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That was quick
Game 2 was following the same story line as Game 1. The Spurs came out slow. The Suns came out playing like the best offensive team ever assembled. For the first half, the Spurs were just trying to keep their heads above water.
Then the third quarter happened. The glorious third quarter. Down 61-54 entering the second half, the Spurs defense played at an amazingly high level. In the first six and a half minutes, the Spurs gave up a total of two points. It took ten minutes for the Suns to score more than four points. By end of the third quarter, the Spurs were up 81-72 after outscoring the Suns 27-11 in the quarter.
In the fourth, the Spurs bumped it up to a high of 17 before hitting a rough patch offensively. Luckily, time was on their side and the Spurs were able to cruise to a 102-96 victory to go up 2-0 in this best of seven series.
For the first two quarters, the Suns looked unstoppable. Amare Stoudemire had 25 points in the first half and was hitting everything. Steve Nash was offensively playing the point guard position as well as humanly possible. While they are down 0-2 in this series, they can’t be too disappointed. The Suns have played amazing basketball at times. If they can play that type of basketball for longer stretches, I’m not sure any team in the league can stop them.
For the Spurs, this was a huge win. The Suns are a very good team and winning the first two games at home was mandatory. It wasn’t always pretty but going up 2-0 is all that matters.
Overall, Spurs fans couldn’t have asked for much more to start the playoffs. Their team is showing an unbelievable amount of heart, guts and determination. At different times in the game, you can actually see the championship experience kicking in. So far, so good in the 2008 playoffs.
-While obviously Tim Duncan wasn’t as spectacular as he was in Game 1, I thought he played a really good ballgame in Game 2. The Suns were concentrating more on him in this affair and Duncan did a admirable job of not forcing the issue a majority of the game. On the night, Duncan finished with 18 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. He struggled a bit shooting the ball (8-for-20 from the field and 2-for-6 from the line), especially late in the game. He played a team-high 42 minutes and his only poor play of the night came late in the game when he was visibly exhausted. Defensively, I was really impressed with the way he protected the rim and his second half defense against the pick-and-roll. His ability to stay on Nash for a few seconds to allow the other defender to recover has been impressive for much of the first two games.
-In Game 1, it was Duncan who kept the Spurs in the contest. In Game 2, it was Manu Ginobili. With the Spurs down 14 points late in the first quarter, Ginobili kept the Spurs from getting blown out. Over a stretch of five and a half minutes, the Argentine superstar scored 15 points and handed out two assists to pull the Spurs back within five points. On the night, Ginobili had 29 points, three rebounds and three assists, while shooting 9-for-17 from the field, 3-for-5 from beyond the three-point arc and 8-for-9 at the line. His play in the second half was also important as he helped the Spurs blow the game open. Ginobili struggled with his outside shooting in Game 1 but in this game his stroke looked much better. He did seem to strain something (hopefully not his groin) when he dunked the ball from too far away. Then again, how injured could his groin be when he gets hurt because he picked up his dribble at the top of the key before dunking it? Supermanu, indeed. To nitpick, I think Ginobili's flopping was excessive this game. He needs to reel it in a bit because it was hurting instead of helping a couple times.
-Tony Parker played a fantastic Game 2. Offensively he was good but defensively is where he shined. His defense on Nash, specifically in the second half, could have very well been the best defense he’s ever played. Parker got up on Nash and was relentlessly pestering the Canadian with a defensive intensity that I’ve never seen from Parker. Even when Nash would pass the ball, Parker’s aggressiveness in his help defense was extremely impressive. He’s played good defense before but this was a whole new level. Offensively, Parker wasn’t half bad. He led the Spurs in scoring with 32 points, dished out seven assists, pulled down three boards and swiped three steals. From the floor, Parker was 13-for-25. On offense, I was most impressed by his fearlessness. He took some vicious hits and continued attacking over and over. Parker usually isn’t the type of player who you would say was playing like a man possessed, but that’s exactly how he played tonight.
-Bruce Bowen played much better than he did in Game 1. His defense on Nash was improved and he did a better job of not forcing shots. However, he still went scoreless in his 23 minutes of action. In this game, his defense wasn’t really a problem. It was just that Parker was defending Nash so well that Bowen wasn’t needed. Instead, Pop could go to a better offensive player. For the game, Bowen finished with five rebounds, two assists and two steals, while missing both of his field goal attempts.
-Michael Finley scored only eight point but they were eight important points. Coming out of halftime, Finley hit the Spurs’ first four field goals of the quarter. His fourth field goal gave the Spurs their first lead since the first minute of the game. Finley finished with eight points, two rebounds and a steal, while shooting 4-for-5 from the floor. Defensively, he was much improved from Game 1 and actually made a few good plays on that end of the court. Finley’s stats don’t look like much in this contest but his shooting coming out of halftime was huge.
-I don’t think Fabricio Oberto played very well at all. No matter who he guarded, he struggled in the matchup. Against Stoudemire, Oberto was pretty much helpless. He let Shaquille O’Neal get way too good of post position almost every time up the court. Even Boris Diaw went off against him in the first half. Oberto needs to step up his level of defense or his minutes in this series are going to become fewer and fewer. He finished with four points, six rebounds and a blocked shot in 20 minutes of action.
-Ime Udoka rebounded from a tough Game 1 and was a bit better in Game 2. I wouldn’t say he played especially well but he wasn’t as overwhelmed as he was in Game 1. While he missed all four of his three-pointers, he hit his pair of two-pointers and both of his free throws. Udoka was also able to pull down three rebounds in his 15 minutes of work. He allowed the Spurs to go small and spread out the Suns’ defense, which was vital at different points in the game. Now if he can mix in a perimeter jumper at some point in this series, he’d be that much more dangerous.
-Kurt Thomas didn’t have impressive stats (two rebounds, one block and two turnovers in 13 minutes) but his impact was felt. He did a very good job throwing around his body against both O’Neal and Stoudemire. His help defense was solid and he set a few impressive picks on the offensive end of the court. He ended up fouling out for the second straight game but that’s perfectly fine. Thomas has no reason not to use his six fouls. Roughing up the Suns is one of the few ways you can hope to slow that team down.
-Brent Barry played 11 very solid minutes. He hit both of his shots from the floor, including one three-pointer. His three-pointer was the only points scored by anyone outside of the Big Three in the first half. With his tender calf, he’s not going to be winning any Defensive Player of the Year awards anytime soon but he’s invaluable on the offensive end of the court in this series. Overall, Barry is competing extremely hard and his shooting looks as smooth as ever. In fact, he’s hit his last six shots from the floor over the last three games.
-Jacque Vaughn played only five minutes and had one assist and one foul in that time. While he didn’t do anything wrong in this game, Pop is smartly going with other matchups in this series. Vaughn’s lack of shooting and playmaking doesn’t mix well with what the Spurs need against the Suns.
-Robert Horry dusted off the cobwebs to play three minutes. Considering he hadn’t played in a month, Horry actually looked pretty good. He had a momentum altering block against O’Neal in the second quarter that seemed to wake up the crowd and the team. He missed his only shot (a three-pointer) but Horry looked good enough to trot out there at some other situation in the playoffs when needed.
-Pop had another active game coaching, as he seemed ready and willing to do just about anything that popped into his head. He was inventive with his rotation and for the second straight game, practically everything he did worked out for the best.
Pop using 11 players in this game was just classic Pop coaching. He trashed his rotation and just decided to go with his gut feelings. These two first games of the series have two of Pop’s best coaching jobs of his playoff life in terms of coaching moves resulting in positive results.
I continue to question Pop’s Hack-a-Shaq strategy. While D’Antoni reacted by pulling out O’Neal a few times, O’Neal responded well to Hack-a-Shaq late in the third quarter. He hit 5-of-6 free throws in a one minute stretch.
I just don’t understand why Pop went to Hack-a-Shaq. First of all, the Suns had scored only six points in the first ten and a half minutes of the quarter. Why give them free points when the defense is playing well? Second of all, Nash was on the bench. That’s when you can really turn up your defensive pressure. By sending O’Neal to the line and slowing the game down, Nash got about a 30 minute break before re-entering in the fourth quarter. Thirdly, the Spurs were scoring very well on first break action. Making it a free throw contest takes away the fast breaking possibilities. I continue to fail to see the logic behind this tactic.
Pop's five swingman rotation is also a bit concerning. It worked in this game but eventually he's going to have to shorten his Ginobili, Bowen, Finley, Barry and Udoka rotation by a player. You can't expect shooters to get in rhythm playing spot minutes.
The bottomline is the Spurs are now up 2-0 in the series. They’ve held serve and now travel to Phoenix in hopes of continuing their winning ways in Game 3. Nice win but there is more work to be done.
Believe.
That was quick
Parker is a totally underrated defender. He ate Deron Williams alive a few weeks ago....and was passable on Nash at times.
Timvp, I'd actually argue Parker was the biggest offensive force today. He was a monster, and gave us our biggest basket of the game (his jumper over Shaq when the lead went down to 5).
it, the entire backcourt was awesome. Fin, Parker, Barry, and Manu were all great.
Nice recap, as usual.
Tony was awesome, if he keep playing like he did tonight we’re repeating this year, book it.
And Manu's three-point shooting is back, this is awesome news for us.
Agree. I only watched the fourth quarter, but that last Raja foul on Manu wasn't so bad and he made it look like he was shot or something.
Thanks. Awesome read. I hope Manu is okay.
Thanks TimVP.
Thanks for the thoughts.
Do you think part of Pop's using hack-a-Shaq was to upset the Suns rhythm and at the same time give our guys some breathing time? I know Duncan was tired out there, you could see it.
That's kinda how I saw it. Regardless of whether Shaq makes them or not (if he misses it's an added bonus), it completely kills their rhythm.
Solid
I hope Pop abandons Hack-A-Shaq, but I was glad he was gambling while we had the lead.
I thought this game was great because other guys stepped up besides Timmy this time. I'm even more confident in the team, than in game 1.
Everyone played except Bonner: redheaded stepchild indeed.
this team is more akin to the 99 spurs team than the 2007.
the 99 team was notorius for flipping the switch in the 3rd quarter.
Duncan was still out on the court during Hack-a-Shaq in the third so he wasn't getting too much rest. He got some rest but not as much rest as Nash did when he was laying down on the sidelines.
Hack-a-Shaq has been more successful against the Suns just because D'Antoni overreacts to it and sometimes it seems like the Suns stop playing offense because they think the Spurs are going to foul Shaq.
I was told that going to Hack-a-Shaq when you have the lead is Dennis Lindsey's brainchild. Lindsey, AKA the guy who helped gift Scola to the Rockets, supposedly came up with charts and graphs to prove his theory that Hack-a-Shaq makes it extremely difficult for the opposing team to catch up.
I still don't like it. Shaq always gets in rhythm at the line and it kills the Spurs offense just as much as it kills the Suns offense. Plus giving Nash the least amount of rest possible is another way of tiring him out.
Nice re-cap.
What are your thoughts on the last two first-halves? I'm not so sure the Spurs will be able to recover from that kind of early let-down on the road...in Phoenix. Those fans are going to be insane.
FG
M. Finley 4/5
B. Barry 2/2
They need to shoot more !!!
hack a snaq burger is coming to ur local stores
Did anyone see that scoop shot he had with his back hand? That was the first time I've ever seen that shot from anyone.
God damn its good to be a Spurs fan right now.
I think that's part of it. Also it puts an upper limit on that Suns' possession of 2 points. Pop's strategy in the past against this team has always indicated that it's their ability to hit 3s that worries him.
Tony Parker is playing insane basketball...no needs to call Tony soft, because if they do they don't know what they are talking about. Parker hits the ground more than just about any PG in the NBA, and he does it while he is hauling azz.
And in the playoffs he is now what I like to call a FAC-TOR...whether ESPN mentions it...or not.
Yeah his D is intense but I've seen him play this kind of D before...hopefully he'll say some of that for Chris Paul, because it will be needed. Parker almost always has the toughest run of positional opposition in our playoff runs.
I didn't think Oberto play bad down the stretch...he definitely wasn't very good early though.
It was nice to see Manu's shot go in but it still looked flat and didn't really look like his shot...I definitely think he's still hurting, that dunk didn't look right either. Hopefully we can put the Suns down in 4 and the Mavs will extend the Hornets to 7. I give Manu full props for playing with injury...I just want him to get better as I don't like him having to go full tilt injured. He's a ManU though, for sure.
Finley was decent...I'll be more impressed if he does it against the Celtics though....then I might have to reconsider my stance on Finley.
I didn't really want to see Horry in this series but that block was sweet...he stuffed that ball back in Shaq's face bigtime. I don't like seeing Horry defend Shaq when Shaq is posting up...but I'll take that kind of assistance every time.
Duncan - I am pretty impressed with Duncan, because Shaq is playing pretty damn good basketball and Duncan is beating his ass off the court. It's not prime Shaq he's doing that too...but it's still Shaq, a motivated Shaq.
I'm worried about that. He took off way too early and I thought he might have really hurt himself. Hopefully the training staff can come to the rescue again.
Well played
The man-to-man part of his defense I've seen before ... most notably last year versus Allen Iverson. However, I've never seen him dig in and fight bigs. Ripping the ball away from Shaq and Amare was new territory, IMO.
yeah, Manu's lucky Parker and Duncan are there while he's recovering.
That fastbreak dunk, proves he's not at 100 percent.
But at least he played a lot better today. I hope it's one of those snowball, gets healthier as the days go by, kinda things. His three ball is returning.
I'm not sure Oberto is better against Phoenix this year now...so maybe it's better for Pop to play conservative.
Dude is showing so much ing heart right now. I don't care if they win it all. When they play with that kind of grit and determination you can't help but love this team.
God damn, they are justplaying so damn hard.
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