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Nash, Suns look to take Game One vs. Duncan, Spurs

May 6, 2007 - 1:14 PM San Antonio at Phoenix 3:30 pm EDT Western Conference Semifinals Game One

PHOENIX (Ticker) -- The Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs begin play for what could be a run all the way to a title.

Steve Nash and the Suns aim to start fast in Game One of their Western Conference semifinal vs. Tim Duncan and the Spurs on Sunday.

With the elimination of the overall one seed Dallas Mavericks last week vs. Golden State, the winner of this series now has home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Nash and the Suns eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers in five games, including a 119-110 close-out victory on Wednesday. Now they face the Spurs, who also had a quick five-game series vs. the Denver Nuggets. San Antonio beat Denver 93-78 in the clincher, also on Wednesday.

Now both teams start a showdown series, with the winner becoming the favorite to win the NBA championship.

Nash led Phoenix to 61 wins in the regular season, three games better than San Antonio. The reigning two-time MVP may have had the best season of his career, averaging 18.6 points and a league-high 11.5 assists while shooting a career-best 53 percent from the field. He is one of the favorites to win his third Most Valuable Player Award.

However, the Spurs took two of three vs. the Suns in the regular season behind the play of Duncan, who averaged 23 points and 13 rebounds vs. Phoenix. The nine-time All-Star is averaging 20.2 points and 10.6 rebounds in the playoffs.

Duncan and the Spurs have also had playoff success vs. the Suns, winning four of seven series the clubs have played, including a five-game trouncing in the 2005 Western Conference Finals.

San Antonio will have to contend with a healthy and strong Amare Stoudemire, who averaged 37 points vs. the Spurs in that playoff round two years ago. The 6-10, 245-pound post player, rebounded from an injury-plagued season a year ago, to regain his All-Star status in 2006-07.