Spurs–Suns rivalry

The Spurs and the Suns met in 2007 NBA Playoffs in a heated second-round series that many later described as having been "the real finals."[3]

• Game 1 was played on May 6 at the US Airways Center in downtown Phoenix. The Spurs won 111–106. Late in the fourth quarter, Steve Nash bumped heads with Tony Parker, who had possession of the ball. Nash sustained a deep cut on his nose that bled profusely for the remainder of the game. His nose was bandaged and tended to by the team trainer, but Nash was in and out of the game as the wound continued to bleed through the bandages. It was the first time this postseason that Nash did not record a double-double. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker led the Spurs with 32 and 33 points, respectively. Nash led the Suns with 31 points, while Amar'e Stoudemire scored 20 and pulled down 13 boards.
• Game 2 was played May 8 at the US Airways Center. The Suns blew out the Spurs 101–81 to even the series at one game apiece. Mike D'Antoni's decision to have Kurt Thomas guard Tim Duncan helped Amar'e Stoudemire focus on offense, scoring 21 of his 27 points in the second half. Tim Duncan scored 29 points while Tony Parker and Bruce Bowen both had 13 points.
• Game 3 was played on May 12 in San Antonio. The Spurs beat the Suns 108–101 as Tim Duncan rallied for 33 points and 19 boards. Manu Ginobili got a bloodied and bruised eye when he collided with Shawn Marion. The Spurs then led the series 2–1.
• Game 4 was played on May 14 in San Antonio. The Suns trailed by as many as 11 points throughout the third quarter. The Suns took the lead near the end of the fourth quarter when Steve Nash fed Stoudemire to make the game 100–97. Then came the foul that "nudged the Spurs-Suns rivalry from friendly toward cantankerous."[4] Robert Horry knocked Nash into the scorer's table at mid-court. Raja Bell left the bench area and was given a technical foul. Horry was charged with a flagrant foul and ejected. The Suns won 104–98, knotting the series at 2–2. Nash finished the game with 24 points and 15 assists.

On May 15, the NBA announced that Horry would be suspended two games for the flagrant foul against Nash and striking Bell's shoulder. Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were also suspended one game each for leaving their bench during the altercation. [7] [8] Coach D'Antoni was not happy with Stoudemire and Diaw's suspension saying the next morning after the teams workout: “We have the most powerful microscopes and telescopes in the world in Arizona, [and] you could use those instruments and not find a shred of fairness or common sense in that decision. That's kind of how it feels. It really benefits no one. It doesn't benefit us, obviously. It doesn't benefit the Spurs. It doesn't benefit the fans. It doesn't benefit the NBA." Some observers also pointed out that Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen also left the bench during an altercation in the second quarter, they were however, not suspended or disciplined in any manner.

• Game 5 was played May 16 at the US Airways Center. After leading by as many as 16 points in the second quarter and ahead 79–71 with 5:18 to play, Bruce Bowen hit a three-pointer with 36.4 seconds to go ahead and the Suns lost the game 88–85. The Suns, without Stoudemire and Diaw because of the aforementioned one-game suspension, were led by Shawn Marion who scored 24 points and collected 17 rebounds; all but four of those points were scored in the second half. Kurt Thomas, playing in place of Stoudemire, had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Steve Nash finished with 19 points and 12 assists. Manu Ginobili scored 15 of his 26 points in the final quarter to lead the Spurs to the late rally as the Suns ran out of energy down the stretch.
• Game 6 was played May 18 in San Antonio, Texas. The return of Boris Diaw and Amar'e Stoudemire caused Phoenix some concern about the game. Phoenix started the game matching the Spurs shot for shot. After trailing at halftime 53–51, Phoenix believed that they were going to force a Game 7 back in Phoenix, but a big third quarter by San Antonio put the Spurs up by as many as 20. In the fourth quarter, the Suns rallied by starting to hit big shots. But in the end, it was not enough as San Antonio ousted the Suns 114-106 en route to their fourth NBA championship.

The series would later be mired in controversy due to one of the referees involved with that series, Tim Donaghy, being involved with a betting scandal that was announced after the playoffs. He would admit that the series had very poor officiating involved from the beginning of the series to the end of it. He would also state in a book that Donaghy would release in 2009 that his group supervisor during the series, Tommy Nuñez, had a huge dislike over Suns owner Robert Sarver and a growing love for the culture San Antonio had, to the point where he wanted to make sure the Spurs continued their playoff run that year.[5][6]

The newly revamped Suns saw the rivalry in 2008 evolve into a struggle between two of the NBA's dominant big men, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal. In the final regular season game of the year between the two teams held on April 9, 2008 in San Antonio, Amare Stoudemire set a screen for Steve Nash on Bruce Bowen with a little over a minute to play when Bowen threw an elbow in Amare Stoudemire's chest. Amare had to be restrained by teammates and coaching staff, while Bruce Bowen took a seat on the bench. The Suns eventually went on to win the game 96–79 and the season series by a count of 3 games to 1.

The Suns and Spurs met again in the 2008 NBA Playoffs. Anticipation of the renewal of the rivalry was high. “The Phoenix-San Antonio matchup is going to be an absolute bloodbath,” said the Houston Rockets' Shane Battier.[7]

• In Game 1, the Spurs won 117-115 at home in double overtime. After Michael Finley hit a three-pointer to send the game into overtime, Duncan had to hit his only three-pointer of the entire season to send the game into the second overtime, and Ginobili hit a lay-up with 1 second remaining to win the game. Phoenix had let an invaluable opportunity to take the home-court advantage away from the Spurs slip away.
• Throughout the series, the Spurs made extensive use of the controversial Hack-a-Shaq defense, where they used bench players to intentionally foul the notoriously poor free-throw shooter Shaquille O'Neal to shoot free throws. Coach Greg Popovich used the strategy extensively in Game 5 of the series. "Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had his players intentionally foul O'Neal, a 52% career free-throw shooter, throughout the game. He finished 9-of-20 from the line, dropping the Suns to 20-of-37 total on free throws."[8] The Suns were eliminated from the playoffs in a 92-87 Spurs win.

In May 2008, ESPN.com columnist John Hollinger named the Spurs Hack-a-Shaq use as the "Best Tactic" of the first two rounds of the 2008 NBA Playoffs. Hollinger wrote that Popovich was the "first to really master how to use this weapon to his advantage." He explained that Popovich used the tactic "to eliminate 3-point attempts" and with 25 seconds or less at the end of quarters to get the ball back for the Spurs to gain the last possession. Hollinger stated "This should be a Eureka! moment for other coaches, and I expect it will be the league's most widely copied tactic next year."[9]

After eliminating the number 2 seeded Dallas Mavericks, the Spurs qualified to the Western Conference Semifinals to meet the number 3 seeded Suns. It marked the 3rd time in 4 years the teams would meet in the playoffs. Steve Nash led the Suns with 33 points and 10 assists for a Game 1 victory, 111–102. Amar'e Stoudemire led the Suns with 23 points and 11 rebounds as the Suns defend home-court advantage and go up 2–0 over the Spurs. The Suns won Game 3 110–96 with Goran Dragić scoring 23 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to take a 3-0 lead in the series. Suns also went in to sweep the Spurs in 4–0 with Nash scoring 20 points with 10 of them being scored when his right eye was swollen shut.