Suns Aren't Ready to Set

By Mark Heisler

May 31, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO — Miracle comebacks start this way. Of course, so does a waste of everybody’s time.

It was the Suns who were supposed to fold, trailing 3-0 in the Western Conference finals and a long way from home, but it was the Spurs who came apart instead. Tim Duncan, who made all 15 of his free throws in Game 3, missed nine of 12 on Monday night. Meanwhile, Joe Johnson, who missed the first two games, scored 26 points with 12 assists as the Suns put on one of their fireworks shows and won, 111-106.

The series moves back to Phoenix for Wednesday’s Game 5, the one nobody expected to see.

“Sometimes you have to lose and get down and people just treat you like a dog to figure it out,” Sun Coach Mike D’Antoni said.

“You do it with your heart and brains and tonight we did that, and we just got to do it one more time. And then one more time. I think we did grow up a lot.”

After getting their hearts broken and their brains beaten in for three games, the Suns finally packed their defense back into the lane Monday night, challenging the Spurs to beat them from the outside. It was the same strategy that allowed the Lakers to come from 0-2 behind in last spring’s second-round series against the Spurs.

Of course, D’Antoni said, his team had been trying to pack it back in for a game or two now. His offensive specialists just took a while to pick it up.

And it was no surprise to the Spurs. The fact the Suns would be packing their defense in even got into the local paper.

Nevertheless, it worked. Tony Parker went five for 17 from the field, trying to beat the Suns from the outside. Duncan, who had been tearing the Suns up inside, suddenly had no room to maneuver with the 6-8 Johnson, a shooting guard, coming down to double-team him instead of the 6-2 Steve Nash. Duncan got only 12 shots from the field and finished with 15 points.

His game fell apart as he began to struggle at the free-throw line. He shot his first one 1:18 into the game, beginning a night of tattooing the front rim. Sometimes, he barely grazed it.

Duncan, as usual, had little to say but, stand-up guy that he is, was the first Spur player into the interview room to say it.

“Rough night all around,” said Duncan, “from the field, from the line, just everything.”

The Suns came into Game 4 giving a good imitation of a team that had given up. On the off-day, Amare Stoudemire was already talking about the season in the past tense and musing about adjustments they will have to make.

Of course, Stoudemire doesn’t really want to be a center and three games of looking up at Duncan didn’t make it look any better to him.

“With this style of play, it tends to get a little helter-skelter,” Stoudemire said. “In the playoffs, you can’t afford that.... When it’s over, I’m pretty sure we’ll go back to the drawing boards.”

The lively D’Antoni started the night as loose as usual. Noting his team’s inability to stop Manu Ginobili, who had started two of the three games by getting the ball on the opening tip, taking it in and dunking it, D’Antoni joked they’d be ready this time.

“During the national anthem, we’re going to be on guard,” he said.

For once, Ginobili didn’t score off the opening tip. The Suns led most of the first half but Ginobili went off in the last 1:42, making a three-pointer and one of his spectacular finger rolls, then drawing the defense and pitching the ball to Robert Horry for a three-pointer.

The 8-0 run put the Spurs up, 59-52, at the half.

Unimpressed, the Suns came back out and hit the Spurs with a 35-21 third quarter, reigniting their fastbreak while Duncan and Parker bounced shots off the rim from every angle.

The Suns led, 89-80, early in the fourth quarter, but the Spurs rallied, drawing to within 102-101 on Horry’s third three-pointer with 2:26 left.

Then, however, Johnson made a fadeaway baseline 16-footer with the clock running down and Bruce Bowen draped all over him. The Suns had four more possessions after that and the Spurs couldn’t stop them on any of them.

With 1:03 left, Stoudemire scored on a layup while Parker tried to take a charge but didn’t get the call, putting the Suns up, 109-106.

Then at the other end, Stoudemire blocked Duncan’s layup and everybody began changing their travel plans.

“You guys get to go back to Phoenix,” D’Antoni said on his way out of the interview room, laughing. “It’s 115 there. Bring water.”