In 2005 and 2007, the San Antonio Spurs had to defeat the Phoenix Suns en route to an NBA Championship.
2008 will pose the same challenge for San Antonio, this time in the opening round.
The Spurs and Suns have essentially maintained the same styles of play over the course of the recent season. The Spurs rely on defense first and try to shut down the opposition’s top scorer.
On the other hand, the Suns attempt to outrun and outscore anybody who steps out on the hardwood against them.
The Spurs have traditionally been tough at home, with the support of their loyal fans infusing life into a team with many veteran players. This home court advantage will play an even bigger role in this first series as the Spurs have struggled on the road in the 2007-2008 campaign.
The Spurs were able to beat the Suns at their own game in 2005 and 2007, and will likely have to do so again to get past Phoenix.
Why?
With Steve Nash, Shaq, Amare Stoudemire, Leandro Barbosa, Grant Hill, and Boris Diaw, the Suns have plenty of guys who can put the ball in the basket and cannot rely on their top defenders—Duncan, Bowen, Ginobili, and Parker—to do the job every trip down the court.
For the Spurs to win, not only must they outperform one of the league’s top offenses, but they must get past the opening round jitters that have crept up in their prior championship runs.
This time the Spurs are not playing a number eight seed and are not going to have it any easier the rest of the way.
The Spurs also have to hope that Manu Ginobili is healthy enough to run up and down the floor for seven games if they want to advance. Strong guard play is essential for any top playoff team, and when Ginobili has been the top scorer for the Spurs, they generally win.
Despite these challenges for the Spurs, they should still be able to win this series.
Phoenix will probably win the first game, running circles around San Antonio, and Gregg Popovich will blow a gasket in the locker room.
The Spurs will come out fired up in the second game and shut down Phoenix’s offense.
The teams will then probably split the next two games in Phoenix, leaving it to the last three games. The Spurs will win game five at home and will then lose a close game six in Phoenix.
However, a slowed down Shaq, a fatigued Grant Hill, and a frustrated Steve Nash will come up short in game seven in San Antonio with the crowd at the AT&T Center drowning out any ability for Mike D’Antoni to coach his team.
4 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Lisa Jackson about 1 year ago
So NOT gonna go down that way. What are you thinking?
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Dan Siegel about 1 year ago
And what do you think will happen exactly....????
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Barry Andrews about 1 year ago
You forgot in 2003 the Spurs defeated the Suns for their second of FOUR NBA championships as well ousting Phoenix 4-2 after the Suns held the regular season edge beating the Spurs 3-1 like this season. The country is making too much of what happened in the regular season between the two teams. If we all should have learned one thing about the San Antonio Spurs is this: the Spurs are a team who plays the regular season as a warm up for the playoffs. If regular season wins against the Spurs meant you'd defeat them in the playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers would be the defending World Champs & not San Antonio after sweeping the Spurs in the regular season. As it turned out the playoff focused Spurs swept the Cavs in the NBA Finals. The Spurs have been riddled with injuries to key players from the start of the season to the end and yet are still the #3 seed as the Suns are #6 for this reason - the Spurs are a better team who is more poised to overcome adversity. Spurs in six.
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Dan Siegel about 1 year ago
Good points. I was only referencing 2005 and 2007 since 2003 was pre-Steve Nash.
Yes, the regular season series mean nothing. Look at the NFL this year. The Giants beat Dallas in the playoffs after Dallas beat them twice during the season. The Giants also beat the Packers and Patriots who they lost to in the regular season as well.
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