Phoenix Suns Win
Despite the San Antonio Spurs best effort, the Phoenix Suns simply could not be denied tonight. Leading after the 1st quarter (1st of the series), the Suns kept up with the Spurs all the way until the end and came out victorious.
Play of the game - Amare Stoudemire blocks Tim Duncan's dunk attempt with less than 2 minutes left and recovers the ball.... ohhhh my!!! Nash nails two free throws to cement the game and Phoenix walks away in a 3-1 series. Still down, they now have shifted the momentum heading back to Phoenix.
While Stoudemire made the play of the game, I think Joe Johnson was the player of the game. His 3-point shots and drives to the line were the primary reason the Suns were able to stay in the game and come out with the win.
One point of argument... Q' Richardson cannot play defense, period. Manu Ginobili again lit him up for 28 points on 50% shooting. It seemed at one point that Ginobili could do no wrong driving down the lane; twisting and turning he either made the difficult shot or drew the foul on a Suns defender.
Props to Joe Johnson for 67% shooting (10-15 FG) and 50% 3-point shooting (3-6) and keeping the Suns in this series. I hope the Suns re-sign Joe for as much as possible to keep this nucleus in-tact. Stoudemire played a solid game, despite only grabbing 5 boards and Nash finished strong with 12 assists; much better than his game 3 output of 3 assists.
Perhaps the biggest surprise and possibly the Suns reason for victory was Shawn Marion's resurgence, with 11 pts (low), but 14 rebounds and 3 blocks.
While it's hard to put the Phoenix Suns in the Finals just yet, it is encouraging to see them win a game against the “complete” San Antonio Spurs team.
Go Suns!!!