PHOENIX — Steve Nash says he’s no “Joe Namath who walked in in his fur coat,” but the Suns playmaker is not backing away from his postgame promise that Phoenix will beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals.
Not might win, not try hard to win, not hope to win.
“I just said we’re going home and win Game 6 and come back in Game 7,” Nash said after practice Friday. “Take it how you want to take it.”
The Suns didn’t seem devastated by Thursday night’s last-second 103-101 loss in Los Angeles. Quite the opposite. The close call seemed to bolster their belief they can win this series, even though the Lakers are up 3-2 and can advance to the NBA Finals for the third straight year with a victory in Phoenix tonight.
“There’s some really good things that we did last night, some things to build on,” the Suns’ Grant Hill said. “I think the main thing is the confidence that we can beat this team. Obviously we’ve done it twice, and we’ve got to try to do it twice more.”
Nash’s assurance may not have packed the flamboyance of Namath’s famous guarantee that his huge underdog New York Jets would beat Baltimore in the Super Bowl, but it was enough to rile Game 5 hero Ron Artest.
“That’s like no respect for us. There’s no respect. That’s how it’s been for a long time this season. I’m sure we’ll talk about it,” Artest said before the Lakers left Los Angeles on Friday. “Coaches have no respect for the Lakers at all. They have no respect for me. The players don’t respect — a lot of the guys don’t respect. . . . I’m sure Kobe (Bryant) heard that (what Nash said), and I’m sure he’ll do his part tomorrow.”
Artest’s comments came after he was fined for showing up late for practice.
Phoenix rallied from 18 down in the second half to tie the game at 101-101 when Jason Richardson banked in a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds to play.
The Lakers pulled it out when Bryant threw up an air ball and Artest hustled to retrieve it, then banked in a shot at the buzzer.
“It was a great moment for him, for our team,” the Lakers’ Derek Fisher said.
“Ron has really sacrificed a lot for our team. He’s a big part of our team. A lot of things he does go unnoticed on the stat sheet, but he’s committed, and that’s helping us win.”
