Phoenix Suns Potential First Round Opponent: San Antonio Spurs
Arguably no team came through as a bigger surprise this year than the San Antonio Spurs. While they only recently became the 10th seed, they stand as one of just eight teams with a positive net rating in the Western Conference.
San Antonio got here mainly thanks to first-time All-Star Dejounte Murray. However, this team still plays hard, and runs deeper than you might think, having even secured their Play-In berth without Murray as he labored through an illness last week.
Interestingly, the Suns played the Spurs both with and without Murray this year, but saw no difference, winning each game to complete a 4-0 regular season sweep for the first time since the 1983-84 season.
Phoenix’s late-game execution largely contributed to those victories, as they marched back from fourth quarter deficits in all but one game.
Booker enjoyed this matchup perhaps the most, with 48-point and 33-point games against San Antonio this year. Paul apparently read the book on how to score at will against this team too, displaying some fourth quarter heroics in each contest, including a dagger in one game, and captaining a game-winning 34-16 run to close out another.
Despite various setbacks and player movement, the Spurs still look like a well-oiled machine thanks to some Hall-of-Fame level coaching, sound fundamentals, and Murray’s breakout.
But even with all that, beating the Suns may be a step too far. The Suns would embody overwhelming favorites in this series as well, and should win it in less than a week.
First Round Series Prediction: Suns in 4