PROPERLY APPRECIATING STEVE NASH

What Steve Nash did last night was much more admirable than merely bleeding in public.

Had to laugh like hell last week when Don Cherry, during his Coach Corner's segment, showed the clip of Nash trying to stanch his bleeding nose so he could check back into the game during the final minutes of Game 1 of the San Antonio Spurs-Phoenix Suns series. If that's what it takes for Nash to get some pub on his home country's top sports broadcast (not that Hockey Night in Canada is obligated to show hoops highlights), that's too bad for Cherry and his ever-shrinking choir.

What Nash did last night in the Suns' series-tying 104-98 comeback win -- which might have decided the NBA championship more than a month early -- was a much better instance of what he does. Anyone can bleed.

The Spurs-Suns series has been much more acrimonious than any NHL playoff series this spring, yet Nash played beautiful basketball, even though he's the No. 1 target of San Antonio's uh, uncompromising defence. In the final seconds, after Nash and the Suns had stolen the game with an 8-0 run to erase a five-point deficit, San Antonio's normally laid-back Robert Horry knocked Nash down with a forearm shiver, sparking a scuffle and causing the Suns' Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw to leave the bench, which might result in suspensions for both teams for Game 5 on Wednesday.

(UPDATE: Stoudemire and Diaw won't play in Game 5; Horry's gone for the next two. This sucks so much that Neal Pollack doesn't seem extreme in saying the NBA is dead to him.)

Nash had already fought through to score or assist on four of Phoenix's final five baskets -- all coming inside the 3-point line -- across the final three minutes. He did this on San Antonio's home floor in a game that was played at the Spurs' more deliberate pace for the first 45 minutes.

Remember how Wayne Gretzky would sometimes forget about pretty playmaking and score a goal when his team absolutely needed one, such as the slapshot he blew over Mike Vernon's shoulder in overtime in Game 1 of the 1988 Oilers-Flames division final? Nash had a moment similar to that, driving into the teeth of the Spurs' D to hit a pull-up jumper with 2:05 left to get the Suns within three points. Over the next 90 seconds, the Suns got stops on defence and slugged the ball inside to score six straight points and take the lead.

The Suns might have won the NBA title last night, depending on Stoudemire and Diaw's eligibility for Game 5. It's a best-of-3 with the Spurs with two of the games scheduled for Phoenix's floor and the rest of the remaining playoff field doesn't stack up to the Suns.

Nash's display likely won't get any airtime on Hockey Night in Canada. It was too subtle to put in a 10-second clip, but at that moment, Nash was what Canadians like to see in ourselves. He was proof that you can be an easygoing person who's understanding of differing viewpoints and how the rest of the world lives, yet still have the stones to be tough in the face of a tough job.

Nash's moment was the behind-the-back bounce pass he threw to Stoudemire for a last-minute driving layup that iced the game. That's the Canadian toughness we don't have enough of -- having the confidence to be creative when it might blow up in your face.

Don Cherry likely would have looked at that behind-the-back pass and called Nash a hot dog.

Related:
Nash eludes Spurs defense (Arizona Republic)
The Spurs And Suns Won't Stop Punching Each Other, And It's Awesome (Deadspin)

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.