# Game 29: Phoenix Suns @ San Antonio Spurs



## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

* December 28th, 2004 - 7:30 PM (Central Time)*


*Phoenix Suns (24-3)* @ *San Antonio Spurs (22-6) *

Last Game: Phoenix - Win, 106-94
Last Game: San Antonio - Win, 107-90

*Projected Starting Lineups: *

















































































*Reserves:*

































































Two of the best teams in the league face off as the 22-3 Suns visit the 22-6 Spurs. Phoenix has been amazing on the road going 11-1 thus far, while the Spurs are an amazing team at home, going 13-1. Both teams pose matchup problems with the other, as Rasho will guard Amare probably, and Duncan/Marion will have to guard each other. The key matchup will be the wing play for both teams. Nash and Parker is huge, but you pretty much know what you're getting out of both of them. Manu is the X-factor for SA, because his play will be the big factor in the game. Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson have had up-and-down individual performances all season long, so it will be interesting to see how those two play in this game. San Antonio stepped up for a big win against Minnesota the other night, but failed to play big against the Sonics. I'm hoping that SA doesn't overlook Phoenix like they did to Seattle, because the same result will happen. Phoenix has played great ball thus far, and if SA doesn't match their intensity, SA will lose again. 



Prediction: San Antonio 104, Phoenix 100



Duncan - 30/15
Ginobili - 19/7/4
Parker - 14/5

Amare - 24/9
Nash - 18/12
Marion - 18/10


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Great match-ups all around, should be one exciting game. Parker's gonna have to step up big and put pressure on Stevie Nash on both ends of the floor. 

I'd go so far as to say that whoever has a better game btw Manu and QRich will determine which team will win.


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## rocketsthathavespurs (Jul 17, 2004)

this will definitly determine if were title contenders right now


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## texan (Jul 10, 2003)

I think we match up really well in this game. TD being defended by Marion, and Parker by Nash. Then we also match up well defensively. I think the key to this game is slowing down the tempo and making the Suns run their half court offense. If we can get them to play a Spurs ball type game,(like scores in 80s or low 90s) then we should be able to win this game. If we allow them to run us, then say goodbye to this game.

Predicition:

Spurs 91
Suns 86

Tim Duncan- 27 pts, 14 rebs, 4 assists, 4 blocks
Tony Parker- 17 pts, 8 assists

Amare Stoudemire- 14 pts, 7 rebs, 2 blocks


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

Should be a great game, a fairly high scoring one too. This may not happen much, but the spurs are the under dog here. I still have confidence in them though.

Spurs- 104
Suns- 101


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## DaBobZ (Sep 22, 2003)

Great win great games by the PG's....
TD didn't even have to play more than 30 min...
We are defo title contenders


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>DaBobZ</b>!
> Great win great games by the PG's....
> TD didn't even have to play more than 30 min...
> We are defo title contenders




Damn, I expected more reaction than just your post. I thought this was easily the biggest win of the year for us. 



Anyway, I went to the game, so I got another good luck at this matchup. Parker played ****ing great. He threw Nash completely off his game, and flat-out owned him. It's just amazing seeing how good this guy is. He's not ever going to be a 20+ per game scorer, but with his quickness, he should easily be a 18-19 PPG scorer in the prime of his career. He's awesome in the open court, easily one of the best open-court PG's in the league. One thing that's not getting mentioned much about Parker is his defense. I think he's noticeably improved his defense, and not just from tonight. He's realizing that his foot speed is as good as anybody's in the league, so he's getting up in their face causing problems. However, the downside with Parker is his inconsistency. He's shown flashes of being a top-notch PG, but will cancel that out by playing like Anthony Carter the next game. If he can finally, finally contribute consistently, I love our chances at the title this year. He's got to continue attacking the basket, because there's not many guys who can keep Parker in front of them. It was a solid all-around performance from our team. Basically every player that played minutes in the key part of the game for the Spurs had at least one big play. Horry hit a momentum changing three. Bowen hit two. Brown had the nail in the coffin with an and-one at the end of the third. Rose had a good put-back at the end of the first half. Rasho had some nice plays. Duncan was Duncan. Manu had a couple of big plays. I'm extremely happy with the results of the game, but I'll make sure that I don't wet myself over this. We've got a three-game trip coming up, and poor performance during that will send this game straight down the toilet. Great game for SA, but you take them one game at a time.


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## mr_french_basketball (Jul 3, 2003)

*my ratings*

A second straigth televised Spurs game in France.

It was by far the best I've seen this season, with like a playoff smelt. The first quarter was just phenomenal.

Parker : 10/10
I've always given a 9 to Tony for a 9.5 type of performance... But this time I can't give less than 10, because he challenged Nash in the first quarter, and outplayed him the second 2...

Ginobili : 9/10
Great intensity. The complete game for Manu

Duncan : 9/10
Simple and efficient. He could have recorded a quadruple-double if he had played the entire game.

Rose : 8/10
Almost 1pt/mn!!! Great.

Nesterovic : 8/10
The game wasn't played at a good tempo for him, but he showed some skills I've forgotten he has!!!

Udrih : 7/10
He was off offensively but still contributed, involving his teamate (6asts 2stls 1blk no To)

Bowen : 7/10
He's not afraid to take shot. Even they didn't fall has often as we hoped, I like it.

Brown : 6/10

Horry : 5/10
As long Horry or Rose can produce each game, I will be pleased by both 

Barry : 4/10
I still can't understand why such a good shooter can miss the easy looks he had... (I was shooter myself, maybe that's the reason)


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## mr_french_basketball (Jul 3, 2003)

*Tony's consistency.*



> Originally posted by <b>KokoTheMonkey</b>!
> 
> the downside with Parker is his inconsistency. He's shown flashes of being a top-notch PG, but will cancel that out by playing like Anthony Carter the next game. If he can finally, finally contribute consistently, I love our chances at the title this year.


If I agree consistency was an issue for him in all of his first 3 years, it's not true anymore...

The repartition of my ratings clearly shows that he is one of the most consistent Spur this season, and the most consistent in December.


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## texan (Jul 10, 2003)

I didn't get to watch the game, as I was in Houston, but I was ecstatic when I saw that score. Damn, did we blow them outta the water. I was really happy to see Parker have such a huge game, and solid contributions from everyone else. Duncan put a pretty amazing stat line as well, for the amount of time he played. This is a big win for us, and showed just how good our defense is.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

In case you're saying "This post padding SOB", let me explain why I do the leaders every night. At the end of the season (or even halfway) I want to take a closer analysis on all of these stats, and it will be easier for me this way instead of digging up every box score and recording things. I went to this game, so I really wasn't in a rush to jot down the stats. Anyway, here are the leaders:



San Antonio Leaders:


Points:


Tony Parker - 29 (Hell yes)
Tim Duncan - 16
Malik Rose - 15 (Wow, pleasant surprise)


Rebounds:


Tim Duncan - 12
Malik Rose - 6
Tony Parker, Bruce Bowen, Tony Massenburg - 5


Assists:


Beno Udrih, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili - 6
Tony Parker, Devin Brown - 2


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