In many ways it was a throwback game to so many past meetings between these two teams. The Suns came out with incredible energy and dropped 43 points on the Spurs in the first quarter. Everything was working right in the 65 percent-shooting quarter. A San Antonio team coached by Gregg Popovich and lead by Tim Duncan was not going to let that stand and they held the Suns to just 20-66 shooting in the final three periods.

The Spurs used their defense and interior scoring from Tim Duncan (17 points, 12 rebounds) to overcome an 18-point deficit and cut the lead to within three with under five minutes of play. In the past, the Spurs would have found a way to close out the game and break the hearts of Phoenix fans. Tonight, karma was on the side of the home team as the Suns found a way to close it out even with Steve Nash on the bench for the fourth quarter.

Nash (8 points, 10 assists, 30 minutes) tweaked his hamstring in the third quarter and didn’t return. Aaron Brooks didn’t exactly light it up in his place, finishing with just four points and two assists. All four of those points came at the free throw line from game-extending intentional fouls. Goran Dragic, by the way, recorded a triple double tonight playing for the Houston Rockets.

The Suns only shot 40.2 percent from the field and were led by Marcin Gortat’s 21 points and 13 rebounds. He defended Tim Duncan well and shot an efficient 10-13 from the field. Gortat said after the game that he will most likely forgo playing for the Polish National Team so he can spend the offseason working on his game and his body.

By winning the game, the Suns prevented the Spurs from securing the best record in the league and finished their season with 40 wins. Both coach Alvin Gentry and some of the players felt that it was important  to reach the 40-win mark.

“It’s important for us, you know really for the fans to let them know. We’ve kind of had the fans on a the emotional roller coaster this year where we played well and then we struggled, then we played well,” Gentry said.

Both Steve Nash and Alvin Gentry gave strong indications that Nash would return next season. Gentry said he expects Nash to retire in a Phoenix uniform and Nash said he could see himself playing two more years past his current contract (one year remaining) and would consider signing an extension this summer to stay with the team.

Before the Suns can look to rebuilding and adding more talent to this roster, the NBA will be facing a likely lockout as the current collect bargaining agreement expires on July 1.

If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top.

Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns denied San Antonio a chance for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs with a 106-103 victory over the Spurs in their regular-season finale on Wednesday night.

The Spurs, who at 61-21 finished a game behind Chicago for the best record in the NBA, lost Manu Ginobili to a hyperextended right elbow early in the game.

Had San Antonio and the Bulls finished tied and faced each other in the NBA finals, home-court advantage would have been determined by a random drawing because all other tiebreakers were equal.

Of greater concern to San Antonio could be the health of Ginobili, who went down with 9:46 left in the first quarter. The star guard slid to the floor near the San Antonio free throw line, then the Suns’ Grant Hill fell on top of him.

X-rays for a more serious injury were negative. An MRI was planned on Thursday.

With Memphis’ loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Spurs play the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.

Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker sat out the Spurs’ 102-93 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday but all three were in the starting lineup against Phoenix. Duncan had 17 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes. Parker scored 12 on 4 of 12 shooting in 25 minutes. Neither were on the court when the game ended.

Channing Frye and Jared Dudley scored 17 apiece for the Suns, who avoided a four-game sweep of the season series.

Phoenix failed to make the playoffs for the second time in three years after a surprise run to the Western Conference finals a year ago, which included a second-round sweep of San Antonio.

The Suns shot out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter Wednesday night and the Spurs never could catch them.

After shooting 65 percent in the first 12 minutes (17 of 26), the Suns made 20 percent (5 of 25) in the second to lead 61-53 at the break.

San Antonio cut the lead to 66-63 on Parker’s short jumper three minutes into the second half, but an 11-1 Phoenix run made it 77-64 when Dudley made a pair of free throws with 5:01 to play in the period.

Down 85-74 after three, the Spurs came back to make it a free throw shootout down the stretch. Aaron Brooks sank two from the line to put Phoenix ahead 106-103 with 3.9 seconds to go. Gary Neal threw up an airball from the corner for San Antonio just before the buzzer.

Notes: Hill became the seventh player in NBA history to average at least 13 points at age 38 or older. … Ginobili missed two games this season, only one because of injury: March 28 against Portland because of a bruised left quad. … Phoenix’s Steve Nash led the NBA in assists for the fifth time, joining John Stockton and Jason Kidd as the only players to do so. … San Antonio had the best record in the West for the sixth time in franchise history – five of them with Duncan. … The Suns won 40 games for the seventh straight season.

What are your opinions.

Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns denied San Antonio a chance for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs with a 106-103 victory over the Spurs in their regular-season finale on Wednesday night.

The Spurs, who at 61-21 finished a game behind Chicago for the best record in the NBA, lost Manu Ginobili to a hyperextended right elbow early in the game.

Had San Antonio and the Bulls finished tied and faced each other in the NBA finals, home-court advantage would have been determined by a random drawing because all other tiebreakers were equal.

Of greater concern to San Antonio could be the health of Ginobili, who went down with 9:46 left in the first quarter. The star guard slid to the floor near the San Antonio free throw line, then the Suns’ Grant Hill fell on top of him.

X-rays for a more serious injury were negative. An MRI was planned on Thursday.

With Memphis’ loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Spurs play the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.

Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker sat out the Spurs’ 102-93 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday but all three were in the starting lineup against Phoenix. Duncan had 17 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes. Parker scored 12 on 4 of 12 shooting in 25 minutes. Neither were on the court when the game ended.

Channing Frye and Jared Dudley scored 17 apiece for the Suns, who avoided a four-game sweep of the season series.

Phoenix failed to make the playoffs for the second time in three years after a surprise run to the Western Conference finals a year ago, which included a second-round sweep of San Antonio.

The Suns shot out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter Wednesday night and the Spurs never could catch them.

After shooting 65 percent in the first 12 minutes (17 of 26), the Suns made 20 percent (5 of 25) in the second to lead 61-53 at the break.

San Antonio cut the lead to 66-63 on Parker’s short jumper three minutes into the second half, but an 11-1 Phoenix run made it 77-64 when Dudley made a pair of free throws with 5:01 to play in the period.

Down 85-74 after three, the Spurs came back to make it a free throw shootout down the stretch. Aaron Brooks sank two from the line to put Phoenix ahead 106-103 with 3.9 seconds to go. Gary Neal threw up an airball from the corner for San Antonio just before the buzzer.

Notes: Hill became the seventh player in NBA history to average at least 13 points at age 38 or older. … Ginobili missed two games this season, only one because of injury: March 28 against Portland because of a bruised left quad. … Phoenix’s Steve Nash led the NBA in assists for the fifth time, joining John Stockton and Jason Kidd as the only players to do so. … San Antonio had the best record in the West for the sixth time in franchise history – five of them with Duncan. … The Suns won 40 games for the seventh straight season.

There is the quick update of the day.

Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns denied San Antonio a chance for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs with a 106-103 victory over the Spurs in their regular-season finale on Wednesday night.

The Spurs, who at 61-21 finished a game behind Chicago for the best record in the NBA, lost Manu Ginobili to a hyperextended right elbow early in the game.

Had San Antonio and the Bulls finished tied and faced each other in the NBA finals, home-court advantage would have been determined by a random drawing because all other tiebreakers were equal.

Of greater concern to San Antonio could be the health of Ginobili, who went down with 9:46 left in the first quarter. The star guard slid to the floor near the San Antonio free throw line, then the Suns’ Grant Hill fell on top of him.

X-rays for a more serious injury were negative. An MRI was planned on Thursday.

With Memphis’ loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Spurs play the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.

Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker sat out the Spurs’ 102-93 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday but all three were in the starting lineup against Phoenix. Duncan had 17 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes. Parker scored 12 on 4 of 12 shooting in 25 minutes. Neither were on the court when the game ended.

Channing Frye and Jared Dudley scored 17 apiece for the Suns, who avoided a four-game sweep of the season series.

Phoenix failed to make the playoffs for the second time in three years after a surprise run to the Western Conference finals a year ago, which included a second-round sweep of San Antonio.

The Suns shot out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter Wednesday night and the Spurs never could catch them.

After shooting 65 percent in the first 12 minutes (17 of 26), the Suns made 20 percent (5 of 25) in the second to lead 61-53 at the break.

San Antonio cut the lead to 66-63 on Parker’s short jumper three minutes into the second half, but an 11-1 Phoenix run made it 77-64 when Dudley made a pair of free throws with 5:01 to play in the period.

Down 85-74 after three, the Spurs came back to make it a free throw shootout down the stretch. Aaron Brooks sank two from the line to put Phoenix ahead 106-103 with 3.9 seconds to go. Gary Neal threw up an airball from the corner for San Antonio just before the buzzer.

Notes: Hill became the seventh player in NBA history to average at least 13 points at age 38 or older. … Ginobili missed two games this season, only one because of injury: March 28 against Portland because of a bruised left quad. … Phoenix’s Steve Nash led the NBA in assists for the fifth time, joining John Stockton and Jason Kidd as the only players to do so. … San Antonio had the best record in the West for the sixth time in franchise history – five of them with Duncan. … The Suns won 40 games for the seventh straight season.

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

Updated Apr 14, 2011 3:02 AM ET

PHOENIX (AP)

The San Antonio Spurs lost a shot at home-court advantage throughout the playoffs and saw a grimacing Manu Ginobili leave the court in pain early in the game.

Not exactly a beautiful ending to a powerful regular season.

”Now,” coach Gregg Popovich said, ”the fun starts.”

Despite the 106-103 loss to Phoenix on Wednesday night, the Spurs are the No. 1 seed in the West and early indications were that Ginobili’s hyperextended elbow wasn’t serious.

Popovich sat Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker in a loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, but all three were in the starting lineup Wednesday.

”You can’t predict anything and there’s no reason to second guess and I don’t think any one of us are going to do that,” Duncan said. ”Luckily, it’s not serious and hopefully he can be ready to go once the playoff starts. You cross your fingers, you hope for that, and you move on.”

The Spurs move on to a first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that seemed to want to face San Antonio.

”They sat their guys for the last three or four games,” Duncan said. ”They’re trying to stay where they’re at. Obviously, they’ve chosen their matchup and want to stick with it.”

Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 13 rebounds to help the Suns avoid being swept in the four-game regular season series.

The Spurs, at 61-21, finished a game behind Chicago for the best record in the NBA.

Had San Antonio and the Bulls finished tied and faced each other in the NBA finals, home-court advantage would have been determined by a random drawing because all other tiebreakers were equal.

Ginobili went down with 9:46 left in the first quarter. The star guard slid to the floor near the San Antonio free throw line, then the Suns’ Grant Hill fell on top of him.

X-rays for a more serious injury were negative. An MRI was planned Thursday.

Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker sat out the Spurs’ 102-93 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday but all three were in the starting lineup against Phoenix. Duncan had 17 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes. Parker scored 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting in 25 minutes. Neither were on the court when the game ended.

”Tony’s been under the weather. He got 25 minutes so I thought that was about enough for him,” coach Gregg Popovich said. ”We got Timmy about 30 so that was good. They needed to get a good run and they did so they could keep a rhythm. And then you like to win, but we didn’t and that’s the way it goes.”

Channing Frye and Jared Dudley scored 17 apiece for the Suns.

”We’ve kind of had our fans on the emotional roller coaster this year,” Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said, ”where we played well and then we struggled then we played well.”

Phoenix failed to make the playoffs for the second time in three years after a surprise run to the Western Conference finals a year ago, which included a second-round sweep of San Antonio.

”It’s been a long year so to finish it off with a couple of victories was good,” the Suns’ Steve Nash said. ”I think it was important for us too for our psyche. It’s a good feeling amidst a lot of disappointment.”

Nash, with one year left on his contract with Phoenix, said he has no desire to play elsewhere.

”This is my team,” he said.

The Suns shot out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter Wednesday night and the Spurs never could catch them.

After shooting 65 percent in the first 12 minutes (17 of 26), the Suns made 20 percent (5 of 25) in the second to lead 61-53 at the break.

San Antonio cut it to 66-63 on Parker’s short jumper three minutes into the second half, but an 11-1 Phoenix run made it 77-64 when Dudley made a pair of free throws with 5:01 to play in the period.

Down 85-74 after three, the Spurs came back to make it a free throw shootout down the stretch. Aaron Brooks sank two from the line to put Phoenix ahead 106-103 with 3.9 seconds to go. Gary Neal threw up an airball from the corner for San Antonio just before the buzzer.

Notes: Hill became the seventh player in NBA history to average at least 13 points at age 38 or older. … Ginobili missed two games this season, only one because of injury: March 28 against Portland because of a bruised left quad. … Nash led the NBA in assists for the fifth time, joining John Stockton and Jason Kidd as the only players to do so. … San Antonio had the best record in the West for the sixth time in franchise history – five of them with Duncan. … The Suns won 40 games for the seventh straight season.

Thanks for reading! .

by Paul Coro – Apr. 13, 2011 10:41 PM
The Arizona Republic

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by Paul Coro – Apr. 13, 2011 10:41 PM
The Arizona Republic

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by Paul Coro – Apr. 13, 2011 10:41 PM
The Arizona Republic

There is the quick update of the day.

Associated Press

April 3, 2011: San Antonio Spurs forward DeJuan Blair, left, and Phoenix Suns forward Jared Dudley compete for a rebound.

Not much else going on in the NBA world today.

by Paul Coro – Apr. 12, 2011 08:04 PM
The Arizona Republic

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By Justin Burning – Editor

Read More: Steve Nash (G – PHO), Phoenix Suns, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers

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Apr 6, 2011 - Welcome to the second-to-last edition of the NBA Power Rankings, which will also serve as the official “Adios, playoffs!” Phoenix Suns Edition. With their loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Steve Nash and the Suns are out of the postseason picture (even though Nash didn’t play that game, and that likely contributed heavily to the outcome). It would be great to say this was a memorable season for Phoenix, but it wasn’t. In fact, it was pretty miserable overall outside of the acquisition of Marcin Gortat, the development of Channing Frye, and that’s about it. There are only five players left from last year’s Western Conference Finals roster. Insert sadness here.

As a result of Phoenix’s disappointing play (including losing five of their last six games), the Suns have slid down most of the Power Rankings, generally into the bottom halves with the rest of the lottery teams. Another fun Suns stat: Phoenix has only been to the lottery four times since 1988. That’s a lot of successful that serves to emphasize just how unsuccessful this season has been. They’re also entering the lottery in a consensus weak draft. Anyway, that’s probably enough purple-and-orange pessimism for this edition of the Power Rankings.

In a somewhat shocking turn of events, the San Antonio Spurs’ once-insurmountable lead in the Western Conference standings is dwindling, thanks to the Spurs losing half of their games in March and the Los Angeles Lakers winning all but one of theirs. The Lakers are unlikely to actually pass the Spurs, but it just illustrates how swiftly a team’s fortunes can change heading into the postseason. While the Spurs’ big men have struggled, Lakers center Andrew Bynum has been playing relatively inspired basketball. If he can stay on the court, this may be the year he finally has a huge impact in the playoffs.

Perhaps the biggest post-All Star Break shocker, however, is how well the Denver Nuggets are playing without Carmelo Anthony. They were left for dead after the trade, but they decided not to cooperate and are 15-4 since. The Nuggets, the fifth seed with a clinched playoff berth, are hovering in the top five in most rankings thanks to their hot streak.

Sorry, back to the woes of the Phoenix Suns: departed free agent All-Star Amare Stoudemire helped the New York Knicks get back into the playoffs (oddly enough, in spite of the Anthony acquisition), though the team is hardly considered a powerhouse, currently sitting at .500 and having their recent three-game winning streak preceded by an embarrassing six-game losing streak.

On to the rankings:

SBNation.com | NBA Power Rankings: Bulls Lead, Heat And Lakers Chase
The Chicago Bulls maintain their reign over SBNation.com’s NBA Power Rankings as we move into the final week of the regular season. The Spurs recovered with a win Sunday to snap a six-game losing streak, but the Bulls, Heat, Lakers and Celtics have got to be feeling as if the NBA Championship is within reach. Can the Nuggets join the party? Are the Mavericks toast? Let’s sort it all out.

NBA.com | Nuggets earn a spot in the top five
At this point last year, the Chicago Bulls trailed the Toronto Raptors by a game for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Right now, things are a little different. The Charlotte Bobcats, Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets are technically still alive, but the 16 teams making the playoffs are very close to being set.

ESPN.com | Power Rankings: Lakers still have top spot
There is no change at the top in the season’s second-to-last batch of weekly NBA Power Rankings at ESPN.com. The rest of the top 10, though, has been given a good shuffle.

SI.com | NBA Power Rankings: ‘Melo-less Nuggets surge to No. 4
The Nuggets’ resurgence is the best story in the NBA, and there is the tantalizing prospect that it is going to get much, much better in the weeks ahead.

CBSSports.com | Power Rankings: Celebrating season’s biggest disappointments
So as we embark on the first full week of April, it’s appropriate that we celebrate … the losers. Yep, it’s time to identify the NBA’s 2010-11 Most Disappointing Team. Here are the candidates.

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by Paul Coro – Apr. 4, 2011 10:07 PM
The Arizona Republic

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by Paul Coro – Apr. 3, 2011 03:05 PM
The Arizona Republic

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Phoenix Suns update:

Suns (37-38) at Spurs (57-19) … 10 a.m. Phoenix time tip-off

 

C: Marcin Gortat … Tim Duncan

PF: Channing Frye … Antonio McDyess

SF: Grant Hill … Richard Jefferson

SG: Jared Dudley … Manu Ginobili

PG: Aaron Brooks … Tony Parker

 

Key Spurs subs: Matt Bonner, George Hill, Gary Neal, Tiago Splitter, DeJuan Blair.

 

This morning’s Orange Slices . . .

 

* The Suns are in the national spotlight in the least desirable of appearances.

 

The Suns don’t have Steve Nash, who is home ill with flulike symptoms for a second consecutive game.

 

The Suns are on the brink of elimination today, whether they lose or New Orleans wins at home against Indiana.

 

The Suns are playing the motivated Spurs, whose six-game skid is the longest since Tim Duncan has been on the team and has cut their West lead on the Lakers to 1 ½ games.

 

ABC can’t be happy with their Suns timing this season. They cautiously picked only two games to show the Suns after putting them on the maximum five times several years and have wound up with Nash out for both occasions. Nash sat out the March 13 home game against the Orlando and the Suns lost 111-88 and shot 38.8 percent with Nash hurt.

 

* Wouldn’t it be something if this Suns season ended with the Spurs sweeping them after the Suns eliminated the Spurs with a playoff sweep last year? San Antonio won the teams’ first two games by a combined 10 games with Richard Jefferson averaging 22.5 points. They close the season by playing again April 13 at Phoenix.

 

* The Suns were awful offensively the last time they were on ABC without Nash, even though Aaron Brooks had 19 points and 10 assists without a turnover. Zabian Dowdell had six points, three assists and four turnovers with two-for-eight shooting in that game off the bench but has progressed.

 

On Friday night, it was Dowdell’s second-quarter play that broke the game open for the Suns to stay comfortably ahead for the remainder of the game. Brooks and Dowdell alternated quarters at the point with these results: 

• Brooks, first quarter: plus-2, two points, three assists, two turnovers, 1-1 FG.
• Dowdell, second quarter: plus-11, 10 points, three assists, one turnovers, 4-7 FG.
• Brooks, third quarter: 10 points, three assists, no turnovers, 4-7 FG.
• Dowdell, fourth quarter: four points, two assists, four turnovers, 1-3 FG.

“Behind the scenes I’ve been working and it paid off,” Dowdell said. “That’s something I always try to do, bring energy to the game and be aggressive at both ends.”

 

Dowdell said his shooting has been his larges area of improvement since joining the Suns, who clearly trust and enjoy playing with him on the court.

 

“Those guys love playing with me,” Dowdell said. “As a point guard and a player period, that’s a big compliment. I’m very grateful for that.”

 

Gentry said, “Obviously, you’re not going to replace Steve. But I thought they did a pretty good job running the team and being aggressive offensively and then making plays.”

 

* Dudley is averaging 17.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in eight starts this season.

 

* Assist race update: Without playing last game, Nash maintained the league assist lead at 11.4 per game. He actually got a bigger cushion on Boston guard Rajon Rondo, whose average dropped to 11.2 with only five assists Friday against Atlanta. Rondo has been playing with a sore right pinky finger. It would be Nash’s fifth assist title in seven years.

 

* Free throw chase update: Without playing last game, Nash still needs four consecutive free throw makes to retake the career free throw percentage record from Mark Price.

 

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Apr. 2, 2011 11:22 PM
The Arizona Republic | azcentral.com

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