# WCF - Game 5 Thread: [2] Phoenix Suns @ Dallas Mavericks [4] [Tied 2-2]



## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

*[Phoenix Suns]** (54-28) (10-8) Playoff record*



*PG **Steve Nash







* - *SG* *Raja Bell







* -* 
SF* *Shawn Marion







* - * 
PF Tim Thomas *







- *C **Boris Diaw*












*Suns Individual Season Stats* 













 * @*​
























*[Dallas Mavericks] * *(60-22) (10-5) Playoff record*​

*PG * *Devin Harris







* - *SG* *Jason Terry







* - 
*SF* *Josh Howard







* - 
*PF* *Dirk Nowitzki







* - *C* *Keith Van Horn







*





*Mavericks Individual Season Stats* 






*Thursday, June 1st - 8:30PM ET/5:30PM PT- [TNT] - American Airlines Center, TX*













*Suns-Mavs Playoff Series Page*​

























Phoenix 106, Dallas 86 
*boxscore* 


*RECAP* 

PHOENIX, May 30 (Ticker) -- Raja Bell returned and brought the Phoenix Suns back from the postseason brink. 

Bell provided an emotional spark and the Suns rediscovered their rhythm in a thorough 106-86 beating of the Dallas Mavericks that evened the Western Conference finals at two games each. 


Leandro Barbosa scored a playoff career-high 24 points and Steve Nash added 21 and seven assists for the second-seeded Suns, who reached triple figures for the first time since Game 1 and finally found a way to slow down Dirk Nowitzki. 

The Suns have yet to lose with Bell and yet to win without him. He suffered a left calf strain in the fourth quarter of their Game 1 win and sat out losses in Games 2 and 3. 

"You see what he means to us," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Nature has a way of healing warriors a lot quicker. Whatever we've needed all year, he's done it spiritually, physically, talent-wise, whatever. And he just stepped up again." 

Feared to be out for the series, Bell started and also provided a lift. He made his first two shots en route to nine points and played his customary annoying defense. 

"We're a confident bunch," Bell said. "We always feel like we have a chance. But we understood, winning another series being down 1-3 was - the odds of that are slim to none. So I felt that this was my shot. If I was going to help, then tonight was a big game for that." 

Bell's jumper started a 12-2 run that closed the third quarter and gave the Suns a 79-67 lead. As Phoenix pulled away in the final period, he added a driving layup - appearing to aggravate the injury - and drew a charge on consecutive possessions before sitting down for good with a wrap around his lower leg. 

"The one thing I knew I wasn't going to be able to do today was explode off the left leg," Bell said. That was part of the problem coming into the game ... I tried to stay away from situations like that. (But) I kind of forgot that I was injured at that point, and more than pull it, it just hurt a lot. So I think I avoided a bullet there." 

"Taking charges, falling - that is Raja," Suns forward Tim Thomas said. "He is a hard-nosed warrior." 

Perhaps more important, Bell's presence allowed Barbosa to return to the bench, where he is more effective. After struggling in the first three games, he made 10-of-13 shots, including 4-of-6 3-pointers. 

"I think Raja coming back helped (Barbosa) and settled him, but also spread the floor out, hit a couple of shots, started getting his confidence up," D'Antoni said. "This is LB. He's this good." 

The Brazilian guard had a 3-pointer in the surge that ended the third period, then added two more in a 17-4 spurt that opened the fourth quarter and gave the Suns a 96-71 lead. 

"We all knew what he was capable of," Nowitzki said. "He came off the bench and really looked in rhythm. The shot looked great. He was taking us to the basket and finishing." 

Nowitzki, who was averaging 27.7 points and 16.7 rebounds in the series, had his worst game of the postseason with 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting, adding seven rebounds. 

"They did a good job once I got the ball and spun," Nowitzki said. "They double-teamed me and they got the ball out of my hands some. But I still have to be more aggressive and look for my game." 

"Every time he tried to take a fadeaway or any shot, we were contesting it," said Suns forward Shawn Marion, who had the primary responsibility on Nowitzki. "We were active and never gave him the same look." 

Boris Diaw had 20 points and nine rebounds and Marion added 15 and eight for the Suns, who shot 54 percent (43-of-79), including 7-of-15 from beyond the arc. 

"We kept our energy tonight and sustained it and they didn't have an answer for it," Marion said. "We kept applying pressure on them. Tonight we were able to stop them and score. Before we would stop them and not be able to score. " 

Josh Howard scored 16 points for the fourth-seeded Mavericks, who had six players in double figures. Dallas shot just 42 percent (33-of-79), and forced just seven turnovers as its defense disappeared. 

"They played more of a complete game, and we just didn't have it," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "We were not there mentally or physically." 

Game 5 is Thursday in Dallas. 

"It's up for grabs, really," Nowitzki said. "It's 2-2, and they showed they can beat us in a big game at home already." 

Wearing a sleeve to help with circulation around his strained left calf, Bell made a pair of early jumpers and gave the defense a boost. 

"I think the rest really helped me a lot," Bell said. "I wasn't able to do a whole lot (Monday), so I didn't know exactly how it was going to feel. But I was pretty committed to trying to give it a shot and they were pretty fair with me about letting me do that." 

The biggest beneficiary was Barbosa, who had started the last two games. He scored 13 points in the first half, when Phoenix shot 59 percent (23-of-39) and went to the locker room with a 51-46 lead. 

"Not having Raja is a trickle-down effect," D'Antoni said. "It really affects (Barbosa)'s speed and being able to open the floor up for another 30 minutes from a guy who can rest guys a little bit more. Everybody takes two or three more minutes off." 

As in Game 3, however, the advantage could have been bigger. The Suns gave away a first-quarter lead although Nowitzki was on the bench with two fouls and frittered away most of a 45-34 advantage with five-plus minutes left in the second quarter. 

"I'm thinking, 'Here goes the nightmare again,'" D'Antoni said. 

Jason Terry's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 67-65 with 3:48 left in the third period, but the Mavericks made just three baskets over the next 10-plus minutes. 

"They outplayed us, outworked us on both ends of the floor," Terry said. "We made a lot of mistakes."


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## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

Lets see if God wants the Suns to go to the NBA Finals. If they win tonight, they will.

C'mon God, we have a canadian on our team.


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## Sedd (Sep 1, 2003)

The key is ending the 2nd and 3rd quarter the right way. Diaw is going to be huge tonight, I feel a triple double coming on.


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## Sedd (Sep 1, 2003)

Sedd said:


> The key is ending the 2nd and 3rd quarter the right way. Diaw is going to be huge tonight, I feel a triple double coming on.


Boy did I screw that up. End of 3rd was attrocious, again.

Also I'm upset that Tim was not established in the 4th.

Also, do not get me started on those bogus tech's. That ended the game there. 

We have to go back into attack mode now. I'm just not sure how many rabbits the SUnus can pull out of thier hats.


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## ShuHanGuanYu (Feb 3, 2005)

Damn, heartbreaking loss. I thought when they were up 77-70 they were gonna keep stretching it. Avery adjusted and they rode Dirk all over us. Believe it or not, I don't automatically think it's over yet. Get it to a game 7 and you never know what'll happen.


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## ShuHanGuanYu (Feb 3, 2005)

Sedd said:


> Boy did I screw that up. End of 3rd was attrocious, again.
> 
> Also I'm upset that Tim was not established in the 4th.
> 
> ...


The techs were definitely bogus, but the Suns made so many mistakes that I could barely watch. Mental error after mental error. Yeah, getting Tim only one shot was a major failure of the Suns coaching staff. Good grief, he was on fire.


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## Sedd (Sep 1, 2003)

ShuHanGuanYu said:


> The techs were definitely bogus, but the Suns made so many mistakes that I could barely watch. Mental error after mental error. Yeah, getting Tim only one shot was a major failure of the Suns coaching staff. Good grief, he was on fire.


Yea they were totally out of focus those last 3 minutes. 

Much props to Dirk though. He did what Nash did last year and carried them on his back.


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## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

God, you still there?


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## ShuHanGuanYu (Feb 3, 2005)

Dr.Seuss said:


> God, you still there?


Hahaha. I needed that...


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## Sedd (Sep 1, 2003)

Dr.Seuss said:


> God, you still there?


I hope so! LOL!


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

Blah.


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## mavsmania41 (Mar 27, 2005)

Looking to game 6, do not think that the Mavs have an excuse to blow this game, because we all know that the Suns can come in our house and win. The Mavs need to steal game 6. As a Mavs fan I do not want to go to Dallas with the Nash factor. Espcially if the Suns just rain nothing but 3's and beating the Mavs playing unconventional. I al already about to give you guys the West next with a healthy Amare, knowing how much depth you develope for next year the Suns will be a scary team to play. Still much is to happen. I do not put that stock into those stats that the team that win game 5 when the series is tied 2 all goes on to win 85% of the time. I feel that in this series anything out of the ordinary can happen.


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## Sedd (Sep 1, 2003)

mavsmania41 said:


> Looking to game 6, do not think that the Mavs have an excuse to blow this game, because we all know that the Suns can come in our house and win. The Mavs need to steal game 6. As a Mavs fan I do not want to go to Dallas with the Nash factor. Espcially if the Suns just rain nothing but 3's and beating the Mavs playing unconventional. I al already about to give you guys the West next with a healthy Amare, knowing how much depth you develope for next year the Suns will be a scary team to play. Still much is to happen. I do not put that stock into those stats that the team that win game 5 when the series is tied 2 all goes on to win 85% of the time. I feel that in this series anything out of the ordinary can happen.


I agree. Dirk was outstanding tonight. I thought he was going to lose focus, but kept his head in the game and pulled off a great scoring game.


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## DocLoc (May 29, 2006)

god damn mavericks, they didn't even play good with exception to DURR Nowitzki and Josh Howard. The Suns couldn't hit anything in the 4th, they really could have won the game but some bad calls killed their momentum (i.e. every foul on Nash in the 2nd half) because we all know Steve Nash doesn't foul people in the 4th quarter EVER.

Dirk got a lot of BS calls that sent him to the line and if he wasn't 7 ft tall and German I would have mistaken him for Manu.


time to get faded and drink tonights problems away :cheers: 


with all that being said, let's bring it back to PHX and even this shizzle up fo shizzle because if they want to talk about Dirk bouncing back, Dallas needs to check themselves befo' they rickity wreck themselves when the entire PHX team bounces back


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## 1 Penny (Jul 11, 2003)

Suns lost by 16, dont think the calls would of matter... Dirk outscored the Suns.

They need to contain Dirk next game, contain him to 25.


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## Preacher (May 8, 2006)

We're taking game six. Game six is ours, this Phoenix team has come to far to lose an elimination game at home. We're taking game six, we're taking game six and we're taking game six. Book it. It's my lock of the week and if I were wearing shoes, it'd be my shoe-in of the week.


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## Ninjatune (May 1, 2006)

DocLoc said:


> god damn mavericks, they didn't even play good with exception to DURR Nowitzki and Josh Howard. The Suns couldn't hit anything in the 4th, they really could have won the game but some bad calls killed their momentum (i.e. every foul on Nash in the 2nd half) because we all know Steve Nash doesn't foul people in the 4th quarter EVER.
> 
> Dirk got a lot of BS calls that sent him to the line and if he wasn't 7 ft tall and German I would have mistaken him for Manu.
> 
> ...


WOW. Dirk just owned your entire team, and you blame it on Nash's fouls? Thomas tried to intimidate Dirk and Dirk responded like superstars did. Thomas needs to learn that when he tries to puff up against the Mavs, it just fires them up. Thomas has been our MVP!


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## mavsmania41 (Mar 27, 2005)

As Mavs fans we have to excuse to complains about the officiating, because the Mavs got spanked game 4. If you get beat by 20 points then you have no right to complain about the refs. I know that I even did on the Mavs board, but when I think about the Mavs just got flat out spanked.


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

50 points? two fifty point scorers in these playoffs. who ceded the 50 point games? the suns, both times. damn, the suns give it up easy  Do not make racist attacks on other social groups. pathetic. blaming the refs for everything. Uncalled for.

ShuHanGuanYu


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## Preacher (May 8, 2006)

TX_MAVFAN said:


> WOW. Dirk just owned your entire team, and you blame it on Nash's fouls? Thomas tried to intimidate Dirk and Dirk responded like superstars did. Thomas needs to learn that when he tries to puff up against the Mavs, it just fires them up. Thomas has been our MVP!


Thomas has been your MVP? Please, if not for Thomas "puffing up" the Mavs would've won by twenty. And Dirk did own the game tonight and it had nothing to do with Nash's fouls.


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

Shuhanguanyu edit: Be respectful.


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## ShuHanGuanYu (Feb 3, 2005)

Basketball is a game. I don't come on here to take it out on other people when my team loses. Obey the rules or go elsewhere.


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## Preacher (May 8, 2006)

bootstrenf said:


> Blah


Well then freaking post something! All you're doing is baiting, do you plan on posting something about basketball?


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## ShuHanGuanYu (Feb 3, 2005)

We'll just act like that never happened.


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

didn't watch the game...didn't sound pretty though.


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## Jabba1 (May 23, 2006)

I couldn't help but notice that the thread still reads "tied 2-2". Bit of wishful thinking?

:ttiwwp:


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

Jabba1 said:


> I couldn't help but notice that the thread still reads "tied 2-2". Bit of wishful thinking?



um, no, I make a thread for each game...


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## ShuHanGuanYu (Feb 3, 2005)

Yes, one game thread per game. Not a series thread.


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## Preacher (May 8, 2006)

Jabba1 said:


> I couldn't help but notice that the thread still reads "tied 2-2". Bit of wishful thinking?
> 
> :ttiwwp:


Nah wishful thinking, is hoping my freaking Dirk voodoo doll that I bought off Ebay would actually work. I've already left negative feedback.


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