Swamping Nash Is Double Trouble for Suns

Steve Nash didn’t get tied up by the Lakers’ Luke Walton or picked clean by Smush Parker, but he did have a similarly rough time in another Game 4 at Staples Center.

The teams have changed, the stakes slightly higher now, but the two-time most valuable player was not quite himself as the Clippers threw continual double teams at him.

He made three of 11 shots and scored only eight points in 39 minutes, a bleak follow-up to a Game 3 effort in which he made three of nine shots and scored 12 points, nine below his playoff average. He continues to churn out double-figure assists, but the Nash that scored 31 points in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal series has gone missing.

“The way they’re playing me, I’m not going to have a prolific scoring series,” he said Sunday. “I still had some opportunities to get 14-16 points for us. I just missed some shots. Didn’t play very well.”

Nash has missed all eight of his three-point shots since the series opener. He has also missed several finishes at the basket, prompting speculation that his back was tightening up as it did midway through the first round.

Nash said he was “more or less” fine and Suns Coach Mike D’Antoni said Nash’s shooting slump was “nothing major,” preferring to talk instead about the misses by other Suns.

“They’re double-teaming him almost every time and he’s moving the basketball,” D’Antoni said. “That’s his job, is to get us shots. If they want to take his shots away, and that’s what they’re doing, that’s great, but the other guys have got to step up and knock them down.”

They didn’t in Game 4.

It was obvious the Suns were in trouble when their defensive stopper, Raja Bell, carried the offense with 33 points.

Bell made seven of 12 from three-point range, but the Suns’ long-distance acumen, a season-long strength, otherwise dissipated. They made only 10 of 36 (27.8%) and were two for 11 from behind the arc in the fourth quarter.

Tim Thomas, who seared the Lakers in the first-round series with a pivotal three-pointer in Game 6, made only two of 10 three-point shots Sunday. He had a chance to pull the Suns into a tie but missed an open three-point shot with 46.9 seconds to play.

Shawn Marion missed all four of his shots from three-point range. Leandro Barbosa was one for six from long range. There were added concerns for the Suns, who could have left Staples Center with a 3-1 edge. Instead, the series is tied at 2-2.

Clippers guard Sam Cassell was revived after a dismal shooting night in Game 3, the Suns were again crushed in the rebounding category, 55-37, and, as an added insult, they lost at their own brand of ball.

With Chris Kaman shelved because of a sore right shoulder, the Clippers went with a smaller, quicker lineup. Cassell and Elton Brand each came close to triple-doubles.

The Suns also let an early seven-point lead disappear and failed to retake the lead with a late run that brought them within 106-105 with 1:12 to play.

“That’s been very typical of our team this year,” Nash said. “We get up 10 or 15 points and we let a team back in. We get up a game in a series and we let a team come back. We don’t have that killer instinct or focus that maybe comes with experience.”

D’Antoni chose to be the voice of reason, cognizant that the Suns still have the home-court advantage in what is now a best-of-three series.

“I don’t want to get too strung out, too crazy,” he said. “It’s not as bleak as it seems.”

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Cold spell

Two-time NBA most valuable player Steve Nash of Phoenix had 31 points and 12 assists in 41 minutes in Game 1 but has struggled shooting in the last three playoff games against the Clippers:

*--* Min. Pts. FG-FGA 3-pt.-Att. FT-FTA TO Assists GAME 2 34 14 6-12 0-2 2-3 1 8 GAME 3 43 12 3-9 0-4 6-6 4 10 GAME 4 38 8 3-11 0-2 2-3 2 11

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