Diaw could be deciding factor for Suns in Game 5

Suns at Spurs Game 5, 6:30 p.m., TNT (Spurs lead series 3-1)

Boris Diaw’s activity on offense and determination on defense in Game 4 allowed the Suns to avoid an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.

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But it’s Diaw’s domino effect on his teammates that gives the Suns a chance to pack a sliver of optimism in their bags as they try to extend the Western Conference semifinals one more day and turn what was an impossible situation into a workable scenario.

“We reset and do it again,” said Suns guard Raja Bell, whose 27-point explosion in Sunday’s 105-86 blowout win was another key element. “You stay in the moment, focus on the game and filter everything else out.

“We don’t have to win four games or three games. We have to win one game. And this team can win one game anywhere.”

Of course, the Spurs still hold all the cards in this game of Texas Hold ’Em.

Three games left to win one. Two of those games, including Game 5, are at the AT&T Center.

And they have one impressive body of work when it comes to ending Phoenix’s season.

The Suns went “all in” with an inspired defensive effort in Game 4. It started with putting the 6-foot-8 Diaw on Tony Parker and holding the shifty point guard to 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting.

“We kind of took a page out of their book,” said forward Amaré Stoudemire, who had only seven points but turned in his best defensive effort of the series. “He’s the kind of player that can really make a difference for us, kind of the ‘X’ factor. When he plays like that, we’re hard to beat.”

The rest of the Suns bought into the program during a dominant first quarter that ending with Phoenix leading 34-13.

• Big men Shaquille O’Neal and Stoudemire were active inside, blocking three shots, using their three fouls to send a physical message and helping to force six Spurs turnovers with deflections.

• Now guarding the offensively challenged Bowen, Steve Nash was able to sag back near the paint and further clog up the area.

• Diaw (20 points) was able to either abuse mismatches against Michael Finley, Ime Udoka (size) and Fabricio Oberto (speed) or pass out of double teams for one of his team-high eight assists.

“Every time we’ve gone through Boris, he’s responded,” said Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni, who has stood by his mercurial forward for three years. “We made the Western Conference finals with him being a major part of what we did. They don’t have that long (small forward) and we can exploit that.”

Down big late in the third quarter, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich pulled his starters and began planning for Game 5.

Will the Spurs start Manu Ginobili to give Bell something to deal with defensively right away?

Will they force Diaw to prove he can again aggressively attack the basket, something that hasn’t been his forte?

Or will they double Diaw and take a chance that the Suns won’t shoot 9-for-20 from 3-point range again?

With Grant Hill’s injured abdomen and groin expected to keep him out for a second straight game tonight, Diaw is in the spotlight.

Nash is comfortable with that scenario.

“Boris has been great this year,” Nash said. “He got a lot of criticism early because his numbers weren’t good, but (people) don’t realize how many shots he creates for us. It might only be 6-8 points on the score sheet, but it causes teams to double and then he makes the pass that sets up a wide-open guy.”

D’Antoni made other adjustments in Game 5. He called quicker timeouts when the Spurs mustered mini-comebacks to cut into Phoenix’s big lead, and he got some useful minutes out of Brian Skinner (two rebounds, two blocks, two hard fouls).

If the Suns can hold the Spurs’ “Big Three” of Tim Duncan, Ginobili and Parker somewhere in the 60s in Game 5, they feel they have a chance to do what they failed to do during their first visit.

“There are a lot of ways it can happen, a lot of ways it can’t happen,” Nash said. “For me, I’m excited to be still alive and for a chance to win a game in San Antonio that we could have gotten the first two games.”