The Phoenix Suns soared to the NBA’s best record this year on the wings of a high-flying, team-oriented offense that ranks as one of the best of all time. But for the first three-and-a-half games of their Western Conference Finals series against San Antonio, only their two superstars – center Amare Stoudemire and league MVP Steve Nash – played with any real consistency.

Then on Monday night, with 24 minutes separating the Suns from a humiliating four-game sweep, two other starters – forward Shawn Marion and swingman Joe Johnson – made dramatic entrances and helped the Suns to their first victory in the series, 111-106. With these two starters back in the saddle, the Suns have their fans believing that the team can win at home tonight and send the series back to San Antonio for a sixth game.

Johnson’s return to his regular-season form was the key. The fourth-year sharpshooter broke an orbital bone in his left eye socket after a grizzly, face first fall in Game 2 of the Suns’ second round series against Dallas. After missing almost three weeks, Johnson looked rusty during Saturday’s Game 3.Wearing a plexiglass mask to protect his face, he was frequently a step slow to his spots on both ends of the floor, and his shot was off. A 52.8% shooter in the postseason, Johnson shot only 6-of-14 en route to 15 points.

Monday night, having recovered both his shot and his reflexes, Johnson scored 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Thanks to his the ability to take defenders one-on-one, he drew substantial attention from a number of Spurs defenders, who often had to leave their man to help out. After the Suns came out of halftime staring at a 59-52 deficit, Johnson kick-started the second-half comeback with two jump shots – one of them a trey – in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

With their successful system finally restored, the Suns proceeded to isolate Johnson repeatedly at the left elbow against smaller defenders, alternately setting picks and clearing out in order to make Johnson a focal part of the offense. Even Nash, the smallest player on the court, set some picks to create mismatches. This usually led to a Johnson basket or a good look for a teammate.

Marion was the teammate who benefited most. The 6-foot-7 forward played a key role in the Suns’ series wins over Memphis and Dallas, averaging 22.5 points a game on 52% shooting, including a scalding 47.2% from behind the arc. But as the San Antonio series began slipping away from the Suns, it became clear that Johnson’s absence was wreaking havoc on Marion’s effective ness. Suns fans began wondering what alien creature was piloting Marion’s body in the series’ first three games, during which the Phoenix forward mustered a total of 20 points on 9-of-26 shooting.

The first half of Monday night’s game boded no better. Marion missed a layup in the first minute, then had his only other shot of the half blocked. When the third quarter began, though, the real Shawn Marion rejoined the Suns, scoring all 11 of his points on 5-of-9 shooting in the second half.

Up to that point, Marion’s offense had disappeared into the suffocating defense of Spurs forward Bruce Bowen, who, with Johnson on the bench, could concentrate on bottling Marion’s mid-range and outside shots. With Johnson back to torch one Spurs defender after another, Bowen was frequently drawn away from Marion toward help defense on Johnson, leaving Marion free for jumpers and drives.

The re-emergence of Phoenix’s other dynamic duo made the Suns less dependent on Stoudemire and Nash for offense. Stoudemire’s 31-point output was a series low, and Nash, who had averaged 24.6 in the Suns’ previous 13 playoff contests, finished with 17 points and 12 assists.

Although Suns fans can afford a glimmer of optimism, their counterparts have little to fear going into Game 5. The Spurs had an off-night offensively, failing to attack the Suns’ notoriously weak defense with the aggression they showed in the first three games of the series.

The story is told by free-throw attempts: In the first three games, San Antonio averaged more than 27 shots from the charity stripe, but they attempted only 23 freebies on Monday night, and they missed more than half of them thanks to Tim Duncan’s abysmal 3-of-12 performance. In truth, only Stoudemire’s tremendous block on a Duncan dunk in the waning moments of the game can be attributed to the Phoenix defense.

Going into tonight’s Game 5, it’s far too early to raise the specter of the 1994 Denver Nuggets, a team that rallied from a 3-0 deficit against Utah in the Conference semifinals to force a Game 7. Though the Suns can take solace in the fact that they finally played as a full team for the first time in several weeks, the Spurs can count on shooting better than 11-of-23 from the free-throw line. If the Spurs can follow coach Gregg Popovich’s offensive game plan and re-establish their aggressiveness, they should be able to close out the series in Arizona.