Phoenix Suns Blog – Page 61 – NBA Blog

Game 2: Stoudemire scores 23, Suns beat Spurs

The AP reports:

Amare Stoudemire had 23 points and 11 rebounds, Channing Frye made 5 of 6 3-pointers, and Phoenix, wearing its orange “Los Suns” jerseys in part to protest Arizona’s new anti-immigration law, pulled away for a 110-102 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.

Steve Nash and Jason Richardson scored 19 points apiece and Grant Hill added 18 in a grind-it-out game played at the Spurs’ pace until the Suns started hitting 3-pointers. After starting 1 of 7 from long range, Phoenix made eight of its next 12.

Tim Duncan had 29 points and 10 rebounds and Richard Jefferson rebounded from a poor Game 1 with 18 points and 10 boards for San Antonio. Tony Parker added 20 points for the Spurs…

Manu Ginobili, guarded mainly by Hill, was 2 of 8 from the field, including just 1 of 2 in the second half, but had 11 assists for San Antonio. Hill also made two big shots down the stretch…

The Spurs outshot Phoenix 51 percent to 42 percent but the Suns outrebounded taller San Antonio 49-37, 18-7 on the offensive boards. Stoudemire made just 5 of 16 shots but was 11 of 13 at the free throw line. The Suns outscored the Spurs by 14 at the line, going 29 of 37 to San Antonio’s 15 of 22.

Game 1: Nash scores 33, Suns beat Spurs

The AP reports:

After resting his strained right hip for three days, Steve Nash had 33 points and 10 assists, and the Phoenix Suns broke their Game 1 curse against the San Antonio Spurs with a 111-102 victory on Monday night in the opener of their Western Conference semifinal series.

Any doubt that Nash would be slowed by the injury ended in the early minutes of the game, when he made his five shots, including an array of twisting, swiveling drives to the hoop. He had 17 points by the end of the first quarter…

Jason Richardson scored 27 and Amare Stoudemire had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Suns.

Manu Ginobili, tape across his broken nose, scored 27, Tony Parker 26 and Duncan 20 for the Spurs, who had won three straight Game 1s against the Suns, two of them in Phoenix. Both of those times, in 2005 and 2007, the Spurs went on to win the NBA title…

Twice San Antonio rallied from 14 back, with a 12-0 run in the third quarter and a mighty 13-0 outburst that sliced Phoenix’s lead to 94-93 on Ginobili’s 7-foot runner with 4:26 to go in the game.

These Suns had whatever it took to withstand the charge.

InsideHoops.com notes:

Phoenix shot 51.9%, San Antonio 45.8%. And while Phoenix only hit 7-of-20 three-pointers, San Antonio connected on a miserable 4-of-19 (21.1%). Free throws were close. Rebounding and assists were fairly close.

For Phoenix, Nash had 33 points and 10 assists (six turnovers). Richardson had 27 points and six rebounds, with no assists. Stoudemire had 23 points, 13 rebounds and no assists. No one else stepped up offensively, but the collective effort was enough.

For San Antonio, Ginobili had 27 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Tony Parker (still coming off the bench) scored 26 but with just three assists and no steals. Tim Duncan scored 20 (on 15 shots) with 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. George Hill shot just 2-of-9 and only dished one assist as the starting point guard.

Suns recent playoff history haunted by Spurs

The AP reports:

Demons lurk for the Phoenix Suns in their upcoming playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs.

They were also there in Game 1 of the 2007 Western Conference semifinals, when the Suns’ Steve Nash collided head-on with Tony Parker. A cut on Nash’s nose bled uncontrollably and he was forced to sit out 45 seconds of the critical final minute of a close loss in Phoenix.

A week later, in Game 4 in San Antonio, the Suns were wrapping up a victory with 18 seconds to go when Robert Horry slammed Nash into the scorer’s table with a hockey-style hip-check. Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw came off the bench to Nash’s defense.

The result, an automatic one-game suspension for Stoudemire and Diaw for “leaving the vicinity of the bench.” The short-handed Suns lost Game 5 in Phoenix, then the Spurs clinched the series with a win in San Antonio and went on to win the NBA title.

Game 6: Suns eliminate Blazers, move on to face Spurs

The AP reports:

Jason Richardson wanted to be the wild card in the playoffs for the Phoenix Suns.

So while the Portland Trail Blazers were focused on Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash, Richardson came up big for the third time in the first-round series, scoring 28 points in a 99-90 Game 6 victory Thursday night…

Richardson had 29 points in the Suns’ 119-90 victory in Game 2 before scoring a career playoff-high 42 in a 108-89 win in Game 3…

Martell Webster had 19 points for Portland, which failed to advance out of the first round for the second straight year…

Amar’e Stoudemire finished with 22 points for the Suns, while Nash, who said afterward that he had been battling a hip injury since Game 2, had 10 points.

Brandon Roy had 14 points for the Blazers in his first start of the series.

Game 5: Frye, Dudley lead Suns past Blazers

The AP reports:

When the Phoenix Suns win in this playoff series, they win by a mile.

Channing Frye and Jared Dudley rediscovered their shooting touch in a 107-88 rout of Portland on Monday night that has the Suns one victory away from eliminating the Trail Blazers from the playoffs.

Frye scored 20 points and Dudley 19, the leaders of a Phoenix second unit that played a major role in putting the Suns up 3-2 in the best-of-seven series…

Amare Stoudemire scored 19, and Nash had 14 points and 10 assists for Phoenix.

Andre Miller scored 21, while LaMarcus Aldridge and Jerryd Bayless had 17 apiece for the Trail Blazers.

Portland All-Star Brandon Roy, in his second game back after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus just 10 days ago, drew three fouls in an ineffective 6 1/2 minutes in the first half. He finished with five points on 2-of-7 shooting in 19 minutes.

Robin Lopez still out another week

Phoenix Suns center Robin Lopez was seen today by specialist Dr. Christopher Huston of The Orthopedic Clinic Association (TOCA) in Phoenix.

Lopez, who has not played since March 26 due to an injured back, is progressing well and will continue to have his rehabilitation workload increased based on the evaluation of the Suns’ medical staff and on the condition that no pain or any other issues develop.

Lopez will be re-evaluated in one week.

The second-year player was the Suns’ first-round pick (15th overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft. The 7-0, 255-pound center blossomed after being inserted into the Suns’ starting lineup on Jan. 18, helping to lead the Suns to a 22-9 (.710) record in his starts. Lopez averaged 11.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 24.5 minutes as a starter in 2009-10.

For the season, the Stanford product posted career highs in points (8.4), rebounds (4.9), blocks (1.04) and minutes (19.3). His 58.8-percent field-goal accuracy (171/291) would have ranked third in the NBA if he had reached the statistical minimum needed to qualify (min. 300 field goals made).

Early Brandon Roy return an inspiration for Blazers

Brian T. Smith of The Columbian reports:

Brandon Roy returned. And the Trail Blazers were back.

Lifted by the late addition of Roy to the active roster, Portland regained the form that had eluded the team during two consecutive blowout defeats.

Scrappy, energetic, resilient play — traits that carried the Blazers through an injury-plagued regular season — was evident from the opening tip.

Portland rode a wave of resurgence to down the Phoenix Suns 96-87 Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Blazers evened the best-of-seven playoff series at 2-2.

Roy played more than 26 minutes as he took the court for the first time in the series, after recovering faster than expected from right knee surgery that was supposed to keep him sidelined through the first round.

Game 4: Roy returns, Blazers down Suns 96-87

Brandon Roy shocked the world, returned much earlier than expected for the Trail Blazers, and helped inspire them to victory!

The AP reports:

Brandon Roy was activated Saturday, then helped Portland to a 96-87 victory that evened the first-round series at two games apiece.

Eight days removed from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, Roy made his surprising return to the court to the strains of the theme from “Rocky” blaring from the Rose Garden sound system, then went on hit a key 3-pointer late in the game that shifted the momentum squarely in the Trail Blazers’ favor…

LaMarcus Aldridge, who had been double-teamed all series long without Roy, benefited the most from his return, with 31 points and 11 rebounds…

Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 26 points…

The Blazers caught on in Game 4, limiting Richardson to 15 points. Nash also had 15 points and eight assists.

David Stern urges NBA coaches to stop criticizing referees

The AP reports:

David Stern is fed up with NBA coaches criticizing referees and said he would not back down from penalizing them. In fact, in his perfect world, he could impose steeper penalties.

“I wish I had it to do all over again, starting 20 years ago; I’d be suspending Phil and Pat Riley for the games they play in the media,” Stern said Thursday before the Lakers and Oklahoma City played Game 3 in their first-round series.

“As you guys know, our referees go out there and knock themselves out and do the best job they can. But we’ve got coaches who will do whatever it takes to try to work them publicly. What that does is erode fan confidence.

“So our coaches should be quiet because this is a good business that makes them good livings and supports a lot of families, and if they don’t like it they should go get a job someplace else.”

Game 3: J-Rich scores 42, Suns beat Blazers 108-89

The AP reports:

Jason Richardson made eight 3-pointers and finished with playoff career-high 42 points Thursday night in the Suns’ 108-89 victory over the Trail Blazers, which gave Phoenix a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series…

Richardson hit his first three late in the first half as the Suns built a lead that would extend to 31 points. He made 13-of-19 shots from the floor…

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Blazers with 17 points. Andre Miller, who scored 31 in Portland’s Game 1 win, was off for the second straight game and finished with just 11. And the home team was dismal from the free throw line, making just 16-of-28 attempts.

Amar’e Stoudemire had 20 points for the Suns, while Nash finished with 13 points and 10 assists. Richardson ended up the beneficiary.