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Desperate Suns face off with Mavs in the desert

Mar 27, 2011 - 2:48 PM (Sports Network) - The playoff-bound Dallas Mavericks continue their final road trip of the regular season tonight, when they resume a six-game trek by visiting the Phoenix Suns.

Dallas is 25-10 away from Big D and will also visit the Clippers, Lakers, Warriors and Trail Blazers. The club is currently six games behind San Antonio in the Southwest Division and one game in back of the Lakers for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with 10 to play.

The Mavericks have won three in a row since losing three of four games and opened their trek with a 94-77 rout in Salt Lake City on Saturday. Jason Terry scored 22 points off the bench, including 10 during a huge fourth quarter, in that one to lift Dallas.

Trailing by two points entering the fourth, the Mavericks outscored Utah 36-17 the rest of the way. Although neither player was on the court for more than six minutes in the fourth quarter, Dirk Nowitzki added 19 points and Shawn Marion scored 13 in the victory.

Dallas, after shooting below 39 percent for the first three quarters, went 11- for-17 in the fourth (65 percent) including a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range.

"Offensively, we just made stuff happen. Guys got hot," said Nowitzki. "We definitely made some timely shots, but I think the difference was the defense."

The Suns, meanwhile, are in desperate straights, three games behind Memphis for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, after falling to a David West-less New Orleans team on Friday.

Chris Paul poured in 22 points, including several key buckets at the end of the game in that one as New Orleans overcame losing West for the season with a 106-100 win over the Suns in the desert. The Hornets received the devastating news earlier Friday that West tore his ACL during Thursday's 121-117 overtime victory over Utah.

Grant Hill and Marcin Gortat each had 18 points for the Suns, who have dropped two of their last three and remain in 10th place in the West. Gortat left in the third quarter and did not return after suffering a broken nose when he walked into Suns guard Steve Nash's head following a Hornets bucket.

Jared Dudley and Aaron Brooks both came off the bench to contribute 17 points in the loss.

"It was a big game," Brooks said. "We needed to come out and play hard but the ball didn't bounce our way. The effort that we gave is the effort that we have to give for the rest of the season minus some small mistakes."

Gortat, who is averaging a double-double of 18.4 points and 11.2 boards in his last five games, had his nose manipulated back into place by doctors on Saturday and is listed as questionable for tonight's game.

The Mavericks have won six of seven over the Suns, including both meetings this season.