This Suns victory was as ugly as J.J. Hicks' yellow shoes. Ugly.
For three plus quarters it looked as though the Suns would gain some permanent separation, thus allowing the starters some rest and a chance to gain a nice momentum building uncontested victory. Yet our boys in ORNG peaked with a 17 point lead with four minutes left in the third before the Cavaliers began pecking away into the 4th quarter.
The Cavaliers went on a 13-3 run while Steve Nash rested and the other Suns missed 8 straight field goals and found themselves within 5 points before Vince Carter hit his first and only field goal of the game, a long 3-pointer to extend the lead to 8. A few ugly possessions later and the clock gave way:
Final: Suns 106 Cavaliers 98.
Said Hakim Warrick via Twitter: We'll take it...
Thoughts From the Bright Side:
- The Suns won their fourth straight and are 2-0 thus far on the road trip.
- Marcin Gortat led the bench with a line of 16 and 12 to go with 3 blocks and a sterling +24
- Grant Hill went for 27 and 12 in 41 (forty one) minutes of action. The guy flat brings it every night. He's scored in double figures in 26 of the 37 games he's played. What he continues to do at his age is pretty dang incredible. Extend the man. Now.
- Steve Nash went for 15 and 15. Yeah, old hat, Nash with a double double. Nash has notched double doubles in 8 of his past 12 games. In 37 games he's had 23 games of 10 assists or more.
- Vince Carter had 8 rebounds. Rebounds are good.
Thoughts From the Dark Side:
- Robin Lopez's line: 11 minutes/9 points/4 personal fouls/0 (zero) rebounds. If he's on the floor, he can do good things. But that's kind of the problem, keeping the Fro on the floor. As far as the rebounding goes, admittedly I am at a loss. Is he still playing volleyball, does he not know how to position himself, does he have a 29 inch waist? I don't get it.
- Vince Carter: two nights removed from his best night as a Sun scores 3 points on 1-6 shooting. Gassed? Not shooting for 20,000 points? Not trying to impress fellow Tar Heel Antawn Jamison? I don't know much about Vince other then the Suns need his best every night. I am not convinced he is bringing it. I get it, playing at MSG is much different than Quicken Arena. The thing about Vince though is that you want him to be good, you want to believe what he says, but something's missing about the guy. He always says the right thing just like that guy trying to sell you the used KIA.
- Goran Dragic: not a bad line. But is Goran going to be All-Star caliber? He's had All-Star caliber games, but he's mental. And I'm not buying the line that he isn't getting enough consistent playing time. He needs to earn it. Goran, you are Frosty right now. Earn your Dragon moniker.
- Suns Defense: Should have locked it down in the 3rd and 4th. How many times do we hear about how the D drives the offense? Up by 16 in the 3rd, the Suns had a golden opportunity to blow the game wide open. Instead, the Suns miss some field goals, get some others blocked, commit some turnovers, and let Gibson and Harris hit 3's. In the 4th, more of the same, after some squandered possessions, Moon and Jamison hit 3's...With their hands squeezing the throats of the miserable Cavs, the Suns just...lose interest.
An uninspiring win, but a win nonetheless. The Wiz up next 1/21/11
Suns Fail to Drop the Hammer...SB Nation
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