Newsroom Notes: Suns Shoot Down Mavericks

After a heartbreaking loss Wednesday, the Suns received the remedy they were looking for with a 128-100 home romp over a talented Dallas Maverick club on Friday. Phoenix blew the game wide open in the third quarter, pouring in 40 points and outscoring Dallas by 21.

Suns Head Coach Terry Porter thought it was the best victory of the season.

“I thought our guys did a great job of coming out and setting the tone,” Porter said. “We talked before the game how the last time we played them we were a different team, but they still outworked us.

“We had a long film session (at yesterday’s practice) on some things defensively that we had to get better at and I thought we did a good job in those areas.”

Shooting a sizzling 63 percent from the floor as a club, the Suns were led by Shaquille O’Neal’s 25 points in 26 minutes. The Diesel also added 10 rebounds, two blocks and shot 7-of-7 from the line. It was the first time that O’Neal has had a perfect night from the charity stripe since 2001.

The former MVP, who sat out Wednesday’s game against Indiana with back spasms, even broke out his patented “Shaqrabbit” scamper after converting on an alley-oop tip. Not to be outdone by anyone but himself, the “Big Cactus” unleashed his “It’s alive!” hand gesture after dropping in a little lefty hook late in the second half. It’s a little maneuver where Shaq looks at his left hand in a dumbfounded manner because he realizes that he rarely uses it, as if exclaiming, “It’s alive!”

As impressive as the Suns center played, he might have been outdone by the production of Leandro Barbosa. “The Brazilian Blur” erupted for 20 points in 19 minutes, shooting 8-of-11 from the floor and 2-for-2 from 3-point land.

Jason Richardson showed off his scoring prowess as well, drilling 9-of-13 from the field. The impressive part of Richardson’s game was his versatility, exploiting smaller guards in the post, coming around screens to shoot mid-range jumpers and running the wing aggressively. The 6-6 guard also gave the home fans a little treat when he uncorked a nice windmill dunk in the first half.

The difference between the two teams came down to points in the paint. Phoenix outscored Dallas 68-18 in that category, forcing the Mavs to settle for long-range jump shots. The Suns also outrebounded Dallas by 11 and moved to 18-4 when scoring over 100 points.

With Phoenix up 27 heading into the final period, Porter was able to play his entire bench. Every Sun registered at least two points, including Alando Tucker, who made his first appearance of the season. The second-year swingman, who underwent knee surgery just before the start of the season, hit 2-of-2 shots to start his season off right.

“We just needed a win and I didn’t care how it came,” Nash said. “It was a great night for us and it felt good to have an extended period of good play considering we’ve lost two buzzer-beaters at home in the last four or five games.”

It was a critical victory for the Suns, who are on the verge of playing 11 games in 18 days. Besides preparing themselves for an upcoming six-game East Coast road trip, Phoenix needed to send a message to some of the tougher squads in its conference. The Mavs came in winners of 20 out of 26.

It is only the second victory of the year where Phoenix outscored its opponents by more than 20 points, with the first coming in a Nov. 4 rout over New Jersey. The Suns also improve to 2-8 on nationally televised games, their first victory coming on opening night against the Spurs.

“Consistency wins games, consistency wins championships,” O’Neal said. “I think that style of game – everybody was involved, playing defense and running – if we can package that and become consistent in playing that way, we’ll be on our way.”

ESPN's RV Tour

The ESPN RV Tour was in the house Friday night, making one of its many stops throughout the country in Phoenix. The RV is exactly what it sounds like, a Winnebago-like vehicle that travels to all of the NBA cities in the country entertaining fans while promoting ESPN and the NBA.

The tour coincides with ESPN’s national broadcasts of the NBA (the Suns-Mavs game was aired on ESPN) and is the second time the RV has visited US Airways Center. Taking place year-round, it is the fifth time this season that the tour has gone from coast-to-coast.

The RV has been featured in a series of comical commercials that fans can see on ESPN and ABC. Shaq has been a frequent star in the spots, which you can watch by clicking here. The interior of the RV on the commercials is identical to what one can see on the tour, giving fans a sneak-peek at the sets for the commercials.

Some of the commercials one may remember are of Shaq driving the RV and bantering with play-by-play guru Mike Breen, another of him playing twister on the RV and yet another of him challenging Breen and ESPN’s Stuart Scott to Scrabble.

To get fans involved, the RV has a bevy of activities and games that include NBA Live ’09 on Xbox as well as a mobile basketball hoop where fans can shoot for ESPN t-shirts, wristbands and headbands. There are also opportunities to win memorabilia from ABC’s hit shows, Scrubs and Lost.

Fans can also compare their sneaker sizes to everyone from the Hornets’ David West to Shaq. The most popular activity has been for fans to take photographs within the RV and at the simulated SportsCenter booth right outside of it.

“You feel like you’re actually there with Bill Walton and Stephen A. (Smith),” Tour Manager Derek Schmalz said. “Then with the photograph, you can go on-line to ESPN.com and retrieve that photo with a card that we give to everybody. You can share them on Facebook or e-mail them from there.”

For those who missed the tour, don't worry, it will be back for All-Star Weekend.

Point of Contention

Another pearl that fans could take away from Friday’s contest is that it featured two of the best point guards to ever play the game. To put things in perspective, Nash is 13th on the NBA’s all-time assist list.

The two-time MVP is already ahead of storied luminaries such as Bob Cousy, Nate Archibald and Kevin Johnson. Kidd, on the other hand, is fifth on the all-time list behind John Stockton, Mark Jackson, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson.

Kidd ranks fifth on the Suns’ all-time assist list while Nash ranks second. Currently, Nash is fourth in the NBA in assists (8.5 a game), just ahead of Kidd’s average of 8.3 a night.

Since Kidd was traded to Dallas, he’s gotten the better of the Suns’ floorleader, going 2-0 against him before Friday. But Nash made up some ground on his former Phoenix teammate, scoring nine, dishing out 12 dimes and nabbing two steals in the Suns trouncing of the Mavs.

Kidd was one of the few bright spots for Dallas, connecting on 6-of-9 shots, including 3-of-3 from downtown to total 15 points. He also added seven assists and five rebounds.

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