Against depleted Spurs, Suns win -- but don't really
March 10, 2005
By Tony Mejia
SportsLine.com Staff Writer


Spurs-Suns III will go down as the most significant regular-season NBA game in the Western Conference.

The Suns beat Robert Horry's Spurs Wednesday night -- but they didn't beat Tim Duncan's. (AP)
Considering the Eastern equivalent, the Palace Brawl, had season-altering consequences, you know we mean business.

Against the Nets on Tuesday night, San Antonio's Tim Duncan had played well in an easy victory after coach Gregg Popovich "pleaded" with him to lay off his injured ankle. That seemed to set the stage for Wednesday's showdown in Phoenix, with sole supremacy in the Western Conference at stake, the coveted league's best record on the line.

Too bad the Spurs had no desire for a climactic battle. Word leaked well before game time that Popovich and Co. were basically saying "Here, take it." Duncan, because of a lack of explosion, was being held out. They didn't want to play him consecutive nights, it seems. Manu Ginobili, who throws his body around all the time, had too many bumps and bruises to go. Groin, hip, shoulder -- maybe his tongue hurt too, speaking all those languages.

The Suns could have their precious 47-14 tie atop the conference with 21 games remaining. San Antonio, having already made a pair of definitive statements, winning 115-94 and 128-123 (overcoming a 17-point deficit at America West), was content to give the Suns no room for a confidence boost. And they got none in a ragged 107-101 victory.

"Now we have something to lose -- we wanted something to win," were the sentiments of coach Mike D'Antoni, clearly an assertive individual.

That was the little joke San Antonio played on Phoenix and its fans, who were hyped up to land one significant blow before the final bell, defiantly saying "We can hang with you in a seven-game series."

With Duncan and Ginobili looking on in street clothes, the clear response was a crystal-clear "no you can't."
Phoenix was out-small-balled by a lineup that included 37-year-old Tony Massenburg, the team's third-string center, who aided in landing Amare Stoudemire in foul trouble.

Stoudemire said before tipoff that he hoped Duncan would play so he could get a "taste of what it would be like in the playoffs."
He got it all right, in subliminal form. What if it were Duncan in the lineup instead of Massenburg? Surely, Amare wouldn't have seen his 44 points come so easily. 17-for-22? Not even in a video game on novice level against Duncan. And if Massenburg can create problems for the Suns in the post ...?

As for Ginobili, we'd be remiss not to remind you of the 48 points he dropped in his first visit to the Valley, and of the fact that young guards Beno Udrih and Mike Wilks picked up most of his minutes.

"It's a lot easier for us to get up for the game with those two there, but we have to respect the fact they're all NBA players," explained Shawn Marion. "Everyone's gonna perceive it (as bad) that we only won by such and such, say we're supposed to beat them by 20, but they're NBA players, a win's a win."

C'mon, you know better, Shawn. In our experience, anytime an athlete drops the "a win is a win" cliché, they know the deal. San Antonio might have lost the battle, but it just won the war