Phoenix at Dallas (November 16) Steve Nash's returned to Dallas was very bittersweet. The fans gave Nash a nice welcome on his introduction (his teammates did try to play the trick on him of sending him out by himself coming out of the tunnel, but he only got a couple of steps out of the tunnel before stopping and making sure his teammates were behind him). And throughout the game Nash showed the fans the drives, dishes, and clutch shots they had seen so much over the past several season. Thanks to Nash and his young teammates, Phoenix plays the fast, high flying entertaining game that looks very similar to the way Dallas played a few years ago. One of the advantages Dallas has over Phoenix (Phoenix does not have a true center) was lost early in the game when Erick Dampier suffered a hip pointer and had to leave the game for good with 7:45 left [he briefly tried to play through it, but could not]. The game stayed close in the 1st quarter with neither team holding more than a 4 point lead and there were 8 ties and 8 lead changes in the quarter. Jerry Stackhouse nailed a jumper as the quarter ended to give Dallas a 24-22 lead after 1. Both teams struggled shooting (not due to defense) and Dallas shot 36% FG and Phoenix shot 40% FG. Life got more difficult for Dallas early in the 2nd quarter as Jason Terry went down with a sprained left ankle not even a minute into the quarter - he had to be helped off the court and did not return. Phoenix found the solution to their poor shooting by repeatedly and repeatedly taking the ball inside for easy layups and dunks as the Mavs made they mistake in using smaller lineups in trying to matchup with the Suns (and Dallas still struggled with their shot). Phoenix scored 6 straight points inside to go up 43-37 with 4:15 to go. And the Suns closed the quarter by scoring 8 consecutive points - all in the paint - to go up 54-43 at the half. 24 of Phoenix's 32 points scored in the quarter came in the paint. With so many buckets inside, not surprisingly Phoenix's shooting percentage went up and they shot 55.6% FG in the 2nd quarter while Dallas was still stuck at 36% FG. Amare Stoudemire had 10 points in the quarter and Nash had an impressive 8 assists (upping his half total to 11 assists - while the entire Dallas team had just 6 assists). The smart move was made and Shawn Bradley started the 2nd half and Dallas went to a zone defense. The move stopped Phoenix's parade to the bucket (except for a couple on fast breaks), but the Suns started hitting their outside shots. Nash opened the 3rd quarter with a 3-pointer and Dallas had a difficult deficit to overcome while missing 2 key players. A 3-pointer by Quentin Richardson gave Phoenix their largest lead at 64-49 with 8:15 left, but Dallas did come roaring back. Behind some key plays by rookie Devin Harris and Bradley (4 points and 2 steals), Dallas went on a 12-2 run, capped by a monster slam by Dirk Nowitzki to pull within 61-66 with 5 minutes to go. Nowitzki picked up his 5th foul on a questionable call and Stoudemire's 2 free throws gave Phoenix a 70-63 lead with 3:40 remaining. But without Nowitzki, Dallas scored the next 7 points, capped by a very pretty reverse layup resulting in a 3-point play by Stackhouse, to tie the game at 70-70 with 2:15 left. Phoenix did go up by 5 points at 77-72 with a minute left, but Stackhouse got another layup and a long jumper (everyone thought it was a 3, but the refs called it a 2) with .1 second left in the quarter. Phoenix led 77-76 after 3. Dallas finally found some semblance of a shooting touch and shot 54% FG in the quarter while Phoenix dropped to 37.5% FG (in part thanks to Bradley closing the middle). Harris opened the 4th quarter with a 3-pointer. A 3-pointer by Marquis Daniels gave Dallas their largest lead at 86-81 with 9:45 left. A dunk by Stoudemire and consecutive jumpers by Nash put Phoenix up 89-88 with 7:10 remaining. After the teams exchanged buckets, Nowitzki was brought back in and Bradley got a needed rest. A jumper by Nowitzki tied the game at 93-93 with 4:30 to go. Dallas then fell flat in mostly settling for outside shots and missing all of them and the Mavs shot a mere 1-7 FG (the one make being a layup) over the next 3 minutes. Phoenix took advantage by going on a 12-2 run, including 6 free throws, to go up 105-95 with 1:30 remaining. Nowitzki got a layup, the teams traded misses, and Stoudemire got a layup to keep it a 10 point game with 36 seconds left. Dallas scored the last 4 meaningless points of the game. Phoenix won 107-101. It was a disappointing night where, except for the 3rd quarter, Dallas struggled with their shooting touch and with their defense. But it was entertaining, even with the poor officiating and loss. Phoenix is a fun team to watch, but they have a big hole in the middle and Dallas should have taken it inside more than they did. I was really frustrated with Dallas continuely shooting from the outside during the 4th quarter instead of challenging the Suns inside and trying to get to the line as Phoenix was in the penalty with 8:50 left in the quarter. Phoenix shot 47.8% (43-90) FG including 7-27 3-pointers and Dallas shot 41.2% (40-97) FG including 3-14 3-pointers - and excluding of the 3rd quarter, Dallas shot a mere 36.6% FG. Add to that, Phoenix out-rebounded Dallas 54-44 - both teams had 15 offensive rebounds, but the Suns had 7 offensive boards in the 4th quarter. Phoenix had 28 assists while Dallas had just 15 assists. The Suns did help Dallas out in being sloppy with the ball and had 20 turnovers while Dallas had a clean game with 10 turnovers. His numbers don't show much, but Dallas would not have gotten back into the game without Shawn Bradley's presence. Bradley was the keystone of Dallas' 3rd quarter zone defense and Phoenix rarely ventured inside when Bradley was out there. He hit a 15-footer, a hook, and got a dunk from a sweet, but low, pass from Marquis Daniels [Bradley usually struggles with passes below the waist] for 8 points in his 21 2nd half minutes. He also poked the ball away twice and had 4 rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse was the high man with 21 points and looked good. Dirk Nowitzki struggled mightily with his shot - he just wasn't flowing - and Shawn Marion did play good defense on him. Despite his numbers, it really wasn't a good game for him. He had 20 points on 6-17 FG and 8-10 FT and 16 rebounds in 34 foul plagued minutes [and a couple of the fouls were very questionable]. With Jason Terry's injury, Devin Harris got extended minutes and played very well. He even showed a Nashish move when he drove to the basket on the break, got fouled, and his wild, underhand scoop with his back to the basket went in [though, un-Nashlike, he missed the free throw]. He also had a flying dunk early in the game. He only shot 7-20 FG for his 15 points, but had a team high 6 assists, no turnovers, and 5 steals in his 36 minutes. Marquis Daniels also struggled with his shot in shooting 5-14 FG as part of his 15 points. He had 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Josh Howard chipped in 13 points and 5 rebounds. Erick Dampier hopes to be able to play in Friday's game. Terry has been diagnosed with a 1st degree sprained and is listed as day-to-day. When 4 of your opponents have double-doubles, you know you have problems. Amare Stoudemire was stellar and Dallas could do nothing to stop him inside (though he did slow down when Dallas went to Bradley and the zone). Maybe he wouldn't have had such an explosive game with Erick Dampier in there as he ate Calvin Booth and Alan Henderson alive when each tried to keep up with him. Stoudemire had 34 points on 12-18 FG and 10-18 FT and 11 rebounds. Shawn Marion had 18 points and 14 rebounds including 8 offensive and helped contained Dirk Nowitzki defensively. Quentin Richardson also had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Steve Nash enjoyed his return to Dallas. He was driving and dishing in the 1st half, where he had 11 of his 18 assists, and scoring in the 2nd half, where he had 12 of his 17 points. He was sloppy with the ball though with 10 turnovers. It was sad to see him in another uniform doing all the things he used to do so well for Dallas - driving and dishing, running the pick-and-roll, and nailing the open jumper. He had the funny moment of the night when he had to reach around a ref to catch an errant pass and then patted the ref on the rear after getting the ball. One concern that I agree with Don Nelson about is that Phoenix is playing him too many minutes, though. He plays all-out all the time when he's on the court and it is up to the coach to monitor his minutes so he will have something left at the end of the season. Those 4 players scored 87 of Phoenix's 107 points and had 44 of their 54 rebounds. Joe Johnson was the only other Sun to contribute much with 7 points on 3-10 FG, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Only 3 other players played and the combined for 13 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists in 30 minutes. I hate to rag on the refs after a loss, but their performance has to be mentioned (and I would have commented on them even if the Mavs have won). It is frustrating enough when the officiating is poor, but it is even worse when their calls seem to be favoring one team. There were 2 blatant goaltending calls in the 4th quarter that the refs didn't make (in fact, when they finally called a 3rd goaltend, there were mock cheers). I don't think there was a single over-the-back call made on rebounds. Sure Marion and Stoudemire have long arms, but there was clearly body contact on a few of the boards the 2 got by reaching over a Mavs player. And don't get me started on some of the fouls assessed to the Mavs, especially Nowitzki. The refs didn't decide the game (I give Phoenix full credit for the win), but it was very frustrating to watch. The only positive I'll say for the refs is that they didn't hand out technicals like they could have with some of the players' and coaches' reactions to the bad calls and non-calls [really surprising since Ken Mauer has the 2nd quickest whistle in the league] - only some choice words from Nowitzki near the end of the game was assessed a T. Quotes Mike D'Antoni on defense: "It was a good effort. If we are going to play small - which we do - if the effort is there and the conscientiousness on team defense, I think we can get by with it. I thought the defense Shawn Marion put on Nowitzki - I am not going to say anything stupid because Nowitzki can torch anybody - Shawn Marion did an unbelievable job on Dirk. He did not give him any good looks. A lot of times Dirk makes them anyway, but we were fortunate that he was missing some shots and got into foul trouble. I thought Shawn Marion did the best job you can do on a guy like that. You add into the mix Amare and Steve Nash and that is why we got the win. Amare was huge." D'Antoni on Nash playing against his old team: "He was like that in Sacramento too. When we need it, he does it. If we need scoring, he seems to pick it up. If he needs to distribute, he does that. I am sure he had a little extra pep in his step for Dallas, and rightly so, but he has been like that other games too." Steve Nash on playing against his former team: "It was tough. I enjoyed playing the game, but when I came out the first time and sat on the bench for a minute, it was hard. I felt a little nervous. There were a lot of different emotions over there. I am glad it's over. It was unbelievable. There were a lot of people wearing my jerseys and holding up signs and yelling for me. It is overwhelming to feel their support even though I am wearing a different color this year. It is an amazing feeling to be back in front of the fans here." Nash: "I can't think of a more emotional game that I've had than this one. I didn't have any tears, but I was definitely nervous. I think it's just natural. There were so many memories here." Nash: "They wanted to kick my butt and I wanted to kick their butts. It was kind of fun, but it was awkward." Nash: "I think Dallas is a terrific team and they are going to have a great year, but I think we are a really good team as well. In time we are going to be tough. We are still trying to figure ourselves out. I am trying to get used to them and they are trying to get used to me; as you can see with 10 turnovers. We have some emotional guys and some fighters and some athletic guys and some guys that can play, so I really love my group." Shawn Marion: "This is a good win for us. We definitely wanted this for Steve; it's his former team. At the same time, we had great effort from everybody. Everybody stepped up and we got some big stops at the end when we needed them." Marion on not scoring as much: "We have so many people on this team that can score that it is not even a concern to me. I want to win. Forget all that other stuff. That stuff will come. When it is your turn, it is your turn. That is the kind of team we have." Amare Stoudemire: "Everybody contributed. We were out there being active from the start to the finish. We did the things we needed to do to win the game." Stoudemire on the end of the game: "We've got a knack about ourselves that we get it back together and get in the swing of things. They had to go back to man-to-man and the game was over." Stoudemire: "I still have a lot to learn, that's why I'm glad Steve Nash is here to teach us the ropes. Steve's one of the best in the league as far as getting you the ball in the right spot." Don Nelson: "I was really pleased with the way we got back into the game with our zone and Bradley performed very well. When Dirk got his 5th [foul] that was tough for us. We had to take him off the floor for a little while. But we had no answer for Stoudemire, as you witnessed. The zone was effective against him a little bit until the end. We had some pretty good defenders on him and we were in double teams on catch and it just didn't matter. He put on quite a performance. I think Phoenix is a really good, solid basketball team. They were going to be a tough game and then when we lost a couple players it made it even that much tougher, but I thought we battled well and I was pleased with our performance." Nelson on if playing against Nash was hard: "Yes, yes it was. He's quite a player. He had great numbers. You usually don't see him turn the ball over 10 times, but you see how dominate he is and he gets the ball to other people right on time all the time so shooting percentages go up when that happens. I was pretty proud of my point guard too. I had a rookie point guard and I think you can see that the future's bright here with our point guard. He has a lot of ability, a lot of skill. He just doesn't have the information Steve has and he's not going to get it in 2 months. It's going to take him a couple of years for him to get at the level of play like Steve Nash. It took Steve a couple of years and we'll be very patience, but we like our rookie very much." Nelson on losing Dampier: "When you have the presence of a Dampier at the front of the rim, if they leave him, he can hurt you." Dirk Nowitzki: "Of course it hurt us to have Jason and Eric out in the 2nd half. Shawn stepped in and played really well. He did a really nice job in the zone." Nowitzki: "They're pretty good. They're still very young. They run the floor like I've never seen a team run. They're fun to watch." Jerry Stackhouse: "Obviously coach is going to put me in opportunities to get me the ball when I'm in the game. The key to tonight's game had nothing to do with the offensive end, for us it was on the defensive end. They were more physical on the offensive glass and we weren't as physical on defensive rebounds. I don't think we matched their physical presence and they are just as athletic as we are and they just beat us to the punch tonight." Stackhouse on rebounding: "Obviously we missed Damp tonight. He grabs a lot of rebounds and takes up space that allows other players to come in and get rebounds. Dirk was out for awhile and we played a little small ball and they were crashing. We fought hard and competed, but came up a little short." Erick Dampier on his hip pointer: "It's a little sore right now. I'm going to rehab my hip tomorrow, take a little time off and see how it does on Friday." Dampier on his hip pointer: "I was going back up under the basket to shoot it and it was actually a foul that they just didn't call. A Suns player pushed me and my upper body kind of extended backwards and it hyperextended the hip flexor. It's nothing real serious. Hopefully a couple of days treatment plus a couple of days of rest and we'll be ready to go. I hope I can be on the floor on Friday, so we'll take tomorrow off to treat it and then we'll see how it feels on Friday." Devin Harris on playing against Nash: "It's an experience. He's a very good player. He played extremely well in the 1st half. He showed 2 sides of his game. Showed his passing game in the 1st half and tried to score a little bit more in the 2nd half. I felt like we did a pretty good job defensively, but we couldn't do anything with Stoudemire inside." Harris on his play against Nash: "I don't know about 'encouraging', but it was an experience playing against him. I'm still a little bit frustrated. This just showed that I have some things to learn." Harris on playing more minutes: "Yeah, it felt comfortable and got in the flow out there in the 2nd half and we did some great things, but we couldn't get the stops we needed to at the end of the game." Phoenix Suns 107, Dallas Mavericks 101 at Dallas (November 16) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Phoenix 22 32 23 30 - 107 .571 .259 .478 .560 Dallas 24 19 33 25 - 101 .446 .214 .412 .818 Halftime: Phoenix 54-43 3rd Q: Phoenix 67-66 Technicals: Dirk Nowitzki 1:31 4th Refs: Ken Mauer, Bennie Adams, Olandis Poole Attendance: 20,238 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Leandro Barbosa (sprained right ankle) Phoenix Suns REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Steve Nash 42 7-15 2-8 1-1 17 0-6 18 10 4 0 0 Joe Johnson 39 3-10 1-3 0-0 7 2-7 5 2 3 0 0 Shawn Marion 42 8-18 0-3 2-2 18 8-14 0 2 3 1 2 Quentin Richardson 40 8-21 2-8 0-2 18 1-13 1 2 2 2 0 Amare Stoudemire 40 12-18 0-0 10-18 34 4-11 0 2 3 2 2 Casey Jacobsen 21 2-5 2-5 0-0 6 0-2 3 0 3 0 0 Bo Outlaw 8 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 Steven Hunter 8 2-2 0-0 1-2 5 0-1 0 2 1 0 0 Totals 48 43-90 7-27 14-25 107 15-54 28 20 20 5 4 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Marquis Daniels 41 5-14 1-4 4-4 15 3-6 4 1 4 1 0 Devin Harris 36 7-20 1-6 0-1 15 0-2 6 0 0 5 0 Josh Howard 39 6-11 1-1 0-0 13 1-5 0 0 2 0 1 Dirk Nowitzki 34 6-17 0-1 8-10 20 4-16 2 3 5 0 2 Erick Dampier 5 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 0 2 1 0 1 Jerry Stackhouse 35 9-21 0-2 3-3 21 1-2 3 1 1 2 0 Shawn Bradley 21 3-5 0-0 2-2 8 1-4 0 0 5 2 1 Alan Henderson 12 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 2-4 0 1 4 0 0 Calvin Booth 10 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 2-3 0 0 1 0 1 Jason Terry 7 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 48 40-97 3-14 18-22 101 15-44 15 10 23 11 6 patricia