Bell's toll could be suspension
By Marc Stein, ESPN.com
Even when they lose now, they win.
In this series?
Even when they're forced to absorb a Kwame Brown bombshell before the Game 5 tip.
Even when they've given in to the complacency that comes with a 3-1 fairy-tale lead over the No. 2 seed.
Even when they've played the final 3:11 without an ejected Kobe Bryant.
The Los Angeles Lakers found themselves dealing with all of that Tuesday night and departed U.S. Airways Center having incurred a 114-97 pounding from the Phoenix Suns to force a Game 6 back in L.A. on Thursday.
Not that the Suns could celebrate too wildly.
Their offense finally looked Sun-like, and Boris Diaw racked up a near triple-double (25 points, 10 boards and nine assists) after collecting his Most Improved Player trophy, but they departed the scene with plenty to sweat themselves. Reason being: It's hard to imagine Phoenix will be dressing Raja Bell, its second-best player throughout this series, for the game they need to win to keep the season going.
The normally steady Bell took an uncharacteristically foolish risk by clotheslining Bryant with his left arm with 7:33 to play and the Suns up 14. The hit came in response to an elbow to Bell's jaw from Bryant minutes earlier, and Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said taunting from the Lakers' bench was another trigger, but there was little doubt which hit looked more forceful and premeditated.
So...
Compared to infractions earlier in the playoffs that resulted in one-game suspensions for Sacramento's Ron Artest and Miami's James Posey, Bell will be fortunate if he isn't hit with more than a one-game ban.
It would seem only two forces can save him from missing Game 6.
No. 1: The utter unpredictability from a league office that suspended Artest and Posey but didn't assess Denver's Reggie Evans more than a fine for grabbing the privates of Clippers center Chris Kaman.
No. 2: A most atypical reaction to the foul from Bryant and Lakers coach Phil Jackson.
Kobe and Phil, in fact, stunned observers here by making a co-plea to commissioner Stern to spare Bell from suspension.
"We want him out there," Jackson said. "We want their full team out there to play. It's the only way to do it. You have to earn what you win."
It came across as a noble stance, especially given Jackson's well-chronicled status as a pioneer in the art of calculated quotes at the post-game dais to work the refs for the next game. If you're looking for the ulterior side of it, maybe Jackson wants to make sure the home crowd has a target. Maybe he just wants to make sure Kobe's at his edgiest. Bryant, after all, also says he's rooting against a suspension, insisting that Tuesday's escalation in his season-long tiff with Bell "actually excites me."
You can understand, though, why the Suns are nervous. They remain convinced that they've been dealt several scroogies in this series, most notably the midcourt tie-up in overtime of Game 4 from which replays suggest that (A) Steve Nash was fouled before a jump ball was forced; (B) Boris Diaw should have been granted the timeout he was screaming for just a few feet away from Nash and referee Bennett Salvatore; and (C) Luke Walton's foot was out of bounds when he tied Nash up. But they also know how vicious Bell's hit looks when you watch that replay.
Which is why Bell, in another unusual response to such situations, showed up unannounced to the interview room here to take a turn on the dais, too.
To apologize.
"It was a bad play on my part," Bell said. "I overreacted. ... It's been a pretty physical series, and at that point in time I had caught another elbow in my jaw. I lost my head and overreacted to it. I can't really blame anybody for what happened."
Said Nash: "Everyone on television [Charles Barkley, namely] asks for more physicality and all the critics say we aren't tough enough, and then push comes to shove and now you want to say [Bell's hit] is disrespectful to the game. ... It's a very fine line, and I think a lot of guys make plays they regret.
"In this series, we haven't had many calls go our way," Nash continued. "...Kwame Brown elbowing Raja or standing over Boris or Kobe pushing Boris into Smush Parker ... I don't understand what the real difference is in all these plays. But they're going to single out this play because it's against Kobe, and that's just a real shame."
If so, Phoenix will deeply regret not putting the Lakers away after pushing the lead all the way up to 84-62 late in the third. The Suns then eased up (or inexplicably tightened up again) at the start of the fourth and saw their cushion promptly sliced to 86-73. That forced them to keep Nash in the game for most of the final quarter, when he really could have used some extra rest, and it kept Bell and Bryant going at it.
If the margin between the teams stays in the 20s, maybe their jostling is postponed until Thursday ... instead of reigniting.
If the league rules how Nash fears, Phoenix will have lost big on the night it finally won big.
