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Title: (Phoenix) Suns battle past (World Champion San Antonio) Spurs
Source:
Arizona Republic
URL Source: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sun ... ticles/0309sunsonline0310.html
Published: Mar 9, 2008
Author: Paul Coro
Post Date: 2008-03-09 18:41:14 by Red Jones
Keywords: None
Views: 645
Comments: 34
Suns battle past Spurs Paul Coro The Arizona Republic Mar. 9, 2008 03:20 PM So this is what they were talking about. The Suns looked like the type of postseason team that they envisioned being with the Shaquille O'Neal trade, gutting out a 94-87 victory over that San Antonio team that they never could seem to beat. Phoenix looked nothing like the defensive squad that had been run over in recent games, holding San Antonio to two points over the game's final five minutes to win Sunday. Holding San Antonio to 34.9 percent shooting helped Phoenix remain the NBA's only team without a three-game losing streak this season. More importantly, it could go a long way in turning around the mental wall Phoenix had bashed into continually as it went 7-15 against San Antonio in the Steve Nash years. With a 2-1 series edge this season, the Suns will not lose a series to the Spurs for the first time since the 2002-03 regular season. The victory does not move Phoenix out of sixth in the Western Conference but it created 3 1/2 games of distance between the Suns and the Denver Nuggets, currently the West's ninth team trying to get into the playoffs. The Suns put a balanced effort of six scorers in double figures, led by Steve Nash's 19 points - the first time a Sun other than Stoudemire had led the team outright since Feb. 6. Nash also had 14 assists on Phoenix's 45.6 percent shooting night. The Suns only made 3 of 14 3-pointers but a near one was just as huge. Forward Grant Hill finished off a 9-of-13 shooting game by hitting a corner shot on the 3-point line that gave Phoenix a 90-87 lead with 1:15 to go. Manu Ginobili missed consecutive shots and Tim Duncan, covered by O'Neal, missed to send Suns fans into a roar as free throws closed out the game. Ginobili went 7 for 19 from the field and Duncan was 6 for 19. After the Suns' worst defensive stretch of the season, they emerged to allow only 38.1 percent shooting in Sunday's first half. But even that is not enough against the Suns' arch nemesis. The Spurs led 48-45 at halftime, mostly because the Suns could not close either quarter well. In the final three minutes of each quarter, the Suns scored once each time to give San Antonio leads. The Suns scrambled like mad to cover their bases but had their backs broken by five San Antonio 3-pointers from Manu Ginobili and Ime Udoka, both coming off the bench. Phoenix did not shoot the 3-pointer much in the first half (1 for 4) and did not get to the free throw line as often either (4 for 5). It was further perplexing how the Suns could be losing after a half of better defense when Shaquille O'Neal had racked up 12 points and 11 rebounds, Grant Hill had made 6 of 7 shots and Steve Nash dished out eight assists to go with seven points. But the Suns' bench was letting them down for a second consecutive game, going 2 for 9 for six points. Gordan Giricek missed two 3-point tries, making the swingman acquired for his shooting 0 for 5 on 3-pointers as a Sun. Phoenix retook the lead in the third quarter with more defense, despite losing Amare Stoudemire to his fourth foul 4:37 into the half. The Spurs missed 15 of their first 18 second-half shots, allowing Phoenix to get out to its biggest lead of the game - a 65-57 edge after Boris Diaw made his game's first shot attempt with 2:54 to play in the third quarter. The only thing keeping the Suns from stretching its lead any more was its own 3-point shooting (1 for 10 through three quarters) and the Spurs' free throw advantage (18 to 10). When Spurs guard Bruce Bowen closed the third quarter with a 3-pointer to give San Antonio a 70-69 lead, the Spurs had outscored the Suns at the 3-point line and free throw line, 33-13. Phoenix did not score on its first five possessions of the fourth quarter, losing ground at the juncture for the second consecutive game. After Diaw made his fourth and fifth turnovers consecutively, San Antonio took a 75-69 lead on a jumper from ex-Suns big man Kurt Thomas. Despite fifth fouls to Stoudemire and O'Neal, Phoenix arduously worked its way back, pulling within one or two points four times before a run of five Stoudemire points gave Phoenix a 88-85 lead with 1:57 to go.
Poster Comment: Nash, O'Neil & Stoudemire & friends took on Duncan, Parker, Gnobli, all of them. Both teams were healthy, playing all their stars. this game was a lower scoring game with the big men at post being important. the type of game they said the suns couldn't win, and occur in playoffs. The suns shot 11% or so from 3-point range, that must be a season-low. The suns had 10 or more less free throws to shoot than the Spurs. both teams shot witha low shooting percentage. defense was key. in the end suns shut them down and went on 14-2 run. O'neil is said to be in the process of improving conditioning. an awesome concept when you consider that he is shaquille o'neil. nash & co. are apparently changing their style of play to fit shaq. stoudemire even fouled out with a few minutes left in the game. shaq stayed & suns kicked ass with nash at the point playing as a well-oiled machine taking down the world champion conference rival spurs on national tv in playoff-style basketball.
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#4. To: All, robin (#0)
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0311sunsgamer.html here's latest game. Suns won big again. This time high-scoring game. I think indications are now that the trade for shaquille has had very interesting results. Phoenix Suns are going to make another run for NBA championship. no other team has played so much exciting basketball in last 40 years NBA and not won a championship. This year, the suns have something they've never had - a big man in middle that dominates. the rest of the team has responded tremendously, the style is tweaked. Shaq is a great passer which works well with Suns style. and this season even before the shaq acquisition Suns were trying to learn to play defense. They are actually 21-2 when their opponent scores less than 100. They beat both Boston & San Antonio in low- scoring games since the trade & against Boston they did it without Shaq playing even. In this game Shaq played only 17 minutes, scored 2 points. But dominated with blocks, defense, steals, rebounds. Nash scored only 8 points. Barbosa, Diaw, Bell & newcomer Giercik all scored 18 or more. Stoudemire scored 29. Its now well- established Suns can beat the best at low-scoring games, and still run up the score. Yesterday 1'st half the score was 64-32 at one point. Suns were up by as much as 39 points before relaxing and letting the lead slip. the Suns were getting their offense & defense to work well at the same time. For the Suns & their championship efforts - this is big news.
OK!
I posted this thread at the end of the game played 10 games ago because that was the 1'st game where the Suns seemed to play very well with Shaq on the team. In the last 10 games the Suns are 8-2 which is better than any other team in those 10 games. read this blurb below I got from ESPN's web site. "THIS JUST IN: SUNS ARE HOT The Suns shot 51 percent from the floor in their dominant victory in Philadelphia, the ninth consecutive game in which Phoenix has made at least half of its field-goal attempts. That's the longest streak by any NBA team in nearly 14 years - since the Pacers had a nine-game streak of that type in April 1994. This is the second-longest streak of shooting 50-percent or better in the Suns' 40-year history. Back in the fall of 1978, John MacLeod's Suns (think Walter Davis, Paul Westphal and Alvan Adams) shot 50 percent or better from the floor in each of 11 successive games." All season long before these last 10 games the Suns got out-rebounded almost always. Now it is the opposite, they usually out-rebound the other team. Their shooting percentage is very high. The only 2 losses came against Detroit & Boston who have the 1'st & 2'nd best records in the league and those losses came on the road. The Detroit loss was in OT and only occurred after official calls basically threw the game to Detroit. Sometimes the Suns still have a weakness in turnovers as they did in the Boston game. But that is improving. Point is - Suns are likely to go into the playoffs the hottest team in the league. Shaquille is no longer a star, but he is a good player contributing very positively. He's actually hitting a lot of his free-throws. Stoudemire has definitely improved his game, he's scoring 30 points almost every game. For those who don't know, the western conference has 6 top teams almost tied with each other for the lead, 48-50 wins each right now. When playoffs come it will be a contest.
thanks for the update I've been watching March Madness - I'm not doing well in my bracket at work.
www.azcentral.com/sports/...9/20080409sunsonline.html only 2 games left in regular season now. The Suns will likely win both last 2 games Houston & portland. then they'd finish 1-1/2 or 2 games behind the Western Conference leader which most likely will be New Orleans, but could be LA Lakers. Suns will likely finish 6'th or 5'th. thus they won't have home- court advantage at all in the playoffs. However, Suns beat San Antonio in San Antonio the other night very decisively. The Suns are 3-1 this season against San Antonio, the first time in 5 years they've been able to dominate the Spurs who as you know are the defending champs. Shaq helps a lot. The Suns are a wild-card in the playoffs. The addition of Shaq means a much stronger presence against big centers like Tim Duncan of San Antonio. The pair of big-men Stoudemire & O'Neil is un-matched in the league. The Suns now have the option of running plays through Steve Nash who at 34 is still one of the best in the league at it or running plays through Shaq as he is very skilled at that also. Nash's shooting percentage at both 3-point & free-throws is about the best in the league. Shaq has about the best 2-point field goal percentage in the league. We have several players who can get hot at 3-point range. Suns are a wild-card. But the favorite now still has to be whoever wins between Boston & Detroit in the east. those teams are tearing it up. and it is anyone's guess as to who among the 6 teams in the west who all have about the same record will prevail in May and then face either Detroit or Boston in the finals.
#9. To: Red Jones (#8)
The Suns can only be better this year in the playoffs.
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#5. To: Red Jones (#4)
Phoenix Suns are going to make another run for NBA championship. no other team has played so much exciting basketball in last 40 years NBA and not won a championship. This year, the suns have something they've never had - a big man in middle that dominates.
#6. To: robin (#5)
#7. To: Red Jones (#6)
#8. To: robin (#7)
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