My Return

How in the world could I not be writing columns after every Suns game now? In the midst of their best playoff run in four years? What am I THINKING? I must fix this.

Tuesday's game was another counter-punch straight to the Lakers' collective jaw. The Suns were the aggressors once again. How else does one explain beating the Lakers while allowing them to shoot 49% from the field? It was also a redemption game. The bench came to play, and it showed. They ran the Lakers ragged. And the scary part was this: they played a lot of their minutes against the Lakers' starters. Channing Frye got the monkey off of his back, although by this point in time – after he had missed 18 shots in a row and came within two misses of tying Sam Cassell's dubious playoff record of twenty consecutive missed shots – the monkey probably felt like King Kong. Frye shed the baggage, scoring fourteen points and grabbing six rebounds in a key effort. Goran Dragič did a great impression of Steve Nash, putting up eight points and eight assists.

The series shifts back to Los Angeles with the momentum in the Suns' favor. But there remains another dragon: they have to win at least one game in the City of Angels in order to win this series. May 23, 1984 is a date to remember: this was the last time the Suns beat the Lakers in a Western Conference Finals game in Los Angeles. Then again, until Sunday night, that was also the last time the Suns beat the Lakers AT ALL in a Western Conference Finals game.

Rest assured that Game Five on Thursday night will be a complete dogfight. This is not the same Suns team that got blown out in Game One or ran out of gas in the fourth quarter of Game Two. True, it's the same players, but they are not playing the same.

With every day, the Suns get closer to the Promised Land. They're playing in a very loose, fun style, and it is showing. Very few expected them to get this far. The Suns do not care. Prepare for a fun fifth game.