# GT: New York Knicks @ Dallas Mavericks



## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

*at







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*New York Knicks [31-40] at Dallas Mavericks [60-11]*
 | Friday, March 30, 2007 | Dallas, TX | American Airlines Center | 8:30pm ET | 
| *TV*: MSG, FSSW | *Radio: *KESN-FM 103.3 

*Game Notes*

The Dallas Mavericks tied the franchise record for victories and kept alive hopes for a 70-win season, even without the services of All-Star Dirk Nowitzki for most of their latest victory. 

The Mavericks hope to have Nowitzki in the lineup as they try to extend their winning streak to nine games when they host the New York Knicks on Friday night. 

Nowitzki left in the first half of Wednesday's game with Milwaukee after hurting his left ankle, but even without the German forward, Dallas hung on to beat the Bucks 105-103. The win was the Mavs' 60th of the season, matching the franchise record set twice this decade, including last season. 

It was also the Mavericks' eighth win in a row and came one day after they wrapped up a 6-0 road trip. 

"Let me say something, 50 wins cannot be trivialized," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. "Forget 60 or anything above 60. Fifty wins in the Western Conference is tough. To talk about 60 is pretty impressive, especially with the way we started. These types of games we could easily lose, but they just refuse to lose." 

Nowitzki stepped on the foot of Milwaukee's Brian Skinner and hobbled to the locker room. He returned in the second half but played only 64 seconds. 

"I tried to walk it off at halftime and tried to loosen it up but I couldn't go. There was no need for it to get worse so I had to take the rest of the night off," said Nowitzki, who is one point short of 15,000 for his career. "It hurt me to watch, but we made big shots down the stretch." 

The Mavericks (60-11) held on Wednesday despite missing four of six free throws in the final 30 seconds. Jason Terry made one of his two attempts to break a tie, then Jerry Stackhouse made the first of his two attempts with 15.5 seconds remaining. 

Despite the miscues, Dallas won for the 25th time in its last 27 games and is now 60-7 since opening the season with four straight losses. 

The Mavericks figure to have Nowitzki, who received treatment on the ankle Thursday, back in the lineup as they try for another victory over the Knicks (31-40). 

Dallas has won six straight at home over New York since the start of the decade and nine of the past 10 overall in the series, including a 92-77 victory last week at Madison Square Garden. 

That started a four-game losing streak for New York, which ended the skid with a 97-93 win at home over Cleveland on Wednesday night. The Knicks, who have lost six of their past eight road games, finish the season with seven of their last 11 away from home. 

The Knicks, who are without Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson and David Lee, lost another starter when Steve Francis sprained his right ankle in the first quarter against the Cavaliers. 

"I have said before, we are not going to cave," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "We are going to keep fighting and keep competing. It may not be pretty. As long as we have five, we are going to go out, compete and play as hard as we possibly can." 

Eddy Curry scored 13 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and Stephon Marbury hit a clinching 3-pointer with 8.5 seconds left Wednesday to help New York snap its longest losing streak of the season. 

The Knicks are 1 1/2 games behind Orlando for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.












Who's hot: *Isiah Thomas* 

Unfortunately for the Knicks, their coach can't rekindle his youth, hit some jumpers and dish out some crisp passes. But Thomas has vowed that the Knicks will give every ounce of their energy to making the playoffs. And after losing four in a row, they have won their last two, including a four-point conquest of Cleveland on Wednesday. ... Eddy Curry had 25 points against the Cavs and is among the league leaders at 57 percent field goal shooting. ... Jerry Stackhouse is coming off a 21-point showing against Milwaukee. He's also had at least three assists in six consecutive games, averaging 5.2 a game

Who's not: *Knicks in Dallas* 

They haven't won here in this millennium, losing in their last six visits, including a 28-point defeat last season. ... It's feast or famine for Stephon Marbury, mostly famine of late. In four of his last five games, he's a combined 16-of-54 from the field. In the other game, he scored 32 points and had five rebounds, four assists and two steals. ... The Mavericks have been outshot from the free throw line in six consecutive games, with their opponents getting to the line 190 times and the Mavs only 135 times. 

*Injuries*
*Knicks: * Jamal Crawford _(right ankle)_ is out; David Lee _(right leg)_, Quentin Richardson _(back)_ and Steve Francis _(ankle)_ are doubtful.
*Mavs: * D.J. Mbenga _(right knee)_ is out; Dirk Nowitzki _(left ankle)_ and Josh Howard _(right ankle)_ are probable.










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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

nice GT!

I'll be on the road to Houston when the game is on, so I won't be at AAC. I'll for sure be keeping an eye on the game with my cellphone though. :cheers:

Dirk going for 15k point, and the team going for 61 win franchise record!

Go mavs!


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

Score isn't pretty after the first half but i am happy to see that we have 14 assists.


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

:lol: how come guards always run us over?


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

WOW Dirk made clutch FTs, let's celebrate!
"Josh Howard blocks Stephon Marbury's 7-foot running jumper"
:rofl2:


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## Jet (Jul 1, 2005)

Marbury had an impressive night tonight.. Did anyone besides me notice that the score for this game was the exact same score as the Mavs last game against the Bucks? Weird..


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## StackAttack (Mar 15, 2006)

Josh Howard's game-saving block = <3.


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## Jet (Jul 1, 2005)

Josh Howard = <3

hehe


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Another close win against a team it shouldn't be that close. Right now I'm not too happy with the way the Mavs are playing, they are winning those games, but that's about it. At least we got the key stop at the end, if the game went to OT Marbury might have gotten 50 or more ...


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