Dallas @ Phoenix - Game Thread - Sunday April 1, 2007 - 12:30PM (3:30PM ET) ABC

[Griffin]

This was supposed to have been a big game when the Suns were still vying for the top seed. While mathematically still possible, that no longer appears to be a realistic option. But this is still a big game for many obvious reasons. Suns need to prove that they can beat Dallas without needing Dirk to choke up free-throws. Dallas would probably like to prove that the last game was just a fluke and nothing more. Each team wants to prove to the other that they are the better team. Additionally, Suns want to protect home court, even the season series, and put behind them a recent stretch of sub-par performances, the last Denver game notwithstanding. Dallas, after all, has not lost since the last time the two teams met. Suns would like to deny them an unprecedented fourth double-digit winning streak in the same season. There is a lot on the line.

Here's one thing I'll be looking for. Last time the Mavs dominated on the glass. Dampier alone grabbed 10 offensive rebounds. Dallas opted to crash the boards rather than to get back on defense, and for the most part that strategy worked very well as we were unable to keep them off the boards. I want to see Dallas employ the same strategy again and see if the Suns had hopefully made the necessary adjustments. If we can do a better job of boxing out early in the game, we'll get easy buckets in transition and Dallas will be forced to adjust. We need to be able to dictate the tempo.

 

[arwillan]

its gonna come down to players like diaw and marion who have been patchy lately (though marion played very well against denver). they are gonna be trying to guard dirk and howard so we need them to contest every shot and crash the boards on both ends. other than that we just need to play our usual gameplan of run 'n' gun. please dont let dampier/diop/chokewitzki kill us on the boards, beacause we have seen that that spells disaster.

 

[Lorenzo]

i'd expect nash to continue his annual weardown. dallas needs to protect the b-ball better than they did in the last game, looking back to the first half in paticular. either way dallas has struggled in the last two games. they were horrible in many areas against the knicks last night. they shot 38% in the game to include an 11% 2-19 3rd qtr. they can't expect to beat phoenix with that type of play. although the knicks hurt them on the glass more than anything else. they need to outrebound the suns. obviously as they also get back in transition.

 

[FArting]

time to end dallas' nine game winning streak

GO SUNS

 

[TJ]

Suns have gotta win this game. This would be a confidence booster

 

[HooverDam]

i'd expect nash to continue his annual weardown.

Honestly, what the hell are you talking about? Look at Nash's regular season versus post season number, they are nearly identical. I know Cuban let Nash go because he wore out at the end of the season, maybe its the desert air, but thats certainly not something we've seen while he's here. Injuries to key team mates like Joe Johnson, Raja Bell, Amare Stoudamire and Kurt Thomas? Yep, we've seen that. But Nash puttering out? Now, can't say we've had too much of that.

 

[TJ]

i'd expect nash to continue his annual weardown.

Nash is not going to wear down. We should be more concerned with the rest of the team

 

[Chaplin]

The Suns don't need to prove anything. This game is all about getting the guys ready to play a very dangerous opponent. Why must we all make excuses? Even Suns fans are saying that we still have something to prove because Dirk missed those free throws last week. That's ridiculous. We've proven we can beat the Dallas Mavericks. Period. We've also proven that we are playing pretty poorly (except for the Dallas game), so THAT'S what we have to concentrate on.

 

[Lorenzo]

if you've read my posts......you would see how much i praise steve nash. I never thought that nash wears down in the playoffs. That is something that got started in the media and took off like an arizona wildfire. i don't know why. that high tempo don nelson style is what wore down, not nash. anyway i was throwing out a little sarchasm for arwillan. sorry guys.

 

[arwillan]

anyway i was throwing out a little sarchasm for arwillan. sorry guys.

ive never said anything bad about nash either, or anything in regards to him wearing down if thats what you mean.

 

[Lorenzo]

ive never said anything bad about nash either, or anything in regards to him wearing down if thats what you mean.

I know....i was responding to chokewitzki. i guess i should have made that more clear, sorry.

 

[TucsonDevil]

This is going to be a fun game.

I disagree with Chaplin (wow, big surprise). SUNS have a ton to prove in this game. They have played like crap down the stretch, and need to prove that the previous win was their true self and not a fluke. They need to prove that their system can beat the MAVS. They need to prove that they have the metal fortitude to beat the best... Because at this point, Dallas is the BEST!

 

[Ronin]

 

[Lorenzo]

this isn't only important for phoenix. fluke, choke, whatever you want to call it, dallas still got beat. I'm sure they will try their best to get a victory after that loss. don't think they are coming in with an attitude of that this game is bigger for the suns. If they thought that way they would have lost to the knicks last night. For the big picture this game is probably more important for phoenix, at least right now. this is a game that they should win @ home. The regular season series should be tied @ 2 games if these teams are as close as everyone thinks they are. Having said that...regardless of the outcome. this game does not decide the WC. All this will be is a tease of what may come this summer. Both teams will decide their fate at that time.

 

[F-Dog]

Why don't you two trolls finish your conversation over PMs?



Suns are a two-point favorite tomorrow, which is fair given the questions they've surrounded themselves with.


I'll be interested to see D'Antoni's starting lineup. I can see starting KT, just because it would be nice to know whether he can guard Nowitzki like P.J. Brown can. Starting Barbosa puts Raja Bell on Josh Howard right away...JR makes the most sense matchup-wise IMO, with the only problem being that JR himself sucks.

Most likely Diaw will get another chance to get into early foul trouble and subsequently disappear.


Anyway, it should be a good game. My guess is, Amare and Marion will both show up, and the outcome will come down to which team makes its shots.

 

[Lorenzo]

Why don't you two trolls finish your conversation over PMs?



Suns are a two-point favorite tomorrow, which is fair given the questions they've surrounded themselves with.


I'll be interested to see D'Antoni's starting lineup. I can see starting KT, just because it would be nice to know whether he can guard Nowitzki like P.J. Brown can. Starting Barbosa puts Raja Bell on Josh Howard right away...JR makes the most sense matchup-wise IMO, with the only problem being that JR himself sucks.

Most likely Diaw will get another chance to get into early foul trouble and subsequently disappear.


Anyway, it should be a good game. My guess is, Amare and Marion will both show up, and the outcome will come down to which team makes its shots.

are you talking about me? how many times have p.j. brown and dirk played against each other? has dirk struggled that badly?

 

[arwillan]

I know....i was responding to chokewitzki. i guess i should have made that more clear, sorry.

oh yes, good 'ole sir chokealot. got it

 

[Lorenzo]

oh yes, good 'ole sir chokealot. got it

hopefully i'll have a better reply for that one come june. i'm not talking about a WC series either. untill dirk wins a ring...people will probably say his a chokester, like malone. untill nash wins a ring....people will say he wears down.

 

[arwillan]

hopefully i'll have a better reply for that one come june. i'm not talking about a WC series either. untill dirk wins a ring...people will probably say his a chokester, like malone. untill nash wins a ring....people will say he wears down.

thats a pretty fair assumption. If dirk ca carry his team to the finals withour collapsing himself, then i will give him all due credit. Nash already deserves soem credit as he has some "hardware" with 2x mvps while dirk has nothing to show for what kind of a player he is.

 

[Lorenzo]

thats a pretty fair assumption. If dirk ca carry his team to the finals withour collapsing himself, then i will give him all due credit. Nash already deserves soem credit as he has some "hardware" with 2x mvps while dirk has nothing to show for what kind of a player he is.

dirk will probly have a trophy after this season if things go as they have all season long. what will that matter if the mavs don't win a ring? he will be chokewitzki with a trophy. Just look at what payton manning went thru. malone and nash both have mvp trophies, but i'd bet they would trade them for rings.

 

[arwillan]

dirk will probly have a trophy after this season if things go as they have all season long. what will that matter if the mavs don't win a ring? he will be chokewitzki with a trophy. Just look at what payton manning went thru. malone and nash both have mvp trophies, but i'd bet they would trade them for rings.

maybe when nash is as old as malone hed like to trade opne mvp for a ring, but if he gets 3 in a row i cant imagine wanting to sacrifice that for a ring (not that that will happen anyway). Anyway if dirk doesnt get a championship but gets a ring it will be a pretty big letdown, but he has got to finish games a but better if he is going to be able to get that ring.

 

[Lorenzo]

maybe when nash is as old as malone hed like to trade opne mvp for a ring, but if he gets 3 in a row i cant imagine wanting to sacrifice that for a ring (not that that will happen anyway). Anyway if dirk doesnt get a championship but gets a ring it will be a pretty big letdown, but he has got to finish games a but better if he is going to be able to get that ring.

I think he finishes games well. That's why the mavs have won as many games as they have. That's why the mavs finally broke thru against the spurs last year. He didn't play well enough in the finals to bring home a championship...so that's where his legacy is lacking. But the same can be said about so many other great players.....to include steve nash.

 

[elindholm]

maybe when nash is as old as malone hed like to trade opne mvp for a ring, but if he gets 3 in a row i cant imagine wanting to sacrifice that for a ring

That's ridiculous. Nash would much rather lead his team to a title than earn 3 MVPs, as any true competitor would.

 

[sunsfn]

I would like this game to go down to the last minutes and Dirk miss a couple shots, and Nash take over again and win the game. Then maybe Nash has a chance to win his third MVP.

 

[ma_falaa_50]

the suns should forget that San Antonio is only 2 games behind us. they play the pacers on sunday-gee I wonder who wins that one? the suns should play with urgency that should be the theme of this game.

Dallas is going to avenge the lose. they have been consistent since that game while the suns has been sputtering.

lets not forget the suns sputtered into the playoffs last year too.