Keith Van Horn, who has been out since the end of April with a sprained left ankle, hopes to return to action for game 4 on Sunday. The time for Sunday's game has finally been scheduled and unfortunately it is yet another late game with an 8:30 pm start time. Wednesday's game will be at 8:00 pm in Phoenix. Game 2: Dallas at Phoenix (May 11) The teams traded leads early on and Phoenix led 7-6 with 8:55 remaining. Dallas then scored the next 8 points to go up 14-7 with 6:30 left. Dallas scored 7 straight points, capped by a 3-pointer by Michael Finley, to go up 27-15 with 3:25 to go. Dallas led in double-digits the rest of the quarter with their largest lead being 14 points. Dallas led 34-22 after 1. Erick Dampier had 10 points on 5-5 FG and just 1 foul in the quarter. Dallas shot 16-25 FG and Phoenix shot 9-25 FG in the 1st quarter. Dallas' lead ranged between 14 and 9 points over all but the last 20 seconds of the 2nd quarter as neither team was able to string together more than 4 consecutive points. Dallas led 54-41 with 2 minutes left and did not score the rest of the quarter. Phoenix scored 2 buckets and hit a free throw over the end of the quarter. The last point came with 20 seconds left when Jerry Stackhouse caught up to a breaking Joe Johnson and got all ball for the block, but a lot of body contact for the foul and Johnson grabbed the rim after the foul and swung himself forward and lost his hold on the rim and landed flat on his face. He stayed on the ground for a while before getting up and going to the line where he missed the first free throw and hit the second. While he was on the ground, the refs incorrectly decided to call a flagrant foul (it was a clean foul, the hard fall was caused by Johnson grabbing the rim; the league rescinded the flagrant after reviewing it today). Fortunately, the flagrant call did not hurt the Mavs (besides denying them a last possession of the quarter) as Phoenix did not convert on their last shot. After making the free throw, Johnson left the court, got 6 stitches for a cut near his left eye, and went to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a mild concussion and a displaced fracture orbital bone - obviously he did not return for this game and is out for game 3. Dallas led 54-46 at the half. Dallas only shot 7-23 FG in the 2nd quarter, but Phoenix only made 1 more field goal in shooting 8-18 FG. The 3rd quarter again hurt Dallas as the Suns came out strong opening the quarter with a 13-2 run to go up 59-56 with 8:35 remaining. Dallas did score the next 4 points to retake the lead and the teams traded leads and there were 3 ties over the next 5 minutes. Phoenix scored 6 straight points to take their largest lead at 78-72 with 2:10 to go, but Finley ended the run with a 3-pointer. 2 free throws by Stackhouse with 4 seconds left capped the quarter scoring. Phoenix led 82-80 as the Suns out-scored Dallas 36-26 in the 3rd quarter. Dallas shot just 3-8 FT in the quarter (while Phoenix shot 9-10 FT) and the Suns out-rebounded Dallas 19-8 in the quarter. Shawn Marion had 13 points and Finley had 12 points in the 3rd quarter. The game stayed really close over the first 8 minutes of the 4th quarter with neither team holding more than a 3 point lead and there were 5 ties and 5 lead changes. Phoenix led 96-94 with 4:55 remaining and Dallas then went on a 10-2 run to go up 104-98 with 2:50 left. Amare Stoudemire got a layup and Dallas missed and then the teams traded 2 free throws and Dallas led 106-102 with 1:55 to go. Stoudemire missed and Marion got a block and Stoudemire missed on 2 attempts. After a Dallas timeout with a minute remaining, Stackhouse drove and got the layup, but was called for an offensive foul for a claimed using his arm to clear out. Phoenix quickly brought the ball up and Dallas' defense somehow missed Stoudemire and Steve Nash found him wide open near the basket and he got the uncontested dunk to make it a 2 point game with 50 seconds left. Jason Terry drove baseline and passed out to no one, so it was a Mavs' turnover. And Nash swished the high arcing free throw jumper over Dirk Nowitzki to tie the game at 106-106 with 27 seconds to go. Dallas called timeout and got the ball to Nowitzki on the elbow and he ran the clock down some. He jab-stepped and then drove, stopped, spun, and hit the fade-away jumper over Quentin Richardson with 6.8 seconds left to put Dallas up by 2. Phoenix called timeout. The Suns inbounded to Nash and he drove to the edge of the paint and Nowitzki did a good job of staying in front of Nash and Nash then passed back to Richardson and Richardson side-stepped as Marquis Daniels flew at him and Richardson then launched the 3-pointer as Nowitzki lunged at him and the ball bounced off the side of the rim and off as time expired. Dallas won 108-106. Whew, I thought for sure Dallas' dismal free throw shooting was going to do them in, but they managed to hang on to get the win despite missing so many freebies. In a tight 2nd half, the game was won by the team that made their last shot. Obviously, Dallas played a much better game than game 1 and Phoenix was not as sharp as they were in game 1. Dallas was aggressive early, but Phoenix finally turned it on early in the 3rd quarter while Dallas came out of halftime sluggish - but thank goodness for Michael Finley who kept Dallas in the game during that quarter. It wasn't a stellar performance by Dallas, but it was much improved on the dismal game 1. For the game, Dallas made more field goals and Phoenix made more free throws. Dallas shot 49.4% (43-87) FG including 6-13 3-pointers while Phoenix shot 41.6% (37-89) FG including 7-18 3-pointers. The Suns shot 8-22 FG including 1-5 3-pointers in the 4th quarter as Dallas out-scored Phoenix 28-24 in the quarter. From the line, Dallas shot 16-24 FT [grumble] and Phoenix shot 25-34 FT. Phoenix out-rebounded Dallas 50-46 including 16-12 offensive. After being killed in the paint in game 1 (Phoenix 54 points, Dallas 42 points), it was almost even in this game with Dallas having 44 points in the paint and Phoenix having 46 points in the paint. The series is now tied at 1-1 with Phoenix having lost home court advantage. It is now up to Dallas to hold their home court as the next 2 games are in Dallas starting with game 3 on Friday at 8:30 pm. Dallas had some very good performances in this game, led by Michael Finley. Finley had his stroke going and had a game high 31 points including 12-18 FG and 5-6 3-pointers. And it was a complete game for Fin as he had 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and played good defense including stints where he was intentionally mismatched against Amare Stoudemire to take Stoudemire out of his rhythm - hey, it worked as Dallas got the win. Dirk Nowitzki wasn't as dominate, but did have a double-double and hit the game winner. He had 23 points and 12 rebounds. His game winner was the only shot he made in the 4th quarter as he missed the other 2 shots he attempted (but also made 2 free throws in the quarter). Dallas remains a perfect 18-0 this season when both Nowitzki and Finley score 20+ points. After a pathetic performance in game 1, Erick Dampier stepped up and had a solid game 2. For only the 2nd time this post-season he was in double-digits scoring and for the 1st time this post-season he was in double-digits rebounding. And he stayed out of foul trouble for most of the game. Damp had a double-double with 15 points on 7-8 FG and 1-4 FT and 12 rebounds including 7 offensive in 27 minutes. Jason Terry wasn't much of a factor for most of the game, but turned it on in the 4th quarter where he scored 6 points as part of Dallas' go-ahead run. He had 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists, but had 4 turnovers. Josh Howard's numbers were not great with 10 points and 2 rebounds, but he did play good defense and also sometimes matched up against Stoudemire. Though his shot wasn't great, Marquis Daniels played well in other areas and was in the rotation. He had 9 points including 4-12 FG, 8 rebounds including 4 offensive, and 3 assists in 29 minutes. Jerry Stackhouse's shooting was worse in shooting 2-11 FG, including missing some inside shots. He had 8 points, 2 rebounds, and 5 assists in 31 minutes. Darrell Armstrong played just 2 minutes and Alan Henderson was in for a minute as Avery Johnson went with a 7-man rotation. Joe Johnson underwent surgery today to repair the displaced fracture in his left orbital bone. He will defintely miss games 3 and 4 and his status for future games will be determined later. It is a serious loss for Phoenix was their starters play heavy minutes and they don't have a deep bench. Even with Dallas switching up their defense on Amare Stoudemire, he put up good numbers. But watching the game, you could tell it wasn't a great performance by Stoudemire as he had to take a lot of shots to get his points and missed a number of free throws. Stoudemire had 30 points on 9-20 FG and 12-17 FT to go with 16 rebounds including 7 offensive. Steve Nash had 23 points including 9-22 FG and 0-5 3-pointers and 13 assists in his 42 minutes. And Shawn Marion was the 3rd Sun with a double-double with 23 points and 15 rebounds. He also had 6 blocks. Quentin Richardson was limited some by foul trouble as he collected his 4th foul midway through the 3rd quarter and sat and then collected his 5th foul with 8:15 left in the 4th quarter and sat for a while, but was on the court for the end of the game. He had 12 points including 4-10 FG and 3-5 3-pointers and missed the last shot of the game. Richardson also had 7 rebounds in his 33 minutes. Joe Johnson had 8 points and 2 rebounds in 21 1st half minutes. With Johnson out, Jim Jackson saw more time on the court and he had 9 points on 3-4 3-pointers (missed the 3 2-pointers he attempted), 5 assists, and 5 steals in 34 minutes. Leandro Barbosa had 1 point and 3 rebounds in 10 minutes and Walter McCarty had 2 rebounds in 8 minutes. Steven Hunter played 3 minutes. Quotes [AJohnson's, Nowitzki's, Finley's, D'Antoni's, and Nash's quotes transcribed by me] Avery Johnson: "Well obviously this is a great victory for us tonight. Thought we had a ton of energy tonight, unlike the 1st game. Just kind of tough coming off a grueling 7-game series where you just put all of your emotions and physically you're wiped out. We just didn't have the energy. That's nothing to take away from the Suns' 1st victory against us. But tonight we had some more energy. Wanted to really shorten up my rotation tonight, you know, play basically 7 guys and just live with the results. And I thought Marquis Daniels really did a great job for us coming off the bench. And obviously Finley came through for us. And we got the ball in Dirk's hands and we like it when it's in his hands at the end of the game. He made a tough shot. So we did some things to try to help our team give them a chance to win. And that's what happens, you go back and analyze certain things and you look at certain matchups that are better for you, certain matchups that are not good for you. So the main thing is that we weather the storm. We battle, and to give this team 24 points in the 4th quarter, we feel pretty good about that." Johnson on Finley guarding Stoudemire: "Well, you look at all the options and that was an option that we liked. He's a veteran player and it gives us a chance to give a different look on the screen-and-roll coverage, which is one of the basic reasons. And basically, you know, Amare is going to get his points. So Fin guarded him tonight, he got 30 and 16, but we won the game." Johnson on Finley on Stoudemire: "I thought he did a pretty good job. As good as you can do when you're a shooting guard guarding a power forward. So again, I think we made some adjustments. And again, we're playing against the best team in the NBA. They have home court advantage. We're coming in, we're pretty fatigued and wiped out. I was still optimistic. I thought we had a chance to play well in game 1, we didn't. I thought we had a chance to play well in game 2, and we played a little bit better. But we know they'll bounce back. They're a terrific team and they got a lot of guys that can score the basketball." Johnson on Phoenix's last possession: "Well again, we just, we knew Steve was going to get his hands on the ball. And the main thing was just to make him try to make a tough shot. He got in the lane and because we had somebody bigger on him, we kind of got sucked in a little bit and Richardson got the ball, but we got out and contested it. And thank God it didn't go in." Johnson: "We've been pretty much playing really good in the 4th quarter, but when you're down by 20 points and the coach slips down and falls and gets tossed out of the game, then your chances are pretty slim. So I put some slip-nots on my shoes tonight, stayed in there, and fortunately we had a chance to at least be in the game in the 4th quarter. That's all you can ever ask for. Whether you're at home or on the road, just be in the game. And again, we feel we've been a pretty good 4th quarter team when the game is close." Johnson on Dampier: "We had a good talk and I liked the way he responded. And a lot of times when stuff like that happens guys are under the microscope, like I told you guys earlier. So he responded and basically we did what we brought him in here to do. But we brought him in here to do it consistently. So am I happy that he had, what, 15 points and 12 rebounds? Yeah, 7-8 from the field. Obviously I'll take it. But I'll be happier if he can string together a couple of these games. Because he's still playing a lot of catch up right now. You know, he's at a deficit. So he has a lot of work to do to please his coach." Johnson on the energy level: "Well again, I just got to remind them of who we are. I thought in game 1 we were so scared of getting in the transition game that we walked the ball up the court. I thought we were a little bit more aggressive tonight. You know, right now it's just about energy. I love 3 hour practices, but we can't do that right now. It's more about watching film. Reminding them of who we are, how we play. You know, Phoenix has their own style of play, we have our own style of play. I just thought the last game we played too much at a medium pace and we didn't really try to play our game, you know, scared to get in a transition game." Johnson on Nowitzki: "Dirk is solid, he's steady. I thought that shot was big because Marion had blocked one earlier. And we got the switch defensively that we wanted. And that's what MVP caliber players do for you. So for him to get 23 and 12 tonight, 2 blocks, solid basketball, 4 fouls - I'm excited about 4 fouls because some times instead of giving up easy layups it's good when you kind of - you know, yeah, I mean, I don't like easy baskets." Johnson on if the defensive switch was the key: "Yeah, that was. That was good for us. And you know, Shawn Marion is a pretty good guy defensively. He's long, he's rangy, and he's quick. So we got the mismatch that we wanted, the matchup that we wanted, and fortunately the shot went in. All of their guys are pretty athletic and long. So that's what we wanted. I'm glad Quentin Richardson's 3 didn't go in. And we're glad to be going back home to our fans now. It feels like we've been on the road for a month." Johnson on the flagrant: "They thought that he came from behind and they thought the contact was a little excessive. We thought he kind of got hooked on the rim a little bit. I hope Joe Johnson is okay because he's a terrific player and we don't want to see anybody get injured. And we're definitely not a team that goes after people like that. We like to foul and make our fouls count, but we definitely are not a flagrant foul team." Dirk Nowitzki on Dampier: "I don't know if it was what I said, but he played great tonight. He was aggressive from the start, on the glass he was, as on defense as well. He made some big plays for us. I always said it all season long, you know, our defense falls with him and gets up with him. If he's active and attacks, penetration, and is a presence for us in the middle, we're a different team. He looked very active, very aggressive there today. And if he keeps that going, we're a different team." Nowitzki on Phoenix switching on defense on his last shot: "I told Mike after the game that was big. I didn't know they were going to switch. The next thing I turn around and Q [Richardson] was right there. I didn't really have a great rhythm in the 4th quarter. I came in with like 8 1/2 minutes to go and I missed like 2 or 3 shots. I don't know. I just looked at the clock. I wanted to go at 6, 7 seconds on the shot clock and was able to take him baseline and spin. And that's my move. So I was actually fortunate that the ball went in. When it left my hand, it didn't really look great. But it went in and it's a fortunate win for us." Nowitzki on Marion's defense: "He's very active. He's similar to TMac [McGrady]. You know, they're both about 6-8, 6-9, very long, very athletic. So when I go up for the shot, they're athletic enough to jump after it and really get up there and challenge my shot. And he actually blocked 1 or 2 today. So, you know, they're both pretty good defenders. But I was able in the 2nd half to get some post up moves going and take them to the basket some. And I think that's what I got to do more." Nowitzki on if the split puts Dallas in the driver's seat: "Well, you know, to me they were the best team on the road all season long. So that doesn't mean anything, obviously. It's a great win for us. We didn't want to go home 0-2. So looking at it, it's a great win, but I don't really like the word 'driver's seat'. You know, in the playoffs every game is big no matter where you are, on the road or at home. I mean the Houston series showed everyone can win on each other's floor. We still have to play the same game we did today and really approach it more aggressive. I think that's the type of game we can win. If they score 130, we're not going to win. But if we keep it at a 100, 110, I think that's the pace where we can win the game. So I think that's what we did today." Nowitzki: "I thought we were moving it a little more on the offensive end. I think in game 1 in the beginning, we were just stagnant and shooting fade away jumpers. And we didn't really execute like the way we did in game 7. You know, everybody was just a step slow on both ends of the floor. Today, I just thought the energy was better. Right away from the beginning we took it to the basket, got more fouls. You know, we only got to the line like 1 time in the 1st quarter or in the 1st half the other day. And today we got to the line some and that's what we got to do. We got to be aggressive off the dribble as well against that team. I think offensively obviously Mike made some unbelievable shots to keep us in the game. So it was a lot better effort offensively and defensively." Nowitzki on if there is pressure to perform better after his comments about Dampier: "I don't know. I just felt like as a team we really didn't perform the way we wanted to. It wasn't only Damp. It wasn't only me. It's still the Dallas Mavericks. And we had to find a way to be more productive on both ends of the floor as a team. And I think that's what we did today. I mean, it's not 1-on-1, it's not 2-on-2, it's 5-on-5 out there. And I thought as a team we did a good job today." Michael Finley on if the team had a different intensity and focus: "I think so. I think we were still a little bit mentally, a little bit physically drained from the series before. And it showed on the tape. And we made a conscious effort to come out here and bring energy right from the jump and what ever happens, happens. And we matched their energy and took it up another level when we had to and got the win." Finley on Stoudemire: "He had a career night in game 1. Like I said, he's a talented player. But any guy in this league, if he gets into a comfort zone, it's going to be a long night. So we just wanted to take him out of that comfort zone, contest a lot of his jump shots, throw random double-teams at him when we had to. Just make it a tough night for him. For the most part, it worked." Finley on Dampier: "I was happy for Damp because he's been getting, I think a lot of unfair criticism, especially after game 1 - everybody played terrible. But he stepped up to the challenge, made some big shots inside for us, got some key rebounds. And he just has to keep it up." Finley: "I just had some good looks at the basket and I got into a nice rhythm offensively and my teammates kept finding me and Phoenix kept leaving me open. And I was just making the most of those situations. and luckily for us, those shots were going down and it kept us in the game. And came down to a big shot that we needed and Dirk knocked it in for us. So we were fortunate to get a win tonight. Finley on being the Stoudemire stopper: "No, not by any means. The kid has unbelievable upside. He's talented. Right now he's an all-star. He's the reason, one of the reasons that they are one of the better teams in this league. We just wanted to take him out of his comfort zone. Throw different guys at him, whether it's our centers or our smalls, just give him different looks and take him out of his comfort zone. Because like any great scorers, when they get in a comfort zone, it can be a long night for any defender and we just wanted to get him out of that." Finley on being asked to defend Stoudemire: "I said okay. I'm not going to back down from anyone. He's human. He had a career night against us in game 1. So we needed to make some changes. And one of the changes was to put a smaller quicker guy on him and disrupt the things he was getting away with in game 1. It worked in some senses and in some it back fired against us. But again, we'll go back and look at the tape and see the things that worked and probably work on the things that didn't." Finley: "I love Phoenix. The fans still here are supportive of me, whether it's in the playoffs or regular season. The city is a great city. This is the franchise that gave me birth. They took a chance on me with the 21st pick. And I'm to this day indebted to the Phoenix Suns. So when I come back here, it's a home coming in a sense. And I just get an added boost of energy just to come into this arena. It just feels good to play in an arena where it all started for me. And I can say nothing bad about the Phoenix Suns organization." Finley on Phoenix missing Joe Johnson: "I don't think so. I think it's an unfortunate loss for them to possibly lose Johnson for a game or 2 because he was an instrumental piece in their team's success. But every time that we play a team and they're undermanned, that team seems to come together and play even harder. And I don't think Phoenix will be any different. They'll come together. Some guy will have to step up into Joe's role and pick it up. As a team, we can't take them lightly. We still have to focus as if they were 100%, full roster, so to speak and just go into the mindset in game 3 that we had coming into this game." Finley: "I was just trying to be aggressive. I got into a good rhythm and I felt that every time I shot the ball it was going to go in. So I took some bad shots, Avery pointed that out to me. But at the same time, I just wanted to be aggressive. I just wanted to get the ball to my hands and make something happen. They were double-teaming me at different points and I was passing it to my teammates, they were making shots. So over all, we just played some good team basketball down the stretch." Finley on the bench: "I like our depth. Not only in this series, but earlier in the regular season and in the 1st series, depth has always been one of our strengths. We kind of flourish on that. In practice, it's some of the most intense practice because the 2nd unit pushes the 1st unit. And when they get in the game, they have the mindset that they should be starting. So in a sense that helps us. So whenever our bench plays well and gets an opportunity to go in there and do some good things, it usually works out for the better for us. So this series is no different. We're going to depend on our bench as much as we did in the past and hopefully they can keep it up." Finley on guard Stoudemire: "Well when they first did it, I was a little bit surprised but once he explained the reasons why, it made more sense. I was trying to get Amare out of his comfort zone. He scored 40 the 1st game and we kept him to 30 tonight. [Nowitzki: 30 and 16.] So it wasn't a drastic defensive move on any part. But we just wanted to get him out of his comfort zone. As a player and people who've played this game know, when you get in a comfort zone, it doesn't matter who they put on you defensively, you can do what ever you want. So we wanted to mix it up. Put a bigger guy on him, make it more of a physical battle. Put a smaller guy on him, make it more of a quickness battle. He has both of those things as a part of his game, we just wanted to, you know, throw a curve ball in here and there." Finley on Stoudemire: "Again, it's making them make adjustments. The playoff series are a game of adjustments and that's one adjustment that we made. If we happen to go to that in game 3, they'll probably counter attack with something they're already strategically planning. It's a cat and mouse game defensively. But when it all comes down to it, you have to guard the man. Whether it's me, whether it's one of our 5s, whether it's the point guard, you have to guard him. And tonight we did a pretty good job as a team. But we still can do a better job." Jerry Stackhouse: "We had some good rhythm offensively. We competed. Good things happen when we compete. Sometimes things didn't go our way, but we kept fighting." Stackhouse on Joe Johnson's injury: "I'm sorry he fell and got hurt, but quite honestly, he did that all on his own by hanging on the rim. I had all ball. It definitely wasn't flagrant. 10 times out of 10, I'm going to do the same thing. But I'm sorry to hear he's out." Stackhouse on JJohnson's injury: "I felt I had all ball. His momentum and the way he hung on the rim, he cause the foul himself. I'm sorry he got hurt. I wouldn't want anybody to get hurt. I checked on him to make sure he was all right. I just challenged the play. 10 times out of 10 I'm going to do the same thing." Jason Terry: "We just came out a lot more aggressive and I think we had our legs under us a lot better tonight. Transition points in the 1st half, we held them to where we wanted them. I just thought an all out effort was there tonight. Defensively, we were alert and aware, getting the loose balls. That's what you have to do against this team, they're a scrappy team. They're a good team. You need to have energy for 48 minutes." Terry: "Defensively, we were alert and aware. You have to have energy for 48 minutes against the Suns, or you're going to lose." Terry on Nowitzki's game winner: "We believe in each other and we believe in the system. The option was to get it to Dirk and let him get a shot for us to win it." Terry: "Michael Finley was huge. He carried us in the 2nd half when we didn't get baskets. He made some big shots." Terry on Dampier: "We went to Erick early to establish his confidence. He established position and asked for the ball. He did it himself. We believe in him, and we believe in our system. We thought if we could hold them about 10 points below their scoring average, we would win." Erick Dampier on Stoudemire: "I just took advantage of every opportunity. He really didn't want to get in foul trouble. So I just try to be a presence in the middle." Dampier: "To win a game like this is a great one for us. We just were trying to get out of here with one win. We did it." Dampier: "There's nothing to prove. We know we're a good team. Tonight was Mavericks basketball. We went out and played how we are capable of playing. I know I didn't play the way I can in game 1, and I just want to come out and do what I can to help this team win." Dampier: "The first couple of plays we wanted to go inside against Stoudemire and get him in foul trouble. It worked for us. We knew he didn't want to be a physical player. He's not a physical player. He's more of a power forward and we just tried to take advantage of that. I'm bigger than him and he's a small body so every opportunity I get to seal him or get good post position, I'm going to take advantage of it." Marquis Daniels on Nowitzki's game winner: "He's our MVP. When he's got the ball in his hands, good things happen." Mike D'Antoni: "I thought the 2nd half we played well, we got back to our game. The 1st half we came out not with the necessary energy. I don't think we took it for granted, I just think that a lot of times as a team, the emotion part of it, you know, you do that emotion. You come in here and you think you're ready to roll and you're not quite ready. We didn't run and we didn't get in our normal stuff early. We weren't sharp. And then the biggest thing I thought [was] we got out of character. They were trying different matchups and we were trying to pin point, you know, a weakness. And that's not our strength. Our strength is to run, pick-and-rolls, and be the Phoenix Suns. And we didn't do that the 1st half. We adjusted in the 2nd half and did a lot better job, did our thing. I just think we just didn't make the biggest shots down the stretch. They did. Sometimes basketball's a simple game. And Michael Finley hit some big shots. Dirk hit the last one. And we had 3 or 4 looks, a couple right at the basket, and a couple of easy - no, not easy - a couple of 3-point shots." D'Antoni on Joe Johnson: "He's an integral part of our team, there's no doubt about it. Jimmy Jackson stepped up and played a great game. We're okay with that in the sense of we have Jimmy and Leandro will come in and do a good job. Joe is obviously hurt and I don't know if he'll be back the next game. They'll put a press release out I think of what the doctors will say exactly. But I expect him to play in this series, whether it's Sunday or whenever. But I don't expect him to play Friday. But that's cool. Jimmy will start there and he'll be fine." D'Antoni on what he thought about the flagrant: "Nothing. I mean, after looking at it, he got hung up on the rim. They tried to block the shot. That's fine. [question: how he got injured] No, no, I think he hit the floor after he came down. Lost his balance and his face hit the floor." D'Antoni on Phoenix's last play: "It was a pick-and-roll up top. We just did 6 of them and we got right to the basket every time. And that's our bread and butter. Steve, I'll have to look at the replay. I don't know what happened. But didn't quite get there, they did a good job. He passed it out to Q [Richardson], he had a pretty good look. Just didn't go down. It wasn't an easy shot for Q." D'Antoni on the series: "Yeah, you know, I didn't think we were going to go, you know, 4-4-4-4. That wasn't going to work. Would have like to have this game. Sure we're disappointed. We just, but I think we lost today. They did what they're supposed to do. They played a nice game. But I really think we just didn't do what we're supposed to do in the 1st half. And we got behind the 8-ball. Then we had a 7 or 8 point lead. And then Michael Finley got off. He's good. Good players win games and he won this one. We'll come back the next game. It's funny, they probably play better on the road and we play better on the road. So we're thinking a split at home is pretty good. [laughs]" D'Antoni: "We always make adjustments. I think every coach, you'll see things defensively is where we'll make adjustments. We're not changing any thing offensively. And that's what we're going to do. We're just going to do a better job. Run, get it out, and go for it. We just didn't have that extra pop today, especially the 1st half. We had it the 2nd half, almost the entire half. So mentally we just weren't real sharp. And sometimes that happens. And we'll be ready to go on Friday though. But defensively with Dampier, we'll do what we have to do. And Amare will do a good job. And see what we can do." D'Antoni on Stoudemire and if anything was said at halftime: "No, we're all frustrated and nobody talked to me. We were all frustrated because we didn't play well. And we know that. We talked as a group, just play our basketball, shoot it up, who cares. In the sense of, we go down as the Phoenix Suns, we don't go down as another team that I didn't recognize the 1st half. And that's who we were. We were almost trying to be the smart team. We're not that. We're a very athletic, running up and down, and we got away from it. We got back. And again, we should have won the game. We had the game - not had the game - we were there, and they just hit big shots and we didn't." D'Antoni on the defensive switch for Nowitzki's last shot: "We don't want that, but sometimes it happens. And they did a good job of knocking Shawn off and Dirk hit a great shot." D'Antoni on McCarty and Leandro in game 3 with Jackson starting: "Both, both, they'll both play. And we can go Shawn some at 3 and move him down. Move Walter more minutes, if that goes well, or we can move Shawn, keep Shawn at 4 and Leandro can play. So we got enough guys." D'Antoni: "They got us out of our sync a little bit. And then we figured out a little bit of attacking some other way. But I think the biggest thing was just clogging the middle up and just trying to force the ball in. And every time we've done it this year, we haven't been very successful. And we weren't tonight. So we'll get back, we'll spread the floor and move the ball and figure out how - and still score a 106 points shooting 41%. So you know, I think our offense is okay. We just started off slow and they scored 34 points in the 1st quarter. After that, we guarded them pretty well. But sometimes with them making big shots, that 1st quarter kills." D'Antoni: "They did a better job all over. They had energy and they played like the Dallas Mavericks that we thought would be here. And they'll be here the rest of the series. And it's going to be up to us to knock them out. They're not going to go away. They're not just going to hang it up. So we'll have to play better and we'll have to hit big shots and be the Phoenix Suns." Steve Nash on the last play: "We were going to run a pick-and-roll basically and we were just going to try to attack them. It had been successful for the few previous plays. But with 6 seconds, it's difficult to predict exactly what's going to happen and we lost our spacing a little. But, you know, Q got the ball and Q's been a guy who's made about 3 game winners for us. So it wasn't so bad." Nash on losing Joe Johnson: "You know, it's always tough. I mean, Joe's been averaging a bunch of points and been one of our best defenders and he's just a terrific player. So obviously we missed him. But I think we did a great job of rallying together and kind of coming out and just playing better in the 2nd half. We weren't very good in the 1st half. And we kind of got ourselves back in the game. But overall we weren't that good today." Nash on if he took the onus on himself to be better in the 2nd half: "A little bit. You know, obviously I always want to get my teammates going. But on a night like tonight when things weren't going that well, I try to be a little bit more aggressive and just kind of make some shots and try to give our team some confidence in some area." Nash: "Yeah, we did. We expected a much better game out of them and we got it. Michael Finley was terrific. And overall, they played a lot better. You know, we didn't play great. We kind of played, it was kind of a role reversal. We were a little bit flat in the 1st half. We were a little bit indecisive at times and we kind of got away from what we like to do." Nash on the 1st half: "I thought they played better and they played hard, but I think, you know, we have to take some of the blame too. I thought we got out of our rhythm and our style a little bit. But you know, we picked it up. I thought you saw what we were about in the 2nd half in particular stretches. But you know, I think over all they just played better. You know, they played a better game than us and they played a much better game than they played in game 1." Nash on missing JJohnson: "Yeah, we might miss Joe for a little while. But he's got to worry about getting healthy and take care of himself obviously. As a team, he's a terrific player for us. So it's going to hurt us. But in the short term we got some guys who can step up and we can still be pretty dangerous, as we were in the 2nd half without him. So first and fore most, we want him to be healthy and to feel good about it. And when he's ready he can come back. And obviously he's a huge part of our team." Nash on the road: "Yeah, I think we got the best road record in the league this year. So we like playing on the road. We'll be fine out there. We just got to play better than we did tonight. We were indecisive and took us a long time before we really stepped up our intensity." Nash on the lack of intensity: "I don't know. You know, we won 5 straight games. So sometimes you know, you can't win them all and some nights it just doesn't go for you. And we missed a bunch of shots and, like I said, we just weren't real sharp. But 2nd half, we played with a ton of energy, so if we can carry that over we'll play a lot better." Nash on Dallas' turnaround: "Not really, you know, we expected that. I think they're a terrific team and you know Avery is going to fire them up and challenge them. So I think we all expected what they gave us, we would have just liked to made obviously one more shot. But obviously a few more shots along the way and maybe in the 1st half play a little better defense. But you know, they're a terrific team. And we got to expect them to play better than they did in game 1." Amare Stoudemire: "They came with a triple-team. They tried to make something happen. I had a couple misses on some easy shots, so it worked." Stoudemire: "We struggled that 1st quarter and it gave them the momentum for the game. They wanted to come out aggressively and got a tone offensively and defensively." Stoudemire on the rest of the series: "It's going to be a battle. We are going to have to battle these guys for the next week and a half. That's what we will do." Stoudemire on losing Joe Johnson: "Joe is a key player; Joe brings a lot to the table. If he's not there we're just going to have to bring the same intensity." Shawn Marion: "In the 2nd half we started to play our game. If we hit a shot there or made a stop there, we would have won the game." Marion: "We're a little disappointed. It didn't seem like we played Suns' ball. Good news is we have a better road record than we do a home record." Quentin Richardson on his last shot: "That was just me, you know I am going for every play. That is what I do and what I know. I just didn't make it. I felt good. I thought it was going in. If I had to do it all over again I would take the same shot." Richardson on Nowitzki's game winner: "He's a 7-foot guy who can shoot. He made a great shot." Richardson on losing Joe Johnson: "We just have to pick up the pieces. We've got Jimmy Jackson out there, a veteran guy. We expect him to step up." Jim Jackson: "We had a lot of missed opportunities - I had one, Steve missed and Amare, and that's 6 points right there. When you struggle all game and try to get back into it those are the shots that you end up missing because there is really no flow. Again, you have to give credit to Dallas, they came in here and did what they wanted to do, they got to the free throw line, post-up more, and that's what they did." Jackson on losing Joe Johnson: "Any time you lose a starter as productive as Joe, it hurts. I've played in many playoff games. I look forward to the challenge." Game 2: Dallas Mavericks 108, Phoenix Suns 106 at Dallas (May 11) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 34 20 26 28 - 108 .500 .462 .494 .667 Phoenix 22 24 36 24 - 106 .423 .389 .416 .735 Halftime: Dallas 54-46 3rd Q: Phoenix 82-80 Technicals: none Flagrants: Jerry Stackhouse 0:19 2nd Refs: Dick Bavetta, Tony Brothers, Greg Willard Attendance: 18,422 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Keith Van Horn (sprained left ankle) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 40 12-18 5-6 2-2 31 0-6 5 2 4 2 0 Jason Terry 36 5-10 0-2 2-2 12 0-3 2 4 2 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 39 8-18 1-2 6-9 23 1-12 2 3 4 0 2 Josh Howard 35 5-10 0-1 0-2 10 0-2 1 0 5 0 0 Erick Dampier 27 7-8 0-0 1-4 15 7-12 0 1 5 1 1 Jerry Stackhouse 31 2-11 0-2 4-4 8 0-2 5 2 3 0 1 Marquis Daniels 29 4-12 0-0 1-1 9 4-8 3 3 3 2 0 Darrell Armstrong 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Alan Henderson 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 43-87 6-13 16-24 108 12-46 18 15 26 5 4 Phoenix Suns REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Steve Nash 42 9-22 0-5 5-5 23 0-3 13 3 2 0 0 Joe Johnson 21 3-8 1-2 1-3 8 1-2 1 1 1 0 1 Shawn Marion 46 9-18 0-2 5-5 23 4-15 0 2 5 1 6 Quentin Richardson 33 4-10 3-5 1-2 12 3-7 1 1 5 1 0 Amare Stoudemire 43 9-20 0-0 12-17 30 7-16 1 4 4 0 0 Jim Jackson 34 3-7 3-4 0-0 9 0-2 5 0 3 5 1 Leandro Barbosa 10 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 1-3 0 0 1 0 0 Walter McCarty 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 0 1 0 0 Steven Hunter 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 2 Totals 48 37-89 7-18 25-34 106 16-50 21 13 22 7 10 patricia Go Mavs!