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The other day, I randomly caught game 4 of the first round of the 2006 playoffs on NBATV. Phoenix Suns. Los Angeles Lakers. Steve Nash. Shawn Marion. Skinny Boris. Tim Thomas. And of course Lamar Odom, Kobe Bryant and the great Smush Parker.
I much prefer Game 6 of that series over Game 4, so here is a fun reminder of that epic game that saved the Suns playoff lives. Even without Raja Bell, who reportedly watched the game from a local bar full of Laker fans. And of COURSE without Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas (injured).
Here’s a link to the whole dang game.
But I know lots of you don’t have all day to watch this game again, so here’s just the Nash (32 points) and Kobe (50 points) highlights.
That playoff run of 2006 counts as my favorite Suns run of the SSOL era. They were so under-manned. So under-sized. And yet found a way to win enough to nearly make it all the way to the Finals. It took yet ANOTHER injury (Raja Bell’s achilles) to really kill the Suns season in the Conference Finals.
Poll
What was YOUR favorite SSOL playoff run?
This poll is closed
-
14%
2005 Playoffs - bursting on the scene, coming up short after Joe Johnson broke his face
(34 votes) -
18%
2006 Playoffs - surviving the Lakers and Clippers, falling only to the Mavericks when Raja Bell broke is achilles
(43 votes) -
17%
2007 Playoffs - epic Round 2 against the Spurs, snuffed out by suspensions of Amare and Boris for pivotal Game 5.
(41 votes) -
1%
2008 Playoffs - Seven Seconds or Shaq never got going after Timmy D hit the 3 in Game 1
(4 votes) -
47%
2010 Playoffs - epic run, unforgettable sweep of the hated Spurs, only to fall to supreme Kobe
(110 votes)