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Mavericks Corral NLSC Team, Win Exhbition Opener


Mavericks Box | NLSC Box
DALLAS, Texas, Oct. 27 (Ticker) -- Josh Howard and Dirk Nowitzki made sure the Mavericks started the season off with a bang. Both players scored 27 points apiece and Devin Harris added 18 points and six assists to lead the Mavericks to an 127-107 triumph over the NLSC Team in the exhbition opener. The game started with the Mavs going on a 9-0 run. After the first 2 minutes of the game, Dallas was up 10-3 and they never seem to slow down at all. With 7:18 left in the first Marquis Daniels went down with and injury, but he returned later on in the 3rd quarter and finished up with 10 points and 9 boards.
The game pace stayed much the same for the rest of the game, however once the Mavs youngsters were let loose the the NLSC team started to chip away using a 13-1 run during the 3rd, mainly fueled by Mafia who ended up finishing the game with 44 points and 6 rebounds. However, the Senior Mavs gave the younger members a run led by Josh Howard that held the NLSC team at bay. Harris did a commendable job running Dallas' offense, which connected on most of their shot attempts. The Mavericks hope that the trio of Harris, Daniels and forward Josh Howard will provide offensive support to superstar Dirk Nowitzki this season.
CK scored 16 points, grabbed 13 boards and blocked 3 shots, controlling the paint for the NLSC alongside Seraph who also finished with a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds. The Player of the Game was Josh Howard who had 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals to go along with his 27 points. Dallas will open up the season against the Phoenix Suns on November 1.
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Yao, McGrady in Midseason Form


Rockets Box | NLSC Box
HOUSTON, Texas, Oct. 28 (Ticker) -- Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady already are in midseason form. Yao scored 17 points in 23 minutes and McGrady added 30 in 28 minutes as the Houston Rockets recorded a 112-91 victory over the NLSC team in the preseason opener for their team. Playing together for the first time last season, Yao and McGrady combined to lead Houston to a 51-31 record, its best mark since 1997-98. Once again, much is expected of the All-Stars, who showed early that they are capable of handling the load. Yao was perfect from the field shooting 7-7, while McGrady connected on 13-of-23. Newly acquired Stromile Swift added 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting for Houston, which man-handled the NLSC team throughout the 2nd half.
The NLSC team were led by shooting guard Cocobee, who scored 26 points Power forward CK added 16 points and 12 rebounds and Initial D added 13 points for the NLSC team, which shot nearly 38 percen from the floor and committed 23 turnovers. There was no stopping Stromile Swift and Yao Ming in the post, as each of them took advantage of the smaller Seraph and CK. Rafer Alston dished out 8 assists in his first game as a Rocket. "Rafer played pretty well for his first game, we were looking for him to dish the ball more than shoot," Coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "He finished with 4 points, but the fact that we didn't need him to score just shows that he did what we needed him to do." The Rockets open up their season on November 2nd against the Sacramento Kings.
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NLSC Team Fall to Spurs in Texas Swing


Spurs Box | NLSC Box
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Oct 30 (Ticker) -- The NLSC team ended up going 0-3 on their Texas road swing as they failed to the San Antonio Spurs in a 110-102 loss. The NLSC team fell into a 57-39 halftime hole as Manu Ginobili scored 8 points for the Spurs. Ginobili and newcomer Michael Finley combined to score San Antonio's first 11 points of the third quarter, pushing the advantage to 68-42. Ginobili and Finley already had taken permanent seats when the Spurs opened their largest lead at 72-46 with 3:25 left in the third period. With reserves on the court for both teams, the Hornets closed to 90-86 with just over seven minutes to play but got no closer.
Ginobili scored 16 points, Finley added 12 and Oberto along with Van Exel (POG) scored 14 apiece for the Spurs, who are overwhelming favorites to repeat as NBA champions. Van Exel also added 7 assists to his 14 points. All-Stars Tim Duncan and Tony Parker was given the night off to get prepared for the regular season. Cocobee led the NLSC team with 29 points and Mafia added 25 for the 0-3 NLSC team (from Europe) that played 3 exhibition games against the Texas teams. The San Antoino Spurs open up there season on November 1st against the Denver Nuggets.