The Mavericks' endless stream of "X-factors" was not only helping them extend their lead, but also steadily wearing down the Suns mentally.
They trailed by 18 points at halftime.
One role player after another had suddenly caught fire, and the entire Suns team was close to losing its composure.
Fortunately, it was halftime, which gave them a full fifteen minutes to recover.
With Coach Gentry, Nash, and Blake, who had regained their composure first, offering encouragement and reassurance, the rest of the team finally calmed down.
"Eighteen points.
"That's a significant deficit, but we still have an entire half left. As long as we give it everything we have, we can still come back.
"Stay confident!
"Never give up!"
"Yeah!"
After one motivational speech after another from Gentry, the Suns finally regained their fighting spirit before the second half began.
A short while later, play resumed.
The Mavericks had the first possession.
"Thud!"
Nowitzki posted up George, backed him down with one hard step, then made a half-turn to gain half a step of separation before attacking the basket.
"Swish!"
He finished with a finger roll off the glass.
George stayed with him and tried to block the shot, but Nowitzki was simply too tall. In the end, George could only become part of the highlight.
The basket pushed the lead to exactly 20 points.
"Boom!"
Deafening cheers erupted throughout the arena. The Mavericks fans were fired up, hoping their team would ride the momentum and put the game away.
But the Suns had not given up.
Blake certainly had not.
"Can't stop them? Then I'll use offense as defense!"
Blake's eyes sharpened.
"Whoosh!"
He attacked.
Facing Nowitzki, Blake charged forward with long strides. When Marion came over to help at the right high post, Blake suddenly stopped.
He rose into a pull-up jumper.
"Swish!"
Good.
10:12 remaining.
Terry curled around a screen and drew the defense, allowing Kidd to find Nowitzki at the top of the arc on the opposite side.
George closed out after Nowitzki caught the ball, but Nowitzki still rose into his One-Legged Fadeaway.
"Clang!"
No good.
The Suns pushed the other way.
At the left high post, Blake backed down Marion. After absorbing the contact, he turned and released a slightly fading jumper.
"Swish!"
Good again.
8:44 remaining.
Nowitzki set a high screen, allowing Terry to cut along the baseline and race toward the left high post.
Kidd delivered the ball at the perfect moment, and Terry pulled up for a long two.
"Swish!"
Good.
But in transition, Blake reached the top of the arc and stopped a full step behind the three-point line.
Ignoring Kidd's defense in front of him, he raised the ball and fired.
"Answering three!"
"Swish!"
Another one.
6:03 remaining.
It was Blake again.
After Nowitzki scored with a post move against George, Blake raced into the frontcourt and drove coast to coast.
"Swish!"
He scored.
And drew the foul.
Blake completed the three-point play, giving the Mavericks another emphatic answer.
"Wow!"
"Blake has gone berserk since returning for the second half," Van Gundy exclaimed.
Mike Breen was just about to speak, but Van Gundy continued without giving him the chance.
"When the Mavericks fail to score, Blake scores.
"When the Mavericks get two points, Blake immediately answers with a three.
"One answer after another. Blake is asserting his dominance and telling the Mavericks that they won't win so easily just because their players keep catching fire!
"Wow!
"It's Blake again. He drives straight into the paint and faces a double block from Chandler and Nowitzki.
"He adjusts in midair and still finishes the layup!
"Twelve points!
"We're not even halfway through the quarter, and Blake already has 12. No one can stop him!"
"Fifteen points!"
"Another jumper falls. Blake is up to 17!"
"They're smothering him, but so what? Blake is on the right side of the arc, more than two meters behind the three-point line, and he shoots before the double team can arrive.
"Wow!
"Another ultra-deep three! A completely unreasonable shot!
"Can he really make that too?!
"Bang!
"It's good!
"Blake drills another ultra-deep three. He now has 20 points in the quarter, and he's tearing through the Mavericks as if no one is there!"
On the final possession of the third quarter, Nowitzki tried to attack Blake one-on-one.
But against a Blake who had already scored 20 points in the quarter and gone completely berserk, Nowitzki, whose abilities were only a fraction of Blake's, was clearly asking for too much.
Nowitzki forced up a shot after backing him down.
No good!
At the end of the third quarter, Blake had used offense as defense and entered full rampage mode, pouring in an incredible 20 points.
At the same time, he continued pressuring Nowitzki on the defensive end.
Dominating on both ends of the floor, Blake led the Suns to erase 12 points from the deficit in a single quarter.
One quarter remained.
The Suns still trailed by eight, but Blake's explosive performance had brought the outcome back into doubt.
"That's right," Mike Breen said, visibly stunned. "Blake scored 20 points in the quarter and now has 41 through only three quarters tonight.
"He also has eight rebounds, five assists, two steals, and three blocks.
"Blake has delivered yet another spectacular performance. Even with one Mavericks 'X-factor' after another stepping up, Dallas still hasn't been able to secure the victory.
"The 'Monster Rookie' Blake is simply incredible."
On the Suns' bench, Gentry watched Blake's rampage with a sharp gleam in his eyes.
"Hmph. So what if the Mavericks keep producing one 'X-factor' after another?
"The Suns have our own 'X-factor' in Blake.
"And he's a super 'X-factor' who can explode without limit.
"You want to win? You think you can rely on luck to beat us?
"It won't be that easy!"
"Huff... huff..."
Blake sat on the bench and caught his breath, sweat covering his face.
Tonight, with Mavericks "X-factors" once again erupting one after another, Blake had rested for only two minutes through the first three quarters.
He had practically played the entire game.
Twenty points in one quarter.
Forty-one through three.
He had pushed himself on both offense and defense. Even with Iverson's Talent and a stamina stat of [91], he was beginning to feel tired.
And despite all that, the Suns still trailed by eight.
Blake knew he would have to keep carrying the load in the fourth quarter if they wanted any chance of completing the comeback.
So he remained silent and conserved as much energy as possible.
George and Curry were also exhausted.
But as a rookie and a second-year player, their mental resilience still fell short of Blake's.
The Mavericks' endless run of "X-factors" had shaken them, and even while resting, they continued complaining about Dallas's incredible luck.
Before long, the fourth quarter began.
The bench units took the court first.
"'Wonder Kid' Barea, Stevenson, and Peja. Can they really keep exploding like this? Are more of them going to catch fire too?!"
George growled, his voice filled with disbelief.
In truth, the Mavericks' bench did not continue its explosive play tonight.
However, the Suns' reserves, led by Carter, were not any stronger than Dallas's bench to begin with.
As a result, Phoenix failed to cut into the deficit and remained eight points behind.
Two minutes and eleven seconds later, Gentry called a timeout.
He was the first to send Blake and George back onto the court, hoping they could attack early and reduce the deficit as much as possible before the final showdown began.