Mavericks rookie Marquis Daniels has been one of the suprise stories of this season, yet even after he leads Dallas in scoring he finds himself being talked to about his mistakes.

"We talked about some mistakes he was making, like bringing the ball too close to the basket," Mavs coach Don Nelson said. "He took what was there and really settled down in the second half."

Despite a game high five turnovers Daniels played like a veteran in the must-win Game 3, finishing with 22 points including taking over in the third quarter when point guard Steve Nash got into foul trouble.

"I'm kind of on a roll right now, just trying to do it with the help of my teammates," Daniels said. "Once I hit my first couple of shots, Coach started coming to me more and tried to keep it going."

Daniels had averaged 19.5 points in the final 12 games of the regular season after being inserted into the starting lineup, but the Mavericks were concerned about whether he could handle the point guard position.  There concerns quickly disappeared.

"He's one of those guys who is similar to Dirk [Nowitzki]," Nash said. "When he plays with the same mental attitude, it's a mismatch whoever is guarding him."