Spurs @ Suns Mar. 9 - Game Blog

[duncan228]

And as a Duncan fan myself, I was dieing watching him out there on the court. That was painful.

I love watching Duncan even when he's having a bad game.
But it was painful today.

The only good thing I can take from him today was the look on his face at the end of the game.
He was obviously pissed at himself.
And that should serve us well the rest of the way.
I expect him to be a monster tomorrow.

[word]

One thing I noticed is Oberto was WIDE OPEN under the basket or in the lane and they passed him over. I wonder if all those dropped mangled passes the past few games have had an affect on players confidence in him. I swear Parker was looking RIGHT AT HIM one play he was wide open and passed him over. Happened more than once but that was blatent. The Spurs shot selection these past few games has just blown balls in my opinion. And this constant stutter step before shooting appears to be a bad habit they've picked up from Stoudemire. Take the ball, shoot it and stop ing around. It's like they're wide open and think, ' If I just dribble one time and move one step closer to the defender, that will somehow make it an easier shot'.
It won't. They've gotta break that habit NOW.

[Spurs Brazil]

Shaq, Nash notch double-doubles as Suns cut Spurs, end home skid

PHOENIX (AP) -- The Phoenix Suns picked a nice afternoon and the perfect opponent to show why they felt they needed Shaquille O'Neal.


Three days past his 36th birthday, in his 10th game with Phoenix, O'Neal scored 14 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to help the Suns beat their nemesis, the San Antonio Spurs, 94-87 on Sunday.

The ever-hustling, 7-foot-1, 325-pound center provided the toughness, not to mention girth, the Suns felt they needed inside to finally get past the Spurs in the West. He even dived into the third row of seats for a loose ball, catching an unfortunate fan with an elbow to the lip.

"I think I hit one guy," he said. "I tried to miss the kids."

Grant Hill scored 18, including a crucial baseline 20-footer with 1:15 to go, as the Suns showed why they thought they needed O'Neal to compete with the rugged Spurs and the other big teams in the West.

"There's a lot of teams with size in the West," Steve Nash said. "We added size, let alone a guy with championship experience. One win isn't going to say we're a finished product, but we're on our way, I think, to improving and getting to a place where we're going to feel confident once the playoffs come around."

Phoenix outscored the Spurs 14-2 in the final 3:40 to improve to 4-6 since O'Neal joined the team.

"It was definitely a playoff atmosphere," said Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, whose team lost a bitter series to the Spurs a year ago. "It's a big game just because of the standings and everything, but we do know we still need some work, and we know it's not going to be easy."

Manu Ginobili scored 22 but missed several down the stretch for the Spurs, who lost their second in a row after an 11-game winning streak. Tony Parker added 21 points. Tim Duncan had 17 points and 10 rebounds but was just 6-of-19 shooting.

"I had two turnovers and two missed layups down the stretch," Duncan said. "We're up five with three-something left -- a situation where we usually play a lot better than that."

Amare Stoudemire scored five of his 16 points in the last three minutes for Phoenix, which had lost its previous three in a row at home. Stoudemire played the final 6:51 and O'Neal the last 5:55 with five fouls.

"I should have only had three [fouls] but when you're playing against Tim, you have to be aggressive," O'Neal said. "If anybody knows what he's going to do with the ball, I think it's me. We've had our battles."

O'Neal's two blocked shots made him the third player in NBA history to have 26,000 points, 11,500 rebounds and 2,500 blocks. The others are Kareem-Abdul Jabaar and Hakeem Olajuwon.

The intense victory stemmed Phoenix's slide in the standings, pulling them a game ahead of Dallas for the No. 6 spot in the West.

"O'Neal does change things greatly for the opposition," Ginobili said. "It's a big body to bother us every time we penetrate."

Former Sun Kurt Thomas made an 18-footer to put the Spurs ahead 85-80 with 5:12 to play. A frustrated Suns coach Mike D'Antoni drew a technical moments later, but Ginobili missed the free throw in a sign of things to come.

Nash's 3-pointer cut it to 85-83 with 3:40 to play. A 24-second clock violation by San Antonio led to Stoudemire's driving shot over Duncan that tied it at 85 with 2:58 left. Stoudemire made one of two free throws with 1:57 to go to put Phoenix ahead for good, then added two more to give San Antonio an 88-85 lead.

Ginobili's 8-foot floater over both Phoenix big men cut it to 88-87. That set up Hill's shot from the corner that boosted the lead to 90-87. Ginobili missed three in a row, then Raja Bell and Nash put the game away with free throws.

"We had our chances," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Steve Nash and Grant Hill hit some big shots going down the stretch. We missed some big shots. It was a great game both ways."

Neither team led by more than six points in the first half or eight in the second. The Spurs shot just 38 percent.

Game notes
Muhammad Ali, who lives in nearby Paradise Valley, watched the game from courtside. He got a standing ovation when introduced to the crowd. ... Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his wife Cindy also were in the crowd. ... Phoenix was 3-for-14 from 3-point range, San Antonio 7-for-16. ... Phoenix had a 23-5 advantage in fastbreak points. ... Ten Spurs or Suns players have come or gone on the teams' rosters since their last meeting on Jan. 31. ... Phoenix is 2-1 against San Antonio this season with one to play. ... The Suns are 21-2 when holding an opponent under 100 points.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=280309021

[jakerjsj]

Hahahah We Just Owned You Losers Man I Hope You Guys Lose Every Game From Here And Out Say Goodbye To The Playoffs Cheaters

[1Parker1]

Phoenix is 2-1 against San Antonio this season with one to play

We play the Suns 4 times?

[Bianconera]

I have a feeling my week will be complete if the Spurs lose this one

4 time NBA Champs, DEFENDING Champs, MVPs, DPOYs, and you still don't know which team will show up (regular season though)

How is your week now, buddy?
Don't be depressed. You gotta keep your faith alive.

[RonMexico]

We play the Suns 4 times?

Yeah, I thought we only played 3 times.

That's cool there's another. I think there's one more Rockets-Suns game to played in Houston, so I'm gonna try to go to it.

[1Parker1]

Yea it looks like April 9.

I thought teams played only teams within their division 4 times, within their conference 3 times, and within the East 2 times....

[RonMexico]

That's what I thought too. I wonder how they've been able to sneak in 2 extra games with the Rockets and Spurs this year.

I wonder if the Suns also play the Mavs 4 times because they have the past few years.

I guess with 4 per division and 2 per East games being the "locks", there are a few flex games in there for other conference opponents... probably games that ESPN/ABC/TNT have options to pick up. If that's the case, then no wonder that they have an extra Suns-Spurs game in there this year.

[sribb43]

Yeah, I thought we only played 3 times.

That's cool there's another. I think there's one more Rockets-Suns game to played in Houston, so I'm gonna try to go to it.

mavs suns only play 3 times this year...last one being in PHX

[Ice009]

If the Spurs had won on Friday night, I wouldn't be so pissed right now...but, LIKE I SAID ON FRIDAY NIGHT, the Spurs are on a 4 to 5 game losing streak now...trust me...

What are you doing here? If you want to give up LEAVE. Don't come back when the Spurs win.

[Ice009]

How the can Finley stay in the game and Udoka not get more minutes.

BTW< Duncan COME THE ON!!

Finley needs to be benched.

[Ice009]

Shaq not taking Duncan's hand to help him up sums up my opinion of Shaq.
He's an asshole. A bully.
He's got no class. No sportsmanship.
Had it been Duncan down he would have taken Shaq's offer of help up.

The better man, the classier man. The epitome of sportsmanship.
Duncan.

I'm glad ABC re-ran the clip so many times. Show the nation who Shaq is.

Tim needs to stop doing that and start stomping on people . NO FREAKING KILLER instinct at all from Tim lately. None at all.

[Ice009]

For the love of god

start Udoka in the second half

stick him on goddamn Hill and shut him the down

im sick of the geriatric mother er going off for 20 every goddamn time the spurs play em!!!

Nah Pop won't ever start Udoka. it's for the good of the team but he has feelings for Michael .

[duncan228]

Tim needs to stop doing that and start stomping on people . NO FREAKING KILLER instinct at all from Tim lately. None at all.

Killer instinct during the game has nothing to do with offering a hand to help someone up when it's a dead ball.

[Ice009]

He needs to forget about helping other people up from the other team. Help your team mates leave the opposition on the ground.

How many times did Jordan help someone up from the other team?

Anyway i don't like the way Tim is playing lately. When is the last time Tim dominated Shaq? i can't really recall and dominant performances against O'neal since 2003. Tim for some reason plays scared and timid aganst O'neal. He's gotta DOMINATE Shaq and attack him. Looking at that post game recap it seems like Shaq thinks he owns Duncan.

[Ice009]

And you guys think Kurt Thomas will be able to stop Bynum.......LMAO. He's good, but he can't deal with the bigger Cs of the league.

Can you stop going on and on about Bynum please? When Bynum comes back and if he dominates then you can talk all the you want. Until then STFU.

[Ice009]

Thomas plays like a stud, take him out.

Pops on ing drugs.

Pop is great!

[loveforthegame]

Finley needs to be benched.

He very well may be but then who's going to step up and score besides the big 3? Especially before Barry comes back and before he's back in game shape? You know Ginobli, Bowen, and Udoka will not play all the swing minutes.

[Ice009]

He very well may be but then who's going to step up and score besides the big 3? Especially before Barry comes back and before he's back in game shape? You know Ginobli, Bowen, and Udoka will not play all the swing minutes.

What I mean by benched is put him on the bench and let him play 10-15 minutes a game max. If he's not hitting shots or playing defense leave him there the rest of the night.

START UDOKA! I've wanted to see how this would go since January and It's one of the only things Pop hasn't tried rotation wise. lol Pop must be doing it to get to me. "Screw that Ice009 guy, I'll do any starting line-up change and subs ution pattern, but I won't start Udoka"

[crc21209]

For the most part i think our defense was there but our offense sucks right now. The ball is not moving, when we move the ball well we will always ing score! I promise. lol. But when it sticks or Tim holds it in the post forever or when Tony dribbles the damn clock out we end up with a crappy shot, when Barry gets back this should help out also. But damn move the ball around the horn.

[TampaDude]

For the most part i think our defense was there but our offense sucks right now. The ball is not moving, when we move the ball well we will always ing score! I promise. lol. But when it sticks or Tim holds it in the post forever or when Tony dribbles the damn clock out we end up with a crappy shot, when Barry gets back this should help out also. But damn move the ball around the horn.

Excellent point...crisp, well-timed ball movement has been a hallmark of the Spurs for over a decade, and it has helped them make the playoffs every year and win 4 NBA les...they seem to be straying away from that philosophy now, and that is probably why they are struggling.

[Syracuselaxman44]

Refs really like the suns

rofl