Suns march the guantlet through December (part one of two)

Dec-5th-2009

By Tony Padegimas in Boston Celtics, Portland Trailblazers, Washington Wizards, cleveland cavaliers, dallas mavericks, denver nuggets, golden state warriors, los angeles clippers, los angeles lakers, oklahoma city thunder, sacramento kings, san antonio spurs

Are the Suns “for real”? Have the wheels come off? Back to back blow-out losses will raise all manner of clichéd questions. You shall not wonder very much longer, for the month of December presents us with ample opportunity to answer all questions.

Fourteen games separate us from the end of the year. Only five are against teams that are at or below .500 at the end of November. Fully seven come against widely acknowledged contenders, including two against the defending champs. We shall see signs and wonders aplenty.

Here then, is what we are all in for:

Saturday, 5 December, vs Sacremento Kings USAC 7pm

Sacramento coach Paul Wesphal was coaching the no-defense offense into the play-offs long before D’Antoni added the stopwatch wrinkle. Sharp-shooting guard Kevin Martin averages over 30 ppg, and makes a couple of steals per game to boot. At 9-8 coming into this game and riding a four game win streak, the Kings have a shot at that magic 8^th seed.

Sunday, 6 December, @ LA Lakers, Staples Center 7:30pm

Once again, the Suns draw their Ancient Enemies, on the road, at the back half of a back-to-back. The Lake Show, in contrast, has Saturday off. Coincidence? Conspiracy? It doesn’t matter. The Suns unexpectedly find themselves contending for the division, instead of for 7^th seed, but they must win games like this to get there.

Tuesday, 8 December, @ Dallas Mavericks, AA Center 6:30pm

The Suns and then Mavs have traded players like playground teams, and find themselves evenly matched as unexpected contenders. Nash vs Kidd. Nowitski vs Stoudemire. Marion vs Hill. Terry vs Richardson. Could be the game of the year.

Friday, 11 December, vs Orlando Magic, USAC 8:30pm

Last game of a tough road trip and second game of a back-to-back – just like they found the Suns in Florida. Don’t talk smack too soon. Superman Jr and the Magic are out to prove that they won the Eastern Conference last year more than Cleveland lost it.

Saturday, 12 December, @ Denver Nuggets, Pepsi Center, 7:00pm

Denver head coach George Karl is probably the best coach to never win a championship. The Nuggets, with Chauncey Billups managing a high-octane attack, particularly with Carmelo Anthony going after a scoring title, have been crushing teams, especially at home. We knew they’d be good – but sheesh!

Tuesday, 15 December, vs San Antonio Spurs, USAC 7:00pm

The Spurs are under-performing, but that hardly matters, because they are always dangerous, and they are the @#$%!ing Spurs! Only the Lakers generate even a fraction of their animosity on Planet Orange. Remember, if Duncan and Stoudemre are both healthy, they play each other to a standstill. It’s been point guard Tony Parker that’s been killing the Suns the past few seasons. Yeah, blame the French.

We’re going to break this up into two parts, so that you, gentle reader, do not have to juggle 14 games in your head at one sitting. Part two of this article next week.

Here though, for your reference is the remaining December schedule:

Thursday, 17 December, @ Portland Trailblazers, Rose Garden 8:30pm