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2002–03 Dallas Mavericks season

Mavericks' 23rd NBA season

(lost to Spurs 2–4)

Fox Sports Net Southwest
KTXA
KTVT

The 2002–03 Dallas Mavericks season was the 23rd season for the Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Mavericks signed free agents Walt Williams, and Raja Bell.

The Mavericks got off to a fast start by winning their first fourteen games of the regular season, which was one win shy of tying the NBA record set by the 1948–49 Washington Capitols and the 1993–94 Houston Rockets (15–0). The team later on held a 38–10 record at the All-Star break, and finished in second place in the Midwest Division with a 60–22 record, and earned the third seed in the Western Conference; the Mavericks lost the tie-breaker with the Spurs for the Midwest Division title.

Dirk Nowitzki averaged 25.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, led the Mavericks with 148 three-point field goals, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, while Michael Finley averaged 19.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, along with 119 three-point field goals, and Steve Nash provided the team with 17.7 points and 7.3 assists per game, contributed 111 three-point field goals, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team. In addition, sixth man Nick Van Exel contributed 12.5 points and 4.3 assists per game, along with 118 three-point field goals off the bench, while Raef LaFrentz provided with 9.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, and Shawn Bradley averaged 6.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Eduardo Nájera averaged 6.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, but only played just 48 games, Williams contributed 5.5 points per game, Adrian Griffin provided with 4.4 points per game, and Bell contributed 3.1 points per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Nowitzki and Nash were both selected for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team. Nowitzki finished in seventh place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Nash finished tied in eleventh place; Nowitzki also finished tied in 14th place in Most Improved Player voting, while Nash finished tied in 26th place, Van Exel finished in fourth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, and head coach Don Nelson finished in eighth place in Coach of the Year voting.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 2003 NBA playoffs, the Mavericks faced off against the 6th–seeded Portland Trail Blazers, a team that featured Rasheed Wallace, Bonzi Wells and Derek Anderson. The Mavericks won the first two games over the Trail Blazers at home at the American Airlines Center, before winning Game 3 on the road, 115–103 at the Rose Garden Arena to take a 3–0 series lead. However, the Mavericks lost the next three games, which included a Game 6 loss to the Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden Arena, 125–103. With the series tied at 3–3, the Mavericks won Game 7 over the Trail Blazers at the American Airlines Center, 107–95 to win in a hard-fought seven-game series.

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, and for the second consecutive year, the team faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Pacific Division champion Sacramento Kings, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward Chris Webber, All-Star forward Peja Stojaković, and Mike Bibby. The Mavericks lost Game 1 to the Kings at the American Airlines Center, 124–113, but managed to win Game 2 at home, 132–110, in which the Kings lost Webber to a season-ending knee injury. The Mavericks won Game 3 over the Kings on the road in double-overtime, 141–137 at the ARCO Arena II, as Van Exel scored 40 points off the bench to help the Mavericks take a 2–1 series lead. After holding a 3–2 series lead, the Mavericks lost Game 6 at the ARCO Arena II, 115–109 as the Kings evened the series. The Mavericks won Game 7 over the Kings at the American Airlines Center, 112–99 to win in another hard-fought seven-game series, and advance to the Conference Finals for the first time since the 1987–88 season.

In the Western Conference Finals, the Mavericks then faced off against the top–seeded, and Midwest Division champion San Antonio Spurs, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward, and Most Valuable Player of the Year, Tim Duncan, second-year star Tony Parker, and David Robinson. The Mavericks won Game 1 over the Spurs, 113–110 at the SBC Center, but then lost Game 2 on the road, 119–106. In Game 3 at the American Airlines Center, Nowitzki suffered a season-ending knee injury, as the Mavericks lost to the Spurs, 96–83, and then lost Game 4 at home, 102–95. The Mavericks managed to win Game 5 at the SBC Center, 103–91, but then lost Game 6 to the Spurs at the American Airlines Center, 90–78, thus losing the series in six games. The Spurs would go on to defeat the New Jersey Nets in six games in the 2003 NBA Finals, winning their second NBA championship in franchise history.

Following the season, Van Exel was traded to the Golden State Warriors, while LaFrentz was traded to the Boston Celtics, Griffin signed as a free agent with the Houston Rockets, Bell signed with the Utah Jazz, and Williams retired.

Offseason

Draft picks

Main article: 2002 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
2	54	Mladen Šekularac	SF

Roster

Don Nelson
Rolando Blackman
Brad Davis (player development)
Del Harris
Sidney Moncrief
Donnie Nelson
Charlie Parker
Larry Riley

Roster Notes

Center Shawn Bradley also holds American citizenship, but he played for the German national team and was born in Germany.

Regular season

Season standings

:z – clinched division title :y – clinched division title :x – clinched playoff spot

Game log

Playoffs

4–3
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
1
May 6
Sacramento
L 113–124
three players tied (20)
Dirk Nowitzki (11)
Steve Nash (7)
American Airlines Center
20,525
0–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
2
May 8
Sacramento
W 132–110
Nick Van Exel (36)
Dirk Nowitzki (12)
Steve Nash (7)
American Airlines Center
20,491
1–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
3
May 10
@ Sacramento
W 141–137 (2OT)
Nick Van Exel (40)
Dirk Nowitzki (20)
Steve Nash (11)
ARCO Arena
17,317
2–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
4
May 11
@ Sacramento
L 83–99
Bell, Finley (16)
Dirk Nowitzki (11)
Steve Nash (6)
ARCO Arena
17,317
2–2
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
5
May 13
Sacramento
W 112–93
Steve Nash (25)
Dirk Nowitzki (15)
Dirk Nowitzki (9)
American Airlines Center
20,556
3–2
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
6
May 15
@ Sacramento
L 109–115
Nick Van Exel (35)
Dirk Nowitzki (12)
Finley, Nash (4)
ARCO Arena
17,317
3–3
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
7
May 17
Sacramento
W 112–99
Dirk Nowitzki (30)
Dirk Nowitzki (19)
Steve Nash (13)
American Airlines Center
20,595
4–3
-
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
1
May 19
@ San Antonio
W 113–110
Dirk Nowitzki (38)
Dirk Nowitzki (15)
Steve Nash (3)
SBC Center
18,797
1–0
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
2
May 21
@ San Antonio
L 106–119
Michael Finley (29)
Finley, Nowitzki (10)
Steve Nash (8)
SBC Center
18,797
1–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
3
May 23
San Antonio
L 83–96
Nick Van Exel (16)
Dirk Nowitzki (9)
Steve Nash (9)
American Airlines Center
20,695
1–2
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
4
May 25
San Antonio
L 95–102
Finley, Nash (25)
Van Exel, Williams (8)
Van Exel, Williams (3)
American Airlines Center
20,561
1–3
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
5
May 27
@ San Antonio
W 103–91
Michael Finley (31)
three players tied (8)
Steve Nash (6)
SBC Center
18,797
2–3
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
6
May 29
San Antonio
L 78–90
Nick Van Exel (19)
Raef LaFrentz (12)
Steve Nash (11)
American Airlines Center
20,812
2–4
-

Player statistics

Regular season

Player	POS	GP	GS	MP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
	PG	82	82	2,711	234	598	85	6	1,455	33.1	2.9	7.3	1.0	.1	17.7
	C	81	39	1,731	476	54	65	170	543	21.4	5.9	.7	.8	2.1	6.7
	PF	80	80	3,117	791	239	111	82	2,011	39.0	9.9	3.0	1.4	1.0	25.1
	SG	75	32	1,173	145	57	52	8	230	15.6	1.9	.8	.7	.1	3.1
	SG	74	48	1,373	264	105	77	6	325	18.6	3.6	1.4	1.0	.1	4.4
	SG	73	1	2,026	208	312	42	4	912	27.8	2.8	4.3	.6	.1	12.5
	SF	69	69	2,642	402	205	76	21	1,331	38.3	5.8	3.0	1.1	.3	19.3
	C	69	43	1,611	330	54	35	91	639	23.3	4.8	.8	.5	1.3	9.3
	SF	66	1	1,161	207	59	42	26	363	17.6	3.1	.9	.6	.4	5.5
	SF	48	12	1,103	223	47	40	22	320	23.0	4.6	1.0	.8	.5	6.7
	PG	48	0	430	31	64	15	1	156	9.0	.6	1.3	.3	.0	3.3
	PF	26	0	222	59	8	5	1	53	8.5	2.3	.3	.2	.0	2.0
	C	17	3	135	29	6	10	7	17	7.9	1.7	.4	.6	.4	1.0
	SG	14	0	204	40	21	6	3	57	14.6	2.9	1.5	.4	.2	4.1
†	SG	13	0	37	2	2	1	1	11	2.8	.2	.2	.1	.1	.8
	SG	11	0	91	8	6	3	0	17	8.3	.7	.5	.3	.0	1.5
	SF	4	0	13	7	0	0	0	4	3.3	1.8	.0	.0	.0	1.0

† Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Mavericks only.

Playoffs

POS	GP	GS	MP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
SF	20	20	822	115	60	26	12	366	41.1	5.8	3.0	1.3	.6	18.3
PG	20	20	729	70	145	17	1	322	36.5	3.5	7.3	.9	.1	16.1
C	20	16	491	88	5	11	43	160	24.6	4.4	.3	.6	2.2	8.0
SG	20	3	672	68	82	12	0	389	33.6	3.4	4.1	.6	.0	19.5
SF	19	5	394	74	15	14	4	116	20.7	3.9	.8	.7	.2	6.1
PF	17	17	722	196	37	21	16	430	42.5	11.5	2.2	1.2	.9	25.3
SG	17	7	305	51	27	5	0	97	17.9	3.0	1.6	.3	.0	5.7
C	17	7	246	65	5	3	14	49	14.5	3.8	.3	.2	.8	2.9
SF	15	3	227	43	15	5	12	85	15.1	2.9	1.0	.3	.8	5.7
SG	15	2	131	44	8	4	0	37	8.7	2.9	.5	.3	.0	2.5
SG	8	0	79	22	7	0	0	25	9.9	2.8	.9	.0	.0	3.1
C	5	0	32	5	2	3	1	6	6.4	1.0	.4	.6	.2	1.2

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

Transactions

Overview

Players Added	Players Lost

Date	From	To	Transaction
9/20/02	WAS	DAL	The Dallas Mavericks signed Popeye Jones as a free agent.
10/1/02	PHI	DAL	The Dallas Mavericks signed Raja Bell as a free agent.
10/10/02	N/A	DAL	The Dallas Mavericks signed Adam Harrington as a free agent.
10/18/02	HOU	DAL	The Dallas Mavericks signed Walt Williams as a free agent.
11/17/02	ATL	DAL	The Dallas Mavericks signed Mark Strickland as a free agent.
1/17/03	N/A	DAL	The Dallas Mavericks signed Antoine Rigaudeau as a free agent.

Player Transactions Citation:

References

"2002-03 Dallas Mavericks". Basketball-reference.com.
(October 18, 2002). "Mavericks Sign Walt Williams". United Press International.
(October 28, 2002). "WESTERN CONFERENCE: Team-by-Team Preview". The New York Times.
(November 28, 2002). "Finley's Shooting Puts Dallas at 14-0". Los Angeles Times.
"NBA Games Played on February 6, 2003". Basketball-Reference.
"2002–03 Dallas Mavericks Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference.
"2002–03 Dallas Mavericks Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.
Sheridan, Chris. (February 9, 2003). "Something Old, Something New on Court at All-Star Game". Ocala Star-Banner.
(September 13, 2021). "2003 NBA All-Star Recap". NBA.com.
"2003 NBA All-Star Game: West 155, East 145 (2OT)". Basketball-Reference.
"2002–03 NBA Awards Voting". Basketball-Reference.
Crowe, Jerry. (May 5, 2003). "Mavericks Find Touch at the End -- Finally". Los Angeles Times.
Smith, Sam. (May 5, 2003). "Mavericks Wake Up, Win Series". The Washington Post.
"2003 NBA Western Conference First Round: Trail Blazers vs. Mavericks". Basketball-Reference.
Crowe, Jerry. (May 7, 2003). "Kings Execute Against Dallas". Los Angeles Times.
(May 9, 2003). "Mavericks Rout Kings, Who May Lose Webber". Los Angeles Times.
Fernas, Rob. (May 10, 2003). "Kings Lose Webber for Rest of Playoffs". Los Angeles Times.
Crowe, Jerry. (May 11, 2003). "With Webber Out, Kings Left Hurting". Los Angeles Times.
Broussard, Chris. (May 18, 2003). "PRO BASKETBALL; Mavs Are No Softies, Ousting Kings". The New York Times.
Crowe, Jerry. (May 18, 2003). "Mavericks Apply the Chokehold". Los Angeles Times.
"2003 NBA Western Conference Semifinals: Kings vs. Mavericks". Basketball-Reference.
Broussard, Chris. (May 24, 2003). "PRO BASKETBALL; Spurs Win, and the Mavericks May Lose Nowitzki". The New York Times.
(May 25, 2003). "Mavericks' Nowitzki Doubtful for Game 4". Los Angeles Times.
(May 29, 2003). "Kerr's Shooting Helps Spurs Advance Past Mavericks, 90-78". The New York Times.
Heisler, Mark. (May 30, 2003). "Mavericks Collapse in Biggest of Ways". Los Angeles Times.
"2003 NBA Western Conference Finals: Mavericks vs. Spurs". Basketball-Reference.
(June 15, 2003). "Spurs Defeat Nets to Win N.B.A. Title". The New York Times.
Heisler, Mark. (June 16, 2003). "Spurs Reduce the 'Risk". Los Angeles Times.
"2003 NBA Finals: Nets vs. Spurs". Basketball-Reference.
(August 18, 2003). "Mavericks Get Jamison from the Warriors". The New York Times.
(August 19, 2003). "Mavericks Get Jamison in Nine-Player Trade". Los Angeles Times.
Broussard, Chris. (October 21, 2003). "PRO BASKETBALL; Dallas Acquires Antoine Walker, Adding Even More Scoring Punch". The New York Times.
(October 21, 2003). "Mavericks Get Walker". Los Angeles Times.
(August 8, 2003). "Transactions". The New York Times.
"2002–03 Dallas Mavericks Transactions". Basketball-Reference.

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