Mavs finally reach NBA Finals with huge rally versus Suns

Nowitzki continued his ascent to stardom with another clutch playoff performance, dropping in 24 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, one game after a 50-point performance that will go down as one of the greatest individual performances in franchise history.

Josh Howard posted 20 points and 15 rebounds and provided much more on the defensive end of the court, collecting three steals and continuously frustrating Shawn Marion and Tim Thomas.

Jerry Stackhouse added 19 points and Jason Terry donated 17 for Dallas, which won its first Game 6 since June 2, 1988 at home against the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference finals.

The Mavericks outscored Phoenix 40-27 in the deciding fourth quarter and will now host Miami in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, beginning Thursday. Dallas won both contests against the Heat this season.

The sun set on a short-handed Phoenix squad Saturday after a season that bested reasonable expectations. Star forward Amare Stoudemire played in only three games because of a right knee injury and Joe Johnson bolted for Atlanta in the offseason.

However, Steve Nash put together another MVP season and the Suns pieced together a team that reached the conference finals.

It ended Saturday despite 19 points and nine assists from Nash and a game-high 30 points and 11 rebounds from Boris Diaw. Leandro Barbosa added 14 points and Marion posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, but the Suns tired down the stretch after using just seven players.

Phoenix was playing in its eighth conference finals, but hasn’t advanced to the NBA Finals since falling to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in 1993.