Bell, Diaw power Suns in Game 4 blowout

Grant Hill didn’t play. Amaré Stoudemire missed eight of his 11 shots and scored seven points. Steve Nash had four assists, and the Suns shot just 42 percent from the field.

SLIDESHOW: See the Suns in action against the Spurs

Bordow: Diaw finally plays up to his talent

Suns' Bell rings up his best game at right time

Suns notebook: Van Gundy backs D’Antoni’s bench use

Boos abound in Horry’s likely Phoenix curtain call

Parker’s pal Diaw shuts him down in Game 4

Spurs notebook: Spurs were wary of desperate Suns

Read Jerry Brown's blog, 'Rim Shots'

Who would have thought those ugly ingredients could end up being the potion that finally toppled the Spurs in this postseason?

Well, don’t forget to add in 27 points from Raja Bell and a magnificent all-around effort from Boris Diaw, as the Suns drew a line in the desert sand with a 105-86 rout to keep their faint playoff heartbeat alive and give the Spurs a few things to ponder on the way back to Texas for Game 5.

No team has come back from an 0-3 deficit in NBA playoff history. But 1-3? Heck, the Suns did that just two years ago against the Lakers, so at least there is some historical precedence now.

And if they get this type of effort from their supporting cast, things could get interesting.

Bell and Diaw’s 47 combined points outdid San Antonio’s “Big Three” of Tim Duncan (14), Manu Ginobili (10) and Tony Parker (18) all by themselves. But Diaw, starting for the injured and finally sitting Grant Hill, made his biggest impact on defense. He made life tough on Parker and gave the Suns pick-and-roll approach a different look.

“I thought Boris obviously dominated the game on both ends of the floor,” said Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni, who left the floor to a standing ovation when he was ejected with 3:38 left and his team up by 22 points. “I trust him. I always have. I think he’s a heck of a basketball player. He’s been maligned here a bit, but he can play. He stepped up big.”

So did Bell, who scored Phoenix’s first seven points and hit five of his seven 3-point attempts. The Suns had 14 points before the Spurs hit their first field goal – 5:05 into the game – and led 34-13 after one period.

“I was really embarrassed by my play and the team’s play (in Game 3),” said Bell, who had a total of 27 points in the first three games of the series. “It was hard to sleep. I was restless. I couldn’t put it to bed.”

Parker, who destroyed the Suns for 41 points and 12 assists in Game 3, never found an offensive groove and committed five of his team’s 15 turnovers. But he didn’t attribute any of his struggles to the efforts of his friend and countryman.

“(People) always thinks that’s going to bother me but I had my shots,” he said. “It didn’t bother me at all. I just missed my shots.”

The Spurs certainly weren’t under a lot of pressure to win Sunday. Given the revenue injection of another home playoff game, it might have been profitable to extend the series. Coach Gregg Popovich didn’t play any of his stars more than 29 minutes and threw up a white flag with more than two minutes left in the third quarter.

“They are a great team. They have a lot of pride and they came at us,” said Ginobili, who took just eight shots and had as many turnovers (four) as baskets. “We didn’t react well.”

There weren’t many clues to what was to come before Game 4. The mood was ominous through the halls of US Airways Center and it was so quiet in the Suns dressing room 90 minutes before tip-off that guard Leandro Barbosa thought he had arrived at the arena too soon.

But when the bell rang – and Bell started scoring – the Suns were ready. They held the Spurs to 39 percent shooting for the game and 21 percent – on 4-for-19 shooting in the first quarter. Phoenix blocked four shots, forced six turnovers and got their transition game in gear early. Shaquille O’Neal had nine of his 14 points and seven rebounds in the opening quarter, foiling the “Hack-a-Shaq” ploy by hitting five of eight free throws.

The Suns return to San Antonio, where the led Game 1 by 16, Game 2 by 14 but came home empty-handed and frustrated.

“There’s a lot of ‘woulda-coulda-shoulda,’ but we’re still alive,” Nash said. “We played well in San Antonio and haven’t gotten a win yet, so we want to go down there with a very optimistic attitude. This is going to be a big game for them and they know what’s going to happen if they don’t win and what they’re looking at.”