Spurs at Suns Previews

[duncan228]

San Antonio (48-29) at Phoenix (50-27) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2010040721)
Game info: 10:30 pm EDT Wed Apr 7, 2010
TV: ESPN, FSAZ
By Matt Beardmore

After a rare loss, the Phoenix Suns return home looking to begin a new winning streak. A matchup with the surging San Antonio Spurs could make that difficult.

Phoenix begins its final five-game stretch of the regular season Wednesday night against the Spurs, who are looking to win five straight for the first time since the first week of the year.

Looking to extend their season-high winning streak to 11, the Suns (50-27) fell 107-98 to Milwaukee on Saturday—their first defeat since March 12.

“It makes us 10-1 in our last 11,” said coach Alvin Gentry. “It’s a tough game to lose, especially the way we’re fighting for position in the Western Conference, but (the Bucks) played great.”

In a third-place tie with Denver and Dallas and one-half game behind Utah in the West standings, Gentry’s team will likely have to play at a high level if they’re going to earn a top-4 seed and homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Following San Antonio, the Suns close out the season against Oklahoma City, Houston, Denver and Utah.

The Spurs (48-29), meanwhile, still have games at Phoenix, Denver and Dallas, but with four straight wins, the two-time defending Southwest Division champs are playing with plenty of confidence down the stretch while moving into a sixth-place tie with Oklahoma City.

A victory over Phoenix would give San Antonio its first five-game winning streak since Dec. 26-Jan. 2.

The play of Manu Ginobili has been instrumental in the Spurs winning 16 of 21 and moving within two games of the division-leading Mavericks. Ginobili shot just 5 of 13 on Tuesday, but scored 11 of his 16 in the fourth quarter of a 95-86 victory in Sacramento.

“I’m feeling really confident right now,” said Ginobili, averaging 24.9 points in his last 16 games. “I couldn’t make shots for three quarters, but I know the team trusts me. They ran some plays for me and I took some big shots and they went in.”

Tony Parker scored eight points Tuesday after missing 16 games with a broken right ring finger, but it was the play of guard Garrett Temple that impressed coach Gregg Popovich.

“I thought Garrett was fantastic tonight,” Popovich said after the undrafted rookie from LSU had season highs with 15 points and four assists in his first career start. “It’s really impressive to see a young guy go out there and be that aggressive and not worry about making mistakes.”

Two-time MVP Steve Nash could cause plenty of mistakes no matter who starts in the Spurs’ backcourt.

Nash, the league leader with 11.0 assists per game, had 25 points and 13 assists in San Antonio’s last visit to US Airways Center - a 116-104 Phoenix win on Dec. 15.

Nash recorded his fourth straight double-double against the Spurs on Feb. 28 with 18 points and 11 assists, but the visiting Suns fell 113-110 after Jason Richardson missed a breakaway, game-tying dunk with 41.8 seconds left.

The matchup between Tim Duncan and Amare Stoudemire could be critical in deciding which team wins the season series. Duncan is scoring 23.4 points per game with 14.2 rebounds while posting five straight double-doubles against Phoenix, and Stoudemire has been nearly unstoppable against San Antonio this season, averaging 34.5 points and 13.0 rebounds.

Spurs guard George Hill will miss his second straight game with a sprained right ankle.

San Antonio has won four of five against Phoenix.

*********************

Team Stat Leaders

Points
Tim Duncan SA 18.1
Amar'e Stoudemire Pho 22.9

Rebounds
Tim Duncan SA 10.2
Amar'e Stoudemire Pho 8.8

Assists
Tony Parker SA 5.7
Steve Nash Pho 11.0

[duncan228]

Phoenix Suns to be tested physically (http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2010/04/06/20100406phoenix-suns-physical.html)
by Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic

The season is still a week from being done, but it did not sound like it at Suns practice Tuesday.

Coach Alvin Gentry stopped the scrimmaging to remind his Suns team that everyone thinks it is a finesse team, that every game will be physical and that it needs to stop letting players get easily to their spots on the floor.

There are five games to go but the physical play starts Wednesday night, with much on the line. The Suns are bound to get into a grinding game with visiting San Antonio, but the implications of the remaining games will test how much tougher Phoenix has become and how physical they can remain without injured center Robin Lopez.

"We have more depth and more physical players," Suns guard Steve Nash said. "We're a little more physical even without him. I think our team still has to have that mentality that we've got to go out and earn everything we get and prove every night that we're a good team. When we play with that type of desire and hunger, we always overachieve and play well."

The Suns are currently in a three-way tie for third. To a man, the Suns identify these games as being like playoffs, knowing home-court advantage for one or two postseason rounds is on the line.

"The officials are going to call it a certain way," Gentry said. "We have to adjust to them. They're not going to adjust to us. If it's going to be a physical game, we have to anticipate it and play that way.

"We're better equipped to play that way anyway."

The last Suns playoff team in 2008 did not have defense-oriented players like Jared Dudley, Louis Amundson and Jarron Collins or a better defensive point guard like Goran Dragic, although it did have Raja Bell.

Lopez's bulging disk will be re-evaluated in a few days to see if he can add an interior presence.

"We don't anticipate him coming back," Gentry said. "If he does, that'll be a great thing. We're trying to move ahead and prepare as if he's not going to be there."

For Wednesday night, that means no Lopez to single-cover Tim Duncan, as he did in the last meeting.

"Robin would have been a great help for us with his big body and being able to lean up on Tim," power forward Amar'e Stoudemire said. "(Duncan) has a height and size advantage, but I have a speed and quickness advantage over him. It's like a game of chess. I think me and Tim will probably cancel each other out, but it's up to the rest of the guys to bring the effort and intensity."

*********************

Wednesday: Spurs at Suns
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: US Airways Center, Phoenix
TV: FSAZ, ESPN | Radio: KTAR-AM (620)

Spurs update: San Antonio rallied its season during a tough part of its schedule with Manu Ginobili at his best. In the past two weeks, the Spurs beat Cleveland and Orlando at home and won at Boston and at the Los Angeles Lakers. The victories over the Magic and Lakers and a win against Houston came successively by at least 12 points. Guard Tony Parker returned to play Tuesday in Sacramento after missing 16 games with a broken finger. It was well-timed with George Hill out due to an ankle sprain.

[spursbird]

Go Spurs Go! Fuck Nash! Fuck Stoudmire!
Tomorrow would be a hard match. After a lost to the Bucks, the Suns must have a huge desire to win the game. And for Spurs, it was a b2b game in Phoenix. But Parker's back is really good news for Spurs. No one of the Suns can defend him.

[DesignatedT]

not really liking this matchup tonight. Not expecting a win. gunna be a tough one.

[Libri]

not really liking this matchup tonight. Not expecting a win. gunna be a tough one.

You mean the Garrett vs Nash matchup. Garrett is going to do a lot of chasing.

[Sean Cagney]

This will be a VERY tough game, we might do it but I would not be shocked if we lost by 10 or so! This is a game we might get but seriuosly on a back to back it will suck.

[shelshor]

Referee Assignments
Wed. Apr 7
San Antonio @ Phoenix: Greg Willard; Courtney Kirkland; Leon Wood

[Xylus]

Referee Assignments
Wed. Apr 7
San Antonio @ Phoenix: Greg Willard; Courtney Kirkland; Leon Wood

Good, a bunch of no names.

[BlackSwordsMan]

stern has faith in the suns

[TJastal]

If Garret Temple is starting I'm predicting a spurs blowout and triple double for Garry

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Should be the same story as always, Nash and Amare whore the pick and roll the entire game knowing that it's exactly what the Spurs want them to do, it's a 1-2 possession game going into the 4th quarter, and then the Spurs have a 35+ point quarter and pull away.

[duncan228]

Preview: Spurs (48-29) at Suns (50-27) (http://valleyofthesuns.com/2010/04/07/preview-spurs-48-29-at-suns-50-27/)
by Michael Schwartz
Valley of the Suns

Let’s just say ESPN made a really good decision making the final tilt of the regular season between the Suns and Spurs a nationally-televised affair.

Like every other game the rest of the year, this game is HUGE. And it’s not just because the visitors will be wearing silver and black (although that doesn’t hurt).

The Suns enter this one two games ahead of the Spurs in the West standings. Since the winner of this game will also win the head-to-head tiebreaker, this game essentially counts as two in the standings. If the Suns win it, they can pretty much guarantee not falling below San Antonio. If they lose it, they will have just a game of cushion and a tough four-game finish between dropping past the Spurs.

Playing into Phoenix’s hands is the fact that San Antonio has played a pair of games — including a win (http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=300406023) late last night in Sacramento — since the Suns last took the court Saturday in Milwaukee (http://valleyofthesuns.com/2010/04/03/bucks-107-suns-98-tired-suns-cant-bag-bucks/). The Suns will be rested, refreshed and jacked up for this one, whereas the geriatric Spurs could be a bit tired. A mitigating factor is the fact that Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson led the team in minutes with just 34 and Tim Duncan only went for 29.

The Kings game also marked the return of Suns killer Tony Parker (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5061074) from a broken hand that kept him out for a month. Parker went for eight points and a pair of dimes in 17 minutes of action off the bench as San Antonio eased him back into the lineup. I would expect him to play significantly more against Nash and the Suns, whom he always torches.

The Spurs are 31-19 with Parker in the lineup and 16-10 without him this season. They actually score and give up a few more ppg with Parker out of the lineup, but it’s not a huge difference.

It will be interesting to see if Ginobili continues to light the world on fire as he did since becoming a full-time starter after Parker went down. While playing five extra minutes a game, Manu has gone from averaging a 14.2-3.7-4.7 on 41 percent shooting to a 25.5-4.1-5.6 while shooting 51 percent. Don’t think Amare is the only 2010 free agent having a big second half, and it may be paying off for Manu in the form of a nice extension (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ArfXqCXwFf5_MwvIrQNb0Oi8vLYF?slug=ys-ginobilispurs040710).

When Parker got hurt on March 6, I thought the Spurs would drop well below the rest of the West pack, but they’ve hung around thanks to Ginobili and the efforts of combo guard George Hill, who sprained his ankle Sunday in Los Angeles and will miss tonight’s contest.

In their last meeting, Robin Lopez at least made Tim Duncan work, providing a big body the Suns have rarely been able to throw on The Big Fundamental. With Lopez out, the defense of a guy like Jarron Collins could be critical and newly-signed big Dwayne Jones could get a few reps as well.

Jones, of course, went to training camp with Duncan and the Spurs and played all year with their D-League affiliate, a team that runs San Antonio’s system. That doesn’t mean he can necessarily stop the Spurs, but you’ve got to think that familiarity if nothing else will free him to play with more confidence than a guy in his situation stepping into a new team normally would.

In some respects, Jones is kind of like a spy coming over to Suns camp after spending all year working with the enemy. Not that San Antonio has any secrets after all these years, but Jones definitely won’t be surprised by anything he sees from the Spurs. That is if he even sees the floor.

One big whom we know will see the floor is Amare Stoudemire, who torched Duncan and the Spurs for 41 and 12 on 15-for-28 shooting on Feb. 28 in San Antonio (http://valleyofthesuns.com/2010/02/28/spurs-113-suns-110-another-bizarre-ending/) in the Jason Richardson missed dunk game.

This contest marks the start of Phoenix’s brutal five-game sprint to the finish, a schedule that features four teams with .600-plus winning percentages. Only Denver (.626) has a tougher finishing kick in the entire league than Phoenix’s .610 opponent winning percentage in its final five.

If the Suns don’t take care of business tonight, that brutal schedule could still push them to the bottom of the West playoff picture.

[DesignatedT]

damn. Hubie brown doing the Utah/Houston game... Does this mean we are stuck with Van Gundy/Mark Jackson tonight........ :shootme

[Rick18]

I'm pissed. They only show one game of the ESPN double header down here, and up until 2 or 3 days ago it was scheduled to be this game...then they bumped it to the Utah-Houston game.

[Frenzy]

I so want to watch this game but my stupid dvr is broken and I have a 4am start to work the next day. watch and be mad sleepy the next day... or just not watch it.

I feel if I don't watch i'm not supporting them as lame as that sounds lol.