NBA playoffs open with no sure thing

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Powered by point guard and MVP candidate Steve Nash, the Suns led the NBA in scoring at 110.4 points per game and won a league-best 62 games. But the pace usually slows in the postseason, which may limit Phoenix’s effectiveness in the transition game.

“I know plenty of teams that were high-octane that won championships,” Suns All-Star center Amare Stoudemire said. “(Teams) haven’t stopped us the whole season. How are they going to stop us now?”

That is the task facing the eighth-seeded Grizzlies, who were swept by the top-seeded Spurs last year’s first round. Since the NBA went to 16 playoff teams in 1984, only two No. 8 seeds have won a first-round series.

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Also Sunday, the Spurs host the Nuggets and the Wizards visit the Bulls.

Although seeded second, the Spurs are favored to win the West. They have a concern about Duncan, their superstar power forward and two-time NBA Finals MVP who is not totally recovered after missing 12 games with a severely sprained ankle late in the season.

San Antonio also may be without injured center Rasho Nesterovic. That could be a factor against Denver, which is 32-8 under coach George Karl and has a fleet of active big men it can run at Duncan.

“We match up OK (against Denver),” Duncan said. “They are really hot right now, playing well, and with a lot of confidence.”

The series between the Wizards and the Bulls should be an education for both teams. Fifth-seeded Washington has only two players on its roster with playoff experience, while five of fourth-seeded Chicago’s top seven players will be in their first postseason.

“We’re happy where we are,” Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. “But we don’t have that playoff tenacity and that playoff personality. ... We got a lot of preparation to do. We have to get some type of playoff personality, we don’t have it.”

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