2002–03 Dallas Mavericks season

2002–03 Dallas Mavericks season
Head coach	Don Nelson
Owner(s)	Mark Cuban
Arena	American Airlines Center
Results Record 60–22 (.732) Place Division: 2nd (Midwest) Conference: 3rd (Western) Playoff finish West Conference Finals (eliminated 2-4) Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com < 2001–02 2003–04 >

The 2002-03 NBA season was the Mavericks' 23rd season in the NBA.^[1] The Mavericks started the season strong by winning their first fourteen games of the season, which was one win shy of tying the NBA record set by the 1993–94 Houston Rockets (15–0). They later finished with a 60-22 record and lost the tiebreaker with the Spurs for the division title. The "Big Three" of Nowitzki, Finley, and Nash led the Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals but a knee injury suffered by Dirk Nowitzki in the third game of the series eventually ended the Mavericks season as they lost the series in six games to the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs.

Offseason

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
2	54	Mladen Šekularac	SF	Montenegro

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-San Antonio Spurs	60	22	.732	–	33–8	27–14	17–7
x-Dallas Mavericks	60	22	.732	–	33–8	27–14	18–6
x-Minnesota Timberwolves	51	31	.622	9	33–8	18–23	15–9
x-Utah Jazz	47	35	.573	13	29–12	18–23	15–9
Houston Rockets	43	39	.524	17	28–13	15–26	11–13
Memphis Grizzlies	28	54	.341	32	20–21	8–33	5–17
Denver Nuggets	17	65	.207	43	13–28	4–37	3–21

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-San Antonio Spurs	60	22	.732	–
2	y-Sacramento Kings	59	23	.720	1
3	x-Dallas Mavericks	60	22	.732	–
4	x-Minnesota Timberwolves	51	31	.622	9
5	x-Los Angeles Lakers	50	32	.610	10
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	50	32	.610	10
7	x-Utah Jazz	47	35	.573	13
8	x-Phoenix Suns	44	38	.537	16
9	Houston Rockets	43	39	.524	17
10	Seattle SuperSonics	40	42	.488	20
11	Golden State Warriors	38	44	.463	22
12	Memphis Grizzlies	28	54	.341	32
13	Los Angeles Clippers	27	55	.329	33
14	Denver Nuggets	17	65	.207	43

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

West First Round

(3) Dallas Mavericks vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers Last Playoff Meeting: 1990 Western Conference First Round (Portland won 3-0)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Record (POR-DAL)	Venue	TV Time	Recap
1	April 19	Portland	86	Dallas	96	0–1	American Airlines Center, Dallas	TNT 8:00 EDT/7:00CT	Recap
2	April 23	Portland	99	Dallas	103	0–2	American Airlines Center, Dallas	TNT 9:30 EDT/8:30CT	Recap
3	April 25	Dallas	115	Portland	103	0–3	Rose Garden, Portland	ESPN 10:30 EDT/7:30PT	Recap
4	April 27	Dallas	79	Portland	98	1–3	Rose Garden, Portland	TNT 8:00 EDT/7:00PT	Recap
5	April 30	Portland	103	Dallas	99	2–3	American Airlines Center, Dallas	TNT 8:00 EDT/7:00CT	Recap
6	May 2	Dallas	103	Portland	125	3–3	Rose Garden, Portland	ESPN 10:30 EDT/7:30PT	Recap
7	May 4	Portland	95	Dallas	107	3–4	American Airlines Center, Dallas	ABC 3:30 EDT/2:30CT	Recap
Dallas wins series 4–3

West Conference Semifinals

(2) Sacramento Kings vs. (3) Dallas Mavericks Last Playoff Meeting: 2002 Western Conference Semifinals (Sacramento won 4-1)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Record (SAC-DAL)	Venue	TV Time	Recap
1	May 6	Sacramento	124	Dallas	113	1-0	American Airlines Center, Dallas	ESPN 9:30 EDT/8:30CT	Recap
2	May 8	Sacramento	110	Dallas	132	1–1	American Airlines Center, Dallas	ESPN 9:30 EDT/8:30CT	Recap
3**	May 10	Dallas	141	Sacramento	137	1–2	ARCO Arena, Sacramento	ESPN 9:30 EDT/6:30PT	Recap
4	May 11	Dallas	83	Sacramento	99	2–2	ARCO Arena, Sacramento	TNT 10:30 EDT/7:30PT	Recap
5	May 13	Sacramento	93	Dallas	112	2–3	American Airlines Center, Dallas	TNT 9:30 EDT/8:30CT	Recap
6	May 15	Dallas	109	Sacramento	115	3–3	ARCO Arena, Sacramento	TNT 10:30 EDT/7:30PT	Recap
7	May 17	Sacramento	99	Dallas	112	3–4	American Airlines Center, Dallas	TNT 8:30 EDT/7:30CT	Recap
Dallas wins series 4–3

**Required double-overtime.

West Conference Finals

(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (3) Dallas Mavericks Last Playoff Meeting: 2001 Western Conference Semifinals (San Antonio won 4-1)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Record (DAL-SAS)	Venue	TV Time	Recap
1	May 19	Dallas	113	San Antonio	110	1-0	SBC Center, San Antonio	TNT 9:00 EDT/8:00CT	Recap
2	May 21	Dallas	106	San Antonio	119	1–1	SBC Center, San Antonio	TNT 8:30 EDT/7:30CT	Recap
3	May 23	San Antonio	96	Dallas	83	1–2	American Airlines Center, Dallas	TNT 9:00 EDT/8:00CT	Recap
4	May 25	San Antonio	102	Dallas	95	1–3	American Airlines Center, Dallas	TNT 9:00 EDT/8:00CT	Recap
5	May 27	Dallas	103	San Antonio	91	2–3	SBC Center, San Antonio	TNT 9:00 EDT/8:00CT	Recap
6	May 29	San Antonio	90	Dallas	78	2–4	American Airlines Center, Dallas	TNT 9:00 EDT/8:00CT	Recap
San Antonio wins Western Conference Championship series 4–2

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Abdul-Wahad, Tariq !Tariq Abdul-Wahad	14	0	14.6	.466	.000	.500	2.9	1.5	.4	.2	4.1
Bell, Raja !Raja Bell	75	32	15.6	.441	.412	.676	1.9	.8	.7	.1	3.1
Bradley, Shawn !Shawn Bradley	81	39	21.4	.536	.000	.806	5.9	.7	.8	2.1	6.7
Eschmeyer, Evan !Evan Eschmeyer	17	3	7.9	.368	.	.750	1.7	.4	.6	.4	1.0
Finley, Michael !Michael Finley	69	69	38.3	.425	.370	.861	5.8	3.0	1.1	.3	19.3
Griffin, Adrian !Adrian Griffin	74	48	18.6	.433	.250	.844	3.6	1.4	1.0	.1	4.4
Harrington, Adam !Adam Harrington	13	0	2.8	.235	.333	1.000	.2	.2	.1	.1	.8
Johnson, Avery !Avery Johnson	48	0	9.0	.420	.000	.769	.6	1.3	.3	.0	3.3
Jones, Popeye !Popeye Jones	26	0	8.5	.387	.	.455	2.3	.3	.2	.0	2.0
LaFrentz, Raef !Raef LaFrentz	69	43	23.3	.518	.405	.682	4.8	.8	.5	1.3	9.3
Najera, Eduardo !Eduardo Najera	48	12	23.0	.558	.000	.681	4.6	1.0	.8	.5	6.7
Nash, Steve !Steve Nash	82	82	33.1	.465	.413	.909	2.9	7.3	1.0	.1	17.7
Nowitzki, Dirk !Dirk Nowitzki	80	80	39.0	.463	.379	.881	9.9	3.0	1.4	1.0	25.1
Rigaudeau, Antoine !Antoine Rigaudeau	11	0	8.3	.229	.200	.	.7	.5	.3	.0	1.5
Strickland, Mark !Mark Strickland	4	0	3.3	.400	.	.	1.8	.0	.0	.0	1.0
Van Exel, Nick !Nick Van Exel	73	1	27.8	.412	.378	.764	2.8	4.3	.6	.1	12.5
Williams, Walt !Walt Williams	66	1	17.6	.393	.374	.620	3.1	.9	.6	.4	5.5

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Abdul-Wahad, Tariq !Tariq Abdul-Wahad	8	0	9.9	.300	.000	.875	2.8	.9	.0	.0	3.1
Bell, Raja !Raja Bell	17	7	17.9	.548	.462	.550	3.0	1.6	.3	.0	5.7
Bradley, Shawn !Shawn Bradley	17	7	14.5	.400	.000	.750	3.8	.3	.2	.8	2.9
Eschmeyer, Evan !Evan Eschmeyer	5	0	6.4	.500	.	.	1.0	.4	.6	.2	1.2
Finley, Michael !Michael Finley	20	20	41.1	.435	.412	.864	5.8	3.0	1.3	.6	18.3
Griffin, Adrian !Adrian Griffin	15	2	8.7	.415	.333	1.000	2.9	.5	.3	.0	2.5
LaFrentz, Raef !Raef LaFrentz	20	16	24.6	.433	.200	.842	4.4	.3	.6	2.2	8.0
Najera, Eduardo !Eduardo Najera	19	5	20.7	.453	.	.792	3.9	.8	.7	.2	6.1
Nash, Steve !Steve Nash	20	20	36.5	.447	.487	.873	3.5	7.3	.9	.1	16.1
Nowitzki, Dirk !Dirk Nowitzki	17	17	42.5	.479	.443	.912	11.5	2.2	1.2	.9	25.3
Van Exel, Nick !Nick Van Exel	20	3	33.6	.460	.393	.703	3.4	4.1	.6	.0	19.5
Williams, Walt !Walt Williams	15	3	15.1	.395	.341	1.000	2.9	1.0	.3	.8	5.7

Awards and records

• Dirk Nowitzki, All-NBA Second Team
• Steve Nash, All-NBA Third Team
• Dirk Nowitzki, NBA All-Star Game
• Steve Nash, NBA All-Star Game

References

See also

• 2002-03 NBA season

2002–03 NBA season by team 2002 NBA Draft All-Star Game Playoffs Finals Transactions Eastern Atlantic Boston Miami New Jersey New York Orlando Philadelphia Washington Central Atlanta Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Milwaukee New Orleans Toronto Western Midwest Dallas Denver Houston Memphis Minnesota San Antonio Utah Pacific Golden State L.A. Clippers L.A. Lakers Phoenix Portland Sacramento Seattle

Dallas Mavericks Founded in 1980 Based in Dallas, Texas Franchise Franchise History Seasons Players Expansion Draft Transactions Head coaches Current season Arenas Reunion Arena Moody Coliseum American Airlines Center General managers Sonju Grant Zaccanelli Nelson Sr. Nelson Jr. D-League affiliate Fort Worth Flyers Albuquerque Thunderbirds Texas Legends Retired numbers 15 22 NBA Championships (1) 2011 Conference Championships (2) 2006 2011 Division Championships (3) 1987 2007 2010 Culture and lore Don Carter Mark Cuban Nellie Ball Moody Madness German Wunderkind "Eminence Front" Rivals Houston Rockets San Antonio Spurs Media TV KTXA Fox Sports Southwest Radio KESN-FM KFLC-AM Announcers Mark Followill Derek Harper Chuck Cooperstein Brad Davis Victor Villalba

Dallas Mavericks seasons Franchise History Seasons 1980s 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1990s 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 2000s 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2010s 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 Bold indicates NBA Finals victory