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Pregame: My Beloved Suns had one of their worst performances of these playoffs in game three in Phoenix two nights ago. Some of this certainly goes to the credit of Dallas D, which held the sharp-shooting Suns to... My daughter's calling me. .. OH! The game starts at 6pm local time for some reason, and that's ... now!

First time-out - following a 12-4 start for Phoenix. Raja Bell is back! Not even Bell was talking like that would happen before game five. He simply strolls out and grabs two rebounds, a steal, draws two fouls and makes his first two field goals. If Nash is the heart (and the brains) and Marion is the soul, Raja Bell is the spine!

2nd time out - Would somebody please get a hold of TNT ad tell them that these long, panning camera angles may have impressed the guys at film school, but the guys who watch athletic contests do not crave art or variety. We want to see if the ball went in the !@#$! Basket. This is particularly problematic when covering the Suns, who outrun camera angles even in normal, rational coverage.

Dallas, meanwhile, has climbed back into the game.

End of first quarter. Good news for Dallas - tied at the end of the first. Bad news: tied at 28 - Suns pace. Can't find my Suns mug - starting to panic.

The Suns had no fun in game three - that was the problem. They let themselves get sucked into Avery Johnson's world view about how the worth of a person is defined by his shooting percentage and defensive intensity and blah-blah-blah. For all that, they played decent defense, and could have been within a possession with less than a minute if the 24 second call had been made. That's not why they lost; it's just noteworthy that they played that poorly and were still that close to being able to win anyway.

Where other coaches might have gone over X's and O's and defensive adjustments, D'Antoni spent most of his time exhorting his Suns to just lighten up. Tight teams play half court. Loose teams run the floor.

1st TO - 2nd Q - The mug is less and less relevant. My kids wiped me out of orange juice. Karma-wise, the Suns are on their own now; all I can do is watch...

2nd TO - 2nd Q - The Pace is starting to get to the Mavs. Down by nine, Avery already has a technical, Suns walk off to a standing ovation. Did I call Bell the spine of the Suns - maybe he's more of their elbow.

3rd TO 2nd Q Commentators, during an annoying long-angle camera pan that simulates watching the game from the catwalks, were comparing Nash favorably to Bob Cousy, noting that they are one of the few players under 6'4' to win an MVP. If you read my MVP index, you'd know who the third is - hint: he's even shorter than the 6'1" Cousy.

Halftime

Towards the end of the second quarter, Dallas manages to slow the game down a bit, and gets back in within six points. So now they're making their adjustments. This is how I imagine it:

AVERY JOHNSON: "We must do a better job in transition. Look here. When the guard releases from the time stripe , the man assigned to pick him up must blah with aht blah blah allowing the blah blah to to rotate to the blah..."

MIKE D'ANTONI: "Now, who can tell me the difference between ... Awright. I won't tell that one again. Seriously, we need to pick up the pace a little bit. So, a priest and a lawyer and a penguin walk into a bar..."