spurschick
05-29-2005, 09:51 AM
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 29, 2005 12:00 AM
SAN ANTONIO - The Suns are out of surprises after a stunning season.
There are seemingly no more answers for those who questioned them.
Unless the Suns pull off something that never has been done in NBA history, their remarkable rise from the ashes of a crash-and-burn, 29-win season will end soon.
The Spurs took a seemingly invincible, 3-0 Western Conference finals series lead with a definitive, 102-92 victory Saturday at SBC Center. Phoenix lost its eighth straight first quarter - and third straight playoff game. Worse yet, the Suns have lost their freelancing, freewheeling ways.
"It was very frustrating," Suns guard Joe Johnson said. "Our lack of effort on the defensive end, that'll kill us every time. They've looked like a better team than us in every game this series."
Phoenix was a team that played better road basketball than any team in the league and had won four of its five playoff road games. But the Suns were swallowed up by this season's most successful home court from the start Saturday, carrying over their fourth-quarter, matador defense from Game 2.
San Antonio scored on its first eight possessions, making Phoenix's first-quarter woes look like a larger problem than its defensively poor fourth-quarter finishes. That problem was trumped by one of Phoenix's worst quarters of offense of the season. A 10-point second quarter matched a season low and made the Suns look like a team facing a mental mountain, built up from two years of losing to San Antonio.
From the end of the first quarter to the start of the second, the Suns missed 10 straight shots. Amaré Stoudemire was falling down. Johnson traveled. Jim Jackson attempted to take two three-pointers but had his foot on the line both times. Steve Nash paused incredulously after Steven Hunter didn't catch his point-blank pass.
The Suns were more interested in forcing one-on-one battles with the ball and without it, and rarely ran in a first half with one fast-break bucket.
"The ball just got stuck, got stuck in people's hands," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Everything is a one-on-one, I-am-going-to-be-down-your-throat kind of thing."
The Spurs' desire to get Phoenix into more of a grinding game was a success. Phoenix took 21 second-quarter shots, missing 16 and taking only one three-pointer. Tony Parker stayed in front of Nash well and the Spurs were disciplined about denying the three-point line.
"When we couldn't find a rhythm, we got down a little bit," Nash said. "We lost our energy, lost our enthusiasm."
Nash was not a playmaker. He had only three assists to go with 8-for-18 shooting. D'Antoni said he overpenetrated at times.
"Can't be Superman every night," D'Antoni said.
When Shawn Marion left the game with his third foul and San Antonio leading 43-35, Phoenix scored on the next possession at 6:54 but would score only two more points the rest of the half while the Spurs closed strongly to lead 56-39 at the break.
Some Suns, full of snarls and head shakes for the final stretch of the first half, left the court with pursed lips and clenched jaws over the hole they had just dug.
"Everyone felt bad for themselves at halftime," Nash said.
The motivation was missing when they emerged for the third quarter with defense resembling that at the start of the game. They finally found their reckless enthusiasm in the fourth quarter as Johnson, the masked man returning from a displaced orbital fracture, tried to ride in like the Lone Ranger and save the day.
With Nash resting, Johnson's playmaking and the team's rejuvenated vigor formed a rally that was short only on time.
Stoudemire scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, but the Suns were able to pull only as close as six with 52.4 seconds remaining.
"The hole was a little bit insurmountable for that stretch where we didn't play with that desperation in the second quarter," Nash said.
The Arizona Republic
May. 29, 2005 12:00 AM
SAN ANTONIO - The Suns are out of surprises after a stunning season.
There are seemingly no more answers for those who questioned them.
Unless the Suns pull off something that never has been done in NBA history, their remarkable rise from the ashes of a crash-and-burn, 29-win season will end soon.
The Spurs took a seemingly invincible, 3-0 Western Conference finals series lead with a definitive, 102-92 victory Saturday at SBC Center. Phoenix lost its eighth straight first quarter - and third straight playoff game. Worse yet, the Suns have lost their freelancing, freewheeling ways.
"It was very frustrating," Suns guard Joe Johnson said. "Our lack of effort on the defensive end, that'll kill us every time. They've looked like a better team than us in every game this series."
Phoenix was a team that played better road basketball than any team in the league and had won four of its five playoff road games. But the Suns were swallowed up by this season's most successful home court from the start Saturday, carrying over their fourth-quarter, matador defense from Game 2.
San Antonio scored on its first eight possessions, making Phoenix's first-quarter woes look like a larger problem than its defensively poor fourth-quarter finishes. That problem was trumped by one of Phoenix's worst quarters of offense of the season. A 10-point second quarter matched a season low and made the Suns look like a team facing a mental mountain, built up from two years of losing to San Antonio.
From the end of the first quarter to the start of the second, the Suns missed 10 straight shots. Amaré Stoudemire was falling down. Johnson traveled. Jim Jackson attempted to take two three-pointers but had his foot on the line both times. Steve Nash paused incredulously after Steven Hunter didn't catch his point-blank pass.
The Suns were more interested in forcing one-on-one battles with the ball and without it, and rarely ran in a first half with one fast-break bucket.
"The ball just got stuck, got stuck in people's hands," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Everything is a one-on-one, I-am-going-to-be-down-your-throat kind of thing."
The Spurs' desire to get Phoenix into more of a grinding game was a success. Phoenix took 21 second-quarter shots, missing 16 and taking only one three-pointer. Tony Parker stayed in front of Nash well and the Spurs were disciplined about denying the three-point line.
"When we couldn't find a rhythm, we got down a little bit," Nash said. "We lost our energy, lost our enthusiasm."
Nash was not a playmaker. He had only three assists to go with 8-for-18 shooting. D'Antoni said he overpenetrated at times.
"Can't be Superman every night," D'Antoni said.
When Shawn Marion left the game with his third foul and San Antonio leading 43-35, Phoenix scored on the next possession at 6:54 but would score only two more points the rest of the half while the Spurs closed strongly to lead 56-39 at the break.
Some Suns, full of snarls and head shakes for the final stretch of the first half, left the court with pursed lips and clenched jaws over the hole they had just dug.
"Everyone felt bad for themselves at halftime," Nash said.
The motivation was missing when they emerged for the third quarter with defense resembling that at the start of the game. They finally found their reckless enthusiasm in the fourth quarter as Johnson, the masked man returning from a displaced orbital fracture, tried to ride in like the Lone Ranger and save the day.
With Nash resting, Johnson's playmaking and the team's rejuvenated vigor formed a rally that was short only on time.
Stoudemire scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, but the Suns were able to pull only as close as six with 52.4 seconds remaining.
"The hole was a little bit insurmountable for that stretch where we didn't play with that desperation in the second quarter," Nash said.