Suns at Sterns 6:30 TNT MY 45

[FArting]

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- After many of his teammates had left the court on Monday afternoon, Tim Duncan was still there, headphones on, taking jumper after jumper.
They weren't from beyond the 3-point line.
"I don't believe there's going to be a whole lot of 3-point shooting," Duncan laughed. "I'm not going to change my game a whole lot. I'm happy that that one went down but I'm not going to rest anything on that."
Duncan's first 3-pointer of the season that forced a second overtime was just one of the things that fell into place for the Spurs in their Game 1 win Saturday over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday.
It took two overtimes and a couple of other big shots -- plus foul trouble for the Suns -- for them to get the 117-115 win in the opener of the best-of-seven series.
"It's just that. We won in double overtime on our home court, so we're not too confident," said Duncan, who finished with 40 points and 15 rebounds. "We got over the top by just a little bit and we know they're one heck of a team."
I've got to imagine they felt like they gave the game away," Duncan said.
The Spurs have no illusions they've gotten into the Suns' heads.
"Of course they're not shaken," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "They lost one game and anybody could have won the game. So it's not that big a deal in that sense. ... We were fortunate in the first game. That's gone and now it's Game 2."
That will be Tuesday night in San Antonio.
Even if the Spurs got some breaks before Manu Ginobili's driving layup with 1.8 seconds left gave them the 58-minute victory, they also played a big part in their own success. After trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half and shooting 38 percent, they shot better than 58 percent after halftime, hit five 3s and outrebounded the Suns 25-18.
"We had a lot of mistakes, a lot of mistakes that if we continue to make they will hurt us," said Spurs guard Michael Finley, who hit a 3 with 15 seconds left in regulation to force the first overtime. "So we want to limit those mistakes, execute a little bit better on the offensive end and if we do that, we give ourselves another good chance to win that ballgame."
The Suns will be tweaking their plan with a focus on closing out the game. And they'll go back to Arizona happy if they can take away the Spurs' homecourt advantage.
"I think it's imperative for them to win. You've got to keep your homecourt in tact," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said, before reconsidering. "But knowing these two teams, it's not imperative for either one of them actually because everybody's going to bounce back. Every game is an adventure in itself."
Saturday's will be hard to top, but in Game 2 fans might finally see more of the inside matchup between Duncan and the Suns' Shaquille O'Neal, who spent a lot of time on the bench in Game 1 because of foul trouble.
"I expect them to make a lot of adjustments," Duncan said. "That's what a series is all about."
Both teams said their injuries are improved since Saturday and that their energy should be back up with two days' rest after the lengthy opening game.
"After 51 minutes I need about four days off but it's great that we're not just playing on one day's rest," Duncan said.
The Spurs' Tony Parker, who was knocked hard in the head in Game 1, said he was feeling fine Monday.
D'Antoni said Grant Hill, who has suffered from a groin injury, should be 100 percent for Tuesday. And he said Steve Nash, who had the flu, is fully recovered.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=280422024

Suns 95
Sterns 99

Prove me wrong by winning this game

 

[nashman]

Is that your signature saying "Prove me wrong by winning this game"
I would imagine you have been proved wrong many, many times.
Anyway

Suns 110
Sterns 91

 

[mjb21aztd]

Hate to say it but I think suns will play hard but lose the game in the end hope i'm wrong and the suns win and make it a series again

Spurs 113

Suns 110 Amare 37 pts 7 rebounds

 

[jandaman]

Spurs will come out firing, they knew they barely won, and will make sure they control the game from the get go.

The results, will depend highly whether the Suns got over the loss and even hungrier to steal a game in San Antonio.

 

[CHAPTER 7]

I hope I am wrong but I have a feeling Suns will lose big. And I will be yelling at TV, my wife will be pissed at me. Somehow I feel Suns will over analyze this situation and get exposed bady by Sterns...again, I HOPE I AM WRONG. GO SUNS!!!!!

 

[PHX 32]

Most definitely a must win situation. I think Suns will step it up and prove they are serious contenders.

Suns - 101
Spurs - 87

Nash

 

[95pro]

go suns!!!

lose or win, they are my team!

 

[Louis]

Starts 8:30 my time and will probably aireven later with the game on before it. Will play COD4 until halftime then skip through commercials, time outs, and half time to finish the game. Thank goodness for DVR.

Can't wait.

 

[Ninjafish]

Spurs win with a half court buzzer beater shot by Kurt Thomas.

 

[Michael]

I fully expect the Suns to win tonight. I feel confident after Hill and Nash have fully recovered and after everything that went the Spurs way in game 1.

Suns 95
Spurs 84

Amaré 34 points
Shaq 12 rebounds
Nash 10 assists
Duncan 5 fouls

 

[Cheesebeef]

Spurs 108
Suns 99

and it's not gonna be that close.

 

[TucsonDevil]

Actually, I see the Suns winning big.

Suns 106
Spurs 87

No rhyme or reason, I just feel it. But, I also felt like they would win game 1 until Amare got #6, then it was over.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Wow! You guys are such a bunch of downers. The sad thing is that I think you are just basing this on the fact that "woe is me" and nothing good will ever happen reasoning rather then good ol fashioned analysis of the two teams....

Poppy ****

I don't see it and I feel my feel for this team is as good as any. Spurs got lucky last game and they know it. And the right Suns are motivated for this game (shaq and stat) so I expect us to impose our will inside.

How funny - We lose one game by a couple point in double OT on the road and all of a sudden everyone forgot how we whupped them with Shaq both times and that the foul trouble he suffered was the only reason they were able to come close this past game.

Can we just understand that this is the playoffs and that from game to game momentum is going to shift? This overreaction is crazy. We win tonight and all of a sudden "Phoenix is in the Drivers seat" and "We always knew they were better..."

Geez - talk yourselves off the ledge people.

Suns - 107
Spurs - 96

And cheese---- it won't even be that close

 

[95pro]

I fully expect the Suns to win tonight. I feel confident after Hill and Nash have fully recovered and after everything that went the Spurs way in game 1.

Suns 95
Spurs 84

Amaré 34 points
Shaq 12 rebounds
Nash 10 assists
Duncan 5 fouls

at Hill's age and his previous track record. i dont think Hill will be "fully recovered". and that's just one of those naggin injuries that takes time. Time that we dont have.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Suns win this game by 12. Stern wants to keep this a close series. Duncan or Parker will be in early foul trouble.

High Scorer Amare 42

Shaq 13 rebounds

 

[Bufalay]

Shaq and Amare foul out in the first quarter

Suns 121
Spurs 89

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Shaq and Amare foul out in the first quarter

Suns 121
Spurs 89

 

[Greg Popovich]

I predict a Suns win--102-98

 

[Andrew]

I don't care about scores, I just want the win..be it by 42 or a point.

 

[abomb]

I don't care about scores, I just want the win..be it by 42 or a point.

The game is on TNT.

 

[Andrew]

I Know That.

 

[nowagimp]

Wow! You guys are such a bunch of downers. The sad thing is that I think you are just basing this on the fact that "woe is me" and nothing good will ever happen reasoning rather then good ol fashioned analysis of the two teams....

Poppy ****

No kidding, its a good thing the players have more self confidence than the fans, they'd get swept in 4 blowouts. But I guess thats the nature of the ASFN suns fans. If I felt that way, I wouldnt even watch the game.

suns 96
spurs 87

 

[Nash2Amare]

No Grant?

Doubtful
Sounded for sure he is out by the sound of him during his interview after shootaround today.

 

[lakers4life]

spurs win on a bad coaching decision by d'antoni by 1 pt.

 

[Ronin]

Suns 98
Spurs 70