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The Spurs scratched out the Game 5 win after trailing the vast majority of the game.

A smattering of thoughts:

• Without Amare Stoudemire, Kurt Thomas became Steve Nash's pick buddy. That worked fine, as Thomas hit some open jumpers and even got an and-one layup out of Tim Duncan. But in the fourth quarter, as Nash worked Thomas open time and again, Thomas (tired maybe?) clearly lost confidence in his jumper and passed up a string of open looks. Eventually Mike D'Antoni took him out of the game in favor of an ice cold Leandro Barbosa.
• If I could tell Leandro Barbosa one thing to work on this summer, it would be this: go just a little slower once you get near the hoop, because you may need to change direction or elevate to avoid the charge.
• Did you notice a really cool move by Barbosa? He held the ball out top, preparing for the drive, but he paused, while dribbling, to lick the fingertips of each hand. He should make that his trademark move.
• Speaking of trademark moves, don't you love it when Nash finds himself isolated vs. a slower player like Tim Duncan or Brent Barry? He circles back, way far from the hoop, getting space all around -- stranding the slow defender on an island. You can see the defender sag into mini-depression. Oh boy, here we go.
• In the first half, the Suns were hot and, most amazingly, getting rebounds with ease. Against Tim Duncan, and the San Antonio Spurs.
• The Phoenix Suns fans in helmets were hilarious.
• It's weird to me. When the Suns have the ball, Steve Nash has the most amazing hand-eye coordination, and hands that can put the ball anywhere and everywhere on the court. But on defense, as a help defender whose job is to get a hand on the ball to disrupt things, he very seldom gets his hands where they need to be. He just doesn't look confident and poised at that end of the court.
• There was one play where Nash was covered by Duncan after a switch. What could be better than that? Nash has more than enough speed to get a great look and/or a foul. He passed to Kurt Thomas in the post, and Phoenix did not score.
• The Spurs are a disciplined team. As in, not a free-shooting team. There are lots of reasons for that -- mainly, if Tony Parker dribbles down the court and shoots, that's a big waste of Tim Duncan. But the Suns exploit that a little, by sagging off Parker, Finley, and Bowen early in the possession, knowing they are unlikely to just toss it up. That clogs things up for the San Antonio big men.
• Did you notice that referee giving Raja Bell a hearty butt pat about halfway through the fourth quarter? What was that about? UPDATE: Theory from TrueHoop reader Dan: "I think what happened was Raja grabbed Manu after Manu had been called for an offensive foul. The referee saw this and thought there might be another 'altercation' since Manu ran into Raja pretty hard and Raja wrapped him up. So the ref rushed over to break it all up, and then realized Raja was just trying to slow Manu down, or keep him from a continuation shot in case the foul had gone the other way. The ref then channeled all his fight prevention energy into the most powerful butt pat this side of the Mississippi."
  
• James Jones and Kurt Thomas had the best plus/minus for Phoenix. Tony Parker was far and away the best in that category for San Antonio, at +22.
• It's kind of refreshing to have this series be about basketball again. Game 6 will be a dogfight. I just pray we make it to Game 7.
• UPDATE: Great blog entry from Mike, a Phoenix fan who was at the game. Here's a little part: "The anger in the air was palpable. A concerned listener called into the sports talk radio station before the game and wondered if the arena was even safe: 'I mean, I haven't heard people this angry since 9/11.' While it sounds silly, I think it was true. I certainly felt like I could fight. I even weighed the pros and cons of rushing the floor and trying to get Duncan to take a swing at me (my seat ended up being too high up). The 64 ounces of Dr. Pepper followed by chugging a Red Bull did little to sedate my anxiety. Getting to the game two hours in advance did. There were no molotov cocktails being hurled or effigies being burned. Instead, I saw Tony Parker and Bruce Bowen play with Sean Marks' kids at center court."