by Mark Rothstein
No Raja Bell, no peace.
The Phoenix Suns find themselves down two games to one to the Dallas Mavericks in their Western Conference best-of-seven final, with Bell?s injury playing a leading dramatic role. The Suns fell to 1-5 this year without Bell after Sunday?s 95-88 loss. His status for Game 4 remains up in the air at the time of publication, but it?s becoming all too clear that the hopes of Suns supporters rest on his strained left calf.
If Bell were a hockey player, they?d call him a ?plumber,? doing yeoman work on defense while hitting the occasional 3-point shot ? much like Bruce Bowen of the San Antonio Spurs. According to the stats compiled by 82games, the most efficient of the regular five-man units the Suns deployed this season were those including Bell, either at shooting guard or small forward.
Perhaps sensing that the Suns are deficient in the grit department, the Mavericks took that plumber mentality into Game 3. The Mavs got physical with Phoenix, holding them to 82 shot attempts compared to 95 for Dallas and winning the turnover battle 11-4. Dallas also chose once again to keep Erick Dampier on the bench while giving DeSagana Diop 25 minutes at center. Like Bell, Diop is a defensive specialist, only with even less of an offensive touch. Despite that weakness, the Mavericks also happen to be at their most efficient when Diop is on the floor.
Drastic times call for drastic measures. If Bell is not available for Game 4, Suns coach Mike D?Antoni might have to go to the bench and dip into his collection of big men, which includes Brian Grant, Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Pat Burke. It would seem like anathema for Phoenix to burden its potent running game with one of these lumbering widebodies. However, Dallas has already proven it has the right combination of players to keep the Bell-less Suns at bay. Someone has to step up and play some defense to do the same to the Mavericks.
That someone would ideally be Kurt Thomas. He also didn?t play Sunday, although all indications are that he?s recovered from his broken foot and ready to play for the first time since February. D?Antoni has already told the Arizona Republic that he doesn?t see a place for Thomas in the lineup against Dallas. ?I don?t know what kind of shape he?s in,? D?Antoni said, ?Plus, he?s not really a Dirk (Nowitzki) guarder. So he?d be guarding a guy that we really don?t need to be guarding, Erick Dampier or DeSagana Diop.?
It might be time to revisit that assessment. Nowitzki torched the Suns for 28 points and 17 rebounds Sunday, his third straight monster game of the series. Most of that damage is being done inside, as well: Nowitzki has only attempted four 3-pointers against the Suns, all of them coming in Game 3. Thomas, in game shape or not, is by leaps and bounds the best defensive presence D?Antoni could possibly put in the paint against Nowitzki. Current center Boris Diaw is also a tremendous defender, but he?s rather literally in over his head against the 7-foot German. D?Antoni may be better served to use a combination of Diaw and Thomas at center (or Shawn Marion and Thomas at power forward), much as Dallas coach Avery Johnson is using the offense-defense combo of Keith Van Horn and Diop.
Game 4 gets underway in Phoenix at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
For NBA odds click here .
No Raja Bell, no peace.
The Phoenix Suns find themselves down two games to one to the Dallas Mavericks in their Western Conference best-of-seven final, with Bell?s injury playing a leading dramatic role. The Suns fell to 1-5 this year without Bell after Sunday?s 95-88 loss. His status for Game 4 remains up in the air at the time of publication, but it?s becoming all too clear that the hopes of Suns supporters rest on his strained left calf.
If Bell were a hockey player, they?d call him a ?plumber,? doing yeoman work on defense while hitting the occasional 3-point shot ? much like Bruce Bowen of the San Antonio Spurs. According to the stats compiled by 82games, the most efficient of the regular five-man units the Suns deployed this season were those including Bell, either at shooting guard or small forward.
Perhaps sensing that the Suns are deficient in the grit department, the Mavericks took that plumber mentality into Game 3. The Mavs got physical with Phoenix, holding them to 82 shot attempts compared to 95 for Dallas and winning the turnover battle 11-4. Dallas also chose once again to keep Erick Dampier on the bench while giving DeSagana Diop 25 minutes at center. Like Bell, Diop is a defensive specialist, only with even less of an offensive touch. Despite that weakness, the Mavericks also happen to be at their most efficient when Diop is on the floor.
Drastic times call for drastic measures. If Bell is not available for Game 4, Suns coach Mike D?Antoni might have to go to the bench and dip into his collection of big men, which includes Brian Grant, Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Pat Burke. It would seem like anathema for Phoenix to burden its potent running game with one of these lumbering widebodies. However, Dallas has already proven it has the right combination of players to keep the Bell-less Suns at bay. Someone has to step up and play some defense to do the same to the Mavericks.
That someone would ideally be Kurt Thomas. He also didn?t play Sunday, although all indications are that he?s recovered from his broken foot and ready to play for the first time since February. D?Antoni has already told the Arizona Republic that he doesn?t see a place for Thomas in the lineup against Dallas. ?I don?t know what kind of shape he?s in,? D?Antoni said, ?Plus, he?s not really a Dirk (Nowitzki) guarder. So he?d be guarding a guy that we really don?t need to be guarding, Erick Dampier or DeSagana Diop.?
It might be time to revisit that assessment. Nowitzki torched the Suns for 28 points and 17 rebounds Sunday, his third straight monster game of the series. Most of that damage is being done inside, as well: Nowitzki has only attempted four 3-pointers against the Suns, all of them coming in Game 3. Thomas, in game shape or not, is by leaps and bounds the best defensive presence D?Antoni could possibly put in the paint against Nowitzki. Current center Boris Diaw is also a tremendous defender, but he?s rather literally in over his head against the 7-foot German. D?Antoni may be better served to use a combination of Diaw and Thomas at center (or Shawn Marion and Thomas at power forward), much as Dallas coach Avery Johnson is using the offense-defense combo of Keith Van Horn and Diop.
Game 4 gets underway in Phoenix at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
For NBA odds click here .
