There have been more twists in this series than some teams see in a year. Steve Nash gets his nose split wide open late in game one, and I’m sure everyone immediately thought that he may miss significant time in the next game, which of course he did not. Then came the Bruce Bowen leg flail in game two, after which Amare Stoudemire referred to the Spurs as a “dirty team.” Stoudemire later said he was specifically referring to Bowen and Manu Ginobili. (Earlier this season, Ginobili gave Bell a forearm shiver that cost Bell a game due to injury, a play I’m sure all the Suns remember.)  If you haven’t heard, Robert Horry committed a flagrant foul on Steve Nash late in game 4. Perhaps out of frustration, perhaps with intent. Following the subsequent suspensions of Horry, Stoudemire, and Diaw, Commissioner David Stern and NBA Punishment-Hander-Outer Stu Jackson were fried by every media outlet in the country. (Isn’t it just a little ironic that the player who called the Spurs dirty sits out a game as a result of a dirty play by Horry?) The phrases “a rule is a rule,” “immediate vicinity,” and “gray area” were thrown around more often than Bowen shows up on youtube. A couple of my favorites were, “It’s not a matter of fairness, it’s a matter of correctness.” Huh? Actually Stu, it turned out to be neither. In fact, it wasn’t in the “immediate vicinity” of either. Better luck next time.  And “The rule is the rule . . . We intend to apply it consistently.” Strike two. (Look for a breaking ball low and away, Stu Mendoza.)  

A dangerous precedent was set with the Jackson/Stern decision. What is there to stop a team from sending out it’s 12th man to bodycheck with the intent of inciting a reaction from the other team, which would result in a suspension of one or more players? For this, I bring in Alex Trebec. “The answer is:  nothing.” I’m sure the league will change the rule after the season. But for now, I’ll take “Gray Areas for $500, Alex.”

And what does “immediate vicinity” mean, anyway? Stu Jackson-Mendoza, still trying to raise his average above .150, said in a local radio interview that Stoudemire and Diaw were 20 to 25 feet away from their seats. So, had their seats been nearer to the “altercation,” would they have been, say, only 10 to 15 feet away? Would that still be in the “immediate vicinity?” Ah, the metric system is a beautiful thing, isn’t it Mr. Mendoza? Perhaps we should apply it to your batting average. It may help. Or to your gray area, if you had one. Which we know you don’t. You told us over and over. But repeating an ambiguous rule makes neither your decision nor the rule right.

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Phoenix. Pronunciation: \'fe-niks\   Function: noun

 : a legendary bird which according to one account lived 500 years, burned itself to ashes on a pyre, and rose alive from the ashes to live another period; also : a person or thing likened to the phoenix

Through five games of one of the better series in recent memory, the San Antonio Spurs lead the Phoenix Suns 3-2.  And the better team almost always wins in a seven game series. Which is why I like the Suns chances of winning two straight.  Through the five games, the Suns have outscored the Spurs 497-486. One could be so bold as to say that, save for a Nash-Gash and an unfortunate suspension, this series may be over. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

In the ’05 playoffs, Joe Johnson took a vicious fall against the Mavericks. He basically broke his face, yet the Suns still prevailed without him, only to fall the Spurs in five games. (Happy in Atlanta, Joe? At least you’re the main guy now, aren’t you?) Heading into the following season, Amare Stoudemire was thought to be lost for the season after micro-fracture surgery on one knee and a more common surgery to his other knee. Most NBA scribes labeled the Suns a .500 team at best. Mike D’Antoni though, said that his team would still win 50 games and be a force in the playoffs. After winning 54 and losing 28, and Kurt Thomas and Raja Bell to injury, the Suns made it to the western conference finals. (Granted, the seeding was a bit out of whack, which has since been fixed. But you can only play who they tell you to play.) Stoudemire wound up playing in three mid-season games before it was decided that he would be put on the shelf, as his knees were not recovered enough for the rigors of the NBA. And with his removal from the lineup came more predictions of a lost season. Yet the Suns rose again. And I believe they will in this series.  

There is one glaring reason why the Suns lost game five to the Spurs last night. Mike D’Antoni has answered the usual questions about his coaching ability.

His style can’t win a title. Yes, it can. And even the biggest nay-sayers know it, I believe. They may not admit, but they can see it happening.

His team doesn’t play any defense. Yes, it does. No, they’re not the Detroit Pistons, and never will be. But I doubt even the Pistons could have played the defense the Suns did in the fourth quarter of game four. Or in game five, save for the last two minutes when the Suns ran out of gas.  

Which brings me to the one criticism that D’Antoni has failed to quell:

His bench is too shallow. Yup, it is. No argument there. It would be easy to say that he should have played Pat Burke, Marcus Banks, or, especially, Jalen Rose in game five. And he should’ve played all three to give his starters more rest, with Stoudemire and Diaw sidelined. But it’s hard to play your bench when you don’t have confidence in them. And this is where I fault D’Antoni. Yes, he should have played his bench more last night. But I don’t know how much it would have helped. The real problem is that he didn’t play them on a consistent basis during the season.  And therefore didn’t feel comfortable doing it last night.  And that falls squarely on the D’Antoni’s shoulders, since he made the personnel decisions in the off-season, as far as anyone can tell, and the playing time decisions during the season.

The worst thing about the game four incident is that the enormity of Suns effort in seizing the game from the Spurs was lost, due to all the Horry/Nash rhetoric and ramifications. The Suns shut down the Spurs defensively in the closing minutes and won a game no one thought they would win. Including Robert Horry, apparently.  To think that the Suns can’t do it again in San Antonio in game six is a more than a little presumptuous.  And when it goes to a game seven, I'll take the Suns. And since my nerves will be shot, I can guarantee you I'll be leaving the "immediate vicinity" of my couch. Who knows, I'll probably get so excited that I may wind up 20 feet away. Hopefully I won't have to miss game one of the western conference finals because of it. That would give Shooter an advantage.

Thanks for taking the time to read.