Suns' inner strength

The Phoenix Suns appeared to be in huge trouble after the Los Angeles Lakers stole Game 4 of the teams' first-round playoff series.

But the Suns changed their tactics, fronting the post and making it more difficult for the Lakers to enter the ball inside. Also, Boris Diaw began to punish Smush Parker on the block after the Lakers switched the screen-and-rolls involving Diaw and Steve Nash.

Diaw's scoring inside, along with quicker and better post defense, changed the series for Phoenix. The Suns regained their confidence with a Game 5 home win, raced to an overtime victory in L.A. and then buried the Lakers in Game 7 with an unstoppable offensive barrage.

The 121-90 rout on Saturday marked just the eighth time in NBA history that a team came back from a 3-1 deficit. Phoenix now moves on to face the Los Angeles Clippers.

PLAYER OF THE NIGHT

Leandro Barbosa – The Suns' speedster shredded the Lakers' defense for the second game in a row, scoring 26 points and helping set the torrid pace that L.A. couldn't match. When Raja Bell was suspended in Game 5, most people thought Phoenix was in trouble, but it was actually a blessing in disguise for Mike D'Antoni's squad. Barbosa is much more of an offensive threat than Bell, and his speed and quickness forced the tempo for the Suns. The Lakers couldn't match up with Barbosa, and his constant penetration to the hoop compromised the L.A. defense and broke the game open.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

One point – That's how many points Kobe Bryant scored in the second half of the Lakers' blowout loss. Bryant took three shots – missing them all – and appeared disheartened by the Suns' dominance. Normally one would expect Kobe to try to keep his team in the game with his offense, as he did in Game 6 when he scored 50 points. But with his club trailing by 20-plus points for most of the second half, Bryant went into a shell and made no attempt to force the issue. To be fair, Kobe will be criticized no matter what. The perception will either be that he shoots too much or doesn't exert his influence enough. But three shots? That doesn't make any sense.

VIEWERS GUIDE FOR SUNDAY

Game 1: Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs – Talk about a quick turnaround. The Spurs will take the court at noon Central time, just a day after flying home from Sacramento. If Dallas wants to steal one of the first two games, this would appear to be the one. Still, these two teams know each other awfully well, so a lack of preparation time shouldn't be too much of a problem for San Antonio. The key matchup when these teams meet is Dirk Nowitzki against Bruce Bowen. Nowitzki has struggled at times against the quicker Bowen, who will harass the Mavericks' star all over the perimeter. When Nowitzki posts up, the Spurs will double team and rotate to shooters. Gregg Popovich believes that Jason Terry is the key to Dallas' attack, so look for San Antonio to cover him tightly. That means players like Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse will have to make shots for the Mavericks to win.

Game 1: Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons – The Cavaliers are playing with the house's money now. They are thrilled to be in the second round and really don't expect to beat the Pistons. That could be a problem. If they're just "happy to be there," as the cliché goes, Cleveland won't be able to match Detroit's intensity in Game 1. The Pistons would like to come out immediately and set the tone in this series with a balanced performance at both ends of the floor. Look for Flip Saunders to make a point of making LeBron James play defense, either on Richard Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince, depending on the matchups. Prince will post up James and use his length to get to the rim, while Hamilton will run him silly off of screens. At the other end, Prince will try to force James into jump shots and keep him out of the paint. That's easier said than done. As always, the Cavaliers need their supporting players to provide offense to make life easier on James.