley 17 24 Sacramento Jackson Finley Fouled out 56 (Webber ,26 25 32 28 98 107 (Barnes Stojakovic Harris None 10). Dallas Terry Bibby Dallas 1 4, ento 46 (Nowitzki 10). Sacramento 21 (Bibby 6). Dallas 27 (Harris touts Sacramento 19. Dallas 23. A 20.041 (19,200). 22.076 , Jazz Continued from Cl Monday morning! "A little better, but i still can't see regular," Okur said. "I want to work hard with the team, but it can't happen. I need to be healthy first." And the Jazz will be without their top two point guards. Starter Arroyo sprained his left ankle last week in a preseason game and said he doesn't expect to be ready today. Lopez may have arthroscopic surgery to clean out his right knee, which kept him out of the preseason and has already had two major surgeries. Jazz Vice President Kevin O'Connor said he's been talking to possible replacements, including former Jazz guard Howard Eisley. Eisley, a backup to John was Stockton from waived last week by Phoenix. O'Connor said the earliest Eisley could sign is today, meaning his first workouts with his new teammates would be the morning shoot around. That isn't a lot of time to learn the offense, but Eisley played five seasons for 1995-200- Sloan, including (Novum 33. Dampier 8. 18 Harris 23 30 Goals Evans 11. 2023 107. Dass None. Rebounds Houston 49 (Yao 10), Detroit Houston 8 (Lue 3). Detroit 10) Assists Houston 24. Detroit 22. 8) Total fouls R Wallace, McDyess. Ejected McDyess. (22,076). 7 Hamilton FouM out Nowitrti 8. Barnes Jackson Totals 9. Henderson 7) -8- 6, 11. Finley Totals Sacramento 87. 12. Miller 8. 2, Martin Stackhouse 0, Campbell 0. Totals 2. Ham 0. Ostertag Songaila 98. 79. Prince 17. 98 1 07, KINGS SACRAMENTO (BB) Webber 21. Slojakovic 2. Bibby 24, Evans the 0, back-to-bac- k Western Conference title years of 1997 and 1998. Eisley has also played for Dallas and the New York Knicks, which traded him last spring in the deal that brought, Stephon Marbury back tq New York. If the Jazz do sign Eisley, O'Connor said it would probably be for the whole season. "I don't think it would be fair to him to bring him in for a short-tersolution," O'Connor said. "I think if we had a veteran that we know can play in the league, I think we'd bring him in for the year.", The only true point guard the Jazz had healthy for practice Monday was Keith McLeod, who played in 33 games for Minnesota last season, "Keith is going to get an opportunity the first couple of games. He's got to prove that he can play some minutes in the league," O'Connor said. The Jazz also have shooting guard Raja BelL who they experimented with at the point a little in the preseasoa Bell may be asked to run the offense periodically as the Jazz wait for Arroyo to come back. "Right now I'm just trying to keep my mind prepared for wherever Jerry wants to play me. Whatever the situation calls for," Bell said. That's always the cool part about the game. You never know when it's your turn." v |