So we?re down to the final four.  

 While I figured this year?s post-season dance would be wide-open and even produce an upset or two (I thought the Suns? lack of team defense would have led to their demise by now), it isn?t all that surprising to see the top four seeds remain standing.  As a result, fans will see the premier conference finals matchups the NBA has to offer.  

 In the East, the top-seeded Miami Heat, who all of a sudden is everyone?s Finals favorite despite Shaq?s ailing right thigh, square off with the defending champion Detroit Pistons.  

 Dwyane Wade has been spectacular and is probably the MVP of the playoffs right now, but the Pistons are not the Nets or Wizards, particularly on the defensive end, and Miami will need some form of a contribution from O?Neal in order to dethrone the champs. Detroit wins the series, quite possibly in five games, but TNT could not have asked for a better matchup.  

 The Western Conference final, meanwhile, features a classic contrast of styles.  

 Defense wins championships, as the clich? goes, but the Phoenix Suns, the NBA?s best team in the regular season, will attempt to prove that theory wrong as they will try to impose their fast-paced, fast-breaking style on the defensive-minded San Antonio Spurs, arguably the most fundamentally-sound team in the entire league.  Again, another highly-anticipated 1-2 matchup.

 So what else can a fan ask for?  

 Well, if we could knit pick here for a sec, how about the timing of the Suns-Spurs series in particular, which began Sunday afternoon in Phoenix, a grand total of two days after the Suns were able to dispose of the pesky Dallas Mavericks in six hard-fought games ? including Game 6?s 130-126 overtime thriller - in the conference semis?

 Let?s face it, two days off between rounds is not nearly enough time to hype up a series.    

 We want anticipation, we want build-up, we even want a little (or more like a lot) controversy heading into a series.  And that is usually what we receive when there?s some time off between rounds.  Heck, we already have some minor controversy brewing in the Eastern Conference finals, which only begins Monday, where Pistons center Ben Wallace has gone as far as to question the validity of Shaq?s thigh injury.

 But then again, if Game 1 is any indication, who needs pre-series hype?

 The fact that San Antonio was able to come away with a 121-114 victory and immediately take away home court advantage from Phoenix shouldn?t shock anyone.  

 The Spurs? ability to beat the Suns at their own game, however, was surprising.

 Although no team can expect to slow down Phoenix entirely, it was expected San Antonio would at least contain the Suns more effectively than Dallas was able to in Round 2.  Yet Gregg Popovich?s crew seemed content on running toe-to-toe with the best up-tempo team in the business.  

 While at times the Spurs were able to slow the tempo down and play more of a half-court game, they also excelled once the game started to open up more in the second half, which Popovich credited to his team?s versatility.

 ?We?re a pretty flexible team.  We don?t try to impose our will on teams,?  Popovich said.  ?We play according to the style of our opponent, so we?re capable of playing different styles.?

 ?We did a good job of mixing styles.  We were able to slow the game down, but we also proved that we could take it to them by playing up-tempo,? added Duncan, who finished with a team-high 28 points and 15 rebounds on 10-of-21 shooting in 40 minutes.  

 However, unlike Dallas in Round 2, the Spurs are a team who excels in transition defense.  

 Phoenix may have been able to finish the game with 114 points on 49% shooting from the field, but were only able to muster six fast break points, which is really the key to their offense.  If you can limit the number of easy baskets, your chances of beating the Suns are greatly enhanced.  

 The Spurs also rely on an inside-out game with Duncan as the focal point down low in the paint.

 With the Suns collapsing on Duncan in the low post time and again, it enabled other players to receive open looks for 3?s, including Brent Barry, who provided a much-needed lift off the bench with 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.

 ?Brent making shots for us is huge because that?s what has to happen to make Timmy (Duncan) a better player,? added Popovich.  ?If they can go after Timmy the way they did and we?re not going to make shots, we're going to have a problem."  

 "Brent has been up and down for us this year, but in the playoffs he's been much better and played very confidently tonight.  We gave him a little more time out on the court and he responded quite well.?  

 The chess match now begins.  San Antonio proved they can play a Phoenix-style of game and be effective.  How can the Suns respond to the challenge in Game 2?  

 Well, no one expects Mike D?Antoni?s squad to become a defensive juggernaut all of a sudden, but if the Suns? Achilles Heel all season long remains a liability in this series, their dream season will come to an abrupt end.  

Kostas.Bolos@realgm.com