When the coronavirus pandemic stopped the Suns’ season (and society in general), I compiled a list of 25 classic games available on YouTube to watch during the extended hours at home.
I wanted to practice what we preach, and created a Twitter poll to ask readers where to start. The winner: Goran Dragic’s 23-point fourth-quarter outburst against San Antonio in Game 3 of the 2010 Western Conference semifinals.
Since you all enjoyed our compilation of #Suns classics that you can rewatch while there are no live sports (https://t.co/bqaVYcD7Wd), I'm going to take my own advice for a series of pieces.
Which game should I watch first?
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) March 27, 2020
I was a little surprised that this was the pick over Finals games, overtime thrillers and well-known superstar performances. Perhaps the result speaks to demographics of social-media followers. Or, perhaps fans want to give a nod to the most surprisingly delightful big-game Suns performance in the past decade. Dragic, then a second-year backup to Steve Nash, scored 26 points in 17 minutes overall, making 10 of his 13 shots and all five 3-point attempts.
Confession: I did not watch this game live. This was my final week before graduating from Arizona State’s Cronkite School, and the State Press school-newspaper sports staff went to the Diamondbacks game together.
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But I remember hearing buzz about Dragic’s big night. Maybe they were showing the game on the Chase Field video board before first pitch? Or I was already a furious Twitter scroller? But the fact that I’ve never watched this full game was a perfect exercise for yours truly. I also roped in colleague Doug Haller, who was in San Antonio covering this game.
I was really tempted to watch only the fourth quarter, but also wanted the context of how the game was flowing before Dragic took over. Still, it was difficult to fight the anticipation of what was about to happen, like going to a concert and waiting for the band to play its big hit as the encore.
But let’s not bury the lead any longer.
Just how out-of-nowhere was Dragic’s performance? The 24-year-old Slovenian averaged 7.9 points per game during the regular season and entered this night shooting 2-of-12 from the floor in the San Antonio series’ first two games.
And if you headed to the fridge at the start of the second quarter, you may have missed Dragic’s only first-half minutes. He missed his only shot — a pullup jumper — as Phoenix’s bench unit sputtered while San Antonio built an 18-point lead. Nash replaced Dragic with 8:36 to play in the period, a shorter break than usual.
Dragic re-entered with 2:03 to play in the third quarter. Here’s a breakdown of his scoring onslaught, including in-the-moment reactions from the ESPN broadcast team of Dan Schulman and Jon Barry:
1:03 to play, third quarter: Dragic is left open for a 3 on the right wing, after Matt Bonner (who had been switched onto Dragic) leaves to double Amar’e Stoudemire. Splash. Schulman talks about Dragic’s “marked improvement” from his rookie to second seasons, including increased confidence, better shooting and a low turnover rate.
11:21 to play, fourth quarter: Dragic gets into the lane for a crafty up-fake, switches hands and finishes to give Phoenix its first lead of the game at 73-72. Barry: “Is that Rajon Rondo? Holy cow.”
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10:40 to play, fourth quarter: Dragic drives hard, jump-stops in the lane, and spins past Tony Parker for another bucket. (Barry: “How about this?”)
Coming out of a timeout and commercial break, ESPN cuts to a masterfully timed “Wired” segment between Dragic and Suns coach Alvin Gentry. “Be aggressive,” Gentry says. “If you make a couple mistakes, that’s fine.” Dragic referenced this conversation in his postgame interview.
8:36 to play, fourth quarter: Dragic drives again, spins and finishes in the paint. (Barry: “He’s a much better athlete than people give him credit for.”)
8:04 to play, fourth quarter: Dragic uses a screen from Leandro Barbosa to set his feet and bury a 3-pointer from the left wing. (Schulman: “Dragic. Again.” as the camera cuts to the Suns bench standing in celebration)
6:57 to play, fourth quarter: While attempting to draw a foul beyond the arc on George Hill, Dragic hoists a wild, off-balance shot that somehow goes in. He pumps his fist, then sinks the free throw to complete the four-point play. (Barry: “How in the world?!”)
6:15 to play, fourth quarter: Dragic attacks again, flying past Tim Duncan for the layup.
5:06 to play, fourth quarter: Perhaps Dragic’s only blemish: missing two free throws after drawing a foul.
4:32 to play, fourth quarter: Dragic launches a step-back 3 over Duncan, who had switched onto him. (Barry: “There he goes!”)
4:07 to play, fourth quarter: Dragic easy gets to the basket for another driving layup. (Schulman: “This is unbelievable.”)
3:32 to play, fourth quarter: As Dragic fires a midrange pull-up, Barry assumes, “That’s good.” But it rims out, prompting Schulman to joke “Get him out of there!”
3:17 to play, fourth quarter: Nash finally re-enters with the Suns leading comfortably, but Dragic also stays in the game.
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5.7 seconds to play, fourth quarter: Nash drives and kicks to Dragic, who drains the 3.
Dragic’s outburst helped flip a one-point deficit entering the fourth quarter into a 110-96 lead. Upon exiting the court, Dragic received hugs from Nash, owner Robert Sarver and then-general manager Steve Kerr.
“I work hard for this moment,” Dragic said. “So I’m really happy.”
Nearly 10 years later, here’s what Haller remembers about that night:
What was your opinion of Dragic entering that game?
Backup point guard had been an issue for the Suns for so long, and it was kind of an impossible task. I mean, come on. No one looked good in Steve Nash’s shadow. But you could tell Dragic had potential. He wasn’t there yet, but you could see maybe one day he might be a starting NBA point guard. I can’t remember anyone thinking he’d turn into a future All-Star.
What was it like to watch his fourth-quarter outburst unfold in person?
Pretty much, it was baffling. The Spurs were down 0-2, so this was a must win for them. It was in San Antonio. They had jumped out to a big lead — and Dragic hadn’t been much of a factor. He had averaged only 5.6 points in the postseason. Then he started hitting shot after shot after shot after shot. On a team with Nash, Amar’e and Jason Richardson, he was the last guy you expected to slam the door on Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
When did you realize you were witnessing a special, out-of-the-blue performance?
With Phoenix up five with seven minutes left, he pulled up from 3 on the left side and drew contact. The shot was awkward and ugly and it swished. I think that’s when everyone stopped for a second and thought: OK, what’s going on here?
What did you end up writing that night?
I actually looked this up: I focused on Dragic. We all did. All three of us (at the Arizona Republic). Paul Coro, Dan Bickley and myself. In hindsight, I probably messed up. Problem was, our print deadline was pretty much right at the buzzer so you just put your head down, cranked it out and then threw in a couple of quotes after the news conferences. If I remember right, we were all seated at different spots in the arena so we didn’t have time to communicate. I should’ve written about Richardson and Grant Hill.
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Ten years later, where does Dragic’s outing rank as far as stunning, big-game performances that you’ve witnessed in person?
It’s up there just because it was so unexpected. And it wasn’t like this outburst came in a meaningless regular-season contest. It came in the Western Conference semifinals.
Anything else you want to share about that night?
It has nothing to do with that game, but I wasn’t a fan of the AT&T Center. The last time I had been there — two years earlier — my wife had emergency complications with her pregnancy, but she couldn’t get ahold of me. For some reason, it was impossible to get cellphone service in that place. So that night I helped cover a 92-87 elimination loss for the Suns and then I walked out of the arena with Paul Coro. About halfway to our rental car, my phone started beeping. I had like 10 voice-mail messages. Turns out, an ambulance had taken my wife to the hospital and sometime in the fourth quarter, my youngest daughter Olivia was born, two months premature. I still can’t stand that place.
Other random game observations
- Initially, it looked like Spurs veteran Antonio McDyess might be the unexpected standout. He scored the Spurs’ first six points — “of all people,” Schulman said — and played solid defense against Stoudemire. McDyess finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
- Speaking of Stoudemire, he struggled while finishing with seven points on 3-of-10 shooting. But he unleashed one vintage play, taking a feed from Nash and throwing down an authoritative one-handed dunk with a yell. When reminded of sequences like that, it’s easier to see why some fans yearn for Deandre Ayton to play with the same ferocity.
- Man, Nash was such a pace-setter. And he first took advantage of when Duncan switched onto him with a steady dose of step-back jumpers, something Dragic did in that fourth quarter. Nash finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
- Before Dragic’s fourth, Jason Richardson (21 points, 5-of-7 from 3) was the Suns’ top scorer. But he was not needed in the final period.
- Grant Hill (18 points) still had a silky midrange game.
- Because of a back injury to Robin Lopez, Jarron Collins and Lou Amundson were Phoenix’s centers. Channing Frye, who went 3-of-5 from long range in 33 minutes, was the other big man.
- Barbosa was also great off the bench in the second half, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
- Sitting next to Gentry on the Suns’ bench: Dan Majerle and Igor Kokoskov. Sitting next to Gregg Popovich on the Spurs’ bench: Bucks coach (and Holbrook, Ariz., native!) Mike Budenholzer.
- San Antonio missed seven consecutive free throws in the second quarter and finished 16-of-28 overall.
- Phoenix shot 57.7 percent from 3-point distance (15-of-26), which helped it close the big first-half gap and then hang around before Dragic’s burst.
(Photo of Goran Dragic during Game 3 of the 2010 Western Conference semifinals: D.Clarke Evans / NBAE via Getty Images)
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