On March 14, 2007 the Suns traveled to Dallas and beat the Mavericks in a nationally televised double overtime thriller.
Dubbed “the game of the season,” this historic matchup featured the eventual second-seeded Phoenix Suns against the first-seed Dallas Mavericks. Phoenix began the game dominating the Mavs, outscoring their opponent 32-18. But Dallas soon matched Phoenix’s intensity taking them on in a shootout in the second quarter outscoring the Suns 35-28. Any hope for a Phoenix victory nearly collapsed as the Dallas defense smothered the Phoenix offense and the Suns only managed 16 points in the third, compared to Dallas’ 38.
Heading into the fourth down 82-91, Steve Nash led a furious charge as the Suns found their first quarter fire and outscored the Mavericks 35-20, tying the game on a clutch Steve Nash three with 2.7 seconds remaining sending the two now exhausted teams into overtime. Nash scored 10 points in the final minute. Tied at 120 at the end of the first overtime, the Suns would eventually outlast their Conference rivals 129-127.
Two Suns’ finished with over 30 points. Nash with 32 but Amare Stoudemire with a game-high 41. Phoenix also had a great rebounding game, with both Stoudemire and Marion recording 10+ rebounds.
Although the Mavericks would finished with the first seed and 67 wins, it didn’t matter too much, as they lost in the first round to the Golden State Warriors in the league’s third ever 8 to 1 upset. Phoenix would not fare too well in the playoffs either, losing in the second round to the eventual Champion, San Antonio Spurs.
This game may possibly go down as one of the great regular season games of all-time. It featured two of the best offenses in the league and two MVP caliber players with Nash and Nowitzki. The game was great for everyone watching (it was nationally broadcast on ESPN), with both teams needing strong comebacks and clutch shots over and over again.
It will definitely go down as an all-time great regular season games in both NBA and Phoenix Suns history.