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duncan228
05-04-2010, 01:55 PM
Nash opens series with personal greeting (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=jy-nashsuns050410)
By Johnny Ludden

Steve Nash says there’s nothing personal between him and these San Antonio Spurs. The hip check, the busted nose, the knee to his groin? None of it matters anymore. Different teams, he says. Different times. He would’ve preferred to have won a playoff series from the black-and-silver’s empire by now, but why should that define him? He’s comfortable with his standing in the NBA, satisfied with what he’s done with his life.

This is the genius of Nash. He’s forever above the fray, always seeing the big picture, on the court and off. His life is balanced and full, as the lives of too few professional athletes are, and that’s why it’s easy to believe him. Yet, somewhere deep inside of Nash, he knows the opposite is also true – and that’s why he reacted as such Monday night.

He played as if this were all about him.

Nash blitzed past the San Antonio Spurs, stapling their young guard to the floor and splintering their defense. With each furious rush to the rim, with each relentless attack, it was clear he had taken it upon himself to exorcise the Phoenix Suns’ demons. No more waiting for the Spurs to swing first. He would set the tone.

“He ran it down our throat,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after Nash had shredded his team for 33 points and 10 assists in a 111-102 decision that gave the Suns the opening game of the teams’ Western Conference semifinal series.

The Suns have failed to get by the Spurs for seven years now, but Nash’s heartbreak has cut nearly twice as deep. From Phoenix to Dallas to Phoenix again, he’s run into the Spurs seemingly every other spring, with the result never changing. Six of his previous 13 seasons ended with a playoff loss to San Antonio. Never has he pushed past the Spurs in the postseason, and this is just the second time his time has even led in a series with them.

Dirk Nowitzki hurt his knee in 2003. Joe Johnson missed the start of the 2005 series with a broken bone in his face. In 2007, NBA commissioner David Stern intervened, suspending Amar’e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw when they wandered too far from the bench after Robert Horry folded Nash into the scorer’s table. The following year, Tim Duncan broke the Suns’ spirits with a 3-pointer at the end of overtime. Few players in NBA history have experienced so much misery at the hands of one franchise.

“I would like a couple of those games back from the years gone by,” Nash said. “I’d like for the suspensions to never happen, different things that seem to creep up every game. Ultimately, you respect your opponent, and it just motivates you to play better and reach a new level.”

Nash needed to carry that edge with him into Game 1 to have any hope of ending his dozen years of playoff torture. More than anyone else, this is his burden. Mike D’Antoni is gone. Stoudemire remains, but the Suns go as Nash leads. He attacked the Spurs relentlessly, scoring 17 points in the first quarter, and his message was clear: History doesn’t matter. This series won’t be decided on karma and luck alone.

“He tried to dominate,” Suns guard Jason Richardson said. “When he takes over the game like that, it gives us a lot of energy.”

The Spurs have frequently turned Nash into a scorer over the years, reasoning that is better to let him loose if they can stay close to the Suns’ shooters. Still, this was different. With Bruce Bowen no longer around to harass him, Nash took the fight to San Antonio. George Hill – the hero of the Spurs’ first-round victory over Dallas – wasn’t up for it. Nash spun Hill right, then left, leaving a trail of defenders on his way to the rim. Popovich benched Hill to open the second half, starting Tony Parker in his place, and this could continue Game 2. If the Spurs can’t slow Nash, they’ll need Parker to attack him back.

“He started the game in scoring mode,” Manu Ginobili said of Nash. “Usually, he saves it for later.”

The Suns weren’t completely sure what they’d get from Nash. Nor was Nash sure himself. A hip injury had slowed him at the end of Phoenix’s series with the Portland Trail Blazers, so much so that Nash said he was “dragging my leg around.” The three days between series did him some good, and he’s hopeful he’ll avoid any setbacks.

“If that’s the case,” Nash said, “it’ll be a pleasure just to compete and fight every night in the series.”

Nash spoke as if he’s the underdog, and that’s long been the role that suits him best. After Santa Clara was the only college program of merit to offer him a scholarship, he developed into a true NBA prospect. He became an All-Star in Dallas, and yet the Mavericks let him go, figuring his age and health would eventually take too much of his game. Nash responded by winning consecutive MVP awards.

Now, Nash again finds everyone picking against him. The Suns are a No. 3 seed playing a No. 7, and most of the NBA sees the 7 as the favorite. The teams’ performance in the first round has something to do with that, as does their own history. All those playoff victories by the Spurs broke the Suns.

Unable to beat the Spurs, the Suns tried to match them. They brought in a former Spur, Steve Kerr, to guide them as general manager, then traded for one of the Spurs’ biggest rivals, Shaquille O’Neal. D’Antoni grew more and more defensive about his inability to beat San Antonio, and eventually left for New York. Kerr replaced him with Terry Porter, one of his former Spurs teammates.

None of it worked, and the Suns missed the playoffs last season. Nash could have played out the final year of his contract and become a free agent this summer, but instead opted to sign an extension. At the time, it looked like he had abandoned his quest for a championship. In truth, he embraced the challenge of righting the Suns.

“We have to rebuild our confidence, rebuild our culture, our philosophy,” he said before the start of the season. “And if we turn that corner, who knows?”

Seven months later, the Suns enter their series against the Spurs feeling as free and loose as ever. Alvin Gentry has had a lot to do with that. The Spurs have marveled at how much the Suns have improved defensively under his rule. Phoenix’s locker-room chemistry also has received a significant boost. What Gentry refuses to admit publicly: These Suns have already exceeded expectations. There’s no reason for them to feel pressure.

Nash knows that, too, though he wasn’t willing to celebrate much. He understands the Suns are forever standing on shaky ground with the Spurs. San Antonio twice roared back after Phoenix seemingly had the game under control, and a victory in Game 2 would change the momentum.

But if the Suns continue to hold serve? If they somehow win the series?

Then Nash will have to admit something else. This will feel personal.

duncan228
05-04-2010, 02:55 PM
Nash gets aggressive in Game 1 (http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2010/05/04/nash-gets-aggressive-game/)
FoxSports

In three contentious playoff series dating back to 2005 against the San Antonio Spurs - all cruel eliminators for the Phoenix Suns - Steve Nash suffered a bloodied nose in an ugly collision with Tony Parker and was hip-checked into the scorer's table by Robert Horry.

The plucky point guard threw the first punch this time, however.

Few in the NBA can control a game like Nash, who continues to play at his two-time MVP level at 36, even with a faulty hip. The Suns brain trust wanted the reluctant scorer who thinks pass first to come out aggressive offensively and push the basketball.

He did. Right to the hoop.

George Hill, meet your elder, Mr. Nash. Out of the gate, the 14-year veteran in his 102nd playoff game pushed the pace and punished Hill, the young, rising Spurs guard who enjoyed a breakout first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks and Jason Kidd.

Hill's 11th postseason game set him and the Spurs back in Game 1 of this Western Conference semifinal series. Nash set the tone for a 111-102 victory with 17 of his game-high 33 points in a drive-to-the-hole start.

In a game that featured 56 in-the-paint points by the Suns - a dramatic role reversal when these two teams collide - Nash lowered his head and ignited the paint parade with five driving layups in the opening quarter.

"Steve,'' said Spurs coach Greg Popovich, "ran it down out throats.''

Mainly Hill's, to be precise.

The attack mode put the Spurs on their heels and opened up the game for Amar'e Stoudmire and Jason Richardson, who also lit up the kid in the second quarter en route to a 27-point salvo the Suns turned out needing in a nip-and-tuck second half.

Hill ended up on the bench with three fouls in the first half, didn't start the second in favor of Parker and missed seven of nine shots.

Nash downplayed his role. "I was fortunate to get some opportunities early to be aggressive and try to put some life into the building,'' he said. "You never know what the game is going to present. You have to be willing and aggressive and do whatever you can.''

He was coming off a series-closer against the Portland Trail Blazers in which he said he was "dragging'' his leg around because of his hip ailment. But three days rest helped.

"It felt great to get out there and feel like I could do something.''

These aren't the same Suns the Spurs have kicked around all these years. The Evil Empire, as they're known in the desert, has run into a demon themselves.

"They're definitely better,'' said Duncan. "Definitely deeper.''

And definitely more defensive-minded. Even Nash chipped in Monday as the Spurs stumbled to a 42-percent shooting first half.

Offensively, the same high-octane offense is in place. In three regular-season games, the Suns averaged 112.7 points and shot 51.7 percent against the Spurs. Monday night? They were right on cue again.

Although the series is rife with history, Suns coach Alvin Gentry went out of his way to say that had little bearing on this team. In fact, of the 29 players on both teams' rosters, only nine played in past series.

Of course, Nash is one of them, perhaps the most tormented Sun in their cursed postseason history against the Spurs. Although he got this series off to the right start, he knows not to take the Spurs lightly.

"We haven't done anything yet,'' he said.

Stoudemire agreed: "Can't get too excited. They have a great pedigree.''

Nash kick-started the Suns out to a 14-point bulge in the first half, but this game wasn't locked up until the final period. Before the game, Gentry, asked about Hill's play, lauded him, but then reminded everyone about the Spurs other point guard.

"They have a guy who was the MVP of the NBA Finals coming off the bench now.''

Parker nearly stole this game for the Spurs. In the third quarter, he got the Big Three in gear. Duncan blocked shots and banked in a bucket. Manu Ginobili drove to the basket and bombed threes. And Parker ran the show, sending the Spurs ahead 67-64.

Nash, however, righted the ship, fueling a 25-8 breakaway that still wasn't enough to put away the Spurs, who closed to within 94-93 before wilting down the stretch.

The series has only begun, but this was a game to savor for the Suns. Popovich, a wine-maker and connossieur, sent Gentry, an old friend, a case of what he called "the good stuff" before the series began.

"Very good, very good,'' said Gentry. "I just drank some to calm my nerves.''

Now he can sip a glass to celebrate a rare series lead against the Spurs.