PHOENIX (Ticker) - Steve Nash may have won the MVP award, but
he could not beat the Dallas Mavericks by himself.
Nash hopes to get some help from his teammates Wednesday when
the top-seeded Phoenix Suns host the fourth-seeded Mavericks in
the pivotal fifth game of their Western Conference semifinal
series.
Dallas evened the series at 2-2 on Sunday, posting a 119-109
victory in Game Four despite an outstanding performance from
Nash, who scored a career-high 48 points on 20-of-28 shooting.
But Nash, a former Maverick, recorded just five assists - 12
fewer than he had in Game Three - and committed nine turnovers
as Dallas seemed to focus more on cutting off his passing
lanes.
That strategy contributed to a sub-par performance from center
Amare Stoudemire, who averaged 35.7 points in the first three
games of the series, but was held to only 15 on 3-of-8 shooting
in Game Four.
Josh Howard collected 29 points and 10 rebounds and Dirk
Nowitzki added 25 points for the Mavs, who led by as many as 21
and were never really threatened in the fourth quarter.
The Suns will likely not have versatile Joe Johnson for a third
straight game. Johnson fractured his left eye socket in a fall
in Game Two.
"The chance of that happening (playing) I think are real slim
right now," said Johnson, who still is sporting considerable
swelling on the left side of his face.
That is not good news for the Suns, who rely on Johnson for his
perimeter shooting, dribble penetration, defense and as a backup
to Nash.
Both teams have reached the 100-point plateau in each of the
first four games of the series. It has not happened in a series
that has lasted at least six games since 1986.
The series will shift back to Dallas for Game Six on Friday.