Suns Regulators Ride Herd Over Warriors In Poor Shooting Shoot-Out, 92-87

See, a regular season-type game (at least as far as the rotations go). Suns played well on both ends but continue to struggle making shots. I still think that will come and refuse to be worried. Instead I be happy.

The good news is they defended well and in the first half anyway did a good job on the glass. The second unit had some strong moments bringing energy and hustle but also looked out of sync at times. Work in progress.

All in all, good decent game.

Game notes follow. Alex will have the recap later tonight.

1st Qtr

• Nice help D by Grant on a dive from Beidrins
• Sick reverse on a Nash lob...not so much power but touch looking away from the hoop
• Beidrins sky'd over Lopez to grab an OReb. Robin's got to get a body on his man and not let the happen
• I Hate Ellis' body language on the court. Too much pouting.
• Suns trapping and double teaming and the Warriors are taking advantage with good ball movement. Coach Smart said the reason they have so many turnovers so far is they are being too unselfish
• Got to admire Curry scrapping the paint with Robin for a loose ball. Not very bright, but still...
• Another Biedrins OReb streaking in past Robin. Got to stay closer to him. Look for him.
• Keith Smart talked about being a better defensive and rebounding team but still wanting to push tempo. Said he couldn't slow down Ellis and Curry even if he wanted to. The Lee/Beins combo is pretty effective on the glass.
• Fyre and Warrick subs in for Robin and Hedo. 2:17 to go. Dudley in for Hill at next stop
• Suns got Frye two quick shots to try and get him going. Didn't work.
• I think Gentry just told Nash to "be a damned man" and take a charge. I couldn't have heard that right (but I did)...yikes
• 21-19 Suns

• Wow, no idea how Goran threaded that bounce pass between the legs of a running defender to hit an open Dudley for a shot. That had to just have been luck.
• Like the way this second unit is sharing and moving the ball
• Monta Ellis just gave up a fast break look at the basket to pass to Dorell Wright. That's new
• Trying to work Josh in the post...not feeling that 
• Goran is feeling the hell out of his mid-range pull-up J
• Warrick trying to post up as well...not so good
• Now, Robin sealing his man who was fronting him and then getting plenty of room to catch the lob -- that's muy beuno
• Starters all back in with 5:45 to go in the half. Just like regular season
• Spacing is all off running that break. Both Robin and Hedo both running the middle to the rim. That's not going to work. Steve still made it work by finding Jason open in the corner
• Still getting open looks. Still missing them.
• JRich posting up Steph Curry -- that's money
• Robin with a nice post up as well. Simple stuff. Backed his man down, up-fake and then a little 5 foot hook. 
• Nice hustle by Hedo to try and save the ball after a JRich block.
• Better job by Robin going up with two hands and keeping Beins on his back
• Beindrins, Wright and Lee on the floor together...interesting
• When Robin gets an OReb in the paint he always goes up strong with it. Often draws a foul
• Nice steal by JRich. He continues to play well
• 46-38 Suns
• Suns continue to shoot light off, 37.5% from 2 and 18.2% from 3.

• Curry picks up 4th foul on charge drawn by Hill
• Watching Hedo closely now...he's a very economical player. Not a lot of excess motion
• Robin picks up only his 2nd foul and he got his money's worth leveling Ellis in the lane
• Nash, by the way, looks great. 13 points on 6-12 
• Monta Ellis is damn quick...up close he's even quicker
• Aaron Miles is a damn pesky little player. I have no idea who he is though
• Not an impressive stint by the second unit to close the quarter. Gave up too many rebounds and couldn't get any kind of offensive flow
• Love watching Goran's speed dribble. He's fast and strong with the ball. LB was quick and smooth but Dragic is fast and in control. Did a great job pushing all the way into the lane and kicking to an open Frye...who missed at the buzzer

• Much better job to start the 4th. Feeding off the energy from the crowd which was feed artificially by the music, etc
• Suns start with 11-2 run - all 2nd unit energy getting it done. Nice
• Channing playing solid D in the paint here
• Both sides equally frustrated with officials. That's a good sign, right?
• Nice Dragic / Warrick pick and roll. Hakim picked up the charge but still well played. 
• Josh looks like he hurt or perhaps re-injured a taped finger on a dunk attempt. He was fouled and made one of the FTs
• Warrick going 1 on 3 in the post = not going to work. Ever.
• Nash back in for the final 6 minutes, just like a real game. Dragic played well on both ends
• Hedo and Warrick on the floor together with Nash and Dudley and Frye
• Hedo's picked up some cheap fouls...as in some calls that could have been called non-fouls. It's not as if they are calling it close but he's getting the ticky-tacky ones
• Calls certainly inconsistent but Nash got away with not getting called for a T. "What the F#$K!" he screamed at the ref
• Nice to see Frye hit a big three
• Suns up 87-85 with 1:06. Good end of game, crunch time practice (even though it shouldn't be this close)
• Good defense by the Warriors to collapse on Nash and force Frye to take the crunch shot. He missed. On the other end, GSW ended up with a contested Curry three that missed. Warriors get rebound but miss again. Frye gets it and is fouled.  89-85 with 22 seconds
• Good job by Frye to hit four FTs to close out the game