Bell’s Comeback Lifts Suns
Somehow this reminds me of the famous Willis Reed incident that sparked the Knicks a title in the 70’s. Reed was injured and he didn’t score much but his few made baskets sparked a whole team to victory. Ok, that was one of the greatest moments in basketball history and it’s unfair to compare what happened in game 4 of the Suns-Mavs series. But if you think about it, the two events have a lot in common. Raja Bell started for the Suns again after missing games 2 and 3 from an injury he sustained in game 1. He only scored 9 points but he provided that emotional lift the Suns needed to get the job done. The Suns win game 4 106-86, evening out the series at 2-2.
The great Maverick statistic still stands. “When Josh Howard scores 20 points or more the Mavs are 23-0″ is still true. Josh Howard scored 16 points and the Mavs lost. Yet there’s something about this game that could rock that stat. Josh Howard went out with a shin injury with 5:47 to go. If that hadn’t happened, there’s no doubt Howard would have gotten those 4 extra points needed to get to 20. In that case, he’d have gotten to 20 yet the Mavs would still have lost since the deficit was just too big. This just proves that Howard is only an X-factor while Dirk Nowitzki is really the Star. He struggles, the Mavs lose. It’s as simple as that. Nowitzki only managed to get off 11 points with 3 for 13 shooting. It’s the unspoken rule that the Howard stat only works if Dirk is playing well.
If Dirk shot well, who know how much different the outcome of this game would be? But we all have to credit the Suns for finding a way to shut down Dirk. It may have been a cold night for Dirk and Shawn Marion’s defensive efforts only made it worse. Dirk and the rest of the Mavs wouldn’t take this sitting down. Expect hot shooting from Dirk and his Mavs and a victory for game 5. The Suns won’t have another Raja Bell comeback to boost their spirits in the next game since he already came back.
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