The Suns went to Dallas with the hope of stringing back-to-back wins together for the first time this season. But until they figure out a way to make the 3-point line work in their favor, winning streaks will be hard to come by.
The Suns shot 45 percent from the field, a number better than their season average. But missing 12 of 17 3-pointers continues a disturbing trend to the season, and when combined with a change from the norm -- their bench was outscored by 30 points -- it was more than enough for the Mavericks to put together their first two-game winning streak with a 98-89 win.
With the Suns missing the 3-ball -- or in the case of Channing Frye, not even bothering to shoot it at all -- they could surely use the skill set possessed by Michael Redd. Redd is practicing but has yet to make his Phoenix debut, but someone who can shoot the long ball, even if he can't do much else, would be welcome.
The Suns fell behind by 22 points in the fourth quarter and shaved the lead to nine points with three minutes left, but more missed 3-pointers sealed the deal and dropped Phoenix to 2-4 with wins over New Orleans and Golden State, not exactly playoff-caliber foes.
The bright spot was a 22-point, 10-rebound effort from Marcin Gortat, but the Suns were still outrebounded 53-42 for the game and 19-11 on the offensive glass.
"We all have to box out, including big guys and guards," Gortat said. "I'll take the blame for that because I need to do a better job as well. I'm going to make sure the next couple of games, I rebound the ball better."
Those games will be at home against Portland and Milwaukee. The Blazers are off to a 4-1 start and are allowing just 94 points a game, which the Suns haven't reached in four of their first six games. Poor 3-point shooting will do that.
NOTES, QUOTES
-- The Suns went into the game against the Mavericks leading the NBA in bench scoring, but they hadn't faced a team with the likes of Jason Terry and Lamar Odom coming off the bench. Behind 18 points from Terry and 15 from Odom, the Mavericks' bench outscored the Suns' bench 51-21, and the subs were on the floor when Dallas put the game away early in the third quarter.
"I don't consider Jason Terry a bench player, really. So, that's a little bit distorted," Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said. "Jason is going to do what he does every night, and he's going to give them 15-20 points, and that's who he is. But their other guys did a very good job -- obviously Lamar (Odom) has been on championship teams and played off the bench, so we're well aware of what he can do. I thought (Ian) Mahinmi did a great job of giving them energy and keeping balls alive like that. That's where the separation came -- with the second units. Their second unit did an outstanding job, and really that's where the lead came, and it was hard for us to overcome."
-- The Suns played a good game defensively, but they gave up too many offensive rebounds and second chances. The Mavs had 19 of their 53 rebounds on the offensive glass, and that led to a lot of second-chance points.
"I just thought that our defense was good, (but) we just did a terrible job on the boards," Gentry said. "It doesn't matter how good your defense is; if you're going to give up 20 offensive rebounds, you're probably going to get yourself in trouble.
"The most disheartening thing probably is the fact that they got 20 offensive rebounds and they still shot 41 percent. So we just have got to do a better job taking care of the boards. We've made a big jump defensively, and we've improved tremendously, but we've got to take care of the rebounding part of it."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I think we gave up tons of offensive rebounds. We held them to 41 percent shooting, which is more than acceptable, but we missed a lot of shots. We're OK offensively, but you can't give up so many offensive rebounds like we did." -- Suns guard Steve Nash.
ROSTER REPORT
-- F Grant Hill has gotten off to a very slow start but showed some signs of life against the Mavericks. He scored a season-best 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting and played 34 minutes. He still was missing the burst that would allow him to finish drives to the basket, but his jumper looked better and his energy took a step forward.
-- C Marcin Gortat seemed to have more movement and flexibility with his broken thumb for the first time this season, and the result was his first double-double of the season -- 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting and 10 rebounds. It also helped that Gortat had a nice quickness advantage over Dallas starting center Brendan Haywood.
-- F Josh Childress has played himself out of the rotation. Shooting 33 percent from the field and averaging just two points over the first four games of the season, Childress was a DNP for the second straight game Wednesday and appears to have lost his playing time to Hakim Warrick, who has played well at the small forward spot over the last five games.
MEDICAL WATCH
-- No significant injuries.
ROTATION
-- Point guard Steve Nash
-- Shooting guard Jared Dudley
-- Small forward Grant Hill
-- Power forward Channing Frye
-- Center Marcin Gortat
-- Forward Hakim Warrick
-- Guard Shannon Brown
-- Guard Ronnie Price
-- Guard Sebastian Telfair
-- Center Robin Lopez
-- Forward Markieff Morris
