Another Night, Another Classic

Despite making it to the western conference Finals, the last few days have not gone too well for Josh Howard. First, he gets a cup check from Avery Johnson, then he gets dry humped by Mark Cuban, and finally tonight he sprains his ankle after a hot start in Game 1 against Phoenix. Dallas certainly missed his presence in the remainder of the game, although they did still play well enough to win. However MVP Steve Nash was a double threat tonight. He played like an MVP, and he was getting the calls that an MVP gets. When those two elements come together in the NBA, a star player is unstoppable. Nash led a furious comeback in the closing minutes with some big baskets, setting the stage for two last second shots- Devin Harris nailing the apparent game winner for Dallas with five seconds to go and then Boris Diaw making the actual game winner for the Suns with a half second remaining. The 4th quarter featured so many big shots that had Bill Rafferty been announcing, he would have set the broadcasting record for most uses of the expression "Onions!!" in a telecast. Just a phenomenal game.

In the end, Phoenix had stolen game 1 and home court advantage in what appears to the beginning of yet another amazing playoff series this postseason. (Note to the NBA- it's nice having you back. I'd forgotten how much fun you can be.) Regardless of which team you are rooting for, I think we can all agree that the best case scenario would be for this series to go the full 7 games. I say this not because we need yet another 'do or die' game in the west, but rather because we need all four games in Dallas to be played in order to view all the amazing eye candy on the Dallas sidelines. I kept hoping for crazy calls to go against Phoenix so that the camera would switch to Mike D'Antoni and the chick in the white spaghetti strap sitting behind him. It's obvious that when she went to the plastic surgeon, she was reminded that everything is bigger in Texas.

I love this game.
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In other sports news: Cole Hamels took a break from his Steve Carlton impression to give his best rendition of Kerry Wood and went on the disabled list with soreness in his elbow. Sorry Phillies fan.