Rivalry Renwed
This could be a the best series of the playoffs!
Aside from the fact the Spurs are the defending champs and already had a great rivalry with the Suns...look at the Shaq and Duncan matchup!
2 big men who were drafted number 1 overall in the 90's with their teams hoping they would continue in the tradition of Kareem, Wilt and Russell by dominating in the paint and winning titles.
Shaq's accomplishments
1992-1993 Rookie Of The Year
1999-2000 MVP
2000, 2001, 2002, 2006 NBA Champion
2000, 2001, 2002 Finals MVP
6 Finals appearances
14 Time All Star
1992-1993 All-NBA Rookie First Team
9 Time FG% leader
8 Time All-NBA First Team
2 Time All-NBA Second Team
3 Time All-NBA Third Team
3 Time All-Defensive Second Team
1994-1995 Scoring Champion, 1999-2000 Scoring Champion
Tim Duncan's accomplishments
1997-1998 Rookie Of The Year
2001-2002 MVP, 2002-2003 MVP
1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 NBA Champion
1999, 2003, 2005 Finals MVP
4 Finals appearances
10 Time All Star
1997-1998 All Rookie First Team
9 Time All-NBA First Team
1 Time All-NBA Second Team
7 Time All-Defensive First Team
3 Time All-Defensive Second Team
Shaq's career stats
Regular Season- 25.2 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.4 bpg, 58.1 FG%
Playoffs- 25.5 ppg, 12.1 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.2 bpg, 56.6 FG%
Tim Duncan's career stats
Regular Season- 21.6 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.4 bpg, 50.8 FG%
Playoffs- 23.8 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 3.5 apg, 2.8 bpg, 50.7 FG%
Shaq's Finals stats
1995 Finals
28.0 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 6.3 apg, 2.5 bpg, 59.5 FG%
2000 Finals
38.0 ppg, 16.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, 2.7 bpg 61.1 FG%
2001 Finals
33.0 ppg, 15.8 rpg, 4.8 apg, 3.4 bpg, 57.3 FG%
2002 Finals
36.3 ppg, 12.3 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.8 bpg, 59.5 FG%
2004 Finals
26.6 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, 0.6 bpg, 63.1 FG%
2006 Finals
13.7 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 0.8 bpg, 60.7 FG%
Tim Duncan's Finals stats
1999 Finals
27.4 ppg, 14.0 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.2 bpg, 53.7 FG%
2003 Finals
24.2 ppg, 17.0 rpg, 5.3 apg, 5.3 bpg, 49.5 FG%
2005 Finals
20.0 ppg, 14.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 2.0 bpg, 41.2 FG%
2007 Finals
18.3 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.3 bpg, 44.6 FG%
Shaq and Duncan head to head(Regular Season)
Shaq- 23.2 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 1.9 apg, 2.9 bpg, 54.6 FG%
Duncan- 22.0 ppg, 12.1 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.4 bpg, 44.2 FG%
Shaq leads 16-11 in the regular season.
Shaq and Duncan head to head(Playoffs)
Shaq- 24.2 ppg, 13.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 2.8 bpg, 53.6 FG%
Duncan- 25.8 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 4.1 apg, 2.4 bpg 48.3 FG%
Shaq leads 3 series to 2 and 14-11 in single games.
And if that didn't make this interesting enough the two of them even were the Co-MVPs at the 2000 all star game
The head to head matchups have been very even throughout the career but Shaq has put Duncan on many posters.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NYPzTbobXVo
In the last 2 meetings with Tim Duncan Shaq has been able to shut him down
Last game during the 4th quarter when Shaq defended Duncan the whole time both were playing during the quarter Shaq held Tim to just 2 points on 1-5 shooting.
The game before that Duncan shot just 6-19 and I believe only one of those shots was made while Shaq was guarding him. Shaq guarded Tim the majority of that game.
This matchup is really what the NBA needs. Shaq and Duncan have carried the center position this era in a time when most big men would rather play on the perimeter than in the low post. As a result both have 4 ring rings and 3 finals MVP's. Both of them play the position very differently too. Shaq is a power player while Duncan is a bit more of a finesse player.
This matchup is very difficult for Duncan because Shaq dwarfs Duncan in both height and weight so Tim can't go to his bread an dbutter which is his low post game. Shaq's long arms also take away Tim's face the basket game.