Suns more than ready to write new script with heroic ending

PHOENIX -- It was another one of those days when you almost wouldn't have blamed them if they had crawled off into the desert individually in a desire to be alone.

Instead they found strength and hope -- even joy -- in coming together.

There was Jared Dudley running down loose balls and running his mouth at one end of the practice court. There was Grant Hill flapping his gums like he flaps his defensive wings.

There were two ways for the NBA's star-crossed franchise to take the dramatic 103-101 Game 5 loss in the Western Conference finals. They could spend another summer licking their wounds or spend their energy gearing up to lick the Lakers.

As a fan, the tendency is to throw up one's hands, curse the fates and say all is lost. As a professional athlete, it is necessary to compartmentalize and take the narrow view.

"We don't do the self pity," said Dudley. "We just do the work."

No one expected them to be in the playoffs when the season started back in October. No one expected them to advance this deep into the postseason when the playoffs began in April. No one expected them to still have a pulse after getting jack-hammered by the Lakers in the first two games of this series.

Yet here are the Suns planning to be back at the Staples Center on Monday night for one more crack at the defending champs.

"I'd rather lose by two than get blown out like we did in the first two games," said Suns president and general manager Steve Kerr. "We know now that it's possible. We know that we can win.

"Look, either way losing sucks. It's a punch in the gut when you lose like that. But when the emotion settles down, you realize that what you proved is that you've got a real shot.

"If it that had been the last game of the series, well, you're gonna have the whole summer to think about it and have your regrets. In this case, it hit you hard at first. It was a shock to the system. But we walked out of there in Games 1 and 2 feeling more like, 'Man, we got our ass kicked.' The truth is, I'd rather feel like this than still feel like that. We weren't sure then that we had the answers."

Turns out, they did. In the past three games the Suns have used a zone defense to boggle the Lakers' minds and jumble what had been a devastatingly effective low post attack to start the series. They have used back-to-back-to-back standout performances from Amar'e Stoudemire, the entire Suns bench and then Steve Nash to scare the Lakers within an inch of their lives until Ron Artest -- the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind -- went from goat to hero and caught a gift that practically fell out of the sky.

After surrendering cushy 58 percent shooting to the Lakers in Games 1 and 2, the Suns had Kobe & Co. laboring just below 42 percent in Game 5. After watching the Lakers build an 18-point late in the third quarter on Thursday night, the Suns deliberately and relentlessly kept chipping away like a sculptor on a piece of marble until they came justthisclose to taking down L.A. and getting a chance to close out the series at home tonight.

Instead Game 6 becomes another place-holder for the Suns, a necessary step to get back to Hollywood for an opportunity to write a new script with a heroic ending.

There was a bit of a minor dust-up when Artest managed to twist Nash's post-game confidence in his own team somehow into a measure of disrespect of the Lakers.

Following Friday's practice, Nash said he's no "Joe Namath who walked in in his fur coat. I just said we're going home and win Game 6 and come back in Game 7. Take it how you want to take it.''

The Suns are taking their near-miss in Game 5 as something to build upon.

"There's some really good things that we did [Thursday] night, some things to build on,'' said Grant Hill. "I think the main thing is the confidence that we can beat this team. Obviously we've done it twice, and we've got to try to do it twice more.''

The Suns have spent the playoffs tiptoeing along the tightrope of doubt ever since they dropped Game 1 of the opening round at home to a Portland team that was playing without its leading scorer Brandon Roy. Even when they won the first two games of the conference semifinals at home against their long-time nemesis from San Antonio, questions remained about their ability to close the deal. Now, because it's the Lakers, because they're the reigning champions and because coach Phil Jackson's teams have been virtually perfect in the past anytime that they've won Game 5, the Suns are supposed to be buried. But here they are still working their shovels.

Nash gave the postgame speech in the locker room in the same manner that he runs the Suns' offense -- pushing, pushing, pushing no place but ahead. If stubbornness is a talent, then the two-time MVP has it leaking out of his ears and turning into a puddle of belief in which all of the Suns are standing.

"The fact that we came back showed heart," said Stoudemire. "We can win [there]. We haven't done it yet. But we know we can."

On the day after another one of those experiences that could have ripped their hearts out, the sight inside the practice gym was of basketballs and spirits bouncing back up, the sounds were of sneakers and Suns chirping.

"There is nobody in here who isn't planning to play Game 7," Dudley said. "Let the fans be disappointed. We'll be determined."

Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter.

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