As A Suns fan, you must have seen this one coming, right? Goran Dragic notching a second straight career high with 32 points, the Suns collectively shooting 17-30 from behind the arc, a 45 point second quarter, Steve Nash with 15 points and 15 assists, the Suns bench putting up 62 points... A Suns lead of 96-79 with 2 something left in the third quarter. That's a 17 point lead in Utah. Then a 12-0 point run by the Jazz to end the third and a 19 point 4th quarter and...Jazz 124 Suns 115. Yeah, you saw it coming, another double digit lead, another Suns loss. Stupid bipolar season...
Many of us are past the wins and losses now. And for us, it was great to see Goran go for 32 points off of 10-13 shooting, 6-7 from three point range. I'm going to go out on a limb and say I think this kid will be OK. He is tenacious, he is athletic, he is able, he is young. He may not be a Steve Nash clone, but I do not think Goran Dragic is a bust. In fact I think he will work out just fine as the heir apparent to Nash.
It was also great to see Channing Frye make some shots, coming up with 21 points off the bench on 8-15 shooting (5-10 from three point range). While we're on the bright side, congrats to Steve Nash on his 15/15/5 effort and becoming the 8th player in NBA history to reach 8,000 assists.
OK, if you're still counting wins and losses, here's the real story:
The Suns started slow, had a huge second quarter and once again blew a double digit lead. "We were up 17. We've got to be able to maintain that," said Alvin Gentry.
The man states the truth, but the sentiment rings hollow. Yes, the Suns should in theory, be able to maintain a 17 point lead and win a game. But theory is one thing, and this season is another. The Suns made only 7 of their final 24 field goal attempts in the game and lost. It was ugly, it was infuriating, it was typical.
Even after losing momentum and watching their 11 point lead dwindle to 5 in the third quarter and soon thereafter losing it for good at the 7 minute mark of the 4th, Phoenix still had a chance with 5 minutes left and the score tied. But the Jazz scored on 7 consecutive trips down the floor. The Suns could not answer, committing 2 turnovers and missing 6 of their next 10 field goals. Utah spread the love around, as Wesley Matthews, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap, and Deron Williams all hit shots to ice the victory for the Jazz.
Worth Bulleting:
- Wesley Matthews came up big for the Jazz with 21 points 5 assists, and 4 rebounds, including 10 4th quarter points.
- Carlos Boozer had a huge game, with 21 points and 20 rebounds.
- The Suns shot 8-11 from three point range in the second period with Frosty and Frye doing most of the damage.
- Andrei Kirilenko had 25 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, 2 assists and one steal.
- The Suns bench went 22-39 from the field and 12-20 from three point range
- Amare Stoudemire finished 16 and 5 on 4-12 shooting.
- Jason Richardson was so upset with the loss, he ate fried chicken on the plane (as quoted by Jared Dudley's tweet).
Quotable:
Goran Dragic:
"I felt like I could score every shot that I threw in. I'm not used to playing so many minutes. My legs were really heavy in the second half."
Steve Nash:
"We just couldn't get into our offense. They pushed us out. We had no penetration and we were just jacking up shots or turning it over."
Jared Dudley
"Ever since we were 14-3, that's been the story of the Phoenix Suns - big leads given away and lose."
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