Rising Suns

Did you hear that? That noise? It's silence. A hush from those that said the Suns didn't have the killer instinct. It's a shocked look on the faces of the critics. It's Steven A. Smith backpeddaling desperately on ESPN after saying the Suns looked rattled in game six because, "Hey, playoffs."

That sound is Steve Nash hitting a clutch three at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime. That sound is the Suns roaring from a 16-point deficit with less than four minutes in the third quarter. That sound is the Mavericks hitting the Purple Wall in the fourth quarter as Phoenix ripped off a 22-6 run to tie up the contest. That sound is the killer instinct that is so important in the playoffs; the characteristic that the media has been slamming Phoenix all year long for lacking. That sound is the silence of those critics. Those critics that were wrong.

The silence.

And this is what they'll say now:

...the Suns haven't faced a team like San Antonio that can play grind-it-out defense night-in/night out. The Spurs have the #1 scoring defense and the #3 FG% in the NBA.

(The Suns' first round opponent, Memphis, was the #4 scoring defense in the NBA and the #6 defensive FG% in the league)

...if Amare has trouble against Erick Dampier, how's he going to fair against the front line of Mohammed, Duncan, and Rasho?

(In the two games in which the Spurs had Duncan up front to protect the rim, Amare dropped 37 and 35. In two losses, yes, but he made the Spurs look pretty silly)

...the Spurs took two out of three in the regular season, and the one they lost was a close one without Ginobili and without Duncan.

(And the second loss Phoenix suffered was the day after the trade for Jim Jackson. With Barbosa hurt, the Suns suited up nine guys. On the bench: Jake Voskuhl, Bo Outlaw, Steven Hunter, and Smush Parker)

...The Suns have a very thin team. Look at the Dallas series, their starters played 600,000 minutes per game.

(Actually, the matchup with the Spurs instantly lengthens the Suns bench. Against Dallas, there was nobody for Steven Hunter to guard, making for matchup issues for most of the series in the middle. With Nazr, Duncan, et al. up front for the Spurs, it gives the Suns a chance to give Hunter more minutes, and the fact that they have fewer big time offensive threats coming off of the bench, a la Stackhouse, the Suns
can matchup much better against San Antonio with their bench)

......

The X-factor in this series is Joe Johnson. If Joe cannot contribute significantly in this series, the Suns will not win the series. Period. The Spurs' perimeter defense is a suffocating one, and Joe adds that tension on the outside that will allow the Suns the stretch the likes of Bowen and Ginobili out as far as possible.

The upcoming series with San Antonio will be brutal for both teams. The major difference between the Spurs and the Suns is that the Spurs have no weaknesses. They have the most efficient half-court sets in the league; they can run a full-court game if necessary; their half-court defense is legendary; and their transition defense is unparalleled.

If San Antonio comes into this series with the same attitude that they had against Seattle, the Suns will walk all over them. But the Spurs are the favorites in this series for a reason. If they play Spurs basketball across a seven-game series, it will be tough for the Suns to win.

But I'm not conceding the series. Far from it. I believe the Suns will continue to surprise the doubters across the country. Here are some other things to take into serious consideration:

-The Spurs were a .500 road team this season. While they had the best home record in the league, a 21-20 road record gives the Suns a small edge because of the home court advantage.

-The Suns were the best road team in the league. They had the same record at home as on the road (31-10) and are 3-1 on the road in the playoffs so far this year. Winning two in the American Airlines Center is not an easy task.

-Duncan's ankle is tweaked. It's not a debilitating injury, but it could keep him from running up and down the floor, at least in game one.

The Suns must come out swinging. They must protect the home court. If you give a game away to San Antonio, you're digging your own grave. The Spurs have proven that they are vulnerable from a game-to-game basis this postseason. The Suns must capitalize on that, and take advantage of the killer instinct that they demonstrated in their second-round series.

I'm not going to be so bold as to predict an outcome to this series, because the truth is, I just don't know. I do believe that if the series goes seven, that the Suns will win because of the home court advantage.

But this is the series that everybody in the country wanted to see. A chance for the Suns to prove to every basketball fan across the country that the most fun team to watch can also be the best team.

Everybody who is not a Spurs fan should be rooting for Phoenix. Phoenix represents the good in the NBA: fun, fast-paced action with some of the most electrifying players in the league. The Spurs represent the evil in the NBA: a boring, grind-it-out defensive-oriented team with arguably the most boring superstar in sports history (Seriously, has there been a player in any sport as good as Tim Duncan that less fun to watch? Personally, I think Duncan is the single best player in the NBA, and I'd take him before anybody else to start a team. But I can't think of a guy who puts more sports fans to sleep than The Big Fundamental).

If the Finals matchup is Spurs/Pistons, expect to hear a collective "CLICK!" across the country as millions of casual sports fans turn the channel to watch reruns of CSI: Sacramento. The only person rooting harder than me for the Suns to make the Finals is David Stern.