Here's another recap from the Dallas Morning News
Heat leaves Mavs ejected
03/03/2002
By JODIE VALADE / The Dallas Morning News
Only one thing causes the Mavericks to fret now that they are an unquestionable offensive powerhouse with a lineup of multiple All-Stars and glittery weapons.
Defense. An opponent's good one and their own.
That worry turned out to be a legitimate fear Saturday. An aggressive and stingy Miami Heat defense combined with the Mavericks' usual subpar defensive effort led to the Mavericks' first loss with their newcomers, 109-95, in front of a sold-out American Airlines Center.
A culmination of frustrations brought by the physical game earned the Mavericks back-to-back ejections: Dirk Nowitzki earned his first career one with 6:18 left, and coach Don Nelson was tossed right behind him after Nelson drop-kicked the ball into the stands in a display of anger.
But the defensive efforts – Miami's and Dallas' – should have been expected. The Heat has the league's best defense, holding opponents to an average of 88.2 points per game and 42.2 percent shooting.
"That's been their calling card," Nelson said. "They have a coach [Pat Riley] that really stresses it. They make you pay defensively."
The Mavericks, too, have developed a calling card defensively. They allow an NBA-worst 101.4 points per game. They have thrived merely on outscoring opponents.
This time, the Mavericks outdid even their usual efforts. Miami scored more than 100 points for only the seventh time this season, and it improved to 7-0 when hitting the century mark. The Heat also connected on a season-best 58 percent of its field goals.
Even with new potent scorers Nick Van Exel and Raef LaFrentz, the Mavericks didn't have enough firepower in the third quarter, when they needed it most. The Mavericks didn't hit a field goal until 5:49 remained in the quarter. They connected only five times in that period. Miami outscored the Mavericks, 29-15, and pushed the Heat's lead to as much as 26 points.
Only Michael Finley connected with consistency, nailing 11-of-17 for a team-leading 25 points.
The remainder of the Mavericks' Big Three – Steve Nash (16 points) and Nowitzki (21 points) – and Wang Zhizhi (12 points) were the only others to muster double digits. A potential lineup of Nash, Finley, Van Exel, Nowitzki and LaFrentz averages a combined 98.6 points.
The Mavericks were limited in their use of that lineup, though. LaFrentz had his fourth foul by halftime, and the Mavericks had to resort to Wang to defend Alonzo Mourning and spread their offense.
None of it worked.
"We still have to find a way to win even if we're not hitting our shots," Finley said.
The real downer is that the T-Wolves won tonight. Now, we're only a half game ahead of them.
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