DALLAS, Texas, 22 May 2005 — Steve Nash turned in another dazzling display on Friday as he and his Phoenix Suns teammates ousted Nash’s former team, the Dallas Mavericks, from the National Basketball Association playoffs.
Nash, the NBA Most Valuable Player, was just one rebound shy of a second straight triple-double as he piloted the Suns to a 130-126 overtime victory over Dallas.
The Canadian finished with 39 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. Five of his points came in overtime as he took a hand in every big play down the stretch to help the Suns reach the Western Conference finals for the first time in 12 years. The Suns beat the Mavericks four games to two and advanced to a showdown with the San Antonio Spurs, a series slated to start in Phoenix today.
In the last four games of the series, Nash averaged 37.0 points, 11.5 assists and 7.0 rebounds. Three of those contests were in Dallas, where he had spent the previous six seasons.
Just what the Mavericks let get away was clear as time ran out in regulation.
With the Suns seconds away from heading back home for the unknown of a game seven, Nash dribbled up-court and sank a three-pointer that made it 111-111 with 5.7 seconds left.
Dallas’ Jerry Stackhouse missed a three-pointer, and Nash and Shawn Marion took charge in overtime, combining for all but one of Phoenix’s 19 points. They worked a beautiful pick-and-roll that led to Marion’s basket that gave the Suns a 123-118 lead with 1:46 remaining. Marion scored 11 of his 38 points in overtime and grabbed 16 rebounds as he picked up the slack for foul-plagued All-Star center Amare Stoudemire.
The Suns made a pair of charges in the fourth quarter, both with Stoudemire off the floor.
While the Suns rallied around their star in Nash, the Mavericks unraveled around All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki, who was shouting at teammates but missed all five of his shots in overtime. Nowitzki finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds, while Jason Terry scored 36 for the Mavericks. The Suns had erased a 16-point third-quarter deficit, squandered a five-point fourth-quarter lead and trailed 104-99 with less than three minutes to play.
