Last night’s Game 1 felt a lot like Game 1 of the Dallas series.
There are a lot of things we can look at. Defensively, the only positive thing we really accomplished was limiting their 3-point shooting. Of course, they hit a couple of clutch 3s late that helped put the game out of reach. We weren’t able to stop Nash from scoring (33 points) or playmaking (10 assists). Usually our modus operandi with playmaking point guards is to make them scorers and not allow anyone else to get involved. But Stoudemire and Richardson both had 20+ point games, and Nash completely controlled their offensive game, outmatching George Hill in almost embarrassing fashion.
Our offense, in turn, looked really flat, especially in the first half. There seemed to be very little ball and player movement. We let them dictate our offense with their defense. Our 3-point shooting was horrendous. Nobody seems to be shooting the ball with confidence. Late in the game, when Richard Jefferson was on the weakside corner, he was actually about 5 feet in from the 3-point line. I’m no basketball expert, but I’m pretty sure we need that player in the corner to space the offense. If Jefferson has no confidence in making that shot, then he needs to be on the bench.
The Big 3 all played well, but there was no 4th player. In fact, our 4th best player on this night was Keith Bogans. Yes, Keith Bogans. I like Keith, but we’re not winning a playoff series when he is our 4th (or 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th) best player.
George Hill needs to be called out. He played a terrible game. Defensively he was getting completely scrambled in pick and roll, and Nash just abused him. Offensively, he seemed passive and unwilling to attack Nash. This is why Parker started the 2nd quarter and why we made our run. We were finally attacking Nash in particular and their defense in general, our offense was running smooth and efficiently, and Parker was even playing good defense on Nash. I fully expect Parker to start Game 2.
All this negativity and we still were within winning distance with less than 3 minutes to play. All analysis aside, the best observation that can be made about this game is that Phoenix played as if it was the first game of the second round of the playoffs and we didn’t. We lacked sufficient energy, passion, and, as Pop likes to say, “appropriate fear”. Much like we did in Game 1 of the Dallas series.
Let’s hope Game 2 goes to script, as well. If so, expect to see much more energy and intensity, and expect a fourth (and possibly fifth and sixth) player step up for us. If we can’t make that happen, then expect Phoenix to win this series.
