|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME FLOW
PHOENIX (AP) -- Shawn Marion wants everyone to know he's a
scorer, and not just on those gravity-defying dunks.
|  | | Phoenix's Shawn Marion chases after the ball after making a steal against Dallas' Howard Eisley.
|
Marion tied his career high with 38 points Wednesday night as
the Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks 111-106 in a game that
had major implications in the Western Conference playoff scramble.
"I can shoot the ball," said Marion, who's been a consistent
outside threat much of this season. "I don't know who in the heck
told somebody I couldn't. It made me mad. I've always been able to
shoot the ball, from high school all the way up."
Marion was 16-for-23 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds.
"He was unstoppable," Dallas coach Don Nelson said. "We
didn't have an answer for him. We played some of their guys pretty
well, but we just couldn't find him tonight."
Jason Kidd played all but eight seconds and fell one point short
of a triple-double, finishing with nine points, 13 assists and 12
rebounds for Phoenix, which was coming off a 26-point loss to the
Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
"That's why we're all professionals," Kidd said. "We can't go
out and think about what we did last night. We've got a big game
tonight, so that's what we did."
Dallas lost its third in a row, matching its longest losing
streak of the season, and severely damaged its chances for
homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The
Mavericks were beaten in San Antonio 91-79 Tuesday night.
"San Antonio and Phoenix is a tough back-to-back," Dallas'
Dirk Nowitzki said. "I don't know, defensively they killed us
tonight. We couldn't stop them, and offensively we just aren't
clicking. We are just playing bad right now."
Phoenix got big help from reserves Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers.
Delk scored 23 points, including two free throws that sealed the
victory with 3.5 seconds to play. Rogers added 16 points and 10
rebounds despite a sore right thumb that nearly prevented him from
playing. Cliff Robinson added 15 points.
Michael Finley scored 34 points for Dallas. Juwan Howard added
23 points, Nowitzki 19 and Steve Nash 18.
Down by as many as 16 in the fourth and trailing 105-95 with a
minute to go, the Mavericks stunned the Suns with a rally that cut
the lead to 107-104 on Michael Finley's 3-pointer with 27.9 seconds
to play.
Kidd and Howard each hit a pair of free throws to make it
109-106.
Dallas got the ball back with 11 seconds to play when the Suns'
Mario Elie was called for moving with the ball on the sidelines as
he tried to pass it inbounds after a timeout.
But Nash's 3-point try was short.
"I thought it had a chance," Nash said. "It was straight on,
but it was just a little short."
Delk got the rebound, was fouled, and hit two free throws to
clinch it.
"We thought the game was over against a very dangerous team,"
Suns coach Scott Skiles said. "They almost made us pay."
Nash scored the first six points in Dallas' late comeback. His
3-pointer with 58 seconds to go cut the lead to 105-98.
Rogers was called for kicking Nash while going for a loose ball,
then drew a technical for complaining about the call. Nash sank all
three free throws to cut it to 105-101 with 47.2 seconds remaining.
With the defeat, Dallas fell into a tie with Portland for fifth in
the Western Conference playoff scramble, one game ahead of the
Suns. The Mavericks are 2{ games behind No. 4 Utah with four games
to play.
Phoenix led 58-48 at the half behind Marion's 22 points.
Finley led a third-quarter rally that nearly caught the Suns.
His 3-pointer capped 15-7 spurt that cut the lead to 71-69 with
2:51 left in the quarter.
Marion made a turnaround jumper on Phoenix's next possession and
the Suns led 76-73 entering the fourth.
Delk's 3-pointer capped a 16-6 run at the start of the fourth
quarter as the Suns built a 92-79 lead with 6:15 remaining. After
Nash was called for a technical on the same play, Kidd was fouled.
Kidd made two of three free throws to give Phoenix its biggest
lead, 99-83, with 4:30 left.
The Suns had a 16-6 advantage on offensive rebounds and had 20
second-chance points, compared with five for Dallas.
Game notes
Marion had 15 of the Suns' 23 points in the first quarter.
Phoenix was without Tom Gugliotta because of a sprained left wrist.
... Phoenix plays three of its remaining four games at home. ...
The Suns won the season series with Dallas 3-1. ... The Mavericks'
only other three-game losing streak was Jan. 11-15 to Milwaukee,
Phoenix and San Antonio.
 Send this story to a friend
|
|
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Dallas Clubhouse
Phoenix Clubhouse
RECAPS
Miami 102
Boston 97
Chicago 113
Washington 109
Atlanta 107
Cleveland 102
Detroit 99
Toronto 87
Indiana 100
New York 93
Seattle 107
Golden State 101
|
