Suns-Spurs: Phoenix Postpones the Inevitable

So where were they on Friday? The Suns team that showed up at the U.S. Airways Arena in Phoenix on Sunday, where were they on Friday?

And for that matter, the San Antonio Spurs team that played at the U.S. Airways Arena on Friday, where were they on Sunday?

The Suns team that showed up today, led by Shaquille O’Neal and Raja Bell, actually ended the game in the first quarter with a 34-13 lead. The Spurs were only able to clip two points off the 21-point Phoenix lead over the next three quarters.

In the opening quarter, O’Neal had nine points for the Suns, Bell seven and Leandro Barbosa six. The Spurs had more turnovers, six, than any one of them had points. Parker had just five points and Ginobili four.

The second quarter didn’t prove to be any better for the Spurs. After cutting the Suns lead down to 12, the Spurs did a disappearing act.

As the Spurs faded, Raja Bell took over and wound up with 21 points to lead the Suns to a 65-43 lead at halftime. While the Spurs had seven turnovers, the Suns had just two.

Things only got worse for the Spurs in the third quarter. After cutting a 30-point Phoenix lead down to 20, the Spurs watched the Suns' Steve Nash and Boris Diaw kick the lead back up to 93-65 lead at the end of three quarters.

Bell, who had been the Suns' spark in the first half, didn’t get his first basket until the 1:00 mark of the third period.

The Spurs did manage to trim the Suns' lead in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late as the Suns left home with a 105-86 victory. The two teams will travel back to San Antonio for Game 5 on Tuesday night.

Bell finished with a game-high 27 points. Boris Diaw put in 20 points and 10 rebounds. Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa each had 15. Shaq finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Tony Parker was high scorer for the Spurs with 18. Tim Duncan finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

But speaking of too little, too late, is that what today’s victory will amount to for the Suns? No team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit. So, has this win merely postponed the inevitable?

The Suns did come back from a 1-3 deficit a couple of years ago. But that was against a highly-dysfunctional Los Angeles Lakers team.

The Suns cannot expect the same result against the NBA Champion Spurs, especially with two games remaining to be played in San Antonio.

The same problem that plagued the Suns during the regular season has plagued them in the playoffs. It has taken them too long to get it together.

In the regular season, after they acquired Shaquille O’Neal for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, it took the Suns 10 games to figure out how to mesh with the Diesel.

By then, the Lakers had opened up a lead on Phoenix that cost the Suns the Pacific Division title and an easier opponent in the playoffs, along with homecourt advantage.

Against the Spurs, it has taken Mike D’Antoni three games to figure out that the best way to beat the Suns is to de-emphasize Stoudemire and O’Neal and to set up mismatches for Bell and Diaw.

As it turns out, that was one game too many. But at least the Suns were able to avoid the sweep and elimination in front of their home crowd.

That isn’t much, but at least it is something that they can take into the offseason, which will inevitably begin on Wednesday morning.