Reply With Quote
that's what it felt like.
Suns playing near peak efficiency and still couldn't throw off the Spurs.
Confident Spurs: Mistakes can be fixed for Game 2
San Antonio at Phoenix
Game info: 9:00 pm EDT Wed May 5, 2010
TV: TNT
By Bob Baum
The San Antonio Spurs need only look back a few days for a reminder that a Game 1 playoff loss in Phoenix is not the end of the world.
“Honestly we’d love to have got that one to kind of get them on their heels,” Tim Duncan said after the Spurs practiced on Tuesday, “but we still have an opportunity to steal homecourt here tomorrow, and we’re going to do just that. We’ve got a lot of things to clean up. We feel if we do just that, we give ourselves a real good chance.”
A San Antonio victory in Game 2 Wednesday night would send the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series to San Antonio tied 1-1. In the first round, the Spurs lost Game 1 in Dallas, then won Game 2 and eliminated the Mavericks in six.
The Spurs watched video of Monday night’s 111-102 loss and came away liking their Game 2 chances.
“We made so many mistakes,” Manu Ginobili said, “but at the same time, with all those mistakes, all those flaws we had, we were pretty close. … We are optimistic in that regard. We can play so much better.”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said “I don’t know” when asked if he would move Tony Parker into the starting lineup after the speedster’s big game off the bench Monday night.
Parker said an abrupt “no” when asked if thought he would start.
He has been coming off the bench since his return April 6 after missing 16 games with a broken bone in his right hand. George Hill has been the starter, but Steve Nash made Hill look like a statue early in Game 1. The Suns’ playmaker made his first five shots and had 17 points by the end of the first quarter. He finished with 33 points and 10 assists, the sixth “30-10” playoff game of his career.
Hill struggled all night at both ends of the court, finishing with nine points on 2 of 7 shooting.
Parker has given the Suns fits throughout his career. He had 26 points in 35 minutes on Monday.
“They go up-tempo. There are a lot of possessions,” Parker said. “I like to play up and down. That’s why I think I’ve always been very successful against them.”
Ginobili said Parker “is huge in this series because of the way he attacks seams.”
“It also puts Nash in trouble, too, having to chase him,” Ginobili said. “So we definitely need Tony a lot, but the same way we need everybody else.”
Nash had rested his strained right hip for three days, and was uncertain how he would feel when Game 1 tipped off.
“I was a little nervous about it,” he said on Tuesday. “But I felt great and I had no setbacks, so I am really excited about that. I hopefully can play the series out and be as much help as possible.”
Parker said Nash’s early offensive assault was “a little bit” of a surprise. Nash expects a much more aggressive defense against him on Wednesday.
“This team’s been through it all,” he said of the Spurs. “They know what they’re doing. They’ve come back from deficits or losses already this year. We expect a great effort for them. They’ll make adjustments and we have to be ready to respond.”
Ginobili, playing with a broken nose and defended most of the game by Grant Hill, overcame a slow start to finish with 27 points on 9 of 20 shooting, 2 of 9 from 3-point range. Overall, the Spurs made 4 of 19 3s to 7 of 20 for Phoenix.
Ginobili, Parker and Duncan scored all but 29 of San Antonio’s points. Richard Jefferson made 1 of 3 shots and finished with five points and three rebounds in 32 1/2 minutes.
Jason Richardson had another big offensive game for the Suns with 27 points on 10 of 16 shooting. He made 3 of 6 3-pointers, including a huge one with 1:23 to play. He is averaging 24 points per game in the playoffs, shooting 54 percent overall and 51 percent on 3s.
He is an impressively accurate barometer of Phoenix’s success. The Suns are 30-4 this season when Richardson scores at least 20.
“It’s great right now,” he said. “In the playoffs, there’s so much energy and so much action. This is what players live for. This is all I’ve wanted for my whole career and I’m enjoying every minute of it.”
Suns coach Alvin Gentry called it “a longshot” that center Robin Lopez would play Wednesday.
“After that, we’ll see,” Gentry said.
The 7-footer has been out since March 26 with a back injury (bulging disk) but has been increasingly active in practice.
Before Monday’s win, Phoenix had lost three straight Game 1s to the Spurs, two of them at home. San Antonio still has another, ultimately more important, streak going. The Spurs have won four straight playoff series against the Suns.
*********************
Team Stat Leaders
Points
Tim Duncan SA 17.9
Amar'e Stoudemire Pho 23.1
Rebounds
Tim Duncan SA 10.1
Amar'e Stoudemire Pho 8.9
Assists
Tony Parker SA 5.7
Steve Nash Pho 11.0
*********************
Series Breakdown
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/playoffs/2010/saspho
that's what it felt like.
Suns playing near peak efficiency and still couldn't throw off the Spurs.
I had a hard time getting excited about last night's game. Maybe the team had the same problem.
But I'll be ready tomorrow! (And that makes all the difference, of course.)
This could be the same pattern as the Dallas series unfolding.
Not playing Mason a single minute would be a start.
This.
Also, I am 99.9% sure that the Spurs will even the series out tommorow 1-1. You can book it
Nash wont score 33 again. He had a lot of days to rest and Hill was shocked when Nash went at him full throttle. 1-1 by tomorrow with parker scoring 30.
Suns' Big 3 countered Spurs' Big 3
With all the star players doing their thing, the key to Game 2 could be what supporting actor rises up
by Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
The Suns were caught up in how they could limit Tim Duncan's touches, Manu Ginobili's penetration and Tony Parker's transition game.
The Spurs were just as worried about Steve Nash's playmaking, Amar'e Stoudemire's rolls and Jason Richardson's torrid shooting.
So when the Spurs' Big 3 did their thing, each scoring at least 20, and the Suns' trio was a tad bigger with a pair of double-doubles and 83 points combined for a Game 1win, that leaves a door open for someone else to be the difference Wednesday night in Game 2 of the second-round series at US Airways Center.
After San Antonio lost Game 1 of its first-round series against Dallas, Richard Jefferson went from four points to 19 and George Hill averaged 19.8 points over the series' final four games. Hill said before the series that he thought the better bench play would dictate the series, but that's a warped analysis when Parker comes off the bench for 36 minutes and 26 points.
No Suns complimentary scorer had more than seven, Grant Hill's total, but he defended Ginobili aptly, while the Suns bench scorers, Jared Dudley and Channing Frye, starred more on defense.
"If our Big 3 plays the way they did and their Big 3 plays the way they did, then we like our chances," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "The difference may be who has one of the X factors step up. Is it going to be DeJuan Blair? Is it going to be Grant? Those are the things you have to look at that could be the difference in the series."
Even with Nash's 33-point, 10-assist game Monday, it is hard to get away from Richardson's "XX factor" now that his 27-point Game 1 made the Suns 30-4 when he scores 20, including wins on the past 11 occasions. Phoenix is 12-0 when Richardson scores more than 25.
When San Antonio took a 67-64 third-quarter lead, it was Richardson scoring 10 points in the next five minutes to put Phoenix back ahead by 10. When the lead was five late, it was Richardson's 3-pointer icing the win with 1:23 to go. He is averaging a team-high 24 points in the playoffs with 51 percent 3-point shooting.
"He's scoring a lot in the first seconds of the possession," Ginobili said. "We've got to be ready to guard him in transition especially and then rotations. We know Steve Nash is the head of the snake. He finds everybody. Rotations have got to be quicker, especially with Jason Richardson. We've got to be closer to him."
The Spurs regretted much more than letting Richardson go. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich mostly bemoaned how they let the Suns have 27 fast-break points in Game 1. He deflected questions about Jefferson's passive play or whether he would start Parker, who believes he will remain on the bench, to focus on a need for his defense to retreat.
"We didn't get back a couple times in dead-ball situations," Popovich said. "Transition defense really hurt us."
With all the regrets, the Spurs trailed by one on the road with 4:26 remaining before missing five of their next six shots, all jumpers.
"We understand that Game 1 means nothing," Grant Hill said. "All it did was upset them and make them mad. We're not going to lose our edge, our effort or our focus.
"The Big 3 can kill you so we weren't pleased with what they did. We feel like we need to do a better job against those guys. They're great players. They're going to make plays. You just try to make them work. But our Big 3 played well as well."
It's much like the Dallas series, little things helped the Suns squeak by. The Spurs made a ton of mistakes yet were able to cut two double digit deficits. I'm feeling good about tomorrow.
Try and act like somebody tomorrow night.
Savvy?
Naw you guys will always suck go lakers go we will sweep your asses or the suns will
That's not what it felt like to me. I don't think the Suns played anywhere near peak efficiency.
I don't think so. I mean about near peak efficiency.
Serious question. How much better do you think the Suns can play?
Nash having another 30 and 10 game? Richardson playing that well again?
I didn't see much of the Suns this season but it sure looked like they couldn't play any better...on both sides of the ball. Had some very nice defensive stops on Duncan down low throughout the game.
I think game 2 will be close, but I don't see Richardson, Nash, and Amare all playing that well and scoring over 80 again.
The Suns are playing at peak efficiency when they're getting contributions from multiple bench players. It's hard enough to worry about Nash, JRich, and Amare; when guys like Dudley and Frye and maybe Dragic are killing you from the perimeter, the Suns are practically impossible to defend. Keep in mind, I'm talking about peak efficiency. The Suns bench played a relatively subpar game on Monday, which is unusual for a home game. Hopefully they can shake off the jitters.
They also need to rebound the ball a little better. I know the Spurs got outrebounded in Game 1, but they also trotted out a smaller lineup. If Pop wants to play small ball, then Gentry needs to find some way to punish that strategy. Attacking the glass is the way to do just that. Amare did a great job at grabbing boards in Game 1, but he needs to keep it up. If Duncan starts owning him on the glass, the Suns are in trouble.
Also, the Suns are at their absolute best with Robin Lopez at Center. I know I've beaten this horse senseless over the last few days, but it's true. From what I'm hearing, Lopez won't be back for Game 2, but will be re-evaluated before the team flies to San Antonio. So he could theoretically play for the bulk of the series. If he's healthy and his conditioning is up to par, then the Suns instantly improve their interior defense and rebounding.
Ginobili actually made 3 of 9 from 3-point range.
I hate the mavs. But I don't hate the suns. Especially now that dantoni is gone. I still want to whip their asses but there isn't that hate for me that there was last series.
agree the suns bench didn't play at peak. Maybe at 70%. But the Suns starters sure damn well played well above 95%.
On the other hand the Spurs starters played at 75% and the bench at 60%. In other words it's true overall the SUns played close to their efficiency while spurs not so close.
And that's not even counting the defense. Defensive wise Suns were as good as have been all season, SPurs maybe at 50%. Even Kenny Smith said it, "I haven't seen Spurs play this bad defense all season"
Referee Assignments
Wed. May 5
San Antonio @ Phoenix: Joe Crawford; Ron Garretson; Derrick Stafford
Don't worry, Duncan will beat his ass if he starts throwing techs...
The Suns seemed pretty damn good to me Monday. Only their 3 point shooting was off for them. 35%. Other than that they seemed pretty peak to me, energy level defense, and it was still close... We'll see tonight.
Amare played about 50 or 60%. Nash and J Rich played about 90% and Grant Hill played about 60% as well when you don't have the offensive game you can get from him.
No way the Suns starters played at 95% unless you are only talking about Nash and J Rich.
The benches for both teams played at about 25%. I didn't include Parker in the 25% for the Spurs.
RJ needs to be involved. it was the same stroy after game 1 against Dallas. this team has been EXTREMELY successful against team when RJ scores 14 or more. Duncan also has to be established early on. feed him and let im go to work.
Suns defense is so much better than in previous years that they are more difficult for us. Nevertheless, the seams are there in their interior defense to exploit.
This will be another hard-fought series with the teams so evenly matched that it will come down to which team, including the bench, plays up to their peak ability.
However, after all physical skills are applied, I think the mental thing comes into play--and there the Spurs have the edge.
"The Spurs do not beat you so much as they grind you into tiny shards of psychological wreckage." -Denver Post
We beat Dallas because they lost the psycological battle and the best evidence of that was the misses Dirk and the Mavs started making in the 4th quarter.
We can be beat, but we don't choke.
Did Timmy REALLY say that? Huh. Seems out of character for him. Like the confidence, though...I guess.
Gotta admit, the Jason Terry-hating Spur fan in me feels a little hypocritical right now.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
