Solid D
05-29-2005, 01:44 AM
http://cbs.sportsline.com/nba/story/8514296/1
Spurs get it done on both ends, spelling 'the end' for Suns
May 29, 2005
By Tony Mejia
CBS SportsLine.com Staff Writer
http://images.sportsline.com/u/photos/basketball/nba/img8514402.jpg
Up 3-0, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker have reason to smile. (Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO -- Ready for the difference between the Suns and Spurs?
Really want to know why Phoenix, the regular season's winningest team, lost Game 3 102-92 and now finds itself in a seemingly insurmountable 0-3 hole in the Western Conference finals?
Defensively, the Suns can't hang with San Antonio over 48 minutes. The Spurs, meanwhile, can more than hang with Phoenix's offensive flurries, rendering the opposition one-dimensional.
That simple.
In the first two games in Phoenix, the Suns were able to hang around due to their home-court edge and spectacular play from Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire. In the end of those games, they fell apart in the fourth. Many cited Joe Johnson's absence as a factor.
Game 3 in San Antonio would be different, right? Johnson was in the lineup, wearing a mask that made him look like some sort of diabolical aviator. His presence would equalize things.
Wrong.
Phoenix's defense came out flatter than uncarbonated ginger ale -- which, if you're a Suns fan, was far worse for your stomach than drinking said beverage or reading the ugly truth contained in this column.
Every San Antonio starter scored in the game's first 2:25 as San Antonio connected on 7-of-8 shots. The Suns defense was easier to score on than a net missing its goalkeeper, and the Spurs poured in 38 points in the opening quarter. That this occurred in a game that was supposed to be played at a slower, Spurs-favored pace was a resounding Rick James "What did the five fingers say to the face?" slap to the Suns' chances of competing.
After all, wasn't this the game Tim Duncan said he hoped San Antonio would be able to take over defensively? That would come later, but the first-quarter proficiency was symbolic of a team being beaten at its own game.
"You might spend too much time trying to make somebody slow down or speed up. As long as the game is going fine, we're willing to just put the people on the floor that we think are playing well," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before Game 3. "Put the people on the floor that match up with the opponent. That seems to work fine for us."
That's the reason reserves Robert Horry and Brent Barry found themselves on the floor as often as starters Nazr Mohammed and Bruce Bowen. Whatever gets the job done.
The Suns trimmed the lead to six at one point in the second quarter -- actually holding the Spurs to five points in the first seven minutes -- but again were unable to sustain the effort. The lead was stretched out to 14 with no shot made from beyond five feet, a run fueled by all four of Nash's first-half turnovers.
When Barry connected on a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 17 with 1:41 left on the clock and an entire half left to be played, the game was over. Phoenix was done in by the best of both Spurs' worlds: nearly 40 points scored in quarter No. 1, only 10 allowed in the second.
It's impossible to come back when you have a team flowing so freely that the attack itself looks like something out of a high-paced video game. NBA Live 2006 should already be working on getting the Spurs on the cover.
Manu Ginobili grabs a rebound and jets down the court, going so fast that backs are still turned around, so Shawn Marion trips over Amare while trying to come out and stop penetration. Parker receives a deft dish as Ginobili spots up in the corner; Parker quickly gets the ball back to the Argentinean star, who has an open 3-pointer in his sights but instead shoves it inside to Duncan.
Time of play: about eight seconds. That's offense.
That the Suns clawed to within six in the final minute is a small consolation prize; there's no way you're going to beat San Antonio coming from behind. Not when no Spur lacks that relentless foot-to-the-throat intensity it takes to put a game away. It's what makes a Tim Duncan knock down free throws more consistently than he has, in his words, "ever."
The Suns' response came in that game-clinching second quarter -- and that response was to deflate when they needed to rise up and counter-punch.
"We got down, didn't play for a stretch in the second quarter," admitted Nash, whose unprecedented streak of four consecutive games with 25 points and 10 assists came to an end with a nasty thud. "We weren't on the same page, couldn't get any momentum, couldn't get any plays to stop their run. Kind of put our heads down. We just can't do that. ... It made it impossible for us to come back no matter how well we played in the second half.
"We lost sight of our desperation."
Nash finished with just three assists, his lowest total of the season in a full game all year. His second-lowest total, four, was notched Dec. 28 in the very SBC Center in which this series seems destined to end Monday night. You could tell Phoenix was in trouble when, despite all the hoopla regarding Johnson's return, Nash had taken more shots than any of his teammates and had yet to record an assist.
"We haven't made the effort to run. We haven't played with the kind of reckless abandonment we had all year. That hurts Steve," Mike D'Antoni said. "He was probably over-penetrating, getting too low. Can't be Superman every night."
Apparently, that's not a problem San Antonio has. At least not in this series.
Spurs get it done on both ends, spelling 'the end' for Suns
May 29, 2005
By Tony Mejia
CBS SportsLine.com Staff Writer
http://images.sportsline.com/u/photos/basketball/nba/img8514402.jpg
Up 3-0, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker have reason to smile. (Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO -- Ready for the difference between the Suns and Spurs?
Really want to know why Phoenix, the regular season's winningest team, lost Game 3 102-92 and now finds itself in a seemingly insurmountable 0-3 hole in the Western Conference finals?
Defensively, the Suns can't hang with San Antonio over 48 minutes. The Spurs, meanwhile, can more than hang with Phoenix's offensive flurries, rendering the opposition one-dimensional.
That simple.
In the first two games in Phoenix, the Suns were able to hang around due to their home-court edge and spectacular play from Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire. In the end of those games, they fell apart in the fourth. Many cited Joe Johnson's absence as a factor.
Game 3 in San Antonio would be different, right? Johnson was in the lineup, wearing a mask that made him look like some sort of diabolical aviator. His presence would equalize things.
Wrong.
Phoenix's defense came out flatter than uncarbonated ginger ale -- which, if you're a Suns fan, was far worse for your stomach than drinking said beverage or reading the ugly truth contained in this column.
Every San Antonio starter scored in the game's first 2:25 as San Antonio connected on 7-of-8 shots. The Suns defense was easier to score on than a net missing its goalkeeper, and the Spurs poured in 38 points in the opening quarter. That this occurred in a game that was supposed to be played at a slower, Spurs-favored pace was a resounding Rick James "What did the five fingers say to the face?" slap to the Suns' chances of competing.
After all, wasn't this the game Tim Duncan said he hoped San Antonio would be able to take over defensively? That would come later, but the first-quarter proficiency was symbolic of a team being beaten at its own game.
"You might spend too much time trying to make somebody slow down or speed up. As long as the game is going fine, we're willing to just put the people on the floor that we think are playing well," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before Game 3. "Put the people on the floor that match up with the opponent. That seems to work fine for us."
That's the reason reserves Robert Horry and Brent Barry found themselves on the floor as often as starters Nazr Mohammed and Bruce Bowen. Whatever gets the job done.
The Suns trimmed the lead to six at one point in the second quarter -- actually holding the Spurs to five points in the first seven minutes -- but again were unable to sustain the effort. The lead was stretched out to 14 with no shot made from beyond five feet, a run fueled by all four of Nash's first-half turnovers.
When Barry connected on a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 17 with 1:41 left on the clock and an entire half left to be played, the game was over. Phoenix was done in by the best of both Spurs' worlds: nearly 40 points scored in quarter No. 1, only 10 allowed in the second.
It's impossible to come back when you have a team flowing so freely that the attack itself looks like something out of a high-paced video game. NBA Live 2006 should already be working on getting the Spurs on the cover.
Manu Ginobili grabs a rebound and jets down the court, going so fast that backs are still turned around, so Shawn Marion trips over Amare while trying to come out and stop penetration. Parker receives a deft dish as Ginobili spots up in the corner; Parker quickly gets the ball back to the Argentinean star, who has an open 3-pointer in his sights but instead shoves it inside to Duncan.
Time of play: about eight seconds. That's offense.
That the Suns clawed to within six in the final minute is a small consolation prize; there's no way you're going to beat San Antonio coming from behind. Not when no Spur lacks that relentless foot-to-the-throat intensity it takes to put a game away. It's what makes a Tim Duncan knock down free throws more consistently than he has, in his words, "ever."
The Suns' response came in that game-clinching second quarter -- and that response was to deflate when they needed to rise up and counter-punch.
"We got down, didn't play for a stretch in the second quarter," admitted Nash, whose unprecedented streak of four consecutive games with 25 points and 10 assists came to an end with a nasty thud. "We weren't on the same page, couldn't get any momentum, couldn't get any plays to stop their run. Kind of put our heads down. We just can't do that. ... It made it impossible for us to come back no matter how well we played in the second half.
"We lost sight of our desperation."
Nash finished with just three assists, his lowest total of the season in a full game all year. His second-lowest total, four, was notched Dec. 28 in the very SBC Center in which this series seems destined to end Monday night. You could tell Phoenix was in trouble when, despite all the hoopla regarding Johnson's return, Nash had taken more shots than any of his teammates and had yet to record an assist.
"We haven't made the effort to run. We haven't played with the kind of reckless abandonment we had all year. That hurts Steve," Mike D'Antoni said. "He was probably over-penetrating, getting too low. Can't be Superman every night."
Apparently, that's not a problem San Antonio has. At least not in this series.