Bobcats in the Sun: The Phoenix Suns - IT'S OVER

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Suns Still Alive Thanks To Lamar Odom

After losing the first two games of the opening round, the Suns have fought back to tie the series at 2-2. The next game will decide it all. In the early part of the third quarter, all hope appeared to be lost for Phoenix, the fifth seed in the West: they were down 65-42 at one point in the match, and they fought and won an uphill battle against several fierce Hornets.

Chris Paul, once again played only four minutes in the entire 24-minute game. His four fouls in the first quarter alone were enough to spur on Peja, Posey, West, and Duhon to make some big plays. After two consecutive 30-point quarters with Chris Duhon at the helm, the Hornets had another scare. Chris Paul's backup, Chris Duhon who had 14 points, was in foul trouble as deep as Paul himself. Marcus Williams stepped up to the challenge of playing 10 consecutive minutes and dishing nine assists. But the Suns had a big trick up their sleeves.

The Suns unleashed a so-far score-less and shot-less Joe Johnson. All twenty of his points came from the second half, and 14 of them were from this crucial 3rd quarter. Without missing a shot, he scored 4 inside shots and 2 from outside. He sat until the middle of the fourth, sank two more threes, and blocked a potentially game-winning shot from James Posey. The final play sealed the greatest comeback of the playoffs so far. With under six seconds left, the Suns were two points down. Joe Johnson blocked a shot from James Posey, recovered the loose ball, threw it quickly to Lamar Odom, to only man in the frontcourt, who hastily put up a fadeaway three and won the game! Lamar Odom was awarded the Game MVP for this final team-saving clutch shot and his 12 points and 7 rebounds.


NOH: 31 | 61 | 79 | 103
PHX: 18 | 40 | 68 | 104

Code: Select all

Phoenix

Pos.  No.   Name           Pts    Mins   FGM    FGA    FG%    3PM    3PA    3P%    FTM    FTA    FT%    OReb   DReb   Rebs   Blk    Stl    Ast    TO     Fouls     

C     57    A. Bargnani    16     15     4      11     .364   3      7      .428   5      5      1.000  1      2      3      2      0      0      2      0     
PG    2     G. Dragic      2      8      0      2      .000   0      2      .000   2      4      .500   1      1      2      0      1      3      0      1     
SF    4     J. Dudley      9      10     4      6      .667   1      3      .333   0      0      .000   0      2      2      0      0      2      0      0     
SG    5     R. Fernandez   2      10     1      4      .250   0      2      .000   0      0      .000   1      0      1      0      0      2      0      0     
SG    16    J. Johnson     20     16     8      9      .889   4      5      .800   0      0      .000   1      2      3      3      0      1      3      4     
C     15    R. Lopez       3      10     1      4      .250   0      0      .000   1      2      .500   4      3      7      0      1      4      4      0     
SF    31    S. Marion      8      13     4      8      .500   0      3      .000   0      0      .000   0      3      3      2      0      4      8      5     
PG    13    S. Nash        20     17     7      18     .389   6      16     .375   0      0      .000   0      2      2      0      0      12     4      2     
PF    29    L. Odom        12     10     5      6      .833   2      3      .667   0      0      .000   2      5      7      2      0      0      4      3     
SF    30    B. Petway      0      0      0      0      .000   0      0      .000   0      0      .000   0      0      0      0      0      0      0      0     
PF    18    J. Smith       5      5      2      3      .667   0      1      .000   1      1      1.000  3      1      4      1      0      2      3      1     
PF    1     A. Stoudemire  7      11     3      3      1.000  1      1      1.000  0      0      .000   1      6      7      8      0      3      4      2     


New Orleans

Pos.  No.   Name           Pts    Mins   FGM    FGA    FG%    3PM    3PA    3P%    FTM    FTA    FT%    OReb   DReb   Rebs   Blk    Stl    Ast    TO     Fouls     

SG    23    D. Brown       4      3      1      1      1.000  0      0      .000   2      2      1.000  0      0      0      0      1      2      2      2     
SF    45    R. Butler      6      3      3      4      .750   0      0      .000   0      0      .000   1      0      1      0      0      0      0      0     
PF    1     I. Diogu       0      0      0      0      .000   0      0      .000   0      0      .000   0      0      0      0      0      0      0      0     
PG    1     C. Duhon       18     12     7      17     .412   0      2      .000   4      4      1.000  1      1      2      0      3      10     5      5     
C     50    E. Okafor      6      21     3      11     .273   0      0      .000   0      0      .000   0      5      5      4      5      2      2      1     
PG    3     C. Paul        3      4      1      1      1.000  0      0      .000   1      1      1.000  0      1      1      0      1      0      6      6     
SG    9     M. Peterson    4      6      1      6      .167   0      1      .000   2      2      1.000  0      0      0      0      1      0      0      0     
SG    41    J. Posey       14     17     6      8      .750   1      2      .500   1      1      1.000  0      1      1      0      3      5      0      0     
PF    32    J. Smith       2      7      1      2      .500   0      0      .000   0      0      .000   0      2      2      0      1      0      0      0     
SF    16    P. Stojakovic  24     19     9      13     .692   2      2      1.000  4      4      1.000  0      2      2      1      3      1      1      2     
PF    30    D. West        15     21     7      12     .583   0      0      .000   1      2      .500   2      3      5      3      1      2      2      2     
PG    5     M. Williams    7      10     2      2      1.000  0      0      .000   3      4      .750   0      0      0      0      0      9      1      3     



Screenshots:

[Warlock95]

It's a miracle...maybe you'll bounce back and defeat them in Game 5.

Toldja Chris Paul ain't that great.

[Axel The Great]

So Steve Nash ain't that great either Fighter Wing? Seriously, you never fail to amaze me.

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So Steve Nash ain't that great either Fighter Wing? Seriously, you never fail to amaze me.

Steve Nash is better than Chris Paul, but Chris Paul doesn't suck, Steve Nash just knows what to do to hold Paul down.

[Axel The Great]

You can't hold Paul down, especially Nash, whom isn't a defensive stopper.

Either way, saying that Paul "ain't that great" is saying that a vast majority of PG's in the NBA are scrubs, and that's not cool.

[rise]

You can't hold Paul down

In this game, it is not hard.

[Warlock95]

So Steve Nash ain't that great either Fighter Wing? Seriously, you never fail to amaze me.

Either way, saying that Paul "ain't that great" is saying that a vast majority of PG's in the NBA are scrubs, and that's not cool.

No. Steve Nash is GREAT. And so are Nate Robinson, Rajon Rondo, Mike Bibby and Deron Williams.

[Axel The Great]

Mike Bibby and Nate Robinson aren't that great. Mike Bibby is barely even faster than Derek Fisher. Nate Robinson, well, I guess he's OK, but he's not comparable to Nash, Paul, Deron etc.

[Warlock95]

Well, Nate dunks pretty good...and Mike is a good shooter.

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Suns Pull Off Amazing Comeback And Win Game 5 - 118-112
Again, I don't have player stats or screens for this game.
A twenty-six point comeback seems like a lot, but to Steve Nash, it was "no problem". Down 70-90 at the end of the third quarter, Chris Paul led all scorers with 27 points and 15 assists. For some reason, Steve Nash was unable to draw fouls on him until the fourth quarter. Finally, Paul was swamped in five fouls and the Suns took over. Nash scored 17 points to add to his already massive total of 22 and also brought his assist total to 14 by the game's end. Late in the fourth quarter, Rudy Fernandez and Amare' Stoudemire went berserk, scoring a total of 14 points in under a minute without letting the Hornets score. Shawn Marion completed a triple-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists and when it was all said and done, the Suns came back from a 0-2 deficit in these playoffs, overcame a 20 point deficit in game 5 and outscored New Orleans 48-22 in the fourth quarter. Nash had 39 points, Shawn Marion had a triple-double, and Rudy Fernandez had scored 7 threes without missing from off the bench. "I like it here", said Fernandez after the game,"I feel at home in Phoenix and it's good knowing I can count on my team to come back when all hope seems lost and my team can count on me." Words to live by.

NOH: 32 | 59 | 90 | 112 ELIMINATED
PHX: 26 | 44 | 70 | 118 ADVANCES

[Warlock95]

HELL YEAH!!!!

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HELL YEAH!!!!

Yup, I'm happy too!

[Warlock95]

Hey, how'd you get those extra emoticons?

In this thread (this thread only), I'll be posting in purple and orange in honor of Phoenix.

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1st Round Results

West:
(1) Dallas def. (8) Portland in 3.
(2) LA Lakers def. (7) Golden State in 3
(6) Utah def. (3) San Antonio in 5
(5) Phoenix def. (4) New Orleans in 5.
East:
(1) Boston def. (8) New York in 5.
(2) Cleveland def. (7) Orlando in 3.
(3) Charlotte def. (6) Chicago in 4.
(4) Washington def. (5) Toronto in 3.

Round 2:
West:
(1) Dallas vs. (5) PHOENIX
(2) LA Lakers vs. (6) Utah
East:
(1) Boston vs. (4) Washington
(2) Cleveland vs. (3) CHARLOTTE

LEAGUE LEADERS IN THE FIRST ROUND:
Points Per Game: Bryant: 30.0, Nowitzki: 27.0, Pierce: 26.5, Nelson: 26.3, Maggette: 26.2, M.Miller: 24.4, Ellis: 24.4, Rondo: 24.0, Stojakovic: 23.8, Duncan: 23.4
Rebounds Per Game: Nowitzki: 18.5, Garnett: 14.0, Duncan: 14.0, James: 13.3, Bosh: 13.0, Biedrins: 12.3, A.Jefferson: 12.0, Aldridge: 12.0, D.Harrison: 11.2, Granger: 10.3
Assists Per Game: Rondo: 12.0, D. Williams: 10.3, Kidd: 9.8, Rose: 9.0, Duhon: 8.8, Nash: 8.5, James: 8.0, Felton: 7.8, M. Williams: 7.7, Calderon: 7.7
Blocks Per Game: Oden: 4.0, J. Richardson: 3.5, G. Wallace: 3.5, Duncan: 3.2, [Aldridge, James, Chandler, A. Stoudemire, P. O'Bryant, Biedrins, and T. Ratliff: 3.0]
Steals Per Game: Garcia: 3.2, Kidd: 2.7, B. Miller: 2.6, Nowitzki: 2.6, Posey: 2.6, Artest: 2.5, Rondo: 2.5, Felton: 2.5, Bryant: 2.3, Salmons: 2.0

[Warlock95]

Wow, all teams I picked to advance actually did advance.

Now go get 'em! Suns' very first NBA title!

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IT'S OVER

My saves got overwritten. Again. I had backups, but they were a couple months old. So much has changed since then, so it is my deepest regret to say that this franchise has come to an end.

I will briefly tell you what happened in the playoffs to the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns were defeated in seven games by the Dallas Mavericks. Nowitzki had a huge game 7, scoring 51 points in a 127-93 blowout. Steve Nash had four 30-point games in games 3-6, Amare' Stoudamire grabbed an average 16 boards a game, while Al Jefferson outdid that! The Mavericks went on to beat LA who took Utah to a game 7 in which Deron Williams was injured and Kobe Bryant scored 40. The Mavericks would lose in 7 to the Eastern Conference Champions. See the Bobcats thread for that.