RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
HOUSTON (AP) -- The Dallas Mavericks had more serious subjects on
their minds after losing to the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.
|  | | Steve Francis was co-rookie of the year last season, and Tuesday night he showed why with a career-high 36 points. |
Coach Don Nelson told his players after the 109-102 loss on
Tuesday night that he has prostate cancer.
"That really puts the game in perspective," Michael Finley
said. "His life is a lot more important than any basketball game.
But he's a fighter and I have confidence he'll get through this.
We'll all be praying for him."
The 60-year-old coach planned to see his doctor Wednesday in
Dallas, and will seek a second opinion.
"It's a tough thing," said Dirk Nowitzki, who scored a
career-high 35 points in the loss. "It's very sad but hopefully
everything will work out for him."
Nelson, who said he was "not shaken up" before the game,
didn't want to talk about the cancer after.
"I've said all I want to say about my prostate right now," he
said. "I've already talked enough about that for a lifetime."
Steve Francis scored a career-high 36 points for Houston.
Shandon Anderson had 22 points for Houston. Cuttino Mobley added
14, Moochie Norris had 13, Matt Bullard 12 and Hakeem Olajuwon 10.
"This was a huge win for us," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich
said. "We could have just showed up. We had a lot of guys sick and
we were going against a team playing very well.
"They're very hard to defense but we found a way to get it
done."
Howard Eisley added 24 points and Michael Finley had 22.
With the Rockets leading 92-88, Matt Bullard hit back-to-back
three-pointers to give Houston a 10-point lead with 3:53 to play.
But the Mavs closed it to 102-99 on Hubert Davis' free throw with
1:04 to play.
Mobley hit four free throws the final 22 seconds and Francis
added one with seconds to play to wrap up the win.
"This definitely was a good game for us," Francis said. "We
came out and established that we were not going to back down.I
thought coach did a good job of contrasting their big lineup with
our smaller, quicker guys."
The Mavs scored nine straight points early in the second quarter
to take a 34-33 lead. But the Rockets, behind 23 points from
Francis, led 54-51 lead at the half.
Houston expanded that lead to 61-53 early in the third, but the
Mavs outscored the Rockets 12-2 to take a 65-63 lead with 6:25 left
in the quarter. Houston led 85-76 after three.
Game notes
Maurice Taylor and Kenny Thomas both missed the game for
Houston with the flu. Bullard started in Taylor's place. Olajuwon
played with bronchitis. ... Eduardo Najera sat out the game with a
strained right groin for Dallas. Steve Nash missed his second
straight game with a bruised right calf.
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NBA Scoreboard
Dallas Clubhouse
Houston Clubhouse
Mavericks coach Nelson has prostate cancer
RECAPS
Indiana 88
New Jersey 64
Miami 100
Atlanta 92
Cleveland 71
Charlotte 66
Orlando 101
Boston 98
Minnesota 100
Chicago 90
Sacramento 81
San Antonio 75
Houston 109
Dallas 102
Utah 98
Toronto 84
Vancouver 91
Detroit 83
LA Lakers 96
Philadelphia 85
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