NEW YORK — What better time to dramatize then after the first games of the first series of an inexorable playoff season? Beginning with the Spurs-Suns showdown. . .
After witnessing the closing minutes of its Game 1 mental meltdown on Saturday at the Alamo, I had more respect for Phoenix a season ago when Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw tip-toed onto the tarmac and wound up in suspended animation.
How many boneheaded botch-ups can one team have before the coach is called on the carpet? How many uncontested, game-tying 3-pointers must be amassed before it dawns on Mike D'Antoni he might want to foul before an opponent is in the act of shooting?