NBA Playoffs 2008: (3) Spurs vs. (6) Suns

[eisfeld]

Spurs in 7 - I hope the Suns fail and Stoudemire gets off his high horse and actually admits that he has no basketball IQ at all.

[Lamrock]

Suns/Spurs Game 1 has been awesome so far. 93-90 Phoenix with just over a minute to go. Come on Phoenix!

[buzzy]

Finlay with a big trey to tie it at 93, 15 seconds left.

[Lamrock]

I've always hated Finley. Overtime!

EDIT: Duncan with a 3 pointer???? Thats just not right! Thats just not right!

[buzzy]

Hahahaha daaamn what a game
Duncan with the three for the tie. Incredible.

[Lamrock]

Spurs have it now. With Amare fouled out, the Suns can't win another OT.

Still, that three... now I wouldn't even mind the Spurs winning. That was awesome!

[CKal]

WHAT THE HELL? TIM DUNCAN for 3?

[mvpshaq32]

Damn, what a way to start off a series.
Finley and Duncan hitting unfucking believable game tying threes to force overtimes. Phoenix will be banging their heads on their lockers if they lose this game.....
Edit:Nash with the huge three in the corner, but god dam Ginobli pulls off the same move to basket again....

[Lamrock]

Fuck! Suns blew it like 15 different times!

Still, it was an amazing game; and it was only Game 1. Lets hope that all of the games go to double-OT, are decided in the last 2 seconds and feature lots of classic moments.

Up next: Hornets/Mavs, the other great series in the first round begins.

[L10]

Unbelievable win for the spurs!!!

[buzzy]

Damn, crazy game. Timmy proved why he's the best PF on the planet.

Nice one Spurs.

[Drex]

This is going to be awesome. Can't wait for Game 2. This series will be a classic.

[charley3fly]

The suns just don't have luck on their side... heartbreak every year. I can't even take it any more just as a watcher.

[Lamrock]

I'd rather have Tim Duncan take a 3 with the game on the line than Dirk.

[Axel]

Spurs... again.

If the Suns get jipped again this year, I'm going to become completely disenchanted from the NBA.

[Iceman_44]

This is a going to be a legendary series.
Spurs in 6 tho.

[Wayne]

Solid win by the defending Champ today..this should be a exciting series..Spurs FTW..in 7..

[Andrew]

Wish ESPN Australia had this Game 1 instead of Jazz/Rockets. Game 3 will be shown here though, if Game 1 is an indication of what the series will be like it should be a fun one too. If Phoenix doesn't get the split in San Antonio though, I don't see it going to seven games as I originally predicted.

[Matt]

Wow, what a coaching blunder by D'Antoni IMO...... granted it's easy to observe from home but, the play Timmy hit the 3 should have been a foul. At worst they score 2 pnts but you still get the ball back with limited time.

[Sauru]

say what you want but duncan shooting a 3 at the end of the game is what you want as a coach, you smile ear to ear the second you see him start his shot. thing is he made it, he came up big. still if at the end of game 2 you gotta have someone take a 3 for the time you better believe the suns will leave duncan again.

my problem with the game was no duncan at all, it was thier insanely poor defense on manu. i mean the guy did the same exact play every time and they still just let him do it. its like they are so scared of his flop that they rather let him take the shot, speaks volumes for how the refs call games in the nba

[Andrew]

They could have gone to the hard foul once Ginobili got to the hoop but he's an 86% free throw shooter so the result probably would have been the same.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMmr5iRVtew[/youtube]

Not to take anything away from Ginobili's explosiveness or ability to make the tough shot, but the Suns did a poor job of defending the lane with Bell beaten.

[Sauru]

they did a poor job all night, but still he found plenty of time to flop around. it was a great game but i was sick to my stomach watching the amount of flops getting calls, and i am not saying it was only the spurs.

[-Young Buck-]

Im sick of the spurs, and their little antics. All the acting, and cheap shots they do throughout the game. Thats not basketball. I can never put Ginobili in the same breath as kobe or jordan because they didnt flip flop all the fuck around trying to get refs to bail them out. Then there is kurt thomas. If i was duncan i would be pissed to be on the same team with these pansies. Everytime they drive to the hole they flip flop, and cry when a foul isnt called. Tony Parker included. Does anyone else think Parker looks like Mr. Bean?

[Emiliano]

The first game of the series was one of the best Spurs basketball games I have ever seen aside from the Spurs-Pistons Finals Game 7 (God, what a game...)
That game goes to show how age is just a number

I can't wait for tomorrow's Game 2 against the Suns. It's gonna be a war zone out there! It's weird how the defending champions are often not even considered to win given how the West is so tight this year. And when the Spurs actually do win, many people put excuses such as the usual "They are so boring!" I'm sorry but if someone hates the Spurs then they don't appreciate good basketball.

LET's GO SPURS!!!

[Andrew]

If i was duncan i would be pissed to be on the same team with these pansies.

Duncan doesn't flop but he does his fair share of complaining. He's a world class player and a great defender, but it seems most of the time when he's called for a foul, his eyes grow wide and his arms are outstretched in disbelief or he's protesting to a referee. Part of it is inevitable, anyone who's played basketball at any level (or any sport for that matter) can attest to having a different point of view to the referees but my point is that Duncan isn't above complaining; he just tends to avoid Rasheed Wallace-type episodes when he does.

It's weird how the defending champions are often not even considered to win given how the West is so tight this year.

That doesn't make any sense. With the West being so tight, it's inevitable that there are no clear cut favourites, even when it comes to the defending champions. Had this season been like previous years where the Spurs were one of two or three elite teams favoured to win it all, it would be much stranger if they weren't talked about as frontrunners to go all the way.

Given how close and unpredictable the West has been, it's not unusual that the Spurs aren't being touted as being head and shoulders above everyone else just because they are the defending champions. It's likely they'll establish themselves as the favourite as the Playoffs progress but right now, there are a lot of feasible scenarios.

And when the Spurs actually do win, many people put excuses such as the usual "They are so boring!" I'm sorry but if someone hates the Spurs then they don't appreciate good basketball.

But that assumes that there's only one form of "good basketball", dismissing anyone who doesn't care for the Spurs or favours another style of basketball as being ignorant. If any event, the mere fact the Spurs have been at the top of the league makes them "boring" to a lot of people who would prefer to see the underdog (or at least someone new) come out on top. If you're successful enough - as the Spurs are - you're bound to draw a lot of hatred and dislike. The underdog's popularity usually prevails.