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Kidd's late surge lifts Mavs over Suns

Mar 28, 2011 - 6:21 AM Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - Jason Kidd took over late in the fourth quarter, scoring the game's final eight points, and the Dallas Mavericks came away with a 91-83 victory over the Phoenix Suns at U.S. Airways Center.

Kidd finished with 16 points for Dallas, which overcame a subpar shooting performance to notch its fourth straight win. The Mavericks, who made only 38 percent of their shots, remained one game back of the Lakers for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference while closing to within five games of Southwest-leading San Antonio.

Jason Terry and Tyson Chandler also scored 16 points in the win, with Chandler grabbing 18 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki contributed 15 points on just 6-of-19 shooting.

Jared Dudley and Marcin Gortat both had 20 points for the Suns, who have dropped three of four to fall four games behind eighth-place Memphis.

After Dudley hit a jumper to tie the game at 83 with 1:37 remaining, Kidd buried a three-pointer as the shot-clock buzzer sounded on the ensuing possession.

Phoenix's Channing Frye then heaved up an ill-advised three-pointer before Kidd knocked down another trey. Out of a Phoenix timeout, Dudley was off the mark. He grabbed the offensive rebound, but couldn't convert the putback. Kidd then sealed the win with a pair from the foul line.

"The first (three-pointer) I had no choice, the shot clock was about to go off," Kidd said. "I just took my time and it went in, that's all. The second one I was shooting it all the way if Dirk was going to give it to me. I was just hoping he was going to give me the ball and give me that opportunity and that's what he's been doing all season, trusting his teammates."

The Suns led by as many as 12 in the first half. Dallas managed to trim its deficit to 49-44 at the break and entered the fourth quarter down 67-65. Terry nailed a three-pointer to put the Mavericks up 70-69 -- their first lead since the early stages of the contest.

It remained a one-possession game until Kidd's heroics.

"We played with great effort, I thought -- did a good job and had a great start," said Phoenix head coach Alvin Gentry. "We just weren't quite able to maintain and then we couldn't come up with shots at the end of the game."

Game Notes

The Mavericks own the best road record in the NBA at 26-10...Dallas improved to 12-1 against the Pacific Division this season...Gortat had 15 rebounds...Steve Nash handed out seven of his 10 assists in first quarter for Phoenix...The Suns were 1-for-16 from three-point range.