Must-Win

Steve Nash put it best. Game 1 was a kick in the groin, game 2 was a punch in the mouth. That 3-Rd quarter in game 2 was terrible for the Suns. It was deja vu all over again with a strong dose of history repeating itself. It looked awfully familiar to Suns fans who have seen the Suns play and mostly lose to the Spurs 3 of the last 4 playoffs including the current series. The more things change with Shaq and stuff, the more things stay the same. The Spurs turned on the defensive heat. Bruce Bowen harassed Nash and neutralized him. The Suns were lost without Nash dominating. Spurs also managed to shut off Amare, which is something nobody has done for a couple of months including these Spurs in the first half of this very game. Suns were sloppy, ineffective and looked over-matched as they scored just 11 points in that 3-Rd quarter.

How do you score 35 in the first and just 11 in the 3-Rd? Thats exactly the problem with this team - inconsistency at both end of the floor. Especially against good teams like the Spurs, the Suns rarely play well at both ends of the floor at the same time. They are defensively bad most of the time, but if they suck offensively, they at least try harder on defense. But then when the offense is flowing, they just slack off on defense and let Parker and Ginobli drive to the hoop all day. Nash's 23-10 doesn't look that impressive if you consider the fact he gave up 32-7 to Tony Parker. Nash gets killed on the defensive end. It's sad, but it's true. Now on to game 3 on Friday. This is the definition of a must-win game. Lets see if the Suns pull it off.

As for the other series, West is not turning out to be as good as expected because the Hornets are killing the Mavs and Lakers are killing the Nuggets. Mavs and Nuggets may play better at home, but they are not looking too good right now. Of course both these teams are dealing with potential MVP candidates in Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. Kobe had 49 and 10 dimes the other day and CP3 had a 32-5-17 game 2. Ridiculous numbers from both these guys and they are killing their opponents. After all, looks like the top 3 teams in the West are the top-3 for a reason. Though they were not too many games ahead of the lower ranked teams, they are handling them well in the playoffs. Of course, none of this matters if you don't win on the road. The top teams are going on the road and the real fun starts now. Houston went on the road and won 94-42 after losing 2 at home. Thats a weird one where the home team has lost all 3 games. Utah still should win game 4 and wrap this series up sooner than later. In the L-East, LeBron and the Cavs were crushed in Washington today. Game 4 is now very important for the King and the Cavs. Same with Orlando against Toronto. Boston and Detroit should win game 3 on the road.