Richardson, Stoudemire Lead Suns to Big Win Versus Unbeaten Celtics

by Wil Cantrell on Nov 6, 2009 9:53 PM MST in Phoenix Suns: Game Coverage

"Compete on the Boards" was written on the chalk board in the Suns locker room before the game. Not only did the Suns compete on the boards, they actually won against the undefeated Boston Celtics in Boston Friday night, 110-103.

Jason Richardson played a monster game, leading the way in scoring for the Suns with 34. Richardson had to have been motivated by his 0 for in Orlando. Tonight he made up for the zeroes all over the floor in TD Garden, including 6-7 from three point range.

Richardson played a complete game tonight. He mad Ray Allen a non-factor, holding the Celtics guard to 16 points. But J-Rich wasn't satisfied just bombing away from outside, he drove to the hoop, posted up Allen, and even battled for rebounds, leading the team with 10. He even made free throws which hasn't been a given the past two games for the Suns.

Similar to two nights ago against Orlando, not much was expected from this Suns squad. A loss was acceptable,a blowout was suspected, especially against the 6-0 Celtics, especially in Boston. But the Phoenix Suns would have none of that. They started off strong, and even though they were over matched in the size department, they fought against constant pressure by a very talented and explosive Celtics team. Every time the Celtics made a run at the Suns lead, the Suns answered.

In the third quarter the Suns defense began to fall apart. The Celtics began the third shooting 7-8, all of the makes on layups. But the Suns fought back, with Steve Nash awakening offensively and J-Rich staying hot, holding on to an 85-83 lead.

As the Celtics closed in on the Suns in the 4th, Steve Nash slammed a dagger in the Celtics hearts icing the game with a three pointer with 54 seconds left.

Amare Stoudemire is officially back. Is it not obvious? His second quarter posterization of KG was nothing short of beautiful.
The Suns shot 13-24 from behind the three point arc (54%) and finally looked respectable from the free throw line (76%)
Goran Dragic continued to play with poise and confidence. The Slovenian made a nice leaner over Eddie House in the second quarter, rebounded one of his own misses in traffic and wasn't afraid to battle the big boys underneath the basket. More than once Dragic went to the floor for a loose ball. Even after one of his passes was intercepted, he hustled down the court and stole the ball back on the other end.
The Suns lead swelled to 11 in the second period after Stoudemire hit a 15 footer. The squad of Hill, Clark, Dudley, Amundson, and Dragic more than held their own against the Celtics bench.
The Suns defense was good tonight. They were over matched in the size department, but giving up 26 to Garnett was good enough. While the Celtics dominated the points in the paint, the Suns were able to keep Paul Pierce in check. Shooting over 50% from three point land also helps to balance things out.
The first half ended with the Suns leading 57-51 and a nice little scrap between Channing Frye and Kendrick Perkins. See, Frye isn't soft! "Hit us and we're going to hit you back," said a grinning Richardson about the tussle after the game.
Dudley and Amundson continue to impress. It is clear that Amundson was successful in working on his offensive game in the off-season. It isn't so much that he's putting up huge numbers as much as his foot work and confidence has improved. He still has a long way to go from the free throw line. Dudley looks more and more impressive from behind the arc with every game. Both understand what they need to do not only to stay in the rotation but in the NBA, and they bring it every night.
Leandro Barbosa was a game time scratch due to his wrist injury. He is certainly missed, but the team is still playing at a high level without him.
The Suns are 5-1 for the first time in nearly a decade.
Lastly, let us thank Rasheed Wallace for taking six three pointers, because he missed them all. Keeping bombing, 'Sheed, we love it!

FINAL - 11.6.2009	1	2	3	4	TOTAL
Phoenix Suns	29	28	28	25	110
Boston Celtics	27	24	32	20	103

Next up, Washington on Sunday, 1 PM Eastern

How great was this!

Tweet Comment 21 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

UNSTOPPABLE BABY!

Let’s aim for 81-1!

Steve Nash, the league's MVP, is a longhaired Canadian who spoke out against the war in Iraq and reads The Communist Manifesto. Quentin Richardson declared after a game-winning shot that it "was like Hamlet. It was a suspense thriller, and I killed them at the end." Amare Stoudemire, when asked to comment on a 22-point third quarter against the Kings, said, "I've got a tendency to jump over some guys' heads and throw it down."

by rsavaj on Nov 6, 2009 10:21 PM MST reply actions

Hello. If I may say so, I am worried not because of or about anything the Suns did in this great game, but about the Celtics. While looking at the final box score, I noticed a link to a Celtics blog. I’m not 100 percent sure I can even link to it because of the damn legal restrictions, so I won’t try, but it says:
“Clearly both teams made a pact before the game to play pickup style no-defense in this one. The only problem is that the Suns don’t have Shaq and Terry Porter to slow them down anymore, so they are back to being an offensive force.

Jason Richardson couldn’t miss tonight (6-7 on threes), Nash looked like the 2 time MVP of old, and Amare chipped in with 22 of his own points.

KG had a good offensive game (his new signature move is the alley-oop-layup) and all the starters scored in double figures, but the story of the game was the lack of defense. You can’t count on outscoring the Suns. Oh yeah, and shooting 50% from the line doesn’t help either."

Suns played no defense? Yeah, right—the blogger is probably just mad because his team lost—but it caused me to wonder if the Suns won by goading the Celtics into playing Suns ball. Running a lot and shooting a lot (especially threes). If that’s true, the Suns won mainly because the Celtics were stupid.

by species8473 on Nov 6, 2009 10:26 PM MST reply actions

my brother

I live in celtics country, and used my brother as backup so that I could go out to watch the game and route for the suns against all those celtic fans at the pub. About 10 minutes through watching the game, and mind you my brother is a hipster noiserocker with zero basketball knowledge, he turns to me and says “Suns have a problem rebounding don’t they?” I was blown away by that, a complete alien to the game of basketball noticed our glaring weakness right away. I found that interesting. We played well tonight on both ends, and Boston missed a lot of 3’s. Gentry is getting the boys to do what Porter couldn’t as it appears thus far. By the way, my brother is also a huge Steve Nash fan. Quoting him, “He’s just cool.”

"Hes very cerebral when he plays out there"--Hubie

by Snowbird on Nov 6, 2009 10:36 PM MST reply actions

Amazing Game

A lot of fun to watch our bench and – though I don’t think STAT is officially back 100% – he is RAPIDLY improving with every game!!! Definitely faster than I expected! (His smash right on KG’s ugly dome was the best)

Now we’ve got two more games that we can’t sleep on – the Wiz’s have a healthy squad and we know what the Sixers bring.. Let’s KEEP IT GOING! Put that defense on repeat!

They say "don't swim with the sharks", but I'm faster than sharks so it's not a big deal...

by Eutychus on Nov 7, 2009 12:29 AM MST reply actions

beer for everyone…

AG is getting to them… only +3 on rebounding for celts, not expected to see that… great win…

by zeze_999 on Nov 7, 2009 12:48 AM MST reply actions

I hate that I didn't see this game.

Huge win. I killed my phone’s battery refreshing. 3-2 is within sight and 4-1 isn’t as farfetched as I once thought. One game at a time though.

by Mike Lisboa on Nov 7, 2009 12:56 AM MST reply actions

Helluva game.

As I said before, this team reminds me of 04-05. The player chemistry looks amazing right now.

by Gorilla Game on Nov 7, 2009 1:14 AM MST reply actions

alvin gentry.

i cannot say enough about this man. he’s well spoken, he understands what fits the suns’ style best, and best of all…he’s lit a fire under this team.

the biggest problem coming into this season was rebounded. we were destroyed on rebounding in the preseason, and when lopez went down with his foot, we all just kind of said, “well, here’s to the idea of it”. this suns team has taken the message from gentry to crash the boards, and it’s paid off in a big way.

where we could be getting killed on the glass, we’re either holding our own or giving up a few extras. where our defensive shortcomings could blow us out of the water, we’ve made up for with hustle and effort. where our bench could come in and blow leads like it did last year, we’ve made up for it with an added air of confidence and scrappiness.

alvin gentry was the best thing that could have happened to this suns team for this season, at the very least. i’m a believer.

Headlights, deer, and the Suns this season, the Golan Heights from Slovenia, in their own time, affecting half of the court seized Dragic is expected to come a point guard. We will be displayed.

by Trevor Paxton on Nov 7, 2009 1:22 AM MST reply actions

niiiiiiice

as I’ve said previously, I love the Celtics, but still, SUNS for life, so I’m really really happy. we’re 2-1 on this horrible trip so far, a great achievement. And as I’ve also said before the game: the key is to make PP as ineffective as possible as he is really the scoring, emotional team leader of the Celtics and we made him shoot 5-15. kudos.

Libertarianism is just Anarchy for rich people

by Murcy on Nov 7, 2009 2:48 AM MST reply actions

Bench

This kind of bench play hasnt been around for a long time.

by dCoye on Nov 7, 2009 6:37 AM MST reply actions

Goran

I think Goran has looked excellent all year and I enjoy your analysis of J Rich. He just has to be consistent for us and we can be serious trouble for any team in the league.

You should come check out my blog if you are a Suns lover: ifiredterryporter.com I think we agree on a lot of things.

by ifiredterryporter on Nov 7, 2009 8:03 AM MST reply actions

I love Rocky Balboa analogies

I’ve always fancied myself more like Rocky than Apollo. Not as talkative, less flashy, bull-headed

Let’s see about the Suns:

—short
—get punched a lot (defense)
—they keep coming back
—scrappy
—like in Rocky Balboa, decried as too old

Most importantly (see Pliny’s post on this), less talking and more doing. No more “trophy boy” or “eyes on the prize” just a lame “planet orange” promotion. Most of the national headlines I’ve seen (and watched) are about the Celtics’ first loss, not a big win for the Suns.

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Nov 7, 2009 8:25 AM MST reply actions

Awesome

I love being the underdog. This crew is on to something special. They hustle, they block shots, they get rebounds, they do their best to defend.

I can’t say enough about the bench. Dudley and Goran played a hell of a game yesterday. All of them seem to be motivated and ready to battle regardless of who they’re playing.

I know is early in the season but this is the best start any Suns fan could have asked for.

Go Suns!

"Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it"

by PanamaSun on Nov 7, 2009 8:25 AM MST reply actions

Amazing game lastnight!!!!! Who is this Suns team....

Everyone counted them out but this team is great. Nash found the fountain of youth over the summer and Amare is on his way back.

The most amazing part of this team is our young second unit. Our bench comes in the game and makes defensive stops. That’s right the Suns are making defensive stops when it counts. This team will be the talk of the NBA over the next few days.

I can be more excited as a suns fan. Our young core is going to be great. I think our team has a great future ahead of us with dragic, clark, dudley, amundson, lopez….

Dudley is the man! He is a defensive stopper, we are putting him on the elite scorers in the NBA and he is giving them all kinds of trouble. Dwade, now paul pierce. Dudley is the man and inspires the whole team with his hustle.

Dragic is going to be great. Keep getting him minutes…

Bring on Washington!!!!

by RGreyslak on Nov 7, 2009 9:17 AM MST reply actions

Alvin Gentry Coach of the year.

Coach Gentry keeps this up and he will be in the running for coach of the year. Finally a suns coach that makes his team play defense and hold them accountable.
The chemistry this squad seems to have together is something great. Watch out western conference…..
GO SUNS

by RGreyslak on Nov 7, 2009 9:19 AM MST reply actions

Awesome win

Big win for us. I didn’t really expect a W. Next up, Washington. I live in Maryland and I’m going to the game. Can’t wait to see my Suns live for the first time.

by stevenash1326 on Nov 7, 2009 9:53 AM MST reply actions