Mavs only unbeaten team; NBA roundup

Posted 6:58AM on Thursday 14th November 2002 ( 22 years ago )

Steve Nash ended up on the wrong end of a poster-shot dunk. At least he didn't leave Cleveland with a loss. Dirk Nowitzki scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Dallas Mavericks remained the only unbeaten team in the NBA by rallying in the second half for a 103-99 victory over the Cavaliers. The highlight of the game was a dunk by Cleveland's Ricky Davis. He leaped over Nash, slammed the ball through and screamed in excitement. ``I should have blocked it,'' Nash joked. Nash could afford to be in a loose mood after Dallas improved to 8-0. Michael Finley scored a season-high 26 points and Walt Williams and Nash had 14 apiece for the Mavericks, which had to overcome a career-high 34 points by Zydrunas Ilgauskas as well as injuries that left them with just 10 players. ``This is a different Mavericks team,'' said forward Eduardo Najera, who added 12 points. ``We're going to handle adversity better. The bench had to step it up, and we did. That's the sign of a good team. There was no panicking.'' In other games, Sacramento defeated Golden State 104-93, New Jersey downed San Antonio 91-82, New Orleans rallied past Minnesota 102-98, Boston topped Philadelphia 91-81, Milwaukee defeated Chicago 108-101 and Phoenix edged Denver 75-72. Nowitzki made two free throws with 4:14 left to put Dallas ahead 89-87, and then came Davis' dunk. As he approached the basket after a steal, the 6-foot-7 Davis took off in the middle of the lane and soared over the 6-foot-3 Nash before slamming the ball in to give the Cavs a 91-89 lead. ``That was one of my best right there,'' said Davis, who was fouled on the play but missed the free throw. After a basket by Williams, Nash hit a runner in the lane to put the Mavericks up 93-91 with 2:31 to play. Cleveland point guard Milt Palacio was then whistled for traveling - the first of two violations for him in the final 1:39 - and Nowitzki hit two free throws for a 95-92 lead. Finley scored on a slicing move through the lane, and his two free throws made it 101-96 with 9 seconds to go. ``Teams that are championship-caliber win the ugly ones,'' guard Avery Johnson said. ``We found a way.'' KINGS 104, WARRIORS 93 At Oakland, Chris Webber had 33 points on 15-of-18 shooting as Sacramento beat Golden State for the 11th straight time. Bobby Jackson had 17 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds - just missing his second career triple-double - as the Kings shot better than 68 percent in the first half. Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac had 17 points apiece as Sacramento held on through a poor fourth quarter for its second road win in five tries this season. NETS 91, SPURS 82 At East Rutherford, N.J., Lucious Harris broke open a close game by hitting his first three shots of the fourth quarter, and Richard Jefferson scored a career-high 27 points as the Nets remained perfect at home (5-0). Tim Duncan had 21 points, Stephen Jackson added a season-high 20 and David Robinson had 14 rebounds for the Spurs. The difference in the game was Harris. The backup shooting guard scored 12 of his 15 points in the final 12 minutes to break open a game in which neither team led by more than seven in the first three quarters. HORNETS 102, T-WOLVES 98 At New Orleans, Courtney Alexander scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter as the Hornets preserved their perfect home record (5-0). Alexander hit all 10 of his free throws, eight in the final period. He also made a 3-pointer from the corner to tie it at 94 with just over 2 minutes left. Jamal Mashburn had 25 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans. Baron Davis scored 15, and P.J. Brown had 11 points and nine rebounds. CELTICS 91, 76ers 81 At Boston, Antoine Walker scored 20 points and Paul Pierce made a few key baskets while shooting 4-for-20 as the Celtics won their sixth consecutive game. Pierce, who scored 13, hit a 3-pointer to start a 13-0 run that turned a six-point third-quarter deficit into a 72-65 fourth-quarter lead. He also hit a fadeaway jumper after the Sixers cut an 11-point deficit to seven with 2:01 left. BUCKS 108, BULLS 101 At Milwaukee, Michael Redd scored a season-high 24 points and the Bucks blew a 25-point lead before rallying in the fourth quarter. Ray Allen had 19 and Kevin Ollie added a season-high 14 to give Milwaukee its ninth straight victory over the Bulls at the Bradley Center. SUNS 75, NUGGETS 72 At Denver, Stephon Marbury scored 19 points, including 10 in the pivotal third quarter when the Suns outscored the Nuggets 29-11 to erase a nine-point halftime deficit. The third-quarter outburst included a 20-3 run highlighted by eight points from Marbury. Shawn Marion added 14 points and nine rebounds for Phoenix, which won its third straight.

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