NBA Conference Finals update

The (3) Phoenix Suns beat the (1) Los Angeles Lakers 118-109 tonight in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals after dropping the first two games by scores of 128-107 and 124-112. In tonight's game, Amare Stoudemire had 42 points and 11 rebounds, Robin Lopez had 20 points, Jason Richardson had 19 (4 of 7 on 3 pointers), and Steve Nash had 17 points and 15 assists. Kobe Bryant had 36 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds for the Lakers, while Pau Gasol had 23 with 9 boards and Derek Fisher had 18 points on 3 of 6 shooting from 3 point range.

The Suns had a complete team game in what was absolutely a must-win game for them. Stoudemire bounced back from two sub-par performances in Los Angeles and had a simply dominating game. He seemed to be more aggressive in taking the ball to the hoop and putting pressure on the Lakers' big men. I think he can play really well the rest of the series if he continues to do that. His jump shot was also falling and in fact it seemed like he could do little wrong tonight. Lopez was huge as well. If the Suns can continue to get that kind of production out of him, I think this will be a long series. Nash was just Nash, he had a great game and even played through his latest injury, a broken nose that was a result of a collision with Fisher. And Richardson's timely 3s can't be discounted at all either. Game 4 is Tuesday at 7 p.m. MT on TNT. The Suns will need to bring the same intensity and sense of urgency they brought tonight because Game 4 is a must-win also. I'm hoping they can make this series interesting.

In the Eastern Conference Finals the (4) Boston Celtics lead the (2) Orlando Magic 3 games to none after winning the first three games by scores of 92-88, 95-92 and 94-71. The Celtics are looking like a buzz saw right now. They are playing really good team basketball and the way they took Orlando to the wood shed last night in a game the Magic had to have was impressive. Game 4 is Monday in Boston at 6:30 p.m. MT on ESPN and espn3.com. I think the Celtics will close it out with a sweep. I expect to see a lot of fans with brooms in the stands.

The Celtics play of late has been nothing short of shocking. I didn't think they would be able to beat Cleveland, but they did so and now they've taken the first three against an Orlando team that swept through the first two rounds. I thought this would be a long series with mostly close games, but it looks like it will be over Monday night. I saw an interview with Magic big man Dwight Howard on TNT tonight, and while he said his team wasn't defeated, he sounded somber and, as analyst Charles Barkley said, defeated throughout the interview. I thought the Magic had a really good team and that they would be giving Boston a much better series. They need to win Monday's game to keep their season alive.

In other NBA news, reports have surfaced that the Cavaliers indeed have decided to fire head coach Mike Brown, a development that has a surprise factor of zero to me. Brown was badly outcoached the last two years in the playoffs by Orlando's Stan Van Gundy and Boston's Doc Rivers and I thought that although the team won a lot of games in the regular season, they weren't coached well enough under Brown to win a title. They have been able to win a lot of games based largely on the sheer talent of LeBron James, but they have been lacking the coaching to get to the next level.