Goodwin & Morris Put Suns Past Mavs 98-92
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PHOENIX (AP) - Archie Goodwin hasn't made a bigger shot in his young NBA career.
The second-year guard from Kentucky sank the go-ahead 3-pointer with two minutes to play and the Phoenix Suns pulled out a 98-92 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night.
It was just the 10th 3-pointer of the season for Goodwin.
"It felt great," he said. "I've been working on it and for me to be able to do it in that clutch moment, it was just all there."
Dallas rallied from a 17-point, third-quarter deficit and was up 86-80 with 5 minutes to play. But the Mavericks went four minutes without scoring while the Suns climbed back into the lead.
Eric Bledsoe had 20 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Suns. Morris added 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Chandler Parsons scored 19 points and Amare Stoudemire 16 for Dallas, which has lost all three games against Phoenix this season. Monta Ellis was 4 for 22 from the field, including six straight misses down the stretch."
"Hey, he had a bad shooting night," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "That's the way it goes. But if we show up in the first half and play like we're capable, we're not talking about a bad shooting night. We're probably winning the game and doing what we're supposed to do.
"This is not a Monta Ellis problem. This is a Dallas Mavericks hard-play problem. We don't play hard all the time, that's the problem."
Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek complimented P.J. Tucker's defense on Ellis but acknowledged: "I thought he just missed some open looks. We got a little lucky there, he was off."
Dallas was down by as many as 17 in the first half and trailed 57-42 at the break.
"We were a no-show as a team — coaches, players, everybody. It was an embarrassment," Carlisle said. "Second half we came out and played a hell of a lot harder, which you have to do all the time, but we made too many mistakes. The basketball gods are going to get you when you don't show up to play for 24 minutes. That's what happened tonight."
Phoenix won its fourth in a row to pull a half-game ahead of New Orleans into the No. 9 spot in the West. The Suns trail No. 8 Oklahoma City by 2 ½ games with 11 to play.
Dallas dropped a half-game behind San Antonio for the No. 6 playoff spot.
The Suns were up 69-51 after Morris' 16-footer from the baseline with 7:39 to play in the third quarter before Dallas finally came alive.
The Mavericks outscored Phoenix 30-7 over 8-plus minutes late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to go up 82-76 on Richard Jefferson's reverse layup with 10:12 remaining. Parsons' 22-footer had Dallas on top 86-80 with 7:14 to go.
Nobody scored again until Morris' inside basket with 4:32 left. Bledsoe sank a 3-pointer, then Goodwin scored on a spin move through traffic over 7-foot-1 Tyson Chandler in the lane and Phoenix led 87-86 with 3:31 to go.
Dirk Nowitzki ended the Dallas drought with a 15-footer to briefly put the Mavericks up 88-87 before Bledsoe made one of two free throws to tie it at 88 with 3:03 remaining.
Goodwin's 3 put the Suns ahead for good 91-88 with 2:17 to go.
A long officials review of an out-of-bounds play gave Phoenix the ball, and Morris' high-arching 14-footer made it 94-89 with 30 seconds left. Bledsoe sank four free throws to seal it.
The Mavericks had two field goals in the final 7:14.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Nowitzki, Chandler and Ellis were a combined 3 for 18 in the first half. ... Devin Harris left in the first half due to illness and did not return.
Suns: P.J. Tucker scored 13 of his 15 points in the first quarter. He averages nine points per game. ... The Suns had a video honoring Steve Nash. Nash, who won two MVPs with the Suns and led them to the Western Conference finals, announced his retirement on Saturday. ... Brandon Knight missed his sixth game with a sprained ankle. The Suns are 5-1 without him.
UP NEXT
Mavericks: Host San Antonio on Tuesday.
Suns: Host Sacramento on Wednesday.
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