Phoenix Suns NBA

Raja Bell is back, and so are the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference finals.

Bell supplied the grit with a surprise start despite a slightly torn calf muscle, and his teammates took care of the offense in a 106-86 rout of the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

“Well, I guess we’re not done yet,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said.

Tied at two games apiece, the series returns to Dallas for Game 5 on Thursday night.

Leandro Barbosa, coming off a poor performance as a starter in place of Bell in the Suns’ Game 3 loss, scored 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting.

Boris Diaw added 20 points, including a pair of emphatic fourth-quarter dunks that helped the Suns build a 25-point lead.

Steve Nash had 21 points and eight assists, and Shawn Marion scored 15 points.

Bell had missed the last two games with a slight tear in his left calf, and all indications had been that he would sit out this one, too.

“I’ve been to war all season with these guys,” Bell told TNT at halftime. “I wasn’t going to watch tonight.”

He had only nine points but gave Phoenix some much-needed intensity in 32 minutes of play.

“Half our team is a bunch of quiet guys,” the Suns’ Steve Nash said. “He gives us another guy that opens his mouth once in a while, gives us some toughness, some bravado. I can’t say enough about how much his personality means to our team.”

D’Antoni called Bell “a team guy. He’s never asked for anything. He’s been a team guy. He just plays hard every night. And, you know, to be able to coach a guy like that is precious.”

Dirk Nowitzki managed only 11 points for the Mavericks on 3-for-13 shooting, breaking a string of 42 games when he’s scored at least 20 points.

It was his lowest-scoring game all season and the first time he’s scored fewer than 25 points in the Mavs’ eight games against Phoenix this season.

“We turned the ball over way too many times, especially early,” Nowitzki said, “and we made mistakes all over the place.”

Josh Howard led the Mavericks with 16 but left with an apparent shin injury with 5:47 to play. Dallas coach Avery Johnson said afterward that “Josh is fine.”

It was a rough night all the way around for Dallas.

Johnson drew a technical foul early. His wife Cassandra got into a nose-to-nose argument with a fan, with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban coming to her defense. Security personnel escorted the fan away.

“You know, I can point to a lot of things that were very disgraceful about the game,” Johnson said, “but we lost.”

He would not elaborate.

The Mavericks said Barbosa, rather than Bell, was the biggest factor.

“He was a tough little guy today, and we’ve got to make sure we handle him a lot better next time,” Nowitzki said.

Phoenix never trailed after the first quarter. The Mavericks stayed close, despite the shooting woes of Nowitzki, until the Suns blew it open with a 20-4 outburst at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth.

Jason Terry’s second 3-pointer of the quarter cut the Suns’ lead to 67-65 with 3:49 to play in the third. But Dallas went cold and the Suns finished the quarter with a 12-2 run. Five Phoenix players scored in the surge, capped by Marion’s stuff with 37 seconds to go that put the Suns ahead 79-67 entering the fourth quarter.

Diaw dunked over Nowitzki for a three-point play to start the fourth quarter to make it 82-67. Another dunk by Diaw ended the surge and put Phoenix firmly in control for good, 87-69, with 10:14 to play.

The Suns shot 54 percent, including 7-of-15 on 3-pointers, compared with 42 percent for the Mavericks.

Terry and Adrian Griffin added 13 points apiece for Dallas, which regained the home-court advantage in the series with its 95-88 victory on Tuesday night in Phoenix.

With a chance to go up 3-1, then close it out at home, the Mavericks fell flat.

For the first half, though, they weren’t in bad shape, despite some awful statistics.

The Suns shot 59 percent, Nowitzki was 1-for-7 and Terry 1-for-5, and still the Mavericks were down only 51-46 at the break.

Consecutive driving layups by Barbosa put Phoenix ahead 49-40 with 3:24 left in the half. Howard converted a three-point play, Terry dunked from the baseline, then made one of two free throws to cut it to 49-46 with 32 seconds left before the half.

Nash made a 12-footer, then Nowitzki missed a jumper at the halftime buzzer and Phoenix led 51-46.

–Forward Raja Bell said he felt lucky that a blindside forearm shiver from Atlanta’s Josh Smith missed his face and caught him on the side of the head two minutes into the fourth quarter. Smith was ejected for the flagrant foul.

“We got tangled up down on the other end and I knew he wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t expecting that,” Bell said. “I think it was supposed to get me in the jaw, so I guess it could have been worse.”
–The Suns held their opponents under 100 points for the eighth straight game, allowing an average of 90.5 points over that stretch.

–The Suns are 6-0 since Leandro Barbosa went down with an injury and 5-0 with a starting lineup featuring Boris Diaw.

QUOTES TO NOTE: “I’m kind of over my first little slump in Phoenix, and it feels good to get over it. This was a game that, if you lose, you kick yourself in the butt come playoff time.” — Suns forward James Jones, who scored a season-high 20 points.

ROTATION: Starters — Point guard Steve Nash, Shooting guard Raja Bell, Small forward Shawn Marion, Power forward Boris Diaw, Center Kurt Thomas. Bench — Forward James Jones, Forward Jim Jackson, Guard Eddie House, Center Pat Burke, Guard Dijon Thompson, Forward Sharrod Ford.

PLAYER NOTES
–James Jones seems to be out of his shooting slump after hitting 50 percent or better for the third straight game. He had a season-high 20 points Sunday, hitting 6 of 12 shots after coach Mike D’Antoni chided him for passing up an early open jumper.

–Guard Eddie House tweaked his upper hamstring in the fourth quarter Sunday, putting further strain on a Suns team that is already down to 11 players with Amare Stoudemire and Brian Grant out three more months and Leandro Barbosa at least a week away from returning from a knee injury.

–Center Kurt Thomas reached double figures in rebounding for the third time in the last four games with 11 against the Hawks and is averaging 13.5 boards over that span.

–Boris Diaw had a strong game against his former teammates with 14 points and nine assists in 33 minutes. Diaw has now reached double figures in 11 of 15 games with the Suns, something he did in only eight games all last year with Atlanta.

GAME: Portland Trail Blazers (5-11) at Phoenix Suns (10-5).

TIME: Tuesday, 9 p.m. EST.
The Phoenix Suns look to extend their winning streak to seven games as they host the struggling Portland Trail Blazers.

Phoenix had four winning streaks of six games or longer last season en route to a league-best 62-20 record. But with the offseason departures of Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson, and a knee injury that should keep Amare Stoudemire out until February, owning the NBA’s longest active win streak was hardly expected from the Suns.

Neither was their improved defense.

Phoenix, which gave up a league-high 103.3 points per game last season, has not allowed 100 points in any of its last eight games. The Suns’ opponents are averaging 90.5 points during that span. The last time they held nine consecutive opponents under 100 in a single season was the first nine games of the 2002-03 season.

“I think that’s going to get us through this year, if we continue to focus on our defense,” Suns center Kurt Thomas said. “We’re going to score on other teams, so as long as we go out there and continue to play defense each and every night … it will be key for us.”

The Blazers have yet to score 100 points in a game this season and are averaging 85.9, among the worst in the league. They’ve dropped four in a row and eight of 10.

Phoenix won its sixth straight on Sunday night, with James Jones scoring a season-high 20 points and Shawn Marion also getting 20 in a 112-94 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

The Suns set the tone early, outscoring the Hawks 25-10 in the first quarter, the fewest points they’ve allowed in any period this season. The lead grew to as many as 37 points in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

“I thought we played real well the first three quarters, especially defensively,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We’re getting good games from different guys and the guys showed a good effort, and kept their concentration throughout the game. All in all, it was a pretty good game.”

Boris Diaw finished with 14 points and nine assists. Diaw has scored in double figures in eight consecutive games after scoring in double figures eight times all of last season with Atlanta.

Phoenix leads the league in scoring, averaging 103.3 points. The Suns also have made more than twice as many 3-pointers as the Blazers, 123-52.

Portland has been outscored by an average of 14.0 points in its last four games, and is coming off a 98-93 loss to the Utah Jazz on Sunday.

The Blazers were without starting forward Darius Miles against the Jazz because of cartilage damage in his right knee.

Miles, averaging 18.2 points and 5.6 rebounds, was placed on the inactive list and had an MRI exam on Sunday which indicated he might need to have surgery.

“Basically, you’re just rotating guys in. You’re losing 18 points there,” Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. “When key guys go down, it puts a lot of pressure on that team.”

Portland got 19 points from both Ruben Patterson and Sebastian Telfair.

Patterson had not played since cursing at McMillan during a game against New York on Nov. 20. He had spent the last seven games on the inactive list after complaining about his minutes.

“Everything’s behind me. I’m just here to play,” Patterson said. “I’m going to keep my mouth shut.”

The Suns have won six straight at home and are 8-2 against the Blazers in the last 10 meetings at America West Arena.

STANDINGS (through Dec. 4): Trail Blazers - 5th place, 4 1/2 GB, Northwest Division. Suns - 3rd place, 1/2 GB, Pacific Division.

PROBABLE STARTERS: Trail Blazers - F Sergei Monia, F Zach Randolph, C Joel Przybilla, G Martell Webster, G Telfair. Suns - F Diaw, F Marion, C Thomas, G Raja Bell, G Steve Nash.

TEAM LEADERS: Trail Blazers - Miles and Randolph, 18.2 ppg; Randolph, 9.2 rpg; Telfair, 4.5 apg. Suns - Marion, 19.3 ppg and 12.1 rpg; Nash, 10.4 apg.

2004-05 SEASON SERIES: Suns, 3-1.

LAST MEETING: March 5; Suns, 129-116. At Phoenix, Marion had 26 points and nine rebounds, Stoudemire scored 20, Nash had nine points and eight assists, and all of them were able to sit out the fourth quarter.

SUNS HEAD COACH MIKE D’ANTONI: “We definitely did the job tonight. I thought we played real well the first three quarters, especially defensively. We’re getting good games from different guys and the guys showed a good effort, and kept their concentration throughout the game. All in all, it was a pretty good game.”

(On the return of Joe Johnson)
“I didn’t think it was awkward at all. Joe played well, though. We allowed him to get off a little bit, but I also thought our guys did a decent job on him defensively. I don’t think you can (compare) his game (with Atlanta), because he went from playing one way with us, to a totally different game for the Hawks.” “Boris had a good night for us and everyone else really contributed. I thought Kurt (Thomas) did a great job on Pachulia. Adding to our lead is something we didn’t do the other night, and I think we’re getting more solid defensively that it allows us to do that now. When shots aren’t going down, we are able to maintain our lead. Overall, it was just a good effort by our entire team.”

The Suns play another team they have dominated on Tuesday when Portland comes to Phoenix. The Suns swept all three meetings last year and have won 13 of the last 19 games, while the Blazers are a woeful 27-61 all-time in Arizona.

Phoenix averaged more than 120 points a game against Portland last season, but the team has given up some offense for a better overall defensive game while it awaits the return of Leandro Barbosa (one week) and Amare Stoudemire (2-3 months) to the lineup.
It’s the beginning of the Suns’ busiest week of the season. They play four games in five days beginning Tuesday, including meetings on the road with the two teams (Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers) they are chasing in the Pacific Division. The Portland game also ends a string of games that had Phoenix playing 12 of it first 16 games at home.

REPLAY: Winning their season-best sixth straight game wasn’t the hard part for the Suns, (10-5), who walloped Atlanta 112-94 and are now within a half-game of the Pacific Division lead.

Watching their friend and ex-teammate was. Joe Johnson endured the wrath of 16,992 America West Arena fans who booed Johnson loudly during introductions, and each time he touched the ball during the game.

Johnson had 21 of Atlanta’s 36 first-half points. He sat down for good late in the third quarter with a game-high 23 and the game already out of hand.

Shawn Marion had 20 points, as did James Jones, as the Suns led 18-6 early and by as many as 37 before allowing the Hawks to put up 43 garbage-time points in the fourth quarter.

Jones and Boris Diaw (14 points), two by-products of this summer’s Johnson sign-and-trade deal — two first-round picks are still to come — combined for 34 points and 10 rebounds. Diaw added nine assists in 33 minutes, one more than the entire Hawks team.

Tuesday, Dec 6 9:00 p.m. Trail Blazers FSN Arizona
Wednesday, Dec 7 10:30 p.m. @Warriors FSN Arizona
Friday, Dec 9 10:00 p.m. Knicks FSN Arizona
Saturday, Dec 10 10:30 p.m. @Clippers
Monday, Dec 12 9:00 p.m. Hornets FSN Arizona
Wednesday, Dec 14 8:00 p.m. @Mavericks
Friday, Dec 16 8:00 p.m. @Hornets
Saturday, Dec 17 8:00 p.m. @Grizzlies
Tuesday, Dec 20 9:00 p.m. SuperSonics FSN Northwest
Friday, Dec 23 9:00 p.m. Wizards FSN Arizona
Monday, Dec 26 8:00 p.m. @Timberwolves
Wednesday, Dec 28 7:00 p.m. @Wizards
Friday, Dec 30 7:30 p.m. @Bobcats
Saturday, Dec 31 7:00 p.m. @Bulls