Great, great game between the Spurs and Suns with a 3-pointer by Amare Stoudamire to end regulation and a circus shot, 3 point buzzer beater by Stephon Marbury to win the game in OT. Suns have now won 4 of the last 5 against the Spurs. I just hope the Spurs can regroup and win the series for we all.....well most all of us, need them to take out the Lakers, IF they get past KG and Wally.

The Suns were double- and triple-teaming Duncan, and the Spurs are going to have to do something to get Duncan more shots. Duncan had some success when he was able to shoot quickly, get ally-oops, and he also dished out 6 assists. Still, 12 shots in an overtime game is not enough if San Antonio plans on winning.

Duncan also killed the Spurs at the line going 3 for 9 and missing 3 of 4 in the last minute.

I know the refs hating making calls in the NBA -- unless they're needed to let the Lakers win -- but the Suns' Stephon Marbury took at least three steps before launching his game-winning three-pointer. The guy stopped dribbling at about mid-court and ran the rest of the way to the three-point line.

I understand letting guys travel if they're making a spectacular (or even pedestrian) slam-dunk, but a three-pointer? And the extra speed he got from travelling (instead of dribbling) is how he got the shot off with 0.3 seconds.

But, then again, the Spurs deserved to lose with their late free-throw brick-tossing.

That's called the Michael Jordan Exemption. He walked practically every time he drove the lane.

With that being the case, don't blame Duncan. If three guys were on Duncan, tha means that there were 2 guys defending 4 of the Spurs. What did his team mates do? Obviously not enough.
even the best player will be shut down if he has the entire opposing team guarding him. It's up to his teammates to use it to the Spyrs advantage

Who's gonna step up?

Whew! Spurs struggled but pulled out Game 2. This series is going to tougher than I thought.

Hey Charlie you got some "sour grapes" or what? LAKERS are often robbed of calls! Still they go for 4-in-a-row!!! AI YI YII!!! GO LAKERS!!!

SmoothRon,

Mavs 2, Jailblazers 0.

wink

Yeah, Theo, I may have to revise my predictions, the Mavs may take this series in 5 games, instead of the 6 games that I predicted!! It will get tougher in Portland, but the Mavericks should take one of those games.

I think that Minnesota has a chance to win one of the games in L.A., and if they do, they will have a great chance to win that series. They match up well with the Lakers, and totally dominated game 2. The Mavs, Kings, and 76ers, are the only teams who haven't lost in the playoffs thus far. The Suns/Spurs series is going just as I predicted, the Suns should be up 2-0, and I still think that the Suns will win that series in seven games.

[ April 24, 2003, 04:41 PM: Message edited by: SmoothRon ]

SmoothRon,

Mavs 3, Jailblazers 0.

wink

How did such a classy coach get stuck with a bunch of fighting, spitting, dope-smoking misfits? Mo Cheeks helped out a teenage girl who forgot the words to the "Star Spangled Banner".

Mo Cheeks so deserves better than this mess, but I'm glad the Mavs are dominating. 60 wins and 0 respect!

But more importantly, how about my boy Tony Parker finding his game. Duncan only gets 6 shots and scores 11 but the Spurs still win!

And WTF is with the schedule? Kings-Jazz played Game 2 on Monday and will finally play Game 3 today (Saturday). If the NHL can play with one day rest, why can't the NBA go on less than 3 or 4 days? No wonder the playoffs last until July 4th!

[ April 26, 2003, 08:32 AM: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

I missed the SA/PHX game last night but did read that Parker stepped his game up and didn't let Marbury intimidate him. A second round SA/MIN series could be quite entertaining. wink

The broom-toting Mavs will get a nice break when they finish off the Jailblazers tomorrow night.

I don't know about the scheduling for SAC/UTA but the DAL/POR series took a 4 day break because of the Stars playing at the AAC as well.

In case anyone was curious, SmoothRon and I wanted to let you all know that the Mavs are true gentlemen and didn't want to utterly embarrass Portland so we let them have one. Plus, they want to give us the thrill of a round 1 series win at home. wink

Do we even have any Blazer fans here? I've seen pro-every-other-team-in-the-playoffs posts, but can't recall anything regarding the Blazers.

I have to admit, I'm beginning to get a bit nervous with the Suns tying it up versus the Spurs. Suns have to be one of the stronger #8 seeds. I'd have rather played the #6 Blazers or #7 Jazz. Kings and Mavs definitely got easier first rounders.

My admiration and respect for Kevin Garnett grows with each game. As big a Duncan fan as I am, I wouldn't mind seeing KG win MVP.

Well, if I were a Blazers fan, I'd lay low too. eek!

George, I too have gained so much respect for KG. He is a phoenomenal basketball player and is a class act. I wish he could get that monkey off his back of not being able to get past the 1st round. He deserves MVP but I bet he'd give it up just to get past the Lakers.

Your Spurs need to win this series. I really don't know if the Suns could hang with the Lakers like SA could. Nonetheless, it's turning out to be a very interesting series.

If the Suns win this series(which I quietly predicted by the way), and the Kings win theirs, does that mean the Kings would play the Suns next? Wouldn't that be something? And Theo, you are right about the Mavs, I think they just didn't want to embarass the Jailblazers, by sweeping them for a NBA record third year in a row!! Nevertheless, I think this series is over on Wednesday night, at home in Dallas!! I do wish that Don Nelson would go deeper into the bench and utilize all of the players like he did last night!! Dirk and Steve are playing way too many minutes!! They deserved to sit through the entire fourth quarter of the game, but they had better be ready Wednesday night, and stay away from that bad restaurant food!! I heard that Finley and Nash both had a case of food poisoning last night! Go to 5 star restaurants and not 2 star restaurants, guys!!

[ April 28, 2003, 03:32 PM: Message edited by: SmoothRon ]

Oh man, I didn't hear about the food poisoning. Maybe that explains it. I wouldn't even put it past one of the Jailblazers to taint their food. And I agree with you; all of Dirk's minutes is concerning. I want to see more of Tariq and I even think Eschmeyer can have an impact on the boards.

The winner of the Suns/Spurs series goes on to play the winner of the Lakers/TWolves series. The Suns have given the Spurs fits all season and I just don't know if they can have their way with L.A. As it looks now, the Mavs will go onto play the SAC/UTA series winner.

Rick Fox is out for the remainder of the playoffs with a torn tendon in his foot. It requires surgery.

SmoothRon and HornFan, if the Mavs lose tomorrow, I will be at Reunion Tower at 5:30pm promptly. FYI....if you're coming from the North, the quickest way to get there is the Tollway. Be sure to have coins so you don't get stuck in the 'change made' line. I will be in a white t-shirt, jeans, and an Old Navy baseball cap. A couple of the guys at the bar in the Observation deck know me so they can quickly point me out. Once you two arrive, I will be jumping off the building onto I-35. Don't try to stop me!!! :mad: frown

Theo, I'll be the splat on the concrete below that you see on your way down. BTW, I've got a tolltag, so that's how I'll get there quicker than you.

Rebuilding might be fun... :mad:

Mavs Fan's Suicide Postponed.

Yoo Hoo!!! wink

Nothing against Dallas but it would have been nice to FINALLY see a team come back from 0-3.

p.s. Damon Stoudamire is cute-a-licious

I hear ya OSU, but I don't think the "jail blazers" were anywhere near worthy of that feat with their antics this year...anybody else, OK. I'm just glad (and releived) it wasn't the Mavs to be involved in that historical record.

I'll second that, Hornfan!! I think that the Mavs have a chance against the Kings, if they utilize their bench players more. I think that Stevie is burned out, and Don Nelson primarily only used 7 players during the Portland series. They have some pretty good players like Walt Williams, Raja Bell, Eschmeyer, and Tariq Abdul on the bench and he will not used them. He has got to find a way to give Dirk, Stevie, and Mike more rest, because this is going to be a physical and fast-paced series.