Whenever the Spurs release a ‘Best Of’ DVD, tonight’s third quarter has to be put in it. Forget everything else, that quarter won them the game tonight. Here are the facts:
- They outscored the Suns 27-11.
- They overcame a 7 point deficit in less than six minutes.
- They held the offensive juggernaut Suns scoreless for the first 6 minutes and 25 seconds.
- Then they decided it would be fun to hold them scoreless for another 3 minutes.
- After watching the Original Big 3 score 51 of their 54 points in the first half, the bench decided to wake up. In the third, Finley scored 8 of their first 9 points, pretty much single-handedly erasing the Suns lead. Udoka then decided to score 6 points in less than a minute and by then the Spurs were looking like the Spur
Whatever switch they flipped was the right one…sheesh.
After seeing Manu get presented the Sixth Man Award on Inside (and then watching Charles Barkley ask himself a rhetorical question just so he could scream GA-NO-BLEE) I had a thought. Could these fast starts that the Suns go on be attributed to the fact that Manu isn’t in the game. Tonight, the Suns were up 35-26 at the end of the first quarter. Let’s dig a little deeper now:
- Phoenix jumped out to a 9-2 lead and San Antonio called a timeout with 8:48 left in the quarter. Enter Manu Ginobili.
- Quarter finished 35-26, which means while Manu was in the game the score was 26-24 Phoenix. Things that make you go hmmm…
Other facts about that second half…they held Amare to 8 points in the second half on 2-for-9 shooting, compared to the 25 (11/14) he put up in the first half. They held Steve Nash to one assist in the second half compared to the nine he had in the first half.
In two games, Phoenix has seen big leads wash away. At the end of the day they just have to focus on taking care of business in Phoenix. They lose either one of these games and the sun will set in Phoenix. In Game 1, the Spurs got a near playoff career best performance from Duncan. Tonight they got the same from Tony Parker.
At the end of the day, I think the Suns are being their own worst enemy. Nash can’t guard Parker. This is a fact of life. People can talk about how much they miss Marion right now, but if Grant’s Groin was right he’d be hounding Parker, not Nash. (Also, with Marion, Duncan would be averging 60 on Amare.) Now Phoenix is slowing the game down…the only problem is this gives Tony Parker an advantage over Nash. A faster pace lets Nash neutralize Parker in a way, but the way these second halves have been played really play right into Tony and the Spurs gameplan. At the end of the day the Spurs have three guys that can really play, and the Suns are letting those guys play. It doesn’t help that Leandro Barbosa disappeared somewhere on the Riverwalk. Not to mention the fact that the Spurs made it almost Impossible for Amare to catch it and dunk it in the second half and his jumper wasn’t falling. To win Game 3 the Suns are going to have to see and play to their strengths.
The Suns have got to find a way to balance running and the half-court. Right now it seems like in the second halves (especially late in Game 1) they were satisfied with just running half-court stuff. They have to remember that having Shaq means they CAN run half-court offense not that they SHOULD. That should be their second option, they should never walk the ball up the court and try and run a play against the Spurs. That’s pretty much asking to lose, don’t you think?
Tonight was a night were the Suns couldn’t put up enough points. They score in that 3rd quarter, they win that game. No Spur other than the Big 3 scored double-figures. Unfortunately for the Suns that would take place on a night where they got shut down in the third quarter. Going back to Phoenix should help them, but I’m very intrigued to see the psyche of Suns fans on Friday night. If the Spurs come out on a run early, would it be that surprising to watch the air come out of US Airways Center? There is something about watching your rival that always beats you, come in and play well. It hurts you as a fan.
The Suns have got to believe if they want to have a chance. It really is a damn shame that this is the first round because these are two great teams.