| Suns Win Game 3, Gain Back Home Court Authored by J.T. Magee - May 14, 2005 - 4:10 am
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Phoenix used a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter to open up the game, beating Dallas 119-102. The Suns were led by center Amare Stoudemire and point guard Steve Nash.
Stoudemire was once again too much for Dallas, scoring (mostly dunking) 37 points, clutching 14 rebounds--eight offensive--and blocking a playoff high 5 shots.
Nash scored a playoff high 27 points and dished out 17 assists, also a playoff high, but led the Suns with seven of the teams 14 turnovers. Power forward Shawn Marion failed to get his seventh straight double-double by one rebound, scoring 21 points, including going 5-7 beyond the arc, and grabbing nine rebounds. Jim Jackson, filling in for Joe Johnson, who was lost to an eye injury in Game 2, scored 17 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Quentin Richardson scored 12 points, all coming from the 3-point line, and had 4 steals.
All-Star Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 21 points on 8-24 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds, led Dallas. Dallas, who shot over 49% in Game 2, including 46% on three pointers, shot just 39%. They had 100 field goal attempts, getting 11 more shots than Phoenix due to having a 12-rebound advantage on the offensive glass.
But they made only one of their 18 three point attempts. That's a miserable 5.6 percent. Swingman Jerry Stackhouse scored 20 points off the bench. Small forward Josh Howard, who was the only Maverick besides Erick Dampier and Darrell Armstrong (3-6 combined) to shoot over 50%, scored 15 points. Starting center Erick Dampier got into foul trouble early again, only playing 13 minutes and finishing with four points and four rebounds.
The biggest difference in this game was Phoenix knocking down their open shots. Everyone had to step up due to starting shooting guard Joe Johnson not being there. Jackson, who was a starter at the beginning of the season in Houston, played exceptionally well, getting two offensive put-backs and his only three pointer in the game in the fourth quarter. Nash got into the lane with ease, either finishing with the left hand, including an embarassing left-handed skyhook over Nowitzki, dishing it to a dunking STAT or passing it out to spot up shooters Richardson, Marion and Jackson. Nash was the best player of the game, but the most exciting was the absolutely unguardable Stoudemire. He threw down some very eye-opening dunks, including two that could easily be posters, over Stackhouse.
Phoenix also benefitted from Dallas' missed shots.
Dallas was effective going inside, but each shot outside of the paint seemed to have a harder time finding its way into the hoop. It also helped that Dallas kept shooting three pointers. The Mavericks could not buy a three point shot even if it presented itself as a Buy It Now option on eBay. Phoenix didnt take advantage of it until the fourth quarter, using that 15-0 run to make their overall road record 34 wins and ten losses. The game was relatively close until that point. Each team had their runs, but was not able to create a comfortable lead. In Game 4, the Suns will try to do the exact same thing that got them the win, regardless of whether or not the Mavericks are making their shots. Just feed the ball to Amare, run pick & rolls with Nash and STAT, and knock down their open shots.
Running a little more couldn't hurt, though. |
