Coach Rick Carlisle summed up the game nicely, "Nothing's been easy for us this year, why would we start now?"
The game was frustrating with ups and downs by both the Mavs and the Wolves. It started out great for Dallas with Barea providing the initial spark with 5 points in a two minute span. At the end of the first quarter, the Mavs were up 26-18.
The second quarter was horrible for Dallas. Dirk could not hit a shot. It seemed like he wasn't himself or was ill and although Carlisle did not confirm it, Dirk did go visit the restroom a couple of times during the first half. Terry provided the usual energy off the bench, but the lack of defense was evident. At half time, the Wolves were up 43-40.
"They're a persistent team," said Carlisle at the press conference referring to Minnesota, "but the guy's fought for us, kept their poise, kept playing."
The Mavs did fight and kept their energy up during the third quarter, but the Wolves had an answer with their own offensive play. After three, Minny was still up 74-68.
The fourth quarter was a battle and the Mavs felt the support of the crowd. "The fans here are great," said JJ Barea after the game, "they provide the energy we need to keep home court advantage."
They finally woke up, fueled by Barea, Dirk and Jet Terry with some key defensive stops by Dampier and Kidd. Still, the Wolves matched Dallas' 44% shooting. With 35.9 seconds to go in the fourth and the score tied at 94, Dampier blocked a key shot shot and gave the Mavs the ball with 2.7 seconds to go. Timeout Dallas.
During that timeout, Terry interrupted the huddle, ""Give me the ball! Give me the ball!".
"I just knew," said Terry, "I felt something that said I was going to hit a big shot. I was feeling it all night. I didn't want the game to get as close as it was, but I was ready for the moment."
According to Carlisle, Terry was the first option during that play. Dirk provided the screen and Terry went around him catching the inbound pass from kid, pumped fake to get some room from incoming defense of Sebastian Telfair and made the 18-foot jump shot, all in 2 seconds. Simply Amazing!
The Mavs have one more game versus Houston this Wednesday with an earlier than usual tipoff at 7 p.m. With a win, they lock up the 7th seed, combined with a Hornets loss, they would move up to 6th.
