Mavs vs. Suns Series Articles

[kriD]

Mavs-Suns series preview

It was Nash who left the Mavs, so it's time for cheers to turn to jeers

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

It may hurt. It might even go against your basic principles. But it doesn't matter.

You have to boo him.

You know who we're talking about, too. Just like Michael Finley felt the wrath of Mavericks fans in the series against San Antonio, the time has come to let the other formerly beloved Maverick have it with both lungs.

Boo Steve Nash.

If you think about it logically, it makes sense. Finley left because the Mavericks waived him to save money with the amnesty clause. They got rid of him.

Nash left on his own. He bailed on the Mavericks, not the other way around.

So if Finley deserved razzing, then Nash deserves more.

"It's definitely time to let him have it," Jerry Stackhouse said Tuesday. "And we're not joking about this one. This one's for real."

Of course, as Stackhouse mentioned afterward, it might also be good just to "let sleeping dogs lie" and not get the two-time MVP too worked up.

But venting on Nash also would serve another purpose. It would show that the Mavericks aren't the only ones who have taken on the personality of their coach. It would prove that fans are getting tougher-minded and more physical, too.

Like booing Nash, this entire series will constitute unfamiliar territory for the Mavericks. In their two other visits to the Western Conference finals (1988 against the Lakers, 2003 against the Spurs) they did not own the home-court advantage.

Now, they are the clear favorite to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

So just boo him. It's the right thing to do.


Is he waiting in the wings?

Almost certainly not. But it's a little disconcerting to know that the Suns kept Amare Stoudemire on their 13-man playoff roster. Is there any chance now, more than a month after the postseason began, that the big man is ready to give it a go?

The Suns say no way, but the truth is hard to come by when gamesmanship is being employed in the playoffs.

More likely is the return of Kurt Thomas, who has been out since February with a broken foot. He is expected to play at some point in the series.

If Stoudemire doesn't return, the Mavericks will be spared these beastly numbers the 6-9 forward put up in the second round of the playoffs against them last season.

Game Pts. Rebs. Field goals
1 40 16 13-21
2 30 16 9-20
3 37 14 13-24
4 15 5 3-8
5 33 18 10-17
6 18 6 7-11
Total 28.8 12.5 55-101 (54.5%)


From one French dude to another

There's a rumor going around that Eva Longoria has thrown Tony Parker under the bus and she's angling to hook up with her latest Frenchman du jour. Boris Diaw was a reserve guard for Atlanta. Now he's a starting center for the Suns. He's the next big thing in a long line of greatness from France that started with Parker and survived the export of Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Antoine Rigadeau.

OK, maybe it's not such a long line of greatness.

But Diaw – whose full name is Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod (of course it is, he's French) – has turned into a Stoudemire starter kit. In his first two seasons, he never averaged more than 4.8 points, 4.5 rebounds or 2.4 assists.

Now, he's a triple-double waiting to happen.

The 6-8 Diaw had four of them in the regular season and is averaging 16.4 points, 6.1 assists and 5.9 rebounds in the playoffs.

Here's what Diaw did in four meetings with the Mavs this season:

Games-starts: 4-3

Minutes: 36.8

Points: 15.3

Rebounds: 7.5

Assists: 6.0

Field goals (.491): 26-53


Advantage lost

Against San Antonio, the Mavericks had a built-in edge when it came to free-throw shooting, even if the Spurs got better as the series went along. Now, the Mavs are going up against the one team that can outshoot them from the stripe. The Suns have been best in the league at canning free throws in the playoffs, making 85.2 percent of their chances. The Mavericks, meanwhile, have hit 82.9 percent. If you have to foul a Sun, Boris Diaw is your best option among their regulars, but even his team-worst 75.9 percent in the playoffs is very respectable. The Suns' top shooters from the line in the playoffs:

Player FT made-att. Pct.
Leandro Barbosa 41-45 91.1
James Jones 18-20 90.0
Steve Nash 61-68 89.7
Shawn Marion 48-54 88.9
Tim Thomas 27-31 87.1
Raja Bell 32-38 84.2


Thanks a lot ... now sit down

The Mavs' centers were big against San Antonio, particularly in Game 7. Now, it's not even clear if they can get off the bench for this series.

DeSagana Diop, broken nose and all, had seven points, four rebounds and two blocks in 10 minutes in Game 7. He outscored Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and every Spur in the overtime with three points, and added two rebounds and a rejection.

But as effective as Diop and Erick Dampier were against the Spurs, the Suns' smaller lineup likely means their chances will be diminished in this series. Expect more Keith Van Horn and three-guard attacks than traditional center play.


Odds are, Mavericks are in the driver's seat

Funny what a win over the defending champions in seven games will do a to a team's reputation with the all-important odds-makers.

One online bookie service, PinnacleSports.com, had the Mavericks as 9-1 longshots to win the NBA title on April 20, just before the start of the playoffs.

After beating the Spurs, the Mavericks are 9-5 second-favorites. Detroit is even-money.

Miami is 7-1, and Phoenix is 9-1.

Here's the odds on the Phoenix-Dallas series:

Scenario Odds
Dallas in four 15-2
Dallas in five 5-2
Dallas in six 9-2
Dallas in seven 3-1
Phoenix in four 30-1
Phoenix in five 18-1
Phoenix in six 6-1
Phoenix in seven 10-1


No answer for Dirk

Dirk Nowitzki is coming off a monster series against San Antonio, when he hit big shots, big free throws and matched Tim Duncan blow for blow.

Now, he goes against one of his favorite teams to play against, if you believe the stats. Nowitzki's 29.5-point average (along with 12 rebounds per game) ranked second among his output against the seven other playoff teams in the Western Conference. The list (all regular-season numbers):

Opponent Points Rebounds
Sacramento 30.0 10.0
Phoenix 29.5 12.0
Denver 27.8 9.3
Memphis 27.8 9.0
San Antonio 25.3 9.5
LA Lakers 23.7 12.7
LA Clippers 21.0 11.7


One and dones

Some quick-hitters going into the series:

• Jason Terry averaged 21.3 points against the Suns this season in spite of shooting just 28 percent from 3-point range (7-of-25).

• The teams split four meetings, each winning on the other's court once.

• The first game of the season was a 111-108 double-overtime Mavs win in Phoenix that took 3 hours, 7 minutes, which gave it something in common with most playoff games.

• The Suns use a tight rotation in the playoffs. Seven players have gotten all but 95 of a possible 3,460 minutes in the playoffs.

• The Mavericks are deeper. Already, eight of them have started at least one game in the playoffs, and 10 of them are averaging 10 minutes or more per game.


Rebound machines

The Mavericks are the proud owners of an NBA record after outrebounding their opponent in 11 consecutive games to start these playoffs.

That they are 8-3 in those games is no coincidence.

They also outrebounded the Suns in three of the four regular-season meetings, losing the glass war, 38-37, in the Suns' 115-107 win at AAC on March 5.

Average margin: Mavs 56.5, Suns 49.5.

Regular-season breakdown:

Mavs Category Suns
106.0 Points 109.0
46.8 FG pct. 47.6
30.0 3-pt pct. 44.3
69.8 FT pct. 77.6
56.5 Rebounds 49.5
15.0 Assists 25.5
2-2 Record 2-2

[kriD]

Nash-Nowitzki split good for both

[By David Moore / The Dallas Morning News]

One of them sings the best of David Hasselhoff at the free throw line to relax.

The other gets mentioned in a Nelly Furtado song.

Give Steve Nash the edge. Nothing against Hasselfhoff, who ranks somewhere between William Huang and William Shatner on the pop artist scale, but if Nash had stayed in Dallas, I've got to think he would have steered his friend Dirk Nowitzki in a different musical direction.

A lot of things would have been different.

Nash would not have collected consecutive MVP awards, joining Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Michael Jordan as the only guards to do that back-to-back. It's unlikely Nowitzki would have expanded his game to this degree since Nash would have been around to make sure the forward got the ball in his comfort zone.

Both appeared to lose part of what made them special when the Mavericks let Nash walk as a free agent. The opposite has been true.

Nash and Nowitzki aren't better players because they're apart. But they have increased their stature in ways that would not have been possible if they stayed together. They have been forced to assume a greater portion of the responsibility and leadership they once shared in Dallas along with Michael Finley.

The Western Conference finals between the Mavericks and Suns isn't about what Nash and Nowitzki once had on the court. It's about what they have become; stars that fit into the team framework, yet they are capable of standing alone.

"Both have done unbelievable jobs of moving on, or in Dirk's case staying behind, and making it work for their franchises," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said.

Nash will tell you he's a better shooter than he was with the Mavericks. He's figured out how to expend less energy on the court and picked up nuances of when and where to get teammates the ball.

Not that he was deficient in that area. A team with Nash as its point guard has led the league in scoring the last five seasons.

"He hasn't changed," Nowitzki said. "Only the athletes around him, and they fit perfectly with his game."

The Suns are the Xbox version of what the Mavericks were under Don Nelson. The love of the 3-point shot is the same, but Phoenix has more athletes and players to slash to the basket than the Mavericks did when Nash was here.

Nash and Nowitzki ran the pick-and-pop.

Nash and Amare Stoudemire run the pick-and-pummel. Once Stoudemire was injured, Nash adapted and made sure seven players on the Phoenix roster finished the season with career scoring highs.

The bigger adjustment has belonged to Nowitzki. About 80 percent of his offense came off the pick-and-roll with Nash. He estimates that has dropped to 50 percent.

Nowitzki isn't the spot-up shooter he was. He doesn't get as many looks in transition. A game that once revolved around timing and rhythm is now about putting the ball on the floor, working inside-out and isolating the defender.

The ball is in Nowitzki's hands much more than it was when Nash was a teammate. That's why he's spent the last two summers working on his ball-handling.

"Since he is gone, I am making more plays for my teammates and I have expanded my game," Nowitzki said.

Nash and Nowitzki always add something to their games in the off-season. Neither is ever satisfied. Once they were apart, they just worked on different things.

"Obviously, I wouldn't be a two-time MVP if I had stayed," Nash said before leaving Phoenix on Tuesday afternoon. "Collectively, we both would have improved. We're both highly motivated. We're both competitors. I probably wouldn't have been an MVP candidate, but I think Dirk would have been.

"We maybe wouldn't have had the individual growth that we've had highlighted the way it's been highlighted, but we would have definitely had the same improvement in our game."

Both are trying to go deeper in the playoffs than they've ever gone. The two would have been great if they had stayed together, Nowitzki said, but now they stand in each other's way.

"There was a lot of room for us to be a championship team, especially with Avery as coach and the discipline and accountability he brought in," Nash said.

"At the same time, it's been exciting for us to watch each other try and make it work."

Now, if we can just get Nowitzki to work on his taste in music.

[kriD]

Suns must battle fatigue against Mavs

By GERRY FRALEY / Dallas Morning News

PHOENIX – Now comes the hard part for the Phoenix Suns.

To carry on in the NBA playoffs, they have to win the battle of mind over body. Past performances say the deck is stacked against them.

When the Suns open the Western Conference finals Wednesday, it will be their 15th playoff game in the last 32 days. Their opponent, the Mavericks, will be playing only their 12th game in the same amount of time.

Phoenix's grind includes a pair of Game 7s. The Suns distinguished themselves in those tests by twice shooting 60 percent and winning each game by at least 20 points. They scored the most Game 7 points since the ABA-NBA merger in a 127-107 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.

"Maybe we get it going in Game 7," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Our team has risen to the occasion every step of the way."

So far.

History says the Suns' run is about to come to a screeching stop. Multiple Game 7s wear down a team mentally and physically.

In the NBA, good teams rarely let playoff series go the distance, especially in early rounds. The Mavericks helped themselves by sweeping Memphis in the first round.

By going to a Game 7 in each of their first two series, against the Los Angeles Lakers and the Clippers, the Suns have put themselves in a terrible position.

In 1966, the NBA went to a format in which the final three rounds were best-of-7 series. Since then, only seven teams have played two consecutive seven-game series. The next step was not pretty.

Only one of those teams won its third series. The 1988 Los Angeles Lakers, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson in the forefront, beat Detroit in seven games to take the championship. The Lakers performed the iron-man feat of playing 21 games in 45 days.

The other six clubs were fried and went a combined 9-24 in losing their next series. The group includes the 2003 Mavericks, who lost the conference finals to San Antonio in six games. The current Phoenix backcourt of Raja Bell and Steve Nash played on that Mavericks team.

Bell, who has grown in stature with the Suns, professed to be unconcerned about the toll of two consecutive seven-game series.

"Your body can take a lot more than you think it can," Bell said. "You've got to tell your body that it's got to do what it's got to do. The Mavericks just had a tough series, too."

Nash was more sanguine. During the Clippers series, he admitted that the playoffs had already "melded into one long game."

It is getting longer.

"It doesn't have to be our downfall," Nash said. "It's a lot better to be playing ball every other day rather than being on vacation wishing we were here. As long as we put that in our heads, we'll get over the fact that we've played a lot of games."

Nash has had a tendency to wear down in the playoffs. Limited by back and leg woes, he struggled for several games against the Clippers. Answering catcalls from former NBA player Scottie Pippen, Nash rallied with 29 points and 11 assists in Game 7.

There was a three-day holiday before Game 7, a delay that helped Nash heal. Nash admitted that without the extended gap between games, he probably would not have played so well. This series will be on the every-other-day format.

During the Clippers' series, D'Antoni said the Suns caused their own problems by having to go seven games against the Lakers. A team can take only so many Game 7s.

[kriD]

Mavs must rev it up a notch

After toughing it out to top Spurs, Suns' blazing speed offers a different challenge

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

The exhale is over.

The Rio Bravo series is done. River rodents were exterminated, replaced by desert rats.

And rest assured they are different animals. The San Antonio Spurs provided a slower, more defensive-minded test. The Phoenix Suns, against whom the Mavericks start the Western Conference finals tonight, know only two speeds: hair-flying and cheek-flapping.

So the Mavericks do the chameleon as best they can as they start their second trip to the conference finals in the last four seasons.

The euphoria of winning the Riverwalk rumble had not completely faded Tuesday. How could it? It was only one of the best series in NBA history by most accounts.

But Jerry Stackhouse summed up the Mavericks' attitude best after an afternoon practice that was heavy on adjusting the team's thought process from down and dirty to fast and frantic.

"It was a sense of relief, but also a sense of urgency, if you can figure that out," Stackhouse said. "We knew that it was good to be done with that, because we were hanging in the balance from having exit interviews with you guys today. A thin line, it is.

"When we win Game 16 [of the playoffs], that's going to be the best win in franchise history, if we're blessed enough to get there."

But there was no way to downplay the Spurs series, which went seven exhausting games. Stackhouse said it was all he heard about, that Mavs fans didn't even seem concerned about the NBA championship.

"They were just concerned about beating the Spurs," he said. "But we've got a little more of a goal than that."

And the next step happens in a hurry. Less than 48 hours after celebrating at San Antonio's AT&T Center, the Mavericks will take the court at American Airlines Center hoping for a little payback against the Suns, who ended the Mavericks' season last year in the second round of the playoffs.

"It's a pretty quick turnaround," Dirk Nowitzki said. "We enjoyed it last night. But it's a completely new game now. San Antonio was a great defensive team. And they go to [Tim] Duncan almost every time. It was a post-up series. Now you've got to reprogram yourself."

The Mavericks will go from trying to push every possession up the court as fast as the Spurs' bear-hug defense would allow to racing back after baskets as fast as possible. If they beat the Spurs with offense, it will be their defense that slows the Suns to something less than a blur.

The Suns know to expect something different. They beat the Mavs in six games last season, but with Amare Stoudemire out virtually the whole season, they have been a different team. They no longer can overpower teams.

"It'll be a different series," Suns guard Steve Nash said. "We have totally different teams. Last year, with Amare and Joe [Johnson], we had guys who were outstanding talents. This year, we're smarter, a little better defensively. Last year, we did it with more dominant talent. This year, we do it with a little more teamwork."

That is not to be confused with smoke and mirrors. While the Suns lead the NBA in the playoffs with an average of more than 110 points per game, they are susceptible to fatigue. They usually only play seven players, although that rotation could grow if Kurt Thomas returns during the series after missing three months with a broken foot.

Avery Johnson didn't take much time to enjoy the victory over the Spurs. Dissecting the Suns became job one.

"I know I'm getting paid to find out how to do it, but if you have any suggestions, I'm open," he said when asked how to slow down the potent Phoenix offense. "I haven't seen anybody do it."

The Mavericks have the home-court advantage. But it wasn't any benefit to the Spurs in the last series. The Suns won twice at AAC in last year's playoffs and were 1-1 in Dallas this season.

The Mavs will turn the page completely tonight in Game 1. But they were completely within their rights to revisit the seven-game brawl with the Spurs.

Stackhouse said the play of Nowitzki, who averaged 27.1 points and 13.3 rebounds against the Spurs, was typical of the Mavericks' resolve.

"Dirk was wrong," Stackhouse said. "He said he wouldn't be able to get 30 points in that series. But I told him that nobody can stop him when he's rolling.

"We know San Antonio was the champ. But we won that series for the fans, the real fans who stuck with us. We played our hearts out. Now, we also understand what's ahead."

Most likely, another challenging, difficult battle – just against a different breed of animal.

[kriD]

This time, Mavs can stop Nash

[By Tim Cowlishaw / The Dallas Morning News]

Steve Nash is coming back to Dallas to flaunt another league MVP trophy in Mavericks' fans (and Mark Cuban's) faces.

When he leaves this time, don't expect him to be headed for another series as he was a year ago.

Last year, Nash crushed the Mavericks by averaging 30.3 points and 12 assists and led Phoenix to a 4-2 series win to advance before losing to San Antonio. This time the Mavericks already have discarded the champion Spurs and are prepared to avenge last year's playoff defeat to Phoenix.

It won't be easy.

It will be done.

"We don't want to trade baskets with them," Mavs forward Jerry Stackhouse said. "That's not this team's style. We want to play like we did against the Spurs, keep it right around 100 points."

The Mavericks learned the need to do that a year ago. When Phoenix scored 110 or more points against Dallas, the Suns won all four games. When the Mavs held them to 109 or fewer, Dallas won.

They know what to do. Doing it comes next.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers tried to slow the Suns. They did it for stretches, but not when it mattered in seventh games. The temptation to follow Nash into the lane and run away from the Suns' array of 3-point shooters is simply a difficult natural instinct to put aside.

"I know I'm getting paid to figure out how to [slow down Phoenix]," coach Avery Johnson said. "But if someone has a suggestion, I will listen because I haven't seen anyone do it."

But the fact is that these Suns, though in the Western Conference finals for the second straight spring, are not as dangerous as last year's Suns.

In 2005, Amare Stoudemire emerged as a true star in this league. He killed the Mavericks with 28.8 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.

Stoudemire isn't playing in this series, barring some miracle recovery that Phoenix has managed to keep quiet. He missed all but three games this season following knee surgery.

And Nash, though voted MVP once more, isn't the same Nash he was last May. Fatigue is going to play a role in this series. There are no extra off days between games and the Suns have had to battle through 14 games to get here.

A year ago Nash averaged 30.3 points and 12 assists against Dallas. He tore them apart. Coming off three days' rest before Game 7 on Monday night, Nash scored 29 to get his average over 20 for the playoffs.

He has been a reluctant 3-point shooter at times and is hitting 34 percent from long range, well below his norm.

"We have to make it harder for him this year," said Johnson.

The man who can do that, if he can recover just part of his offensive game, is Devin Harris. He played only nine minutes against Phoenix in last year's playoff but should be more of a factor this time.

On the flip side, Dirk Nowitzki is not the same Dirk as last year, which is good news for Dallas. His maturation, if it wasn't evident to everyone before, was on display with his 37-point night in Game 7 against the Spurs.

If Nowitzki wants to show people he was a more deserving MVP than his buddy Nash, this is the perfect stage.

Other reasons you have to believe this series favors the Mavericks include the 3 R's:

• Rebounds – Phoenix got crushed by the Lakers on the boards. Then the Suns got crushed by the Clippers on the boards. They are getting outrebounded by nine per game.

The Mavericks have outrebounded the Grizzlies and Spurs by six per game. Johnson has transformed the Mavs into a team that pounds the boards. The Suns have no chance in this department.

• Results – Phoenix took seven games to beat a 45-win Lakers team. The Suns took another seven to beat a 47-win Clippers team.

Dallas opened against a 49-win Memphis team and won in four straight. The holes in the Mavericks' game are much harder to exploit than those in the Suns'.

• Revenge – The Mavericks were embarrassed by this team a year ago. At least they should have been. And right after Dallas lost to Phoenix, the Spurs knocked out the Suns in five games, showing what a team with a real commitment to defense and a post-up game on offense could do to Phoenix.

Johnson was only beginning to install those traits in the Mavericks a year ago. They are much closer to being a complete part of this team now.

So is the understanding that beating the Spurs, though a major accomplishment, means nothing more than the Mavericks are halfway home.

Dallas in six.

[kriD]

It's now time to judge DFW's favorite Sun

By GIL LEBRETON
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

If the Mavericks truly are going to bury their ghosts, why not confront them in short order?

After Michael Finley and the Spurs, in other words, why not Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns?

It's been two summers since Nash took the money and ran. Yet, a lot of people here still love him. Hey, a lot of media people here still love him. It's hard not to like Steve Nash.

But from a Mavericks standpoint, it's time to see the judge.

If owner Mark Cuban made an egregious mistake two years ago, let's see somebody prove it. This series. These two weeks.

Two summers ago, the evidence spoke for itself. Nash's scoring average had dipped. The Mavericks had been cleanly spanked out of the playoffs by the Sacramento Kings, a series in which Nash had been badly outplayed by Mike Bibby.

At age 30, however, Nash was given a six-year, $63 million free agent contract by the Suns. Cuban's best offer was four years at $9 million per season, with a possible guaranteed fifth season based upon minutes played.

Nash took the money. Mavs fans got out the Kleenex tissues. The Lakers traded Shaquille O'Neal to Miami.

And, in a fortnight, the Mavericks became Dirk Nowitzki's team.

One of the sillier dispatches of the playoffs came from a Phoenix area newspaper this week. It said, paraphrasing, that since the Suns beat the Mavericks last year in the playoffs, there's no reason that they can't do it again.

Ah, the Groundhog Day movie theory.

Funny, but I thought last year's Phoenix team had Amare Stoudemire, now injured. That Phoenix team also went on to lose to San Antonio. This Mavericks team just beat the Spurs.

More than that, though, Nash and his balky back are one year older. Meanwhile, Nowitzki and head coach Avery Johnson have just spent their first full season together, and the Mavericks are 12 months tougher and wiser.

You can do the salary cap arithmetic all you want in figuring out how different the Mavericks would be, if Cuban had committed $45 million to Nash. No Erick Dampier? No Jerry Stackhouse?

The more baffling NBA math remains how "two minus one" has equaled more on both sides of the equation.

Nash has been the catalyst behind the Suns' emergence as one of the conference's elite teams. Yes, a two-time most valuable player.

Without Nash, however, his buddy Dirk has blossomed to the fullest. In his sidekick role, Nowitzki's slightest shortcomings and failures seemed magnified.

Now, his broad German shoulders are carrying the team.

All MVP credentials aside, Nash doesn't carry a team. He tugs it along, whisking it around corners.

Confronted by a Bibby, however, his defensive indifference becomes a minus.

Think about it. The Mavericks and Spurs just concluded a series for the ages -- seven games, six of which went down to the wire.

Under Johnson's system, in how many of those would Nash, a poor defender, have been in at the end?

Yes, Nash is gone, but the Mavericks have learned to play offense without him. The numbers have proven that.

It's hard to blame Nash for leaving. The difference between $45 million and $63 million may seem laughable to some, but knowing Nash, he will put the extra $18 million to good use.

Phoenix saw him as a prized last piece in the puzzle and spent what it could. And Cuban, well, he had fresh memories of what happened against the Kings.

No, don't boo Steve Nash. When provoked, you may remember, the little guy can run off and score 48.

Rather than boo, it's maybe time to cheer the changing of the guard. The new coach. The new pair of shoulders that carry this Mavericks team.

Without Nash around, Nowitzki has become the complete player that Don and Donnie Nelson always said he would be. He can still shoot. But he has proven to be an energetic rebounder and an asset as a defender.

This time, it's Nowitzki who's made the players around him better.

A coincidence, since Nash is no longer here? Well, let's see.

The Spurs are gone. An old memory is in town.

Sure, you still like Steve Nash.

But it's Dirk's team now.

[kriD]

SUNS NOTES

Marion accepts challenge to slow Dirk

By JEFF CAPLAN
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Draped in a towel at his locker and afforded no time to savor a second consecutive Game 7 victory, Phoenix Suns forward Shawn Marion insisted that his team isn't spent and that its size and depth deficiencies aren't as glaring as might appear. Oh, and, one more thing -- he's got Dirk.

"Yeah, I got him," the spring-loaded, 6-foot-7 Marion said of guarding Mavericks' superstar Dirk Nowitzki when the Western Conference Finals begin tonight at American Airlines Center. "He's 7-foot tall so there's only so much I can do on him, but I'm going to make it as hard for him as I can. He's probably going to watch some tape to get ready, so be ready."

After Nowitzki declared he wouldn't score 30 against the Spurs and Bruce Bowen's bear-hug defense, he did it twice, including 37 in the series clincher, and he's playing like a man on a mission.

Marion surrenders five inches to Nowitzki, but he plans to use his rangy arms and darting quickness to throw the leading scorer of the playoffs (of those remaining) off his rhythm.

"It's hard to block his shot, so I just have to stay home, make him shoot off-balance shots, make him work for it," Marion said. "I have to take away easy buckets and keep him from getting putbacks. It's not an easy job, but I've got no choice."

Marion and the fleet-footed Suns provide Nowitzki and the Mavs a radically different set of challenges than the low-post-centric Spurs. The Suns rely heavily on a free-wheeling, six-man rotation that pushes the pace and shoots 3s as if they're a layup drill.

The flip side is a swinging-door defense. The Suns have allowed 106.9 points in their 14 playoff games. They've scored nearly 110 points per game in the playoffs, 118 in eight wins.

Deeper and bigger, Dallas will also run, but coach Avery Johnson has molded the Mavs into a more playoff-traditional, defensively disciplined team with a more formidable inside game than years past.

"They can go big, they can go small, but they're the type of team that can adjust," Suns forward Tim Thomas said. "They have so many guys that can play so many different positions. It's one of those things where the matchups are going to be a good test."

The Mavs and Suns split four regular-season games. Phoenix took the last two matchups in March and April with outputs of 115 and 117 points, winning by a margin of 10.5 points. Nowitzki averaged 29.5 points and 12 rebounds in the four games.

Steve Nash and the Suns ousted the Mavs 4-2 in the second round last season. This time, without injured center Amare Stoudemire and with supposedly weary legs, they are the decided underdog.

"People are always going to second-guess us, but we're done just trying to outlive our critics," said Nash, who struggled with his shot and a bad back against the Clippers but came through with 29 points and 11 assists in Game 7.

"Now, we're just trying to live up to our own expectations."

Bell a major impact

Raja Bell played a mostly defensive role on the 2002-03 Mavs team that advanced to the West Finals. He spent the next two seasons improving his jumper at Utah and has emerged as a 3-point and defensive specialist in his first season with the Suns.

He made 24 of 47 3-pointers against the Clippers and is averaging 15.8 points in the playoffs.

Thomas getting close

Ex-TCU star Kurt Thomas, out since late February because of a stress fracture in his right foot, is close to returning. The power forward did not dress in Games 6 or 7 against the Clippers and his availability for tonight is uncertain.

Thomas, 6-9, 235 pounds, veraged 8.6 points and 7.8 rebounds during the regular season. His interior defense, even in short shifts, would be welcomed by the Suns.

[kriD]

MAVERICKS NOTES

Nowitzki building with inside game

By MERCEDES MAYER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

DALLAS -- The evolution of Dirk Nowitzki's game may have been on display in the Mavericks' seven-game series with the Spurs.

Mostly a perimeter threat his first six-plus years in the NBA, Nowitzki took only eight 3-point shots in the Western Conference semifinals series against the Spurs (making one), instead opting to take the ball inside.

"Everybody knows that shot is my strength, and they're trying to take that away," said Nowitzki, who, with that aggressiveness, attempted 80 free throws in the series, making 73. "I've just got to mix my game up and go inside and drive and, if they double-team me, make my teammates better."

Former Mavs coach Don Nelson helped Nowitzki develop into an All-Star with an ability to create mismatches along the perimeter. Then, Mavs coach Avery Johnson made the big push for Nowitzki to develop a more all-around game in which the 7-footer can play on the low block yet still step out and knock down a 3.

"[Dirk] hasn't been fortunate like me to play for 10 coaches," said teammate Jerry Stackhouse, with a laugh. "That's how you have to look at it. For a long time and how Dirk's game was defined, a lot of that had to do with Nellie's concepts."

Diop's nose broken

After seeing a specialist Tuesday, Mavs center DeSagana Diop learned that his nose had been broken by an elbow from Spurs' center Tim Duncan on the first play of overtime in Monday night's Game 7.

Diop, who practiced Tuesday, will have to wear a face shield indefinitely to protect his nose, much like the one Detroit guard Rip Hamilton wears.

Nash story line fading

The questions have already started coming -- and probably will continue -- about Steve Nash's return to Dallas. Old story line, most of the Mavs are saying.

Nash left Dallas for Phoenix two years ago, and he has been back plenty of times since, including in the second round of last year's playoffs.

"We dealt with that so much last year; hopefully we won't have to answer as many questions about it this year," Avery Johnson said. "All of that stuff is behind us. We just want to play basketball."

Lesson learned

Dirk Nowitzki passed up an opportunity to drive inside and try for an easy layup or draw a foul as time wound down in Game 6, instead forcing a 3-pointer that came up short -- just like the Mavs did in the game.

"I said to myself that if I was ever going to be in that situation, I had to drive, especially with so much time on the clock, and make something happen," Nowitzki said. "I'm glad the ball went in and it forced overtime."

Briefly

Avery Johnson estimated that about 2,000 fans were lined up to greet the Mavs late Monday night at Love Field when the team plane landed.

"That was special," Dirk Nowitzki said. "I didn't even think anybody was waiting. It makes you feel good that the city's paying attention."

Tickets could be released at the last minute for fans to purchase for Game 1. Visit mavs.com to check for seats.

[kriD]

NEW LOOK

Tougher Mavs appear ready to reach Finals

By ART GARCIA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS -- Normalcy returned the day after.

Nothing like Steve Nash and the breakneck Phoenix Suns dumping a bucket of ice water on your head.

"It was a sense of relief but, at the same time, a sense of urgency, if you can figure that one out," Jerry Stackhouse mused Tuesday afternoon. "It's good to be done with that one."

The euphoria and emotional bloodletting of outlasting the San Antonio Spurs in seven games is tempered by the sobering reality of what lies ahead for the Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals.

The series that decides the West representative in the NBA Finals begins tonight with the first of two games at American Airlines Center. The Mavs are in the conference finals for the third time but own the home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series for the first time ever.

That home edge, in addition to dispatching the last year's champs, elevates the Mavs into a position more rare than just being a step removed from the championship round.

The Mavs have to be considered favorites to reach their first NBA Finals since their inception 26 years ago.

"We're built to win it all this year," Jason Terry said. "This is not a three-, four-year process with the team that's put together.

"Going through last year, we thought we had a chance. The difference is this year we believe we have a chance."

The belief turned into proof against the Spurs, a team featuring former two-time MVP Tim Duncan and a cast of championship-tested veterans.

Up next is the current two-time MVP, and though Mavs fans don't have any love lost for Duncan, Nash could inspire the Michael Finley treatment.

"It's definitely time to let him have it, and we're not joking about this one," Stackhouse said. "This is for real."

The Mavs had to run to beat San Antonio. No one runs better than the Suns.

"We want to run at a comfortable tempo for us," said Stackhouse, who averaged 16 points in the previous round. "I don't think running at their pace is what we want to do, although we're not afraid to run."

The Suns are averaging 109.8 points per game in the playoffs (allowing 106.9) in beating both the Los Angeles teams (Lakers and Clippers) in seven games.

The Mavs are scoring 101.8 points and giving up 94.2.

"It's a completely new game," Dirk Nowitzki said. "San Antonio was a great defensive team. They go to Duncan almost every time. It's a post-up series, and, now, you've got to reprogram yourself.

"You've got to get back in transition after a basket; you can't relax. You've got to run back as fast as you can because Stevie's always throwing those long passes and they're pushing it."

Though the Spurs abandoned their big guys and went small in an attempt to spread the Mavs out, the Suns aren't about to change what they do.

"All we have to do is outshoot them four out of seven," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We don't have to do it every night."

While San Antonio has been the Mavs' measuring stick for the past six years, Nowitzki is the only Maverick to experience the two previous series against San Antonio.

In some ways, the matchup against Phoenix is more personal than the Spurs. Nash, on so many levels, is a big reason why.

The Suns eliminated the Mavs in the second round last year (4-2) in a series in which Nash justified his first MVP. He not only outplayed Terry for six games; he made the Mavs' decision to let him walk look like possibly the biggest mistake in team history.

"His team knocked us out last year, so there's a lot in store for us, at stake for this series," Mavs coach Avery Johnson said.

Ten of the 13 players on the Mavs' playoff roster were with the team last season.

They remember the feeling of being sent home for the summer.

"We felt it was a disappointing one last year," said Nowitzki, averaging 28.6 points and 11.3 rebounds per game in the playoffs. "I thought we had a great chance last year to beat them. We had everything going in our favor. We stole Game 2 there and came right back and lost Game 3 at home and gave the home-court advantage right back.

"Hopefully, we can turn it around with home-court advantage in our favor this year."

The Mavs and Suns are different teams this season for different reasons. Phoenix overturned most of its roster and overcame what could have been a crippling loss with Amaré Stoudemire being lost to injury.

In his first full season as coach, Johnson has molded the Mavs to mirror his no-nonsense, tough-minded mentality. He has helped Nowitzki expand his game by reining much of it in.

Nowitzki touches the ball on almost every possession without being trigger-happy. His selectivity and willingness to take the ball to the basket strong resulted in only one 3-pointer and 73 made free throws against San Antonio.

Nash can't help but be impressed by the change in his former pick-and-roll partner.

"It was probably a tough adjustment at first for Dirk playing so freely offensively for so long and then to change to being so disciplined and playing so close to the vest," Nash said. "It's a change, but one that obviously benefited his team and made him a better player."

Nowitzki's game his evolved. So has the image of the team, owner Mark Cuban says.

"The whole Dallas Mavericks brand changed," he said. "Dirk is not soft. They'll never call him 'irk again. They'll never say he can't post up or take the ball to the basket. They'll never say we're soft as a team. They'll never say we can't play defense."

And they always said the Mavs couldn't reach the Finals.

ONLINE: mavs.com


FOUR REASONS THE MAVS WILL TOP THE SUNS

Staff writer Art Garcia gives four reasons the Mavericks are headed to the NBA Finals:

Dirk, Dirk, Dirk

He's not soft, he doesn't just settle for jumpers, he can mix it up inside, and his will to win was there for all to see against the Spurs. If Dirk Nowitzki continues to play the way he has -- and there's no reason to believe he won't -- the Suns can't match up with him.

To be the best, you have to beat the best

The Mavs did, eliminating the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in a captivating seven-game series destined to be remembered as one of the best ever. There's no better preparation for the Finals.

Home sweet home

The Mavs were in the Western Conference Finals twice before, but this is their first time with the home-court edge. Avery Johnson's team is 4-1 at American Airlines Center in this year's playoffs, and the arena will rock like never before.

They owe Nash

The mop-topped Canadian got the best of his former mates last season. Don't think the Mavs, who just beat another close friend, aren't working the revenge angle. Carrying a team on his back, not to mention the stress fracture in it, while playing every other day might finally be too much for Steve Nash, below, to bear.

[dude1394]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...own/index.html

The Suns' offense is unstoppable. But does Phoenix have enough left in the tank? Meanwhile, Big D has the three Ds: defense, depth and Dirk.
Mavs in 6