Mavericks Go With Tough Tactics to Win

Dirk Nowitzki made a 12-foot shot with 6.8 seconds left Wednesday night to give the Dallas Mavericks a rugged 108-106 victory over the Phoenix Suns, evening their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series at 1-1.

Quentin Richardson’s three-point shot for Phoenix bounced off the back rim at the buzzer.

Michael Finley scored 31 points, shooting five for six from three-point range, and Nowitzki had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Mavericks, who turned to rough defense and a slower tempo to bounce back from a 127-102 blowout loss in Game 1.

Erick Dampier, called out publicly by Nowitzki after being outscored by Amare Stoudemire, 40-0, in Game 1, had 15 points, 10 in the first quarter, and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Stoudemire had 30 points and 16 rebounds for the Suns, who lost Joe Johnson to a broken bone and mild concussion from a hard foul by Jerry Stackhouse with 19.7 seconds left in the first half.

Steve Nash had 23 points and 13 assists, and Shawn Marion had 23 points and 15 rebounds for Phoenix.

Nowitzki made two free throws to put Dallas ahead 106-102 with 1:55 to play, then Stoudemire missed a dunk and a layup on consecutive possessions. But Marion blocked Nowitzki’s shot, and Stoudemire dunked on a pick-and-roll feed from Nash to cut it to 106-104 with 50.9 seconds to play.

Jason Terry threw the ball away on the next possession, and Nash’s 18-foot shot tied it at 106-106 with 27 seconds left. After a timeout, the Mavericks got the ball to Nowitzki, who worked his way inside and got the game-winning shot off.

When Johnson was injured, he cut his face in an ugly fall, landing face-first on the America West Arena court. He was treated for several minutes, receiving six stitches to close a cut near his left eye. Referee Dick Bavetta belatedly called it a flagrant foul.

Johnson was ruled out of Friday night’s Game 3 because of the broken bone near his eye.