Every Western Conference matchup is a virtual playoff game and Wednesday’s Suns-Spurs game was no different.
Aside from the usual story lines (playoff positioning and confidence heading into the second season), San Antonio needed to prove that they can hit the majority of their jumpers so their offense can run efficiently while Phoenix needed to show that their trade for Shaq truly does make them more prepared for the money season.
After watching Phoenix decimate the Spurs 96-79, it’s clear that the landscape in the West has radically shifted over the past few months: The Suns are more prepared for the playoffs than the Spurs are.
Why The Spurs Lost:
San Antonio’s jump shooting has abandoned them at the worst possible time. Against the Suns, the Spurs only shot 42 percent from the field. On their jumpers, San Antonio only shot 33 percent (12-36) with Michael Finley (3-4), Jacque Vaughn (2-2), and a meaningless jumper by Bobby Jones (1-1) skewing the percentage.
Phoenix sagged off in the second half and dared the Spurs to make jump shots, a challenge which was never met by San Antonio.
While Tim Duncan was effective against Amare Stoudamire early, Shaq’s length and massive bulk made it difficult for TD to finish under the basket in the second half. Duncan was certainly solid—9-21 FG, 3 TO, 23 PTS—but he wasn’t as spectacular as his team needed him to be considering the circumstances.
While Duncan’s help defense was as admirable as ever, Amare Stouemire exposed TD for being too slow and too upright to challenge him on the perimeter. While Duncan is the best help defender in the league, truth is his straight up individual defense is, at best, slightly above average.
Manu Ginobli (3-12 FG, 0-4 3FG, 2-2 FT, 4 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 2 TO, 1 BLK, 8 PTS) made a handful of nifty passes but was a dud in every other area.
Bruce Bowen is slipping. He was unable to so much as annoy Steve Nash and made several critical defensive mistakes.
After carving up Steve Nash in the first half, Mike D’Antoni switched Grant Hill onto Parker in the second half and Hill made Parker work a mite harder to clear him to the basket. That extra second gave Phoenix’s rotations ample time to sag in and contest Parker at the hoop.
Parker also over handled on several occasions and made key mistakes with the ball.
The Spurs did an unsatisfactory job on the backboards, yielding 40 rebounds while only gathering 36.
San Antonio rotated fairly well, but the Spurs seemed caught of guard by Phoenix’s offensive versatility.
The Spurs didn’t pressure ball handlers on any entry pass to the post, even when Shaquille O’Neal was fronted. The lack of pressure allowed lob passes to lead Shaq to prime scoring positions at the basket.
The older, slower Spurs were a step behind the Suns throughout the second half.
Why The Suns Won:
Despite a porous first half, Shaq’s play in the second half was the biggest difference between the "run-and-gun can’t get it done" Phoenix teams of the last several years and the intriguing Suns team of 2008.
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