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I hardly know what to say. You couldn't script it any better. After a perfectly thrilling opening two rounds of the playoffs, the first games of the conference finals--two underdog road wins--have practically guaranteed the fun will roll on.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have some dog fights on our hands.

Credit the entire Phoenix Suns organization with organizing what we saw last night. But especially credit Steve Nash and Mike D'Antoni for creating an operating environment that seems to make all kinds of different players play the best basketball of their careers. Seriously, Steve Nash, Mike D'Antoni and nine Raja Bells (or Shawn Marions or Boris Diaws or Leandro Barbosas) would have a shot against just about anyone.

Some thoughts about last night from around the league.

Paul Coro describes the comeback:

From the time Phoenix trailed 114-107 with just more than two minutes to go, the Suns scored on every remaining possession but for a missed layup by Diaw. That led a stream of "my fault" offerings to the bench and set up Devin Harris' go-ahead jumper with 4.8 seconds to go.

Phoenix drew up a final play for Tim Thomas to inbound to Diaw in the post, where he would hit Nash cutting to the hoop. Diaw wound up alone with the ball, backing into a smaller player as he had done all night. He pump-faked Jerry Stackhouse into the air and went up for the winner.

It was an appropriate finish to a game in which Nash and Diaw continually burned Dallas' attempts to take away the Suns' three-pointers (they were 5 for 15, a playoff low for made three-point tries) and make the two-man game beat them.

"They, I'm sure will have to try to figure out the pick-and-roll and we'll keep doing it until they figure it out or whatever," said Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, who, after the game, was stunned to learn Diaw scored 34. He had guessed 14.

Instead of making Nash just a scorer or only a playmaker, the Mavericks let the two-time Most Valuable Player feast on both. Nash scored 27 points and had 16 assists, his best total for these playoffs.

Nash scored 10 straight points after the Suns got behind 114-105 with 3:43 to go, hitting his only two three-pointers and making an amazing high-banking layup as he drove under the basket against Dirk Nowitzki.

At ESPN.com, there are good video highlights and this bit of news about how the game was won (I love the insight into what the players knew in the closing seconds. That kind of stuff always fascinates me.):

"I saw their bench basically yelling out exactly what was going to happen, so I was like, 'OK, Plan B," Nash said. "I was about to call timeout, but ... Tim (Thomas) got it inside and Boris made a heck of a play."

Diaw scored a career-high 34 points, showing on a big stage why he was voted the league's most improved player and why the Suns are back in the conference finals for the second straight year despite having had Stoudemire for only three games."

At one point there was a label on him that he was a soft, non-competitive player," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I'm telling you he's just the opposite. ... He's one of the most competitive guys we have, just an intelligent basketball player that knows how to play."

Tim McMahon calls the closing seconds for the Mavs Playoff Blog:

Turnover on the inbounds pass. Why is Marquis Daniels throwing the ball in?

Boris Diaw is the hero with 34 points. The first 32 were awfully quiet. The last two ... pretty freakin' loud.

And the Hawks couldn't find minutes for this guy? Wow.

Fanboy, blogging for AZCentral.com, says that the Suns are forcing adjustments for Dallas:

The Suns executed the pick and roll to perfection and killed the Mavs with it all game. The Mavs stayed on the shooters at the three point lane, leaving the lane open for Diaw and Marion to work off the pick and roll. It will be interesting to see how the Mavs adjust in Game 2. They figured they could take away the three point shot and keep the Suns under 105, but that didn't work at all.

The Suns hit 47 of 85 shots for 55% and only hit five of 15 from the three point line. You figure if the Mavs adjust in Game 2 and pack in the middle, they will get more open looks and hit those looks. Boris Diaw was huge and Nash and Marion were Nash and Marion.

The bench needs to play better in Game 2. The injury to Raja Bell is big. If Bell is out, and it looks like he will, that moves either James Jones or Leandro Barbosa into the starting five and shortens D'Antoni's bench even more. It might be time to look for some minutes for Kurt Thomas or even Brian Grant. The starters can't keep playing all these minutes.

Marc Stein on the injuries that could become the enduring story of this game:

Howard turned an ankle halfway through the first quarter when he landed on Diaw's foot and, worrisome for the Mavs, didn't play another minute. Dallas won't know for sure how bad it is until Howard undergoes an MRI on Thursday, but there was some postgame solace. Early indications suggest that the twist didn't have a multi-game look to it.

Bell, by contrast, went down in the sort of sudden manner that immediately makes you think Achilles' tear. The Suns' best perimeter defender has been all but ruled out of Friday's Game 2.

"I thought someone threw something at me from the stands," Bell said, searching like everyone else for an explanation for how his left leg could give so quickly.

If Bell can't come back at all, no matter what happens with Howard, it's another significant body blow for the Suns, who only got here by surviving seven-game marathons against the two L.A. teams . . . with essentially a seven-man rotation comprised of four small forwards and three guards.

Yet Dallas became the latest to learn that you dismiss the Suns at your own peril.