Spurs forward, Tim Duncan, was named to the NBA All-Defensive second team for the 13th time in his NBA career.

The NBA All-Defensive Second Team consists of center Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, guards Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat and Thabo Sefolosha of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and forwards Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks and Anderson Varejao of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Duncan has been selected to the NBA All-Defensive team 13 consecutive seasons.

Congratulations Timmy! Well deserved.

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Suns' big man, Robin Lopez, did not play for game one of the Spurs vs. Suns series and it seems he might continue to sit out for game two tonight.

The San Antonio Spurs tried to steal another game one in Phoenix, this time it was the Suns' turn to shine. Steve Nash led the Phoenix Suns to victory, scoring 33 points on 13-19 of shooting from the field and added 10 assists and 3 rebounds in 37 minutes of action.

But how did the Suns win this one? Let's dig into the numbers.

56 - The Spurs should be one's dominating the paint, instead the Suns outscored the Spurs 56-48 on inside points.

51.9 - Did the Spurs leave their 'D' in Dallas? In this game, it looks like it when you allow a team to shoot 51.9% from the field in the playoffs you're in trouble.

33 - Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker each scored 20 points or more for the Spurs. However, Amare Stoudemire, Jason Richardson and Steve Nash did the same for the Suns; only Nash scored more with 33.

27 - The Suns were able to run in this game beating the Spurs on fastbreak points 27-20.

21.1 - The Spurs shot an atrocious 21.1% (4-19) from behind the arc, including 0-5 from George Hill and 0-2 from Roger Mason Jr.

18 - The Spurs took care of the ball committing "only" 11 turnovers compared to the Suns' 16. The problem? The Suns scored 18 points from those miscues.

9 - The Suns won the game by 9 points which is exactly the difference in the first quarter scores. The Spurs missed 9 free throws (22-31) including 4-9 from Tim Duncan. George Hill was not much of a factor in this game scoring 9 points on 2-9 shooting from the field.

What's Next?

It's just one game, but the Spurs have to learn from it. They must dictate the pace of the game to come back in this series and will need help on offense outside of the "big three." I'm talking to you, RJ. Game 2 is on tonight in Phoenix.

Once again, the kind folks at WOAI TV in San Antonio invited yours truly to be a panelist for the Sports Roundtable.  On this episode we discussed game one of the Spurs vs. Suns series.  Questions asked were should Spurs nation panic?  When did the Spurs lose the game and many more. Leave us your comments on game one.

 

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DeJuan Blair has officially played his first playoff game in the intense rivalry that is Spurs-Suns, and despite a couple defensive breakdowns, he played a decent game. Blair finished the game with two points, two rebounds, one block and one steal in almost 11 minutes of play.

Blair entered the game at the 1:25 mark for Tim Duncan and immediately he fouled Steve Nash who was able to finish at the rim and complete the and one. On the next Spurs possession, Blair displayed the type of energy he brings of the bench. After a Tony Parker missed lay-up, Blair fought for an offensive rebound but was unable to secure it. But he didn't give up on the play and ran the length of the court, grabbing his first rebound off a missed Nash transition three.

Popovich started Blair in the second quarter. Blair made a great hustle play and collected an offensive rebound off a Parker miss, but Blair couldn't get the ball out in time and the shot clock expired. Two Phoenix possessions later, Leandro Barbosa completely undressed Blair, blowing by him and finishing with an easy lay-up. However, Blair made up for his defensive laps on the next Suns possession when he stole a Goran Dragic pass. Blair would score his only basket on the next Spurs possession with a running one handed shot in the pant. Duncan replaced Blair with 7:30 left in the second.

With 1:25 left in the third, Blair came in for Duncan, and Amare Stoudemire made sure to show the young rookie what the Spurs-Suns rivalry is all about. Stoudemire threw down a monstrous dunk on Blair. You can buy the poster at rookiesgettingposterized.com. But Amare wasn't done schooling the rookie. Both of them started the fourth, and right away Stoudemire did a beautiful spin move and ball fake, channeling '94 Hakeem Olajuwon, and finished with an easy jump shot, as Blair looked on from the other side of the paint.

In game one, Blair got crossed, put on a poster, and shaked out of his shoes, but there's no need to worry. This is what the Suns do. They wear you down with their offense moves and their transition game. Blair will be fine. After watching some game one film, as well as some classic Hakeem Olajuwon tapes, he'll come back in game two ready to get his revenge on Stoudemire.

PHOENIX - The team connection that brought the San Antonio Spurs through the first round of the playoffs never made it to the U.S. Airways Center for the first appearance in the second round against the Phoenix Suns. Shooting errors became a serious problem for a team that fought to find its rhythm, eventually losing to the Suns, 111-102.

Fresh off four days rest after finishing the Mavericks off in San Antonio, Tim Duncan, George Hill, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess took to the court to face off against Phoenix. The Spurs struggled straight out of the gate, completing just two baskets in the first four and half minutes compared to the Suns’ five baskets and single free throw.

Steve Nash haunted San Antonio early in the quarter, firing off a three-pointer just before the Spurs came back to narrow the Suns’ lead to 19-14 with 4:06 left, thanks to contributions from McDyess, Duncan, Ginobili and Jefferson. Ending a six-point Phoenix scoring burst, Tony Parker and George Hill stepped up to take the offensive lead for San Antonio, adding four points apiece to end the first quarter, Phoenix 31, San Antonio 22.

New confidence took over the Spurs, who charged into the second quarter answering each Suns basket, beginning with a much-needed three-point-play from Parker. Coming in off the bench, Matt Bonner and DeJuan Blair were each able to add a basket to cut Phoenix’s lead to six points just two minutes into the quarter.

Ginobili made two free throws and a basket were a flash in the pan just before the Suns came charging back on an 11-1 scoring spree lasting four minutes. Down 48-34 with three and a half minutes left in the quarter, Ginobili made a huge three-pointer to jump-start San Antonio’s offense. Free throws from Ginobili and Hill paired with a two-point floater by Parker brought the Spurs back within ten points from Phoenix, a spread they were able to maintain to the end of the half; Phoenix 57, San Antonio 47.

Coach Gregg Popovich managed to fully resuscitate the Spurs’ offense during halftime, giving the team the chance to develop its first lead of the game just four and half minutes into the third quarter. Single baskets from Hill, Ginobili and McDyess narrowed the Suns’ lead further to just six points. While Nash worked to recover his team’s disappearing lead, Ginobili added another five points for the Spurs before rebounding off a missed Suns’ basket. The rebound was passed down the court to Jefferson, who got it to Duncan for a basket that diminished the lead to four points, bringing San Antonio back within range of taking over.

A third three-pointer from Ginobili following two baskets from Parker gave San Antonio its first lead of the game with 7:26 left in the quarter. Phoenix refused to allow the Spurs to enjoy the lead for long, finishing the quarter on a 12-4 run to take back the home court lead yet again; Phoenix 85, San Antonio 75.

Turnovers were a large problem for either team, but San Antonio were unable to make them work to their advantage. A quick Phoenix turnover early in the fourth went absolutely nowhere, resulting instead in a Keith Bogans foul on the way to the San Antonio basket. Less than a minute later, Bogans was able to make two shots, including the final San Antonio three-point basket of the night, bringing the Spurs back within nine points of the Suns.

It would be nearly another two minutes before San Antonio would make their mark on the scoreboard with a basket, giving Phoenix time to put themselves twelve points ahead of San Antonio with 7:03 left in the game. Baskets from Duncan and Ginobili contributed to a 13-0 San Antonio burst to put the Spurs within a single point of the Suns, ended by an Amare Stoudamire basket. Much like the fans watching in the Central time zone, the team was tired and let go of the game a few minutes early, ending Phoenix 111, San Antonio 102.

The ‘Big Three’ had a big game as the only Spurs to reach double digits; Ginobili and Parker led the team in scoring with 27 and 26 points respectively, while Duncan added another 20. Duncan had 11 rebounds, followed by McDyess with seven and Ginobili with five. Ginobili had five assists, Duncan had four, and Jefferson and Parker each added three.

Shooting problems plagued San Antonio, who only made 38-of-83 field goals but managed 22-of-31 free throws. The team had nine offensive rebounds, 38 rebounds, and 35 bench points.

The Spurs will try to take down the Suns again in game two in Phoenix on Wednesday night.

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At the beginning of every playoff series, one question always seems to come up; who's going to be the X factor. As if one player alone can dictate the outcome of the series. Sure, a player can come in and change the outcome of a game, but that's just one game. You need four to get to the next round.

There are a handful of Spurs who's play could help decide the outcome of this series. Manu Ginobili has always had his way with the Suns, which usually leads to a Silver and Black victory.

George Hill is another possible X factor. He proved last round that he can hit big shots and play both ends of the floor at a consistently high level. When he's on, the Spurs are seemingly unstoppable. Richard Jefferson could also be an X factor type player because he gives the Suns a lot of match up problems.

But we Spurs fans know the Phoenix Suns. We know what's needed to stop this team. That's why my X factor for this series is the Spurs' transition defense. If we can stop their run and gun offense and slow it to a half court game, this will be a short series.

The Spurs defense has been inconsistent all season, but we finally had a chance to see what the Spurs are defensively capable of against the Mavericks. And it was a thing of beauty. They harassed the Mavs, clogging the passing lanes, taking Jason Kidd out of the series.

Meeting another hall-of-fame point guard this round, it's obvious that the Spurs need to shut down Steve Nash to determine the tempo of the game. And that's what is most important when playing the Suns, dictating the tempo, and forcing the Suns to play in the half court.Once in the half court, the Spurs will need to focus on stopping Nash and his pick and rolls with Amare Stoudemire.

There are plenty of players on this roster who could be an X factor in the series. Plenty of players that could help push the Spurs back to the Western Conference Finals. But one player isn't going to win this series by himself. It'll take the whole team, and a commitment to defense to get through this round. And if we stay commited to the defensive end, the Spurs might win a couple more rounds after this.

If there was ever a must win, game six was it. And thankfully, the Spurs came through with an incredible victory. With so much on the line for game six, it was obvious that Popovich would give Blair limited minutes, and with Tim Duncan playing 43 minutes, that's exactly what happened. Blair played five minutes in game six, finishing four points and no rebounds. He was two for three from the field.

Blair entered that game at the 3:42 mark in the first quarter for Duncan. Right away he was aggressive, attacking the basket and making a right handed hook shot over the taller Dirk Nowitzki. On the next Dallas possession, J.J. Berea missed a lay-up and Hill grabbed the rebound and started running. Leading the fast break was none other then Blair. However, Hill dished it to Parker for the lay-in, but Blair would have been their to clean up the trash.

Blair and Parker worked the pick and roll nicley throughout the game. Parker fed Blair the ball off a beautiful pick and roll but Blair missed the easy lay-in and fouled Nowtizki on the rebound. Duncan then came in for Blair with 56 seconds left in the first.

With 5:16 left in the second, Blair would come in to give Duncan a rest. Parker and Blair worked the pick and roll to perfection leading to a Blair dunk and Nowitzki on the new DeJuan Blair poster. Blair was then replaced by Richard Jefferson. He didn't play a minute in the second half, except for that last 16 seconds when Pop put him in to secure rebounds.

For a rookie in his first playoff series and playing limited time, Blair did a great job. He was instinet energy off the bench and helped spark the Spurs in key moments, while giving Duncan valuable minutes on the bench. For the series, he averaged 4.2 points and 4.3 rebounds in nine minutes per game. He only played a total of 54 minutes through the entire series, but he still collected 14 offensive rebounds, which is only four less the Brendan Haywood, who played 139 minutes. He collected twice as many offensive rebounds as Nowitzki who only had seven in the 233 minutes he played.

Now, the young rookie out of Pitt will be up against the high flying offense of the Phoenix Suns. Blair has played well in the three meetings this year against the Suns. In three games against Phoenix this season, Blair is averaging 10.6 points and seven rebounds while shooting 51 percent from the floor in 15 minutes per contest.

With one playoff series under his belt and the butterflies gone, Blair looks to have a great series against the Suns. It'll be interesting to see if he gets more minutes the round. But no matter how many minutes Blair plays, we know he will do his best every second he is on the court.

In last season's playoffs, the San Antonio Spurs were ousted by the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the first round. This time, the Spurs returned the favor, booting the Mavericks in six games. A Dallas team that hoped for a championship this season after adding key pieces (Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood) at the trade deadline last February.

During the 2009 NBA playoffs against the Mavericks, the Spurs had Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and little else. Oh how things have changed in a matter of one season.

While Manu Ginobili and George Hill provided the additional firepower the Spurs needed, two unsung heroes from the opening round of the 2010 playoffs were Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair. These two players impacted the series without lighting up the scoreboard. They did it with grit, hustle and determination.

McDyess' effectiveness can't be truly justified. Dirk Nowitzki torched the Spurs on offense as he averaged 26.7 points on 54.7% shooting from the field in six games. But McDyess battled and defended Nowitzki to the best of his abilities for the entire series. In other words, he made Dirk work for his points. He did that while also doing a good job on offense, he averaged 6.7 points and 7 boards while shooting 54.1% from the field in six games against the Mavericks.

Blair on the other hand was effective in his limited role. He managed to average 4.2 points and 4.3 rebounds (2.3 on the offensive end) in just 9 minutes of playing time. How many NBA players can produce with such little playing time?

Most players will require the ball in their hands and will need to log a lot of minutes to make an impact to the game. Blair? He gets the job done by diving for loose balls, grabbing rebounds and scoring on tip-ins and put-backs. He made a difference despite being a rookie and an undersized big man.

Yes, the Spurs needed their offensive game clicking to match the Mavericks' firepower on offense. But they also relied on McDyess' and Blair's defense and hustle to get it done.

In Game 4, Blair provided some instant offense and timely rebounds as he helped the Spurs preserve a seven point lead going into the final period. They won that game by three points 92-89. Blair's line for the game -- 7 points, 7 boards (5 offensive) on 3-4 shooting from the field. He also added an assist, a block and a steal without a single turnover in just 12 minutes of playing time.

Then in Game 6, McDyess grabbed a crucial rebound in the fourth quarter and made two clutch baskets down the stretch as the Spurs clinched the series in six games. As a result, the Spurs will move on to the next round beating a much talented and stronger opponent.

In the end, the series was won by team effort, but much credit should go to McDyess and Blair for doing their part. As the Spurs goes deeper into the playoffs, they will need every bit of McDyess' interior defense and veteran savvy and Blair's energy and hustle off the bench.

Facing another talented and familiar foe in the Phoenix Suns, let's hope that both Blair and McDyess will continue to make a difference for the Spurs.