14.12.2002

MEMPHIS (87) AT DALLAS (104)
Stats

The Memphis Grizzlies came here with visions of tying a franchise 
record.  Steve Nash quickly brought them back to reality.

Nash scored 15 of his 26 points in the first seven minutes as
the league-leading Dallas Mavericks cruised to a 104-87 victory
over the Grizzlies, who had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Since entering the NBA in 1995, the woebegone Grizzlies had won
five straight games just once, from February 13-20, 2001.  After
Friday's home overtime win against Houston, they were in
position to do it again.

While Memphis is much improved since Hubie Brown took over as
coach 12 games ago, this game showed the Grizzlies still have a
long way to go.  They never led, quickly fell behind by double
digits and trailed by as many as 21 points.

Nash had a lot to do with that, making 9-of-19 shots and handing
out seven assists. He set an early tone by scoring 15 of
Dallas' first 24 points.

"It wasn't something that I really thought about before the
game," Nash said.  "I just wanted to go out and play hard and be
aggressive."

"I was looking to play well early because sometimes that
discourages a young team that has a back-to-back," Mavs coach
Don Nelson said.  "I was hoping that would be the case and he
got us off to playing terrific basketball."

Michael Finley scored 22 points and Shawn Bradley added 12, 18
rebounds and eight blocks for the Mavs (20-3), who improved to
11-0 at home despite the absence of All-Star forward Dirk
Nowitzki, who sat out with a sprained ankle.

"That is why they are 20-3," Brown said.  "They've got a lot of
ammunition and they can very easily have a key guy out because
they have enough scoring to step in and play."

Rookie Gordan Giricek scored 17 points off the bench and Pau
Gasol added 16 for the Grizzlies, who fell to 1-11 on the road.
They are 1-13 all-time in Dallas.

In Dallas' early spurt, Nash accounted for all but two points.
He had a three-point play, a 3-pointer and two free throws,
chasing Grizzlies point guard Jason Williams out of the game.

The smaller Earl Watson fared no better as Nash made two
mid-range jumpers around a 3-pointer.  He also assisted on three
other baskets as Dallas bolted to a 24-10 lead with 4:52 left
in the opening period.

"He knew the way they were going to be playing the 
pick-and-roll," Mavs forward Raef LaFrentz said.  "He had a lot
of openings and he capitalized on them."

"We had no answers," Brown said.  "He broke us down and then
when the (shot) clock was down, he made things happen.  He had a
great game."

The Grizzlies made just 5-of-20 shots in the first quarter and
trailed, 33-17.  But they battled back within 10 points at
halftime and closed to 55-49 on a jumper by Williams with 9:38
left in the third quarter.

"Ever since coach Brown has taken over, they've been playing
aggressive and tenacious for 48 minutes," Finley said.  "So we
knew that no matter what lead we had, they were going to keep
coming after us."

Finley's layup started an 11-0 burst.  Nash had a pair of layups
and a free throw, fed Bradley for a dunk and had his missed
driving layup hammered home by LaFrentz for a 66-49 advantage
with 7:28 left.

Dallas led by at least 13 points thereafter.

Walt Williams scored 15 points for the Mavs, who shot 43 percent
(41-of-95) and held a 52-39 rebounding advantage.

Reserve Shane Battier scored 13 points and Williams added 12 for
the Grizzlies, who shot 42 percent (31-of-74).  Memphis'
reserves scored 51 points.