<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">At halftime tonight, Steve Nash was having a nice game. Eleven points, eight assists. It would be the turning point of a career for Shaun Livingston but it was just another night of business for a two-time Most Valuable Player, especially since his evening's foe, Jason Kidd, already had 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Then Nash got nasty. In the midst of a fourth quarter that saw Phoenix make 16 of 21 shots, Nash even threw the arm of 7-foot Mikki Moore off him and went chest-to-ch, er, eye-to-chest with him as he flashed a you-can't-faze-me smile. Nash found humor with Moore's challenge but he does love a challenge. And that's what everything after halftime gave him. Phoenix had let a 10-point lead get away in the second quarter before closing strong for a 64-58 halftime lead. The lead was never that big again and the duel brought out the best in Nash. He opened the second half with a driving hook and closed it with his clutch three-pointer to tie the game in regulation. He was even better when it counted in the extra periods. With New Jersey ahead 141-140 in the final 90 seconds of the first overtime, Nash split his man and the screen defender's help defense and wound up with a three-point play. He carried Phoenix, playing with Amare Stoudemire and Raja Bell fouled out, in the second overtime. He opened the period with a jumper that counted as a two with his shoe trim on the line. He found Boris Diaw for a cutting three-point play, a la last season. He hit a three. He drove around the help and Jason Kidd for a layup. He fed Shawn Marion ahead for a quick lay-in. And he iced the game with two free throws at the end. It was a game to be stored away for all future point guards to watch with 80 points, 27 assists and 20 rebounds between Nash and Jason Kidd. They made seven turnovers between them in 95 minutes and 33 seconds of play. "Those two were going at it," Shawn Marion said. "Steve hit some crazy shots. He was on fire." Kidd said, "That is what the game is supposed to be. We are both out there competing. Neither of us wants to lose. We just kept coming after one another. He got the upper hand by getting the W." Nash naturally would not come close to self-adulation. The win was what mattered and why he did it all. Asked if it was like the practices Kidd and Nash used to share in Phoenix, Nash said, "It was probably shades of us on the golf course." And the scores were even higher.</div> Source
