By Paul Levine May 29, 2006, 15:39 GMT
Los Angeles - A dose of Dirk and defence gave 'Big D' a big win.
Germany's Dirk Nowitzki had 28 points and 17 rebounds and the defence of the Dallas Mavericks shut down the high-powered Phoenix Suns in a 95-88 road victory Sunday night that gave them a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Josh Howard added 22 points and 12 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Mavericks, who regained the home-court advantage by holding the second-seeded Suns to 36 points after halftime - including none on their vaunted fast break.
'I thought we really controlled the tempo great,' said Nowitzki, who is the breakout star of the postseason. 'I thought especially in the second half we got back in transition, which is big against this team.'
In the series opener in 'Big D,' the Mavericks tried to run with the Suns and got burned in a 121-118 loss. They made a deeper commitment to defence in a 105-98 home win in Game Two and were even better Sunday, when they held the Suns' league-leading offence under 90 points for the first time in the playoffs.
'We're in a battle against a special basketball team in the Suns and the way that they play,' Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. 'We know we gotta get back on defence and try to take away some of their easy baskets and try to guard the 3-point line.'
'They're doing a good job getting back in transition,' Suns guard Steve Nash said. 'I don't know if fatigue is a factor for us, but we're not running like we need to.'
Trailing by 11 points late in the first half, the Mavericks closed with an 8-2 run that cut the deficit to 52-47. They began the second half with a 12-2 burst that opened a 59-54 lead as Nowitzki and Howard came alive.
'(Howard) came out firing again tonight and he's a big key why we're up 2-1,' Nowitzki said.
'I thought the turning point was the end of the first half when we were up 11 and missed about two or three half layups and (had) a couple of bad plays and came in at five points up instead of about at least 11 or 13 or 15,' Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. 'And then came out a little flat in the second half.'
The Suns scored the first two baskets of the fourth quarter to pull into a 72-72 tie before the Mavericks responded with three straight hoops to take the lead for good.
Phoenix cut a nine-point deficit to 88-84 and had a chance to get closer. But Tim Thomas had a pass for Nash stolen by Howard, who streaked in for a layup and a six-point lead with 2:10 to play.
'We have confidence in ourselves and our defensive schemes,' Howard said. 'It's something we've been working on all year. ... It's been something that's been instilled in us.'
On their next possession, the Mavericks got three offensive rebounds before Jason Terry made a pull-up jumper in the lane that sealed it at 92-84 with 33 seconds to go.
'When they play a small lineup, you've gotta go in and get some offensive rebounds,' Nowitzki said. 'We got 19 of them today, which was big.'
One of the rebounds came on a desperation 3-pointer by Nowitzki that the Suns claimed did not hit the rim, which would have created a shot-clock violation.
'It looked like it (missed the rim),' D'Antoni said. 'That was a big play. If they missed it, that's a big play.'
Terry scored 19 points for the Mavericks, who committed just six turnovers improved to 5-2 on the road in the playoffs.
Nash scored 21 points, France's Boris Diaw added 20 and Brazil's Leandro Barbosa 17 for the Suns, who again played without injured guard Raja Bell and lost at home for the third time in as many postseason series.
The Suns will try to get even in Game Four at home Tuesday before returning to 'Big D.'
'Somehow we've got to find the resilience and the effort to do it,' D'Antoni said. 'We'll be in here in two days and we'll figure that out and we gotta do it if we want to win.'
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