| All Square Authored by Jonathan Wall - May 12, 2005 - 4:14 am
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
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Fans can thank Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, as he put all those antacid bottles to good use and canned a turnaround jumper with 6.8 seconds left on the clock to give the Mavericks the 108-106 victory, and a 1-1 tie heading back to Dallas for game three Friday night.
Nowitzki looked like the All-Star everyone knew he was; as he continued to show signs of life after a horrible first round appearance against the Rockets.
Nowitzki ended the game with 23 points, 12 rebounds and the most critical shot in the entire ball game.
After getting run out of the building in the first game of the series; the Mavericks decided that going down two games down in two consecutive series wasn't something they wanted try and crawl back out of again.
Dallas played tough defense from the start of game two and looked to be in complete control on the offensive and defensive glass in the first half, as they built their lead to 12 points early in the second quarter.
After allowing Suns forward Amare Stoudemire to push around Dallas center Erick Dampier for 40 points, Dampier decided to push back, as he allowed Stoudemire a hard earned 30 points and kept the star forward in control for most of the game.
Dampier looked as if he had taken Dirk Nowitzki's game one comments about his 'soft play' to heart as Dampier crashed the offensive glass and made key buckets down the stretch en route to a stellar 15 point 12 rebound night.
Mavericks forward Michael Finley also got in on the scoring action late in the game as he nailed back to back three pointers down the stretch in the fourth quarter that either tied or gave the Mavericks the lead.
Finley looked like the young star forward of years before as he poured in an impressive 31 points on the night. What might have been more impressive than the points was the fact that Finley went 12-18 from the field and 5-6 from thee-point range.
The rugged veteran decided to pick the Mavericks up and place the team on his shoulders in the most critical stretches of Wednesday night's game.
While Dallas may have won Wednesday night's contest against the Suns' with a Nowitzki bucket; it may have been their defense that allowed the Mavericks to escape America West Arena with the critical win.
The Mavericks showed the Suns' they weren't kidding around as the team pushed back against a clearly more physical and aggressive team.
Dallas got so zoned in on playing defense in the first half that it ended up costing them a technical foul, as Dallas forward Jerry Stackhouse fouled Suns forward Joe Johnson on his way to the basket for a breakaway lay-up.
Stackhouse fouled Johnson, who proceeded to try and hang on the rim after getting fouled. Johnson ended up losing his grip on the basket and fall face first into the hardwood.
Johnson sustained a mild concussion on the play, and will remain hospitalized overnight for precautionary reasons. If he missed game three of the series, it would end up being the first game he'd missed in over three seasons.
With the win, Dallas now has a shot to come back home for two home games at American Airlines Center in what should be as rowdy as crowd as anyone has seen all season as Suns forward Steve Nash makes his much anticipated playoff debut against the hometown fans.
Side Notes: Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni was presented the NBA coach of the year award before Wednesday night's game…..Dallas forward Keith Van Horn is targeting Sunday night's game four as his tentative return date. Van Horn has been out with a sprained ankle since game three of the Houston series. |
