We were lucky to win tonight.

[Borosai]

It was a tough win, but once again, the Spurs beat the Suns in a high-scoring game. Very promising.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

He'll respond with a good game. Him not being consistent is what holds him back from being a great player. It's just who he is at this point. Spurs only need 2 of the big 3 to have good games so it didn't cost them a win.

I agree somewhat. The luxury of having Tony and Tim, coupled with being pretty unselfish, makes his his calibre as a player lackluster a bit,

but yeah, his predisposition to do the dirty work, if he's not being asked to carry the team, really, holds him back as a "great" player.

It's just confusing because he was so great this regular season, and he's ranked 3rd at the SG position in the league behind Wade and Kobe, you'd think he would do more.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

and so did finley in critical crunch time...

And Tim made his meaningless one, with 0.7 seconds left

[ChumpDumper]

I disagree with this thread. With the exception of Manu and Jacque's sucking so badly, this game went according to plan and will serve as a blueprint for winning the series in five.

[timvp]

I'll take a playoff win no matter how it comes. All playoff wins are beautiful.

[samikeyp]

I'll take a playoff win no matter how it comes. All playoff wins are beautiful.

Amen.

[Kori Ellis]

I disagree with this thread. With the exception of Manu and Jacque's sucking so badly, this game went according to plan and will serve as a blueprint for winning the series in five.

Agreed.

You can say they were lucky that Nash was out bleeding. But the Spurs were already up when Nash got hurt and Barbosa is so good that I'm not even sure that the Suns were better today with Nash on the floor than him.

[timvp]

The Spurs defense was actually pretty damn good. The Suns are just that good on offense. Nash is playing at a level that perhaps three other point guards in the history of the league ever played at.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Bull.

Overall, the Spurs played a very good game and so did the Suns. This wasn't a lucky win. This was a very good win.

We don't usually win this way though, with double the TOs of our opponent, over 100 points and fewer than 20 assists. That would usually add up to a loss for us. We also missed FTs, and Nash had to sit for the most crucial stretch of the game due to the gusher.

That adds up to a lucky win for mine.

I'll take it though.

And it also means that we can play better, which is a positive sign for the rest of the series.

[lefty]

I'm worried by Manu ; remember last year's game 1 against Dallas ? he didn't play well, was nervous...and it caught him at the end of game 7 (the super stupid foul)

I hope he will relax a bit during this series and be himself , because he seems to take things personally (Mavs last year, Barbosa?)

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

I disagree with this thread. With the exception of Manu and Jacque's sucking so badly, this game went according to plan and will serve as a blueprint for winning the series in five.

This win was very reminiscent of the 2005 wins, we always managed to edge them out.

Hopefully it continues. I was actually like "that's it? heh, we won..alright, that's one win down for us."

[Obstructed_View]

The Spurs defense was actually pretty damn good. The Suns are just that good on offense. Nash is playing at a level that perhaps three other point guards in the history of the league ever played at.

Yep. Unfortunately, Nash cost his team with a bad defensive play.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Agreed.

You can say they were lucky that Nash was out bleeding. But the Spurs were already up when Nash got hurt and Barbosa is so good that I'm not even sure that the Suns were better today with Nash on the floor than him.

Chump may be right that this was all in the plan - make Nash a shooter, and make him beat us.

However, Barbosa's clutch decision-making was poor. He was great except when it mattered. With Nash in the game, I think we lose tonight.

Like timvp said, I'll take any win though.

You can't deny that we rarely win with only 18 assists, over 100pts and double the TOs of our opponent. That, and Nash's nose, are why I say lucky.

[TampaDude]

He drove about 5 times. Got a couple of asts that way, missed a couple of layups. But he certainly lacked his usual aggression (note, not 'aggressiveness' because that's a made up word).

Uh, aggressiveness is a real word.

http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aggressive

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

I'm worried by Manu ; remember last year's game 1 against Dallas ? he didn't play well, was nervous...and it caught him at the end of game 7 (the super stupid foul)

I hope he will relax a bit during this series and be himself , because he seems to take things personally (Mavs last year, Barbosa?)

Manu's first game, he made that defensive winning play on Stackhouse.

In today both he and Timmy did supremely well defending Stoudamire in the paint.


Anyway uh... I think Manu ain't showing up this playoff, he doesn't have that magic anymore, so he'll just average 13, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in series looks like. He sucks now.

[samikeyp]

Rarely do I disagree with the esteemed Brother from New Zealand but I don't think it was luck. The Spurs are a good enough team to have won that game despite not having the best overall effort. Both teams played there asses off, the Spurs were just a little better.

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

One of the biggest part to the Spurs wins today in my opinion, was Finley and Horry hitting big threes when it looked like Phoenix was about to make a run

[bdictjames]

Its just good to see us being aggressive starting this Game 1.

Our staff should make some adjustments for a hopefully better win in game 2.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Aggressiveness is NOW a 'real' word because Americans made it up and used it so much that it became lexicon.

The actual word, going back centuries, is AGGRESSION.

[ShoogarBear]

US> UK, Aussie.

[ShoogarBear]

Hey, you know when I scroll over your flag, it says you're from Argentina?

[bdictjames]

^

LOL I agree.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

I'd like to see our W-L stats for over 20 assists. I bet we win over 80% of our games with 20 or more assists.

[Kori Ellis]

Chump may be right that this was all in the plan - make Nash a shooter, and make him beat us.

However, Barbosa's clutch decision-making was poor. He was great except when it mattered. With Nash in the game, I think we lose tonight.

Like timvp said, I'll take any win though.

You can't deny that we rarely win with only 18 assists, over 100pts and double the TOs of our opponent. That, and Nash's nose, are why I say lucky.

I'll wait to see the +/- but I think the Suns were better today with Barbosa on the floor.

[slayermin]

We weren't lucky because the Suns aren't going to be great defensively overnight.