That is what I call a good ol' fashioned ass whoopin'. In the end, Chris Kaman didn't matter, Eric Gordon didn't matter. Barron Davis certainly didn't matter. All that mattered was STAT bringing the Gorilla Game while the rest of the Suns followed suit as Phoenix trounced the Clippers, 127-101, ending LA's modest 4 game winning streak.
The Suns and Clippers played a close, back and forth game through two quarters tonight. But a 39-18 3rd quarter led by Amare Stoudemire's 15 points set the Suns off and running to a 26 point laugher in LA tonight.
The Suns opened the quarter with a 15-2 run and ended it with a 20-4 run, as they scored at will from both inside and outside.
Stoudemire led the charge with 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks, and a balanced attack dismantled a Clippers squad set to play spoiler in the West as the battle for playoff positioning continues:
- Grant Hill 16 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds
- Jason Richardson 22 points, 5 rebounds
- Channing Frye 23 points, 3 steals, 7-10 from 3 pt range.
- Jared Dudley-17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals
The Suns dominated virtually every facet of the game tonight. Check these numbers out:
Rebounds: Suns 50, Clippers 30 (offensive 13-8)
Assists: Suns 36, Clippers 26
FG%: Suns 55.6, clippers 45.9
3-Pointers: Suns 12-23, (52%), Clippers 10-28, (35.7%)
New Clippers coach Kim Hughes said: "I am not sure if some of our players felt sorry for themselves or were just frustrated. They stopped competing." I tend to agree with him. Both Kaman and Gordon were off to huge games but disappeared in the second half. Perhaps Hughes' frustration convinced him to leave out Gordon and Kaman against the Suns scrubs in garbage time.
With this victory, the Suns now find themselves a game and a half ahead of OKC (who just got pummeled by 29 points at the hands of the Nuggets), and a half game behind the Jazz for the 4th seed. It's convenient Jerry Sloan and Co are in town tonight. Goran Dragic is listed as "doubtful" for the game after suffering a sprained ankle. In the waning moments of the game.
Bullet Worthy:
- Did you see T-Griff throw down the reverse dunk?
- How about Earl Clark dropping a J and hitting a couple free throws
- Amare: Come on guys, we should give this guy the max. Right?
- The Suns swept the season series against the Clippers, and in doing so, ended LA's 4 game home winning streak.
- Tonight the Suns tied their season high for scoring and tied for their second largest blowout of the season.
- Eric Gordon appeared to be headed toward a monster game with 3 3-pointers in the opening quarter. Gordon added one more 3 and 3 more misses from beyond the arc to finish 8-13 from the field and 21 points in 35 minutes.
- Of the Phoenix starters, only Grant Hill played more than 29 minutes (34) as the Suns were able to rest Nash (27 minutes), Amare Stoudemire and Jason Richardson (29 minutes).
- Every Suns player registered a positive in the +/- category except for Earl Clark (-3). But who really cares about any of that?
- Louis Amundson came off the bench to grab 4 points and 11 rebounds.
- The Suns bench outscored the Clips 52-20. The Suns bench out rebounded the Clips 20-9
Quotable:
Amare Stoudemire
"The whole purpose of coming out strong in the third quarter was to really jump on them and try to create the lead and for starters to rest up."
-
Alvin Gentry
"When we shoot the ball well, we're pretty good,"
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