Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers: Game 4

by Dan on Apr 29, 2007 9:45 AM MDT in Suns News

The Suns could have been going for a sweep today. But they somehow gave up a 17 point lead and lost to the Lakers on Thursday night. In reading the reports after the game and especially yesterday, it sounds like the Suns know what they did wrong in that game and know how to resolve it for today's game. Now that the Suns have lost, I can actually have keys to the game other than "Do what you did the last game". Here they are:

Amare needs to stay out of foul trouble - When Amare can be agressive against Kwame Brown, that helps the Suns throughout the game. It's hard to defend when you have 2 fouls in the first quarter and your only thought the rest of the game is, "Don't foul." If Amare can be aggressive like he was in game 2 without being overly aggressive and fouling like he did in game 3, the game is pretty much over at that point in my opinion.
Get the dang rebound - I don't really mind if the Lakers beat the Suns in rebounds, but when they allow the Lakers to get 18 offensive rebounds, that's a problem. Others talked about the closeness of the game and the discrepancy in free throws. I think it comes down to getting 4-5 of those rebounds from the Lakers so they don't get an extra chance to score.
Help Steve Nash - The Lakers are going to try and swarm Steve again. It worked for them the last game, so you know they're going to keep with that gameplan. But this time, the Suns should be running toward Nash - not to get the ball out of his hands which just plays right into the Lakers' game plan, but to set picks and get Steve free. By doing this, they can get mismatches and allow Steve to get open again.
Play with intensity the entire game - I don't care if they have a 5 point lead, a 15 point lead or a 25 point lead. I hope the Suns smash the Lakers into the ground and don't let them get back up. If they have to, they should think about Smush Parker trying to dunk at the end of the game after it was already over. That should tick them off enough to prove who the better team really is.

What are you thoughts before the game? Did I miss anything?

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Smush's dunk

Come on. I can't believe how upset people are about Smush's dunk attempt at the end of Game 3. It would have been one thing had the Lakers won the game by 30, but the lead was only 6. His team had barely hung on and survived. That Smush was even on the floor in crunch time, given his recent blowup with Phil Jackson, had to have been a personally satisfying moment to him all by itself. So he opted to celebrate a bit by trying a dunk. So what? Sorry, I'm just not buying the Smush Dunk as Motivation theory. I think the Suns should stick with "we got killed on the glass and out-hustled in general, thereby blowing a golden opportunity to sweep this team" as motivation.

by TexSUN on Apr 29, 2007 9:55 AM MDT 0 recs

Have you ever seen a classy team do it?

Have you ever seen the Suns at the end of a game do a dunk or shoot a three in celebration? I think I remember Pat Burke shooting three's at the end of a blowout game and the team the Suns were playing was very upset about it. It's the last time I've seen the Suns shoot the ball instead of just running out the clock. It was a classless thing to do and I'm glad that Raja wouldn't let him do it. The Suns had conceded the game. It just ticks me off...

by Dan on Apr 29, 2007 10:22 AM MDT up 0 recs

Good point, but...

Of all the things that irritated me about Game 3, Smush's dunk attempt ranks near the bottom of the list. I could understand the wrath if it had been Kobe or Odom, but a troubled young D-Leaguer, who knows his NBA career is probably over the moment this series ends? I couldn't care less if he wants to go for one more moment of joy on the big stage before he exits off into oblivion. And yes, Raja did the right thing by thwarting the attempt, but that should be the end of it IMO.

by TexSUN on Apr 29, 2007 11:44 AM MDT up 0 recs

Doesn't bother me

It does not bother me one way or the other- whether Smush had that dunk after the outcome was no longer in doubt, or if the Lakers were just dribbling out the clock.

The most important thing is- the score. You win or you lose. Nothing else matters. I don't think Smush is even worth mentioning, unless he is the one that created the winning opportunities for the Lakers. He did not.

by Vash01 on Apr 29, 2007 11:42 AM MDT up 0 recs

Oh, and good point...

About the team needing to help Steve by setting picks to free him instead of just getting the ball out of his hands. I like it!

by TexSUN on Apr 29, 2007 10:01 AM MDT 0 recs

Crush them mind, body and soul

Leave nothing to chance.
That should be the Suns motto for tonight.

Start and end the game like cold blooded killers and lay waste to every Laker who even thinks of challenging you. Demoralize and destroy the Lakers and let them know that there is indeed no hope left. As you said Dan our boys lost because they got outhustled and because they failed at life on the deffensive glass. Dominate the paint, play with beserker fury and help out Nash. Do these things and victory will be assured.

Suns must realize that losing tonight is not an option. WE CANT ALLOW THIS SERIES TO GO 6 GAMES!!!! End them now and prepare for the true battle to come. GO SUNSSSSS!!!!!

"Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle, but in defeating your enemy without ever fighting." Sun Tzu

by Turambar on Apr 29, 2007 10:13 AM MDT 0 recs

Agreed

The Suns need to show the Lakers who the real Suns are; not the imposters of game 3. It sounds like they have a strategy to deal with LA's attach, without selling their soul (the speed). We will see how that works out. I doubt that Nash will allow himself to have back to back subpar games.

The Amare interview in today's AZ Rep hinted at Amare being unhappy about not being the KEY guy - the one through whom the offense flows. It said he may exercise his option to be traded in 2010 if things don't improve for him. I don't know if it's Amare's idea or just the writer trying to stir things up again. If it's the latter, this writer should be fired for trying to create disharmony at the most inopportune time for the Suns.

by Vash01 on Apr 29, 2007 10:36 AM MDT up 0 recs

I saw that

The article is here if anyone's interested. Personally, I read it as speculation on the writer's part. And it didn't sound like Amare was necessarily complaining, just pointing out the obvious that if the matchup is there, maybe the Suns should use it. I don't disagree with that to a point. (Although SA has said that giving up awesome games to Amare was part of their game strategy in 2005--it kept the other Suns from getting involved). If Amare wants to get my blessing to become the "franchise player", he needs to prove he can measure up to Nash in the team leadership and playmaking department. Until that happens, I just don't see the benefit of taking the ball out of the hands of the guy who knows best what to do with it. And if it were being done just to "keep Amare happy", that's even worse. Once Nash can no longer shoulder the load, then we can talk about turning the team over to Amare--although I'm starting to think maybe LB might be up to the task someday. :)

by TexSUN on Apr 29, 2007 11:12 AM MDT up 0 recs

It's Bickley

You can't take anything Bickley says at face value. He's always trying to stir up controversy. If there is none there, he'll create some. He thinks it's good writing. If it comes from Bickley, I wouldn't worry about it much.

by Dan on Apr 29, 2007 4:06 PM MDT up 0 recs

Wow...

Well, leave it to Amare to make me feel like an idiot for writing the above. Totally awesome performance today by Amare. He really came through today, especially with rebounds, which helped the Suns even more than Nash's 23 assists. I agree with Amare: They both had "phenominal" games! (And so did Marion).

by TexSUN on Apr 29, 2007 9:40 PM MDT up 0 recs

Big three

If the Suns big three play like this, the Suns could be unbeatable.

by Vash01 on Apr 29, 2007 11:34 PM MDT up 0 recs

LA Times readers choose Nash over Kobe (and Dirk)

From Doug Haller's blog on AZCentral:

BRING ON KG
An LA Times poll asked readers who would make the best addition to next year's roster. The choices were Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd, Jermaine O'Neal and Jerry West. Garnett captured nearly 59 percent of the vote.

AWARD NASH
A separate poll asked about this year's MVP. Nearly 48 percent of LA Times online readers said Steve Nash should win, 34 chose Kobe and 15 chose Dirk Nowitzki.

by TexSUN on Apr 29, 2007 10:20 AM MDT 0 recs

Nice!

The LA fans have good taste! Nash over even Kobe...that's nice!

I also like their choice of Kevin Garnett over the others. If they sign Garnett next year, they would be competitive to win the Pacific division (although the Suns won't let them, it will be much closer than this year).

by Vash01 on Apr 29, 2007 10:32 AM MDT 0 recs

on points

Hard to play aggressive and avoid foul trouble at the same time. Remember, In L.A last game some very serious ghost calls against Amare, how do you avoid that??

Yes, rebounding is key, but with half or more of the Suns running to start their break, this hurts. Especially since the Suns have 3 main re bounders in STAT, MATRIX, and K. Thomas and MATRIX is always running the break. When our style is on, it pays off, when not, we get killed. After watching G.S., their mid to little guys got a lot of rebounds by just hustling, can't we do this?

On point 3, picks to help nash, sorry, I don't think it'll be enough (I hope I'm wrong if it's picks the Suns try). I watched G.S. and some other teams bringing up the ball during the press, and they had a guy following along with the ball so the guard bringing up the ball wasn't alone. I think this would work if it was the right player following Nash, maybe Diaw.

I agree with point 4, intensity throughout the game is a key, and I agree it was poor sportsmanship by Smush in game 3, but honestly, did anyone actually expect anything else from this thug. It's rare we get rid of someone so quickly, but between Smush and Tim Thomas, I'm glad they're gone. Tim Thomas has played very poorly for L.A. clippers, last years playoffs for him were about 1 thing, looking good as a player so he could get a big contract and sit back again (it worked). I can't say enough good about the Suns now, I really do believe they're a great team, and there star players can put their egos aside and this team can adjust and win.

On Amare, after seeing him against Dallas this last 2 games score at will, and seeing how smooth a mid range shooter he has become, I agree he should be getting more touches. Which Suns will show up?

by jasonsuns1 on Apr 29, 2007 11:26 AM MDT 0 recs

Holy Crack Batman!!!!!

Wow Nash and STAT are on fire tonight. Nash feeds the Beast (read STAT) and the Beast scores. Holy Shit Nash with 20 assists and STAT with 19 boards. BTW that's only after the end of the 3rd.

"Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle, but in defeating your enemy without ever fighting." Sun Tzu

by Turambar on Apr 29, 2007 3:33 PM MDT 0 recs

Just got back...

I see on NBA.com that Nash already has 20 assists, and Amare has 19 boards and 10-18 shooting. They mentioned that Nash's 15 first half assists tied a playoff record -- is that his playoff record, or an all-time record for everyone? Assuming Nash can get three more assists during the game, that would mean both his scoring (48 points) and assists career highs would have been set during playoff games. I wonder how many players can say that?

by TexSUN on Apr 29, 2007 3:37 PM MDT 0 recs

Oh, and not only that...

Both career highs would have been set in road playoff games too. Looks like he picked up another one while I was typing that. Only two more to go! (Not watching the game yet out of fear my DVR will act up again and erase it, which it's been doing a lot lately when I try to watch something while recording it at the same time).

by TexSUN on Apr 29, 2007 3:40 PM MDT up 0 recs

And he did it!

23 assists! I've been hoping he'd get a >22 assist game for over a year now. Hated to think his career high game was going to be that heartbreaking 3OT loss against New York last year. Now he can claim his career high happened in a playoff game which (barring the mother of all Laker Miracles) looks like a Suns win. And it didn't even take him overtime to get there...

by TexSUN on Apr 29, 2007 3:56 PM MDT up 0 recs

Ack!

I spoke too soon. I read the scoreboard wrong and thought the lead was 25 not 15. The Lakers have closed the gap to 12, probably because of the bad karma my "mother of all miracles" comment created. I didn't intend to jinx the team, I just mis-read the score.

by TexSUN on Apr 29, 2007 4:00 PM MDT up 0 recs

Record

It is the NBA playoff record for assists in a half.

I thought Nash was going to set his own record for most assists in a game but his teammates were not shooting well. LB missed an open 3-pointer in the last Q, and there was one more miss- can't remember by who- that would have tied the record with Magic and Stockton (24).

by Vash01 on Apr 29, 2007 5:03 PM MDT up 0 recs

Oh so close

Yeah, he could have easily gotten that 24th, or even more. Amare missed one right under the basket as well as a wide-open jumper. Boris passed once when he could have taken an easy shot under the basket. The LB miss you mentioned. Nash could have easily blown the old record out of the water. Like he said, "just wasn't meant to be". Still an awesome game by the Suns, especially Nash, Amare, and Marion.

by TexSUN on Apr 29, 2007 6:44 PM MDT up 0 recs