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worthless.
worthless.
devin harris in front of him. teammates goign to games together, how friendly.
too funny
yep, dirk is worthless
DALLAS, May 7, 2005 (Ticker) -- Jason Terry and the Dallas Mavericks are moving on. Tracy McGrady again is going home early.
Terry sparked a huge first half to help add to McGrady's postseason frustration as the Mavericks rolled to a 116-76 demolition of the Houston Rockets in the most lopsided Game Seven in NBA history.
The margin of victory surpassed the record of 39 set by the Philadelphia Warriors in an 85-46 rout of the St. Louis Bombers in Game Seven of the 1948 league semifinals.
The fifth-seeded Rockets became only the third team in NBA history to lose a best-of-seven series after winning the first two games on the road. The Mavericks open the Western Conference semifinals at top-seeded Phoenix on Monday.
"All season long it's been about perseverance and this series couldn't be a better example of perseverance," Terry said. "This series stretched us," said Mavericks coach Avery Johnson, who showed his shrewdness in his first postseason series. "We were bending, but we didn't break."
Meanwhile, it is another early exit for McGrady, who has yet to make it out of the first round in eight seasons. The star came out cold in the second Game Seven of his career, missing seven of his first eight shots as the Rockets fell behind from the outset and never recovered.
"I am disgusted and I'm angry and all of that stuff, but at the same time, I'm not going to hang my head," said McGrady, who is 0-of-5 in playoff series. "I'm 25-years-old and I've got a lot more years in this league and I will be back next year. I will be back next year.
"All of this that I'm going through, is only going to make me tougher. I will never fold regardless of being bounced out of the first round for four or five years. I won't fold and I will be back and my team will be back. We will be back better and stronger."
McGrady showed his displeasure with 6:41 left in the second quarter after picking up a technical foul. Terry sank the free throw to give the Mavericks a commanding 49-25 lead.
"I don't think any of us saw a picture like this. I definitely didn't see that picture," McGrady said. "I think we came out too flat. Those guys had a lot more speed, and we couldn't defend anybody."
Never able to find his rhythm, McGrady scored 27 points on just 10-of-26 shooting while playing just the first three quarters. He scored 21 points on 7-of-24 shooting in a Game Seven loss at Detroit in 2003 while with Orlando.
McGrady failed to show up, but Yao Ming, often criticized for being soft despite his giant 7-6 stature, did. Yao played through early foul trouble and matched a playoff career high with 33 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Terry, the Mavericks' best player in the series, again came up huge by scoring 31 points. The offensive-minded point guard scored 13 of his 21 first-half points in a 17-5 run to open the second quarter that gave Dallas control.
"My mind-set tonight was to come out and set the tone for my team on both ends of the floor," Terry said.
Led by Terry, who made 8-of-14 shots and all 12 of his free throws, the Mavericks built a 59-44 halftime lead, then stretched the advantage to 92-64 after three quarters.
The Mavericks led by at least 13 points the entire second half and the final score was the largest margin as they reached the conference semifinals for the fourth time in five seasons.
Josh Howard, who opened the game guarding McGrady, had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks, who were playing their first Game Seven since beating Sacramento in the conference semifinals in 2003.
Hardened veteran Michael Finley also made his presence felt, making back-to-back 3-pointers to trigger a 16-6 run over the final 4:28 of the first quarter that gave Dallas a 32-20 lead. He made three shots from the arc in the period and finished with 13 points.
"It was important for us to come out and be the aggressor and use the home court to our advantage," Finley said. "We did that tonight right from the jump ball and we maintained throughout the game."
The Mavericks had little trouble finding their offense in the first quarter, when they made 11-of-22 shots and seemed to score at will. In Thursday's Game Six loss, they went a woeful 4-of-27 from the floor and scored just 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Dirk Nowitzki again struggled with his shooting but had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Mavericks, who joined the 1994 Rockets and 1969 Los Angeles Lakers as teams to win best-of-seven series after dropping the first two contests at home.
The Mavericks shot 51 percent (41-of-80), made 26-of-28 free throws and held a commanding 52-33 rebounding advantage. Yao and McGrady were the only ones to score in double figures for Houston, which shot 35 percent (29-of-82) in getting eliminated in the first round for the second straight season. The other eight players to see action combined for just 16 points for the Rockets, who have not been past the first round since 1997.
"We just cracked," said Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, who drew a $100,000 fine, the largest in NBA history for comments about the officiating earlier in the series. "That was disappointing because our team had played well all year, and to crack like that in the biggest game of the year is disappointing."
"Defensively this was the performance I was looking for the whole series," Johnson said. "It was right on time." One of Johnson's key moves was to go to veteran Darrell Armstrong, who had played a total of 11 minutes in the first six games.
Stil quick at 36, Armstrong was called on to guard Mike James, who had provided the Mavericks headaches throughout the series. Armstrong helped hold James to just four points, 18 fewer than he had in Game Six. James also was ejected late in the third quarter after picking up two technical fouls.
"I felt good to be able to contribute the way I did tonight," Armstrong said. "I knew I was going to get the call tonight because of Mike James. Avery wanted to match me up against Mike James. It just worked out for the best."
"Give credit to a guy like Darrell Armstrong who hadn't played much all series," Terry said. "He comes in and frustrates the heck out of Mike James."
HOUSTON -- The young Utah Jazz are moving on in the NBA playoffs with a new point guard and power forward combination.
With fresh faces -- but the same, old coach -- the Jazz beat the Houston Rockets 103-99 on Saturday night to clinch their first playoff series victory since 2000 -- when John Stockton and Karl Malone were still running the pick-and-roll.
Carlos Boozer is the new inside force and Deron Williams is the guy running the offense. In Game 7, the results looked awfully familiar.
Boozer had 35 points, 14 rebounds and five assists and Williams had 20 points and 14 assists as the Jazz became only the seventh team since 2001 to come back from a 2-0 deficit and win a series.
"We have to finish up and see where we end up and then look back," Boozer said. "If we get too excited, we won't be having too much more success. We have to stay hungry, otherwise, we'll be going home soon, too."
The Jazz also became just the 19th visiting team to win in 97 Game 7s in playoff history, a significant step for a franchise that hadn't even been to the playoffs since 2003.
"It's a great win for our young guys," said Utah coach Jerry Sloan, in his 20th season in Utah. "I couldn't be happier."
Tracy McGrady, meanwhile, was left to ponder another playoff failure. The seven-time All-Star had 29 points and 13 assists, but he fell to 0-6 in the playoffs.
The Rockets -- his Rockets -- also blew a 2-0 lead for the second time in three seasons. They won twice in Dallas in 2005, then dropped the series in seven games.
"Right now, it's a lot of hurt," McGrady said. "It feels good that we competed the way we did and pushed seven games. But on the other hand, it was just disappointing."
McGrady boldly said before the series that he should take the blame if the Rockets lost this one. He also said he'd never had a better chance in 10 seasons to make a deep postseason run.
"I tried, man, I tried," he said after four minutes of questions from reporters.
He stopped before saying any more, drooped his head as a tear trickled down his face, then walked out of the interview room.
The home team had won the previous six games in this series, but all the games at the Toyota Center had gone down to the wire.
This game was the closest one of all. This time, Boozer and the Jazz came up with the plays to finally break through.
Boozer grabbed two key offensive rebounds in the final 90 seconds, then hit two free throws with 19.9 seconds left to seal the victory and silence the capacity crowd in Houston for the last time.
"All we had to do was stay focused," Boozer said. "If we had broken down like before, missed a couple more assignments, missed a couple more shots, what have you, they'd be up here celebrating instead of us."
Yao Ming had 29 points and six rebounds and Shane Battier had 16 points and went 4-of-7 from 3-point range for the Rockets, who haven't won a playoff series since 1997.
The Rockets are as much Yao's team as they are McGrady's and Yao was almost as despondent as McGrady afterward.
"Whatever we hear, if it hurts, it hurts," Yao said of the inevitable scrutiny. "There is no short cut. The only way to go through this is if you get the next chance, don't let it pass."
The Jazz will open the second round against Golden State on Monday night in Salt Lake City. The teams split four games during the regular season.
The Rockets trailed by 16 in the first half as the Jazz threatened to turn the deciding game into a rout.
Yao and McGrady both came out attacking the basket in the second half, scoring 13 of Houston's first 15 points, all on dunks and layups.
Yao hyperextended his right knee trying to stop Williams on a drive and went to the floor. After a few nervous minutes for the fans, Yao stayed in the game and promptly blocked a Boozer shot.
The Jazz led 75-67 after three quarters, but Yao and McGrady each scored to start a 7-0 run in the opening minutes of the fourth.
Rafer Alston banked in a 3-pointer with 8:38 left to force an 80-80 tie. On the Rockets' next trip, Yao got fouled on an offensive rebound and hit two free throws to give Houston its first lead since the opening minute.
Boozer and McGrady traded acrobatic shots over the next two minutes and Boozer cut Houston's lead to 88-85 on a strong drive past Battier. Juwan Howard missed a jumper at the other end before Andrei Kirilenko sank a 3-pointer with 5:05 remaining to tie the game at 88-all.
Two minutes later, Okur made a 3-pointer from the wing to give Utah the lead for good. The Rockets cut it to one twice, but Boozer outjumped the 7-foot-6 Yao for an offensive rebound.
"At that time of the game, it seemed like every play could be the clincher," Boozer said.
Okur finished that possession with a 3-pointer from the wing, putting the Jazz up 99-95. Yao hit two free throws with 57.8 seconds left, but Boozer grabbed another offensive board and hit two free throws with 19.9 seconds to go.
"For us to go out and compete like we did, in some sense, it feels good," McGrady said. "On the other hand, it's just disappointing."
Dirk's got 8 series wins and a Finals appearance under his belt. That's about 8 series wins and one Finals appearance more than Yao/T-Mac. What have they ever done that's so special?
This 2006 Finals will be remembered for many things: O'Neal's fourth le, and his first without Kobe Bryant; Riley's fifth le as a coach, and his first without Magic; the controversy of Game 5; Nowitzki's failure to cement himself as a true giant of the game; and the shocking and pathetic collapse, top to bottom, of the Dallas Mavericks organization. But most of all, it will be remembered for Wade.
don't forget the Rockets finishing 34-48.
"It's so disappointing you can't even describe it," said Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki, a top contender for Most Valuable Player honors for his regular-season exploits.
"We played our heart out for six, seven months," he said. "We won 67 games and it really means nothing at this point."
ours came at the expense of injuries dumbazz, what's the mav's excuse for their catostrophic collapse...of 4 in a row, pathetic.
Dampier had a torn rotator cuff and Dirk was forced to play C, a position he's not comfortbale playing, plus we were outmatched at every position.
Is Rox fan really lecturing Mavs fan about choking? Are you serious?
Don't forget Yao and T-Mac blowing a 2-0 series lead to Dallas...or a 2-0 series lead to Utah
What is Roxfan's excuse for his team winning the first two, then dropping four out of the next five, and being unable to get out of the first round? Which series am I even talking about, there's a couple to choose from.
will Dirk ever win a le in Dallas..........NO
the only way a mav can win, is to become a spur........fin
no excuse, they just sucked-azz
Your team has choked in the playoffs 2 yrs in a row...deal with it.
Tell us more Nostradamuswill Dirk ever win a le in Dallas..........NO
I remember the first time is always so special. Until then you have to fake it until you make it. The first time is always the hardest, but it's worth it when you finally pop your second-round cherry.the only way a mav can win, is to become a spur........
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