Christmas Day Live Blog

First and foremost, Merry Christmas to all you Double Dribbling readers. Hopefully you all had a great time with your families.

And if you didn't, there's no need to fret yet; we've all been blessed with 5 great NBA games on Christmas day. Double Dribbling will be updating continuously today with updates on the Suns v Spurs game, and a postgame analysis of the Lakers/Celtics.

Earlier today, the Hornets got man-handled by the Magic. CP3 needs more help...but more on that later.

Suns and Spurs up now; here we go:

1st Quarter:

• Suns win tip and go right to Shaq for two straight plays: 2 pts on the first play, assist to Amare for the second.
• Suns are out of the gate HOT and up 9-0 on 4-4 shooting two minutes in to the game. Pop had to call the timeout.
• 7:08 left in the quarter. The Spurs are on the board down 13-4, and the Suns have cooled off. They are imposing their will in the paint.
• 4:30 - Tony Parker just got SWATTED by STAT. These Suns are starting to look like the Suns of old.
• 1:50 - Spurs just went on 6-0 run. Shaq is sitting on the bench, and Lopez's inexperience is evident; he came up way short on his first jumper and turned the ball over on the next play. He also looks a step slow out there - I thought this guy was supposed to be athletic.
  *Haha Yao is in Barkley's and Wade's new T-mobile Fav5 commercial. Eat the Head!
• End of the Quarter Thoughts: Phx is up 27-18. Despite the slowdown at the end of the quarter, the Suns are still doing all the right things: attacking the basket, making the extra passes, not forcing up shots. It'll be interesting to see how the Spurs respond to Phoenix's fast start. SA's shots have started to fall, and Manu is making plays off of the bench. As much as I dislike Ginobili, I gotta give him props for his game.
  
  

2nd Quarter:

• Jrich is excited to be ballin for a good team again. He's playin with intensity.
• 9:30 - O'neal with a nice move under the bucket, losing Duncan with a spin.
• 7:45 - O'neal with another nice assist to a cutting Barbosa on a backdoor play. I love how despite his diminished athleticism, Shaq is finding a way to contribute effectively. Duncan had a textbook baseline baby-hook on the preceding possession.
• 6:00 - Hahaha O'neal again! A smooth spin move plus baby hook for the bucket and the fans are loving it. He's got 12 points already.
• 4:30 - Tony Parker is starting to heat up; Spurs are going to need more from him if they want to win this game. For all the injuries he's been through and his age, Grant Hill still looks surprisingly quick. He just caught a nice pass from Barnes for the easy put-in.
• 2:14 - Spurs within four: 43-39. Bonner for a three...that's all this guy can really do.
• End of the Half thoughts: The Phoenix big men are tearing it up. Amare's got 14 and Shaq has twelve. They've combined to shoot 12-18. For the Spurs, being down 45-39 isn't bad considering how that half went. If Manu can start hitting some shots, they'll make this real exciting.
  *Just saw the Slam Dunk contest commercial. We've got Russell Westbrook, Rudy Fernandez, and Joe Alexander vying for a spot against returning champ Dwight Howard. Whoever ends up winning the spot, I can guarantee you this will be an awesome contest. I'm especially excited about Joe Alexander. Reports say that this rookie is SICK athletic. Rudy is also regularly on the receiving end of alleyoops, and Westbrook is one of those small guys that can get UP. All-Star weekend is going to be nice. The other two contestants are Rudy Gay and Nate Robinson.
  *Another T-mobile Fav5 clip: Old-School video game where you play the stars when they're old. Magic and Dr. J make special appearances in this one.

3rd Quarter:

• 10:29 - Shaq has 4,998 FT misses right now, 3 of them coming earlier today. He just made his last three to delay hitting that 5 grand mark for a little while longer.
• 10:02 - Duncan has come out aggressive and has two quick buckets this quarter.
• 9:17 - Jrich hits a long jumper from a Nash Pass. Did you know this guy's 3pt% is better than his FG%? Crazy stuff....
• 8:09 - Bulldozing! Crowd goes wild as Shaq collects 2 offensive boards off his own misses and throws it down on the third attempt. There's some classic Shaq for you.
• 6:56 - SA ties the game. This is why they're so good and why so many people hate them; even when the momentum seems to be going against them, they find a way to come back. Phoenix better be careful...
• 6:08 - Amare hits an 18 footer. He's been quiet this quarter. The momentum is starting to shift towards the Spurs favor. These guys are just so consistent and persistent. Duncan is hittin from everywhere.
• 4:51 - Nash with a couple of buckets to get the crowd going again. He's had a subtle 10 points and 8 dimes. 59-54 Suns.
• 2:31 - The Suns are trying to pull away, but Spurs are sticking with em. Finely just hit a triple to bring SA within three.
• You'd think with Jrich and Amare...there'd be more highlight-reel plays in this game. Jrich only has 8.
  
• Amare's back on the attack, he's got 20.
• 0:54 - Shaq misses another FT of two. 4,999...
• 0:36 -Hack-a-Shaq is in full swing. SA fouls him again...and he hits the first one...the second goes up and IN! Shaq has 20pts now. Suns up 74-69.
• Duncan hits another from the top of the key. This guy is solid as a rock
• 0:08 - Shaq is fouled again and hits another two free throws! Crowd is going crazy. He's hit 8 of his last 9 free throws.
• End of the quarter thoughts: I wonder how long Shaq can put off hitting his 5,000th miss. The Phx fans are happy, but we know better than to count the Spurs out. I've gotta bad feeling for Phx only because I know that the Spurs always do something crazy to pull the win out against these guys.

4th Quarter:

• 11:17 - STAT attacks and gets the bucket plus a FT. Barbosa has been a ghost today...actually he's been a ghost for a while. I need to drop this guy from my fantasy baskeball team.
• 10:57 - Ginobili hits another triple. This guy is heating up...
• 8:09 - Spurs on 8-2 run. Suns up by 2.
• 4:43 - Dang Shaq just missed one of two free throws. That's number 5,000 folks. Game tied 84-84.
• 3:44 - Spurs up 2, but Duncan just picked up his 5th foul. In the Shaq FT tracker, Shaq just missed 2 more free throws.
  
• 3:04 - Jrich hits a huge three for the Suns. They're still down one.
• 1:52 - Duncan's getting frustrated with a couple of calls going against him.
• 1:20 - Spurs by 1. Crowd is on their feet but Amare can't hit. Parker goes back the other way and misses. Refs give Tony a Technical after arguing a no call.
• 0:24 - Holy moley. Game tied 88 all. Amare has missed his last three attempts right next to the bucket, but luckily the Spurs haven't capitalized either. Phx calls a timeout.
• 0:07 - Suns manage to inbound but are forced to call another timeout after the trap. With no more timeouts left, they need to inbound.
• 0:04 - Amare with a nice pass to Hill off of a backscreen for an easy lay-in! Suns up two. Spurs have 4.3 seconds to try to tie it or go for the win.
• NO FREAKIN WAY. The Spurs do it again! Parker drives, kicks to Roger Mason in the corner for the game winning three at the buzzer. The fans are silent and in disbelief. Merry Christmas Phoenix. Somehow I saw this coming. Daaang.

That's going to be all for Double Dribbling Live Blogging today. I'll be back later for a post game analysis of Lakers v Celtics.

Man, you have to feel for the Suns. Spurs win it at the buzzer again...