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The San Antonio Spurs have a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference finals of the 2005 NBA Playoffs. InsideHoops.com scanned local newspapers that cover the Suns and Spurs and presents key quotes, credited to those papers, about the upcoming Game 4 tonight in San Antonio:

Arizona Republic: Yes, the NBA Coach of the Year is in a really tough place. His back problems have flared up once again. His eyes are half-mast, the result of dissecting too many horror films over the past week. His celebrated team has tasted real adversity - the poisonous kind - for the first time this season. Even his trusted pregame ritual has hit a snag. Before the San Antonio series, D'Antoni's locker room sendoff seemed to work wonders. A member of his staff would meet with the guards. Another would prep the big men. Then D'Antoni would call the room together for a little pep talk, and pop in a custom-made videotape. "Just highlights of us dunking on people, killing people," D'Antoni said before the Western Conference finals. "Amazing thing is, we can put one of those together from every game we play. That's never happened before."

Arizona Republic: D'Antoni has proved to be a special coach, complete with a candor that belies his aw-shucks demeanor. His honesty is respected in the locker room because the players know he is not passing the blame or putting himself on a pedestal. He has proven to be quite comfortable in the back seat, and that's rare commodity in today's NBA. So here he is now, forced to make his players feel bad about their performances, forced to deal with the cold reality of a superior opponent. And yet, he must make them feel good about themselves, too, somehow keeping a candle of hope alive. After Game 3, he wouldn't make excuses for the lingering struggles of Shawn Marion or the rare off night from Steve Nash. But after sensing a whiff of dissension in the locker room, Sunday's practice was devoted to healing, with a special emphasis on Marion, who had been feeling unappreciated during the good times.

Arizona Republic: Suns coach Mike D'Antoni warned Shawn Marion to be ready on Sunday because controversy-hungry reporters, en masse, would be seeking the All-Star's reaction to being benched during Phoenix's comeback bid in the fourth quarter of Game 3 vs. the Spurs the night before. D'Antoni even provided Marion a line to use if he felt he needed one. "I was telling him," D'Antoni said, " . . . people are going to come at you and all you've got to do is say 'I'm just not playing real well and tomorrow night I'll go get 'em.' That's it. Story's over." Marion didn't use D'Antoni's suggested reply, but he, like D'Antoni, shrugged of his being relegated to the bench while the Suns were trimming a 20-point deficit to six points with 52.4 seconds left in the game.

Arizona Republic: Nobody mentioned any Tuesday flights to tropical destinations, but the idea of extending the Western Conference finals and postponing vacations sounds only slightly more plausible than becoming the first NBA team to rally from an 0-3 hole. Phoenix's Sunday practice ended as giddily as any this season, but some of the ensuing talk teetered on the brink of concession. Tonight's Game 4 could mean San Antonio sweeps Phoenix as convincingly as the Suns did Memphis four weeks ago. Late in Games 1 and 2, the Suns lost little more than the lead. In Game 3 at San Antonio, they lost an identity, too. The Spurs act as if they have more motivation to rest for the NBA Finals than the Suns do to avoid becoming the winningest NBA team ever to be swept in the playoffs.

Arizona Republic: The list of departures from the Phoenix norm is long. Combating full-court jamming from Tony Parker, Nash dribbled too long and too deep at times and wound up looking less like his Oscar Robertson outings with three assists and six turnovers Saturday. Richardson has shot better and found different ways to score after going through a three-point drought, caused by the way the Spurs have met Suns shooters on the wings before worrying about the middle of the floor. But he has been unable to defend Manu Ginobili. Even with Joe Johnson now able to defend Parker, Ginobili and Parker in penetration look like motorcycles going through stalled Suns vehicles. Ending the Dallas series with a career night, Shawn Marion is no longer Mr. Double-Double. Thwarted from collecting hustle and garbage points off breaks and backdoors, Marion went single-single for the second time in three games Saturday. That had not happened since December games against Houston and, ahem, San Antonio.

Arizona Republic: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said Sunday that he expects Phoenix to play more physically in tonight's Game 4. That may be the first time someone anticipated that from Phoenix this season. That is just not the Suns' way. They fouled less than any team in the league by design. They kept the pace flowing then, but the lack of defensive aggression with San Antonio is not even feeding the other end. San Antonio's patience and efficiency have picked Phoenix apart. When the Suns do get a stop, they seldom run like the 62-20 regular-season team. Tim Duncan's deep posting ability and the Spurs guards' unobstructed drives are drilling the Suns.

Arizona Republic: Amaré Stoudemire injured his right elbow on a third-quarter dunk Saturday and sat out Sunday's practice. He hesitated when asked whether he would play tonight, then said: "Probably so." He hurt his left elbow in the Dallas series. "It's real sore and stiff," Stoudemire said.

San Antonio Express-News: The Spurs have a 3-0 lead in the series because they have been able to play at the Suns' pace without relinquishing their true identity as a defensive team. The Suns forgot, however briefly during Game 3, what had earned them the league's best record in the regular season. The result is a 3-0 series lead for the Spurs that is insurmountable.

San Antonio Express-News: Aside from the fact that the Suns are actually averaging fewer points than they did against Memphis and Dallas, the biggest thing that Stoudemire sees wrong with it is that the team is losing. He was brutally honest while talking to reporters Sunday, often referring to this season in the past tense, calling for improvements on defense and shot selection and talking about how "going through this and failing is always a learning thing." And when a reporter reminded him that the series still isn't over? Stoudemire didn't exactly seem full of hope. "I'm not even going to front. It's extremely tough," Stoudemire said. "My main thing is to avoid a sweep."

San Antonio Express-News: The Big Dog returned to San Antonio after spending the week with family after the death of his mother. The veteran forward practiced Sunday and is expected to suit up for Game 4. It will be a surprise if he plays much, however.

San Antonio Express-News: As much as some of the Spurs wouldn't mind a reprieve from the South Texas humidity, they have little interest in returning to Phoenix for Game 5. "We want to close them out now," Tim Duncan said of the Suns. "Put them on their backs and just finish it now." With the Spurs having won seven of their past eight closeout games, Duncan is less worried about the team becoming complacent. "I think we've had it happen in years past and we learned," he said.

San Antonio Express-News: The Spurs played their best defense of the series by holding Phoenix to 10 points in the second quarter of Game 3. Tonight they would like to sustain that effort for more of the game. "I think the history of the NBA shows that, that defense is really important," Tony Parker said. "That's why Pop always is hard on us to play defense and make sure we get stops, because that's who we are. We're a defensive club, and I thought yesterday we did a great job doing that."

San Antonio Express-News: D'Antoni said one of the things that has disappointed him about his team's effort against the Spurs has been the Suns' inability to push the tempo, particularly after the Spurs' missed shots. "When we get a rebound, we're not changing ends of the floor very fast," D'Antoni said. "It's almost like it's a relief that we get a stop, so we kind of sit and savor it instead of getting it and go."