Rising Suns

It's going to happen every game. It's not a question of if, but merely a question of when. The Suns are going to throw up that Purple Wall that they create each and every game, night-in/night-out. You can count the number of times that the Suns have failed to erect it this season on one hand; most of those times were sans the MVP. It's the secret weapon that the Suns have. Even playing shorthanded doesn't seem to deter the construction crew from building the Purple Wall.

The Purple Wall is the shock that the opposing team faces when the Suns turn on the jets in second half. Inevitably, the Suns' opponents shut down because they are just too damned tired to keep sprinting up and down the court with Phoenix, but the Suns do not tire. They keep going. Like the Energizer Bunny after a sixer of Red Bull. The Suns make a huge run almost every game. As somebody who has seen almost every game this season, it's a tremendous shock to me when they don't engineer a 15-0 run in a game.

I mentioned after game four that as the first half goes, so do the Suns. The two losses that the Suns earned this series had to do with flat, uninspired first halves. The Suns have outplayed the Mavericks in the second half in every single game this series. In game two, the Suns found themselves within an inch of a missed three-pointer of going up game two after coming out in the first half like their dogs had all been put to sleep the night before. Game four was far worse, as the Suns dug themselves such a deep hole, that Dallas was looking to claim title to the Grand Canyon. The Suns were unable to ride Steve Nash's 48-point explosion to a victory.

The Mavericks thought that they had acccomplished something amazing, that they had developed a gameplan: turn Steve Nash into Allen Iverson. Well, Nash did his best AI impression, and the Suns lost.

But in game five, Nash decided to emulate somebody different. Evidently understanding that 48 points, five assists, and a basket full of turnovers doesn't cut it, Nash did his best Jason Kidd impression and collected a triple double...by the third quarter.

The Suns didn't look so great in the first half of game five, but they didn't look hopeless. Keep it close, and they'll win, I said to myself. Just don't let it get out of hand. The Mavs will hit the Purple Wall, every team does.

The seven-point deficit at halftime looked like 20 to the 18,000 purple-clad Suns fans (fans, bandwagoners, whatever), but I knew. I knew that Dallas was playing with fire when the Suns came out in the third quarter, posting a five-point lead at one point. The AWA wanted the Suns to pull away, but the Mavs wouldn't let them. No, the Purple Wall hadn't been built yet. Too weak, not enough reinforcement, trying again in the fourth quarter. After all, the Suns found themselves within one point after three.

Ah yes, the fourth quarter. The wear on the tires of the Mavericks became visible. They needed another halftime to get their bearings. The fans did their best impression of the Cameron Crazies, hardly sitting down for the span of the final 12 minutes of play. The arena was so loud that individual screams from fans were swallowed up by the collective whole, creating a cacophony of Suns support. The noise disrupted more than one play, as the Mavericks looked as if the din was giving them headaches.

Shot clock winds down. Bad shot thrown up. Suns get the board. Fast break. Dunk. Was that a whistle? I think it was. Couldn't hear it. Neither could anybody in the crowd. A foul. And one. Crowd goes crazy. It's up. It's been built. The Purple Wall.

The Suns went up as many as 13 in the fourth quarter. Jim Jackson played like a man possessed, hitting 7-8 for 15 points, including a pivotal three-pointer that tore the roof off of the AWA.

But the game wasn't over. After the Suns had successfully built the Purple Wall, after the Mavericks got over their deer-in-the-headlights syndrome, Dallas made a small charge in the final minutes. The Suns couldn't finish up a quarter in this game five, allowing Dallas to sneak back into position as the clock approached zero in each period.

Then there was the heart-stopping moment. The moment that could have changed the series entirely. Under 30 seconds. Tick tick tick. Suns up eight. Tick tick tick. Jason Terry drains a three, Suns up five. Under 20 seconds left. Suns try to inbound the ball. They turn it over. Josh Howard gets a clean look at a three. The ball goes up. Tick tick tick. 18,000 fans hold their breath. Clang. Rebound Phoenix. Meltdown averted.

That three would have made it a two-point game with about 15 seconds left. I wiped my brow, let out a sigh of relief, and watched the Suns take down game five.

I watched as Steve Nash played as if he was sending Mark Cuban a long, angry message about picking Erick Dampier over him. I watched as Amare Stoudemire did his best Amare Stoudemire impression after stumbling out of the blocks in the first quarter. I watched as Jim Jackson tore the Dallas defense to pieces. I watched as the Suns bench was able to contribute in significant ways (Although Barbosa and McCarty didn't do much of anything on offense, they were huge factors on the defense end of the court, playing great on the ball, and team defense).

And now what? Well, it's important not to lose sight of the fact that this is a seven-game series. The Suns must win four games to take it down. Winning three games at the end of a seven game series is worth the same as winning zero games. But the reward for the Suns is that they get two chances to close out the series. Dallas has their backs to the wall, but a comfortable bed to sleep in. Game six will be a tough closeout game. The American Airlines Center will be filled with desperation. Unlike the AWA, the fans in Dallas know that if their team loses, the season is over.

Joe Update: The prognosis is not good. Joe is set to be re-evaluted today, but the Suns don't expect him back for the balance of the series.

Joe's absence in game five was glaring. The Suns went 5-19 from beyond the arc. Joe's ability to shoot from long range stretches opposing defenses further than their comfort zone. This pressure also opens up clean looks for the Suns other long-range assassins. It's going to be a tough closeout with him. Hopefully, the Suns can take care of business and allow Joe to get back for the next series. Hopefully.