Quarter 3:
- 10:07: Nash with a heady play as he gets into the lane and gets into Kwame Brown’s body to draw his 4th foul and gets to the free-throw line. He makes both and the Suns are up 65-59. Harlan mentions how Nash was taken two picks behind Kobe Bryant in the 1996 NBA Draft. Kobe at 13 to the Hornets and Nash at 15 to the Suns. That truly was a legendary class: Kobe, Nash, Iverson, Ray Allen, Stephon Marbury, etc.
- 9:34: Marion spins and hits one of his unorthodox shot-put turnaround flick shots as he leans back and kicks his leg out. He had such an unorthodox game, there will never be another Shawn Marion.
- 8:18: Diaw hits a wide-open 15 footer off of a gorgeous pass from Nash. Teams don’t look for or take that shot almost ever anymore, I miss the mid-range game. Suns lead 69-61, Lakers timeout.
- 8:16: They show a graphic of the seven teams in NBA history who have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a series. It had happened to the Suns 2x, in 1970 against the Lakers and 1995 against the Rockets, that was really the Suns title to win that year in Barkley’s last full year as a Phoenix Sun. Possible foreshadowing in this series.
- 8:05: Collins mentions Suns are +36 in points from free throws, three-pointers and off turnovers.
- 6:08: It is essentially the Suns vs Kobe in the first half of the 3rd quarter as Kobe nails yet another jump shot, this time a three. Kobe has all 11 Laker points in the quarter, Suns 14, Kobe 11. Suns lead 74-68. Kobe has 25 in the game.
- 4:47: Nash gets a switch and Brown is on him, he crosses him twice, leaves him flat-footed and nails a 17-footer, Suns 76-70. Nash is really the greatest I have ever seen at clearing out when a center switches on to him, making him look silly and nailing jumpers. Only Chris Paul comes close.
- 3:16: First shot of Amar’e on the bench, he looks awkward in his suit like he is going for a job interview and has one huge earring.
- 2:42: Kwame displays terrible hands as he squanders an opportunity for a dunk off of an Odom dish.
- 2:10: More Nash wizardry as he somehow sneaks bounce pass by two defenders on baseline to a cutting Marion for a layup. Suns 83-78.
- 1:47: Kobe uses footwork at elbow to get his defender to over-commit and blows by him for dunk, Suns 83-80, camera pans to Denzel Washington looking cool and serious in the crowd.
- 1:24: Devean George hits a three-pointer to tie the game, 83-83. Crowd goes nuts and the Suns all a timeout.
- 0:47: Nash with another ridiculous “how did he do that??” pass around two defenders while mid-air to James Jones for 17 footer, game tied 85-85. Nash with his tenth assist.
- 0:03: Nash drives to the rim for huge and-1 and makes the free throw to give the Suns an 88-85 lead. Nash has 22 & 10 on 7-for-10 shooting.
Score at the end of the 3rd quarter: Phoenix Suns 88, Los Angeles Lakers 85