On Sunday I called it and the last two games have not convinced me otherwise (in fact Spurs seem to be ramping up, and hopefully last night's FT % not as inidicative as as the previous few games). There is building inside that the same feelings I had for games 1 (Spurs blowout) and 2 (close win) will again hold true. I am holding to my Sunday prediction that the Spurs to beat the Suns decisively again more in the lines of game 1, i.e. a decisive 10+ win or even a blowout.
Why?
1) Spurs rise to the occassion most of the time against premier opponents and will recognize this is a target game that is critical.
2) TD is back and appears very motivated. Rasho is also playing better, as is Horry - tonight Amare does not go off again.
3) Parker had a terrible game last time vs. Suns and retrospectively was ill, he historically outplays Nash and will again tonight.
4) Manu simply will not have two bad games in a row (last night's shooting game an aberration) and likely will go off again.
5) Defense beats flash. Bruce Bowen will again shut down their X factor Marion. To shut down both Kidd and Carter last night was huge. Carter had had 20 straight 20 point or more games and came up empty despite his half man excuse of some psuedo injury.
6) The bench seems to have come alive. This is the most important X factor the Spurs have over the Suns, who although improved, still don't go more than 8-9 if even that deep. Tonight is the night another one contributes big time and I see Barry as the probable step up man.
7) Pop impressed me last night with good rotations, and Parker getting on his team mates during a Nets run was also impressive. Even Massenburg's T showed some spark.
Don't forget Amare's taunting pushups. I am sure the Spurs do not, and they are coming into AZ to do some major damage.
Spurs 105
Suns 92
Last edited by Rummpd; 03-09-2005 at 06:07 AM.
WILL YOU PLEASE STOP JINXING THE OUT THAT GAME!!!!! Maybe whoever is up there will take notice of our humility and prevent Nash from going postal! lol I'm serious, I have the world of respect for the guy and that team. Still I know we CAN beat them, but don't predict a blowout again, 'cause its not going to happen.
As long as Jim doesn't make a wine bet...
I bet tlong a bottle of Chardonnay on the game.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Just keep the sharp objects away from this guy when his predictions don't come to pass tonight and the Suns win despite all that contrived logic.
Interesting quote by Amare
“The Spurs are a big-time team. They have won championships. They’ve been there, done that and we’re trying to get there. So they’re a team that we kind of look up to and we’re trying to get to their level, because they’re a great defensive team. Wednesday night is going to be a pretty big game for us.”
Hopefully they stay within themselves and don't get too hyped up like they did for the first meeting.
Frankly, I think all of the pressure tonight is on Phoenix. It will be interesting to see how they respond to that pressure. If the Spurs win tonight, they'll be two up in the loss column, but effectively three games up in the race for HCA. Not only that, they will have swept Phoenix, beating them twice on the road. If the Spurs win tonight, they're psychologically ahead, even if they don't end up with HCA for some reason. The Suns have to know this.
That said, I expect tonight to be a difficult game for the Spurs to win. They've shown flashes of what they can be, but recently, they've also shown enough inconsistency in various facets of the game to make me think they're vulnerable on a game-to-game basis. As compared to their last trip to PNX, I wouldn't expect the Spurs to get the same performance out of Manu tonight, but I also wouldn't expect Parker to go 1-9 or whatever he was last time. The tell-tale sign will be how well the Spurs get back in transition on the second night of a back-to-back. D'Antoni is going to want to try to run the Spurs out of the gym; if there is any fatigue, it could be a long night.
Oh ye Spurs fans of little faith = will see, I could be flat wrong but rarely am on predictions of this nature.
The biggest confounder is how long or if Timmy plays, if he goes the prediction will hold out!
"If the Spurs win tonight, they're psychologically ahead"
Exactly.
A win tonight could really park a dark cloud over Phoenix. No matter how much fun, and sun, they they have finishing the season and early playoff rounds, they know that they're 0-3 to the team waiting for them at the end of their playoff tunnel, ready to hand them their fishing poles.
Spurs @ 2-1 ain't shabby, but 3-0, including a devastating 2 @PHX, would be so sweet for us, and so sour for PHX.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
The wine bet kills the Spurs once more.
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