PHOENIX -- It was just one play in the middle of the first quarter, but it may prove the pivotal point in the Suns' playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Trailing 18-4 after the Blazers blasted out of the gate by scoring on eight straight trips, the Suns did something we've rarely seen them do in the playoffs: Run after a make. Following Marcus Camby's tip-in at the 7:18 mark, Steve Nash took the inbounds pass, hit it ahead to Grant Hill streaking up the sideline, who drove and kicked out to Jason Richardson for a wide-open 3-pointer.

He hit it, the Suns had the game tied by the end of the quarter, and from that moment on it was as if two entirely different teams replaced the ones that played the first five minutes. Phoenix regained control of the tempo on the Richardson play and never looked back, topping the Blazers 107-88 to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven series. The Suns will go for the kill Thursday in Portland.

"It was big," said Nash, "We hadn't really got into our stride yet, they were making everything. I just felt like we had to think of this like the stock market -- we're not day traders, we're very conservative and long-term in our investment in transition. You can't think, 'This isn't working, we have to walk the ball up to get a good shot.' Let's keep the tempo going to our pace."

The play also signified a turning point in the Suns' approach. As a Suns source told me before the game: We have to run off makes or we're screwed (except he used a more colloquial term at the end). Phoenix had been drawn into a half-court game in its two losses in this series and had only four fast-break points in each, but on Monday the Suns pushed the tempo at every opportunity.

"I love the pace of the game and I love that we kept pushing the basketball," said Suns coach Alvin Gentry. "We have to run off makes and misses, but we're a lot happier when we run off misses."

It's had to believe given the final score, but the first six minutes of the game were completely one-sided in Portland's favor. The Blazers had two more successful trips after Richardson's triple, running their string to a staggering 10 straight to start the game. The Blazers led 23-9 at that point, but even then it was hard to see how they'd sustain the hot start -- four of the baskets were Andre Miller jumpers, including two 3-pointers, which isn't exactly a formula for sustained success.

"We came to the timeout and the stat sheet says 100 percent shooting," said Gentry. "But you've just go to keep playing. The guys were great, they didn't panic at all."

Instead, they dominated. Over a period of 36:10 from the middle of the first quarter until the middle of the fourth, Phoenix outscored Portland by a staggering 41 points, 97-56. The Suns ran at their usual pace from that point forward, amassing 17 fast-break points, while Phoenix's bench destroyed Portland's 49-13 before the scrubs came in at the 5:39 mark of the fourth quarter.

That latter item fulfilled a pregame promise from Gentry, who said he needed to trust his bench more and found himself rewarded with a 14-9 spurt with five subs on the court early in the second quarter. Channing Frye and Jared Dudley were the main catalysts, combining for 39 points and 8-of-14 3-pointers between them. (Amusing side note: Frye credited the heat in Phoenix during his halftime interview with TNT's Craig Sager. He better hope not: It's supposed to be in the low 50s in Portland on Thursday night).

For Portland, the defeat came with a stunning jolt of reality for All-Star guard Brandon Roy. He wore the jersey No. 7 and had the same expressions and mannerisms, but that wasn't Roy out there. He labored to a five-point, four-foul performance that included repeated blow-bys on defense and, save for one sweet rocker-step move past Grant Hill for a layup, an inability to explode past his man on offense. He finished 2-of-7 from the field in 19 minutes and, perhaps most tellingly, didn't generate a single assist.

Everyone knew this was possible coming in. Roy's not lying when he says his knee doesn't hurt, but there's a difference between "not hurting" and "full strength". He's not anywhere close to game shape, which is why the Blazers had considered holding him out of Game 4, and without the adrenaline and crowd support the lack of conditioning caught up to him.

Fortunately for Roy and the Blazers, he'll have two days to rest up before the Blazers try to stave off elimination in Game 6. He also said he'll ask to start Game 6, a request that is all but certain to be accommodated at the expense of Jerryd Bayless.

But regardless of how Roy feels, he'll need a lot more help. Portland was outclassed regardless of who took the floor in this game, and it's the third time in five contests we've left the arena saying that. The Blazers have competed bravely to get to this point in the face of myriad injuries and have played their best basketball with their backs to the wall, but one wonders how much longer they can keep plugging holes in the dike against such a deep and skilled opponent.

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