Suns look for another road win on TSN 

Suns look for another road win on TSN

The Phoenix Suns try to take a 2-0 lead over the Dallas Mavericks tonight, as the clubs meet for Game 2 of the Western Conference finals at American Airlines Center.

Game 3 of this best-of-seven series is scheduled for Sunday at the US Airways Center. Even though the Suns are the higher seed, the Mavericks entered the series with the home-court advantage as a result of their better overall record during the regular season.

On Wednesday, Boris Diaw drained a short jumper with less than a second remaining to lift the second-seeded Suns over No. 4 Dallas, 121-118, in Game 1 of the conference finals at American Airlines Center. Diaw ended with a playoff career-high 34 points on 13-of-23 shooting for the Suns, who rallied from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to steal homecourt advantage in the opener of the set.

Reigning MVP Steve Nash, who spearheaded a 16-4 run to end the game for Phoenix, ended with 27 points and 16 assists, while Shawn Marion added 24 points and 13 boards in Game 1's win for the Suns, who have won the series opener in each round this playoff series.

Devin Harris had a playoff career-high 30 points in the loss for the Mavs, while All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki finished with 25 points and 19 boards for Dallas.





On the injury front, Phoenix guard Raja Bell (mild to moderate tear of left calf) is expected to miss tonight's contest, while forward Josh Howard (bone bruise on right ankle) and center DeSagana Diop (broken nose) are questionable for Dallas.

Dallas has won two straight and seven of its last 10 Game 2s in the postseason, while Phoenix has dropped four straight Game 2s.

This is the second time that these teams have met in the postseason. Last year, the Suns knocked out the Mavericks in six games in the conference semifinals.

Phoenix, which won the Pacific Division during the regular season, has made it to the conference finals for the eighth time in franchise history. The Suns, who also made it to this round in 1976, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1993 and 2005, are 2-5 in the conference finals. They defeated Golden State in seven games in the 1976 West finals and also eliminated Seattle in seven in 1993.

The Suns, who lost in five to San Antonio in last year's conference finals, were pushed to the limit in the first two rounds of this year's playoffs. They came back from a 3-1 deficit and defeated Kobe Bryant and the seventh- seeded Lakers in seven contests during the opening round, and knocked out the sixth-seeded Clippers in seven in the conference semifinals.

Phoenix is 3-4 on the road in this year's postseason.

The road to the West finals has been a wild one for the Mavericks. They swept No. 5 Memphis in the first round and then defeated the top-seeded and defending world champion Spurs in seven games in the semis.

The Mavericks have advanced to the conference finals just two other times in franchise history and have never been to the NBA Finals. They lost to the Lakers in seven games in 1988 and San Antonio in six in 2003.

Dallas is 4-2 as the host in the year's playoffs.

During the regular season, the Mavericks and Suns split four contests. Both teams picked up a win at home and on the road.

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