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im interested to see if pop will start KT to guard SHAQ?
Save Timmy some fouls early on? We just need to stay cool and play D to win.
Phoenix (34-28) at San Antonio (41-20) Preview
Game info: 3:30 pm EDT Sun Mar 8, 2009
TV: ABC
By Brett Huston
The San Antonio Spurs have eliminated the Phoenix Suns in three of the past four postseasons, and as the NBA enters the final stretch of the 2008-09 regular season, the Spurs are again one of the favorites in the Western Conference.
The Suns, however, might not make it back for another crack at San Antonio.
Phoenix has lost three in a row to fall further out of the West’s final playoff spot, a skid it hopes to snap Sunday afternoon as it tries to salvage the finale of a four-game trip against the Southwest Division-leading Spurs.
San Antonio (41-20) took the Suns out of the playoffs in five games after the 2004-05 and 2007-08 seasons, and beat them in six games in the controversy-filled 2007 Western Conference semifinals that was best remembered for one-game suspensions to Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw. The Spurs have also won two of three matchups this season.
While the Spurs will certainly be back in the playoffs competing for a fifth NBA le since 1999, the Suns (34-28) may not be joining them. Phoenix won six of eight after Alvin Gentry took over for fired coach Terry Porter, but it’s lost the first three games of this trip and is currently stuck in ninth place.
Nash had a season-high 32 points and 13 assists on Friday in Houston, but Aaron Brooks had a career-high 30 as the Rockets held on for a 116-112 win after Nash missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer.
“We got the pace of the game where we wanted it—up-tempo,” Gentry said. “Houston likes to play that way too. We seem to be snake bitten with the way things have gone at the end of games lately.”
While the Suns continue to adjust to playing without Stoudemire, who won’t return until next season after having surgery to repair a detached retina, Nash has started to score more.
Nash has averaged 27.0 points on 58.6 percent shooting during the road trip after missing three games with a sprained ankle.
He’ll have an especially tough matchup on Sunday against Tony Parker, who has thrived in head-to-head meetings with Nash. Parker has averaged 26.3 points on 51.2 percent from the floor in his past eight regular-season meetings with Phoenix.
Nash has averaged 15.8 points and 11.5 assists in those matchups.
With Manu Ginobili having missed the past 10 games with a stress reaction in his right ankle and Tim Duncan sidelined for three games in that same stretch, Parker has picked it up offensively. His numbers in his seven games since Feb. 24—26.3 points per game on 51.4 percent shooting—are nearly identical to his recent efforts against the Suns.
Parker had game highs of 19 points and seven assists in just 24 minutes Friday in the Spurs’ 100-78 win over Washington, a much-needed easy victory after they’d lost three of four.
“At this time of year when you get a game like this, when every once in a while your starters can rest, it’s usually a good thing,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “So that worked out for us.”
Ginobili won’t be ready for at least another week, and Duncan hasn’t quite looked like himself since coming back from a sore right knee. He’s averaged 14.0 points in four games—six below his average.
Duncan, though, hasn’t had any problems inside against Shaquille O’Neal this season. The two-time league MVP has averaged 25.7 points and 12.7 rebounds in the three games, including two wins in Phoenix.
The Spurs, though, have lost three straight regular-season games at home to the Suns.
Notes
Suns:
C Shaquille O'Neal had 17 points and five rebounds for Phoenix, which led the game just once, 2-1, in the opening minutes of the game. ... The Suns scored over 100 points for the 10th time in 11 games since Alvin Gentry took over for the fired Terry Porter, who refused to ins ute a run-and-gun attack
Spurs:
G Tony Parker had 15 points in the third quarter, hitting five layups and five free throws as San Antonio blew the game open. ... G George Hill had 12 points off the bench. ... F Ime Udoka score 13 points in 27 minutes. ... F Tim Duncan only had to play 18 minutes, scoring five points and grabbing five rebounds.
Team Stat Leaders
Points
Amar'e Stoudemire Pho 21.4
Tony Parker SA 20.8
Rebounds
Shaquille O'Neal Pho 8.8
Tim Duncan SA 10.6
Assists
Steve Nash Pho 9.7
Tony Parker SA 6.6
Team Comparison
Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10
Phoenix 34-28 2nd Pacific / 9th West 107.5 105.8 Road 15-17 Lost 3 5-5
San Antonio 41-20 1st Southwest / 2nd West 97.5 93.4 Home 21-8 Won 1 6-4
im interested to see if pop will start KT to guard SHAQ?
Save Timmy some fouls early on? We just need to stay cool and play D to win.
Enough of this dumb already! Is this gonna be brought up til the next millenium? These dumb writers....
I wonder if Parker is gonna break Wilt's single game scoring record.
Yup, it's gonna be brought up forever. Them losing the series had nothing to do with letting Duncan, Parker, and Manu combine for 87 points in a must win game 6 with a crappy coach inexplicably using Thomas for only 12 minutes in the game, it was only cause Amare got suspended. Now you know if you didn't already.
For all the things said about that series, the game 6 egg the Suns came out and laid on defense doesn't get enough attention.
Spurs should be quite fresh for this game (no travel + easy game against Wizards).
For Suns, this game and the game against Mavs on Tuesday are damn important.
Yeah, Tim should be back to his old self going against Shaq.
I'm 99% sure the Suns are going to lose this one.
Everything else would be a miracle
The only, and I mean ONLY, reason this game is circled on my calendar is because I live out of town and don't have cable. As a result, I can only catch a handful of games involving the Silver & Black each season. Tomorrow's game is on ABC, so I will be glued to the couch sporting my Spurs gear. But it won't be because this is some great matchup, because it isn't.
There are only a few teams that stand between the Spurs and another le, and Phoenix isn't one of them. They are no longer relevant. This game carries only slightly more meaning as last night's bout with the Wizards. I don't even remember who won the last Spurs-Sons match. Who won? Did we?
Even if the Sons manage to pull it out tomorrow ... so what??
@ the Sun fans in here.
Come on guys, Have some faith
Start Thomas may be a good idea, then TD would have to guard Barnes
Hey X, this is the NBA, anything can happen. I think it will be a good game.
lol...
I gave my team a 1% chance, so if they win I can still say I thought it was possible.
I think X is a closet Spurs fan.
Suns 134
Spurms 66
The Suns are going to stomp the pathetc spurms ...mark my words!
Ok, Louis.
Sunday: Suns (34-28) at Spurs (41-20)
Express-News
Time: 2:30 p.m.
TV: ABC
Radio: WOAI-AM 1200, KCOR-AM 1350
STARTING LINEUPS
POS - SPURS - SUNS
PG - 9 Tony Parker (6-2, 8th yr) - 13 Steve Nash (6-3, 13th yr)
A perennial Suns killer, Parker averaging 28.3 points vs. them this season.
SG - 8 Roger Mason Jr. (6-5, 5th yr) - 22 Matt Barnes (6-7, 6th yr)
Barnes has logged at least 17 points in each of his past five starts.
SF - 4 Michael Finley (6-7, 14th yr) - 23 Jason Richardson (6-6, 8th yr)
Richardson in double figures in 30 of 38 games since trade from Charlotte.
PF - 21 Tim Duncan (6-11, 12th yr) - 33 Grant Hill (6-8, 14th yr)
Duncan should be well-rested after logging just 18 minutes in rout of Wizards.
C - 15 Matt Bonner (6-10, 5th yr) - 32 Shaquille O’Neal (7-1, 17th yr)
Rejuvenated — and riled — O’Neal averaging 27.2 points in past five games.
SPURS RESERVES
12 Bruce Bowen, F, 6-7, 13th yr
1 Malik Hairston, G, 6-6, 1st yr
3 George Hill, G, 6-2, 1st yr
7 Fabricio Oberto, C, 6-10, 4th yr
40 Kurt Thomas, C/F, 6-9, 14th yr
5 Ime Udoka, G/F, 6-5, 5th yr
11 Jacque Vaughn, G, 6-1, 12th yr
SUNS RESERVES
17 Louis Admundson, F, 6-9, 3rd yr
10 Leandro Barbosa, G, 6-3, 6th yr
2 Goran Dragic, G, 6-4, 1st yr
3 Jared Dudley, F, 6-7, 2nd yr
15 Robin Lopez, C, 7-0, 1st yr
29 Alando Tucker, G/F, 6-6, 2nd yr
4 Stromile Swift, F/C, 6-10, 9th yr
COACHES
Spurs: Gregg Popovich
Suns: Alvin Gentry
INJURIES
Spurs: Ian Mahinmi (right ankle surgery) and Manu Ginobili (stress reaction, right ankle) are out.
Suns: Amare Stoudemire (eye surgery) is out.
PROJECTED INACTIVE PLAYERS
Spurs: Mahinmi, Ginobili, Drew Gooden.
Suns: Stoudemire.
NOTABLE
Today’s game is the final one of four vs. Suns this season. Spurs own a 2-1 edge in the season series, with neither team winning on its own floor. ... Suns are averaging 121.7 points in 11 games under Gentry after averaging 104.4 in 51 games under Terry Porter. ... Spurs are tied with Boston for best 3-point percentage in the league (39.2). Suns rank fifth at 38.5 percent.
- Jeff McDonald
first of all er its spelled sperms
I've thought about it for years -- but no, don't have the time to watch all that TV. And the Spurs are not on basic cable enough to justify the expense anyway. They have to be playing the Lakers or Cavs to get on TNT.
Come playoff time, I'll be at a few New Orleans pizza joints or seafood places catching the games. You can be darn sure the Sons won't be in many of those games.
This game is about as relevant as a Spurs v. Thunder game in Dec. The only reason I'm hyped for it is because the good guys are actually on national TV, and I will get to watch the game. To me, a Spurs game is a rare and precious thing.
THe elementary school my mom works at has a version of that on a wall in the main office.
And YES, I finally got the stupid converter box working, so the Spurs will come in HD baby!!!
This will be a tougher game than expected from the Suns. They have gone 0-3 on this road trip and will be desperate for a win.
The Spurs will have to bring it and win in a high scoring game.
Spurs 109
Suns 101
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