Dudley does it all in Suns’ win over Mavs
Mar 9, 2012, 2:36 PM | Updated: 2:39 pm
The Phoenix Suns’ 96-94 win over the defending NBA
champion Dallas Mavericks Thursday at U.S. Airways Center
was a team effort. But one player’s fingerprints were
definitely more prominent at the scene of the crime.
Jared Dudley scored a team-high 18 points, grabbed 8
rebounds and blocked 3 shots in the Suns’ win, which was
their fourth in five games since the NBA All-Star break.
Dudley pumped in 12 of his 18 points during a decisive
third quarter where Phoenix turned a 9-point halftime
deficit into a 2-point lead heading into the final frame.
So what was the big difference in the third quarter?
“I thought our intensity defensively picked
up,” Dudley
said. “I thought I did a poor job in the first half on
Vince (Carter), and in the second half, we started with
Grant (Hill) on him, and I thought Grant did a good job on
him.”
Carter, who spent a portion of last season in a Suns’
uniform, gashed his former mates with 13 first half points
on 6-of-11 shooting. But in the 2nd, with the intensity
turned up, the Suns’ defense held Carter to 5 points. The
veteran guard was just 2-of-10 after halftime.
