Only five minutes into the second half of the most important game for the Suns franchise in almost a decade, we had to watch their young stars take the bench with five fouls each and a 15-point deficit to the hot Mavericks.
Game over. Say goodnight to fun basketball for Suns fans in the Bubble. They are who we thought they were, these Suns. Too young and undisciplined to win a playoff-level game the other team wants to win just badly as they do.
But then it was not, in fact, over.
A lineup of Jevon Carter, Frank Kaminsky, Ricky Rubio, Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson improbably went on a 14-1 run in the middle of the 3rd quarter to cut the Mavericks lead almost all the way out.