Mavs article

[MavsFanFinley]

Mavericks prevailing despite injuries, turmoil

By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer
January 12, 2002

DALLAS (AP) -- The durable All-Star is on the injured list for the first time in his career. The leading scorer has missed games because of problems with both ankles. Ineffectiveness, not injuries, forced several highly paid big men to the bench.

The coach went from celebrating a major career milestone to learning his wife has breast cancer. And the owner just racked up the biggest individual fine in NBA history, doubling the record he set last season.

Add it up, and the Dallas Mavericks sure seem like a team in turmoil.

Yet a check of the standings shows the Mavericks are still among the top teams in the Western Conference, which proves their success last season was no fluke.

At 24-11 going into Saturday night's home game against Indiana, Dallas is battling San Antonio and Minnesota for the lead in the Midwest Division and is among a five-team cluster atop the Western Conference.

The Mavericks also are two games ahead of last season, when they went 53-29, their best record in 13 years, and reached the second round of the playoffs.

``I think we've kind of set the tone now that we're a playoff team,'' coach-general manager Don Nelson said. ``Where we settle in, whether it's fourth, fifth, sixth, I think if we get healthy at the end, then we have a chance to be a really good team.''

Considering the Mavericks were a really bad team for a really long time, being able to weather their rocky first half is a tremendous step in their development.

Heck, it wasn't so long ago that Dallas couldn't win 24 games in an entire season even with everyone healthy.

``We're all older and better and we have more players this year, we're deeper, so I think we're able to handle situations that we weren't ready for a few years ago,'' said Steve Nash, the Mavericks' first-half MVP. ``Hopefully this is a work in progress and by the end of the season we'll be a much more formidable opponent for the rest of the West.''

Injuries to Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki, poor play by Shawn Bradley and Evan Eschmeyer and Nelson's spark-seeking demotion of Juwan Howard to sixth man have resulted in 18 lineups the first 35 games. That's only two less than Dallas used in 82 games last season.

Nash is the only player to have started every game and Howard the only other who has played in every one. Last season, Nash missed 12 games while Finley and Nowitzki started them all.

Nowitzki, who is among the league leaders at 23.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, has had trouble with both ankles; part of his problem came from jamming a foot into a shoe.

Finley has a strained hamstring that on Dec. 29 forced him to end his NBA-leading streak of consecutive games at 490. He missed two games, then aggravated the injury in his second game back and went on the injured list. The soonest he can return is Thursday.

``I'm going to practice him, be observant, see where he is, then make my decision,'' said Nelson, who criticized himself for letting Finley come back too quickly the first time.

About the time Finley gets back, Nelson will leave for a few games to be with his wife, Joy, when she undergoes treatment for breast cancer. Their son, Donnie, will take over, the way he did last season when his dad missed 21 games while fighting prostate cancer.

The Mavs expected to have a hot start this season, combining the momentum that carried over from last season with the addition of Tim Hardaway and Danny Manning off the bench. New rules allowing zones also were thought to help Dallas considering Nelson's fondness for unusual strategies.

But the rules messed with Bradley's head and the 7-foot-6 center became a bigger problem for Dallas than opponent. Nelson kept him out of several games, then he got hurt and went on the injured list.

Eschmeyer couldn't play his way into the lineup early, then got hurt soon after breaking through. He's the starting center in Dallas' most successful lineup (4-0), which also features Nash, Finley, Nowitzki and Howard. Those four and Bradley -- the combination that started all 10 playoff games last season -- lost their only start together this season.

Howard, the team's highest-paid player at roughly $18 million, went through a funk when rumors swirled that he'd be dealt to Utah for Karl Malone. Nelson made him a reserve, hoping that he'd provide a burst coming off the bench. That lasted only nine games.

Hardaway was slow to adjust, but is fitting in nicely now. Manning, however, has been almost forgotten at times, balancing eight starts with eight DNP-Coach's Decisions.

``We're tough,'' Hardaway said. ``It's a long season and stuff happens. The guys think we can go far in the playoffs and we're pushing for it.''

Dallas has had two three-game losing streaks and would've had another if not for a 3-point play by Nowitzki with six seconds left against Denver on Tuesday night. The Mavs had only two such streaks last season, both coming much later in the season.

Yet this season's team has won 10 in a row, one short of matching the best in franchise history.

Dallas also is 10-5 against teams with winning records, having won five of its last six. The Mavericks are 3-1 against the Spurs and Timberwolves, which bodes well in the tight race.

``I think every year you go through ups and downs and when you go through hard periods it brings a team together,'' Nelson said. ``It's important that we play consistent ball from this point on and make sure we're at least where we are today. Then, if we get healthy, I think you'll see this team spurt forward."

[LonestarROB]

Cool, thanks MFF. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[mavs_afroman]

That sums up the season pretty well. After being reminded of all that I'm just happy that our record is what it is. This is still the best record in Maverick history to this point. Under normal circumstances, we would at least be in 3rd of 4th.