HoopWatch

He is often time referred to as the “heart and soul” of the Phoenix Suns, and yes I believe he is. Every time he pulls off a 20-point output, the Suns win. Every time. Raja Bell went berserk in that 105-86 win against the San Antonio Spurs, to avoid an embarrassing, That was the kind of heart and effort I was looking for. Like I said Shaquille O’Neal is all-words, and he still is. Both him and Steve Nash don’t have heart. It was Bell’s and Boris Diaw’s heart that gave them that must-needed win.

Bell went 5-for-7 from the three-point line, hit an amazing 8-of-11 from the field, and led the Suns with 27 points Sunday night! He more than offset the poor games of Amare Stoudemire and Nash. Amare only had seven points, and Nash had 15 points and just four assists.

Maybe, Bell was a bit relaxed in that game, feeling that there’s no tomorrow and that he had to show. The pressure of limiting Manu Ginobili, who has led the Spurs in scoring for two games, and shot that winning lay-up over Raja in that highly-contested double-overtime victory in Game One, was too much of a burden for Bell. He may been having nightmares about that shot.

I salute Mike D’Antoni for changing the game plan and making the much-needed adjustments. They looked for other options and Bell and Diaw delivered. San Antonio was surprised that Stoudemire and O’Neal weren’t getting the ball that much. It was a good ploy.

And they did great defensively. The game was won with their defense, ironically. Parker was harassed considerably, and when he passed thru Diaw, a myriad of bodies are waiting for him. He is good finisher, but a weak passer. Phoenix took that strength away from Parker. They also defended the pick-and-roll well. No more switches. It doesn’t matter if they were called for fouls as long as they did not go under the screen. The Spurs felt the Suns’ defense.

The problem though is Raja’s consistency in hitting those outside bombs, but it doesn’t really matter as long as they play well defensively. Raja, let those bombs loose. Shoot them. Then run on defense after. Win one more game. Just one more.