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Take away the back and the le would be perfectly true.
Spurs Come Back On Suns ... Again
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
(Archive)
SAN ANTONIO -- The most anticipated Game 2 of the first round was realistically never going to be as good as the Game 1 we got from the Spurs and Suns. It couldn't be that good.
So ...
The only semblance of equality linking our first epic dose of San Antonio-Phoenix to what happened Tuesday night, when the teams staggered back into the AT&T Center, is how demoralizing the outcome was for the visitors.
Game 2 honestly can't feel any more digestible for Phoenix than dropping that double-overtime classic in the opener in which it trailed for less than two minutes total. In some ways, San Antonio taking a 2-0 lead with this 102-96 triumph will nag at the Suns even more than Game 1, no matter how one-sided things were in the second half this time.
Seriously. It'll take a pretty dramatic momentum shift when this series relocates to the desert Friday for the Suns to forget how they suddenly avoided foul trouble in Game 2 better than they could have dreamed, amassed another double-digit lead in the first half with ease, and wound up doing nothing with all that thanks to a third-quarter surrender that made it 14 playoff losses to the hated Spurs in the teams' past 18 postseason meetings.
"They upped the intensity in the second half," Suns forward Amare Stoudemire said, "and they got us."
That's undeniably true. San Antonio did hit the Suns with a noticeable surge in defensive energy after a first half that required Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker to combine for an astonishing 51 of the Spurs' 54 points just to keep the hosts in it.
Yet it'll be tough for the Suns to convince themselves that the Spurs' physicality and active hands -- highlighted by good pressure on Steve Nash from both Bruce Bowen and Parker in the decisive third quarter -- are solely responsible for putting Phoenix in its 2-0 hole. The Suns helped out greatly -- again -- with what both Nash and coach Mike D'Antoni described as a panicky response to the Spurs' increased pressure, which clearly messed up their spacing and somehow turned San Antonio's latest round of Hack-A-Shaq into their foremost offensive weapon.
You read that right. Shaquille O'Neal made five of the six free throws he attempted late in the third quarter when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich started sending him to the foul line intentionally. The Suns otherwise generated six points in the period, on three measly baskets, after missing their first eight shots in the quarter.
Oh, yeah: Phoenix was also shredded on countless pick-and-rolls by Parker (32 points) and Ginobili (29), trounced at its own (old?) game by a stunning count of 23-4 in fast-break points and struggled by night's end to convince the skeptical media types assembled in the Suns' locker room that their confidence hasn't been wrecked.
"I don't think so," Suns forward Grant Hill insisted, after making a surprise start on his injured groin but logging 19 scoreless, ineffective minutes.
"I think we're disappointed."
The Suns arrived in town for this first-round showdown on Friday believing that this was finally their time to take down Team Duncan. After winning both of their regular-season meetings with San Antonio after trading for Shaq, Phoenix's vision was clear. No longer would Stoudemire have to exclusively defend Duncan, and now Nash would have a sidekick who, despite his undeniable flaws, is the Suns' only certifiable champion.
But that was then.
Phoenix left town longing for its regular-season success and looking at a lengthy list of squandered opportunities and trouble spots. The Suns can't get Nash enough help to keep Parker and Ginobili out of the lane with Hill hobbled and Stoudemire's decision-making still suspect, still can't count on Boris Diaw and now can't find Leandro Barbosa, who wasn't exactly inspired by the sight of Manu collecting his Sixth Man Award trophy in a pregame ceremony. Barbosa, last season's Sixth Man Award winner, somehow went scoreless in nearly 24 minutes, missing all seven of his shots.
The good news? The Frenchman was actually gracious enough to give them some, having recovered nicely from a hard first-half shot to the ribs in a collision with Shaq to go with the blow to the head that Parker absorbed in Game 1.
It was Parker who unexpectedly reminded his postgame audience that the Spurs have been known to come home 2-2 after going up 2-0 in a series. It's happened that way for San Antonio five times in its past 10 series, actually.
"We were up 2-0 against the Lakers," Parker recalled, referring to the second-round matchup in 2004 in which L.A. won four straight games after losing the first two. "So it doesn't mean anything."
"I don't think anyone on this team," Duncan added, "feels like we'll go 4-zero."
Neither do any of us. But that's not the issue. Coming back to Texas next week at 2-2 won't change the fact that Phoenix made getting to four wins so much harder by becoming just the sixth team since 1994 to fall into a 2-0 deficit after leading at halftime in each of the first two games.
They got through Tuesday's first half with Shaq and Amare amazingly accruing only one foul each to that point. But that supposed positive, combined with Amare's seemingly effortless 25 points in the first half, only wound up heaping more frustration on the Suns.
"[Almost] every year I've been in the league, I've had to go through the Spurs," Stoudemire said. "One of these days, we're going to beat those guys. I [still] hope it's this year."
Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailyd...ge=dime-080423
Last edited by Spurs Brazil; 04-23-2008 at 05:40 PM.
Take away the back and the le would be perfectly true.
LOL.
And I'd rather be reminded of 2004.
I don't see where people get the correlation.
Who are the "clutch" players for the Suns that will step up in the 4th quarter when the chips are done outside of Shaq and Nash? Stoudamire?Barbosa?
Diaw?
Apples and oranges people, but whatever.
Good that the Spurs realize how important this next game is. Win game 3 and the choke hold is fully applied and all that's left is to hold position until they're KO'd
I'm also glad the Spurs realize that if they lose Gm3 the flood gates will open
You seriously need to change your le to:
"The glass is always half empty"
If the Spurs go into the game worried that the flood gates would open if they lost they'd play as bad as the Suns in the 3rd quarter. Full confidence and positive outlook + excellence in preparation makes champions.
I seriously don't get how Stoudemire always gets a pass for his defense. "Decision-making still suspect"??? How about "can't be bothered to play on the other side of the court" ? Sean Elliott is the only announcer that I've heard actually mention Stoudemire's ole defense.Stoudemire's decision-making still suspect,
the spurs are employing the rope-a-dope.
"They upped the intensity in the second half," Suns forward Amare Stoudemire said, "and they got us."
great quote, Amare.
The Spurs hung tough against the the Suns' 98% first-half shooting, and closed it to -7 at the half.
Suns shoulda taken the hint, ... and the bus back to the hotel!!
upped the intensity, INDEED!!
How about Nash's ole defense? Most games Stoudemire gets in foul trouble when opposing guards break down Nash.
If we assume that both Amare and Nash are poorly-suited for defense and that they have finite energy, then it would make sense to cruise on D and spend that energy on what they are superlative at--putting the ball in the hoop.
Marc Stein Predicted Suns in 6
Marc Stein always seemed overrated as a writer to me. I wonder how he got to such a high level with ESPN.
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