Michael Ventre

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night in Game 5 of their playoff series. The most valuable player for the Spurs was David Stern.

Yes, that David Stern, the NBA commissioner who presided over the decision to suspend Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw from Wednesday night’s game because they got up off the bench in Game 4. Because they weren’t around to get up off the bench in Game 5, and therefore the rest of the Suns were at a severe disadvantage and had to log extended minutes, the Spurs managed to prevail in a tense battle, 88-85.

Now the series returns to San Antonio, where the Spurs can capitalize on the home court, eliminate the Suns and advance to the Western Conference finals.

Thanks, Dave.

It’s nice to have a commissioner of a major sports league who is hands on. After this, maybe he can figure out a way to get Kevin Garnett to the Lakers and teach Dirk Nowitzki how to score in the low post.

For much of Wednesday night’s game in Phoenix, the Suns played as if the loss of two key members of their playoff rotation would be something they could survive. Indeed, the Spurs had their own problems — like a dreadful start and 40-percent shooting on the night — so it wasn’t a case where two extinguished Suns equaled one playoff debacle.

But in a series like this, which was probably the most anticipated matchup of these 2007 NBA playoffs after Dallas gagged in the first round, the margin of error is miniscule. The two clubs are fairly even. They both contain their shares of veteran players, although the Spurs have the edge in the championship department.

Because Stoudemire and Diaw were out of commission didn’t necessarily mean the Suns should have simply rolled over and croaked. And they didn’t. They played a flawed but spirited game, led most of the way and almost pulled out an unlikely victory.

In the end, though, the task of trying to beat a team like San Antonio while short-handed proved to be too daunting. The Suns played mostly with a six-man rotation. Shawn Marion and Steve Nash played 46 minutes and Raja Bell played 47. Kurt Thomas did an admirable job in the paint, posting 15 points and 12 rebounds, but he was forced to play 34 minutes; he averaged 18 minutes a game during the regular season.

The Suns were outscored, 32-23, in the fourth quarter. They simply ran out of fuel.

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On Wednesday before the game, Stern was a guest on Dan Patrick’s show on ESPN Radio. Rather than shed light on the league’s decision to suspend Stoudemire and Diaw from a pivotal playoff game, Stern instead was condescending and defensive.

If you read between his lines, you would get the message that Stern knows the rule that demands a suspension for a player who makes an instinctive move toward the action from the bench area when trouble breaks out is too rigid, and on top of that he didn’t have the nerve to apply his own common-sense interpretation so that players could decide the outcomes of games rather than league enforcement bureaucrats.

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Stern is arguably the best commissioner in sports, but his Achilles’ heel has always been that Shaq-sized chip on his shoulder whenever any of his decisions are second-guessed. The new improved basketball that all the players grumbled about at the beginning of the season? Stern treated all the second-guessers as whiners and pests. Then he changed back to the old ball. The zero-tolerance rule that instructed officials to hand out technical fouls to players who talked back with the frequency of ball boys handing out towels? Stern lashed out at critics. Then the wave of technicals eased off when it became apparent that there wouldn’t be any players left to play.

This decision regarding Stoudemire and Diaw and the minor fracas that erupted during Game 4 on Monday night required a Solomon-like leader of men to interpret the rule in such a way that would have penalized the players or their team in some way but would not suspend them from a vitally important playoff game. Instead, Stern acted more like the combative litigator who is paid to win and to ignore nuance and gray areas in the process.