It's not too late. Play Drive to the Finals Now!
By Brad Friedman
May 2 -- Tuesday's selection for NBA.com's Drive to the Finals isn't rocket science. You've got four sets of games: Pacers-Nets (2-2), Heat-Bulls (2-2), Spurs Kings (2-2) and Lakers-Suns (3-1), with only one club in danger of exiting the postseason tonight -- Phoenix.
If the Suns are done tonight, you'll never have another opportunity to utilize their stellar trio of stat-stuffers again.
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May 2 -- Phoenix was the ultimate PRA (Points, Rebounds, Assists) team during the regular season. It was the league's leader in scoring (108.36 ppg) and assists (26.57 apg), and ranked 10th in rebounding (41.80 rpg).
The roster features such fantasy studs as Shawn Marion (perhaps the best 8-cat player in all of fantasy hoops), Boris Diaw (the only player in fantasy hoops history to be listed as a guard, forward and center in one season that I can remember) and Steve Nash (the catalyst for the high-powered offense, as Nash-led teams have led the NBA in scoring five straight years).
Whatever you decide to do tonight, make sure your pick is one of these three players. But how do you decide between these players? For me the answer is easier since Shawn Marion was already picked by my esteemed colleague Jon Loomer on April 30.
For you sake, let's take a look at all of their regular season PRAs:
Nash: (18.8 ppg + 10.5 apg + 4.2 rpg) = 33.5 Reg. Season PRA
Marion: (21.8 ppg + 11.8 rpg + 1.8 apg) = 35.4 Reg. Season PRA
Diaw: (13.3 ppg + 6.9 rpg + 6.2 apg) = 26.4 Reg. Season PRA
It appears Marion is the best man to rely on tonight. And although that may turn out to be true, the story is a very different one when you take a look at what the trio has done in the four playoff games against the Lakers this year:
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Nash will try to rally his teammates in Game 5.
Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images |
Nash: (22.0 ppg + 10.3 apg + 4.8 rpg) = 37.1 Playoff PRA
Marion: (18.0 ppg + 8.8 rpg + 1.0 apg) = 27.8 Playoff PRA
Diaw: (15.8 ppg + 5.8 rpg + 4.3 apg) = 25.9 Playoff PRA
Nash has a 9.3 PRA edge over Marion. If that's not enough to change your mind, I don't know what is. With that said, Nash is my selection against Los Angeles tonight. His two costly mishaps down the stretch Sunday must have him upset and blaming himself for a devastating Game 4 loss. Great players usually bounce back from big mistakes, and Nash is the type of fighter who I predict will do just that.
The Suns may not come out as victors Tuesday night, but if you selection Steve Nash for Drive to the Finals, you likely will.
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