The loss of Shawn Marion, addition of Shaquille O’Neal and the San Antonio’s acquisition of Kurt Thomas makes for some interesting matchups for today’s matinee — and if these teams meet down the road in the playoffs.

 *Steve Nash, who usually guarded Bruce Bowen, will get the first shot at Tony Parker today. Parker still isn’t 100 percent and is coming off a poor game in Denver Friday. But if PArker has his way with Nash early, look for Grant Hill to come off Bowen and get his shot at Parker.

 *Shaquille O’Neal will start out on Kurt Thomas — an interesting move because it puts Amare on Tim Duncan, and that hasn’t worked for the Suns in the past. When the Spurs were here Jan. 31, Stoudemire was on the bench three minutes into the game with two fouls. Shaq will likely go back on Duncan once the teams are into the flow of the game, but the first few minutes will be crucual for Stoudemire to avoid problems.

 *Raja Bell stays on Manu Ginobili, a tough assignment for anyone the way he is playing.

 Should be a good one. Hopefully the Suns got the memo that this was a 12:30 p.m. start and they don’t come out the way they did against the Pistons two weeks ago. Another blowout home loss to an elite team will have a huge ripple effect.

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