Spurs-Suns or simply Nash and Ginobili

The first two games of the Spurs series were decided by two players. After watching game 2 I realized it was not about Duncan, Stoudemire, Shaq, foul trouble, zone defense or anything.

It all comes down to Manu Ginobili and Steve Nash (Ronald Martinez/NBAE Photos). Suns can’t limit Manu and can’t play efficient offense without Nash on the court.

1. Suns don’t have an answer for Manu Ginobili.

Ginobili has a plus/minus of + 9 in game 1 and +12 in game 2.
Raja Bell can’t guard him, nor can Grant Hill. Zone defense (2-3) can be used to protect the inside and the big men from getting into foul trouble but it’s very vulnerable to outside shooting, or better, to mid-range shooting.
Parker and Ginobili beat the first line of perimeter defense, easily, and can score without actually having to deal with Shaq and STAT coming up the middle. Check the shot charts of Manu and Parker in Game 2 from espn.com

2. Suns offense can’t function without Nash.

It’s not only evident by watching the games, Steve has 13 of a Suns season-low 16 assists (if I remember it right) in game 2. The Spurs defense can send the Suns completely out of rhythm and when Nash is on the bench it gets really ugly.

The Suns could use Barbosa and Diaw as alternative point men. Forget that! as both are having an awful series (-18 for both in +/- in game 2).

By the way, did you notice that in the high-equilibrium Western Conference each series is now 2-0?

Go Suns!