The Phoenix Suns
rose from a sunset scene in Game 3 to even the series at 2-2.
In game 3 of the Suns vs Dallas series Avery Johnson successfully taught his team to play defense against the running Suns. I could not help but admire the little guy for drawing defensive and offensive strategies that totally controlled the game from Phoenix.
Two or three years back I remember reading a survey conducted by the NBA on who among the players will
become a good coach in the future. To my surprise and little had I known about Avery he was the GM’s first pick.
Back to the future, he transformed the MAVS into a different team in Game three as if I was watching either the Spurs or Detroit Pistons playing defense. The win also came in the homecourt of the Suns.
In Game 4 a different story is told. The NBA’s MVP brought his team back to avoid getting buried 3-1 like the Pistons. With Raja and Barbosa providing the speed, hassle, offense and defense they went back to their running game. Without Amare, Steve has taken Raja’s 15.3 point 2.9 point to a different level enroute to a 2-2 series tie in the conference finals.
The next three games is going to be a battle betweem Avery and Steve Nash. As long as Steve has his pawns intact, Avery may be a little behing Steve. After all, he’s closer to the game than Johnson is.
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