Dallas takes season opener against Sacramento
Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks in a 107-98 win
over the Kings, tallying 33 points and 10 rebounds
BY JAIME ARON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS, Texas — While the Dal
las Mavericks have an overhauled
roster, a more conventional rotation
and a new commitment to defense,
they also still have Dirk Nowitzki.
Nowitzki scored 29 of his 33 points
over the first three quarters — help
ing Dallas to a steady lead — then
came through by making two free
throws with 15.5 seconds left to seal
a 107-98 victory over the Sacramento
Kings Tliesday night.
The Mavericks scored the game’s
first seven points and led by at least
that many from the end of the first
quarter until Chris Webber hit a long
jumper with 3:12 that made it 99-93.
The Kings got within 103-98 on a
three-point play by Brad Miller with
just under a minute left.
Nowitzki kept them from getting
any closer by rebounding a missed
16-footer by Peja Stojakovic and
cashing in at the foul line. He came
through on the other end, too, forc
ing Bobby Jackson to heave up a wild
3-pointer that clanged off the
backboard with about six seconds
left. Josh Howard rebounded and
made two more free throws to pad
the lead.
The tight finish was no surprise
considering these were the NBA’s
two top-scoring teams last season.
Sacramento ended Dallas’ season in
the first round of the playoffs, a five
game beating that led to major
changes — including rookie Devin
Harris running the offense instead of
Steve Nash and the addition of Erick
Dampier to give the Mavericks a
true center for the first time in years.
But it was Nowitzki who wasted
no time making his presence felt.
He had an assist on the game’s first
basket and scored the second one on a
pick-and-roll with Harris, marking the
No. 5 pick’s first career assist. In be
tween, Dampier brought fans to their
feet with a blocked shot that forced the
Kings into a shot-clock violation.
Dallas’ lead peaked at 19 early in
the second half. Sacramento got
within 10 until Nowitzki hit a high
arching 3-pointer over Miller as the
third quarter ended. Nowitzki cele
brated by backpedaling all the way to
the bench at the other end of the
court as the sellout crowd of 20,041
stood and cheered.
Nowitzki scored 10 points in the
first and second quarters, and the
buzzer-beater gave him nine in the
third. He took only one shot in the
fourth, finishing 12-of-19. He made
both of his 3-point attempts and had
10 rebounds and five assists.
Harris had eight points, six assists
and five rebounds. He showed his
poise by making a nice pass to
Michael Finley for a dunk that made
the score 103-93, but was replaced by
veteran Jason Terry with 58 seconds
left after making a potentially costly
rookie mistake.
Dampier scored nine points in the
first quarter, but just two more after
that. He also had three of his first five
rebounds in the first period. Finley
scored 18, and Harris finished with
eight points and seven assists.
Miller led Sacramento with 24
points, and Webber added 21 points
and 10 rebounds. Stojakovic was just
3-of-15 for 12 points.
Mike Bibby, who has had huge
games against Nash in the past, was
held to just eight points. Maurice
Evans started in place of the injured
Doug Christie and scored just two
points. Matt Barnes had 17 off the
bench and Jackson scored 11.
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UNIVERSITY biP OREGON
Volleyball: Katie O'Neil
tallied 43 digs against WSU
Continued from page 5
reach its third consecutive 20-win sea
son. The Huskies have recorded the
most league wins since 1997, when
they finished 13-5 in the Pac-10.
O'Neil digs into history
Oregon’s Katie O’Neil posted the
third-highest dig total in Pac-10 histo
ry with 43 against Washington State
at McArthur Court. The senior libero
has 266 digs this season, which
equals her 2003 season total. O’Neil
needs 116 digs to break into Oregon’s
top five list for digs in a season. She is
fourth in the league in digs, averaging
4.93 per game, and has recorded 94
in her last four matches.
The Ducks (9-12, 1-10) recorded
242 attack attempts against the
Cougars, which is the most this sea
son by a Pac-10 team. In the match,
Oregon’s Kelly Russell took 80
swings, the most taken by a Pac-10
player this year.
California dreamin'
California faces off against a team
it has not defeated in 37 tries — UCLA
— after it plays No. 4 USC. Coming
into the second contest of the season
against the Bruins, the Golden Bears
hold an advantage in terms of nation
al rank. California (12-7, 7-3) is No. 11
in the country, while UCLA (14-7, 7
4) has slipped to its lowest position of
the season at No. 16.
Cal outside hitter Angie Pressey is
only the second freshman to earn
Pac-10 Player of the Week honors.
The Heathrow, Fla., native con
tributed to the Golden Bears’ second
five-game match and first victory
against Stanford this season with 25
kills. She hit at a .327 clip against the
Cardinal, took 52 attempts and com
mitted eight errors. She collected 13
digs and three blocks as well.
Pressey leads the team with 4.09
kills per game, ranking fourth in the
conference. Her 225 kills are second
best for Cal behind senior Gabrielle
Abernathy’s 236.
On a negative note, Cal lost soph
omore libero Jillian Davis after she
suffered an ACL injury to her left
knee during practice. The injury is
expected to be season-ending. Davis’
average of 5.43 digs per game led the
conference going into last weekend.
st ephenmiller@ daily emerald, com
Jones: Character players better
than wins for some Blazer fans
Continued from page 5
than 40 points per game, and with
these three on the floor, the basketball
may never get irfside the three-point
line before it’s shot.
Other than Allen and Lewis, Seattle
doesn’t have any proven scorers and
figures to struggle against teams with
strong low-post games all season.
Then there is Portland.
The Blazers missed the playoffs for
the first time in 22 years last season,
but fans have the addition of the
good natured Theo Ratliff, which ap
parently means more to them than
increasing their win total.
The Blazers signed Zach Randolph
to a huge contract. I think he only de
served half of the nearly $84 million
they gave him, seeing that he doesn’t
show up half the time on defense.
Randolph and Ratliff, combined
with the less-than-spectacular defense
of Shareef Abdur-Rahim will have to
block about 500 shots this season to
keep Portland in games. Neither Ran
dolph nor Abdur-Rahim play very
much defense, which isn’t a good sign
when the likes of Tim Duncan, Gar
nett, Martin and other great forwards
are in the same conference.
But at least they will be nice to
each other, right Portland fans?
This division realignment is a great
thing for the NBA and the fans, who
now have a better chance of their fa
vorite team winning a division title.
Not so fast, Portland fans.
You’ll have to live with the memo
ries of Bill Walton, Rip City and other
fond moments because this year isn’t
your time.
claytonjones@ daily emerald, com