Dirk and swarming ‘D’ dampen the Suns
Art Garcia Mavs.com
PHOENIX – A tongue-wagging Dirk Nowitzki may be the defining image of the Mavericks’ come-from-behind 105-98 victory Sunday afternoon at US Airways Center. The unbridled expression followed a stumbling step-back jumper on the left baseline that clinched the win and made for good TV.
But Nowitzki’s heroics weren’t the sole reason Dallas was able to capture another of these regular-season playoff games. The Mavs completely shut down Phoenix in the fourth quarter, a stifling defensive display that frustrated Steve Nash, Shaquille O’Neal, Amare Stoudemire and the rest of the high-flying Suns. Phoenix, up 11 going into the quarter, managed just nine points in the final 12 minutes.
“That’s really what won the game,” Nowitzki said.
The Mavs (48-29) answered with 27 to put the finishing touches on the dramatic comeback before returning home with a solid two-game split against Pacific Division heavyweights. Two days after failing to hold a late lead against the Lakers, Avery Johnson’s crew didn’t falter after taking the lead with five minutes left.
“We took the ball to the basket, unlike the third quarter,” Johnson said. “We moved the ball on offense, unlike the third quarter. It all clicked for us. Swinging the ball helped out with our defense. We just hadn’t been able to win these types of games and it’s good for us it finally happened.”
The win reduces the magic number for clinching a playoff spot to three with five games left, as Dallas remained seventh in the Western Conference. The Warriors (46-31) lost earlier in the day at New Orleans and Denver (46-31) fell to Seattle in double-OT later that night, leaving both two full games back of the Mavs.
Nowitzki didn’t let a bum left ankle hold him back, despite wincing in pain throughout the game. The reigning MVP battled his way to 32 points and 12 rebounds – both team highs – in 38 minutes, his longest showing since coming back. Nowitzki single-handedly outscored Phoenix in the fourth with 12 points.
His aforementioned jumper, a 16-footer, made it 102-96 with 32.2 seconds left and realistically closed out the Suns, who lost two of three in the season series.
“I stumbled about 18 times,” Nowitzki said. “I came off that pick-and-roll and saw the shot clock and saw I had enough time to dribble and not just heave one up from outside. And as I drove I didn’t really have my footing all the way and was caught stumbling there, but was able to get, right at the end, the one little step and it was all that I needed and I was able to knock it down. Definitely a little luck there, but we needed it.”
Luck and Mavericks hadn’t shared many sentences lately. The close-calls against all those contenders had become a source of frustration, but hadn’t crippled the team’s spirit. The recent turn of events suggests, at least, a shift in outlook.
The last three games were against playoff-caliber foes and the Mavs won twice. They also hadn’t beaten a winning team on the road since Orlando on Feb. 4 after eight consecutive losses. That dubious Kidd record against winning teams doesn’t look great, but 2-11 sure beats 0-10.
Josh Howard complemented Nowitzki with 24 points and nine boards. Brandon Bass scored 19 of the team’s 21 bench points and did his best to muscle up to O’Neal, his childhood hero. The two LSU products had shared pickup games, but never an NBA floor.
“Shaq told me he’d never seen my jumper,” Bass said, referring to those summer games in Baton Rouge in years past. “I didn’t have one back then.”
Jason Terry scored 12 and Erick Dampier (eight points, six boards and five fouls) was a presence inside. Jason Kidd’s defensive job against Nash (4-of-17 shooting) overshadowed his eight points, seven assists, six rebounds and four blocks.
“You’ve got to be focused playing against Nash, he’s the best,” Kidd said. “For me, it’s just about trying to make it as tough as possible. He’s going to make shots, make some crazy things happen. You know that’s just him. He’s going to make things happen. Down the stretch we got him to turn the ball over and you get lucky sometimes and we got lucky.”
The defensive stand in the fourth was the Mavs’ best of the season. (The previous low for a quarter this season was 12 points.) The Suns (51-26) missed 12 consecutive shots at one point and had only five points going into the final minute. The Mavs scored 16 in a row to turn a 13-point deficit into a 94-91 lead with 4:08 to play. Some within the locker room called it the best quarter in recent memory.
“Everybody was everywhere,” Howard said.
The Suns had to feel that way. Guarded by Dampier, O’Neal (13 points) played almost the entire fourth and scored just two. Nash missed all six of his shots, including four 3-pointers. Phoenix was 3 of 19 from the floor (15.8 percent) and fell four points shy of its previous lowest-scoring quarter.
“We’ve been playing pretty good defense for a while now and tonight we needed it more than ever,” Kidd said. “We just try to make it as tough as possible on Nash and Shaq and Stat [Stoudemire]. For that, we just try to cover each other and limit them to one shot.”
The game seemed to lack the expected playoff intensity throughout the first half. Both teams shot better than 50 percent, jumpers were lightly contested, if at all, and only 11 free throws were shot in total. The pace was up-tempo, but not breakneck and the lead changed hands eight times before Phoenix settled into a 57-52 lead at the half.
Nowitzki, Howard, Jason Terry and Bass scored all but four of the Mavs’ first-half points. Bass played a key role, especially after Nowitzki picked up his second foul less than five minutes into the first quarter. The backup power forward, coming off a 12-second stint at the LA Lakers, had his jumper working. Shaq wasn’t the only one to notice.
Notables · Avery Johnson giving a percentage on the recovery of Dirk Nowitzki’s high ankle sprain: “It’s not 100 and it’s not 50, so it’s somewhere in between. I wanted you to average it out to 75.”
