Suns' offensive execution is scintillating

There were several reasons why the Suns grabbed control of the series with their deceptively easy 113-100 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

Nash is magical in LA
Phoenix is one win away from eliminating Los Angeles for the second straight year after a 113-100 win. Hear from Steve Nash after dishing out 23 assists.

Amare Stoudemire was virtually untouched on offense as he ran amok in the paint. His quickness with and without the ball totally flummoxed the Los Angeles Lakers' big men, and he added insult to injury by burying several mid-range jumpers. Above all, Stoudemire is a terrific finisher, and he's developed the knack of recognizing, anticipating and moving to the open spaces created by the Suns' rapid-fire ball movement.

If Stoudemire's mano-a-mano defense is still undeveloped, the Los Angeles Lakers simply lacked the confident, sure-handed, inside-scoring big who could consistently expose Stoudemire's weakness here. And like just about all of his teammates, Stoudemire's explosive quickness off the floorboards was more than the home team could handle.

Shawn Marion isn't quite the defender he once was, but he still has the fastest first (and second) step in the league to go along with the absolutely quickest ups. He can also slip screens as well as Karl Malone could, and the Matrix is another prime-time finisher.

Leandro Barbosa is simply too quick to be unilaterally defended. His lightning cross-overs inevitably gain him a half-step, which he stretches into a step-and-a-half by the time he approaches the rim. The fact that he's also become a deadly outside shooter seems like an unfair, over-the-top advantage.

James Jones knows where his shots will come from and he rarely misses them.

Raja Bell plays rough-and-tumble defense, and gives Kobe Bryant as much resistance as anybody in the league.

And what's there to be said about Steve Nash that hasn't already been said? How about this: If Magic was the best fast-break/early-offense passer ever, then Nash is the best half-court passer ever.

How could anybody even entertain the thought that little Stevie Wonder should not be a three-time MVP?

On offense, the Suns spread the court and make double-teaming costly. Indeed, for most of the first half they rarely ran their patented high screen/rolls so as to discourage the Los Angeles Lakers from successfully duplicating the doubling of Nash that basically won Game 3 for them.

Instead of relying on the high screen/roll, Phoenix emphasized simple hand-offs. Just Nash, or Barbosa, or Bell, or James, or even Kurt Thomas cutting behind the ball and receiving a flip pass. The tactic absolutely confused the Los Angeles Lakers and resulted in a multitude of uncontested shots. A brilliant adjustment by Mike D'Antoni and his staff that was brilliantly executed by the Suns.

In the second half, though, the Suns went back to their standard screen-and-roll alignments with another tweak — having their bigs either slip the screens or only set brush screens before darting hoopwards.

When L.A. tried switching on the screen/rolls, the Suns took full advantage of the mismatches — usually exploiting Nash's being defended by a slow-footed big rather than trying to trump their big-little edge in the low post. This was a crucial decision, simply because San Antonio pulled the same switcheroo trick when the Suns and the Spurs faced off in the Western Conference finals in 2005.

Back then, the Suns were so intent on stuffing the ball inside that they totally abandoned their free-wheeling scoot-and-shoot game plan. In effect, the Spurs suckered Phoenix into playing in a discomfort zone and San Antonio copped the series in five games. Against the Los Angeles Lakers, however, the Suns resisted temptation and kept doing what they do best.

In addition to playing to their own strengths, Phoenix also aimed its offense at the Los Angeles Lakers' most glaring weaknesses.

Because so many of the Suns are exceptional ball-penetrators, the Los Angeles Lakers were continuously late on their baseline rotations. Kwame Brown and Lamar Odom were the worst offenders. That's why Nash was able to drive to the basket from 25 feet out without being forced to either pull up or change direction. By so doing, Nash tallied three layups in the first quarter alone.

In his faulty baseline rotations, Kwame Brown, in particular, failed on several occasions to square up to the ball and thereby occupy as much space in the lane as possible. Instead, Kwame Brown often wound up with his shoulders perpendicular to the baseline and presented only his profile to the oncoming driver. In this way, Kwame Brown had no chance to move laterally without drawing a foul.

Kwame Brown's lack of fundamentals was likewise evident when he tried showing on the far side of high screen-and-rolls. He generally got to the right space at the right time, but his body was so erect that once again he was unable to move laterally. And when Kwame Brown switched on to Nash in an effort to combat still another high screen-and-roll, Kwame Brown quickly forgot that he was responsible for staying with Nash. As a result, Kwame Brown was 20 feet away when Nash received a pass and calmly buried a triple.

Andrew Bynum's interior rotations were sometimes right on time. Yet he did have difficulty discerning when to help and when to stay home, particularly when the Suns were into their early offense. If Kwame Brown's forte is playing straight-up defense on a traditional low-post scorer, then young Andrew Bynum has the potential to be an effective closer from the weak-side.

What about the Los Angeles Lakers' offense?

Kobe Bryant did a yeoman's job of trying to get his teammates involved when he was two-timed. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Kobe Bryant forced up a total of 10 shots — making only one, and getting fouled once.

Odom had his moments, but could neither establish nor sustain any kind of rhythm.

Luke Walton and Mo Evans kept the Los Angeles Lakers afloat with a rash of treys, but were otherwise mostly uninvolved.

Jordan Farmar repeatedly made poor decisions with the ball, as did Smush Parker. In fact, midway through the fourth quarter, Smush Parker halted a mild Los Angeles Lakers' comeback attempt by launching (and missing) an early 3-pointer.

In truth, the Suns were the beneficiaries of many more calls than visiting teams expect — or deserve. But that's a minor quibble.

What's crystal clear is that the best team won, and that the Los Angeles Lakers triumphed in Game 3 only because their aggressive chasing and doubling defense caught Phoenix flat-footed. In the close scrutiny of a playoff series, however, surprises only have fleeting success.

The Los Angeles Lakers lacked the manpower, the maturity and the overall talent to sustain the necessary balance between intensity and precision. The Suns, on the other hand, not only live, but thrive on the cutting edge of this razor-sharp balance. And they do so because of the constituency of their roster — and because of the special genius of Steve Nash.

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