| Mavericks Corral Suns Authored by Jonathan Wall - May 16, 2005 - 2:26 am
The Dallas Mavericks decided to follow suit with the rest of the league Sunday night as they became the third playoff team on the day to even their best of seven series with the Phoenix Suns at 2-2.
The Mavericks turned in another impressive "must win" performance Sunday, as Dirk Nowitzki and the entire Mavericks squad put on their best rendition of the Phoenix Suns offense in the 119-109 victory at American Airlines Center.
Dallas had an answer all night for the tandem of Stoudemire and forward Shawn Marion who combined for a paltry 34 points. Stoudemire, who hadn't averaged less than 30 points in the first three games of the series, was constantly under pressure all night long and made some poor fouls that ended up costing him precious minutes down the stretch.
"They were not going to let Amare beat them," Jim Jackson said. "The really tried to pressure him all-night long, and they did a great job. Give them credit for the defenses they threw at (Amare Stoudemire)."
With Stoudemire and Marion on the bench for most of the second half, the Phoenix Suns looked for another offensive weapon – that weapon ended up being former Mavericks guard Steve Nash – who was forced to take more than double the number of shots he usually takes.
Nash used the plethora of shots to his advantage, as he poured in a playoff high 48 points, including 23 in the third quarter alone, while keeping the Suns in the game for all 48 minutes.
Nash's offensive performance was one of the single best offensive outputs in the playoffs this far; however, the lone bright spot of Nash wasn't enough to put the Suns over the hump.
Nash said he was surprised by the new offensive style Dallas threw at a Phoenix team that's used to being the aggressor.
"They changed their game plan, and I had to be aggressive to make them pay for the way they were playing," said Nash, who prefers sharing the ball. "We got outplayed and outhustled."
Maverick forward Dirk Nowitzki finally topped the .500 percentage from the field for the first time in the series as Nowitzki knocked-in a solid 25 points, while going 9-15 from the field.
Other Mavericks got in on the action as Josh Howard led the Mavericks with 29 points, including going 13-21 from the field with 10 rebounds. Erick Dampier also added another huge defensive performance, as the big center made key blocks down the stretch and stayed out of foul trouble for most of the game, while grabbing 11 rebounds and adding 13 points.
The series moves back to Phoenix with both teams taking a split at their respective home courts. Game 5 is slated for Wednesday night.
Side Notes: Phoenix forward Joe Johnson will miss game five with his broken orbital, and his status for the rest of the playoffs is up in the air….Dallas' 16 point lead at halftime was their largest of the postseason…..Steve Nash's 48 points in the playoffs surpassed his previous career playoff high of 31 points he had when he was still with Dallas. |
