Suns vs. Mavericks has become marquee rivalry in NBA

They have the two best records in the NBA and own the league’s two longest winning streaks — both of which rank among the all-time best — this season.

Their superstars are the two, clear-cut candidates for the Most Valuable Player award.

In the past two playoff runs, each team has ended the other’s season — winning the deciding Game 6 on the enemy’s home floor. Both have front-row, in-your-face owners who live and die with every possession and official’s whistle.

Throw in the Steve Nash factor — one team let him go but still thrived, while the other used him to revive its franchise — and there isn’t a better rivalry in basketball than the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns.

“It was Dallas-San Antonio for a while, it was Miami-Detroit, but right now Dallas-Phoenix has to be the best matchup in the game,” ESPN analyst Tim Legler said. “One team might win 70 games, the other might win 65. One team was 33-2 over one span (Phoenix) and the other was 36-2 (Dallas).

“They play exciting basketball, and there is plenty of intrigue between the two franchises. Right now, it just doesn’t get any better.”

They meet twice in the next 19 days – starting with tonight’s showdown in Dallas – with national television zooming in and media everywhere splitting hairs. The Suns still harbor a faint hope of catching the Mavericks for homecourt advantage through the postseason, but the meeting is more about sizing up each other for an anticipated Western Conference finals matchup in June and, for Phoenix, sending a message that the scales haven’t tipped in Dallas’ favor.

“We’d love to play well against them and measure ourselves to see what we’re doing,” Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni said. “It means a little bit in March, more when we play them in April. One thing’s for sure, it will be a great game.”

When the teams met Nov. 9 in Phoenix, the Suns and Mavericks were a combined 1-8 and warning flags were flying. Since then, they have won 100 of 116 games (an .826 winning percentage), are the only two teams to already clinch playoff spots and are jogging home to easy division titles.

In January Phoenix was unbeatable, Nash was headed for a third straight MVP, and the Suns were the chic pick to win a championship. Since then, the Mavericks have pulled away in the West, and Dirk Nowitzki has replaced his best friend as MVP polesitter while his team has established itself as the team to beat.

Suns at Mavericks

Where: American Airlines Center

Radio: KTAR (620 AM, 92.3 FM)

Records: Suns 49-14; Dallas 52-10

Series history: The Suns lead the overall series 66-47, but Dallas has won 13 of the past 21 regular season meetings, including both games this season. The Mavericks won 119-112 in Phoenix on Nov. 9 behind 35 points from Dirk Nowitzki, which topped the 18 points and 10 assists from Steve Nash. Nowitzki was at it again on Dec. 28 in Dallas, hitting for 27 points including the game-winning jumper with 1.3 seconds left to give the Mavs a 101-99 win. Amaré Stoudemire had 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Suns; Nash had 24 points and 13 assists.

Scouting report: Suns – Phoenix shoots for its 50th win tonight, but any shot at the league’s best record must include a sweep of the two remaining games with Dallas. But proving they can beat the Mavericks, especially in Texas, might be the most important goal. Leandro Barbosa is averaging 25.8 points over the past four games, setting a career high of 32 points twice during that span. Boris Diaw has produced 14.5 points on 52-percent shooting the past two games, and will draw the defensive assignment on Nowitzki.

Mavericks – Dallas had won 36 of its last 38 games and 17 straight before finally falling at Golden State Monday. But the Mavericks still have a streak of 23 straight wins at home – dating back to a Dec. 7 loss to Detroit – and are 72-10 at home since Avery Johnson became coach. When Dallas reaches 100 points, it is 30-2 this season, and 31-2 when two players reach 20 points in the same game.

Mavericks’ keys

Dallas must deal with Amaré Stoudemire (above left), who had 25 points and 13 rebounds in the last meeting and is the single biggest reason why ESPN analyst Tim Legler gives the Suns a leg up on the Mavericks in the head-to-head matchup.

“The Suns have an unstoppable offense. You look at what (Leandro) Barbosa is doing now as yet another weapon and they have the ability to outscore anyone,” Legler said. “But for Dallas, the biggest problem is Stoudemire. Guys like Erick Dampier and (DeSagana) Diop can’t guard him by themselves. That means coming off the 3-point line to help, which leaves Steve Nash to shoot or find all those 3-point shooters – Barbosa, (Raja) Bell, (James) Jones … that’s what Phoenix didn’t have last year, but they have it now.”

Suns’ keys

It starts with corralling Dirk Nowitzki (above right) without double-teaming – which would leave the perimeter open to the likes of Jason Terry, Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse.

“Phoenix has to find a way to limit Dirk’s impact with one guy. Any other strategy leaves too many gaps,” ESPN analyst Tim Legler said. “Dallas counts on his production, but they also count on the havoc he creates.”

The Suns have been preparing Boris Diaw for the task of marking Nowitzki, and he will get the assignment tonight. If Diaw can contain Nowitzki, it allows the Suns to play Shawn Marion against Howard, Raja Bell on Terry and Amaré Stoudemire as a helper inside.

Longest winning streaks

Both the Suns and Mavericks have had 17-game winning streaks this season, tying for the seventh-best run in league history. Neither team played the other during their streaks, although the Suns started theirs right after losing at Dallas (Dec. 28) on a last-second jumper by Dirk Nowitzki.

Longest winning streaks in NBA history:

No. Team Began Ended

33 LA Lakers 11/5/71 1/07/72

20 Milwaukee 2/06/71 3/08/71

19 LA Lakers 2/04/00 3/13/00

18 Chicago 12/29/95 2/02/96

18 Boston 2/24/82 3/26/82

18 NY Knicks 10/24/69 11/28/69

17 Dallas 1/27/07 3/12/07

17 Phoenix 12/29/06 1/29/07