The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Sacramento Kings 112-99 in Game 7 of the conference semifinal series Saturday night, with Dirk Nowitzki scoring 30 points, 19 rebounds and a super-timely 3-pointer -- one of 11 by the Mavericks.
It was the type of breakout game everyone had been waiting for from Nowitzki, whose struggles in this series were so pronounced that
PHOTO: AFP
But that's exactly what he was, with strong supporting roles from Nick Van Exel, Michael Finley, Steve Nash, Raja Bell and even Shawn Bradley as the Mavericks advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 1988.
The all-Texas showdown with the San Antonio Spurs begins Monday night, with the winner advancing to the NBA Finals.
Van Exel, the Mavs' most consistent offensive producer during the high-octane series, had 23 points and four 3-pointers. Finley added 18, Nash had 18 points and 13 assists and Bell chipped in 12 points.
Bradley did his part during the first three quarters, giving the Mavericks an interior defensive presence that caused the Kings all sorts of problems trying to run their inside-outside game on offense. It's a tactic that usually worked when Sacramento had Chris Webber available, but he went down with a knee injury in Game 2 to irrevocably change the dynamic of this series.
As the Mavericks left the court, Finley lifted Nowitzki and carried him off -- a fitting reward for a player who carried the Mavericks with 12-for-20 shooting.
Mike Bibby scored 25 and Jim Jackson 24 for the Kings, whose season ended in a disappointing Game 7 loss for the second straight year.
Unlike last season when they had only themselves to blame for their Game 7 loss to the Lakers in the Western finals, this time they were simply outplayed for all but a few brief stretches of the 48 minutes.
ESPN will broadcast Dallas at San Antonio (Game 1) live at 9:30am tomorrow.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later