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November 8, 2006
Shootout in the Wild West
Spurs vs. Suns: Round 1 goes Wednesday
Two of the titans in the West will collide on Wednesday night when reigning back-to-back MVP Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns visit Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs. Along with the 0-3 Dallas Mavericks, these two teams were thought to be strong favorites to represent the West in this year’s NBA Finals. While the Spurs have started strong as everyone expected, the Suns have opened out of the gate 1-3 and have looked very sluggish early in the season.
Despite having Amare Stoudemire back and apparently healthy, Phoenix has not demonstrated the ability to play consistent defense by giving up 110 points per game through the first week of action. And as good as the Suns are offensively, if you cannot stop the other team from scoring in buckets you’ll have a tough time winning games in the NBA.
Nash, the consensus pick as the best point guard in the league, has been as good as advertised while scoring 20 points a night and dishing out almost 12 assists per game. Shawn Marion continues to make his case as arguably one of the league’s best overall players, doing everything to help his team. Marion is Phoenix’s leading scorer at 21.8 while adding 10 rebounds, two assists and better than two blocks a game to start the year. Stoudemire, the team’s top interior threat, has shown spurts of his former All-Star form however he has averaged only 16 minutes per game over the first four as he continues to gain strength and endurance in his repaired knee.
For the Spurs, their big three continues to be the collective straw that stirs the drink. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker have been and will remain the team’s primary offensive weapons, and they are the top three scorers so far. While they have shown the ability to run a fast-paced style on offense when playing the likes of Phoenix and Dallas, what separates the Spurs from other teams is their ability to change the pace of the game and dictate tempo. Simply put, they can run-and-gun with the best of them or make watching paint dry an ultimately successful night.
The one evident weakness seen in San Antonio’s game is the team’s inability to find offense from secondary sources, and by extension a lack of production from the bench. The Spurs’ two other starters are usually Bruce Bowen, who has been consistently unproductive on offense, and Fabricio Oberto, an obscure power forward who is good for rebounding, interior defense and the occasional dunk.
Playing at home, the Spurs come into this matchup as a 6.5-point favorite at BetJamaica. The total for this game opened at 203.5. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 pm ET with ESPN handling the coverage.
25032 - Copyright 2006, BetJamaica.com, The Player's Paradise
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