Dallas Has Reasons to Smile

Josh Howard was last seen in this series hobbling off the court early in Game 1, but he took care of a few things by the time Game 2 had ended.

There was therapy and treatment, plenty of it, for the bone bruise on his right ankle. There was enough of a recovery to score 29 points in a somewhat surprising return Friday.

And somewhere in between, there was a trip to the orthodontist to have his braces removed, Howard acknowledged after the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Phoenix Suns, 105-98, at American Airlines Center.

The poster boy for the Mavericks’ youth whenever he flashed his shiny smile in past seasons, the third-year forward was the symbol of a more mature Mavericks approach Friday that evened the Western Conference finals at 1-1.

They had seen just about enough of the Game 1 footage, essentially a 48-minute Suns layup line, and did something about it, putting the big “D” in defense and investing more than a halfhearted attempt in stopping Phoenix.

The results were pleasing to the Mavericks, their die-with-every-deficit owner and the fans who couldn’t fathom falling behind 2-0 after knocking off the San Antonio Spurs in the Western semifinals.

It added up to one thing: a new series.

“The first game, they were playing against themselves. It was five Suns out there on the court and no Mavericks,” Dallas Coach Avery Johnson said. “So we had some Mavericks in most of the plays tonight.”

Almost all, as a matter of fact.

The short-handed Suns, who went without Raja Bell (strained calf), were also short on offense in the second half, scoring a rather pedestrian 46 points as their 52-47 halftime edge disappeared.

Steve Nash took only one shot in the second half, making a nine-footer with 3.7 seconds to play for his only points of the half. He finished with 16 points on six-for-10 shooting and had 11 assists.

“In hindsight, I would have maybe tried to be a little more aggressive, but I kept feeling like I was making the right play,” Nash said. “I was drawing two guys and passing to the open man, and you know that’s the type of player I am. But, you know, the time never really came where I got the opportunities to be aggressive, and I just have to be conscientious next time to learn from what happened today.”

The Mavericks didn’t seem to mind.

“Hopefully now I can stop getting all those ‘how to stop Steve Nash’ messages from my concerned people,” Johnson said.

The Mavericks were certainly worried about Howard, who limped off the court in the first quarter of Wednesday’s 121-118 loss. Their third-leading scorer was a game-time decision.

When they had their usual meeting 40 minutes before tip-off, Howard wasn’t wearing game attire. But he still had his 48-hour companion, a heat pack, on the ankle.

He went through a mini-tryout on the Mavericks’ practice court, the ankle felt good enough, and he was back in the starting lineup.

“I had some pain cutting in and out, but for the most part I fought through it,” Howard said.

The Mavericks also improved upon an unusual statistic, moving to 22-0 when Howard scores 20 or more points.

The Suns tried to go home with a 2-0 edge but couldn’t get enough out of Leandro Barbosa, who had eight points on three-for-15 shooting in place of Bell.

They also faltered in their typically strong long-distance shooting, missing six of seven three-point attempts in the final 5:38.

After two entertaining games, there wasn’t really a hint which way the West would slant.

Perhaps Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who had 30 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, said it best: “It’s going to be a long series.”