8. Sweeping Another Rival In 2010
In the 2010 NBA Playoffs, the reaction most Suns fans had when they realized Phoenix would face the San Antonio Spurs in the semifinals was something along the lines of, “Oh no,” “Dammit,” or “How the hell is Tim Duncan still playing anyway?”
The Spurs had grown into a team as hated by Suns fans as the Los Angeles Lakers at that point, given the fact that San Antonio had eliminated the Suns in three of Nash’s first five seasons in Phoenix. They were the Nash’s kryptonite, but what made it worse was the Spurs ascended to the title throne in two of the three years they beat Phoenix.
Everyone — and I mean EVERYONE — associated with the Suns hated the San Antonio Spurs.
Amar'e Stoudemire makes his first PHX appearance as a Mav. He said he couldn't pick SA. "I couldn't do that to the (Suns) fans." #SunsVsMavs
— Paul Coro (@paulcoro) March 23, 2015
Nash and Suns fans everywhere couldn’t help but think, “That should have been us” every time they had to watch San Antonio hoist another championship banner. There was the 2005 Western Conference Finals, when the Suns fell in five games despite posting the league’s best record that season. San Antonio wound up winning the title that year.
In 2007, the Suns lost to the Spurs in six games in the Western Conference semifinals due to the infamous Robert Horry hip check that resulted in bogus one-game suspensions for Amar’e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw for the pivotal Game 5. The Spurs took control of the series in Game 5, won the series in six and went on to win the title.
In 2008, the Spurs defeated the Suns in the first round and Phoenix missed the playoffs in 2009. So when they returned to the postseason in 2010 to face the seventh seeded Spurs in the second round, it felt like a bad omen. That’s what made that second round sweep — and one of the best games of Nash’s career — so darn sweet.
Not his best, but Game 4 vs San Antonio 2010 was truly magical. RT @JmanBoiii: @AminESPN what's your favorite Nash game?
— Chillin in my Bacta (@DarthAmin) February 5, 2015
Nash put up some of the best numbers of his 2010 postseason in that series, averaging 22.0 points, 7.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds on 55.7 percent shooting and 45.5 percent shooting from three-point range. He tortured Tim Duncan in the pick and roll and the Suns won by an average margin of 9.3 points.
The Suns didn’t win the title, but boy was it gratifying to watch Nash exorcise those Spurs demons in such convincing fashion — especially in the closing Game 4, where Nash scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter with six stitches and his right eye gradually swelling shut.
Next: No. 7