48MoH: San Antonio Spurs 102, Phoenix Suns 111

[Blackjack]

San Antonio Spurs 102, Phoenix Suns 111: Steve Nash exorcises playoff demons and George Hill
by Jesse Blanchard

George Hill is a player on the rise; Steve Nash an established two-time MVP. Monday night Nash was quick to put into perspective just how far apart those first two statements truly are.

At every turn Phoenix Suns head coach Alvin Gentry seemed to have an answer for the San Antonio Spurs second-year combo guard.

Opening on Nash, George Hill fell victim to a series of intricate hesitation dribbles that led to four uncontested layups and a 17-point first quarter outburst from Steve Nash (33 points and 10 assists) to set the tone in the Phoenix Suns 111-102 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

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[ALVAREZ6]

Good article.

Pop is of the best at adjustments, and I'm sure he'll make good ones, but with that said, it's still on the players to show up, and shoot well. The Spurs should have been killed but only lost by a small relative margin of how the game went. If one bench player and/or Jefferson did something, it could have been a different story. But it all has to happen to secure a win, Manu, Tim, and Parker need to all lead this team in game 2 and hopefully guys like Richardson, Hill, and Blair follow.

[stéphane]

Thanks for the link Blackjack.

Is Pop becoming old?
Once upon a time, in Spurs basketball, a starter would get benched for getting burned on D and allowing open layups in REGULAR season games...

[duncan228]

Fast Breaks: Spurs-Suns, Game 1
Chris Mannix
SI.com

Round 1 of what is expected to be a compe ive second-round series between Phoenix and San Antonio went to the home team, with the hot-shooting Suns knocking down 51.9 percent of their jump shots en route to a 111-102 victory.

1. The Suns' Big Two matched the Spurs Big Three. The pick-and-roll was working for the Suns all night with Amar'e Stoudemire (23 points, 13 rebounds) opening up wide gaps for Steve Nash (33 points, 10 assists) on most of the half-court possessions. The Spurs did their best to play Nash with just one defender -- a strategy they have employed in the past -- but Nash was getting too many free passes into the lane and when he got there, he converted: Phoenix scored a whopping 56 points in the paint.

That's not to say San Antonio's stars played poorly. Tim Duncan (20 points, 11 rebound), Manu Ginobili (27 points) and Tony Parker (26 points) had strong games, as well. But Parker missed some key shots in the fourth quarter and Duncan bricked five free throws that might have made the difference for the Spurs.

2. The X-Factors, however, were all Phoenix. What is it with George Hill and Richard Jefferson in Game 1s? With their Game 1 dud against Dallas still fresh in everyone's memory, Jefferson and Hill combined for 14 points (on 3-of-12 shooting) and a staggering minus-33 overall. The Suns' wild card -- Jason Richardson -- knocked down 10-of-16 shots and finished with 27 points, including a crucial three with 1:37 to go that pushed the lead to eight.

With the Suns desire to play small ball, the Spurs need much better performances from Hill and Jefferson, who both figure to be on the floor in San Antonio's three-guard, one-wing player and Duncan lineup in the fourth quarter. Hill, especially, will be counted on, as part of his duties will be to put pressure on Nash offensively and force him to expend energy on the defensive end.

3. Paging, Robin Lopez The Suns have to be a little wary about the lack of production they got from the center position. Starter Jarron Collins (zero points, one rebound) played nine ineffective minutes and while Channing Frye stretched the floor early, he finished with a quiet six points in 29 minutes. Phoenix got away without a true pivot in Game 1 by forcing the Spurs to play small ball, but with San Antonio's desire to play Antonio McDyess (19 minutes) and DeJuan Blair (11 minutes) more, the Suns may not be so lucky in Game 2. That makes the possible return of Lopez -- who has been out since March 26 with a bulging disc -- that much more critical.

Which bench will step up? Remove Parker from the equation and the Spurs subs totaled nine points with Roger Mason (zero points) and Matt Bonner (two points) among the culprits. The Suns reserves weren't that much better with the aforementioned Frye, Jared Dudley (three points) and Leandro Barbosa (five points) all failing to crack double figures. Neither team was plagued by too much early foul trouble, but it's bound to happen at some point this series. It will be interesting to see which bench unit steps up.

[dreamcastrocks]

48of article suggesting that the Suns played a perfect game was far from it. The Suns played a couple of near perfect games in the Blazer series and the game was never close. That wasn't the case here.

As Chris Mannix pointed out, the Suns also got very little from their bench this game in comparison to how they have been playing all year long. Frye only had 6, Dudley played only ok on defense. Barbosa has been less than stellar and Dragic was 2 for 7 with 2 turnovers. Lou played well, but in limited minutes.

Throw in the fact that the Suns transition defense was actually worse than the Spurs, and there is a lot of things that the Suns could be doing better. Saying they played perfect and barely one is myopic at best.