The Spurs are possibly the best 7-seed I can remember. Duncan is playing well, Ginobili is Ginobili (with or without a giant breathe-right strip on his broken nose), and Tony Parker is as good as ever. George Hill's first round home games were a revelation, and Richard Jefferson wasn't completely useless. DeJuan Blair is a big boy who can rebound and play in the low post with the best of them.
On the other side of the ball, Steve Nash is still one of the most dangerous players in the Association, but he's limited by his sore back. Luckily, Dragic has been able to step in and be effective when Nash is resting. Jason Richardson was hitting threes "with no regard for human life!!" against the Blazers in the first round. And Grant Hill has played like a 26-year-old with no injury history (that is, amazingly). Leandro Barbosa doesn't seem as effective as I remember him, though, and Amar'e Stoudemire still can't play defense at all (neither can Nash, for that matter). The Suns go about 10 deep, though, which helps maintain the run-and-gun style throughout the game.
Ultimately, as it has been the last few years, Spurs vs. Suns is about grinding it out versus running until you can't run no more. But, as we all know, defense wins championships. The Suns can't compete on that front, and the Spurs should simply continue to get better as this series goes on.
Spurs in 6.
Amar'e Stoudemire did average 37 points per game against Tim Duncan during a series.
ReplyDeleteI think neither team in this series has a serious bench - unless you're talking Manu and now Tony Parker for San Antonio.
You're right about Amar'e in that series. But the Suns still lost.
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