| Suns Win Game 5, One Away from W.C. Finals Authored by J.T. Magee - May 19, 2005 - 11:04 am
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Steve Nash led the way for Phoenix, getting his first career playoff triple-double, scoring 34 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and handing out 12 assists. He shot 50% from the field, made two of his five three-point attempts and made all of his free throws. Center Amare Stoudemire, coming off his worst game in the playoffs, scored 33 points and got a playoff-high 18 rebounds, five offensive, and added 3 blocks. Shawn Marion scored 16 points and had ten rebounds.
But the player of the game was Jackson, who has been starting for shooting guard Joe Johnson. He ended up with 21 points, including those 15 points to help Phoenix run away from Dallas. He scored seven of the Suns’ nine points during a 9-0 run in the beginning of the fourth quarter, extending the lead to 8. Dallas was never able to recover, playing catch-up after the run.
Dirk Nowitzki, who scored a team-high 34 points and grabbed ten rebounds, led the Mavericks. Nowitzki, along with Nash, was announced as a member on the All-NBA first team. Swingman Jerry Stackhouse, the only player the Suns had a hard time controlling on defense, scored 29 points. Josh Howard scored 19 points and got ten rebounds for his second consecutive double-double. Point guard Jason Terry added 17 points. Center Erick Dampier only scored two points, but had team-high 14 rebounds, eight of them offensive.
The difference in this game compared to Game 4 was Nash was able to get everyone involved while still being able to score. It helped that Stoudemire was more aggressive in Game 5, shooting 10-17, compared to just 3 of 8 in Game 4. Nash was able to use the pick & roll to his advantage. In Game 4, Dallas let him take it, but Nash committed a series high nine turnovers and had just five assists, a playoff low. Game 5 was a different story. He committed just five turnovers while handing out 12 assists. Dallas did not do a good job of containing Amare and Nash. While Nash was able to get easy shots in the paint, he made sure he didn’t force bad shots on himself or his teammates. While Dallas needed to put a body on Amare, which is understandable, they let Nash be Nash. Dallas needed to stop Nash in order to win this game, and failed to do so by letting him get ten foot jumpers, lay-ups and three-pointers. But Phoenix adjusted to Dallas’ defense of Amare by letting Nash do his thing.
The Sun I expected to step up in the absence of Joe Johnson was Quentin Richardson. Richardson was supposed to be Johnson’s eventual replacement at the beginning of the season, but became a three-point chucker instead. The three shots he made were alley-oops from Nash, while his misses were either from three-pointers or from poor shot selection. He has stated before that he loves to post up, but when he does, he hasn’t fully been able to take control. He is the best low-post player the Suns have when the opponent puts a smaller defender on him. While Phoenix doesn’t need to go to him down low every time, it doesn’t help that he just stands behind the three point line waiting for a Nash kick-out. When he plays well, the Suns win. Even when he doesn’t play well, they still win, but not by as much. He helps the team out the most when he pump fakes and drives it to the basket because he is such a big guard that whoever is guarding him has a hard time of stopping him.
Hopefully, he can help the Suns clinch the series at Dallas. Otherwise, the Suns may not have the same success they had in Game 5.
While they are a great road team, beating a dejected Mavericks team is going to be hard to do. Dallas bounced back well in Game 4 and will probably do so in Game 6. Dallas will need to put more pressure than they have on Nash if they want to win Game 6. If they don’t, then Nash and co. will run themselves into the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1993. |
