May 30, 2002 10:38 AM EST
Two games left, and zero hesitation remaining. It's already official, no matter what happens Friday night to the twice-defending NBA champions.
They're vulnerable.
The question that hung over the Los Angeles Lakers all season, with an answer promised us in the playoffs, isn't being asked any more. You no longer wonder about LA – really vulnerable, or just teasing? – because you've either seen or heard about the first five games of the Western Conference finals.
Sacramento has won three of them and came within a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Robert Horry of winning Game 4, too. From here, whether or not these young Kings can actually finish the series off, you also know that they're going to keep getting better, with a little team from Dallas determined to spend and deal and follow the same depth-trumps-stars blueprint.
Via Dallas Morning News
Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks
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Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki was scheduled to undergo surgery to remove bone spurs in his left ankle Friday… until he suffered a sinus infection. The surgery has now been postponed writes Jodie Valade of the Dallas Morning News, but Nowitzki is expected to have the surgery some time next week after he recovers from his illness.
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May 20, 2002 11:43 AM EST
Mark Cuban's second full year as the Mavericks' owner brought a stint working at Dairy Queen, another whopping fine from the NBA, another major trade, and the same finish as last season, a second-round elimination. Cuban sat down with The Morning News to reflect on the past season and predict what is in store in the future.
Q: What are your overall thoughts on the season?
A: We made progress. The Question is, what can you do to get to a championship-caliber team? We had to upgrade the past couple years, and I think we've done that. Now, what I think we need to do is just give this team some time to be together. I think we overused our guys. We really focused on protecting ourselves in terms of making the playoffs. We'll go into this season much more confident. It won't be about whether we can make the playoffs. It won't even be about whether we're No. 1 or winning the Midwest. It will be about what can we do to make sure we're in the best possible shape for the playoffs. Because that hurt us this year. We're going through a transitional phase. The trade helped us get to that point where I'm a lot more confident.
Via Dallas Morning News
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Mavericks May 2002 Archive
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| May 16, 2002
Should Karl Malone decide to seek an offseason trade away from Utah, the Mailman might want to scratch Dallas from his list of potential new addresses.
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Dallas Morning News | May 16, 2002
Jodie Valade writes for the Dallas Morning News that the Mavericks conducted exit physicals Wednesday.
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Star Telegram | May 16, 2002
Dwain Price of the Star Telegram writes that Dallas is already thinking of ways it can improve its interior defense this offseason, after this weakness was badly exposed by the Sacramento Kings.
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Dallas Morning News | May 15, 2002
Coach Don Nelson was already in off-season Maui attire: a black shirt displaying a parrot and a blue beverage on the front.
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Dallas Morning News | May 15, 2002
"I love this team," Nelson gushed.
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Star Telegram | May 15, 2002
For the second consecutive season, the Mavericks were eliminated from the Western Conference semifinals in five games by the NBA's top-seeded team.
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San Antonio Express-News | May 15, 2002
It was a jubilant Mavericks team that entered the playoffs against Sacramento.
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Houston Chronicle | May 15, 2002
Perhaps Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban learned that lesson in his team's five-game drubbing at the hands of the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference semifinals.
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| May 15, 2002
Will Raef be on the move again before next season?
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The Rocky Mountain News | May 15, 2002
Reports of Donnie Nelson being on the short list of candidates for Denver Nuggets head coaching opening are beginning to circulate.
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Dallas Morning News | May 14, 2002
Turns out they didn't have the edge at point guard.
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Dallas Morning News | May 14, 2002
The season ended despite the return to form of Dirk Nowitzki, who finally delivered the kind of All-Star performance that had eluded him all series.
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Star Telegram | May 14, 2002
With four minutes left in Monday's 114-101 series-clinching victory over the Mavericks, Sacramento Kings fans started loudly chanting "Beat LA, Beat LA.
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| May 14, 2002
No, they are not going to fire Don Nelson after the disappointing playoff loss to the Sacramento Kings…
Mavs owner Mark Cuban said Monday he will meet with coach Don Nelson during the off season to see if Nelson would like to coach beyond the 2002-03 season.
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| May 14, 2002
As the Sacramento Kings moved past the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs to book their place in the Western Conference Finals, Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News could not help by look back to the Kings of yesteryear, a team which lost close games and was swept in the second round, to see what has changed.
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| May 14, 2002
Mike Bibby has made a world of diffence to the Sacramento Kings.
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Daily Herald | May 13, 2002
Mike McGraw of the Chicago Daily Herald reports: On paper, the theories seem intriguing.
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| May 13, 2002
Finley and Rose could take the Bulls back to the playoffs
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| May 12, 2002
Fate seemed against the Sacramento Kings in Game 4 yet the team was able to dig deep to pull out the unlikeliest of victories, 115-113 in overtime, to go up 3-1 in their second round series against the Mavericks.
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Dallas Morning News | May 10, 2002
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban didn't have to go far to get an official explanation this time.
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Dallas Morning News | May 10, 2002
He managed no more than a quiet 19 points and five rebounds to take the sharpest dip yet from the first-round domination that put Nowitzki on last week's Sports Illustrated cover.
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Dallas Morning News | May 10, 2002
The Sacramento Kings spent parts of Thursday's Game 3 without two of their starters.
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Star Telegram | May 10, 2002
DALLAS - It hasn't taken Sacramento Kings guard Mike Bibby long to warm to playoff basketball.
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Star Telegram | May 10, 2002
After expending all that energy in taking home-court advantage away from the Sacramento Kings on Monday, the Mavericks gave it back Thursday night.
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Houston Chronicle | May 10, 2002
There were thousands of cowbells and hundreds of decibels echoing off the walls.
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| May 10, 2002
Michael Murphy of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Mavericks did everything in their power to try to get inside the heads of the Sacramento Kings, even going as far as importing some cow bells similar to the ones Kings fans used, but Sacramento just would not bite.
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Dallas Morning News | May 9, 2002
He played fewer minutes, took fewer shots, scored fewer points and grabbed fewer rebounds.
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Dallas Morning News | May 9, 2002
And why Raef LaFrentz is suddenly the Mavericks' most important factor of all.
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Dallas Morning News | May 9, 2002
For local fans, it's payback time – time for a real uproar, said Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who told a reporter in Sacramento: "Just wait till we get back to Dallas.
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Star Telegram | May 9, 2002
The first six quarters of the Western Conference semifinals against Sacramento did little to dispel LaFrentz's new foul-machine reputation.
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Dallas Morning News | May 8, 2002
After complaining about cowbell-ringing during timeouts in Sacramento, Dallas is planning on payback, within limits, writes Jodie Valade of the Dallas Morning News.
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Dallas Morning News | May 8, 2002
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
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Star Telegram | May 8, 2002
When the Mavericks tied their Western Conference semifinals best-of-seven series against Sacramento at 1-1 with a 110-102 triumph Monday night, it was largely because Nash and Van Exel hoisted them on their backs and dragged them to the winner's circle.
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Star Telegram | May 7, 2002
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
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Star Telegram | May 7, 2002
With cowbells still ringing in their ears, the Mavericks were finally able to quiet the Sacramento Kings.
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Dallas Morning News | May 7, 2002
no good reason to change, the Kings went away from what worked on offense so well in the opening game of this second round playoff series.
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Dallas Morning News | May 7, 2002
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
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| May 7, 2002
Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times has a solution for Jerry Krause’s woes in recent times; Allen Iverson.
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| May 7, 2002
It looks like Mavs owner Mark Cuban is unhappy with the noise coming out of the Arco Arena, the fans making an unbearable noise through the ringing of cow bells in an effort to give their side any time of advantage.
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Dallas Morning News | May 6, 2002
After the way Divac quietly shredded them inside Saturday, with a whopping 18 points and 16 rebounds, one of the visitors felt moved to make the bold post-game prognostication.
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Dallas Morning News | May 6, 2002
"Do we look panicked?" Nelson asked.
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Star Telegram | May 6, 2002
By DWAIN PRICE
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
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| May 5, 2002
It was just one of those days for the Dallas Mavericks, one where you wish you never got out of bed.
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Dallas Mornings News | May 4, 2002
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
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Dallas Mornings News | May 4, 2002
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
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Dallas Mornings News | May 4, 2002
No two teams better display the rise of the international player, and the NBA's best chance of overturning the power-driven dominance of Shaquille O'Neal's Los Angeles Lakers now lies in foreign-born names like Nowitzki, Stojakovic, Divac and Wang.
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Star Telegram | May 4, 2002
Sacramento, though, is as distant culturally from San Francisco as it is geographically.
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Dallas Morning News | May 3, 2002
Problem is, it's not just nagging questions these days.
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Star Telegram | May 3, 2002
DALLAS (AP) - Dallas guard Michael Finley didn't practice Thursday because of a back strain, but he is expected to be ready for Game 1 of the Mavericks playoff series in Sacramento on Saturday.
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Star Telegram | May 3, 2002
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
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Pioneer Press | May 3, 2002
It's official: The Timberwolves are sad about being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
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Dallas Morning News | May 2, 2002
The new rules instituted by the Chinese government on how they will allow their players to play abroad has caused some uncertainty for the future of Dallas’ Wang Zhizhi and Denver’s Mengke Bateer.
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Dallas Morning News | May 2, 2002
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
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Dallas Morning News | May 2, 2002
Mavericks point guard Steve Nash appeared Wednesday on Letterman's Late Show, taking advantage of a break in the NBA playoff schedule to crack wise with CBS' All-Star prankster in the famously cold Ed Sullivan Theater.
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Star Telegram | May 2, 2002
DALLAS - The Mavericks rolled through the regular season as the NBA's ultimate road warriors, compiling the best away record in the league and franchise history - 27-14.
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Dallas Morning News | May 1, 2002
In all, 22 coaches have guided teams to the NBA's conference finals since a feisty young Don Nelson made his third and final visit with Milwaukee in 1986.
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Dallas Morning News | May 1, 2002
According to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News, the defensive rules changes the NBA instituted last offseason were a success.
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Star Telegram | May 1, 2002
The ABA, the "other" professional basketball league, went head-to-head with the NBA for nine seasons beginning in 1967 and left its mark in a relatively short period of time.
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| May 1, 2002
It's official: The Timberwolves are sad about being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
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