Started out as a blowout, turned into a great game at the end. It's frustrating to see a big lead disappear, but I'm not sure I really blame the Suns -- sometimes it just happens. Suns were just 3 of 16 from the 3 -- if a few of those fall, it never gets close. And the defense was actually pretty good -- Pacers shot just 47% with 17 turnovers.
A lot of the lead disappeared in the third when D'Antoni had Nash, Hill and Amare all on the bench at the same time. I don't know what he was thinking, but with Diaw, Skinner and Marion not producing any of their own offense, LB and Bell alone were clearly not enough to carry the load on offense. I thought the whole point of bringing Hill in was so that he could take over for Nash. It's been working great, so why suddenly pull them both together? In the end, D'Antoni had to put Nash back in in the third, meaning that Nash never got his usual 4th quarter lie on his back time, and had to play the entire final quarter. Dumb.
Diaw is really having problems. I've been a big defender of his, but it's hard to see what "little things" he brought to the table tonight: 2 points, 2 asts -- and that's it.
Still, I actually feel pretty positive about the game. One vital ingredient in a championship team is confidence and practice in winning close games in the final possessions. The Suns have had so many blowouts this year, they haven't actually had the chance to build this yet. Winning come from behind victories should help build some team chemistry.
Two amazing stats: (a) Amare, 42 pts; (b) Suns 38 assists on 45 FGs. That's crazy.
