Game 3: Dallas at Phoenix (May 28)
Raja Bell again sat out with his strained left hamstring [with the Suns
having no official statement as to the severity of the injury]. The game
stayed close early on with neither team able to string together more than
4 consecutive points. A 3-pointer [his first attempt of the series] by
Dirk Nowitzki started and ended an 8-2 Nowitzki run to give Dallas an
18-14 lead with 4:35 left. Phoenix then scored the next 7 points to go
up 21-18 with 1:30 to go. Phoenix led 25-22 after 1. Boris Diaw had 10
points and Nowitzki had 10 points. Neither team shot well in the quarter
and Phoenix had just 1 assist while Dallas had 5. Dallas had a turnover
and missed 3 shots and Phoenix scored the first 4 points of the 2nd
quarter and Phoenix led 29-22 with 9:40 remaining. Phoenix led 33-30 with
7:30 left and the Suns went on a 12-4 run, including 2 3-pointers by Tim
Thomas, to go up 45-34 with 4:45 to go. Thomas drove with the intent to
dunk and Josh Howard stopped him with a flagrant foul. Heading to the
line, Thomas forced his way through a Dallas mini-huddle and Terry shoved
him and both Thomas and Terry were assessed technical fouls. Thomas hit
both flagrant free throws to give Phoenix a 52-42 lead with 2:05
remaining. Neither team scored over the next minute and Dallas scored the
last 5 points of the quarter. Phoenix led 52-47 at the half. Phoenix had
4 fastbreak points in the 2nd quarter after having none in the 1st
quarter. For the half, Phoenix shot 49% FG and Dallas shot 40% FG.
Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with a 10-2 run to go up 57-54 with 8:45
left as Phoenix committed 3 turnovers. Neither team scored over the next
almost 2 minutes and a jumper by Jason Terry completed a 17-2 Dallas run,
that extended back to 1:08 left in the 2nd quarter, and put Dallas up
59-54 with 7 minutes left. Steve Nash ended the run with a 3-pointer.
Dallas led 63-59 with 4:30 to go and a layup by Nash and 3-pointer by
Leandro Barbosa gave Phoenix a 64-63 lead with 3 minutes remaining, but
Dallas answered with a bucket by Nowitzki and 3-pointer by Howard. Dallas
led 72-68 after 3. Dallas out-scored Phoenix 25-16 in the 3rd quarter as
the Mavs out-rebounded them 15-9 including 5-1 offensive. After having
just 4 turnovers in the 1st half, Phoenix had 6 turnovers in the 3rd
quarter. Neither team attempted a free throw in the 3rd quarter. Dallas
missed their first 4 shots of the 4th quarter and a layup by Diaw and
putback flying dunk by Shawn Marion tied the game at 72-72 with 10:10
remaining. But Dallas connected on their next 3 shots in a short minute
span to go back up 78-72 with 9 minutes left and Phoenix called timeout.
Howard made the nice pass to Keith Van Horn near the basket and he got the
pretty reverse layup and the foul. He converted the 3-point play to
complete an 11-2 run to give Dallas an 83-74 lead with 6:10 to go. Thomas
hit a 3-pointer and Diaw got the 20-footer to make it a 4 point game with
5:20 left. Howard answered with a 3-pointer, Howard got the steal at the
other end, the long rebound off a Nowitzki 3-point attempt went back to
Dallas, and Nowitzki nailed the free throw fade away to give Dallas an
88-79 lead with 4:30 remaining. Phoenix called timeout and came out of
the timeout with, what else, a 3-point attempt by Nash which missed, but
they got the ball back and Nash hit a tough 3-pointer with 3:25 to go.
Dallas missed late in the shot clock and Barbosa nailed an 18-footer to
pull Phoenix within 84-88 with 2:45 remaining. Nowitzki missed, but
Thomas made the bad pass and Howard was able to take it all the way back
for the layup with 2:10 left. Marion missed a 3-point attempt with 1:45
to go. Nowitzki missed a long 3-point attempt as the shot clock expired
with 1:20 remaining, but the shot barely nicked the rim [yes, it did hit
the rim as you can see the ball change trajectory with the baseline camera
view (and can't see it from the overhead replays)] and Stackhouse got the
rebound. Dallas took a timeout and Dallas ran the shot clock down and Van
Horn missed, but Dallas again got the rebound and ran more time off the
clock. Terry drove, stopped, and nailed the 10-footer to give Dallas a
92-84 lead with 33 seconds remaining - Dallas had possession of the ball
for a full minute and 10 seconds. After a Phoenix timeout, Nash missed
inside, but the ball went out of bounds off of Dallas. After the
inbounds, Nash drove for 2 and Stackhouse was intentionally fouled with 19
seconds left. He hit 1-2 FT to give Dallas a 93-86 lead. A jumper by
Marion and 2 free throws by Nowitzki capped the scoring. Dallas won
95-88. Dallas leads the series 2-1.
The stunning numbers were ones for Phoenix - they only had 4 fastbreak
points in the game (all in the 2nd quarter), had just 13 assists, and
didn't have a single steal in the entire game. Dallas has made a
concerted effort to get back on transition defense since their awful
performance in game 1 and it's working as seen by Dallas out-scoring
Phoenix 14-4 in fastbreak points. Dallas out-scored Phoenix 48-36 in the
2nd half as Phoenix shot just 15-41 FG. 9 of Phoenix's 13 turnovers came
in the 2nd half. Dallas had a team-tying playoff low 6 turnovers in the
game. For the game, Dallas shot 41.1% (39-95) FG including 4-15
3-pointers and Phoenix shot 42.7% (35-82) FG including 7-19 3-pointers.
Dallas shot 13-17 FT (with 4 attempts off of intentional fouls) and
Phoenix shot 11-13 FT. Dallas again was the master of the boards and
out-rebounded Phoenix 48-45 including 19-12 offensive. Dallas' largest
lead was 9 points and Phoenix's largest lead was 11 points (the largest
lead an opponent has had against Dallas in the playoffs). Game 4 is in
Phoenix on Tuesday at 8 pm on TNT.
It was another great all-around game by Dirk Nowitzki, and this time he
threw in a couple of 3-pointers (his first attempts of the series [he shot
1-8 3-pointers in 7 games vs the Spurs]. Nowitzki had 28 points, 17
rebounds including 6 offensive, 5 assists, and 2 blocks in 41 minutes.
The Mavs remained a perfect 23-0 this season when Josh Howard scores 20+
points. 16 of Howard's 22 points came in the 2nd half - he shot just 2-9
FG in the 1st half and shot 7-13 FG in the 2nd half. He also had a
double-double with 12 rebounds including 4 offensive and his 3 steals came
in the 4th quarter. Jason Terry had 19 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and
2 steals. The next high scorer was Jerry Stackhouse with 7 points. He
shot just 2-8 FG and 3-6 FT and had 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 31
minutes. Keith Van Horn again started and had 5 points including 2-8 FG,
but it included a nice 3-point play midway through the 4th quarter. He
again played the "center" role when DeSagana Diop wasn't in the game.
Van Horn had 7 rebounds including 4 offensive in 22 minutes. Diop again
played a key role in clogging the middle and had some nice deflections.
He had 4 points and 6 rebounds including 3 offensive in 25 minutes. Devin
Harris again started but was fairly quiet with just 6 points on 3-7 FG and
4 assists in 24 minutes. Adrian Griffin had 2 points and 2 fouls in 11
minutes and Darrell Armstrong had 2 points and 1 assist in 4 minutes.
Erick Dampier and Marquis Daniels did not play, coach's decision.
Phoenix had some good performances, but no great performances. Steve Nash
was the high man with 21 points, but had just 7 assists after having 16
assists in game 1 and 11 in game 2. He also had 4 turnovers. Boris Diaw
still caused Dallas trouble, and a number of his buckets came outside of
the paint. Diaw had 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks, but
also had 5 turnovers. Shawn Marion was a rebounding machine, but seldom
heard from offensively. Marion had just 10 points including 4-12 FG, but
had 18 rebounds including 6 offensive. Tim Thomas had a double-double
with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also had 3 blocks before fouling out
with 6 seconds left in the game. Leandro Barbosa again started for the
injured Raja Bell. Barbosa did better in this game (shot 3-15 FG in game
2) and had 17 points including 6-14 FG and 3 rebounds. The bench
consisted purely of James Jones (29 minutes) and Eddie House (12 minutes).
Jones had 4 points including 1-5 FG and 6 rebounds including 3 offensive.
House had 2 points on 1-3 FG and 1 rebound.
Quotes
Avery Johnson: "Well, this was a good win for us tonight. We tried to
hang in there. Didn't have too good of a 1st half, but we had a pretty
good 2nd quarter where we closed the deficit a little bit when Phoenix had
that 11 point lead. But we just battled for 48 minutes. The game is
never over against the Suns. And, you know, we had some guys that had
some key contributions right at the right time. So good total over all
team effort. We're in the battle against a special basketball team in the
Suns and the way that they play. We know we got to get back on defense
and try to take away some of their easy baskets and try to guard the 3
point line, and still they made 7 tonight, but I thought we did a decent
job of trying to guard the 3 point line. So we'll get back to work
tomorrow and see what happens in game 4."
Johnson on the 2nd half: "Well, again, we changed the lineup at the half
and I wanted to go with Diop. I thought that was a key for us. We tried
to save his legs a little bit in the 1st half, that's why I left him out
so long in the 1st quarter, and he was able to come out in the 3rd quarter
and finish strong for us and just help us around the basket. You're going
to give up some 3s, maybe, when he's in there - hopefully not too many.
But, man, when those guys are driving to the basket, if he's in the
vicinity, it's good to just have somebody around the basket. And then we
think the rebound game has been key for us all year. And we think when we
rebound we give ourselves a better chance to win. So Diop helps us in
both of those areas."
Johnson on offensive rebounds in the 2nd half: "Well, again, I think we
don't get enough credit for being the team that hustles. That's something
that we talk a lot about. And if you don't try to out-hustle out the Suns
with the way they play - for long rebounds, short rebounds, loose balls -
you're going to be in trouble, because they're a 3-point shooting team and
a lot of rebounds are long, and you got to have guys that have that
quickness to get to the elbows and get those long rebounds, and just
hustle. That's what it really boils down to. Teams are so evenly matched
during this time in the playoffs, it really comes down to will and this
team is very resilient."
Johnson on Marion: "Well, I don't know we took him out. I just think he
missed some shots. We try to be as physical with him as we can. He jumps
over our whole team. He looks like he's on a trampoline and we're just
jumping. So, we have nobody to really jump with him. But I think Josh
Howard came in and made a weakside play that was incredible when they set
up a play for Marion. For Josh, that was special that play he made. So
we were much more alert in the 2nd half. Guys, like I said, were really
getting after it defensively. We were really embarrassed by our defense
in the 1st game and I think they kind of have an idea of what they need to
do now and nothing short of it versus this team."
Johnson on tempo: "Well again, I think just part of that having just more
of a balance offense, not taking bad shots. When we take bad shots they
hurt us on the end. So I think when we can just do what we do and work
our offense and work our plays, we have better balance and transition.
You know if you can get 10 steps on a guy that's faster than you going
down the other end of the court, you're at an advantage, but some of
these guys we can't run as fast as those guys so we better get a head
start."
Johnson on time of possession: "It is important. You know, again, when
you get to the playoffs, you just got to try to make some adjustments.
And when you're dealing with a basketball team that's very dangerous
offensively, you better have a solid approach to your offense. That's
something we've talked about. We haven't solved anything yet. This is a
7 game series. Nobody, I think, really has an advantage. So like I
said, for me the best part of this week is being able to get back on the
practice court because that's been a key to our season, having guys that
really not like to practice but love to practice."
Johnson on Diaw: "Well he's hurt us. We haven't had an answer for him.
He had 14 points on us - burned us really early in the game - 8 out of
their first 12 or 14 points. But we thought starting Diop in the 2nd half
would give us a better opportunity to try to guard him. He's really
obviously turned into a great, a heck of a player right now. And, you
know, when he gets in the 30s, that's something that we have a problem
with. So we got to try to make it as difficult on him as we can because
he's turning out to be a special player."
Johnson on the close of the 2nd quarter: "Well, it was just in a situation
there where our defense was soft. So I just wanted to turn it up a little
bit and trap Nash and we were fortunate enough to get 2 traps on him where
he turned the ball over, and then we got some baskets, easy baskets, on
the other end. JET, Terry got loose for a layup when we got a turnover.
So just wanted to turn up our defense a little bit. I thought we were a
little soft defensively, we turned it up. It was fortunate to get a
couple of turnovers and we think that gave us a little energy going into
the halftime."
Dirk Nowitzki: "Yeah, I thought we really controlled the tempo great. I
thought especially in the 2nd half, we got back in transition, which is
big against this team. We only gave them 36 points in the 2nd half and
just were great defensively and offensively. We took our time. We wanted
obviously to run when the chance was there. But if not we wanted to slow
it down, look for some shots. I thought we didn't really make a lot of
shots out there, we only shot 41%. But at least if you get a shot up
every time and don't turn the ball over, you know, that keeps them from
running too. If they have to play defense for 20, 24 seconds all the time
and they don't get all the run-outs that they do when you turn it over.
So, I thought obviously the tempo was a lot better in game 2 and game 3 as
in game 1 and I think that's a big key why we won both games."
Nowitzki: "Well obviously they were right there, you know. With a couple
minutes left, I missed the shot and Tim [Thomas] came down and bobbled the
ball and Josh made a great play and took it in all the way. I mean, down
the stretch you got to be a little lucky too and I think that turnover was
big. And we missed a couple shots down the stretch and Stack had 2 big
offensive rebounds - the one he tipped out and one of them he got. So I
think obviously when they play small lineup you got to go in there and get
some offensive rebounds too. And we got 19 of them today, which was big."
Nowitzki on Diop: "He's been doing it all season long for us. He's long.
He's one of our best defenders down low. He's great shot blocker for us.
He doesn't really care about offensive that much at all, if he gets
touches or not. That's not his game. He brings energy for us. He brings
length and shot blocking, and he's been phenomenal. He's still young. He
hasn't really had a chance to perform in this league in his 4 years in
Cleveland. So, you know, he's fired up to play every night and he gives
us energy and he's been big the last 2 games."
Nowitzki on having the ball for a minute of game time late in the 4th:
"Well you know, like I said, obviously big offensive rebound is big, and
in our game it keeps possessions alive. It keeps the other guys on
defense and that's really not where Phoenix wants to be is on defense.
And you know, like I said, Stack got in there a couple times, tipped the
ball out, got over Barbosa and got big rebound and kept possession alive.
And like I said, offensively I didn't think we were great tonight. We had
some good looks that we just didn't make, but if you get in there and get
your hands on balls and are active, I think that's a big key."
Nowitzki on Howard: "Well you know, he's been great. I think we really
missed him in game 1. We missed his athleticism on both ends of the
floor. And game 2 he was aggressive getting to the basket. He made some
big shots today, made a heck of a play when he came out of nowhere and
took the lob away from Shawn Marion. He's just, you know, we need his
athleticism on the perimeter and we really missed him in game 1. But he
came out firing again tonight and he's a big key why we're up 2-1."
Nowitzki on Phoenix missing Bell: "Well obviously they miss him. I
watched, obviously, their series and he was great. He was making shots
from all over the place. He's one of their best perimeter defenders. So
obviously, we got a little lucky. We got a break that he's not playing.
But we all know basketball injuries are part of it, and we missed Josh in
that 1st game. And, you know, good teams have to fight through injuries.
And I'm sure they're going to battle back in game 4."
Josh Howard: "I think we have confidence in ourselves and our defensive
schemes. It's something we've been working on all year, and even the end
of last season when Avery came. It's been something that's been instilled
in us and we're playing ball with it. They came with it. We knew they
would, they're a great team. They made it to this series last year when
it was against San Antonio, so they know how to play the game. We came in
and competed and we stopped their main plays."
Howard on his flagrant foul: "Things happen, man. If the shoe was on the
other foot, I would say one of their guys could knock me down like I did
him."
Howard: "I think we have confidence in ourselves and our defensive
schemes. It's something that's been instilled in us and we're playing
ball with it. We can't let down. We have to fight like we did tonight."
Howard: "It's a nice opportunity. But it's [now] game 4 - it's back in
Phoenix and we know they're going to come out and play hard. We can't let
down, we have to fight like we did tonight."
Howard on game 4: "We don't want to open the door. It's good to get
homecourt back, but we have a tough one coming up. We have to be ready to
fight."
Jason Terry on having a good game after struggling in the first 2 games:
"Tonight was a little bit of a struggle also, but picked up 2 early fouls.
My job was to go out and be aggressive on both ends for my team. And I
thought I was able to do that, especially in the 2nd half. The guys were
setting picks and giving me wide open looks."
Terry on just 4 Phoenix fastbreak points: "Well, we've just tried to get
back at all costs, pick up the closest man to you, and really just not
crash the board with 3 and 4 guys. If you have opportunity to get a loose
rebound, like we did in the 4th quarter, we'll take it. But it's not our
focus to just run in there and not get back on defense. These guys are so
dangerous when they're out there in transition and, you know, our focus
solely first on defense is to get back."
Terry on Howard: "Well, I thought Josh was very active with his hands. He
got his hands on plenty of balls. There was plenty of us - Diop blocked
some shots, Dirk blocked a big shot, Stackhouse. I mean, we made enough
defensive plays to where down the stretch, when we needed to get stops, we
were able to do so. And then we executed offensively. That's what these
playoffs are about - getting to the 4th quarter and being able to execute
on both ends of the floor."
Terry on Diop: "For a big man he's moving his feet very well. I mean,
he's had to switch out on guys like Nash and Barbosa and he's able to
contain and not get penetrated on as easy. And so he's a presence. He's
a presence in the middle and then defensively he doesn't hurt us because
he can still run and he's athletic enough to get back and match up."
Terry on his game: "My plan tonight was to come out extremely aggressive.
I guess I was a little too aggressive, drew a charge on Steve Nash right
there at the first 2 minute mark, and it really had me passive until
halftime. But, you know, I broke out of it. My teammates encouraged me.
Rolando Blackman stayed in my ear while I was on the bench watching the
game. And in the 2nd half, it was like just take advantage of your
opportunities. If you can get to the basket, do so. If the jumper is
there, take it. And that's what I was able to do."
Terry on just 6 turnovers: "We learned from our mistakes in game 1, where
we got to the 4th quarter, we had 4 or 5 turnovers. That was very
uncharacteristic of us. We got to value every possession. As you know,
every possession is critical, especially at this point."
Terry on defense: "We still got a ways to go. I mean, if we look at our
1st half, we should be a little disappointed with our start in the 1st
quarter. We did not execute well at all. But we came out in the 2nd half
and really put together some stops which helped us get a lead and take
momentum."
Jerry Stackhouse: "Our defense picked up. We rotated and covered for each
other better than we did in the 1st half. Obviously they had a lot of
excitement in the building to start the game but once we settled down in
the 2nd half, we played more of a style and more of a tempo that we like."
Stackhouse: "It didn't really do anything for our confidence. We've been
confidant the whole time. We're playing a good team, one of the best
teams in the NBA, so we have to come out with the same effort and the same
focus. You can't let up on this team. This team is a team that if you
make mistakes, they make you pay for it. And we try to limit our mistakes
and that gives us our best chance to win."
Stackhouse on Phoenix's fastbreak points: "We were just going to try to
keep chipping off that number as much as we could as the series went on.
Obviously, we took a big chunk out of it tonight."
Stackhouse: "Possessions mean so much at the end of the games."
Stackhouse: "We don't feel that we've got them figured out at all. We've
just got to keep playing with that effort. That effort of getting back.
That effort of covering for each other. That makes all the difference."
Devin Harris: "It took us a while to get used to that pace. The 1st game,
it really wasn't us. We just really were kind of lost out there."
DeSagana Diop: "I thought I might start the 2nd half, but I wasn't really
sure. I was there to guard Boris Diaw. But really, we were all just real
active and always moving to the ball. We got a lot of deflections."
Keith Van Horn on Diop: "He covers the whole, from lane line to lane
line."
Van Horn: "Every single time down the court, we need to talk, communicate,
point, and pick up somebody. That's all we've really done these past
couple of games is communicated well ... and that's really benefited us."
Darrell Armstrong: "Time of possession works big time in basketball. They
have to play another 20 seconds or so of defense. It takes a lot of air
out of you."
Mike D'Antoni: "You know, I thought the turning point was the end of the
1st half where we were up 11 and missed about 2 or 3 half layups and a
couple of bad plays and came in at 5 points up instead of about at least
11 or not 13 or 15 points. And that, came out a little flat the 2nd
half. They went ahead and we kept battling and we just didn't get the
thing done. We just didn't play real smart."
D'Antoni on just 4 fastbreak points: "Yeah, we got it wrong. Didn't do
it, didn't have the necessary energy. We didn't force the issue. I
don't know if they were looking down the floor seeing a couple of their
guys back and the rest of the guys quit running. But if we don't run,
spread the floor, and hit them quick, then we're going to end up with
about 88 points. And that's more or less what happened and we'll have to
rethink it, redo it, and do a better job next time out."
D'Antoni on going inside when Dallas had big men out there: "A little bit
of that, but we also resorted to a lot of 1-on-1 playing. I mean, in the
1st quarter we had 1 assist, and that's not us. And that's because we
weren't running and we weren't moving the basketball and we got into a
halfcourt mentality. And I don't know if it's because, you know, the
level of the game was up and we just kind of took the foot off the
accelerator or if, you know, mentally tired - I don't know the reason.
But I know the answer - we can't do it. Somehow we got to find the
resilience and the effort to do it. We'll be here in 2 days and we'll
figure that out and we got to do it. If we want to win, that's what we
want to do."
D'Antoni on if he thought it was a shot clock violation with 1:20 left:
"Well yeah, I thought so. And look at the replay, it might have grazed it
a little, I don't know. It looked like it came straight down, and looked
like it. And that was a big play. And if they missed it, that was a big
play."
D'Antoni on if the 2 Dallas offensive rebounds on the possession killed
them: "Not those rebounds, they got all the loose ball long rebounds. The
ones that kill you are the big ones - they stand underneath and they're
too big for us. All this stuff, they were quicker than we were and that's
unexcusable. And that happened a lot tonight. They got all the loose
balls, they got all the fastbreak points, they got all the stuff we need
to do. If we don't find a way to do it, then there's no way we can beat
them by pounding on them. That's not our game. And they did better at
playing small than we did."
D'Antoni on if he considered re-inserting Nash when the game was tied
72-72: "I was considering. But, you know, I wanted to, you know - first
of all, we got it back with that group who was on the floor and they were
going good. 2nd of all, if I can steal another minute or 2 for Steve
going down the stretch with them big. They did scored 2 quick baskets,
if I'm not mistaken, and we called timeout and went back that way. So,
looking back, yeah, I could have changed it. But, you know, probably
next time it happens I'd do the same thing."
D'Antoni on Marion's offense: "You'll have to talk to him about that. I
don't know, I don't know. We need to run the floor, I do know that, and
that's everybody."
Steve Nash on 4 fastbreak points: "Well, I think they're just getting
back. They're doing a better of getting back in transition. And, you
know, I don't know if fatigue is a factor for us, but we're not running
like we need to. And, you know, everybody's got to be a little fatigued
this time of year. We can't make that become an excuse and we can't give
into that. We got to keep going and try to make it work. And, you know,
it was a little frustrating not to see us really give the extra effort
tonight."
Nash on if they didn't swing the ball like they usually do: "You know, I
thought especially in the 2nd half, we got caught too many times going
1-on-1, and even when we did go 1-on-1, you know, not looking to pass when
we draw another defender. You know, I think that we're not as good a team
when we play that way. You know, we have to move the ball. We have to
take advantage when the advantage is there. And sometimes the advantage
isn't to score or to shoot always, it's to make a play for your teammates.
And I think tonight we didn't always make the game easy for us. We made
it difficult. And too many times settled for 1-on-1 opportunities."
Nash on a turnover late in the game when Thomas tried to pass the ball to
him: "I think it just got deflected. I think it just got deflected."
Nash on missing Bell: "Personally, I think personality, you know. I just
think we're out there with our shoulders slumped. And, you know, we're
not smiling, we're not fighting, we're not, you know, playing with the
necessary fire it takes to win. I mean, I think that's the most
disappointing thing is just the way we're going out there and playing. I
mean, we had a good 1st half in many respects; but in the 2nd half, it's
one thing not to play great, it's another thing for everyone to get quiet
and to kind of give in. And so I think we really miss his leadership,
the way he plays, just by example, and how he fights and how he never
gives in. You know, it would be easy to say his talent and the depth it
would afford us, but more than anything I think just his toughness and
his attitude."
Nash on late in the 2nd quarter: "Yeah, I think that was a bad stretch.
We were up 11 and we went in up 5. And, you know, I think again we just
got carried away sometimes without making the extra pass, and it led to a
couple turnovers, led to a couple of tough shots instead of wide open
shots. And then they came down and made a few shots. So you know, it's
with our team, with the lack of depth and lack of size, we can't afford to
go through stretches where we don't make the extra pass, where we, you
know, don't play smart and make the game easy for ourselves. You know,
and we force it or play against the way our team needs to play. You know,
we're not going to do well. So I thought we had a little stretch right
before the half that would have been great. I mean, everything was going
well for us. We could have stretched it to 15 instead of going in up 5.
So that was a key stretch for us."
Shawn Marion: "Everyone was guarding me tonight - Howard, Stackhouse,
Dirk, Van Horn."
Marion: "They just came out with more energy and effort and the will to
win in the 2nd half."
Tim Thomas: "We still had a chance to win the basketball game after not
shooting well in the 2nd half, but costly turnovers here and there, long
rebounds and loose balls, but for the most part we played hard and left it
out there on the floor. Transition is one of the things we love to do,
but in the 2nd half they kind of slowed us down in transition and once we
got into a halfcourt set it was a little bit too much 1-on-1. It's easy
to defend people when it's 1-on-1 when everybody's focusing in on the guy
who has the ball. We just have to do a better job executing and moving
the basketball. I wouldn't say the next game is a must win, but we have
to come in and get this game. Now it's a series. Both teams have won on
the opponents floor."
Thomas: "We just came out a little sluggish in the 3rd quarter and they
came out more aggressive. They made a nice little run and took the
advantage from that point on and we were playing catch-up from that point
on."
Thomas on Dallas getting the loose balls: "They got their hands on the
ball, we didn't. It was an ugly game, but we're okay."
Thomas on a turnover with 2 minutes left in the 4th: "I thought Steve was
there. I was already in motion ready to throw the ball to Steve, then all
of a sudden Josh Howard was there. I didn't even see him coming."
Thomas on the turnover: "I was trying to get the ball back to Steve in the
pick-and-roll set, but Josh is long and athletic. It was a costly
turnover."
Leandro Barbosa: "We had our chances, but they did a good job on offense
and we lost a couple rebounds we should have had. We have another game.
We know that the next game is going to be really important, so we have to
be ready. In the 3rd quarter we didn't play well on offense and they did
well defensively and we couldn't find our game. We try to do the best we
can out there."
James Jones: "It's a numbers crunch. If we win game 4, nobody cares what
happened in game 3."
Jones: "It's 1 possession here, 1 possession there. And right now we're
in a series where each game is dictated by 1 or 2 possessions and missed
opportunities. We missed them tonight. We won't miss them in game 4."
Eddie House on Dallas getting the loose balls: "We hustled and went after
the ball. It's just they were going right to them. I don't think they
were out-hustling us. The ball was bouncing right to them as we were
going after it."
House: "I still think we can win this series. But we have to go out and
play as hard as we can and not fall into what they do best. And that's
let them load up defensively and watch us go 1-on-1."
Game 3: Dallas Mavericks 95, Phoenix Suns 88 at Phoenix (May 28)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Dallas 22 25 25 23 - 95 .438 .267 .411 .765
Phoenix 25 27 16 20 - 88 .444 .368 .427 .846
Halftime: Phoenix 52-47
3rd Q: Dallas 72-68
Technicals: Tim Thomas 2:05 2nd, Jason Terry 2:05 2nd
Flagrant fouls: Josh Howard 2:05 2nd
Refs: Steve Javie, Mike Callahan, Ed F. Rush
Attendance: 18,422 (sellout)
Did not play due to injury: Raja Bell (strained left calf), Kurt Thomas
(stress fracture right foot)
IL: DJ Mbenga (Dal), Amare Stoudemire (Pho)
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Jason Terry 39 9-20 0-3 1-1 19 0-2 2 1 3 2 0
Devin Harris 24 3-7 0-0 0-1 6 1-2 4 1 3 1 0
Josh Howard 44 9-22 2-5 2-2 22 4-12 2 1 3 3 0
Dirk Nowitzki 41 10-23 2-4 6-6 28 6-17 5 1 3 1 2
Keith Van_Horn 22 2-7 0-1 1-1 5 4-7 0 1 0 0 0
Jerry Stackhouse 31 2-8 0-1 3-6 7 1-2 2 0 1 0 1
DeSagana Diop 25 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 3-6 0 0 0 1 1
Adrian Griffin 11 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 2 0 0
Darrell Armstrong 4 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 1 0 1 0 0
Totals 48 39-95 4-15 13-17 95 19-48 16 6 16 8 4
Phoenix Suns REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Leandro Barbosa 41 6-14 1-1 4-5 17 0-3 0 1 2 0 0
Steve Nash 37 9-18 3-7 0-0 21 0-1 7 4 1 0 1
Shawn Marion 47 4-12 0-2 2-2 10 6-18 0 0 2 0 1
Tim Thomas 36 4-8 3-5 3-4 14 0-10 1 2 6 0 3
Boris Diaw 37 10-22 0-1 0-0 20 3-6 4 5 4 0 3
James Jones 29 1-5 0-1 2-2 4 3-6 1 0 1 0 1
Eddie House 12 1-3 0-2 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 48 35-82 7-19 11-13 88 12-45 13 13 16 0 9
patricia
Go Mavs!