Friday, December 17

Game Night # 24: Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns match up with the Seattle Sonics tonight at Key Arena for a battle for the best record in the NBA.

Does anyone else remember that game back in the late 80s, when the Sonics took a 19-game home winning streak up against the Lakers in the Coliseum? It was a Sunday afternoon game on CBS - rarified air for the Sonics and their fans, with Dick Stockton, Magic, Kareem, Riles, et al invading the misty mundaneness of a Seattle January.

The first half looked wonderful, highlighted by a McMillan alley oop to the X-Man that still chills me to the bone. McDaniel slammed the ball through the hoop like a 16-year-old pounding a hammer at a county fair contest, as if to say in one motion that "I'm here, I'm bald, and I'm gonna kick your old asses all over this court."

The Lakers withstood the first half onslaught ... then proceeded to destroy the Sonics in the second half on their way to yet another championship.

Well, the Suns aren't the Lakers and ESPN on a Friday night isn't CBS on a Sunday in '88, but I'm looking forward to tonight with as much anticipation as I did as a 15-year-old those many years ago.


Good Sign:
The Sonics are playing a meaningful game in December.
Bad Sign: None.

Questions: Nash v Ridnour? Stoudemire v Fortson? Rashard v Amare?

Vegas line: Pick 'em
Prediction: Sonics 109 - Suns 105
Record Against the Spread: 10-3

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

A