Defense a new concept for Suns

Phoenix has led the NBA in scoring the past two seasons.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Playing defense is usually little more than a necessity for the Phoenix Suns, an obligation of sorts while the other team has the ball.
So they could afford to chuckle a bit Saturday about winning by holding an opponent down.
But there were no promises that kind of approach would continue today in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal series with the Los Angeles Clippers. No, the Suns won't deviate from their normal approach -- run like crazy, shoot the ball quickly, and often from distance.
Different feeling
"It was kind of tough to swallow," coach Mike D'Antoni said with a smile when asked how it felt to win with defense.
"It's not the type of game we're going to win a whole lot. Once in a while, we can do it," two-time MVP Steve Nash said.
"The playoffs are a whole different animal, you've got to find different ways to win," Raja Bell said. "I don't know if we played that well on defense all year. If I said I thought we could play like that every game, I'd probably be lying to you."
The Suns, who led the NBA in scoring the past two seasons, had lost eight straight playoff games when scoring fewer than 100 points including four this month before beating the Clippers 97-94 Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Bouncing back
"Our task now is to bounce back and get the game here tomorrow," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We already know we can win in Phoenix, and we're obviously going to have to do that one more time."
The Clippers, who shot 56.7 percent and averaged 122.5 points in splitting the first two games, made 42.2 percent of their field goal attempts in Game 3.
"Uh, not really," D'Antoni said when asked if he remembered his team playing that well on defense at any time this season.
"That was about as good as we can go."
The Suns won despite shooting 37.2 percent, and missed 15 straight 3-point shots before Shawn Marion connected to tie the game at 85, triggering a game-closing 12-6 run.
"We shot 37 percent as a team? Did we really? It's not all about offense on this team," said Marion, who had 32 points, a career playoff-high 19 rebounds and four steals.
After the Clippers beat the Suns 122-97 in Game 2 to even the series, D'Antoni made two significant defensive adjustments, putting the 6-foot-7 Marion on point guard Sam Cassell, and inserting the 6-10 Tim Thomas into the starting lineup and assigning him to Clippers scoring leader Elton Brand.
No doubt that's how the Suns will play it today.
Saturday's Mavericks-Spurs game was not completed in time for today's edition.
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