Valley of the Suns
Fansided

Phoenix Suns Friday Flashback: Nash’s heroics go in vain against Dallas

By Peter O'Keefe

Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns during 108-97 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. on April 11, 2005. (Photo by Kirby Lee/WireImage)
Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns during 108-97 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. on April 11, 2005. (Photo by Kirby Lee/WireImage) /
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With the offseason in full swing, every Friday ‘Valley of the Suns’ will delve back into the archives to deliver readers a review into some of the best Phoenix Suns playoff performances of all-time.

In terms of spectacular individual performances in losing efforts, they don’t come much better than Steve Nash’s 48-point display in game four of the 2005 Western Conference Semifinals.

Phoenix had entered the playoffs as the number one seed, finishing the regular season with the league’s best record at 62-20. They swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first-round, advancing to face Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks.

Amare Stoudemire’s 40 points and 16 rebounds led the Suns to an easy game one victory, before the Mavericks produced an upset game two victory on the road. Phoenix responded with a comfortable game three victory as Stoudamire again proved a forceful presence.

Onto game four and the Mavericks were looking to tie things up heading back to Phoenix. In order to do so, they’d have to fight pass Nash and an extraordinary offensive explosion from the MVP.

His scoring was diverse early, knocking down a couple of mid-range jump shots and multiple exquisite finishes with the left hand in the paint. The Suns couldn’t find enough around him though, scoring just 22 first quarter points.

As the Suns then began the second half trailing by 16, Nash almost single-handedly begun dragging his team back into the contest. A few more jumpers went down, opening up the lane as he got downhill to the rim with regularity.

Unfortunately, Phoenix couldn’t slow Dallas down on the other end. With three players scoring 20+ points, the Mavericks found multiple avenues as they shot over 55% from the floor.

Nash retained his relentless in the fourth, however the substantial help never arose as the Suns failed to truly threaten. After averaging nearly 36 points across the first three games, Stoudemire produced a much quieter 19-point outing.

Nash’s 48-point virtuoso performance was immense, even if the team fell by ten. He made 20 of his 28 field-goal attempts, including 4-for-6 from three-point range. He also added five rebounds, five assists and three steals, with nine turnovers being the only blemish on his individual statline.

His heroics may have proved a motivating factor as Phoenix went on to win the next two games in close fashion. Nash and the Suns advanced to face the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, going down rather meekly in a gentleman’s sweep.

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