"Rick Carlisle didn't get too carried away with Monday's 122-99 win over the

Phoenix Suns.

Sure, the Dallas Mavericks shot a spectacular 55.2 percent from the field and tallied a season high in points. But when the Mavs found out that a left thigh contusion would keep Suns point guard Steve Nash on the sidelines, the Mavs knew that was a huge advantage in their favor.

The Mavs used that advantage to their advantage en route to pounding the Suns, 122-99, before 13,132 at US Airways Center.

"We caught a break with Nash not playing,'' Carlisle, the Mavs' coach, said. "I don't think you can overlook that as a big factor in the game, but we played."