| Suns Lose Game 1, Allow 43 Points In Fourth Authored by J.T. Magee - May 23, 2005 - 1:14 am
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San Antonio used a 43 point fourth quarter to advance past Phoenix 121-114 to take home court advantage. San Antonio took over the back-and-forth game late, extending the lead on two of Brent Barry's three point shots and holding on to it for the win.
All-NBA second team member Amare Stoudemire and MVP and All-NBA first team member Steve Nash led Phoenix.
Stoudemire, who only played four minutes in the first quarter due to foul trouble, led the Suns with a game-high 41 points, 15 coming from the free throw line, and snatched nine rebounds. Nash scored 29 points and handed out 13 assists, but had half of the Suns' turnovers with six. Jim Jackson scored 20 points, including 4 of 8 from three-point land and added 8 rebounds to help cushion the worst game of the season for All-NBA third team member Marion. Marion was held to just three points on 1 of 6 shooting, mainly from the early suffocating defense of Bruce Bowen. Marion has had fairly easy matchups against Memphis and Dallas, so maybe this was just an adjusting game.
Phoenix can't afford for one of their offensive juggernauts to have games like this while the rest of the team tries to stay in the game. Reserve center Steven Hunter scored eight points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked a shot, but got his most meaningful playing time since he scored 16 in Game 1 of the first round. Head Coach Mike D'Antoni elected to go with a bigger lineup to matchup better with San Antonio, but it failed in the end. Swingman Quentin Richardson scored just seven points on 3 of 9 shooting.
The Spurs, coming off a Game 6 win over the Seattle Supersonics, were led by the All-NBA team first team member Tim Duncan, who scored 28 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Point guard Tony Parker scored a team-high 29 points and seven rebounds, but handed out just two assists, two less than Duncan and one less than reserve big man Robert Horry. Horry and Barry helped the Spurs with a combined 33 points off the bench, 12 from Horry and 21 from Barry. Barry hit a game-high 5 of 8 from beyond the arc. Barry had just six in every other playoff game. Shooting guard Manu Ginobili scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds and added five assists. Nine of those points came from the free throw line, including the game-clinching two free throws with less than a minute left.
Phoenix's main problems were not being able to close out each quarter and only getting a combined 10 points from two of their starters. During a time-out, ABC showed Coach of the Year D'Antoni telling his team that they had to do a better job of closing out quarters. They failed to do so, letting San Antonio go to Duncan, doubling him at the wrong time and got punished by Barry, Horry and the rest of the Spurs' outside shooters. Duncan was not healthy and it showed, but Phoenix was not able to take advantage of his injury.
While Duncan showed a lot of heart by demanding the ball against Hunter, Phoenix needed to do a better job of running. They had some costly turnovers that kept them from extending their lead. Jackson tried to do something too fancy for himself, a behind-the-back pass that was stolen by Parker and taken back the other way for a lay-up. Nash threw a good pass to Hunter on one possession, but he wasn't able to handle it. On another possession, Nash was driving on a fast break and Ginobili poked the ball away from behind him, which turned into a San Antonio bucket.
If Phoenix wants to make their first trip to the Finals since the Barkley-led team did it in 1993, then they are going to need Joe Johnson back as healthy as he can get. From what he looked like, that won't be until Game 3. At least he'll get a little more rest, but it won't matter if the Suns can't come back to win Game 2. They did everything right. They controlled the tempo for most of the game, but let the Spurs capitalize on open shots. They also need more from both Marion and Q-Rich. While Marion has been consistent until Game 1, Richardson has not had a great playoff experience. Granted, it's his first trip, but Phoenix needs his physicality more, on both ends of the floor. Once they get that and Joe Johnson back, they should be fine, as long as they can take one in San Antonio, where just three teams, two of which San Antonio eliminated, have beaten them at home. It will be tough, but Phoenix can do it. All they need to do is close out their quarters, get the Matrix and Q-Rich involved more offensively and get Johnson back. And run. And run. And run. And run. |
