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Suns vs. Mavs WCF

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Well the Suns pulled game 1 out with a game winning turn around by Diaw. He went for 34 which was a career high. I thought Dallas had them down and out, but you have knock PHX completely out, or they will come back and get you like they did tonite. They are extremely fun to watch.

The injury to Bell might be a tough one to overcome if he is out for a period of time and Marion has been nursuing that ankle since game 5 against the Clips.
 
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I wonder what the "Nash shouldn't have won the MVP" folks were thinking when he scored 10 straight points for Phoenix after they were down by 9 with 3:43 left?
 
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BB73 said:
I wonder what the "Nash shouldn't have won the MVP" folks were thinking when he scored 10 straight points for Phoenix after they were down by 9 with 3:43 left?
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I was thinking the same thing. He really could score alot of points, but that is not his mo, he makes everyone around him better. It is the perfect systerm for a pg. You can tell at times that his age is catching up to him tho.
 
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Just for the record, Dallas was 7th in the league in ppg allowed, at 93.1. The team is much improved defensively under Avery Johnson.

Granted, I missed the game, so they may have been playing terrible defense all night. :)
 
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Bucky Katt said:
Just for the record, Dallas was 7th in the league in ppg allowed, at 93.1. The team is much improved defensively under Avery Johnson.

Granted, I missed the game, so they may have been playing terrible defense all night. :)
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You are correct in your assumption. while Dallas is extremely improved on defense this year the fell into the suns trap of running. It also didn't help that josh howard went down and avery felt the need to replace his minutes with KVH :( Who proceded to jack every open look he saw, which was a lot since he sucks
 
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Dispatch

5/29/06

MAVERICKS 95 SUNS 88

Mavs come to life following altercation

Monday, May 29, 2006

Andrew Bagnato
ASSOCIATED PRESS

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</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>KHAMPHA BOUAPHANH ASSOCIATED PRESS </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Josh Howard of the Mavericks commits a flagrant foul against Tim Thomas of the Suns. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


PHOENIX — The first two games of the Western Conference finals between Dallas and Phoenix were all about grace and style.
Game 3 was about toughness. And when emotions flared last night, the Mavericks proved grittier than the Suns.
Sparked by a first-half shoving match between Dallas guard Jason Terry and Phoenix forward Tim Thomas, the Mavericks defeated the Suns 95-88 to take a 2-1 lead.
Flexing their defensive muscle, the Mavericks limited the NBA’s most potent attack to a playoff low in points. The Mavs overcame an 11-point first-half deficit and regained the homecourt advantage they lost in the series opener.
Game 4 is Tuesday night in Phoenix.
"We just battled for 48 minutes," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. "Teams are so evenly matched at this time of year. It comes down to will. This team is very resilient."
The Mavericks are two victories from the first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history.
Dirk Nowitzki had 28 points and 17 rebounds for the Mavs, and Josh Howard added 22 points and 12 rebounds.
The Suns hadn’t lost consecutive games since they dropped three in a row to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. They lost their second straight game without Raja Bell, who is out with a strained left calf, and fell to 1-5 without Bell in the regular season and playoffs.
Throughout the playoffs, the Suns have performed best when they play with emotion and energy. They lacked both in Game 3, and point guard Steve Nash took his teammates to task for it.
"We’re out there with our shoulders slumped and we’re not smiling," said Nash, who led the Suns with 21 points and seven assists. "We’re not fighting. We’re not, you know, playing with the necessary fire it takes to win. I think that’s the most disappointing thing is just the way we’re going out there and playing."
Tempers flared late in the first half when Howard was called for a flagrant foul for hitting Thomas in the face as the Phoenix forward drove to the basket. As Thomas walked to the foul line, he and Terry exchanged shoves, and both players were assessed technicals.
Terry had been suspended for one game for throwing a punch in the second round against San Antonio.
"My plan tonight was to come out extremely aggressive," Terry said. Thomas made both free throws to give Phoenix a 52-42 lead with 2:05 left in the half. But that would be the high point for the Suns. After the scuffle, the Mavs scored the last five points of the quarter to pull to 52-47 at halftime. And Dallas kept rolling in the second half.
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GregOden50 said:
I've been saying Mavs in six all series. I don't think the Suns type of ball will ever make it to the Finals, let alone win a championship. That is until they have a dominant big man...someone like Amare. :biggrin: Mavs have to many weapons for the Suns defense to handle...Dirk, Terry, Howard, Daniels, Harris etc. etc.
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If the Suns wouldnt of lost Raja Bell this series would look totally different right now. Their offense just hasnt been the same like it was in game 1, when he played. I agree it will be tough sledding with him, but don't count them out, just yet, they were counted out in both thier first two series too.
 
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GregOden50 said:
Funny how a player like Raja Bell...who was the fifth leading scorer on the Jazz a couple years ago, could make such an impact on a team with the MVP. If Nash is so valuable he should be able to work through losing Bell...but that's OK. (still mad about LBJ not getting it :biggrin: )
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I'm not sure what you're getting at, Bell's improvement as Phx's #3 leading scorer is a testament to the phoenix system, which is spearheaded by nash. They have 5 guys (almost 6) averaging double figures in PPG. That's ridiculous balance.

I might have given LBJ the mvp award, but Nash has hardly been exposed.
 
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Dispatch

5/31/06

SUNS 106 MAVERICKS 86

Bell’s return uplifting for Suns

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Bob Baum
ASSOCIATED PRESS

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PHOENIX — Raja Bell is back, and so are the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference finals.
Bell supplied the grit with a surprise start despite a slightly torn calf muscle, and his teammates took care of the offense in a 106-86 rout of the Dallas Mavericks last night.
"Well, I guess we’re not done yet," Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said.
Tied at two games apiece, the series returns to Dallas for Game 5 on Thursday night.
Leandro Barbosa, coming off a poor performance as a starter in place of Bell in the Suns’ Game 3 loss, scored 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting.
Boris Diaw scored 20, including a pair of emphatic fourth-quarter dunks that helped the Suns build a 25-point lead.
Steve Nash had 21 points and eight assists, and Shawn Marion 15 points.
Bell had missed the past two games because of a slight tear in his left calf, and all indications had been that he would sit out this one, too.
"I’ve been to war all season with these guys," Bell told TNT at halftime. "I wasn’t going to watch tonight."
He had only nine points but gave Phoenix some muchneeded intensity in 32 minutes of play.
"Half our team is a bunch of quiet guys," Nash said. "He gives us another guy that opens his mouth once in a while, gives us some toughness, some bravado. I can’t say enough about how much his personality means to our team."
D’Antoni called Bell "a team guy. He’s never asked for anything. He’s been a team guy. He just plays hard every night. And, you know, to be able to coach a guy like that is precious."
Dirk Nowitzki managed only 11 points for the Mavericks on 3-of-13 shooting, breaking a string of 42 games in which he’s scored at least 20.
It was his lowest-scoring game all season and the first time he’s scored fewer than 25 points in Dallas’ eight games against Phoenix this season.
"We turned the ball over way too many times, especially early," Nowitzki said, "and we made mistakes all over the place."
Josh Howard led the Mavericks with 16 points but left because of an apparent shin injury with 5:47 to play. Dallas coach Avery Johnson said afterward that "Josh is fine."
It was a rough night all the way around for Dallas.
Johnson drew a technical foul early. His wife Cassandra got into a nose-to-nose argument with a fan, with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban coming to her defense. Security escorted the fan away.
"You know, I can point to a lot of things that were very disgraceful about the game," Johnson said, "but we lost."
He would not elaborate. The Suns shot 54 percent compared with 42 percent for the Mavericks.
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It was surprising how bad the Mavs looked in the second half last night.

It looked like another example of a team relaxing once they had regained home court in the series. And Dirk had an off night.

Phoenix will be a monster next year with Amare back.
 
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