Suns Grab West Lead with Win Over Sonics (104-96)

by TexSUN on Jan 3, 2008 11:58 PM MST in Game Coverage Comment 19 comments

It was 10 minutes of sheer basketball bliss. A nail-biter down to the final seconds. Perhaps the best finish to a game I've seen all year. But enough about the end of the double-overtime Blazers-Bulls game that simultaneously entertained me thoroughly, while also blocking out the horrific first quarter of the Suns-Sonics game. (Although if you do want more on the Blazers-Bull game, Blog-a-Bull and Blazer's Edge will happily oblige).

Let's talk Suns-Sonics.

Like I said during the live blogging in the game thread, I think the Suns may have taken this retro thing a bit too far. Although those of us watching via TNT didn't get to see any of that first quarter debacle, a quick look at the boxscore tells me that the Suns played a lot like it was 2003-04 during those first 12 minutes of game time, getting outscored 33-13. But then the 2004-05 Suns showed up in the second quarter, showing that a 20-point deficit means nothing when you can rain threes on your opponent and score in spurts. However, by the time the game was over, the 2007-08 Suns were back when, after leading by as many as 15, they had to hang on for dear life in the final minutes as the Sonics closed it within four. But also like the 2007-08 Suns, entering the fourth quarter with a lead meant ending it with a lead as well.

This was a fun game to watch for most of the night. I can presume the first quarter was beyond awful. But for those of us who joined in the second, it looked like the Suns had a bit of extra pep in their step at times. Steve Nash looked shoulder pain-free, making 7-of-11 from the field, hitting three of his six three-point attempts, and being even fancier than usual with some of his passes. Amare Stoudemire continued to be a beast inside, with another 30+ point game and 11 rebounds. Shawn Marion led the team in rebounding with 14. Leandro Barbosa made up for a subpar night from the field by making 9-of-11 free throws in a 16-point effort. Overall the Suns were 44% to the Sonics' 39% from the field, and kept things close on the boards. The block party continued as well with Amare and Raja Bell swatting three each, and Marion two.

The Sonics got nice games out of Kevin Durant, Earl Watson, and Kurt Thomas. Watson had 20 points and eight assists. Durant went for 28 points and seven rebounds. Thomas had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Sonics hung tough, but ultimately, experience ruled the day as the Suns got just enough stops, and made just enough free throws to put the game out of reach in the final minute. The win by the Suns coupled with the loss by the Spurs puts the Suns on top in the West for the first time this year.

Player of the Game: Amare Stoudemire. Again. I hate being monotonous with this, but 34 points (11-of-19), 11 rebounds, and three blocks will usually land you in this space.

Runner-Up: Kevin Durant. I'm going to hate seeing him play for a Western conference opponent over the next few years.

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Yet Again, Sorry for not Getting the Comment Early

I feel a bit embarassed so I'll make it up to all of you who didn't see the Valley broadcast by saying, you didn't need to see the first quarter. Shooting was just heartbreaking at best, atrotious at worst. Nothing was going down for the Suns and it didn't help that I couldn't distinguish the players like I normally can, because of the black and white scheme. Plain and simple they were just not making jumpers, not attacking the rim, not getting to the lane, and not boxing out efficiently as the big men managed to manuever their way to the boards. A big reason for this (and I was hoping he wouldn't be a factor but he was) was Kurt Thomas. He absolutely took vengance on the Suns. But as you all know the Phoenix put their shoulder down and headed for the basket to score, or get to the charity stripe.
As for the broadcast, at the 2nd Qtr. they changed to color but slightly. It was still a bit grainy and any light flashing on the court was excentuated on screen making it difficult to see the action.
Al McCoy and Greg Schulte took over the commentary at the second quarter, and let me tell you, that was a real treat! Made better afterward with George Allan. It was a Suns game the way it was meant to be heard, folksy and insightful.
Every commercial break was preceded by a clip of a Ring of Honor member. There was TC's dunk over Jackson, KJ's dunk over the dream, Connie Hawkins gliding toward the bucket, Alvin Adam's rebounding, Dan Majerle's waaay downtown 3's, and my favorite, Sir Charles' game winning shot in front of the Admiral in San Antonio.
Lastly my favorite part, the look back on the buzzer beaters that saved the Suns. In there was The Shot Heard (Gar) Around the World, King Rex's runner against Seattle, and Tim Thomas' lifesaver in LA. Personally to me, they should have added Bell's shot in Game 5 against the Clips but ah well!
Look for my diary rant soon on the lack of retro uniforms, and on Suns uniforms in general.

"Act well your part: there all the honor lies"-Alexander Pope

by PurplePinoy on Jan 4, 2008 12:29 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the rundown

I would've enjoyed seeing those old clips.

by SueB on Jan 4, 2008 7:56 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Gar Heard's Shot

By the way, this shot is among the top 100 highlights in ESPN's 'greatest highlights' contest. You can vote for your top 10 here:

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/highlights100?event_id=3283

I doubt it has a chance to get into the final bracket, but it's still worth a vote.

by SueB on Jan 5, 2008 4:50 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Egads!

That 1st quarter was absolutely abysmal!! From the stupid headbands to the godawful attire of the broadcasters to the black and white picture, I wanted to close my eyes and never open them again. I am old enough to remember black & white TV, but don't remember the Suns playing in B&W. It was so hard to differentiate between players on the court except for maybe Nash. You people who didn't see the local broadcast were spared seeing something that made you want to gouge your eyes out!

Thank goodness our guys came to life the 2nd quarter and held off those pesky Sonics. It seemed Kurt Thomas had a little extra motivation tonight to get back at Phx for trading him away. I would have liked to have heard the trash talk he was dishing out to Phx's bench!

by TwinnerA on Jan 4, 2008 12:43 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

1st quarter

Because of the Chicago game, TNT did not pick up the broadcast until after I went to bed. But the CBS Sportsline updates made the situation clear: the Suns were embarrassing themselves once again, ala the Minnesota, LA, or Golden State games. As my head hit the pillow, I was already thinking of what I would write after this debacle.

I just don't know what this team is about. How can you let that happen against a bottom feeder team with injuries? Were the shots just not going in, or was there a lack of focus? Having not seen the actual gameplay, I can't say. I was only slightly happier when I read of the comeback on CBS sportsline as soon as I got up at 4:30 the next morning. The only reason the comeback was possible is that Seattle's horrid shooting left room for a sloppy Suns team to make up for their early malaise. As someone has already pointed out, this slow starting has already cost us a big game against Dallas. If they play this way the rest of the home stand, I see them losing to New Orleans and Denver.

'06-'07 Suns: It's clobberin' time!

by Hawk42 on Jan 4, 2008 6:53 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Ha

"You people who didn't see the local broadcast were spared seeing something that made you want to gouge your eyes out!"

LOL. While it was frustrating at the time, in hindsigh, I guess I'm glad I missed it!

by SueB on Jan 4, 2008 7:57 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Four straight wins; best record in the West

Let's keep it in perspective. Bad quarters of basketball happen to every team. When it happens, it doesn't mean you're a crap team, ESPECIALLY when you still win the game. Sure they lost to Dallas after a similarly bad start, but - you know - sometimes you just have to accept that it's not a surprise to lose to Dallas in Dallas.

I think we'll beat New Orleans this time around. The Denver game will be an interesting test.

by SueB on Jan 4, 2008 7:51 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Eternal optimist = Suns fan

Sue, I like your optimism. It's just that I and a lot of other fans suffered through the 1976-1981 teams that should have won a chip. We suffered through the Barkley years where we had a couple in the bag. The Kidd-McDyess team was supposed to bring banners, and now we are are in our fourth year of Nash 2.0, and it is getting old that we can't seem to put it all together. That said, I am still nervously optimistic.

'06-'07 Suns: It's clobberin' time!

by Hawk42 on Jan 4, 2008 8:09 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Suns Fans = Schizophrenic ;)

And, believe it or not, I was at least a casual Suns fan all those years as well. And it's ALWAYS frustrating being a fan of a team that's never won it all. Even when you have the talent, it just seems too much luck is required.

My brother warned me away from becoming too close to the Suns - "they'll break your heart again and again", he said.

But one bad quarter (that I didn't even see ;) isn't going to throw me into a funk. On the other hand, I'm not going to get too carried away about being in first place either. After all, these four straight wins came against three bad teams.

by SueB on Jan 4, 2008 8:21 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

bad quarter

I understand. The suns have probably been the best and most consistent team in the NBA in the last 40 years not to win a ring. The bad quarter game me nightmares. I thought I was seeing Minnesota all over again. Or the Nets game in 2006 that Amare tried to play in.

I just don't think bad quarters should come against Earl Watson and Nick Collison. Or watever scrubs are playing on the TWolves these days.

'06-'07 Suns: It's clobberin' time!

by Hawk42 on Jan 4, 2008 9:08 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Ditto

I'm with you about the bad quarters against some of the worst teams! However, I know other good/great teams must have bad quarters, slow starts, lose focus, and a lack of energy. We just don't see it because we aren't watching those teams play their games.

Spurs have lost their last 4 road games. Ha ha!

by TwinnerA on Jan 4, 2008 9:30 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

test coming up (There WILL be an exam, people)

Also, we won't have to wait long to find out where we are. These two home games against the Nuggets and New Orleans will tell us where we are real quick.

'06-'07 Suns: It's clobberin' time!

by Hawk42 on Jan 4, 2008 9:24 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Me and Marv Albert: not sure what to make of Phx

In retrospect I was glad I missed the 1st quarter, although I was pissed when the Bulls and Blazers kept tying the game and then missing the game winners.

Marv (and Reggie and Czar) weren't too harsh on the Suns, especially as they watched them wake up and handle the Sonics. Reggie in particular kind of got it, with the celebration atmosphere, and the cupcake opponent adding up to a bad start due to lack of focus.

They also talked about how the Suns are sort of stuck--what they really need is a big man to help Amare defend and rebound, but they can't really get someone like that without fundamentally altering the makeup of the roster.

Marv's best comments were about the schedule and the record: You can only play who you are scheduled to play, so you can't fault the Suns for racking up the wins they have (particularly the last 4--Clips x2, Sac and now Seattle), but even with a home-heavy schedule, he noted things are about to get tougher--Denver just knocked off the Spurs and Camby will be looking at a 30-20 night if somebody doesn't box out, New Orleans looks to be for real, and Utah's bigs could be looking at the Suns soft middle as a get well tonic.

Still, as they mentioned many times last night, this seems to be the un-happiest 23-9 team anyone can remember-with proper focus and energy the Suns could be sitting on an 18-game streak when the Spurs come visiting at the end of the month!

by SoCalSun on Jan 4, 2008 1:35 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Huh?

What makes everyone think the team is so unhappy? I don't get it. The media keeps saying they are, based on what??

by TwinnerA on Jan 4, 2008 4:08 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Right

I think it's a media and fan invention. I liked this from Kurt Thomas in this morning's EVT:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/105838

Thomas said he was surprised to hear that the Suns weren't having as much fun this season "because I know the core guys and how well they get along. When you have a good team, the pressure does build but I thought we handled that well when I was here."

In other words (I interpret), it's all a bunch of BS.

by SueB on Jan 4, 2008 7:29 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

i think part of it is

that this team has such high expectations from the media and fans, that when they lose a game to MN or someone, the media and fans wonder whats wrong. I really still believe this team gets along pretty well to very well.

by jasonsuns1 on Jan 4, 2008 8:24 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Losing to MN was inexcusable

That team has only four wins this season. It's simply embarrassing that one of those was against us.

by SueB on Jan 5, 2008 4:46 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

And the Spurs lost

to Memphis....these things happen

Maybe the Marion thing is having a bigger locker room effect. In the post game interview Thursday he was asked about Durant and made a comment about how many shots he gets. Leander said something like "would you like to get 20-25 attempts?" and Shawn just laughed. As good as he is on D and finishing on fast breaks, I don't get why Marion won't understand that he's not an offensive star and never will be. There's no way he would average 25 PPG on any team b/c he just doesn't have the skill set like a Durant does. That's not to say he isn't a VERY valuable important player but its not on the offensive end.

Anyway, the team and the city aren't happy and I guess that's not a bad thing. They aren't satisfied with where they are and know that they need to improve to win.

by Phoenix Stan on Jan 5, 2008 9:42 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Speaking of the Sp*rs

I watched while they damn near lost to the Knicks last night. The KNICKS. At home. I know Ginobili is out, but Duncan looked tired and ineffective, and Parker was missing anything beyond 5 feet. Bruce Bowen was their leading scorer.

Just wish THAT team would show up in the playoffs, but we know they won't.

by SueB on Jan 5, 2008 10:15 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs