Disclaimer: This post will have nothing to do with Los Suns, but simply the Suns. Oh yeah, and it is just about 100% focused on the man of the hour – Goran Dragic.

Suns 110, Spurs 96 (Suns lead 3-0)

Steve who? – Suns coach Alvin Gentry

It seems cliché to say a professional athlete played ‘the game of his life’. Sometimes it’s just a really good game and that line is simply overused. Other times its taking what was a decent game and making it into something it really wasn’t. In the case of Suns guard Goran Dragic, his Game 3 performance was anything but cliché.

The man was straight MONEY in the fourth quarter of Game 3! You don’t see fourth quarter performances like Dragic had in the playoffs very often, but he made it look so free and easy while he was doing. Dragic scored 23 points in the game’s final period, part of his 26 point night. He played only 17 minutes in the game, but shot 10-13 from the floor and he was 5-5 from three-point land. He also had an unreal four-point play as he chucked up a three completely unbalanced, only for it to go in plus the foul. His play not only let Gentry rest Steve Nash, but it also allowed him to rest Amare Stoudemire and Jason Richardson, two guys who have carried this club through the playoffs.

Gentry ended up bringing Nash back into the game with about 3 minutes left, but Dragic stayed on the floor and continued to score. I have always felt that Dragic looked like Steve Nash on the court more than anyone in history, and in the fourth quarter he played like Steve Nash more than anyone (not in history, but you get the point). Nevertheless, Nash led the cheering from the bench, even though Dragic is his backup, and the team mobbed him after the game to recognize his contributions.

When the game ended, the Suns had erased an 18-point Spurs lead, only to make the game a laugher from their end. Honestly, in the fourth quarter, I forgot I was actually watching an NBA basketball game, let alone a playoff game. The Spurs were absolutely nonexistent. You hear that sometimes, but you usually don’t believe it. Well, take my word for it – the Spurs were flat out done. And now, the Spurs’ season is flat out done.

For those of you who have never heard of Dragic, he is Nash’s backup at the point guard position. He is a second year player from Yugoslavia, but he has made a name for himself in Phoenix for his viable Nash-like play this season, and he has made a name for himself in the NBA after being completely on FIRE in the fourth quarter on Friday night! Oh, and how’s this for irony: the Spurs drafted Dragic and traded him to Phoenix as part of a draft night deal. HA!

As for the Spurs, they are now down for the count. They trail 3-0, which is completely insurmountable. In NBA history, a 3-0 lead equals an 88-0 finish for the lead teams. Even in sports history, a 0-3 deficit has only been overcome three times (twice in NHL, once in MLB). Not even Tim Duncan can overcome something like this. Are the Spurs who we thought they were back in January as an old, has been team? Also, I wonder if the Suns jinx against the Spurs is now gone. A sweep would do wonders for that and it could bury the Spurs from being a legit contender for years.

One final note: Suns center Jarron Collins started tonight and here’s his line: 9 minutes, 3 fouls, and that’s it. Literally, that’s what his stat line was, nothing else. Hahaha. Gotta love the Collins twins!

-Shooter