If someone were to tell you that the Dallas Mavericks would be without Dirk Nowitzki and we would hold Jason Terry to only 12 points, and Lamar Odom to only 11 points, you would probably think we win this game easy, right? Think again. The Phoenix Suns lost to the Dallas Mavericks tonight behind the play of Shawn Marion along with his supporting cast of Ian Mahinmi and Brendan Haywood.
Although The Suns' plan to shut down Terry and Odom worked pretty well, they weren't prepared for Shawn "3-point" Marion to light them up from beyond the arc. Marion was just 5-15 from three since the start of the season, and never attempted more then two per game. That all changed tonight as the former Sun shot an impressive 4-6 from three and 11-21 overall for 29 points on the night, his highest scoring game of the season.
Add to that Ian Mahinmi scoring 17 points and grabbing 9 rebounds, and Brendan Haywood scoring 10 points and grabbing 6 rebounds, and the Mavericks were simply too much for the Suns to handle tonight.
Read on after the jump for more...
The Good:
Marcin Gortat continues to be the Suns most consistent player. Tonight he scored 19 points and grabbed 17 boards. He wasn't as dominant defensively as he was against Boston, but he still did his job.
Grant Hill was all BAMF tonight, scoring 19pts going 6-10 from the field and 6-7 from the line. He also grabbed 8 rebounds and played very good defense on Odom who was held in check with only 11 points.
Shannon Brown had another productive night scoring 14 points on 6-14 shooting. He's making a case to move into the starting unit.
The Bad:
Steve Nash still posted 12 assists but only managed 8 points off 2-9 shooting from the field, including 0-3 from beyond the arc. Not a great night for Nash, but even his off nights are still impressive by most standards.
Ronnie Price played fairly effective defense tonight on Jason Terry, but he made some bad shot selections and ended up going only 1-4 from the field. We need more production from our new starting two-guard.
The Ugly:
The guys who were supposed to inject new life into the bench, Jared Dudley and Channing Frye, were both mostly ineffective tonight on both ends of the court. Channing did grab 5 rebounds but shot only 2-6 from the field and 0-2 from three. Dudley shot 1-7 from the field and also went 0-2 from beyond the arc. This just isn't getting it done.
Markieff Morris didn't get it done either. He allowed Shawn Marion to light him up all over the court, and shot only 2-9 from the field for 7 points and also committed 5 personal fouls. In his defense ,he did grab 11 rebounds, so he was hustling out there, but he's got to find a way to get back to his early season form on offense and defense alike. The Suns really need him!
Game Notes:
First Quarter:
Markieff will guard Marion, Hill will guard Odom in Dirk’s absence
Designed play for Morris to start the game
Suns running and out to a fast start. Suns up 6-2 and Dallas calls a T.O.
Beautiful pass from Nash to Price for a 3 from the corner!
Mavs get lucky on two 3-pointers in a row from Kidd then Marion
Hill answers back with a 3 of his own!
Markieff with a nice dunk attempt but was fouled hard on the finish
Marion with 10 points already halfway through the first…Need Markieff to step up the D!
Mavs take their first lead 25-24 of an and-one from Brandan Wright
Grant Hill steals the ball from Beaubois and gets and gets a fast-break and-one of his own!
Suns losing steam here. Nash loses the ball to Beaubois who gets fouled by Lopez on the fast break and hits two at the line
Telfair in for Nash, uh-oh…The entire 2nd unit is now in the game
Mavs already 8-11 from the FT line
Mavs lead 32-27 at the end of the first quarter…Channing Frye was the only bench player to score (2pts) in the first quarter. Need the 2nd unit to step up!
Second Quarter:
Frye finally breaks the scoreless streak by our second unit in the 2nd quarter.
Telfair fouled on a drive to the basket…need more of that from him
Suns with very little defense or boxing out…What happened?
JET with an uncontested three off an outlet pass, then does the airplane. Gentry has seen enough and calls a timeout.
Grant Hill is returning…let’s hope our defense does as well
Brown hits a three
Mahinmi, off the bench, going back to the FT line with what will be his 4th trip. He’s been a factor
Brown hits another three…he’s heating up! Suns down 41-40 midway through the 2nd quarter. Dallas calls a timeout
Starting unit back in…Can they take the lead at the half?
The scoring has slowed for both teams…Suns and Mavs going back and forth with the lead. Still a one point game
Mavs keep the lead at the end of the 2nd quarter up 46-49. Dallas is getting significant contributions from unlikely sources. Haywood and Mahinmi both with 10pts each while Gortat has only 8 so far. Huh?
Suns only shooting 40% and losing both the rebounding (31-26) and turnover (9-7) battle so far, but not by much. They can get right back in this game with some adjustments at the half…Namely, stopping Haywood and Mahinmi from scoring in the paint!
Third Quarter:
Gortat with a quick third foul on Odom to start the 3rd quarter…Also fouled him behind the three-point line. Not good
Odom goes only 1-3 at the line
Ugly offensive possessions by the Suns to start the 3rd quarter…need to get it going
Grant with LOCKDOWN defense on Odom drive to the rim…Forced a missed lay-up. Just phenomenal how well Grant can stay with his man.
Marion with another three…Just one of those games.
Suns losing more momentum now…currently down 57-48. Need to pick it up!
Morris still not looking sharp offensively…Suns could really use him right now.
Gortat finally gets his 10th point. Need to get him more involved in this game.
Mavs lead 60-53 midway through the 3rd quarter
Grant Hill leading Suns in scoring with 17pts along with 4rbs so far…BAMF!
Marion with another 3 pointer…Really?
Marion with yet another 3 point bomb…Now 4/5 from 3 for 24 points, are you kidding me?!?
Gentry calls a time out. Mavs now up 70-55. Not looking good
Telfair for three
Suns down 76-68 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Suns still hanging on but need to score on offense. They shot only 28% from the field in the third quarter.
Fourth Quarter:
Brown with a serious dunk off a drive from the corner. He passes up the three to get to the rim. We need more of that from him!
Suns getting more second shot opportunities
Lopez with a nice dunk off a feed from Dudley. Suns trying to claw back in it with offensive rebounding and scoring inside
Telfair with a nice steal who passes the ball to Frye who shoots another brick from three. Frye now 0-2 beyond the arc and 2-6 from the field
Wow…Telfair gets a flagrant-2 foul after contesting a fast break layup by Beaubois. Telfair didn’t even go for his head. Brian Cardinal grabbed Telfair around the neck earlier and he only got a flagrant-1. Telfair has been ejected…Terrible call.
Morris whistled for an offensive foul on a basket that should have counted. Another bad call against the Suns
Gortat with a basket inside, now has 16pts and 13rbs…Doing his job as always
Suns down 90-79 with just over 4 minutes remaining.
Nash with a beautiful pass to Gortat inside for the easy lay-in. Suns down 90-82
Mavs holding onto the lead as the clock winds down.
Mavs win 93-87
Summary:
This was a game that the Suns just didn't and couldn't see coming. Without Dirk Nowitzki, the suns focused on stopping Jason Terry and Lamar Odom, and were pretty successful in doing so. The problem was that Shawn Marion had one of those flukey games against his former team tonight, and Dallas got great contributions off the bench from Ian Mahimni who the Suns never accounted for. Meanwhile, the Suns only shot 38% from the field and got very little contributions from their bench...Not a winning formula
This ends the Suns five game road trip as they will now return home tomorrow to play the Toronto Raptors. This was a game the Suns could have, and probably should have won. But going 2-3 over the length of this road trip probably isn't that bad in the grand scheme of things, considering the teams they had to play against, especially since I personally thought they would go 1-4. Let's hope the Suns can get back on track tomorrow and get a win at home.
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