RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
DALLAS (AP) -- The Dallas Mavericks and Vancouver consider themselves two of the young, emerging teams in the Western Conference. Give give the early edge to the Grizzlies.
|  | | Bryant Reeves goes face-to-neck with Shawn Bradley of the Mavs, one of the few NBA players "Big Country" must look up to. |
Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 22 points and 12 rebounds as the Grizzlies routed the Mavericks 101-74 Wednesday night to improve to 4-1, Vancouver's best start in the franchise's six-year history.
"Both teams are in the same situation, up-and-coming teams,"
said Abdur-Rahim. "We wanted to beat a team we've been compared
to. We have to believe in ourselves. Nobody believes we can make the playoffs, but we do."
Abdur-Rahim had eight points during a 25-3 Grizzlies spurt in
the third quarter. Othella Harrington added 21 points and nine rebounds to help Vancouver beat Dallas for only the fourth time in 20 all-time meetings.
"This was very important," said Vancouver guard Damon Jones, a
member of the Mavericks last season. "We were going to play hard,
like it was our last game. We're playing with a lot of intensity."
Christian Laettner scored 17 for the Mavericks, who hit only 31 of 84 field goal attempts (37 percent).
Michael Finley and Courtney Alexander had 10 points each for Dallas (3-2).
The Grizzlies took a 54-38 halftime lead behind Abdur-Rahim's 11
points.
Vancouver shot 62 percent in the first half while Dallas was
hitting only 39.5 percent of its field goals. The Mavericks were
never able to get untracked.
"We feel like it's going to be between us and them for a
playoff spot," said Mavericks center Shawn Bradley. "To have this happen on our home court hurts. We've got to file this one away."
The Mavericks got as close as 56-45 early in the third quarter,
but Vancouver answered with a 12-0 spurt capped by Harrington's
basket for a 68-45 advantage.
Vancouver finished the quarter with its 25-3 run and took an
81-48 lead into the final quarter. Dallas went more than 10 minutes
without a basket in the third quarter as Vancouver stepped up the
defensive intensity.
"Nothing went right for us offensively or defensively," said
Finley. "We couldn't get anything going. Not to take anything away
from Vancouver, but it's easy to shoot when you're getting open
looks at the basket. They know if they want to get where they want
to go, they have to beat teams like us."
Game notes
The Mavericks' top three scorers -- Finley, Steve Nash and
Dirk Nowitzki -- were a combined 10-for-36 from the field. ... Dallas shot 16 percent (3-for-19) in the third quarter. ... The
Mavericks were without guard Greg Buckner, still sidelined by a sprained right foot. ... Jones played despite a concussion suffered in the previous game against the Atlanta Hawks. ... Dallas dropped
its second straight home game. ... Dallas' Bill Curley got his first action of the season in the fourth quarter.
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NBA Scoreboard
Vancouver Clubhouse
Dallas Clubhouse
RECAPS
Indiana 108
Milwaukee 97
Philadelphia 103
Detroit 94
New Jersey 102
Washington 86
Miami 87
Seattle 81
Cleveland 99
New York 97
Charlotte 96
Orlando 90
Vancouver 101
Dallas 74
San Antonio 91
LA Lakers 81
Denver 109
Minnesota 107
Utah 93
LA Clippers 87
Sacramento 115
Golden State 84
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