Suns and Spurs Get Ready for Game Two after One for the Ages

When was the last time you saw a Game One of the first round of playoffs provide a game that felt like Game Seven of the Finals?  Can you think of any series with any two teams that had a rivalry going like these two teams have? And on top of that to put in the type of effort both team's did is just incredible.

The last two teams who played each other like this were the LA Lakers and the Sacramento Kings in the earlier part of the decade. Those series, however, were deep into playoffs, not right off the bat.

Tonight, all the pressure is on the Suns to perform in Game Two.  They HAVE TO win this game otherwise they will be in a big hole not only in the series, but also psychologically. Worse yet, they will be in this hole against a team that has knocked them out of playoffs three of the past five years.  If the Spurs pick up this game, the Suns will have to win four out of the next five games against the Spurs.  The last team to accomplish that against this team was Lakers back in '04 (and that team had four first ballot hall-of -famers). One thing the Suns do have in common with that team is that they have this guy named Shaq who was also the commander-in-chief of those Lakers. 

The Suns might have to do what that Lakers team did against these Spurs.  They had this old guy on their team named, Karl Malone, who forced Duncan into some horrible games (at least the last four games out of six played anyway).  The Spurs will need to find an answer for Duncan and neutralize him with one player.  They are too good of a passing team and they routinely make you pay for doubling him down low. 

As bad as their shooting was coming into playoffs, you still cant leave Ginobli, Parker, or Barry alone on the perimeter.  These players are too experienced and too mature. They know exactly what to do in every situation and they will come through for their team if they are given that chance. The Suns can't let Duncan do the damage on both sides of the ball.  They have to make him work a lot harder on defense by attacking him via dribble penetration and by going to Shaq and Amare in the post even more than they did in Game One.

Another thing that might be of some comfort to Phoenix is that Spurs needed to have EVERYTHING go their way in order to escape with a double-overtime victory.  The bad thing for the Suns is that they did have everything go their way.  From getting PHX's bigs into foul trouble, to getting timely calls, to getting some low-percentage shots to fall down, nothing went as scripted for the Suns.  I am sure not every game will be like that (for PHX's sake, they hope it wont anyway).  Both teams played a great game, hit timely shots, but all in all, for all the things that went the Spurs way, Phoenix was in the game the whole time. 

If the Spurs pick up Game Two of the series, they will put themselves in a highly advantageous position to move forward in the playoffs.  This is just as big of a game for them as it is for the Suns.  Winning this game tonight will give SA much more than a 2-0 series lead.  It will also get them back in the head of the PHX players of last few years who were beaten by Spurs. Better yet for the Spurs, they have to best coach for this type of situation in the entire NBA.  Look for Spurs to come out with lots of energy early and try to jump to an early lead.

If the Suns wants to go any farther in the playoffs, this is a MUST-WIN game for them.  They have to think of this as a Game Seven of a series instead of just another game.  If they are on the wrong side of box score tonight, they will also be on the wrong side of history.  And if sports teaches us anything, it's that, it is NOT wise to go against history. 

So lets see who wants it more tonight, whether it be Spurs or the Suns, you can count on the fact that the real winner will be us fans who are treated to such a great first round matchup.