Surely I'd don't have to bother with a write up today? I thought Houston had already swept the conference and finals?
Don't worry they'll finish off today and save me ink tomorrow... Or will they?
For three quarters this game wasn't close. The home town and comfy Rockets were unbelievably down by 20 points with a minute left in the third quarter. It was like watching Rocky IV when the chinks finally appear in the big Machine as Houston were stopping and looking at each other as the upstart Mavs seemed to finally have their number. West, Payton and Pettit dominated the wonderful stars of Houston and unheralded Rudy LaRusso was all over the place.
Then a real deep three by Drexler seemed to spark the Rockets (is that a good thing to do?) and they shut down the Mavs on their last possession on a Stockton steal and buzzer beating mid-court shot to cut the deficit to a possible 14 and the chase was on.
The fourth quarter looked nothing like the rest of the game as time and time again Jones found the bottom of the net as the Mavs started to wilt. Only Jerry West and LaRusso seemed to refuse to quit, finding ways to score and desperately hold the ever dwindling lead. A deep two by a very quiet Karl Malone tied the game at 112 as the Houston crowd erupted and the balloons were released in error by the over zealous arena staff.
After an extended time out and a cleared court, the game continued and West held his nerve to score to put the visitors up again before a three pointer by Willie Naulls nearly brought the roof down. Another time out and this time a decoy play put the ball in the hand of Rudy who drove hard and rammed down the two to put the Mavs back up by one. Drexler countered with an acrobatic driving reverse layup and the Mavs again called timeout trailing 116 - 117. The inbounds went through West on the outside who drew two defenders on the pick and roll, he dished to a cutting Rudy who sliced and layed in the close range shot to put the visitors again in front by one with twenty seconds left.
Coach Russell calmly drew up the play that would out the Finals in the hands of Stockton and Malone to run pick and roll. Stockton ran the point with precision and kicked back to Malone, but the slightest of touches by West deflected the ball off Malone's hands and a mad scramble ensued as the ball seemed to be unable to be secured by anyone until Pettit finally wrestled it away from Malone who was immediately fouled by Stockton (his sixth of the game).
Calmly Pettit sunk them both and the home town favourites were down three with ten seconds left. Without playmaker extraordinaire Stock in the game, Houston ran a simple curl to put the ball and game in the hands of Clyde Drexler...
Drexler Misses! We have a game 6 in the series... Yes it is a series as Dallas stuns Houston in Houston to win 120-117.
Two games straight after not being in the first three... Momentum has shifted, has it shifted enough? Can Rocky defeat Ivan? Can David beat Goliath? Okay, you get the idea.....
No new injuries
TOTAL RATING
NAME / TEAM DATE OPPONENT RATING VOTES
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1. Rudy LaRusso -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 35.8 5
2. Jimmy Jones -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 25.0 5
3. Jerry West -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 24.4 4
4. Gary Payton -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 24.1 4
5. Bob Pettit -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 19.7 3
6. David Robinson -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 16.4 3
7. Rich Kelley -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 16.3 2
8. Clifford Ray -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 14.2 2
9. Willie Naulls -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 12.1 1
10. Karl Malone -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 11.3 1
OFFENSIVE RATING
NAME / TEAM DATE OPPONENT RATING VOTES
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Rudy LaRusso -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 27.3 5
2. Gary Payton -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 21.3 5
3. Jerry West -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 20.9 4
4. Jimmy Jones -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 18.7 4
5. Rich Kelley -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 11.8 3
6. Willie Naulls -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 10.9 3
7. Karl Malone -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 10.5 2
8. Clifford Ray -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 10.5 2
9. David Robinson -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 9.7 1
10. John Stockton -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 9.5 1
DEFENSIVE RATING
NAME / TEAM DATE OPPONENT RATING VOTES
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Bob Pettit -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 10.9 5
2. Rudy LaRusso -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 8.5 5
3. David Robinson -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 6.7 4
4. Jimmy Jones -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 6.3 4
5. Dave DeBusschere -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 4.6 3
6. Rich Kelley -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 4.4 3
7. Clifford Ray -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 3.6 2
8. Jerry West -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 3.5 2
9. Gary Payton -- DAL FinalsG5 HOU 2.8 1
10. John Stockton -- HOU FinalsG5 DAL 1.7 1
FinalsG5
( 2- 3) DALLAS 33 32 34 21 - 120 (Jerry West 24)
( 3- 2) HOUSTON 35 22 26 34 - 117 (Jimmy Jones 25)
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DALLAS FG FT 3P REB
MIN M-A M-A M-A O-T A PF BLK TO STL PTS
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Micheal Williams 2 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
Jerry West 46 5-15 12-12 2- 6 4- 8 6 2 0 4 2 24
Gary Payton 46 7-21 7- 8 2- 7 0- 2 12 2 0 1 2 23
Bob Pettit 46 7-18 10-15 0- 0 3-18 0 2 2 6 3 24
Caldwell Jones 13 2- 3 0- 0 0- 0 0- 2 1 1 1 0 0 4
Rudy LaRusso 39 7-11 10-13 0- 0 4- 9 6 2 2 2 4 24
Walt Frazier 2 2- 2 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0 0 1 4
Corey Maggette 10 0- 2 2- 4 0- 1 0- 2 0 1 0 1 0 2
Rich Kelley 38 6-12 3- 3 0- 1 1- 8 2 5 2 1 1 15
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Totals 240 36- 84 44-55 4-15 12-49 29 15 7 15 13 120
42.9% 80.0% 26.7%
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Coached by: JASON HOAGLAND
Technical Fouls: Gary Payton 1
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HOUSTON FG FT 3P REB
MIN M-A M-A M-A O-T A PF BLK TO STL PTS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karl Malone 35 6-13 1- 2 0- 0 0- 6 7 5 0 2 0 13
Dave DeBusschere 23 3- 6 0- 0 0- 0 1- 4 1 4 2 2 2 6
John Stockton 30 5-12 2- 3 1- 1 1- 4 6 6 1 3 1 13
Vern Fleming 7 2- 3 0- 0 0- 0 1- 1 4 1 0 0 1 4
David Robinson 34 6-13 5- 6 0- 0 0- 8 1 3 2 2 2 17
Clifford Ray 19 3- 6 1- 2 0- 1 1- 7 6 2 2 0 0 7
Jerry Lucas 20 4- 6 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 2 2 1 1 0 8
Willie Naulls 14 6-10 0- 0 1- 2 2- 3 0 4 2 1 0 13
Jimmy Jones 42 11-19 3- 3 0- 0 1- 6 4 4 3 4 2 25
Clyde Drexler 17 4- 9 2- 2 1- 4 2- 6 3 5 0 2 0 11
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Totals 240 50- 97 14-18 3- 8 9-45 34 36 13 17 8 117
51.5% 77.8% 37.5%
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Coached by: ADAM RUSSELL
Lead Changes: 9 Ties: 6 (112-112)
Go-Ahead Shot: Rudy LaRusso (118-117)
Largest Leads: DALLAS -- 20 (99-79)
HOUSTON -- 7 (9-2)
Injuries: DALLAS HOUSTON
Roy Tarpley 16
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