|
Suns 130 Mavs 126 Grades : Steve Nash’s Revenge
Suns 130 Mavs 126 Grades : Steve Nash’s Revenge
Amare wins the tip and the Steve misses the layup. Dirk puts up a jumper but misses. Richardson drives to the rim that rolls in. Dirk throws the ball away but Josh gets it back. Josh misses his first attempt and Amare blows by Erick for the layup for the Suns 4-0 lead. Jason attacks Steve and is put on the line with 10:19 left in the first. Jason goes 1-2 from the stripe for the Mavs first point. The Suns pass the ball down for a Richardson miss and Finley answers by finding Erick wide open for a two handed dunk. Jason sinks a weak side 17-foot jumper to give the Mavs their first lead and Josh steals the ball from Richardson. Josh drives but Richardson draws the offensive foul. At the 9:19 mark Amare limps to the bench as the Suns take a timeout. Josh steals as pass to Jackson and solos in for the layup. Richardson gets called for an offensive foul on a pick on Jason Terry as the Mavs go to Josh who snakes in the paint for the flip to give the Mavs 9-4 lead. Dirk strips the ball from Amare but he gets it back but then Amare throws the ball away. Finley misses over Amare but Josh skies for the offensive board and put back. The Suns attack immediately and Finley fouls Amare hard to prevent the dunk. Amare goes 1-2 from the line to pull the Suns within 11-5. Jason pulls up from the corner but Josh can’t pull it down. Josh gets his second foul sending Amare to the line with 7:24 left in the game. Stackhouse comes in for Josh during the free throws. The Mavs go to Dirk who gets the hook shot to go over Marion (nice seal by Erick). Steve misses in the paint and Jerry clears. Erick follows up on the other end with a two hand slam from Jason. Erick picks up his first foul (on the floor) with 6:33 left. Nash finds Amare for the –foot hook. Jackson fouls Jerry hard in the corner and Stackhouse sinks both free throws with 6:15 left in the quarter. Armstrong comes in for Jason during Jerry’s free throws. The Suns waste no time as Marion nails a strong side trey to pull the Suns within 5 points at 17-12 as Avery calls the Mavs’ first timeout at the 5:56 mark. Jerry misses from the elbow off a Dampier pick and Steve drives the paint finding Jackson in the corner for three. Jerry attacks Amare and gets a hammer dunk to put the Mavs back up 19-15. Marion drops in a deuce form the free throw line to pull the Suns back to 19-17. Finley misses an elbow jumper but Dirk is thrown to the floor on the offensive put back attempt. Dirk sinks both free throws to put the Mavs up again 21-17. Steve runs off a pick and he nails a fall away jumper on the strong side baseline. Dirk finds Erick on the block and Erick slams down hard. Nash finds a cutting Amare and Erick picks up his second foul with 3:39 left in the first. Alan replaces Erick as Amare goes 1-2 from the line. Jason steals the rebound from Amare and Richardson fouls Jason on the fast break. Jerry attacks the rim again but loses the handle on the way up. Finley steals the ball but Jason throws it to Barbosa. Barbosa finds Amare for the uncontested slam dunk at the other end. Jason attacks the rim and gets Amare’s second foul with 2:43 left in the first forcing the Suns second timeout with the Mavs up 23-22. Hunter comes in for Amare as Jason goes 1-2 from the stripe. The Mavs go to a zone defense but Barbosa burns them with a long deuce to tie the game. Dirk works Marion and gets the reverse flip to go to put the Mavs ahead at 26-24. Steve works the clock down to 3 seconds on the shot clock as Jason fouls Nash in the lane. Steve ties the game at 26-all with 1:37 left in the first quarter. Finley finds Jerry who blows by Jackson who is fouled going by for Jim’s second foul. Jerry makes both free throws for the 28-26 Mavs lead. Steve misses a fall away jumper but Dirk gets the stop and pop to go. Hunter goes up from the block as Alan gets tagged for the foul with 56.4 seconds left. Hunter misses both free throws (Hunter’s free throw stroke is so ugly….) and the Mavs again go to Jerry who blows by McCarty but his dunk is blocked. Hunter sprints down court and dunks. Dirk drops to Alan on the block who gets the layup. Barbosa drives the lane but Dirk clears for the Mavs 32-28 lead. Amare leads all scorers with 10 points (3-3 FG, 4-6 FT), but like Dampier is saddled with two first period fouls. Josh and Jackson also get some bench time with two first quarter fouls each. The Mavs leading scorer is Dirk with 8 points (3-4 FG, 2-2 FT). The big difference in the game is the Mavs winning the turnover battle 3-8. Both teams are shooting the ball very well: Mavs at 60% and the Suns at 62.5%.
Barbosa replaces Steve for the start of the second quarter as Hunter rejects Dirk’s jumper. Jason misses weak side but Marion clears. Richardson misses short and Dirk finds Jason in transition for the elbow jumper. Barbosa goes straight down the lane for the layup. Jerry answers with a pull up at the strong side elbow. Barbosa turns the corner but goes long and Jason busts a trey in transition for the Mavs 39-30 lead. Marion misses a trey over Dirk but Dirk can’t handle the fast break pass, kicking back to Josh with 10:00 left in the first half. Erick comes in for Alan and Steve comes back in the game on the heels of the Mavs 9-2 run. Josh turns the corner but his layup goes long. Erick blocks Marion’s dunk attempt but Marion gets the put back on a 10-foot baseline jumper. Jason runs off a Dampier pick and gets the layup but Marion answers with a 17-foot jumper. Dirk misses from the strong side baseline as Jackson clears. Steve misses a bunny but gets his own board and finds Marion baseline who misses the 13-foot jumper. Jason clears and finds Josh cutting to the hoop. Richardson picks up his second personal foul sending Josh to the charity stripe where Howard sinks both free throws for the Mavs 43-34 lead. Jackson misses on the catch and shoot. Jerry misses the 9-footer but Erick cleans up with the tip-in. The Suns attack Erick and gets his third foul with 8:05 left in the first half. Jackson gets the flip in the lane, Jason misses over Nash but Josh clears and kicks to Jerry. Stackhouse misses at the elbow and Jim Jackson gets a second foul on Jason (no continuation) with 7:15 left in the half. Armstrong replaces Jason and Nash goes straight at Darrell as Armstrong put Steve on the line for 2-2 with 7:06 left in the half with the Mavs up 45-38. Finley misses a trey and Marion misses a flip on the other end. Armstrong gets his third foul on an offensive call under the basket. Steve blows by Darrell for the easy layup. Finley fakes and gets in the paint for the jumper. Armstrong steals the Nash pass and finds Josh in the paint who gets his own tip-in. Steve ducks behind an Amare picks and gets the baseline jumper to go. Dirk isolates on Marion getting the fade to go. Jackson attacks the lane and is called for his third foul on an offensive foul drawn by Alan as Dallas takes their second timeout with 4:58 left in the half, up 51-42. Out of the timeout Dirk misses from the baseline and Steve kicks to Marion for the trey from the top of the circle. Jason finds Dirk who is fouled hard sending Dirk to the floor, but the refs call no foul. Dirk under hands a flip that misses and Marion waltzes down the paint for an uncontested layup capping the Suns 5-0 run forcing a Mavs timeout with 3:51 left in the half with the Mavs up 51-47. Out of the timeout McCarty bumps Jerry and the Mavs reset. Jason drills the fall away jumper to put the Mavs up 53-47. Richardson misses a trey and Alan clears. Jason attacks hard and gets the twirling layup. Dirk fouls Richardson hard off the block for Dirk’s first foul with 2:57 left in the half. Richardson goes 2-2 from the stripe to pull the Suns within six points at 55-49. The Mavs go to Stackhouse who misses over McCarty. Marion misses a trey but Nash rebounds and gets the baseline jumper to go. Dirk finds the cutting Josh as McCarty gets his second foul with 2:01 left in the half. Josh sinks both free throws to extend the Mavs lead to 57-51. Amare limps back to the bench during the free throws and is replaced by Hunter. Finley fouls McCarty driving the basket with 1:45 left in the half as McCarty goes 0-2 from the charity stripe. Josh attacks the rim again and gets fouled by Hunter with 1:38 left in the half. Josh makes both free throws to give the Mavs the 59-51 lead to give Josh 14 points in the first half. Nash flings a contested fall away jumper and Dirk drops in a transition trey. Steve blows by Jason for the layup and Jerry passes the ball to the Suns. Marion misses the flip but Finley misses the trey. Nash misses the trey but Marion clears as the Suns set up for a final shot of the half. Steve finds Barbosa for a trey from the corner that bounces out. The Mavs go to the locker room up nine points at 62-53.
The Mavs open the second half with Jason missing a layup and Erick losing it out of bounds. The Suns throw the ball away and Josh throws the ball over Dirk. Amare rolls into the lane for the layup to open the scoring. Josh misses a trey and Dirk clears as Amare gets called on the foul locking up Dirk. Dirk spins and gets a fall away jumper to fall. Jackson gets a wide open trey and Josh clears. Finley finds Erick but Dampier misses. Marion doesn’t as he backs in a leaner over Dirk. Dirk finds a cutting Erick who gets the layup off the screen and roll. Jackson misses a trey and Jason pushes hard driving the ball all the way getting the foul on Marion. Jason goes 1-2 from the stripe for the 67-57 lead. Jason tips the ball out on Nash’s drive and Dampier steals the inbounds pass. Dirk lobs to Dampier but Erick kicks out to Finley who misses. Steve pushes and pulls up for a transition trey. Jason pushes hard again and gets the layup. Steve drops off to Amare for the layup. Josh misses but Dirk clears and finds Finley who misses the jumper. Josh persists and the ball goes out of bounds of Richardson. Erick kicks again to Finley who finally scores his first basket with a trey. Josh gets a circus bank shot to go to pus the Mavs lead to a dozen at 74-62. Nash throws up a rainbow that is cleared by Dirk. Dirk is plowed to the floor by and on the reset Dirk finds Erick on the screen and roll as Dampier flushes the ball with both hands. The Suns call timeout with 6:31 left in the third period with the Mavs up 76-62. Out of the timeout, Amare attacks Dampier but is forced back out. The Mavs tip the ball out and Amare misses on a dunk. The Suns clear and kicks to Marion who misses the trey. Finley clears the board as Avery is rejected in the paint. Jackson misses on the block but Richardson gets the put back. Dirk set up on Amare and pump fakes Amare into his fourth foul. With 5:09 left in the period, Dirk goes 1-2 from the line for the 77-64 Mavs lead. Marion misses the bunny over Erick. Finley misses a trey but gets his own board. The Mavs isolate Dirk who kicks to Josh. Josh circles into the paint and draws Marion’s third foul at the 4:27 mark. Josh goes 1-2 from the line for the Mavs 78-64 lead as the Suns coach just reams the refs. Erick gets the rejection and Dirk gets the trey to extend the lean to 80-64. Erick picks up his fourth foul shoving Amare and is replaced with Alan at the 3:53 mark. The Suns whip the ball around the horn where Marion drives and banks the layup in. Jerry drives the pain but misses the bunny. Alan gets in to a tussle with Amare for a jump ball. Amare controls the jump tip and the Suns again whip the ball around to Marion for the trey. Jason pops for the jumper that goes long and Terry fouls Nash in the backcourt. The Mavs take timeout with 2:31 left in the third. Out of the timeout Amare gets the and-one over Alan but misses the free throw to pull the Suns to 80-71. Dirk misses a fall away trey as the shot clock expires but Nash drains a trey to pull the Suns within six points. Stackhouse again throws up a trey that misses and Jackson responds quickly with a trey that is nothing but net to cap a 15-0 Suns run. Jason gets a flip to go and Alan draws an offensive foul on Amare forcing Stoudemire to the bench with 48seconds left in the third. The Mavs work the clock before Josh drives the paint and travels against Hunter. The Suns work the clock who finds a cutting Marion who misses. Dirk clears and the Mavs set up with 6.8 seconds left. Josh dribbles the ball up court and pulls up with the clock expiring for a long deuce. The Mavs survive a strong push from Phoenix in the third, losing the quarter 24-22, but still take the 84-77 lead into the final period.
The Suns open the fourth period with Jackson driving on Josh but Josh blocks the shot. Josh tries a circus flip in the paint by the Suns don’t buy it. Jackson runs down and nails the trey. Dirk drives and is thrown to the floor, but no foul call. Jackson nails the open trey from the corner to pull the Suns within 2 points at 84-82. Jason launches a long deuce, but the Suns go long to Marion at the other end who is sent to the line by Finley. Marion goes 2-2 with 10:17 left in the fourth to pull the Suns back within 2 points again at 86-84. Finley misses the jumper in the lane and Steve turns the corner on Dirk to tie the game at 86-all to force a Mavs timeout with 9:43 left in the game. The Suns have now gone on a 22-6 run since Erick went to the bench with his fourth foul. Out of the timeout, Jason misses a trey from the corner but the Mavs ‘D’ it up and the Suns get a shot clock violation. Dirk misses a trey over Hunter but the ball goes off the Suns. Jason goes to Dirk who again is dropped to the floor by Hunter, but no call. Steve drives the paint and kicks to Jackson for the trey and the Suns lead. Jason pulls up from the elbow and misses and Steve kicks to Richardson who drives in for the layup. Jerry attacks Marion putting a third foul on Marion. Jerry nails both free throws to pull the Mavs back within three points at 91-88; Steve goes off the pick and roll but loses the ball in the paint. Jerry again attacks the paint but loses the ball in the paint. Steve answers with a 15-footer and Dirk loses the ball out of bounds. Steve pulls up for the trey but Josh clears. Josh goes to Dirk who turns around and sinks it over Richardson. The Suns go to Richardson who gets the left hand flip to go. Jason drives the rim against Steve and gets the and-one with 6:01 left in the game. Amare returns during the free throw attempt that Jason sinks to pull the Mavs within two points at 95-93. Amare spins in the lane for the dunk. Jason is left wide open and nails a trey but the Suns attack quickly as Shawn gets his own miss tipped in. Jason attacks the basket as Shawn gets his fourth foul with 5:14 left in the game with the Suns up 99-96. Out of the official timeout, Jason goes 2-2 from the charity stripe to pull the Mavs within one point at 99-98. Jackson throws up an air ball from behind the arc as the Mavs go to Dirk who draws the foul at the weak side elbow with 4:42 left in the game. Dirk goes 2-2 from the stripe to give the Mavs the one point lead at 100-99. Amare rolls into the paint but loses the ball on the way up. Josh picks up his dribble that forces a Mavs timeout with 4:17 left in the game, the Mavs up 100-99. With the hometown crowd on their feet, Dirk drills a trey off the Dampier screen and Josh clears a missed Jackson trey. Jason misses a 19-footer and the Suns go to the pick and roll to Amare who misses the baby flip. Dirk’s shot is blocked by Marion and Marion misses the trey. Richardson gathers the rebound but Nash is fouled by Josh Howard (his third) as the Suns take their fourth timeout with 2:48 left in the game with the Mavs leading 103-99 as the Suns have missed their last five shots. Nash launches a trey as Jerry gathers the rebound. Jackson immediately fouls Jerry who heads to the charity stripe with 2:40 left in the game. Jerry goes 1-2 for the Mavs 104-99 lead. Steve goes off the screen and Jason gets called for a non-shooting foul, the Mavs last team foul. Steve blows by Nash and finds Richardson who misses but is cleared by Nash. Marion blows the bunny and the Mavs work the clock as Jason launches a trey with 3 seconds left on the clock. The Suns push and Dirk fouls Marion but Shawn misses the free throw. Amare fouls out with 1:40 left in the game hooking Erick on the missed Marion free throw. Josh tries to take the free throws for Erick but the officials have none of it. Erick sinks the first free throw to the cheers of the crowd. Dampier misses the second try and Nash finds Marion on the reverse that is tipped in by Hunter for a 105-103 Mavs lead. Dirk misses and the Steve launches a trey to give the Suns the lead at 106-105. The Mavs go to Dirk who finds Josh for a goal tended flip to give the Mavs the lead at 107-106. Steve drives the lane but has the ball tipped out of bounds. The Suns call timeout with 34.6 seconds left with the ball and down by one point at 107-106. Out of the Suns full and 20 second timeout Richardson goes to Marion who misses over Dirk. Dirk gets the board and is fouled immediately by Jackson with 27.9 seconds left. Dirk goes 2-2 from the line for the 109-106 Mavs lead. The Suns go to Steve in the lane whose layup rolls around and in. Richardson fouls Jerry Stackhouse with 11.5 seconds left with the Mavs clinging to a 109-108 lead. Jerry calmly sinks both free throws for the three point lead. Steve pulls up in transition and nails a trey with 5.7 seconds left. The Mavs don’t see Avery screaming for a timeout as Jerry dribbles up court and misses a trey as the fourth period expires. Over time.
Dampier controls the overtime tip and the Mavs go to Dirk who misses the layup. Steve drives and flips to Richardson who misses the trey but Nash gets the board. Steve finds a cutting Marion who is fouled by Josh with 4:15 left in the game. Marion makes both free throws for the Suns 113-111 lead. Dirk misses the layup and Steve pushes to Richardson for three. Erick clears the missed trey and Jason attacks Nash in the paint who is called for the foul on the floor. Jason launches a trey and gives the Mavs the 114-113 lead but Nash answers immediately with a trey of his own over Dirk and the Suns 116-114 lead. Dirk misses at the bucket and Marion nails an uncontested trey for a five point Suns lead. Avery calls timeout with 2:50 left in the game down 5 points, 119-114. Out of the Mavs timeout Dirk inbounds to Jason who kicks to Jerry who slithers in for the layup. Steve drives the pain and makes a falling away jumper in the paint. Stackhouse nails a baseline jumper. Steve works the clock and Marion sticks the floater for the 123-18 lead. Jerry spins in and is sent to the line by Hunter with 1:34 left in the game. Jerry makes both free throws to pull the Mavs within 123-120 as Finley replaces Dampier. Steve brings the ball up and gets blocked by Jason but the Marion gets the ball and is sent to the line with 1:15 left to go in the game. Marion nails both free throws for the Suns 125-120 lead as Dallas takes timeout with 1:15, down 5 points at 125-120. Jason brings the ball up and goes to Jerry who finds Jason in the corner for the miss. Nash fouls Finley on the rebound and Michael makes both free throws with 1:01 left in the game to pull the Mavs within 125-12. Steve works the clock and Steve finds Richardson on the block but Finley deflects the ball out of bounds. Steve sets up again and runs the clock again. Marion goes by a fallen Josh but misses. Dirk clears but is fouled hard by and sent to the floor hard by Jackson with 14.7 seconds left. Jackson has fouled out and is replaced by Barbosa. Dirk nails the first free throw but misses the second. The Mavs foul Richardson with 13.5 seconds left who misses his first free throw. Richardson nails the second for the Suns three point lead. Out of the Mavs timeout Finley inbounds to Dirk who misses the trey. Nash is fouled with 8.3 seconds left. Steve makes both free throws for the Suns 128-123 lead. Jason dribbles up the court and nails a trey. Dirk deflects the inbounds pass and the Suns call timeout with 2.7 seconds left with the Mavs down 128-126. Richardson inbounds to Marion who is fouled by Dirk with 2.6 seconds left. Marion goes 2-2 from the charity stripe for the Suns 130-126 lead. Josh inbounds to Dirk who flips a three quarters shot that hits the top of the backboard.
UPN 21 : B+++++++++++; Absolutely stunning camera work! +36
Avery : F; Avery had the Mavs ready who again controlled the first half, but a blown call at the end of the game that allowed Steve to tie the game forcing overtime will be what-iffed all summer.
Howard: B-; Josh had a double-double with 21 points (7-14 FG, 0-1 trey, 7-8 FT) and 14 rebounds and didn’t lose his temper. Led the Mavs in turnovers with 3. +30
Nowitzki: F; Dirk had the chance in overtime to tie the game with 13.5 seconds left and force a second overtime but missed the trey. Dirk was getting fouled left and right, but that’s when you need to dunk. +27
Dampier: B-; Erick bounced back from not being able to dunk the ball to get 13 points (6-8 FG, 1-2 FT) to go with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. Zero turnovers. +20
Finley: F; Michael struggled offensively most of the game only getting 7 points (2-10 FG, 1-5 treys, 2-2 FT) in a game where he was needed to nail his shots. Zero turnovers. +7
Terry: C+; Jason led the Mavs with 36 points (13-25 FG, 4-7 treys, 6-9 FT) pushing the ball much better than any other game in this series with Nash picking up 5 fouls. Unfortunately Dirk was the team leader in assists as Jason had only 2 assists to one turnover.
Stackhouse: D; Jerry came in and attacked the basket to get to the free throw line six times for 19 points. Still Jerry settled for too many outside shots on a night when his shot wasn’t falling (4-13 FG, 0-2 treys). +9
Armstrong: C; Darrell brought in his trademark energy, but only provided a brief rest for Jason on his way to five minutes. Armstrong didn’t attempt a shot but had a blocked shot and a steal against one turnover. +2
Henderson: B-; Alan provided a nice backup for Erick even drawing a key offensive foul on Amare. Zero turnovers. +3
Daniels: DNP-CD.
Bradley: DNP-CD.
Harris: DNP-CD.
Van Horn: DNP-CD, Left ankle sprain.
Typical Chef Ed Type
|