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I’ll be honest: There is nothing I love more than beating the Suns. Some commenters have suggested that in order for a team to be a true rival they must have beaten us in the playoffs in recent history but in my opinion that is not the definition of a rival. Do they make your blood boil? Do they make you rise out of your seat? Does every single match-up (even regular season games) have an added element of intrigue? Well, that’s a rival. So, yes, we have bested the Suns time after time over the last 6 or so years. But this is about more than final scores. Opponents who inspire the depth of emotion I feel deserve the term “rival.” And, as so many Suns-Spurs games have, this contest did not disappoint.

The first quarter was one of the “better” quarters of basketball I have watched in some time. And by “better” I mean neither team hardly missed a shot. We ended the first quarter with a narrow lead (32-31) but I was concerned because we made almost no defensive stops. In particular we did a poor job defending the high pick-and-roll.

In our most recent loss to the Lakers I harped on the frequency (and futility) of our perimeter shooting. This evening we did a far better job getting to the rim. We only took 19 3-pointers (compared to 23 against the Lakers) and earned 44 attempts from the charity stripe (compared to 16 against the Lakers). According to Kenny, Gary, and the TNT crew, we average 20 FTA per game this season (a stat I didn’t know off hand).

Although we did an excellent job getting to the rim and drawing contact, the number of FTA we took was bolstered by a surprising 3rd quarter strategy I am tentatively calling the “hack-a-Bowen.” As the 3rd quarter drew to a close, random Suns players began fouling Bruce Bowen off the ball. This is exact same strategy employed by the Spurs against Shaquille O’Neal (although the hack-a-Shaq did not make an appearance this evening). Bowen responded with poise by nailing 6 of his 8 attempts from the line.

I bring this up for two reasons. First, several Suns fans have used the hack-a-Shaq as evidence that the Spurs are mindlessly committed to victory with no consideration for the quality of the game whatsoever. Anyone who claims the Suns currently value the fluidity of play over supposedly effective tactics (in this instance the hack-a-Bowen proved ineffective) is either ill-informed or a hypocrite. I am not defending the tactic. I never have. All I am saying is that if you have a problem with Popovich’s use of the hack-a-Shaq you should be equally as critical of Porter.

More importantly, Porter’s use of the hack-a-Bowen was as clear a sign of the demise of what made the Suns great as I have ever seen. When the Suns added Shaquille O’Neal I knew the end was near. When D’Antoni left for NYC the electrocardiogram flatlined. When Steve Nash fouled Bruce Bowen off the ball with 2:41 left in the 3rd they hammered the final nail in the coffin.

All three members of the big three had excellent games this evening but the performance of the night was clearly put on by Manu Ginobili. He dove for loose balls. He produced turnovers. He made it to the line 18 times, where he made every single attempt. For those who have argued that Manu is an indispensable member of this squad in recent days in comment threads here at 48 Minutes of Hell: Ginobili has certainly placed the burden of proof on anyone who does not immediately recognize his necessity. I’d say I’m surprised if I at all was.

That being said, this victory left me feeling frustrated with a couple of different aspects of how the game unfolded. First and foremost, the Spurs failed to control the pace for much of the first 3 quarters. We had a productive night on the offensive end (aided by the Suns absolute inability to keep anyone whosoever out of the paint), but in the future I would like to see the Spurs be a bit more dictatorial of the pace and style.

Secondly, we failed to get substantive defensive stops throughout the first half. Down the stretch we produced turnovers and forced low-percentage shots but for much of the game we seemed incapable of locking down on our men and handling predictable plays such as the aforementioned high pick-and-roll.

The game was a good bit closer than the 10 point margin of victory suggests. After Grant Hill blocked a 24-foot jumper by Tony Parker and converted the one man fast break for an “and one” (after a foul by Manu), the Spurs held a vulnerable 3 point lead (107-104) with 1:06 left to play. A dagger jump shot by Parker as well as some clutch free throw shooting by Manu would put the game out of reach over the next 66 seconds. 2 turnovers by the Suns in the final minute didn’t hurt either.

Aside from the joy that comes with beating Phoenix it was also nice to know that we will, worst case scenario, go 2 and 2 over this very difficult 4 game stretch. I am completely confident we can beat the Hornets on Saturday but, should tragedy befall the silver and black, it’s good to know that we will have, bare minimum, broken even during our toughest stretch of the year.

On a brief editorial note, we here at 48 Minutes of Hell would like to congratulate Tony Parker on being named a reserve on this year’s Western Conference All-Star squad. In honor of Tony’s selection I am going to find some video of Parker’s absolutely nasty drive late in the 4th where he breaks Leandro Barbosa’s ankles and makes the layup effortlessly. I’ll post it later. Be on the look-out.