Season Opener
It never got easier. Everyone felt the knots in their stomach.
The season opener. Oklahoma City had won its first game already, and they had gotten that feeling out of the way; but it was still present within the Suns locker room, especially with two men: the unofficial but very much recognized captain, Steve Nash, and Tracy McGrady. Nash did well enough hiding it, and his nervousness wasn't too bad, but simply just the feeling of wanting to start off the season on a good note. For Tracy, it was a feeling he had many times before but could not shake; he was in front of a new crowd once more, and the pressure was definitely present. How would they react? He could never tell. It wasn't rational to think they were just going to outright boo him upon his entrance, but at this point he wasn't sure of anything.
"... and at shooting guard, your newest Sun, Tracy McGraaaaaady!" Tracy made his way onto the court and was immediately greeted by deafening cheers. For whatever reason, the people were excited to see him. For a moment, T-Mac could not have felt better. It was taking him back to a younger time in his career.
Then tip-off came. From the beginning, Nash was ready. The Thunder started out with the ball, but Robin Lopez would pull down a missed Westbrook shot and Nash would take it up court, quickly getting it to a cutting T-Mac who would lay in a closely contested ball. And that was as much as you would see from Tracy in the first half. Which was unfortunate for the Suns, as before the game Nash had told Tracy he was going to get him the ball as much as possible to loosen the jitters. But Tracy would go 0 - 3 on his next few tries, and a few times he even lost the ball, though both times the Suns were able to recover. But Phoenix still had Steve Nash. With his good defense on Westbrook, he would lead them to a 6 - 0 run to start, and had them up by 8 at the first timeout, with about 4 minutes left to go.
How amusing, throwback jerseys for an old team?Coach Gentry would take Tracy out in favor in Vince to see his first minutes of the season. Tracy obliged. He was not feeling his groove.
But Vince obviously
was feeling a grove. The next play after his entrance, he would pull down a miss by James Harden and take it up the court himself en-route to a fastbreak layup. This lit a fire in Tracy, a suppressed competitiveness he had long held with his cousin, and the agitation slowly faded. He was ready.
The first quarter though, was all Nash; this was after all still
his team. He had 8 points and 4 assists by the start of the second, and his defense on Westbrook was doing the team well.
The second quarter began with the Sun's bench squad, with the exception of McGrady. The Thunder would go on a 12 - 2 run in the first 3 minutes, highlighted by Kevin Durant's scoring (he would finish the game with 31). About 8:00 in, Tracy pulled down the orange in a heated rebounding battle, and having previously been 1 of 5, went on a 2 of 2 scoring run on the next two possessions. He was finally getting it; he felt fresh, as if this was a new beginning and he could really contribute something here. And for this game, he certainly did.
This perception was strengthened when he hit a transition three off a half-court pass from rebounding Robin Lopez with 4:24 minutes remaining in the first half, to tie the game 39 - 39. Then the next possession, after a two point OKC trip, Nash would hit an open McGrady for another three; 42 - 41. Thunder timeout. Nash grinned at T-Mac as they entered the huddle: "I told you I'd get you."
Now with twelve, McGrady would finish out the second quarter with 16. The Suns were up 46 - 43 heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Suns worked with a mid-range game, with Nash dishing out the assists and taking in a layup when no open shot could be found. It was still tight, with Durant making it hard for the Suns and keeping the game close: at a 5:00 timeout the score was 58 - 58. In the next few minutes, Steve Nash would go on to toss an assist to Grant Hill for three, Hill would block a Durant fast break layup, and Nash would hit Grant two more times for three consecutive assists between the two. Two trips later, Grant would pull down yet another Westbrook miss (he finished the game with only 9 pts and 4 assists), and take it up court himself for a transistion three. To anyone on the outside, it would seem as though Grant Hill was an elder statesman who was kept around just out of respect. But the Suns saw differently, and so did Grant: He could still make it happen.
In the fourth quarter, Phoenix truly started to pull away. Nash played the stalwart, scoring when needed and making excellent passes. However, with 4:30 minutes to go, with the bench squad of the Suns on the court, Oklahoma City would make an amazing 15 - 0 run off a number of passing lane steals from Thabo Sefolosha, to cut the game to 85 -95.
Then Steve Nash would check in and almost immediately hit a three; off an assist from Vince Carter. It seemed to take the life out of the Thunder, and this is where the game truly ended.
McGrady's true introduction was yet to be seen, and it would come with 37 seconds left. Grabbing an inbound pass from Lopez, he was immediately double-teamed by Harden and Kendrick Perkins; but the double-team was from the
outside. Tracy immediately saw a lane and broke free of his defenders, drove and lept over an unsuspecting Westbrook for the dunk - and one. The crowd went ballistic. It was a glimpse of a young McGrady - and they hoped - a glimpse of things to come.
The Suns would win, 106 - 97.
Tracy would finish the game with 29. But Nash was the real highlight, racking up 12 assists and 25 points, only missing four shots. Hill would finish with 15, and Carter with 8 and 6 rebounds. There were also useful contributions from Gortat, Lopez, and Warrick, each pulling in a fair share of rebounds and each having six points.
After the game, the locker room was full of smiles and jokes. There was no pressure; no one expected the Suns to go anywhere, but the Suns knew they could win, and that was where the elation came from. Beating OKC, a tough team, by a good margin in their first game could be a great stepping stone.
John Cartwright entered the locker room, and congratulated Nash and then Tracy. He shook Tracy's hand. "Good game out there."
Tracy could simply be appreciative. He had joined the roster as a starter, and contributed one of his biggest games in years. "Thanks, Mr. Cartwright."
It might be a good season after all.
Nash should average 25/12. That would be a talking point. 
