Suns
I've been wrong about this series so far. No one has been able to stay with the Suns all year, but the Spurs have proven they have the ability to distrupt the flow of the Suns offense.
The Suns haven't been able to deal with the pressure, since until this series no-one's been good enough to put that much pressure on them. In the last game, the Spurs defense managed to shut down Nash and prevent him from penetrating. Joe Johnsons return helped, but it wasn't enough.
For the Suns to win this one, they need Shawn Marion and Quentin Richardson to get back to being involved with the offense. Stoudamire has been fantastic, but he needs help, and these guys were supplying it all year. I think it would help if D'antoni got these players to focus on defense and rebounding to prevent them from putting too much pressure on themselves on offense. They're clearly tight and unable to play with their ususal effectiveness. Until this series I never saw Marion blow a layup.
This is where the Spurs have their real edge. They've been in this situation before and know how to win. They're confident in themsleves and their abilities. My hope is that this expereince will help the Suns to find that they can compete with the Spurs. They have the talent, they simply have to apply it in the pressure of a playoff game where they're about to be closed out.
