RECLAMATION PROCLAMATION

Nash and Suns show they still got it

When the Golden State Warriors retooled last January by acquiring Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington for an overpriced sack of rocks, smallball finally made its return to the Bay since Tim Hardaway was known for killer crossovers and not killing crossdressers. The Warriors were among the fastest teams in the league, and their high-octane offense was suddenly the second-most potent in the league. Second-best behind the Phoenix Suns, that is.

The Warriors and Suns faced off in yet another Wild West shootout Thursday. The Warriors won the last three contests against the Suns dating back to last season, making Steve Nash look as defensively useless as Charles Barkley is stupid, with Monta Ellis and Baron Davis taking turns running circles around Nash. However, the Shaq trade changed the identity of the Suns, or rather left them looking for a completely new one. Shaq looked more like Clark Kent than Superman the last couple weeks, and the run-and-gun Suns stepped aside to make way for the faster, smaller upstart Warriors to claim the smallball crown. Now with the game’s greatest inside presence of the last 30 years, the Suns finally have a post game they hope will save them from any more playoff embarrassments on behalf of Tim Duncan, as they showed in Sunday’s victory. Unfortunately for Steve Kerr, the Suns don’t get to play the Spurs every game, and the Warriors would be a good litmus test for the retooled Suns.

Phoenix, however, went old school and showed the can still play the upstyle tempo they perfected the last several years, with their second consecutive game scoring 120+ points. Despite three first half technicals, including choirboy Grant Hill looking like he was gonna have to choke a bitch after a good non-call, and being down 5 after the break, the Suns came out of their locker rooms with some fire not seen in recent weeks. Outgunning the Warriors by 16 in the 3rd and never looking back, the Suns showed they could, indeed, still play the fast tempo, albeit with Shaq sitting on the bench with foul and heart rate troubles.

Steve Nash and the devastating tickle D

Despite Baron Davis’ near triple double with 38-9-8, Nash countered with a double-double of 21 and 13, with Amare Stoudamire adding 36 points and 11 boards. The Warriors looked every bit like a team on the back end of a back-to-back, with Ellis scoring 23 points despite a non-Ellis-like 36% shooting, and not much else. The Suns reclaimed the title of fastest team in the league, if only for one night, and setup high stakes for the fourth and final match between these two squads one month from tonight.