Mavs Too Much In Overtime
Dallas bench killed the Suns
Suns-111
Mavericks-117 OT
Suns Boxscore |
Mavericks Boxscore
Dirk Nowtizki going by former teammate Steve Nash
DALLAS, Feb. 26 (Ticker) -- The Phoenix Suns certainly are not known for their defense nor are the Mavericks, which led to this high scoring battle. Seconds after Joe Johnson hit a go-ahead three, Johnson blocked a jumper that was shot by Michael Finley to make the game go into overtime, which the Suns couldn’t handle Dallas depth as they lost 117-111. Despite going into overtime with all the momentum, the Mavs let Jerry Stackhouse and Keith Van Horn do the talking in the extra period. They combined for 8 of the Mavs 14 points in the overtime. Marion scored 25 points, had 16 rebounds and dished out 8 assists who helped the Suns rally in the 4th quarter to make the game go into overtime. . The Suns scored the game's final seven points, starting with Quentin Richardson's 3-pointer with 62 seconds left to pull within 103-100.
Stoudemire, who scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, hit a pair of free throws to pull the Suns within one in the final minute and, after Nowitzki made an 18-foot jumper over Marion, Johnson buried a 25-footer in the face of Michael Finley with 4.7 seconds left. "We kept making shots, but it just wasn‘t enough to pull it out in OT," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "The team that scores in overtime first wins is what I always say. Joe Johnson hit a big shot for us in the 4th quarter, Q hit a big shot. Amare, we rode him for a while, but it‘s just one of those things.. Everybody contributed and played hard. I thought it was a great game that we had the chance to win, but the Mavs killed us with their depth."
"I came off Amare's pick and had no intentions of passing," Johnson said. "Finley gave me a step so I just hesitated for a little bit and then pulled up for the sure three. He didn't really come out. He gave me about two feet." Van Horn, who was acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, was the biggest factor off the bench for the Mavs as he scored 15 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in his Dallas debut. "I was surprised that I played so well in my first game," Van Horn said. "Coach Nelson gave me the time to show what I can do and he trusted me in overtime to help us get past the Suns." Following Johnson's jumper, Finley took the ensuing inbounds pass and went up for a stop and pop jumper, but Johnson was there again saving the day with his only block of the game.
"I wasn‘t going to let him get an easy jumper without me contesting it," Johnson said. "He went up for it so fast and I just swiped at it and the clock ran out. "We knew that we were in for a dogfight after beating them twice already this season," said Mavericks forward Josh Howard, who scored 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting. "When the game went into overtime, we knew that we had to make a run because we had the home crowd on our side which helped us alot." Nash, Johnson and Stoudemire scored 22 points apiece for the Suns who are now 0-3 against the Mavericks this season. Nowitzki scored 20 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had five turnovers for Dallas. Michael Finley added 16 points for the Mavericks, who have now won 5 of their last 6 games.
Game Photos
Stoudemire throwing down the one hand dunk off the fastbreak
Finley manuevering for the reverse layup
Howard led the Mavs in scoring with 26 points on 11-17 shooting
Jackson struggled with just 4 points off the bench
Nash dominated Terry in the 3rd matchup between the two Western Conference powers
McCarty shooting a fadeaway over Nowitzki
Marion drawing the foul on Nowtizki