NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Phoenix Suns ended the Dallas Mavericks’s nine-game winning streak with a crushing 126-104 home victory in a showdown between the NBA’s top teams on Sunday.
Leandro Barbosa scored 29 points, Amare Stoudemire had 24 and Steve Nash 23 points and 11 assists as the Suns won their second straight game against the Mavericks.
“Things were flowing and the ball was moving,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni told reporters.
The Suns (55-18) broke the game open in the fourth quarter when they sank 13 of 15 shots and all four three-point attempts.
Dallas (61-12) trailed by only five after Dirk Nowitzki’s jump shot with 11:19 to go, but the margin soared to 20 points at 120-100 with 1:22 remaining on a pair of free throws by Barbosa.
The Suns shot an NBA season-best sizzling 64.8 percent.
“But this doesn’t mean we are so much better than Dallas,” D’Antonio said.
“Dallas has got the best record and they are going to be the number one seed (in the playoffs). But I think it is going to be very competitive.”
The two teams split their four-game series this year, with Phoenix winning the last game in double overtime.
Nowitzki scored 21 points for Dallas, but he made only six of 18 shots. One reason was the strong defensive play of Shawn Marion on the Mavericks star.
Josh Howard led Dallas with 28 points and Jason Terry had 21.
*Chris Bosh had 24 points and 16 rebounds as the Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Raptors scored a 107-94 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats to lock up their first playoff berth in five years.
*The Indiana Pacers ended the San Antonio Spurs’s six-game winning streak with a 100-99 home victory on Jamaal Tinsley’s layup with one second remaining.
*The Utah Jazz broke a six-game road losing streak with an 86-83 victory over the Houston Rockets. Yao Ming had 35 points, 16 rebounds and four assists for Houston.
