- <font color="blue">D</font><font color="orange">N</font>: Despite playing without Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, for the second straight game San Antonio nearly knocked off a hot team, only to come up short in the end. In the last game against us, the Spurs came up very very short, being outscored in a game-ending 10-0 run with 3 minutes left with a 7 point lead. I credit our coach George Karl for putting Greg Buckner and DerMarr Johnson on Tony Parker in the second half, limiting him to only 6 pts after going off for 19 in the first. He also still put the ball in Melo's hands in the game's final minutes despite having a tough shooting night with 3-of-16 performance up to that point. The decision resulted in Melo's only 4th basket in 17 attempts, but it was no doubt the biggest basket of the night, cutting the deficit to one with 1:48 minutes remaining. The players also received credits for complying fully with the coaching staff. It's clear to me this unit is committed to winning. My only concern for us is that we may not be at full strength as this source says K-Mart aggravated his left knee injury after knocking with Dre Miller and Camby also re-strained his right harmstring. K-Mart said he's "in true pain right now". <font size="5"><font color="Blue">purpleb0n9's</font> <font color="orange">Prediction:</font></font> Without K-Mart and Camby in this one, I think the Suns will take this one 117-103, but not without a dog fight in the first three quarters. With them playing, I can see the Nuggets winning this one 109-105. I also expect Melo to bust out for his best game of the season, in fact his career (see "Top Ballers" section above).
I think the Suns will have an easy win here because of the fact you said, Camy, and K-Mart will be out for this one. I think Stoudemire will go crazy on the Nuggets without Camby. I think he will score atleast 32. This will be a high scoring game.
KMart played, Amare was hampered by foul trouble, and Nash was clutch. A good win to bounce back with
