Phoenix Suns vs San Antonio Spurs - Game 2

by Dan @ Bright Side Of The Sun on May 8, 2007 5:03 PM MDT in Phoenix Suns News

It's game 2 of the series. This is a do-or-die game for the Suns. If they don't win this, they will essentially have to win 4 of the next 5 games against the Spurs with 3 of the games being on the Spurs home court. The Suns know this. The Spurs know this. So it's going to be quite a battle tonight. The (hopefully) good thing? The Suns usually seem to have at least one blowout ready for a team in each series. Hopefully, tonight will be that game. The Spurs may become a bit complacent knowing they have homecourt advantage now and the Suns may be able to win easily. But then again, these are the Spurs so you never know.

Kurt Thomas should be starting tonight and that should help with my first key to the game. Amare Should be fired up and that should also help. I think the key tonight is getting Shawn Marion to play a complete game and hopefully getting Boris Diaw to play well.

Keys to the game:

Rebounds - The Suns need to stay close on rebounding, if not just win that "game within a game" outright. If they win the rebounding category, they should win the game handily.
Let only one of the Spurs players have a big game - I just don't think you can stop all the Spurs players in the same game. So because of that, only let one of the players have a 30 point night. Letting 2 get over 3 points is just as bad as letting one player score over 50.
Intensity - You're basically playing for your playoff lives here. Let's see some intensity. I want to see some fight and some drive. That means taking it into the lane, getting the Spurs to foul, not settling for jump shots. But if the Spurs are clogging the lane, look at key #4.
Look for the open man - It seems the Spurs like to clog the lane. That means that there is usually someone open for a clear shot. Find that guy if you're getting bogged down! It's imperative that the ball gets passed around to the open man. Do this and you should be able to crush the Spurs. Well, you should at least be able to beat them.

Did I miss anything?

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Comments

LB

Dan,

Excellent analysis. You missed LB however. There was a nice article in the SA newspaper about him ('beep beep'). I don't think SA is complacent at all. Duncan has said they want to win game 2 to put even more pressure on the Suns.

What Duncan may not know is that the Suns play their best basketball when their backs are against the wall. I hope they feel it this way tonight.

Nash is always the key to the Suns game (though no MV3 this year). The Spurs used the same strategy the Wizards had used when they beat the Suns. Let Nash shoot but don't let him assist. At the half in game 1 Nash had just 4 assists and that concerned me. He ended with 8 assists and that was way below his average. Nash needs to get more assists, which means his teammates need to make the shots. When that happens, the Suns are in control of the game.

Can't wait for tonight. This could be the last home game for the Suns, but hopefully they will do better than that.

by Vash01 @ Bright Side Of The Sun on May 8, 2007 6:11 PM MDT reply actions

On Nash

Your right about him needing more assists, but I think everyone on the team would tell you he's their best shooter. With this in mind, I wouldn't feel bad if he scored 50 pts, problem is, this bothers Nash, it makes him feel selfish, and the Spurs know this, which hurts us a little. Should be a great game, we'll see tonight clearly how much heart the Suns have, if they (Suns) play out of their minds hustling, etc but still lose, I can handle that. I just want to see the effort. But, I'm confident with the effort, a win will come.

by jasonsuns1 on May 8, 2007 6:33 PM MDT reply actions

Too much nervous energy!!!

Can't wait for this game to start! Its a must win of course and a true test of where the Suns are. I agree w/ Coach D that we have the more talented players but they have the experience to play well together and under pressure.

Another reason to hope for a win is the long layoff. I would hate to have until Saturday to listen to all the reasons the Suns now suddenly are the Mav's...I mean the Hawks...and all the things that need to change and all the reasons our system won't work in the playoffs and all the other crap about blah blah blah....

Time to head downtown!!!

by Seth Pollack on May 8, 2007 6:52 PM MDT reply actions