Phoenix Suns Cruise to Victory Over San Antonio Spurs 112-101
by Wil Cantrell on Apr 8, 2010 1:17 AM MDT
in Phoenix Suns: Game Coverage
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"They sliced and diced us and did a real good job of executing their offense."
-Spurs Coach Greg Popovich
Yes, Mr. Popovich, that's exactly right.
Tonight your Phoenix Suns beat the San Antonio Spurs 112-101. In doing so, the Suns took the season series from the Spurs for the second time in the last three seasons (2007-8) and thereby gained a potential head to head tiebreaker over San Antonio.
After a shaky beginning, the Suns found their stride, shooting 50% from the field and limiting the Spurs to 47% and 24% from beyond the arc (6-25). The Suns were also aided by the Spurs 60% (17-28) from the line and 18 turnovers resulting in 26 Suns points.
It was an impressive win for the Suns tonight, who after the end of the first half, never trailed or led by less than 5 points over the Spurs (and it was only for a few seconds before they stretched the lead to 7 or more).
The Suns used an 11-2 run at the end of the 2nd quarter to gain a 61-52 advantage at the half. The run was enabled by some excellent Suns defense. It began with a Grant Hill block of a Tim Duncan layup. Amare Stoudemire stole the resulting Tony Parker pass which led to a J-Rich dunk. Channing Frye then blocked a Tony Parker jumper which ended in a Stat jam off of a Grant Hill feed. After a long Nash 2, Tony Parker turned the ball over. Nash drove, drew the foul and sunk two free throws to end the half.
In the third, the Suns stretched their lead to 14 with the help of 13 Jason Richardson points before the Spurs used a 6-0 run to close to 88-80 at the end of the quarter
In the 4th, Goran Dragic aided the Suns cause with 5 straight points, solid D, while the rest of the Suns squad clamped down on San Antonio. The Spurs gave the ball up 8 times in the quarter and struggled with making shots (with the exception of Roger Mason who led all Spurs scorers with 18).
Steve Nash watched Dragon from the bench as he sat the entire 4th, playing a total of 30 minutes total. Of course that was all Stevie needed to post yet another double-double with 18 and 12.
Props:
- Nash: 18/12/4
- Stat: 29/8
- J-Rich: 20 (3-6 from 3)
- Grant Hill: 17/8/4
- Channing: 12/5
- Dragon: being Dragon with energy, defense, speed, and 5 straight in the 4th.
Quotable:
"JD (Dudley) did a really good job on limiting (Manu) Ginobili and we tried to limit (Duncan's) touches as much as we could...We tried to be as active as we can and we tried to change it up as much as we could."
"I don't think anybody was more happy than Steve the way Goran played...I just think that's what makes us a really good team, just the chemistry and the way everyone pulls for each other."
Manu, who was booed every time he touched the ball by the Suns' raucous crowd, finished with 10 points on 5-14 shooting (0-5 from three-point range).
Steve Nash (on Gentry's rotations):
"Alvin's been ballsy that way lately and it's been great... One, it's important to give those guys confidence and, two, it gives us some rest."
Pops:
"In the first half, we really missed a great opportunity by missing our free throws...But in the second half, our execution defensively wasn't good."
Numbers and Things:
- The Suns have won 30 wins at home for the 24th time in franchise history and for the 12th time in 18 seasons at US Airways Center
- The Suns have won 11 of their last 12 games....have lost once since March 14...are 20-5 since the All-Star Break
- The Suns are 25-6 in their last 31 games, tied with the Cleveland LeBrons for the NBA best record since January 28
- The Suns are 20-5 (.800) at home against the West this season.
- The Suns scored 110 or more points in all three games against the Spurs this season.
- The Suns are undefeated at home when Wil Cantrell attends games (Golden State, LA Clips, Houston, San Antonio...etc)
- The Suns last posted three consecutive 110-point games against San Antonio 22 years ago (That would be 1988).
Commentary:
A solid and needed win by the Suns who watched the Jazz lose but the Nuggets and Mavericks win tonight. The Suns hold on to the 4 seed, trailed by the Jazz at 5. Nash was excellent tonight, penetrating, and keeping the Spurs off guard. He also had 2 long 2s that could have been 3s if his foot wouldn't have been on the line.
A thought on Amare Stoudemire: It was very clear tonight that he and Nash were in sync. Wherever he ends up or whatever he thinks he wants to do, he should think long and hard about leaving his benefactor, Mr. Nash. Maybe there are a couple of guards out there that he can hook up with, but the bottom line is that Amare significantly benefits from Nash's presence of mind to find him. It's a rare quality to find a teammate who knows you so well to get up with the ball where you can do the most damage and be the most successful. Amare wants and probably deserves max money, so perhaps it's all moot. I'm just saying...
Stay tuned for the Pre-game Popovich interview and exclusive photos from Max Simbron
Next up, @ OKC Friday. The home stretch continues...
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I'm glad we didn't forfeit the game, after all ;)
Twitter: @dahking
Too late to change the stupid twitter name. Did it as a joke to my teenager, but now I'm hooked on the news-feed aspect of twitter.
I was only forfeiting the road games
Ha.
http://seasonsofdiscontent.com/
by Scott Howard on Apr 8, 2010 10:34 AM MDT up reply actions
Huge win!!!
I really didnt think it would happen, but it did. Good times
"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness
Great game, had a blast. Great energy from the crowd
and a great win…
Now on to something not so positive….has anyone seen the LB that I love? I don’t know where he went, but the guy in his uniform kinda sucks. We’re gonna need him come playoff time, and i hope he can come back, minus the suckiness i’ve been witnessing….
Has he really been struggling much?
He showed some great effort in the Bucks game with his 21 points. I think he just had an off-night. Cut him some slack, it takes anyone some time to bounce back from an injury.
he did look terrible
but he’s always been terrible against the Spurs.
Twitter: @dahking
Too late to change the stupid twitter name. Did it as a joke to my teenager, but now I'm hooked on the news-feed aspect of twitter.
LB is probably finished with the Suns
His style of play on defense does not fit in with the reserve unit that plays so very well. If he wants to get some minutes he will have to play defense and he will have to take care of the ball. Gentry was right to pull LB from the game last night after a terrible sequence of turnovers, missed shot and defensive lapses. Goran and JD are taking all of Leandro’s minutes and until he decides to get tough on defense, his minutes will dwindle to Earl Clark numbers. His offensive play against the Bucks was terrific but the Suns lost the game. Time for LB to realize his defensive liabilities and do something about it.
and his offense no longer fits either
he’s a head-down barrel to the basket or pull up for a jump shot kinda guy, while the rest of the second unit (and first unit, of course) passes the ball around to the open man. I’m tired of seeing someone pass him the ball, only to watch him back up and size up his man for a dribble-drive. He doesn’t even catch-and-shoot the 3s anymore.
I love LB, and hurts my heart to write this, but he just doesn’t fit anymore. Maybe if he’s healthy next year and has more chance to mesh with the team, he’ll be significantly better. I dunno.
Twitter: @dahking
Too late to change the stupid twitter name. Did it as a joke to my teenager, but now I'm hooked on the news-feed aspect of twitter.
I feel the same way too...I think that LB no longer is that important to this team..
He would make some team a grat scoring option (ala Ben Gordon) off the bench….Chicago or Charlotte, maybe…?
"I especially liked the part where I dunked on the McDonalds All-American dude..."
Anonymous high-school player after a Virginia basketball state championship game...
A thread exploring where Barbosa could go and what the Suns could get for him might be in order. I wonder whether he knows he’s had it.
I was already thinking the same thing...I posted one over in the "Fanposts"
"I especially liked the part where I dunked on the McDonalds All-American dude..."
Anonymous high-school player after a Virginia basketball state championship game...
I still think he's important
Outside of Goran he’s the only other guy off our bench that can create a shot for himself
Steve Nash, the league's MVP, is a longhaired Canadian who spoke out against the war in Iraq and reads The Communist Manifesto. Quentin Richardson declared after a game-winning shot that it "was like Hamlet. It was a suspense thriller, and I killed them at the end." Amare Stoudemire, when asked to comment on a 22-point third quarter against the Kings, said, "I've got a tendency to jump over some guys' heads and throw it down."
thats true.
he’s great at scoring… as long as he doesn’t turn the ball over or miss the shot, which has happened way too often lately
Twitter: @dahking
Too late to change the stupid twitter name. Did it as a joke to my teenager, but now I'm hooked on the news-feed aspect of twitter.
Clark has shown he can
he has great ball handling skills
They say "don't swim with the sharks", but I'm faster than sharks so it's not a big deal...
such a great win
complete team effort, amare with gorilla game, nash with his complete game (even with solid D on parker), dragon closing game with some spectacular plays, dudley and hill with great D on manu, frye and lou with their solid contribution, jrich with excellent 3rd, hell, even collins did good job on duncan (at least 3rd quarter, which I saw)…
was it also another sub finishing game, dudley was on, right? I forgot… so we can sclose out mighty spurs with two bench players… even frye who is usually bench player… who-hooo… I love this team…
Pop funny as usual
Asked before the game how Parker has looked, Popovich said, "He’s still cute."
LOL
Pops is a character...I love the way he torments Craig Sager...
"I especially liked the part where I dunked on the McDonalds All-American dude..."
Anonymous high-school player after a Virginia basketball state championship game...
It just warmed my heart
to see Manu getting a taste of his own medicine when Jared Dudley drew the offensive foul on Manu. At least Dudley earned that one. There’s a reason you get booed Manu. Stop flopping and bitching when it doesn’t go your way!
by NashMV3 on Apr 8, 2010 1:55 AM MDT reply actions 1 recs
All that spastic flailing and flopping that Manu does makes him one of my 10 most hated players...
It’s gonna be hard to top Bruce Bowen & Robert Horry, though…However, Manu consistently gives a great effort in making an ass of himself on the court. I truly enjoy it when someone like JYD locks him down….
"I especially liked the part where I dunked on the McDonalds All-American dude..."
Anonymous high-school player after a Virginia basketball state championship game...
He is a great flopper
like the rest of his game unfortunately.
Note how dudley anticipated his move to the left, placed his right foot out, got set, took the hit.
Dudley looks like he knows the Spurs well. He was doing that in several places where he anticipated the players move, playing the passing lane.
Go Suns
I like how on twitter he told us
he was going to try to make Manu go right all night – and he did
They say "don't swim with the sharks", but I'm faster than sharks so it's not a big deal...
rec - amen
They say "don't swim with the sharks", but I'm faster than sharks so it's not a big deal...
We needed it...Good win!!!!
"I especially liked the part where I dunked on the McDonalds All-American dude..."
Anonymous high-school player after a Virginia basketball state championship game...
How nice...
Sunny, beautiful day of Spring in Barcelona and the Suns beat the Spurs…what else can you ask for?
by Lorenzo Franceschi Bicchierai on Apr 8, 2010 7:07 AM MDT reply actions
Impressive win
Pissed I didn’t get to see it. Sounds like it was a helluva game. Any clips of Grant’s block on Duncan?
Trying to rep Canada on the Bright Side.
As Mark Jackson kept saying during the ESPN broadcast
There is no excuse. If you’re a team that’s as great as the Spurs, you should be able to find a way to get it done. If the big 3 are fatigued, you look to your role players to step up. Only Roger Mason did that tonight. The Suns managed to limit most of the other players’ scoring. None of the Spurs’ scoring numbers really jumped out at me. Their depth is really questionable if Pop is still having his big 3 log in huge minutes.
The Spurs knew they would have this tough schedule in the final weeks....
they should have gotten their acts sooner in the beginning of the season to lock-up a higher seed. So who the heck cares that they had to ensure these back-to-back now???
The Spurs will be tough in the playoffs regardless of the seeding..
With the rest beween games, there will be no “gimmes” against them…A mentally and physically tough team that knows how to squeeze out wins…
"I especially liked the part where I dunked on the McDonalds All-American dude..."
Anonymous high-school player after a Virginia basketball state championship game...
here's hoping the spurs play the lakers in the first round
because the spurs could beat the lakers and help everyone out…not that this is the same laker team that I feared earlier
no team gets a bye because its a B2B
those account for half our losses this year. Anyone feeling sorry for the Suns?
Twitter: @dahking
Too late to change the stupid twitter name. Did it as a joke to my teenager, but now I'm hooked on the news-feed aspect of twitter.
I took a peak at game thread on spurs SB page
class organization they have, but their fans, I really could not believe it, what a bunch of idiots they have… so classless… with few bright exepctions…
spurstalk.com
is actually a very knowledgeable and classy group of people. They police themselves pretty well.
Twitter: @dahking
Too late to change the stupid twitter name. Did it as a joke to my teenager, but now I'm hooked on the news-feed aspect of twitter.
I realize you were talking about the SB blog
I was just pointing out that, in my experience, Spurs fans have been pretty knowledgeable people
Twitter: @dahking
Too late to change the stupid twitter name. Did it as a joke to my teenager, but now I'm hooked on the news-feed aspect of twitter.
the spurs fans
i went to a suns spurs game in s.a. last year. I was impressed with the fans there…but I have to agree with zeze_999 that the pounding the rock bloogers – many are pretty useless to read.
To be fair, I went to 2 other non – suns blogs and didn’t think the same as I think about ptr
Pretty much this.
I know we hate the Spurs, but we don’t sink to this kind of level:
“someone hit nash in the face….” – GodsLoveSpursGlory
“Amundson must die” – TheOnlyRomeo
“Request to Blair: can you rip off Amundson’s hair, and then after his arms, too? kthxbai” – silverandblackdavis, followed by “Rip his nutsack so his genetic material will not be passed down to another generation.” – hipuks
“let’s play physical! let’s kill Nash and everybody else on their team” – TDzilla!
and then, as if they have forgotten making all these statements, in the 2nd half mission20 says: “they really are full of hate when it comes to the spurs. wishing harm on our players.”
Ridiculous.
Educated Basketball Fan, Totally Uneducated Baseball Fan.
by Genesius on Apr 8, 2010 10:04 AM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
Yeah, I also saw that gamethread
What a bunch of whiny idiots. You’d think that after watching a winning team like the Spurs that you’d develop some sense of the bigger picture while learning a thing or two about basketball. Nope, just a bunch of morons blaming their loss on the refs.
There was even one guy that claimed the Suns were just “standing around on defense” the entire game. Guess he didn’t notice Duncan getting doubled hard on the attack, everybody flying around on rotations or Goran absolutely locking Parker down.
by hcblankscreen on Apr 8, 2010 11:04 AM MDT up reply actions
Don't forget JYD playing lockdown on Ginobilli..
I guess JYD was “just standing around”, too…
"I especially liked the part where I dunked on the McDonalds All-American dude..."
Anonymous high-school player after a Virginia basketball state championship game...
It just shows the many things that are wrong with our generation.
Well, I’m a 20 year old college kid so I guess it’s my generation since I have no idea how old any of you are. I try to be as respectful as possible in this community and elsewhere on the internet. We’re just spectators in a game that belongs to the pros. All the players compete against each other without malice but yet, these idiotic fan boys wish death on certain players which is pretty fucked up. I don’t know if they’re just immature but they’ve really gotta learn some respect.
One thing I hate about most Lakers fans, Celtics fans, Cavaliers fans, and Spurs fans is that so many of them are BANDWAGONERS. I hate to say it but I despise bandwagoners. They’re the ones who talk the most trash and their stupidity reaches levels that are beyond anything I’ve seen. It’s easy to be “fans” of teams that win but sticking with teams that are doing terribly is what I call true dedication. I believe many of you have used the word spoiled, which is definitely the perfect word. Lakers “fans” and Celtics “fans” are booing their own teams when their teams have very respectable records. Talk about spoiled
One thing I truly admire is the Suns fanbase. Talk about loyalty. Alvin Gentry even said that in his many years here, the Suns have only been booed about 3 times. That shouldn’t happen at all but 3 times is pretty good when you’re talking about 6-7 year period.
hahaha
I was about to write up that exact exchange…and what about that guy who kept going off on how overrated nash is and how much of a douche (???) he is…
man here I thought I was the only one who went to the spurs thread after a game…their tears of sadness taste so sweet…
I could go on, but it’s really not fair to make fun of the mentally disabled…
Well, that last part was due to the cheers coming from the stands when it looked like Duncan was hurt. There is no excuse for that. I’m not excusing those other comments, but it’s not “ridiculous” for someone to think that fans who cheer for an injury to an opposing player are full of hate.
Spurs Basketball. Improving [other] NBA teams since 2010! - swgeek
I agree that it was in poor taste for Suns fans to cheer Duncan and Ginobili going down.
Both in the stands and on BSoTS.
However, it is hypocritical for you to complain about 2-3 comments on this blog (tempered with others saying that you don’t want to see players get hurt) concerning Duncan and Ginobili’s collision when you’ve got guys openly (even if sarcastically) saying that you want Spurs players to injure Suns. Some of us might have “cheered” when your guys collided, but we weren’t actively looking for blood.
Educated Basketball Fan, Totally Uneducated Baseball Fan.
by Genesius on Apr 8, 2010 11:17 AM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
I can't believe a Spurs fan would have the gall to open his mouth like that...
After all the Suns abuse that is heaped out on “Pounding the Rock..”.
"I especially liked the part where I dunked on the McDonalds All-American dude..."
Anonymous high-school player after a Virginia basketball state championship game...
Again, I’m not defending what those other posters said… I’ll let them speak for themselves. For you to say that I’m hypocritical when I said pretty clearly that I wasn’t excusing those other comments by people on PtR is unwarranted. But go ahead and stereotype me based on what a few other Spurs fans said, because it’s such a cool thing to do. And go ahead and tell me that I have to have gall to open my mouth, when I’m not the one who said those things. I obviously have the exact same opinions, right?
Spurs Basketball. Improving [other] NBA teams since 2010! - swgeek
You're right, I didn't read closely enough that you weren't defending other PtR posters.
But I think this is a no-win argument.
See you in the Playoffs.
Educated Basketball Fan, Totally Uneducated Baseball Fan.
well I was there
and when you’re in the stands you don’t see the little close-up details like head-knocking. All we saw, in my section, was Ginobili and Duncan falling over each other going after a rebound. And then Duncan “looking” like he was nursing it, hoping for a foul call. That was the gut reaction anyway, based on how Duncan and Ginobili both sell their fouls over the years.
Twitter: @dahking
Too late to change the stupid twitter name. Did it as a joke to my teenager, but now I'm hooked on the news-feed aspect of twitter.
by Alex Laugan on Apr 8, 2010 1:32 PM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
only on the net
Don’t forget that the anonymity of the Internet encourages people to be much more verbally abusive than they would be in real life. I remember a book at my library displaying what bloggers said on their forums about the author. The quoted messages and phrases were monstrous: violent, racist, and extremely offensive. But I quickly thought, “Hey, these are all bloggers’ comments. Does anyone in real life say that about her?”
exactly
well, the reason I posted that comment is because here I really enjoy to be here, and I checked some other SB blogs (portland, knicks, hell even lakers blog is decent) so I concluded that SB is really different… that it attracts people willing to discuss, exchange opinions and learn more about the game… I expected that especially from such class organization and (I thought) fans… I hope those few are exceptions, wasn’t actually following how many persons were throwing in those ridicolous comments… and I noticed some who were trying to police those bad posters…
Nice win
But we’re getting KILLED on the boards without Lopez. Seriously, Amare only had 2 defensive rebounds? Not good.
The Spurs are a good rebounding team...
Without Robin, I think the Suns hung in there and did their best…
"I especially liked the part where I dunked on the McDonalds All-American dude..."
Anonymous high-school player after a Virginia basketball state championship game...
The boards do worry me as well.
We need RoLo back! But a win is a win and I’ll definitely take 2 out of three against them.
And you need to find a video of Hill blocking Duncan…
Besides Barbosa...
Is there anything at all that was not good about the Suns’ performance? I don’t see anything.
rebounding?
Blogging Suns Basketball . twitter: @sethpo
by Seth Pollack on Apr 8, 2010 11:12 AM MDT up reply actions
I was following rebounding battle
and for 3 and a half quarters we were even, difference came in last 6-7 minutes…
actually, I'd say this wasn't even our sharpest game..
..too many O rebounds by the Spurs ( understandably so ) and 2nd chance points kept them in the game in the first half, but I like that we made necessary adjustments in the 2nd
Just think of the score if we were really on and playing with Rolo..
yea, he wasn't exactly dominating
but I have to believe it would have been better than collins
A tackling dummy would have been more effective than Collins Last night...
I thought he was going to bring a good court presence, but he is turning out to be a 6’’11’ waste of courside oxygen…
"I especially liked the part where I dunked on the McDonalds All-American dude..."
Anonymous high-school player after a Virginia basketball state championship game...
sadly, I'm in the same boat
I was all for giving him a chance..but..eh..
Geez, man
what about Jrich driving to the basket?
Goran’s 4th quarter letting us rest Nash?
Amare.s PNR scoring?
Lou’s hustle?
Channing getting 12/5?
Hill getting 17/8?
It sounds like you are pissed because you gave 12 points.
April 29, 2008 Total Eclipse of the Sun. Is the sky falling?
What I noticed -
If we match up with the Spurs in the playoffs there are a few things that concern me.
No Robin Lopez – Without Lopez we are forced to throw the double on Timmay when he’s on the block, and on a normal day the Spurs will make us pay from the perimeter. Roger Mason gave us a taste of what that’s like – our rotations were just too slow when we commit to that double team. With Lopez – he can play Timmay one on one straight up and that at least allows us to stay at home with their perimeter guys. .
No George Hill – without Hill, and with Tony Parker banged up we have a great chance of continuing the domination we displayed last night. But if Parker finds his stride and Hill returns, their penetration and playmaking ability make this Spurs team a lot more difficult than the stagnant team we played yesterday. Ginobili and RJ were the only lane threats we had to deal with, Ginobili had a crappy game (and yes we played good D on him too) and RJ disappeared after the 1st quarter…. maybe in the playoffs these guys take it up a notch.
Besides that – I loved this game, it brought joy to my heart and motivated me to do my homework – I thank the Suns for that, had we lost I might have been too depressed to finish my assignments and just would have gone to bed! I hate how attached I am to this team….. SYKE! I LOVE THIS TEAM!
#GDHOF (Goran Dragic Hall of Fame) <—- this is for dpwatson
They say "don't swim with the sharks", but I'm faster than sharks so it's not a big deal...
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