NBA Playoffs

This year's NBA playoffs are a disaster. Despite the fact that basketball has always been my favorite sport, I only had 5 reasons to watch these playoffs at all:
1) Root against Kobe
2) Root for Iverson to win a championship
3) Watch one of the greatest upsets in NBA history- Thanks Warriors
4) Witness the first post-season LeBron moment
and 5) The Phoenix Suns

After watching Amare and Boris Diaw jeopardize half of my remaining reasons to watch the playoffs, I was very frustrated.

Regardless, the Suns played a great game with a short bench against a tough team. Before the game, I was very convinced that the Suns would pull it out. The Suns were an angry team playing at home in a house packed with angry fans. Also, Mike D'Antoni is a great coach, and he is an especially gifted gimmick coach (meaning he makes nice situational and one-time game plans). I expected him to make a great strategy, and he did. He had a great thing going with his small lineup. Duncan had a very hard time staying with Shawn Marion (who was the Suns center for a good portion of the game). Unfortunately, Leandro Barbosa and Raja Bell getting in foul trouble forced him to use Kurt Thomas, who as Rasheed Wallace told us, "is good for shit on the block." While on offense, Duncan scored at will on Thomas. On the defensive end, Thomas wasn't enough of a presence. Duncan altered almost every shot in the paint and blocked five shots. Manu Ginobili caught fire in the 4th and there was nothing a tired Phoenix team could do to stop him, and that was the tipping point.

Now for tonight's game- both the NBA and I would like to see this series go to a game 7. From the hole they're in, however, I do not see the Suns winning another game. Here's why:

Amare Stoudamire
On the surface, having Amare versus not having Amare is an obvious advantage. However, Amare is an emotional player. He led the league in fouls and really plays with a chip on his shoulder since missing last season. This does not bode well for tonight's game. Amare is going to try too hard to do too much to make up for his game 5 absence. Tim Duncan is too smart and too good on defense to let a guy running on anger torch him. Wait for early foul trouble and a few layups go way hard off the glass.

Steve Nash
I liked Nash before, but I respect the guy so much more than I used to. All of the punishment he's taking just makes me wonder how much more he can take. He was visibly fatigued at the end of game 5. This series is opening up the nation's eyes to just how dirty a player Bruce Bowen is. He rides Nash up and down the court every possession and it has to be taxing on the 195 lb. point guard. Nash has been the heart and soul of the Suns- he carries them when they're down, leads them to every lead, and gets the whole team involved. I hope he can keep it up.

The Spurs
I'm not a fan of their cheap shots, constant flopping, or their methodical half-court offense, but they are a very good team. The Suns don't really have an answer for Tim Duncan or a strong Rasheed Wallace type power forward to give Bowen the knock he deserves.The Spurs won't miss Robert Horry, they're 15-1 without him and they are a nasty 7-0 when up 3-2 in a playoff series over the last seven years. All of the pressure tonight will be on the Suns, not the Spurs.

It'll be hard for the Suns to win two straight road games, but if any team has the firepower to take it to the Spurs in San An, it's them.
Prediction: Spurs in a nail-biter


Watch the Cavs game while you're reading this so you know why Jim Rome, ATH, and PTI are all asking if last night was cause to remove LeBron's scarlet U for 'unclutch'