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The Suns just saved the whole second round with their rally. We'd be looking at four separate 3-1 series if the Spurs hadn't relinquished control of Game 4.
Suns Rise When Nash Falls
Marc Stein
ESPN.com
SAN ANTONIO -- You can't exactly call it the sweetest possible revenge. Steve Nash still needs two more wins over the Spurs for that . . . as well as the knowledge that Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw won't be suspended for Game 5.
But this?
Pretty high up there on the sweet meter.
Nash answered that knee to the groin from Bruce Bowen and his coach's calls for some over-the-hump, breakthrough toughness in the manner he would have scripted if he could have: With a steely fourth quarter, namely, that willed these Suns to the biggest victory they've ever recorded and a simple toss of the ball to referee Steve Javie at the final buzzer to cap it.
There's a reason Nash is the only Sun who has consistently refused to voice any public frustration with the Spurs' handsy defense in the first three games of this second-round showdown: That's how his soccer-playing English father raised him. When you're being kicked, John Nash always taught his son, you make the guy kicking you think you're drinking tea.
That was Nash on Monday night. He finally lost his cool after Robert Horry hip-checked him into the scorer's table in the final minute -- "It's hard, I guess, to always take the high road and turn the other cheek," Nash admitted afterward -- but only after he had spent the rest of the evening by dribbling through every barrier and spurring Phoenix to a series-tying 104-98 triumph in San Antonio.
Six immediate reactions to a heating-up series that will now go at least six games:
• First things first, since it's obviously what everyone wants to know about: The suspension question. By the letter of the law, Stoudemire and Boris Diaw have to be hit with one-game suspensions for leaving the bench after Horry cracked Nash. This is a virtually iron-clad NBA rule, except for the time back in 2002 that Doug Christie was attacked in the tunnel by Rick Fox in a Lakers-Kings exhibition game and several Kings players left the bench to assist him. The league ruled that time that no one, in the heat of the moment, knew exactly who Christie was tangling with, resulting in some unexpected pardons. In this case, Stoudemire clearly strayed into the court for a brief moment and even Suns coach Mike D'Antoni couldn't stifle a postgame laugh when Phoenix tried to suggest that Stoudemire was heading to the scorer's table to check in after the foul.
However . . .
Stoudemire and Diaw never made it near the scrum, as Suns assistant coaches scrambled them back to the bench. Nor did Monday's incident ever become an actual brawl, with referees Joe DeRosa and Javie getting between Nash and Horry before it could escalate. There is also a growing perception, most of all, that Bowen was shown a good deal of leniency by the league office after being accused of intentionally kicking a dunking Stoudemire in Game 2 and kneeing Nash in Game 3 . . . and going unpunished in both cases. Doesn't the league have to balance that against the notion of "staying consistent" on leaving-the-bench suspensions?
"That would be terrible if that silly play at the end of a game, when the game is really over, if that causes a detriment to the rest of the series," Nash said afterward. "That would be ridiculous."
He then tacked on a pretty shrewd argument about literal interpretations when he pointed out that cheering subs technically leave the bench when they stray onto the court to celebrate big plays.
• The above bit of sharpness from Nash can't surprise you if you watched the way he finished this Game 4. As good as you can look when you finish with eight turnovers, that was Nash in the final period, highlighted by the tidy dropoff to Raja Bell and subsequent screen that sent Bell in for an uncontested layup and then the behind-the-back specials with each hand to set up Stoudemire for the two biggest hoops in crunch time. You can pardon the turnovers and Nash's two late missed free throws when you factor in how much he created for his team -- especially at the finish -- in a 24-point, 15-assist performance.
• Spurs coach Gregg Popovich opened himself to some rare big-time criticism by keeping Tim Duncan on the bench too long after Duncan picked up his fifth foul with just over six minutes to play. Don't you let a wily veteran like Duncan play more with five fouls? Stoudemire has been ragged in this series for his occasional lack of playoff savvy but did pretty well with five fouls, lasting all the way to the end and finishing with 26 points. With all the trouble San Antonio had getting scoring from anyone else when it mattered, Duncan needed to be out there sooner.
• Even more inexplicable is the Horry hip check. He is known as perhaps the greatest role player of all-time, as Big Shot Rob, as a longtime class act. Perhaps my memory is failing me at a late hour, but I'm struggling to remember a cheap shot from Horry's past . . . apart from that towel he tossed in Danny Ainge's face when Ainge was coaching him years ago. With an elbow aimed at Bell during the ensuing pushing and shoving, Horry could be looking at a multi-game suspension.
• Was this the Suns' breakthrough moment? Not sure yet. We'll only know for sure if the Suns can actually win what now becomes a best-of-three, with Phoenix possessing home-court advantage. Just don't forget that San Antonio was down 3-1 to Dallas in this same round last year and would have won that series if Dirk Nowitzki hadn't snatched Game 7 from them. The Spurs are more than capable of winning another game in the desert.
That said . . .
If there's such a thing as a 2-2 lead, it looks like Phoenix has one after this grittier-than-ever comeback. The Suns got stops in the fourth quarter. They had plenty of chances to fold and hung in instead. As D'Antoni noted, Shawn Marion was a one-man defensive wall in the fourth, with a few timely double-teams thrown at Duncan -- the first we've seen from Phoenix -- to slow the hosts down.
• Oh, yeah: The Suns just saved the whole second round with their rally. We'd be looking at four separate 3-1 series if the Spurs hadn't relinquished control of Game 4. Now we're looking at a good 24 hours of debate about what kind of punishments we should and will see . . . and what should be a pretty tasty Game 5 on Wednesday.
The Suns just saved the whole second round with their rally. We'd be looking at four separate 3-1 series if the Spurs hadn't relinquished control of Game 4.
thats why the rule says altercationHe then tacked on a pretty shrewd argument about literal interpretations when he pointed out that cheering subs technically leave the bench when they stray onto the court to celebrate big plays.
Rob's the only one who deserves a suspension. He started this .
Diaw deserves it cause one of those morons should get the axe for being stupid, i'd rather it be him since he less important
This series is the NBA Finals. No disrespect to Detroit or Utah (but disrespet is intended to CLE-NJ).
I really hope the NBA uses this incident as a chance to kill what is just a ridiculous rule. It'd be pretty sad to see that the "letter of the law" means more to David Stern that great basketball and common sense and being reasonable. Really hope there are no suspensions, even to Horry.
It'd be fun to watch the increased intensity in the series if Horry is still on the Court on Game 5. I agree that Bowen was given quite a bit of la ude, but then so should Horry because he's been in the league 15 yrs and hasnt been involved in many incidents like this. It was an aberration. If he does it 10-15 times like Bowen, then yeah, we'll say he's dirty but that's not the case.
BTW, the league is also reviewing Baron Davis' incident with Fisher. Suspending him would be pretty crazy too and make Game 5 awfully boring. Unless you do something just ridiculous in the playoffs, you shouldn't be suspended.
Horry's gone, they can't ignore two rules. Which they;d do if nobody got suspended
Artest got suspended for nothing last year. I think it's pretty obvious that Horry's not going to be in America West Wednesday. Sucks, because Elson can't replace what Rob can do for this team.
They make the rules, they can break them if it benefits the league to do so. They aren't violating the U.S. cons ution here if they allow Stoudemire and Horry to play in Game 5.
Why not a suspension for JRich then on the Okur open field tackle? Same type of play as context as Rob's foul, no?
Suns fans are still pretty bitter at Horry for throwing a towel at Danny Ainge's face. Honestly? I sort of relished the moment, because I never liked Ainge, not even as a Suns player and coach. Me and Horry were on the same page for that one. But Horry is not popular in Phoenix and it's always been presented as Horry being a bad at ude kind of player. I do think he's capable of losing his otherwise cool head at the wrong moments, but his performance in late moments is so legendary, no one really remembers when he wasn't cool under pressure.
"Our rule regarding an automatic suspension for players leaving the bench was not intended to apply in a highly unusual situation like this one, where an altercation occurs in an access tunnel or hallway,'' NBA vice president Stu Jackson said. "In this cir stance, our judgment was that the players who left the bench were attempting to break up the fight and did not escalate the altercation.''
http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2002/1028/1452258.html
Is this altercation a highly unusual situation?
I don't want suspensions but if they happen, cie la vie.
Stein already explained the reasoning those players got off was because they didn't know that Christy was being attacked by Fox and not a fan. so they went to see what happened. I can't see theme getting off that easily this wsn't unusual, guy commits flagrant people get pissed.
I think that's the important part. Stoudemire and Diaw didn't run to the fight like they wanted to fight someone, and their actions did not escalate the altercation. They stopped (or were stopped, per your own point of view) before they had a chance to become a part of the escalation.
I don't think Stoudemire and Diaw will be suspended. I hope Horry isn't, but his fate isn't looking so good.
"There is also a growing perception, most of all, that Bowen was shown a good deal of leniency by the league office after being accused of intentionally kicking a dunking Stoudemire in Game 2 and kneeing Nash in Game 3 . . . and going unpunished in both cases. Doesn't the league have to balance that against the notion of "staying consistent" on leaving-the-bench suspensions?"
WTF? Isn't that the reason they got the calls tonight? Because they whined?
Well, when there is one exception taking place, the league has an excuse to make another exception. The rationale behind the Kings' case was the intention of the players was not determined to be pouring fuels to the altercation, the spirit behind the rule in the first place.
No the rationale was they didn't know who was in the altercation. Because it was in the tunnel and out of their view.
wheres warren g mr. regulator!!!!
As much as I know how much easier it will be for the spurs, I really don't want them suspended (it is a sort of tug-of-war inside, but ultimately, I think non-suspension comes out a winner in my mind, very narrowly, but a winner nonetheless).
But, Stoudemire was definitely headed towards the altercations going on on the court with a purpose to get in there...if it wasn't for that coach, he would've been right in the thick of it. And the fact is that the coach grabbed him too late. He had already stepped on the court, brazenly taken off his towel from his neck (which MAY be used to determine his "intent" of heading out there...that and the fact that he was definitely not headed towards nash on the ground...not entirely sure about this, need to look at film again) and took a few, deliberate steps towards the action. I think he gets a game...but I don't know if it's that clear-cut. League MIGHT make an exception...maaayyyyybeee
As for stein's reference to the conspiracies and "growing perceptions"....I'm almost positive that's put in there to bolster impartiality as a journalist. No intelligent, self-respecting journalist of his standing would actually believe such nonsense.
That's the stupidest thing I've read yet. If the league isn't going to take their rules seriously and not enforce them if they don't want to, then why should anyone take them seriously? If Amare and Diaw are not suspended, then nobody should ever be suspended for any rules violation ever again.
Only those obsessed with the NBA are going to be concerned about the legitimacy of some small pinpoint of a rule.
The point is, it would be better for the league if these two weren't suspended, so the league won't suspend them. The rule violation was minor enough to give them a pass. It's not like Amare ran out onto the court and decked Tony Parker. He took a few steps outside of the restricted area, was restrained before getting close to the altercation, and then, by his own will, avoided entering the fray.
If the league felt that this violation was hurting the league's image, that it fed into the stereotype that it's a dirty league full of thugs, then Amare would absolutely receive a suspension. But Amare--arguably--could have been trying to act as peacemaker, which David Stern would approve of.
There are so many outlets that Jackson and Stern can take in order to justify not suspending Amare and Diaw. If they decide that suspending these two would do more harm than good, then they won't do it.
Why don't people remember Horry hitting Robinson in the family jewels?
This has been a great series so far. I want this thing decided with everybody important in uniform. these silly rules. Diaw and Amare did not escalate the situation, and Horry already got his F2 and an ejection.
I don't know why Horry should be suspended. He received a flagrant 2 for what he did in the course of the game. It was not a blow to the head. It was not a hit on a player in the air who could have come down and been injured. A flagrant 2 seems exactly appropriate to me. Isn't this similar to the Jason Richardson situation?
Horry ed up. he will get 1 game suspension. noone else will be suspended. great 3 game series ahead of us!
btw, Nash flopped too.
GO SPURS!
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