Western Conference Semi-Finals Game 1- Clippers @ Suns Game Thread

[az1965]

Huge steal by Marion

 

[SirStefan32]

This is just a good basketball game, WOW

 

[az1965]

130-123!!

Now that is some scoring!

We scored 74 points in the second half!

 

[hsandhu]

Making livingston make plays in the end of the 4th (had nash on him so they think mismatch), was very smart.

 

[az1965]

Making livingston make plays in the end of the 4th (had nash on him so they think mismatch), was very smart.

Yeah, they went away from Brand. He didn't touch the ball after coming back until the last shot of the Clips in the end.

 

[arthurracoon]

great win!!!

cassell almost killed us again.

 

[justAndy]

how nice to have a game that doesn't involve a lot of cheap elbows and a bloated ego.
Brand was 1/2 demon 1/3 man in this game.
31 & 12 - hells yeah! Those are MVP #'s.

 

[elindholm]

Brand is sort of like a taller Charles Barkley. When he has that little turnaround jumper on the baseline working, forget it.

Great win. Now, let's see if the Suns can play Games 2 through 4 better than they did against the Lakers.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

A great win, even with them shooting almost 60%...which they probably can't keep up...

Proud of the guys tonight...

Elton Brand is a beast...

 

[ProdigalSun]

Great win and just a great game played overall by both teams. I was also wondering why Brand didn't get more touches in that 4th quarter, we had no answer for him. Anyways, looks like its gonna be a tough series but good to get this first one.

 

[Gaddabout]

Brand is sort of like a taller Charles Barkley. When he has that little turnaround jumper on the baseline working, forget it.

I was thinking the same thing. He's not as quick as Barkley ... he's just as determined when he wants to drive.

 

[Chaplin]

Spectacular game, this is going to be just a terrific series, probably (once again) the best of this round, if that Miami/NJ game was any indication. Blech!

 

[jibikao]

I watched the game tonight and we won!

Couple comments:

1.) We can't defend Brand any better. He was hitting jumpers everywhere. I hope he doesn't stay this hot.

2.) I don't like the idea of Nash holding the ball in the end. I was amazed by our free throw %. We don't have weakest link when it comes to FT combats. Nash is too physically weak to hold that ball when two guys are hacking him. It's his MVP night so he got the call.

3.) I think Clipper had a bad plan in late 4th. I saw them trying to go to Livingston over Nash. Yes, Livingston does have the height advantage but he is not known for his scoring or post up games. I wonder why Clip didn't play Mobley? He would have owned Nash.

4.) I still think Cassell's game will help this series. He was cold in the first half and those resulted in fast break for us. They have a perfect BEAST in Brand and Clipper went to Cassell so many times in the end. Cassell also can't guard Nash at all (just like Nash can't guard him).

5.) Marion had a lot of miss catches today. The refs love us tonight. Oh well, game 1 at home.

6.) I don't think Brand can stay this hot and I don't think we can keep shooting this hot either. Man, Clipper's height advantage is crazy. Our running game did tire them out in the end IMO. Their defense was much loose in 4th Q. Our shooters had the chance to hit big shots (thanks Barbosa and Bell).

 

[jlove]

Sweeeeeeetttt!!!! Game 1 in the bag. Just have to keep it up unlike we did after win 1 against the Lakers. Thanks for keeping the updates going during the game.

 

[jibikao]

We won from 1-3 really gave us the energy. Everybody is shooting so well.

 

[jibikao]

By the way, Clipper seems like a classy team. When players fell down, I saw Suns players helping them get up and vice versa. Both teams seem to respect each other a lot. Unlike... that ANGRY guy who called Barkley to vent? WTF?

 

[cly2tw]

what's that about Kobe and Barkley? anyone cares to enlighten me about it?

 

[jibikao]

what's that about Kobe and Barkley? anyone cares to enlighten me about it?

I watched the show a bit. Barkley didn't say exactly what Kobe said. Sounds like they had a disagreement and he said he didn't think Kobe "gave up" but he was trying to "make a point". I saw a few clips of game 7 and while Kobe was trying to pass out the ball, he wasn't really doing anything else either. He just stood there most of the time.

I still don't understand why Kobe text messaged Barkley? Barkley said he doesn't know Kobe that well and he admires Kobe's courage to "vent".

 

[George O'Brien]

I was worried when the Suns blew that big lead in the first half and it seemed like everyone was getting into foul trouble. But in the second half the pace finally got to the Clips and they could no longer defend against the Suns.

I expect the Clips will work harder on slowing the game down, but I'm not sure it will work. If Brand cools off, the Clips are in big trouble.

 

[Suns_fan69]

I really liked the move of putting Marion on Cassell at the end. Cassell isn't quite quick enough to blow by Marion and Marion's length and quickness really mitigate Cassell's strength down low and with the mid range jumper.

 

[jibikao]

I was worried when the Suns blew that big lead in the first half and it seemed like everyone was getting into foul trouble. But in the second half the pace finally got to the Clips and they could no longer defend against the Suns.

I expect the Clips will work harder on slowing the game down, but I'm not sure it will work. If Brand cools off, the Clips are in big trouble.

Brand was unstoppable tonight. Most of his shots are from outside and we really can't defend that. Our double team came slower after 1st half.

Besides Brand, I think Clip had a bad gameplan in late 4th which I explained.

 

[cly2tw]

Thanks for the update!
I read Barkley's comments on Kobe's game 7 performance somewhere. I guess Kobe was just too much worried about his image, opposite to what he said in his commercial some Laker fan here referred to once. He does care about how others think of him, which is only human. heheh

 

[jibikao]

I really liked the move of putting Marion on Cassell at the end. Cassell isn't quite quick enough to blow by Marion and Marion's length and quickness really mitigate Cassell's strength down low and with the mid range jumper.

I like that move too. Nash doesn't have ego problem defending different players like Marion does. Hell, Nash doesn't mind defending Bruce Bowen who had like ZERO offense. He is the only guy in NBA who can't take advantage of Nash's defense. lol

When the game is on the line, Clip only has two weapons: Brand and Cassell. Since we can't stop Brand anyway, we might as well put Marion on Cassell who did have success scoring in late 4th. Congrats to him.

 

[jibikao]

Thanks for the update!
I read Barkley's comments on Kobe's game 7 performance somewhere. I guess Kobe was just too much worried about his image, opposite to what he said in his commercial some Laker fan here referred to once. He does care about how others think of him, which is only human. heheh

Good point. That's why he called a "public figure" like Barkley (known for his big mouth) to vent. I wonder if Kobe will ever call Barkley again. Hey, the positive of the vent is that Kobe has the "courage" to call Barkley. They can twist the whole thing positively... nice.

 

[playstation]

i don't think the clippers can play any better than the game they just played. only mobley had a tough time, and i'm guessing that won't change with bell on him. this may have been the clips best punch.

that's not to say they won't win against us, as we can still play poorer than today, but i don't see how they could do any better than that.