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[Dionisio Sechser]

Butinstead of rolling hard to the rim or fading back for an open jumper, Uncle Cliffy gets caught in between and ends up forcing a runner over The Admiral. Space is only effective if you use it properly.

As he does that, keep an eye on Mark Bryant and Scott. They immediately turn and sprint to force the break, creating a 2-on-1 situation on the opposite side against the retreating Perdue. As Bryant continues his run, Scott sneaks to the line and drains an open transition three. Suns by 11.

When the Suns tried this with KJ a couple plays earlier, The Admiral swallowed his hard drive up and forced a turnover. But this time, Kidd steps into Person to at least get the angle for a shot. He misses, but getting it on the rim allows Bryant to wedge Perdue under the hoop on the opposite side for the putback.

The Suns have shown the Spurs that very floor alignment every time down since the end of the third quarter. Typically, Kidd cuts off the big man and curls to the corner while the other point guard runs a middle pick-and-roll. The Spurs got used to anticipating that action.

As we wait for the NBA to (probably) make a (possibly ill-advised) return to play, I figured I should share my notes on some of the individual games I watch. You get a taste of my thought process in real time, and I get to internalize those observations the same way a student does when typing up class notes before a test. Retro games only to start, but that\u2019ll change if/when the season resumes. The first couple will be free to all, but I\u2019ll probably restrict access to paid subscribers in the future.

Today\u2019s game notes are from Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Western Conference first-round series between the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns and fifth-seeded San Antonio Spurs. This was Tim Duncan\u2019s playoff debut. After struggling with foul trouble in the first half, Duncan dominated down the stretch to give the Spurs a 102-96 victory. San Antonio eventually won the best-of-five series in four games before falling to the Jazz in the second round.

I chose this game because it featured a fascinating contrast in styles. The Spurs used a ridiculous three seven-foot center starting lineup, with plodding Will Perdue acting as the \u201Csmall forward\u201D alongside Duncan and David Robinson. The Suns started two point guards and two power forwards, and sometimes even played three little guys at once. We\u2019re more familiar with these kinds of size vs. speed battles today, but they were less common in 1998.

How would this one play out? Let\u2019s jump back 22 years. Kevin Harlan and Quinn Buckner are on the call for TNT. Here\u2019s the full game. (Timestamps refer to the mark in that video, not the time in the game. That should make it easy for you to follow along with me).

We have to talk about some injuries. The Suns lost Sixth Man of the Year Danny Manning to another torn ACL in late April, while the Spurs elected not to rush starting small forward Sean Elliott back after he underwent knee surgery for the second straight season. Phoenix also played without leading scorer Rex Chapman, who pulled his hamstring late in the season. Chapman dressed in Game 1, but didn\u2019t play. (On the telecast, Buckner suggested that Suns coach Danny Ainge wanted to preserve Chapman for later in the series. That didn\u2019t exactly work out: Chapman started in Phoenix\u2019s Game 2 win, but reaggravated his injury in their Game 3 defeat and missed Game 4).

Phoenix started veteran Kevin Johnson in Chapman\u2019s place alongside Jason Kidd in the backcourt, sharp shooter George McCloud at small forward, and Clifford Robinson and Antonio McDyess up front. San Antonio countered with their three seven-footers, plus pint-sized Avery Johnson and 3-and-D specialist Jaren Jackson.

3:22 \u2014 Wary of McCloud\u2019s shooting, Gregg Popovich made a way-ahead-of-its-time decision and had Duncan guarding Kidd. Better to make Ason (no J) shoot from the perimeter when Duncan inevitably helped at the rim. That\u2019s exactly what happened after Duncan helped on an Uncle Cliffy/McDyess two-man action at the top of the key, and Kidd obliged by bricking a wide open wing three.

But there is a consequence to San Antonio\u2019s matchups. Perdue and The Admiral switched the initial middle pindown, and in trying to recover, Perdue got stuck on the wrong side of McDyess. That opened up this easy offensive rebound.

8:28 \u2014 You see this high pick-and-pop alignment a lot today against teams that drop their big men back like the Spurs. The difference is that it results in a long two in 1998 instead of a three or a dribble handoff to the wing in 2020.

That shot missed, and then it was the Spurs\u2019 chance to punish cross matches on the break. Jackson is defending McCloud on the right wing, but Perdue is McCloud\u2019s assignment on the other end. When the Spurs break out 4 on 4, McCloud runs to his man, but fails to inform McDyess. That gives The Admiral a lane to the rim, and Kidd is far too small to effectively pinch in and stop this lob.

13:26 \u2014 This is a beautiful move, especially on replay. But how are the Suns allowing The Admiral to turn-and-face, ball fake, and blow by Uncle Cliffy without any help? The Spurs are playing four non-shooters, three of which are 7-foot centers! This\u2019ll be a theme later on.

18:50 \u2014 The Suns run a nifty misdirection play to take advantage of The Admiral sinking in the lane. They decoyed to the left, then ran McCloud off a curl into the middle of the lane. They should have the Spurs dead to rights here.

23:48 \u2014 TNT\u2019s overhead replay shows the value of proper floor spacing. McCloud is a step closer to sharp-shooter Chuck Person than he would be against anyone else. That means that he\u2019s too slow to react when Avery cuts to the rim after Steve Nash double-teams Duncan.

29:11 \u2014 Duncan is back on Kidd, but not for much longer. The Suns have run guard/guard screens on the left side all game to force the Spurs into tricky matchup decisions. Instead of switching, the Spurs ask Duncan to slide under the pick. But Nash makes just enough contact for Kidd to get a step on Timmy and draw a crucial third foul. That\u2019ll be the end of Duncan guarding Kidd.

Anyway, his presence becomes key to opening the Suns\u2019 deadly transition game. With Scott and Nash spread out to the three-point line, Kidd has all the room he needs to surge to the hoop and draw a foul. This looks like a 2020 Bucks fast break.

33:23 \u2014 Remember last week\u2019s discussion on the decline of the outlet pass? This sequence is a proto-modern illustration of why we don\u2019t see it much anymore. The Suns force a long jumper that caroms into a long rebound beyond the crashing Spurs players. KJ picks it up and immediately surges up the court rather than wasting time finding a teammate.

39:05 \u2014 San Antonio\u2019s spacing is becoming an issue. The Suns are pressing and The Admiral isn\u2019t exactly Draymond Green bringing the ball up. This time, the Suns trap Vinny Del Negro and help off the other three Spurs to eliminate his passing angles. Perdue must be more of a threat.

39:52 \u2014 Key sequence here. The Suns force another long miss, but the Spurs get back well enough to prevent Scott from stepping into another three. As Buckner credits the Suns for pulling the ball back out, they end up creating a wild Kidd reverse flippy thing at the end of the shot clock.

46:09 \u2014 Uncle Cliffy, who\u2019s been brutal since re-entering the game, allows sub Malik Rose to sneak inside of him for a free-throw offensive rebound that eventually leads to an Admiral spin-and-slam. The Suns\u2019 11-point lead is down to 5 at halftime, and Duncan hasn\u2019t played since early in the second quarter. Remember that the Spurs eventually win by six.

52:14 \u2014 Gregg Popovich switches Duncan onto McCloud instead of Kidd to save his rookie star from further foul trouble. The Suns run two early pick-and-pops for McCloud that lead to a converted long two and a missed semi-contested three. The Spurs will live with those shots.

54:38 \u2014 More transition confusion from the Suns. McCloud hesitates for mayyybe half a second instead of picking up The Admiral. That triggers Kidd to rotate down off Jackson, which leads to this three and a San Antonio lead.

57:54 \u2014 McDyess, who has been silent so far, bizarrely tries to back Perdue down instead of turning and facing. The result is a wild fadeaway brick that leaves two Suns out of the play on the rebound. Their transition defense is compromised and they yield a coast-to-coast Avery layup.

1:01:22 \u2014 Beautiful Spurs out of bounds play. They set up a sideline triangle, slice Duncan off a Perdue backscreen, then run a side pick-and-roll with Perdue and Avery. The beauty of the play is that as Avery draws help, Duncan has a step on McDyess and is easily able to pin him under the hoop thanks to Perdue\u2019s first screen. Admiral delivers a perfect hi-lo bounce pass and Duncan scores easily.

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