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Saturday, June 04, 2005
Sayson: A lighthouse called Duncan in the Suns’ sea of dark
By Homer Sayson
Second Overtime
CHICAGO – To repair a fractured orbital bone in his left eye, four plates and 18 screws were inserted in Joe Johnson’s face following a delicate procedure last May 11 at a Phoenix hospital. To avoid any scars, Dr. Edward Juganic performed the surgery in such a way that Johnson was stitched from the inside of his mouth.
Needless to say, the simple joy of chewing his food has since turned into a torturous chore for the Suns’ 6-foot-8 shooting guard. Although he shouldn’t be playing despite a protective mask, Joe suited up in the other night’s West Conference Finals, ignoring pain and putting his own safety beneath the Suns’ pursuit of a championship.
Back in just his third game after spending 17 days in the injured list, Johnson was barely a factor with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. He shot only 6-of-17 from the field, but by him merely showing up, I saw perhaps the most courageous 42 minutes in the NBA.
San Antonio eventually wrapped up the series, 4-1, following another spine-tingling win at the America West Arena, the Spurs’ third straight triumph at the Suns’ home floor in this best-of-seven affair. Leaning on their poise in big-game situations, the Spurs turned a 93-90 fourth-quarter cliffhanger into a 101-95 runaway.
Once again, the Suns’ frantic running pace made the seas rougher for the Spurs. But once again, Tim Duncan proved to be a reliable lighthouse, steering his peers to safety with 31 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
The Spurs are headed to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years and they’ll shoot for their third Larry O’Brien trophy in seven years. In Phoenix, meanwhile, the Suns had finally set, ending a magnificent season under the darkness of failed expectations.
But this isn’t a total eclipse.
Even in defeat, the Suns will continue to shine. Whether it’s Steve Nash making one impossible assist after another, or Amare Stoudemire slamming the ball with ruthless rage, hoops fans will long remember how the Suns redefined these NBA playoffs with their free-wheeling and fabulously entertaining brand of basketball.
And there will always be Joe Johnson. His indomitable will personified the heart of these Suns, who rose from the ashes of a 29-53 2004 season, to become a roaring contender that led the NBA in scoring this season (110.4 points per game) before annexing the best record overall at 62-20.
NO GUARANTEES. The Suns’ demise marked the 49th time in 59 years that the team with the highest scoring average in the regular season will not win the championship. And for the 27th time in 59 seasons, the team with the best record in the regular season will fail to the NBA Finals.
In short, defense, not necessarily offense, wins championships. And boy, the Spurs have a ton of that defense.
In last night’s clincher, San Antonio held the Suns to 38-of-87 from the field (43.7 percent) and 5-of-17 from 3-point range.
Although Phoenix shot relatively in the series’ five games (206-of-415 for 49 percent), the Spurs were able to make the defensive stops when they had to during crucial points.
Unsurprisingly, the Suns proved to the better 3-point shooters, hitting 41.3 percent of their treys against San Antonio’s 41.1 clip. But because of the double teams that forced the Suns to collapse in the shaded area, the Spurs had more volume of trifectas made with 44-of-107 against Phoenix’s 31-of-75.
The same story was told in the free-throw line. Phoenix nailed 81.9 percent of their freebies, while San Antonio stunk at 70.2 percent. But because of their low-post might, size and strength, the Spurs shot a lot more free throws (85-of-121), choking the Suns (77-of-94) with volume instead of accuracy.
DYNASTY? In the end, the Spurs were mentally tougher and significantly wiser in their shot selections and endgame decision-making skills. That reflected in the turnovers stat, where the Suns showed 67, mostly in the fourth quarters, while the Spurs only 64, with so few at crunchtime.
San Antonio also dominated the boards, 220 to 190, and they ruled the scoring in the paint, 270 to 240. More importantly, the Spurs held the Suns to just 67 fastbreal points in five games, the same Suns team that had averaged 19.3 fastbreak points in the West semis against the Mavs.
Yes, the Suns are eliminated. But there is no reason to hang their heads.
They fought a good fight, and they just had the bad fortune of running into a very good team, a team that may become the next dynasty as long as it is kept together for many more seasons to come.
(homsay@hotmail.com)
(June 4, 2005 issue)
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