First-round results.
Suns beat Trail Blazers 4-2; Spurs beat Mavericks 4-2.
In the spotlight.
George Hill, a IUPUI product, is the Spurs’ wild card. On a star-studded team, the point guard still has the ability to snatch the spotlight, as he did in the final three wins against Dallas, scoring 17, 29 and 21 points.
Interesting factoid.
Since 2003, the two teams have met in the postseason five times, and the Spurs have won four of those series.
Bottom line.
The Suns should win if they control the tempo for the majority of the series, which is possible with an engine like Steve Nash possessing the basketball. They rely heavily on pick-and-rolls and 3-point shooting and showed they can take over games with both weapons. The Spurs need Tim Duncan to dominate the low post the way he often does against the Suns in order to fight through this series.
Benjamin Hochman’s pick.
Suns in seven.
