Seven Seconds or Less by Jack McCallum

Author:Jack McCallum [McCallum, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Sports & Recreation, Arizona
ISBN: 9780743298131
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2007-04-30T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

[The Second Season]

Phoenix, May 10……………….

SUNS LEAD SERIES 1–0

“I wish I had some genius thing to tell you, but the energy’s not there. Why it’s not there, I don’t know.”

D’Antoni had a theory that Game 1 would be easier for the Suns than Game 2. Everybody talked about the fatigue factor but he felt that Phoenix would still be running on its adrenaline from Game 7, and he was correct. The Suns’ offense was in high gear in a 130–123 victory.

The frightening thing, though, was that the Clippers had played almost as well. Elton Brand (forty points) was unstoppable, and the primary reason the Suns won was a two-minute fourth-quarter spurt when, with Brand on the bench for rest, they extended a two-point lead to nine. Curtailing Brand’s output is the top priority for the Suns, as Iavaroni says in the pregame bigs meeting.

“Game 2 is the real challenge, guys,” D’Antoni said as he sent the team out.

He was so right. Marion misses four easy shots, then throws the ball away. Bell misses all five of his first-quarter shots. Eddie House, in the game early to possibly give the Suns a lift, falls asleep on defense, and Sam Cassell, creaky but crafty, grabs his own rebound, puts it back in, draws a foul and completes a three-point play. The coaches explode in anger — it’s exactly the kind of play that will keep Eddie under House arrest — but it isn’t any worse than a dozen others the regulars make in the first half. Walter McCarty, L.A.’s twelfth man, gets in the game in the first half, an embarrassing moment for the home team. The Clippers walk off with a 65–51 lead.

“Turn that shit off!” D’Antoni says, pointing to televised replays of the first half as he storms into the coaches’ office. Then, realizing he sounded tyrannical, something he tries to avoid, he says, “Turn it down then.”

“Guys, it’s twenty-four to two on second-chance points,” says Gentry. The coaches are unsure of where to begin, so horrible was the effort, but the Clippers’ offensive rebounding is as good a place as any.

“We’re not playing smart, either,” says Iavaroni. “Technical mistakes. They’re not great shooters, and they’re going to drive to us, so why are we playing them outside the paint?”

“It’s lack of hustle,” says D’Antoni.

The only encouraging words come from Gentry. “Guys, we always say, to us, fourteen points is nothing.”

D’Antoni relates that to the team, but it is all for naught. The Clippers win the third quarter, too, never failing to go more than two possessions without scoring. Marion almost air balls a left-handed layup from point-blank range. Diaw fumbles passes like a rookie playing in his first big game. It is hard to remember that James Jones, the somewhat invisible fifth starter, is on the court — he misses all four of his shots and has zero assists in nineteen unproductive minutes. Twice within a short span of time, Cuttino Mobley posts up Marion and launches moonballs over him, both of which go in.

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