|
|
 |
 |
|
| |
Thursday, Dec. 23 9:00pm ET
Finley's triple-double sinks Suns | |||||
|
| ||||||
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
 GAME FLOW
PHOENIX (AP) -- The Phoenix Suns bring out the best of Michael Finley and the rest of the Dallas Mavericks. Finley had his second triple-double against Phoenix in 12 days as the Mavericks snapped a four-game losing streak Thursday night with a 111-110 victory over the Suns. Finley had his fourth career triple-double, and third in the last month, by the end of the third quarter and finished with 33 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists. On Dec. 11 in Dallas, when the Mavs beat Phoenix 120-115 in Danny Ainge's last game as Suns coach, Finley had 33 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. "My team looks for me to do all those things -- score, rebound, assist," Finley said. "When they're knocking down the shots, it makes me look better." Cliff Robinson, who scored 30 for the Suns, got free for what appeared to be a game-tying 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds to play, but referee Bill Spooner ruled the toe of Robinson's right foot was on the line, and the shot counted for only two. "I try to make sure that I'm behind the line," said Robinson, who has averaged 26 points in his last eight games, "so it was a surprise to me that he called it a two. But when I did look at the replay I did think I was behind the line." Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 for the Mavericks, including a tip-in of Cedric Ceballos' missed free throw to put Dallas up 109-105 with 16.2 seconds to play and two free throws that made it 111-108 with five seconds to go. Dallas has won just two of its last nine games, both against the Suns. Dallas coach Don Nelson said he didn't think he had won in Phoenix since a playoff game back in his days with Golden State. "It was a bizarre game really," Nelson said. "I thought for sure that was a '3' at the end. I didn't know his foot was on the line. It was a good call. I'm glad the referees stepped up and made the call." Todd Day, who scored 18 off the bench for Phoenix, made two of his five 3-pointers in the last 20.4 seconds to keep it close. Jason Kidd, who had triple-doubles in three of his previous four games, had 25 points, 15 assists and six rebounds for the Suns, who lost at home for only the third time in 16 games. Rodney Rogers scored 17 for Phoenix. Ceballos had 21 points for the Mavericks. Finley's two outside jumpers gave Dallas a 106-102 lead with 57 seconds remaining. In between, the Suns committed a 24-second violation. "It wasn't the last minute that cost us the game. It was the 47 before that," Suns coach Scott Skiles said. "We just lost them in transition, and in critical moments in the game we couldn't get the rebound when we had to have one." The Mavericks outrebounded Phoenix 48-34. Both Nelson and Skiles thought Kidd did a good job defensively on Finley, despite the big numbers "He just got going early on us and like a lot of good offensive players, once they get going early they are awfully hard to stop," Skiles said. Phoenix outscored the Mavericks 12-4 to start the second half to lead 72-61 on Rogers' 16-footer with 7:43 to go. But the Mavericks came back with an 13-4 spurt, taking the lead 91-89 on Damon Jones' 3-pointer from the corner with 8:11 to play and stretching it to 96-91 when Finley made one of two free throws with 6:25 remaining. The Suns tied it at 100 on Day's 3-pointer with 3:09 to play. It was tied again at 102-102 before Finley put Dallas up for good 104-102 with 1:36 remaining. Dallas shot 52 percent and Phoenix 50 percent. The Suns have lost two in a row after a 4-0 start under Skiles. The Suns led 60-57 after a largely defenseless first half. Finley had 17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in the first two quarters, while Kidd had 14 points, eight assists and four rebounds. Robinson led all scorers with 19 points in the half. Game notesThe Suns' Luc Longley played after missing seven games with back spasms. ... Phoenix signed forward Ben Davis, who had been playing with Idaho in the CBA. ... Phoenix rookie Shawn Marion underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Thursday. ... Dallas had the fewest turnovers in the NBA going into the game at 14.3 per contest, but committed 11 in the first half. ... Finley went to Dallas as part of the trade that brought Kidd to Phoenix on Dec. 26, 1996. ... The Mavericks have three point guards on the injured list. ... The Mavs are 4-11 on the road. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Dallas Clubhouse Phoenix Clubhouse Suns' Marion undergoes arthroscopic knee surgery
RECAPS Atlanta 108 Cleveland 90
Dallas 111
  | |||||