Rising Suns

The key difference between games two and three is that the Suns played for 48 minutes in game three. The Suns didn't bother to show up in game two until about halfway into the second quarter, and they lost the game as a result.

Last night, the Suns came out swinging. They demonstrated their ability to face some adversity as they went on the road shorthanded and came away with an important game-three victory.

Joe Johnson's absence wreaks havoc on the Suns' bench, especially when playing a team like Dallas. Since Dallas committed to playing small ball with Phoenix, the Suns don't have the ability to send Steven Hunter out onto the floor to disrupt shots. There was just nobody for Hunter to guard, and that was reflected in Hunter's two-minute appearance in the game.

Walter McCarty picked up five fouls in only nine minutes without scoring a point; the only bench player that scored for Phoenix was Leandro Barbosa, who put up five points in 16 minutes.

But the starting five ran and ran and ran, and by the end of the fourth quarter, Dallas was just too tired to run with Phoenix any more. The Suns went on a lightning-fast 15-0 run and buried Dallas late in the fourth.

Dallas was held to 39% from the field and 1-18 from beyond the arc. There isn't a team in the NBA that can put those numbers up and expect to win the game. The game plan resembled game one: attack the basket with Amare regardless of matchup; get Nash penetrating, allowing him to put in the hole or kick it out to one of the long-range assassins; run, run, run.

Marion completely locked up Nowitzki in game three. Although he was able to go for 21 and 13, Dirk shot 33% from the field (8-24). Marion frustrates Dirk, and it's clear to my why. At 7-feet, Dirk is used to being able to shoot over most any defender. Marion is a mere 6-7, and Dirk sees that height advantage and wants to exploit it. The problem is that Marion has deceptive length, and his ability to get up in the air quickly allows him to contest Dirk's patented 17-foot jumper.

(Please note that Shawn Marion was left off the All-Defensive 2nd team in favor of Andre Kirilenko. Kirilenko is an amazing defender, but he missed 41 games this season, and has no place being on that team over a career free forward who shifted over to power forward and locked up guys all season long.)

And so, the Suns go into game four playing with house money. They have the confidence and the swagger to go in and get two in Dallas. If they do, Dallas is staring elimination in the face; if the Suns drop game four, the series shifts back to Phoenix, where the Suns would have reclaimed the home court for the best 2-of-3 contest that would transpire.

The seven-game series is an interesting animal. The balance of power seems to shift with every game: at 1-0, the Suns looked unstoppable; at 1-1, the Suns looked like they were going to have to go back to the drawing board; now at 2-1, the Suns have put themselves back in the driver's seat up to game five.

Now the Suns really can play for two in Dallas, and if they get game four on Sunday, we'll see if they have that killer instinct to knock Dallas out in five.

But first thing's first: game four.