| Suns Take Home Court With Game 1 Stunner Authored by J.T. Magee - May 25, 2006 - 1:17 am
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Boris Diaw hit an incredible shot and left .5 seconds on the clock, winning the game for the Suns and sending the Mavericks into Game 2 wondering what they need to do. His career-high 33rd and 34th points gave the Suns the lead for good and Phoenix closed it out 121-118. Diaw, failing to amass the assists he's known for, shot 13-23 from the floor and 8-10 from the foul line. He also added six rebounds (four offenisve), two assists, one steal and a block. He committed three turnovers in the process. He wasn't alone in his offensive tirade, though.
Steve Nash, who went on a rampage against Dallas last year in the playoffs, continued that trend by scoring 27 points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing out a game-high 16 assists. Shawn Marion tinkered with Dallas' defense and finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and three blocks. He shot 10-15 from the floor and made each of his four free-throw attempts. Tim Thomas, the only other Sun to score in double figures, scored 17 points and added seven rebounds. He made the final two points for Phoenix.
The Maverick who set a career-high in scoring was Devin Harris. He scored 30 points and added five steals. He shot 12-17 from the floor and 6-7 from the foul line. Dirk Nowitzki carried the team on his back for most of the game and finished with 25 points and 19 rebounds, eight offensive. Jerry Stackhouse came off the bench to score 16 points and Jason Terry scored 15 points. Dallas was without starting small forward Josh Howard for all but five minutes of the first quarter. He left the game with a sprained ankle and may be doubtful for Game 2.
The Suns started off hot and took what Dallas gave to them. Each chance he got, Marion would just run down the court and get an easy lay up. Since he's guarding Nowitzki, he has the chance to do this every game in this series. He was all over the place and almost all of his points came within five feet of the basket, with the exception of his ten-foot dunk off a Nash pick & roll in the 4th quarter. It wasn't just Marion that helped them get the win at Dallas.
Diaw was money tonight. There isn't any other way to explain it. The Mavericks wanted to take away Phoenix's 3-point shot, so the Suns went down low. They executed the pick & roll and made sure that Diaw would have a mismatch in the post against one of the point guards Dallas was using to guard Nash. Granted, Diaw still does not have a left hand, but Dallas hasn't figured that out yet and Diaw capitalized on every bucket he got. His jumper was hitting, he was getting to the free throw line and making his shots from there. Maybe he didn't have the overall statistical game he usually does against Dallas (his first career triple-double was against these same Mavs), but he made up for it in the scoring column.
There were some definite negatives for Phoenix tonight. They won't be able to stop Dirk from getting his numbers, just as they couldn't stop Brand, but they can't allow Harris to get all of the open shots he was getting. They allowed Harris to revert to his old days back at Wisconsin by attacking the hoop and the Suns couldn't stop him. Even though they don't have a shot blocker, they must stop Harris from getting to where he wants to go.
As many points as Phoenix scored, they had no help from their bench or from their starting shooting guard, Bell. He only took five shot attempts the entire game, which will not get Phoenix many more wins. If the Suns get their offensive output from the four players like they did tonight, then it's okay. But Bell must attack the basket like Harris was doing to Phoenix's D in order to help the Suns on the offensive end. It wasn't just Bell that couldn't get their offense going, either.
Leandro Barbosa must do more than he did in Game 1. He shot just 1-7 and committed more turnovers (four) than the number of points he put it up on the board (three). He shot just 1-4 from the free throw line and looked like the Barbosa that Head Coach Mike D'Antoni was reluctant to go to last year. He tends to lose his confidence too easily and slows the offense down and speeds it up at the wrong time. When he's in a groove, he's unstoppable. But the Suns need him to be the spark off the bench like he was all season. The same Barbosa who is due to get paid by either the Suns or some team in need of a comb guard off the bench.
The rebounds may have favored Dallas, but Phoenix scored way too many points in the paint. Phoenix took what Dallas was giving to them. In Game 2, the only thing the Suns will want to change is how they get their bench players and Bell, if he even plays, involved. They need to attack the basket like they did in Game 1 and like they did against the L.A. Lakers in Round 1. If they can create the success they did tonight, especialy from Nash and Diaw, they have a chance to go up 2-0 and make me look like a complete idoit for saying that Nowitzki was the real MVP and Nash was just the announced MVP.
Hopefully, they turn that chance into a reality. |
