Suns and Spurs

The Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs meet in the playoffs for the fifth time in the playoffs since 2000 and the 10th time overall. The Suns took care of the Trail Blazers in six games in the first round while the Spurs beat the Mavericks in six games.

• The Suns and Spurs have met 10 times in the NBA Playoffs, all 10 coming in the last 19 years, the most of any series in the NBA during that span.

• 10 of the 14 players on the Suns' roster have not played in a Suns-Spurs playoff series.

• Going into Game 1 the Suns' bench was averaging 34.7 points per game. The last time the Suns met the Spurs in the playoffs, 2008, the bench averaged 18.8 points per game.

• In the regular season the Suns averaged 112.7 points per game against the Spurs. In all three of those meetings they scored 110 or more points.

• Steve Nash is 0-6 against the Spurs in playoff series in his career, 0-4 with the Suns and 0-2 with the Mavericks.

• Nash had 17 points in the first quarter to lead the Suns to a 31-22 lead. In the first round of the playoffs he only scored more than 15 points once - a Game 1 loss to the Trail Blazers.

• The Spurs doubled up the Suns in free throw attempts in the first half with 22 (making 16) to the Suns' 11 (making 7).

• Nash had 21 points at halftime and was a game best +19.

• Tim Duncan had seven points at halftime and was a game worth -15.

• Manu Ginobili scored 10 points in the first 5 minutes of the third quarter, including a three-pointer that gave the Suns their first lead of the game - 67-64.

• At one point the Suns missed seven consecutive shots early in the third quarter.

• After giving up their 10-point lead and going down by as many as three, the Suns went on a 10-0 run late in the third quarter and took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter.

• The Spurs scored 20 points in the first six minutes of the third quarter and eight in the last six minutes of the quarter.

• The Suns went on a 17-9 to end the game and take a 111-102 Game 1 win.

• The Suns have won five consecutive playoff series in which they win Game 1 at home.

• The Suns' record in Game 1s against the Spurs all-time is 5-5.

• May 4-8 2006 was the last time the Suns won three consecutive playoff games.

The Cleveland Indians? Really?

When you think of the one baseball team you love to hate, the New York Yankees pop into my mind. But, according to a fancy formula that the Wall Street Journal reported, the Yankees are not first, but forth!

The No. 1 most-disliked team in baseball, according to the formula, is the Cleveland Indians.

The Boston Red Sox, the Yankees' archrival, rank No. 2 on the list.

The formula, developed by the same people that give you the Neilsen Ratings for television, helps determine whether consumers have positive, negative or neutral reactions to brands in their online messages. Neilsen's "Sentiment Rankings" range from 5 to minus-5. No team finished with a negative number. But six teams finished with a number lower than 2.

Here is the complete top ten list:

10. Los Angeles Dodgers

9. New York Mets

8. Baltimore Orioles

7. Chicago White Sox

6. Washington Nationals

5. New York Yankees

4. Houston Astros

3. Cincinnati Reds

2. Boston Red Sox

And, the number one not so top ten team...

1. Cleveland Indians

Arizona Cardinals

With the 26th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals pick...

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-draft/09000d5d817b6d02/Cardinals-pick-Dan-Williams

Suns vs. Trail Blazers -Game 2

A few quick notes and observations from Game 2...

• The Suns have won nine consecutive games following a loss. The last time they lost two in a row at home was in December.

• Suns are 16-10 in series where they split the first two games of a series.

• According to the Elias Sports Bureau the home teams are 31-18 after splitting the first two games of a seven game series.

• In a series where the Trail Blazers split the first two games they are 4-14.

• Amar'e Stoudemire was held to under 20 points five times after the All-Star break. In games following those performances he averaged 31.2 points. Tuesday night he scored 18 just as he did in Game 1.

• The Suns' first 12 points were in the paint before Amar'e Stoudemire hit two free throws and Jason Richardson connected from downtown.

• Stoudemire attempted more free throws in the first nine minutes of Game 2 than he did in all of Game 1.

• Jason Richardson finished with 15 points in the first quarter, including three from three-point range.

• Steve Nash finished the first quarter with nine assists - two short of John Stockton's record.

• The Suns shot 52.2% in the opening quarter.

• The Trail Blazers had 10 rebounds in the first quarter - Marcus Camby had seven of those.

• Stoudemire and Camby both played all 12 minutes of the first quarter.

• Suns made their first eight free throws. Nash made one of two to make it 9 for 10.

• Suns forward Grant Hill made his first 10 shots with his first miss coming eight minutes into the third quarter. Hill had 16 points in the first half.

• Richardson had 20 points by halftime. The Suns are 26-4 when Richardson scores 20 or more points.

• Suns outscore Trail Blazers 15-8 in first six minutes of 3rd quarter to extend the lead to 20.

• The Suns were 16 of 18 from the free throw line at the half. In Game 1 the Suns attempted 16 free throws for the entire game. The Suns did not shoot a free throw in the 3rd quarter.

• After three quarters the Suns were outscoring the Trail Blazers 48-28 in the paint.

• Andre Miller scored 31 in Game 1 - including 15 in the fourth quarter. He was held to 12 in Game 2. Miller and Jerryd Bayless combined for 49 points in Game 1 and were held to 21 in Game 2.

• Richardson and Hill combined for 49 points after being held to just 18 in Game 1.

• The Suns were 13-1 during the season when holding a team to under 40% shooting from the field. The Trail Blazers shot 38% in Game 2.

• The Suns had 17 fastbreak points in Game 2. They had four in Game 1.

And That's The Way It Was...

Interesting...

No piece of normal-size paper can be folded in half more than 7 times.

The elephant is the only animal with 4 knees

The tongue is the only body muscle that is attached from one end only

The city of Portland in Oregon was named after a coin toss in 1844. Heads for Portland and tails for Boston.

No president of the United States was an only child for his parents

Pumice is the only rock that floats in water

During good sex, endorphines are released, which are powerful painkillers. So headaches are in fact a bad excuse not to have sex

It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open

In the US, Americans eat about 18 acres of pizza a day

Dutch, on average are the tallest people

Kissing is healthier than shaking hands

There are no cemeteries in San Francisco, CA

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

Quote of the Day

“We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box.”

- Robert Fulghum

Fact of the Day...

The average cost per day per youth in the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections is about $182.96.