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

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The Suns Couldn't Handle Toronto?
Steve Nash's 43 would have helped the Suns win, but Toronto would not let them go. They held Amare' to only 4 points, but he bounced back to rebound the ball 14 times - 7 on each end. Raef LaFrentz won the Game MVP Award after a phenomenal 22 point, 11 assist, 17 rebound triple-double. Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon both had 19 points and Hedo Turkoglu was rebounding the ball like it was the last time he would ever do it, equaling LaFrentz's 17 rebounds. Their bench played with heart, while Phoenix's bench played with hurt: Goran Dragic may have pulled a hamstring in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the game. It was confirmed that he would sit the next three games. Steve Nash said he would be ready to play the entire next couple games, but Lamar Odom said he would help Nash out at PG if he ever needed a breather. Toronto beat Phoenix 116-109 after Joe Johnson missed three straight lay-ups late in the fourth.

TOR: 30 | 59 | 79 | 116
CHA: 32 | 62 | 81 | 109

TOP PERFORMERS:
Raef LaFrentz: Triple Double - 22 points, 17 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals, 1 block
Steve Nash: Double Double - 43 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks

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Injury Report: Goran Dragic Will Be Out For About a Week
After pulling a hamstring while trying to cross up Jose Calderon against Toronto, Goran Dragic will miss one week of games. He said the injury was minor and went on to say that Steve Nash was fully capable of playing every minute of a game, as he has done it on several occasions. When asked about the downward trend that has been plaguing Phoenix for the past couple months, Dragic replied, "I do not believe we're going to slide further than we already are. We've slid from 3rd seed to 6th seed in the West, because of a couple things, Amare's injury from which he is now nearly completely recovered, and there's fierce competition in this conference, the Lakers, the Mavericks, the Jazz, they're pretty good. We've lost our rhythm and they've found theirs. We just need to get sorted out." The Toronto game was the Suns' 20th loss of the season. They are now 44-20 and the 6th seed in the East.

[Martti.]

You know you're in trouble when Lafrentz is dropping a triple-double on you.

[Axel The Great]

Good to see Amar'e back, but it came at the price of Dragic. 44-20 isn't a bad record, you could till go for the 60-win season.

[rise]

You know you're in trouble when Lafrentz is dropping a triple-double on you.

lol I'm in trouble!

Good to see Amar'e back, but it came at the price of Dragic. 44-20 isn't a bad record, you could till go for the 60-win season.

Amare' is overall doing a pretty decent job. His ratings are lower than before and he doesn't jump as high or show off dunks as crazy as before the injury, but he's doing a good job. Either it's me or Amare' seems to have improved his shooting a little since the injury though. As for the 60 win season, it's possible as in NBA Live 2003 it somehow goes to 86 games instead of 82 when you add the Bobcats (the game isn't designed for 30 teams - only 29).
But the way my team's going, I'm not sure. Joe Johnson's been averaging only 6 ppg over the last few weeks, and before that he was averaging 19. We'll see how Steve Nash does in the next week.
We're a long way from dropping to the 7th seed, as they aren't even at 30 wins yet.

[rise]

New Orleans Ends Triple Overtime Thriller With A Stojakovic Basket As Dragic Returns
NOH: 31 | 54 | 80 | 121 | 133 | 141 | 153
PHX: 40 | 63 | 87 | 121 | 133 | 141 | 151

Chris Paul's playing time was limited to six minutes due to foul trouble and that may have caused the triple overtime. Peja Stojakovic, David West, James Posey, and Emeka Okafor all scored above 20 points, while Steve Nash eliminated all opposition and scored 49. Andrea Bargnani was on fire as well and scored a season high 36 points. It looked like a three point contest between Stojakovic, who went 3-5 from outside, James Posey, who went 5-5, Andrea Bargnani, who went 10-22, and Steve Nash, 13-27. Marcus Williams and Chris Duhon were excellent backups for Chris Paul and David West edged out Amare' Stoudemire for the most rebounds.

Although Goran Dragic's return was rather uneventful, the Suns played tremendously even aside from the 3 pointers. Brent Petway was a surprising force on offense and defense. Joe Johnson displayed an all-around game and Steve Nash drew at least 10 fouls off point guards, Chris Paul, Marcus Williams, and Chris Duhon. The game was extremely intense, it took three overtime periods to decide on a winner and in the end, it was the home team, the New Orleans Hornets.

[Bucket]

Triple overtime and loss.

[Alpha_]

wew.. Sorry loss.. good effort though..

[Murat]

CHA needs to be PHX.

[rise]

My bad. I often confuse the two teams, owing to the fact I sometimes forget which team I am posting for.

Even though the box scores say "Phoenix" on them.

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Why, Dragic, Why?
Everyone knows Goran Dragic can score big when he wants to. But can he score enough to win games by himself? Unfortunately the answer is no. Not yet. The Suns were down 11 to the Boston Celtics with only four minutes left. Steve Nash was shooting terribly in the fourth quarter after scoring 19 in the first 3 quarters so Dragic was put in instead. In the beginning of the last quarter, Dragic put up numbers almost reminiscent of his 20+ point fourth quarter against the Spurs in the 2010 playoffs. Both teams played decently but Boston led all along and the lead was in sight with little more than a minute left the Celtics only led by 6. Paul Pierce rounded off a 40 point, 10 rebound game with an outside basket. Goran Dragic matched it, then stole the ball from Paul Pierce upon inbounding, laid it up, got fouled, and made the free throw. The Suns deficit was only three. Rondo then made a three, which Goran Dragic matched again without a problem. With only 30 seconds left the score was Boston: 120 Phoenix: 117. Rondo threw a bad pass to KG with 15 left, which was picked off by Amare' Stoudemire. Goran Dragic set up for a 3, shot it, missed, and Amare got the offensive rebound. This happened three times in a row. Dragic's shooting streak ended at the exact moment when his team needed him the most. Three chances to make an open three, and his missed all of them. Dragic, we love you and your timely explosiveness: 18 points is a real fourth quarter achievement, but if you go cold 15 seconds till the end in a game like this, it means nothing.


BOS: 39 | 56 | 86 | 120
PHX: 19 | 51 | 79 | 117


Top Performers:
Boston: Paul Pierce: 40 points, Kevin Garnett: 27 points, Tony Allen: 22 points
Phoenix: Joe Johnson: 27 points, Steve Nash: 19 points, Goran Dragic: 18 points

[Keef]

awww hate it when that happens. The cpu wont let u make a shot

[rise]

Particularly if you're in a position where you have to take a 3 just to tie the score. It's too easy with Amare' on the boards to get a ton of offensive rebounds because of his jumping ability, he can grab the ball before just about anyone else in the NBA.

[rise]

5 Game Recap:
@ LAL: L 111-97 - MVP: Kobe Bryant: 49 points, 17 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals, 1 block
@ SAS: W 127-122 1OT - MVP: Steve Nash: 43 points, 2 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks
vs. ORL: W 103-102 - MVP: Steve Nash: 39 points, 5 rebounds, 13 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks
@ NOH: W 109-77 - MVP: Steve Nash: 59 points (!) , 1 rebound, 9 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks
@ MEM: W 117-83 - MVP: Rudy Gay: 44 points, 1 rebound, 8 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks

[rise]

Dwayne Wade and Mario Chalmers Rack Up 77 Together But The Heat Still Lose
Yes, you read it correctly. In a blowout, Phoenix took the Heat home with a final score of 120-94. D-Wade and Mario Chalmers put up more points than any one else in the match. Wade had 43 and a triple-double and Chalmers had 34. It's notable that Udonis Haslem had 10 of those remaining 17 points. With Yakhouba Diawara and Derrick Brown cycling at SF, it was a very weak team, as Shawn Marion was able to blow past them for a season-high 29 points and a season high 14 rebounds. He was awarded the Game MVP for the first time all season. Steve Nash scored 27 and Amare' scored 26 and grabbed a ridiculous 21 rebounds. Everything seemed to go right for the Suns, but the rest of Miami had nothing on their side beside the two big scorers. Joel Anthony has an inexplicably low rating (70) that keeps him on the reserve list the whole season, so other than Jermaine O'Neal, they have no one at the 5.

PHX: 40 | 66 | 88 | 120
MIA: 28 | 39 | 70 | 94

TOP PERFORMERS:
Shawn Marion: 29 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks ----- Amare Stoudemire: 26 points, 21 rebounds, 5 assists, 0 steals, 3 blocks ----- Steve Nash: 27 points, 1 rebound, 14 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks
Dwayne Wade: 43 points, 2 rebounds, 11 assists, 10 steals, 2 blocks ----- Mario Chalmers: 34 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 0 blocks ----- Udonis Haslem: 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks

[Murat]

Wow. I can't believe. At my dynasty all of players were scoring.

[rise]

Hassan Adams Suspended
Phoenix Suns' bench warmer / IR shooting guard Hassan Adams has been suspended for two weeks after being caught speeding and for drug possession while driving. He was clocked doing 55 mph in a 25 mph residential area near Phoenix. The police officer said he looked high. When he was searched, marijuana was found in his pants and in his glove compartment. Nobody knows how the marijuana got into Adams' pants. Not even Adams.

Adams will be eligible to play on April 29 - the last game of the season.

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A Howard-Led Nuggets Loses Miserably
Nothing against you, Dwight Howard, but your new team is terrible. After trading Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony for Dwight Howard, Samuel Dalembert and Austin Daye, the Nuggets starting-line-up looked awful. Chauncey Billups (rated 85) and Dwight Howard (89) make a nice pair, but when Austin Daye (72), Renaldo Balkman (73), and Arron Afflalo (71) are starting the middle three positions, your team is going nowhere. This point was exaggerated in their 34 point loss to the Suns.

The Nuggets seemed to lose more from their crappy line-up that includes four quality centers and no PFs, SFs, or SGs, than from the Suns' tremendous offensive output, although that added to the blowout. The Nuggets were only able to hit 79 points while the Suns scored 113. The Suns didn't seem to care they were playing against Dwight Howard with Andrea Bargnani and Robin Lopez as centers, and just played their small player game just like usual. Steve Nash scored his usual 32 while Shawn Marion had another big game with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists. Dwight Howard rebounded and blocked a lot, but it was Chauncey Billups that did the real scoring. He scored nearly half of his teams' points, with 37 and missed a triple double by just two steals. Those backups for Dwight Howard - they didn't get much time at center so they played other positions when they were subbed in. The Birdman played five minutes at the 4. Nene played a couple minutes at the SF position (!) and Samuel Dalembert got a minute or two at center, but played a fair bit of the game at the 4. Nobody besides Chauncey Billups even attempted to fight the Suns and Denver suffered the consequences.

CHA: 32 | 54 | 87 | 113
DEN: 18 | 35 | 56 | 79

Top Performers: (DEN) (PHX)
Points: Chauncey Billups (37), Steve Nash (32)
Assists: Chauncey Billups (19), Steve Nash (11)
Rebounds: Dwight Howard (16), Shawn Marion (12)
Blocks: Dwight Howard (4), Amare' Stoudemire (3)
Steals: Chauncey Billups (8), Andrea Bargnani (3)
FG%: Chris Anderson (3/3 100%), Goran Dragic (4/5 80%)

Game MVP:
SHAWN MARION: 22 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks

[rise]

Contest in the next couple days. Stay tuned.

[Axel The Great]

What will be the reward this time around? I'm hoping it's cookies! jk.

EDIT: That Howard trade is just awful. You gave the Nuggets what they deserve.

[rise]

The Howard trade doesn't sound too bad for Denver when you look at Orlando's new line-up.
C: Patrick O'Bryant (71)---PF: Stromile Swift (77)---SF: Matt Barnes (80)---SG: Danny Granger (86)---PG: Jameer Nelson (83)
Bench: Vince Carter (86), JR Smith (82), Micheal Pietrus (77), Donyell Marshall (74), JJ Redick (74), James Singleton (73), Jeremy Richardson (70)
IRs: Ryan Anderson (70), Oleksiy Pecherov (66), Marcin Gortat (73, out for season with severe neck injury, possibly career ending)


I decided to give you your prize in advance. lol

[Axel The Great]

Awesome! You hit the jackpot with chocolate chip!

[rise]

I'm glad you agree.

[rise]

Self-Destruction Lead The Wolves Toward The Bottom

Steve Nash's first 30 assist game came against the lowly Timberwolves. Although an overachieving Luol Deng couldn't be kept away from the rim, the rest of team was just terrible. Andrew Bogut seriously underachieved all season and this game was no exception. Milwaukee traded him to the Minnesota and his game has sunk to a sickening 8.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg even though he is a starter. Johnny Flynn and Flip Murray weren't much different and you have to wonder how this team has even won 16 games so far. Kevin Love brought down 9 rebounds and scored 16 points, all in the paint, but the Wolves' measly 75 points didn't compare to the Suns' 122.

For the first time in the season, Steve Nash's assists doubled his point output. Only scoring 14 points (a season-low), he racked up 31 assists (a career-high). Shawn Marion was outdone by Luol Deng, but still managed 21 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks, while Amare' Stoudamire matched each of those, while adding seven assists. Joe Johnson has finally proven himself as a reliable shooter, connecting on 11-22 from outside and scoring a team-high 37. Lamar Odom recorded a triple-double from off the bench, including 17 rebounds. Everything was working for the Suns, something that could not be said for the Wolves. At all.

MIN: 9 | 32 | 56 | 75
PHX: 21 | 66 | 87 | 122

Top Performers
Points: Luol Deng (44), Joe Johnson (37)
Assists: Steve Nash (30), Johnny Flynn (11)
Rebounds: Lamar Odom (17), Luol Deng and Kevin Love (9)
Blocks: Andrea Bargnani (3), Andrew Bogut & Kevin Love (2)
Steals: Flip Murray (6), Amare' Stoudemire (5)

[rise]

Could Steve Nash Rival LeBron James?
As the end of the season approaches just next week, who will be the 2010 MVP? Will it be Jason Richardson of the Bobcats, who has been averaging nearly 35 points a game, Kobe Bryant, who is leading the Lakers to possibly another NBA Final with 65 wins, or Dwight Howard, who is dominating both blocks and rebounds? Or could it be a quickly aging Steve Nash, who is in the top 5 in points, assists, steals, and possibly free-throw percentage? LeBron James will try to make himself the King of 2010. While he is not in the Top 5 in any category, he has won 69 games for Cleveland (#2 in the East) and is a mere two assists off of averaging a triple-double. He proved tonight that anything is possible. He played point guard the whole time he was in today, not giving Daniel Gibson a second of playing time and giving Josh Howard the starting position for the game. While he made his triple-double, the Suns beat Cleveland in every possible way without blowing them out.

LeBron had 21 points, 16 assists, and 12 rebounds, giving him his 23rd triple-double of the season. But Anthony Parker was playing through a wrist injury that messed up his shooting and he was unable to dunk. Mo Williams only played five minutes and failed to score a point or an assist. Andy Varejao played as if he was older than dirt and Zydrunas Ilgauskas's feet rarely left the ground. Josh Howard and LeBron James played well together, but they weren't enough to bring down the Suns.

Steve Nash could very well become the NBA MVP. He outdid LeBron and made a triple-double as well, while recording his second game with double-digit rebounding all season. Joe Johnson once again could be relied on to shoot the three and finished the game with 22 points. Shawn Marion found his corner shot in the fourth quarter and put in sixteen points in the quarter alone, while Amare' Stoudamire rebounded over everybody else for 21 rebounds. He and Kevin Garnett are now tied behind Dwight Howard for second place in rebounding. Robin Lopez and Andrea Bargnani split the workload and brought down Z with a combined 9 blocks. Lamar Odom put up his third straight 15+ rebounding game from off the bench, while failing to score more than two points. It was a clean game (only six Phoenix fouls, although four were from Joe Johnson). In the end the Suns won by 13 and Steve Nash may oust the King as NBA MVP next week.

Top Performers:
Points: Josh Howard (30), Shawn Marion (29)
Assists: LeBron James (16), Steve Nash (16)
Rebounds: Amare' Stoudamire (21), LeBron James (12)
Blocks: Robin Lopez (5), Zyndrunas Ilgauskas (3)
Steals: Josh Howard (4), Steve Nash (4)

MVP:
Steve Nash: 23 points, 16 assists, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block, 9-17 FG%