Guards help Mavs tie series

[DTL]

Little big men: Guards help Mavs tie series
Nash, Van Exel combine for 49 points in Dallas' 110-102 victory

05/06/2002
By JODIE VALADE / The Dallas Morning News


SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Steve Nash and Don Nelson prefer to send their messages on the court, with actions that relay their intentions and objectives. Nick Van Exel likes to snarl his in words so clear they cannot be misunderstood.

Both means of communication were effective Monday in the Mavericks' 110-102 Game 2 triumph over Sacramento at Arco Arena.

Nelson was subtle but forceful when he made clear exactly how he preferred to battle the Kings, and how he would even this best-of-7 series at 1-1. He would outrun them and outquick them. He would not fret about the Kings' interior advantage. He started Van Exel alongside Nash in the third quarter, and played them together for nearly the entire second half.

"Basically he said, "We're going to go with the two little guys," Van Exel said.

Nash merely stuck with his on-court performance to do the speaking. He had 30 points overall, and nine in the decisive fourth quarter. He knocked down consecutive 3-pointers early in the fourth. And one other thing:

"He fulfilled my worst prophecies," Sacramento coach Rick Adelman said.

And Van Exel? His message came during a timeout in the second quarter, after his Mavericks were down by as many as 13 points and after they allowed the Kings to connect on 63 percent of their first-half attempts. He screamed at Dirk Nowitzki and Greg Buckner in the same breath. He had a message for them, too.

"I was just telling them that this has got to mean more," Van Exel said. "We can't go down 0-2, and I wasn't going to let them."

So the messages just might have come through clearly, with the littlest guys coming up the biggest for the Mavericks in Game 2.

It wasn't just 30 points from Nash or 19 points from Van Exel that saved the Mavericks on Monday, though. They needed some suddenly spectacular defense that held the Kings to 28 percent shooting in the second half. And they needed role players such as Raef LaFrentz and Buckner to come up big on the defensive end.

The importance of winning Game 2 wasn't lost on the Mavericks.They know what has happened to teams that fall 0-2, in the past.

"If you lose the first two, that doesn't mean you can't win the series," Nelson said. "But if you think of the odds ..."

Only seven teams have come back from 0-2 in a best-of-7 series, the last being the Houston Rockets in 1995. The Mavericks have experience on their side, if not history. They became one of six teams to overcome an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-5 series last year when they topped Utah 3-2 in the first round of the playoffs.

So that the Mavericks fell behind by as many as 13 in the first half, and the fact that Chris Webber had 14 points and Vlade Divac 13 in dominating the interior mattered little. Not even the fact that Nowitzki connected on only three of nine attempts in a sleepwalking first-half performance slowed the Mavericks.

Their defense suddenly was active and physical in the second half, enough to hold Peja Stojakovic and the hot Mike Bibby to two field goals apiece. LaFrentz played the second half like he didn't have four fouls and contributed his strongest quarter of playoff basketball in the fourth. He had six points and three blocks in that quarter and finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.

And Nash and Van Exel melded their point-guard games throughout. The two combined for 23 of the Mavericks' 36 points in the second quarter, when the Mavericks closed their deficit to one point. They inspired their team both on and off the court.

The Mavericks' littlest guys came up biggest Monday. Message sent.

[Smiles]

<< The Mavericks' littlest guys came up biggest Monday. >>


If 6-1 to 6-3 means Shetland, then bring on the ponies!

[Drbio]

hahaha...funny line smiles.