NBA Playoffs: Mavericks even series with Suns

DALLAS — The pace was much better for the Mavericks. And, in the end, so was the result.

Limiting the machine-gun Phoenix Suns to more of a cock-and-load style, the Mavericks pulled even in the Western Conference finals with a hard-fought 105-98 victory Friday night at American Airlines Center.

The best-of-seven series is tied at a win apiece and shifts to the Arizona desert for Game 3 on Sunday.

"I'm feeling better about 1-1 than I would have about 0-2," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said.

Josh Howard's sprained right ankle turned out to be greatly exaggerated. He had a huge night with 29 points — 27 of them through the first three quarters.

Then Dirk Nowitzki took over with 12 of his 30 points in the fourth, when the Mavericks also applied some defensive clamps.

The Suns got huge nights from the usual suspects, but they clearly missed the pop of Raja Bell.

Bell might miss the rest of the series because of a calf injury suffered in Game 1.

Still, the Mavericks were stuck in a tight battle that seemed destined to go to the wire. Jason Terry had been struggling from the field, but he and Nowitzki combined for all of the points in a 12-2 run that pushed them to a 90-84 lead.

The Mavs made defensive stops on six of the Suns' seven possessions during that stretch.

Not that they were home free. The Mavericks were up 100-93 with less than a minute to go, but their first turnover in 14 minutes led to a three-pointer by Tim Thomas. After Jerry Stackhouse hit one of two free throws to make it 101-96, the Suns had 37.5 seconds to try to pull off some dramatics.

But Thomas missed two three-pointers that could have made things more interesting, especially because the Mavericks were clanking foul shots at a disturbing rate.

As it was, the Mavericks survived by holding Steve Nash to one shot in the second half, which he made with 3.7 seconds left — when the game was already decided. Nash finished with 16 points.

It had been a more traditional style throughout compared to the Suns' 121-118 win in Game 1 on Wednesday. And defense made a visit to the series for the first time.

"That first game, they were playing against themselves — it was five Suns and no Mavericks," Johnson said. "We had some Mavericks in most of the plays tonight."

The Suns missed 12 of their last 13 shots in the first quarter. The Mavericks rattled off 14 points in a row and grabbed a 22-17 lead on the strength of a 15-2 blitz to close out the opening period.

But the Suns got a little payback at the end of the second quarter, scoring 12 of the final 14 points to move ahead 52-47 at the break. It was a much more Mavericks-friendly pace. But, to that point, the results weren't any better.

The Suns knew going in that the Mavericks were going to go smaller, with Keith Van Horn replacing Erick Dampier at center. It was clear to everybody, even Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, that the Mavericks could not use their centers extensively and survive.

"Sometimes, when they keep the big lineups in there, that's when we lick our chops because we know at the other end we're scoring," D'Antoni said before the game. "Everybody says we live and die with the jump shots. We do. But we have a lot of guys who can make them. And you only have to live four out of seven games."