Game 4: Dallas at Phoenix (May 30) Raja Bell made a surprisingly early return from his strained calf and started in this game. Dallas connected on their first 2 baskets to go up 4-1 a minute in, but then missed their next 3 shots and committed 2 turnovers as Phoenix scored on their next 5 possessions to go up 12-4 with 8:20 to go. Phoenix led 18-12 with 4:35 remaining and Dallas went on a 7-1 run, capped by a dunk by Jerry Stackhouse, to tie the game at 19-19 with 2:25 left. A jumper by Adrian Griffin as the quarter ended left the game tied at 28-28 after 1. Both teams shot really well in the quarter as Dallas shot 12-18 FG and Phoenix shot 12-19 FG. After having just 6 turnovers in all of game 3, Dallas had 6 turnovers in the 1st quarter alone. The teams traded jumpers to open the 2nd quarter and Phoenix then went on a 15-4 run to go up 45-34 with 5:20 left as Dallas shot 1-9 FG and committed 3 more turnovers during the run. Phoenix led 49-40 with 3:25 to go and Josh Howard converted a 3-point play, both teams went scoreless over a 2 minute span, and Jason Terry drove for a dunk (his first points of the game after missing his first 4 shots), and Terry hit 1-2 FT to pull Dallas within 46-49 with 30 seconds left. A jumper by Steve Nash capped the quarter scoring. Phoenix led 51-46 at the half. Leandro Barbosa had 10 points in the 2nd quarter. Dallas had to be happy just to be down 5 points as they shot just 6-21 FG in the 2nd quarter and played poorly on both ends of the court. The game stayed close early in the 3rd quarter with Phoenix holding a small lead. Phoenix led 63-56 with 6:20 remaining and Dallas then scored the next 4 points. A 3-pointer by Terry pulled Dallas within 65-67 with 3:50 left. Phoenix then closed the quarter strong with a 12-2 run as Dallas shot just 1-5 FG and missed 2 free throws to end the quarter. Phoenix led 79-67 after 3. Nash had 10 points and Terry had 10 points in the 3rd quarter. Dallas continued to struggle to open the 4th quarter and Phoenix ran away with it by opening the quarter with a 12-4 run to take a 91-71 lead with 6:55 to go. Dirk Nowitzki, who was having a miserable night, was subbed out at that point and did not return. Phoenix continued their run with a 3-pointer by Barbosa and 2 free throws by Nash to give them a commanding 96-71 lead with 5:45 left - it was a 29-6 run spanning back to the 3rd quarter during which Dallas shot just 3-14 FG (yes, just 6 Dallas points in 10 minutes of game time). The rest was garbage time as the stars went out and some bench players saw their first game time during this series. Phoenix won decisively 106-86. The series is tied 2-2. Phoenix came out with energy and aggressiveness and Dallas looked pathetic. I don't know how the game was so close at halftime - that had to be frustrating to Phoenix. Dallas never played much defense and Phoenix was aggressive with the double-team (especially when DeSagana Diop and Adrian Griffin were on the court together). It was aggravating watching Dallas settle for outside shots (and some of them too quick) instead of attacking the basket. The pace was played at Phoenix's speed. Dallas couldn't shoot, couldn't defend, turned the ball over, and weren't active in going after loose balls and got the loss they deserved - just a very bad performance by Dallas and Phoenix played well. One play stood out to me as typifying Dallas' night where the ball bounced off the rim and nearly hit Dirk Nowitzki on the head and then Nowitzki was swiveling around trying to figure out where the ball was at with another Mav standing near by and a Phoenix player came in and got the loose ball. I really didn't like the way the Mavs seemed to hang their head in utter defeat during the 4th quarter - the good news is that Phoenix had the same attitude late in game 3, showing you can recover from a bad game. Dallas should have known that it was Phoenix's night when an early lob attempt by Steve Nash went in the basket. For the numbers, Phoenix shot 54.4% (43-79) FG including 7-15 3-pointers and Dallas shot 41.8% (33-79) FG including 4-13 3-pointers (and 0-2 3-pointers in the 1st half). Phoenix shot 13-21 FT and Dallas shot 16-22 FT. Dallas did again out-rebound Phoenix 41-37 including 11-9 offensive. Dallas had just 11 assists and had 14 turnovers. Phoenix had 21 assists and just 7 turnovers. Phoenix had 48 points in the paint and Dallas had 34 points in the paint. It's now a best of 3 series. The critical game 5 is Thursday in Dallas at 7:30 pm on TNT. Raja Bell's return gave the Suns an emotional lift. The team responded to his playing in pain and Leandro Barbosa seemed to benefit the most from returning to his role as 6th man. Barbosa had a game high 24 points on 10-13 FG and 4-6 3-pointers off the bench. He also had 4 rebounds in his 34 minutes. Bell played 31 minutes and had 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists after missing the last 2 games. He did tweak his calf in the 4th quarter and it will be interesting to see how healthy he is on Thursday. Steve Nash mixed his assists with scoring attempts and had 21 points and 7 assists. Boris Diaw remains an unsolved problem for Dallas and he had 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. Shawn Marion had 15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Tim Thomas was pretty quiet in this game with just 5 points on 2-2 FG and 1-4 FT and 3 rebounds in 25 minutes. James Jones had 3 points on 1-4 FG and 8 rebounds and Eddie House had 8 points in 12 minutes. Kurt Thomas, Pat Burke, and Nikoloz Tskitishvili saw their first game time of the series in garbage time. The miserable night for Dallas was headlined by Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry. Neither could find the bucket and Dallas had no chance with both struggling. Nowitzki had just 11 points including 3-13 FG and 7 rebounds in 33 minutes. It was Nowitzki's season low (was 14, 20 in the playoffs) and broke his string of 42 straight games with 20+ points. Terry had just 13 points including 4-11 FG, 2 rebounds, no assists, and 2 turnovers in 33 minutes. Josh Howard was the high man for Dallas with 16 points and 9 rebounds. He tweaked his left ankle during the 4th quarter (after the game was out of hand) but was able to walk off the court and is expected to be okay. Adrian Griffin had a nice game early and was hitting his shots and grabbing some rebounds in the 1st half. Griff had 13 points including 6-8 FG and 7 rebounds in 18 minutes. He wasn't as bad as Nowitzki and Terry, but Jerry Stackhouse also couldn't find his rhythm and had just 10 points including 4-10 FG. And it wasn't an all-around game for him either (as it usually is when he struggles with his shot) as Stack had just 1 rebound, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers in 25 minutes. Keith Van Horn again started and had 7 points and 5 rebounds in 24 minutes. DeSagana Diop did hinder Phoenix some from attacking the basket when he was in there. Diop hit his only shot and had 5 rebounds in 20 minutes (not great, not terrible). Devin Harris had 10 points and a team high 5 assists. Marquis Daniels and Darrell Armstrong got in for garbage time and Erick Dampier and Josh Powell saw their first game time of the series in garbage time. Quotes Mike D'Antoni: "Well, I guess we're not done yet. You know, there was a lot of talk the last couple days, we swallowed a lot. But that's the 2nd time in a row we held them to 41% shooting and that's the key. Our defense is terrific. And, you know, we sputtered a little the 1st half offensively. I thought we kind of blew the lead at the end of the half like we did in game 3. But guys kept plugging away and obviously did a great job." D'Antoni on Bell: "He's okay, he powered up that one and he felt a little twinge or something, but I kept asking - I've only asked him 185 times - 'Are you okay, are you okay?' He said he is, so I got to trust he is." D'Antoni on Bell: "You know, I mean, we see what he means to us all year. And again, I told you guys before, you know, nature has a way of healing warriors a lot quicker. And the guy's, whatever we needed all year, he's done it - spiritually, physically, talent-wise, whatever. And he just stepped up again. And, you know, just one more guy we needed. And it also allows us to play really small and it helps Leandro, we saw that where Leandro is taking, now we spread the floor a lot more. Leandro's speed comes into play. It's just a ripple effect down. He can guard Josh Howard a little bit. And it's just a lot of things he brings to the game that we tried and almost overcame, just couldn't overcome it." D'Antoni if Bell's return was inspirational: "Yeah, and it just shows. You know, the most important thing for him is to play in the Conference Finals, and give what he got. He came up to me before the game and he goes: 'If I'm messing up, get me out. I don't want to be a detriment to the team. So, hook me as soon as you want to.' And that wasn't the case. It just shows you what type of guy he is. He just wants to win." D'Antoni on when he knew Bell was going to play: "Well he kept saying the whole time he was going to play. Now, the training staff and doctors, they were cautious and they really didn't think he should play. And they want to be real cautious. And, you know, I did get a call last night and heard from his agent that, you know, if we don't want him to play we might have to shoot him. So, I was like do we kill the guy or let him play? So we kind of needed him. You know what, at that point my thinking is if he goes out and messes up, if he goes out and gets hurt again and we lose and it's a disaster, I think it's more important the character that he shows and to go into the foxhole with him, no matter what happens. And to me that's what sports all about. And he's a team guy. He's been a team guy. He's never asked for anything. He just plays hard every night. And, you know, to be able to coach a guy like that is precious." D'Antoni on playing Bell, Nash, and Barbosa together: "It just opens everything up and that's been a great lineup for us all year. We're not able to do that and, like I said, not having Raja is, you know, a trickle down effect. It really affects LB's [Barbosa] speed and being able to open the floor up, another 30 minutes from a guy who can rest guys a little bit more. You know, everybody takes 2 or 3 more minutes off. And it's just a lot of positive things beside that he's a good player and he's a tough player and he guards well. Besides all that, it helps the other guys also in rotations and floor spacing." D'Antoni on a good 1st quarter but only being up 5 points: "Yeah, I know. That was a bummer, wasn't it? Well you know, but if you look at it, we went in and you never know what's going to change the 2nd half. But we missed 4 foul shots, normally we don't do that. We are usually a very good foul shooting team. We really missed some layups that really cost us. Then we turned the ball right at the end of the half like we did last time and then fouled real quick. So that was like a 4 point swing. Instead of being up 10 to 14 because we're shooting so well, which we should have been, now it's 5 again. So, you know, I'm thinking, here goes that nightmare again, here it goes again. But they came out more resilient, settled down a bit and made some shots, and LB just went crazy." D'Antoni on the difference in halftime: "Just more backs against the wall, against the wall more, determination more. I'm getting through it, because, again - I just don't think we're tired. A lot of time it's the pressure of the game that, you know, when you've got the weight of the world on you, sometimes you don't go as fast, and I think they just adjusted to us. Okay, it's a big game, big deal, you know, we're playing. A lot of times it takes us backs against the wall to be able to figure that out. You know, you never know psychologically what it means, but I know we're not tired and I know these guys will run and I know 1 day from now or 2 days from now we're ready to roll. And it's going to be a heck of a fight for those guys. We're not going anywhere. And they're going to have to beat us. If they shoot 41%, they're not beating us. So it's up to them." D'Antoni on Kurt Thomas: "I just have to look. You know, he was breathing pretty heavily out there. You know, I just think that, and it's really not whether he can play well or not, it's just we need the speed. To beat this team, we have to spread the floor and we have to run. And he might play, fouls or whatever, we could use him, but that isn't, we're not going to change the way we play it. And we're going, especially this team. Now, if it's another series, again, I've said it before, he would play because we need him for something. It's different, and I have to make that decision. I love Kurt. I mean, he's given us, do I owe it to him? Probably I do. But I owe it to everybody that I got to play the best guys in this moment right now. I can't worry about feelings or people on me. I can't do it. And do I hate it, yeah, I hate it. I mean, Kurt has been unbelievably professionally. Been at every practice, he's on crutches halfway across the East Coast, done everything as a professional and he deserves to play. But everybody deserves to win. And I think that's just the best way to go. I might be wrong, hey, you know?" D'Antoni on Barbosa: "Well I just, you know, I knew it was going to happen. I mean, the guy's good. You know, surprised me it didn't already happen 2 or 3 straight games. This guy is a great shooter. I think Raja coming back helped him and settled him and also spread the floor out. Hit a couple shots, started getting his confidence up. But I don't think it's like, 'Oh, my gosh, you know, that's unbelievable.' He's done this a lot. And probably more surprised he didn't do it in the other games than I'm surprised tonight. This is LB. He's this good." D'Antoni on Barbosa: "Because I think the floor's spread and I think it's easier to get his shot, and I think he understands that. And before, you know, without Raja, I'm sure he's saying, 'Oh boy, I got to play hard, I got to go now.' And you get Raja in there, he's sitting on the bench there, everything's going pretty good, 'I'm okay. You know, I don't have to do everything.' So it's just psychologically it's better that Raja is back for him." D'Antoni on defending Nowitzki: "Well, you know, he's 3 for 13. I thought we did a really good job. But I'm not going out on that limb. I'm not crazy. I mean, this guy, Dirk's really good, so he might have had an off night. It's just like the other night we didn't have a crisis identity, we just played bad. He might have just had an off game. It's nothing we did. He just had an off game. He'll be back. You know that, but I have to give our guys some credit, like I did Dallas. I mean, we did what we were supposed to do. Tim Thomas did a heck of a job. Shawn Marion did a heck of a job. We doubled when we needed to and we were active as heck. So give us credit, but players like him, that's on him. And he just had one off night. What's this, about first time in 40 nights? So, you know, it does happen." Steve Nash on Bell's return: "It was great. Obviously it was a huge lift for us. You know I think I talked about it yesterday and after our last loss, you know, how much we miss him. You know and not necessarily just for his talent and the depth he provides us, but his personality, his toughness. You know, we got half our team is a bunch of quiet guys. And he gives us another guy who opens his mouth once in a while and gives us some toughness and bravado and I just can't say enough about how much his personality means to our team." Nash on Nowitzki: "Well we just decided before the game that we were going to shut him out. We were just like, you know, we'll keep him down and it will be easy. No, I mean, it was one of those games where he just didn't really get anything going. Obviously we were active and we did some things well, but, you know, it's also just one of those games. You can't really take full credit for shutting out a player like Dirk. You know, there's nights out their for all great players and we were lucky that tonight was one of those. But we also did a good job of being active. We also, you know, were really good in a lot of areas. So I thought that the last game, particularly in the 2nd half, we were pretty flat and didn't play with a lot of activity, a lot of energy. And it was much different. We learned our lesson, I think, a little bit tonight." Nash on Bell being back: "Well, it does. I think it helps everyone. It gives us more talent, it gives us more depth. But like, I said, it obviously helps, but more than the obvious reasons to lose a a starter, to lose one of your top 3-pointer shooters, your top defender - just his personality as well. I mean, not his toughness. Those are the things that kind of transcend even what he does to the balance of our team and the rhythm of our team and everyone's roles going back intact. I mean, it's not even day, you know, what he means just intangibly rather than what he does tangibly." Nash on end of 3rd through 4th run: "I thought we were tremendously active defensively. You know, we made a lot of plays on the defensive end. I don't know if I ever made it clearly, but I think we ran off an 8 or 9 point run and I don't even think we really even got down into the halfcourt and called a play. We just forced some turnovers and got some shots and, you know, obviously when we can get in transition off turnovers, we're pretty tough. But I don't know, I don't think there was any magic formulas for us, I think that we just played harder." Shawn Marion: "Everybody did a great job and came out and played defense, that was the difference." Raja Bell on his return: "You know, our training staff did a great job with me. You know, they kind of kept me off of it for the first couple of days, even though I was kind of anxious to get on it. You know, I think the rest really helped me a lot. And then I wasn't able to do a whole lot yesterday, so I didn't know exactly how it was going to feel today. But I was pretty committed to try to give it a shot, and they were pretty fair with me about letting me do that." Bell on his calf: "They told me it's going to be pretty sore tomorrow. So I'm expecting it to be pretty painful. But they also said that Thursday it should recuperate a little bit and feel probably a little better than it did today. So I'm excited about that. And I'm just going to take it one day at a time." Bell on when it was decided he would play: "The decision, I guess, was made maybe a half hour before the game that I was going to play. And you know, Mike made the decision to start me. I thought that I could maybe spell LB [Barbosa] for a couple minutes here and there, maybe, you know, allow him to get a break. But the convincing was basically just going out on the court and showing them that I could run and I can move and that, you know, I would be careful. I had to promise them if I felt I couldn't do it that I'd let them know. So I was pretty honest with them." Bell on if he was still testing it when he was warming up: "Yeah. I mean, I had no idea if it was going to let me, you know, move the way I needed to move. And, you know, I still hadn't run full speed going out there, you know, for the start of the game. So I was really waiting to see if it was going to let me get up and down the court. I kind of tried to simulate some stuff. But it was better than I thought in the running situation. But, you know, it wasn't 100%. So hopefully it will continue to get better in the next couple of days." Bell on when he tweaked the calf in the 4th quarter: "You know, the one thing that I knew I wasn't going to be able to do today was really explode off the left leg. You know, that was the part of the problem coming into the game, and they weren't really confident. So I tried to stay away from situations like that. And I kind of forgot that it was injured at that point. And more than pull it, it just hurt a lot. So I think I avoided a bullet there so to speak because if I had really tried to jump, it might have hurt a little bit more." Bell on TNT's comments before the game: "Yeah, you know, I was pretty emotional, like I said, just because like on a night like tonight my job was to be emotional. So, you know, I heard them say if I wasn't, you know, ready to play that I should defer to some of my teammates and it was too big of a game to hurt my team. And, you know, I just felt like, you know, I know who I am and I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't put my team in a situation that I thought would hurt them. And, you know, my ego is not in the way of our goal here. So I felt like I could come out and give LB some minutes and give Coach whatever I had. And, you know, I was ready to help. And it was on Coach to use me as he felt fit." Bell on if he felt like Willis Reed: "No. Man, Willis, come on now. No way. I'm glad to have helped in this game. It was a big game for us. We couldn't afford to go down 1-3 and go back to Dallas. We dodged a bullet in the 1st round with the Lakers and didn't want to do that again. So I was glad to be able to help tonight and hopefully we can go to Dallas and get another one." Tim Thomas on Bell: "Taking charges, falling - that is Raja. He is a hard-nosed warrior." Avery Johnson: "Well tonight, obviously, this was a very disappointing loss for us. We just didn't have it. They had more energy. They got to more loose balls. They played more of a complete game. And we just didn't have it. We were not there mentally or physically. Don't know what it is. But, again, you know, we came down here and we were fortunate enough to get game 3. We're still in good shape. We'll go home, take a look at the film, see what we can correct. Barbosa had an outstanding game tonight. He really gave them a big lift. And I probably guess Raja Bell gave them an emotional lift. So this wasn't a best Mavericks team. We didn't shoot the ball well in game 3 and we're still fortunate enough to win because our defense was so good. But we didn't shoot the ball well tonight, our defense wasn't very good. So hopefully we can come back. We're going home now, have a better defensive effort, have a better offensive effort, put more of a complete game together because we haven't done that yet in this series." Johnson on if he was surprised Bell played: "No, we're always prepared. You know, we just take it up to the last minute. You know, we go both ways - we're prepared if he's in there, if he's not in there. But his, you know, 30 minutes obviously was a big emotional lift for them. So hopefully now that we know he's playing, you know, we'll be much more ready to play." Johnson on Nowitzki: "Yeah, bad night for him. You know, they did a good job of contesting all of his shots. They did a good job, you know, of really playing him physical. And he just couldn't get anything to fall. And so hopefully the next game, you know, he'll do a better job of, you know, making harder drives and hopefully, you know, get to the free throw line." Johnson: "Well, you know, we haven't had a game like this. You know, game 1 of this series wasn't very good. And now we're here. So, again, no excuses. You know, I can point to a lot of different things that was very disgraceful about the game, but we lost." Johnson on Howard's sprained ankle: "Josh is fine. Yeah, Josh is fine. You know, he came down, had 2 people hanging all over him, and he just came down wrong, but he'll be fine. He'll be ready to go." Johnson on being down 5 at halftime, same as the last game: "I don't think you have the edge. I think, you know, playing against the Suns, when you're down by 5 or whatever, you know, it can turn into 15 really quick or you can get up by 10. So I just think the swings of the game, it can go either way. But we had a bad 3rd quarter compared to the last game and they made their shots tonight. You know, we don't play very well when teams shoot over 50% from the field on us." Johnson on turnovers: "Well, compared to last game, you know, we only had 5 turnovers and, you know, we turned it over more tonight. And, you know, you turn it over, you put yourself at a big disadvantage. We're a team that normally takes care of the ball. We've proven that. But, you know, on top of it, you know, we had 14 turnovers, shoot 41% from the field, 30% from the 3. We still win the rebound game. But, again, we have some things that we have to correct. We will. It's 2-2. It could easily have been 3-1, either way. But, again, this is a tough series. That's why it's a 7 game series." Johnson on the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th: "You know, nothing was really working at that point. You know, we just didn't have that focus. You know, we had 2 of our guys - you know, we shot 2 air balls tonight on rhythm shots. That's not a good sign. So we'll keep getting those guys those same shots. Hopefully they'll knock them down. And, you know, we'll have some better offense here." Johnson on what was disgraceful in the game: "Next question." Johnson on Phoenix hitting shots: "Yeah, I think again, you know, Barbosa was the key. He had his inside and outside game going tonight. You know, he made 4 3s and he shot 10-15 from the field. And when he penetrated us, even when he missed 2 or 3 shots that he missed, they were there trying to get rebounds on us. So, his penetration, his inside game, outside game, really hurt us. Nash got in between us a little bit too much tonight. So I think they had it going the inside and outside game tonight." Dirk Nowitzki: "I thought they just played a lot more aggressive than we did. I still had some looks that I usually make. But, like I said, they were the aggressors, both ends of the floor. Made a lot of defensive errors that we got to correct until Thursday, and then we'll go from there." Nowitzki on turnovers: "Yeah, obviously, you know, we knew that they had to create some turnovers, for them that gets their running game going. I thought we really did a great job of handling the ball in game 3 and really, you know, didn't really give them anything in the open court. And turnovers, obviously, are a big key. That gets them going on the fastbreak. That gets everybody off and running. And we turned the ball over way too many times, especially early. And just made a lot of mistakes all over the place. But you got to give them credit. Like I said, they really set the tone from the start. They were all over us and they were just a better team today." Nowitzki on Bell playing: "All that doesn't matter. Obviously, we all know that he's a tough guy. And in the playoffs, everybody's playing hurt. And, you know, he stepped up and he was big for his team." Nowitzki on Barbosa: "I mean, not a surprise at all. I think the way he played against the Clippers, they wouldn't even be here if he wouldn't have an incredible series against them. He was shooting them, he was taking them to the basket last series. So we all knew what he's capable of. And he had a great game today. I mean, he came off the bench and really looked in rhythm. His shot look great. He was taking us to the basket and finishing. And so, yeah, he was a tough little guy today and we got to make sure we handle him a lot better in game 5." Nowitzki on lack of energy: "Yeah, obviously a little disappointing. Like I said, in the playoffs, especially in the Western Conference Finals, nothing is going to be given to you or handed to you. You got to go out and take it. And it looked like we were a little, we were happy with the split and that's obviously disappointing the way we came out. But, you know, we're still at half, it was only a 5 point game. So somehow we played terrible on both ends of the floor but we stuck around. But just it was enough, they just kept making shots down the stretch, and it wasn't our night." Nowitzki on defending Nash: "Well, you know, first of all, they do a great job of spreading the floor with all their shooters and, you know, if you don't switch out perimeter they always get you with Diaw rolling down the basket. So, I mean, we tried different stuff as we did in this series, because, like I said, they're so good and teams are so good you can't just do one thing all the time. You have to adjust on the fly and adjust from game to game. And I think we did some good stuff in game 2 and game 3, and today it didn't work so well. So we'll go back and adjust some stuff. And to myself, yeah, I took some tough shots but still I had some turnarounds that I usually have to make. I had a couple of 1 or 2 bouncers and up, which is my game, that I usually make. So I just got to get up and bounce back in game 5." Nowitzki on the series: "It's up for grabs, really. I mean, it's 2-2. And they showed they can beat us in a big game at home already. They won game 1 with a great finish down the stretch. And so, I mean, it's going to be a tough series, and we knew it's going to be a long one from the start. Like I said, nothing is going to be given to us, we got to go out and take it." Nowitzki on just 13 field goal attempts: "Well, they did a good job I thought. Once I got the ball and I spun, they double-teamed me and they got the ball out of my hands some. But I still have to be more aggressive and still look for my game. And if it's not there, just swing it and make my teammates better. So, I got to come out a lot better in game 5." Jerry Stackhouse: "We've just got to run our offense a little sharper, a little crisper, make harder cuts. Those are the things we didn't do tonight and it caught up with us. Our offense wasn't flowing and our defense feeds off that. They were able to get out and get their transition game going and they had guys shooting 3s." Stackhouse: "Give them credit, they didn't want to leave here 3-1 and they didn't. Now it's up to us to force our hand. We didn't play well, but up to the 4th quarter we still had a chance." Adrian Griffin: "They were more aggressive to the basketball. You could tell they wanted it more, plain and simple." Game 4: Phoenix Suns 106, Dallas Mavericks 86 at Phoenix (May 30) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Phoenix 28 23 28 27 - 106 .623 .467 .544 .619 Dallas 28 18 21 19 - 86 .439 .308 .418 .727 Halftime: Phoenix 51-46 3rd Q: Phoenix 79-67 Technicals: Avery Johnson 6:57 2nd, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 2:29 3rd, Mike D'Antoni 11:08 4th Refs: Ron Garretson, Bennett Salvatore, Tom Washington Attendance: 18,422 (sellout) IL: Amare Stoudemire (Pho), DJ Mbenga (Dal) Phoenix Suns REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Steve Nash 33 8-13 1-1 4-4 21 0-0 7 2 1 0 1 Raja Bell 31 4-7 0-2 1-1 9 1-4 3 0 4 0 0 Shawn Marion 37 6-11 1-1 2-4 15 4-8 2 1 2 3 3 Tim Thomas 25 2-2 0-0 1-4 5 1-3 1 2 4 0 0 Boris Diaw 39 9-21 0-2 2-4 20 2-9 4 1 3 0 2 Leandro Barbosa 34 10-13 4-6 0-0 24 0-4 2 1 4 1 0 James Jones 18 1-4 1-2 0-0 3 1-8 0 0 2 1 1 Eddie House 12 3-6 0-0 2-2 8 0-0 2 0 1 0 1 Kurt Thomas 6 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-1 0 0 2 0 0 Pat Burke 3 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Nikoloz Tskitishvili 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 43-79 7-15 13-21 106 9-37 21 7 23 5 8 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jason Terry 33 4-11 2-4 3-4 13 1-2 0 2 1 2 0 Devin Harris 29 4-9 0-1 2-4 10 0-1 5 2 3 1 0 Josh Howard 38 7-15 0-1 2-2 16 2-9 1 3 3 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 33 3-13 1-1 4-5 11 1-7 2 2 3 1 0 Keith Van_Horn 24 3-7 1-2 0-0 7 0-5 0 0 1 0 1 Jerry Stackhouse 25 4-10 0-2 2-2 10 0-1 2 2 4 0 0 DeSagana Diop 20 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 3-5 0 1 2 1 1 Adrian Griffin 18 6-8 0-0 1-1 13 2-7 0 1 2 0 0 Erick Dampier 7 0-0 0-0 2-4 2 0-1 0 0 2 0 0 Marquis Daniels 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 1 0 0 0 Darrell Armstrong 6 1-4 0-2 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Josh Powell 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 33-79 4-13 16-22 86 11-41 11 14 22 5 2 patricia Go Mavs!