Spurs Stop the Suns

Dan,

As I said in another post, it was only one game and the Suns still have a 2 game lead (really speaking just one, because of the tie breaker advantage for SA). I do believe the Suns can learn from the loss and fix the problems. It's going to be a chess match in the playoffs, with each team making adjustments to counter the other. I think Popovich is a better coach than Dantoni and it was proven last night (again), so the edge goes to SA, regardless of whether the Suns are #2 or #3 seed.  If SA miraculously gets eliminated in the first round (like their second round loss last year), the Suns will have a real shot at making it to the NBA finals.

It is encouraging that the Suns CAN play defense. It was their offense that let them down last night. SA played great D but a great offensive team needs to find a way out of it, just like the Spurs did. In the 3rd Q Parker and Finley made it work for SA during a spurt.  Other than that, the Suns had actually outscored the Spurs a major part of the game.  I believe the Suns CAN beat SA in SA. The bad news is SA can also beat the Suns in Phoenix.

Amare and LB both seemed to be out of their rhythm, may be because of the excessive foul calling.  They were not making the shots they normally do. They are both young and they will learn from this experience.

I thought Raja and Marion played well. I thought Nash might pull it off at the end, but it was not to be. He made a great pass to Amare, between Duncan's legs and Amare just missed it. I think he was really rattled by Duncan.

I was surprised that the SA players (Bowen especially) were reacting much worse to the foul calling against SA than I have ever seen Amare or Raja react. Duncan and Bowen should both have received T's.  The refereeing was not consistent at all, but it cannot be controlled. The only thing that can be controlled is how the players play and score. Yet the Suns had a chance to win, with just a 4 point deficit with 2 minutes to go. That's Suns basketball.  I thought they had a real chance of at least tying the game. I disagree with you that Nash pulled a Nowitski in that game. He had a pretty decent game, considering his teammates were not catching the ball and/or not putting the ball in the basket when he threw the passes.  I think nerves played a big role. The Suns young players (STAT & LB) cannot let SA intimidate them.

In a way the loss could be a positive thing. A win could have resulted in either complacency or confidence.  I think the Suns tendency is toward complacency, so the loss will just make them work that much harder, and hopefully win the 7 game series.

The bad news is SA is playing very poor teams rest of the way, with the excepttion of Dallas, but the Mavs have no motivation to win at that point. It is safe to assume that SA will close out the season with all wins from now on. It means the Suns cannot afford to lose more than one game now. The final game of the season against the Clippers may take on a new meaning now, with LAC possibly fighting for a playoff spot/moving up, and the Suns fighting to hold on to the #2 seed, if they have not already lost it.

Lookit, this Spurz performance was nearly perfect. They can't play any better D. And the Suns, as a consequence - and also as the result of a total off-night - can't play any worse offensively.

And yet the game was only 4 points with 2:00 to go.

It's an encouraging sign. The Suns can defeat the Spurz in the playoffs, and perhaps it's only proper that they should to advance. Redemption feels good.

This actually may work in the Suns's favor. They must now play to win every remaining game of the reg season to maintain the #2 seed, which will be very important if the Spurz are a 2nd-round foe. So, this means it's time to get nasty and play hard nosed team ball, and tune up for the playoffs.

The Suns played Spurs basketball in the first half and they were up by one.  Just think what would have happened if even one player on the Suns caught fire.

But I still give credit to the Spurs for playing their style and forcing it on the Suns.  Last night they were the better team.  But I still don't think they can do that for 7 games in the playoffs.

THe spurs did a few key things: close down the 3 point line, attack the paint (there were times when amare just stood as parker went to the basket) and let amare create his own shot. combined with low % shooting for both teams.

I don't think it's as easy as oh once someone on the Suns starts finding their shot, they can win. For one, Ginobili had a poor shooting night and Duncan wasn't AS dominant due to early fouls. The Suns definetely match up much better against Dallas (and it seems like Dallas matches up better against SA).
I also don't agree that Nash had a "nowitzki"ish performance. For one, I wouldn't equate nowitzki with poor performance, despite the last two games against us, and secondly, I thought Nash was comparably decent last night, tho he needs to work on less turnovers.

The Suns did not play well offensively, but they played pretty well defensively. So I would not say they played poorly, except for may be Diaw and (sadly) LB and STAT- OK, that's half the Suns team. The other half- Steve, Shawn, Raja had a pretty decent game. They needed help from their team mates to add points, catch the passes, etc.

I don't think anyone loses a game because of the refs. The refs are entitled to a few mistakes- intentional or unintentional; biased or unbiased. No matter what, a team has to find a way to win. The Suns came away a little short last night but they will fix it.