Phoenix Suns Blog – Page 62 – NBA Blog

Game 2: Suns turn up the heat, rout Trail Blazers 119-90

The AP reports:

Jason Richardson scored 29 points, Grant Hill made 10-of-11 shots for 20, and the Suns routed the Blazers 119-90 Tuesday night to emphatically tie the first-round playoff series 1-1…

Richardson could concentrate on scoring after being freed from the chore of guarding Andre Miller. Coach Alvin Gentry turned to the 37-year-old Hill, and Miller managed just 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting after getting 31 in Portland’s 105-100 victory in Game 1.

Amare Stoudemire added 18 points for Phoenix. Steve Nash pushed the team from the start and finished with 13 points and 16 assists…

Martell Webster led the Blazers with 16 points. Nicolas Batum also scored 12 before leaving with a right shoulder strain at the end of the third quarter.

Robin Lopez out at least 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. He will begin light, de-weighted jogging and more light court work, including easy jumping. 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).

Jerryd Bayless shines for Blazers

Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports (via blog):

With 20 family members and friends watching from the US Airways Center stands, Jerryd Bayless produced one of the most important and impressive performances of his young career.

The Blazers stole home court advantage — and momentum — from the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night with a 105-100 victory at US Airways Center, and a significant part of the stunning win came courtesy of the resurgent Bayless, who helped Rip City make up for the absence of All-Star Brandon Roy.

Bayless finished with 18 points and four assists off the bench, flashing the aggressive, attacking style that allowed him to break out earlier this season. Most importantly, Bayless, who made 6 of 10 field goals, played all but three seconds of the pivotal fourth quarter, as Rudy Fernandez watched from the bench.

Game 1: Miller scores 31, Blazers upset Suns 105-100

The AP reports:

Andre Miller scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and tied his career playoff high with 31 points as the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers stole homecourt advantage from Phoenix with a 105-100 victory over the Suns on Sunday night.

Methodical Portland was a tough matchup for the Suns all season and it was no different in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, despite the absence of the Blazers’ scoring leader, Brandon Roy.

LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points and Nicolas Batum 18 for Portland. Jerryd Bayless also had 18 for the Blazers, 10 in the fourth quarter, but missed two free throws with 12.2 seconds left to give Phoenix a shot to tie. Steve Nash’s 3-point try was well short, though, and Miller’s two free throws iced the victory.

Marcus Camby grabbed 17 rebounds for Portland, two shy off his career playoff best.

InsideHoops.com Adds:

For the Suns, Steve Nash had 25 points and nine assists. Amar’e Stoudemire had 18 (but on 19 shots) with eight rebounds. But Jason Richardson (4-of-12) and Grant Hill (2-of-9) struggled, and the Suns got very little from centers Jarron Collins and Channing Frye.

Portland got to the foul line 31 times, Phoenix just 16.

Brandon Roy to have right knee surgery Friday

Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy will undergo surgery on Friday to repair a partial meniscus tear in right knee, it was announced today by Trail Blazers General Manager Kevin Pritchard.

“This was not an easy decision to make,” said Roy. “But, if I’m going to be out there, I want to be contributing. If we’re fortunate enough to advance in the playoffs, having the surgery now gives me the best opportunity to help our team.”

Dr. Don Roberts will perform the knee arthroscopy on Friday morning at Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, WA. A timetable for Roy’s return will be set following surgery, but he’ll be sidelined for at least the first round series vs. the Phoenix Suns.

“This is a setback, but we’ve been overcoming injuries all season long,” said Pritchard. “This is about looking long-term and doing what’s best for Brandon.”

Roy left at the 5:45 mark of the second quarter of Sunday’s game at the Los Angeles Lakers after experiencing pain in his right knee.

The best-of-seven first-round series with the Suns tips off Sunday in Phoenix at 7:30 PM.

Suns recall Taylor Griffin from D-League

The Phoenix Suns have recalled rookie forward Taylor Griffin from the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr.

Originally assigned for his third stint in Iowa on April 7, the 6-7, 238-pound Griffin appeared in three playoff games, averaging 6.3 points and 9.3 rebounds in 29.0 minutes for the Energy. Griffin started the final two games for Iowa, both wins, in the Energy’s 2-1 series victory over Utah. Griffin tallied one double-double and two double-digit rebounding efforts, including a 14-board performance in Iowa’s series-clinching victory April 11.

Griffin was selected by the Suns with the 48th overall pick (second round) of the 2009 NBA Draft and has appeared in eight games this season for Phoenix.

Suns assign Taylor Griffin to D-League

Phoenix Suns forward Taylor Griffin was re-assigned to the Iowa Energy, the Suns’ NBA D-League affiliate, it was announced today. The re-assignment is the 36th time an NBA player has been assigned to an NBA D-League affiliate during the 2009-10 season and the third for Griffin.

In two previous stints with the Energy this season, Griffin, 6-7, 238-pounds, averaged 9.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 28.9 minutes in 12 games (11 starts). He scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 94-82 victory over the Dakota Wizards on Dec. 11 in Iowa.

Selected in the second round (48th overall) by the Phoenix Suns in the 2009 NBA Draft, Griffin has appeared in eight games this season for the Suns, scoring 10 points in eight minutes.

A four-year contributor at Oklahoma, Griffin averaged 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds during his senior campaign for the Sooners while shooting 54 percent from the field. During his college career, he was named to the Big 12 All-Academic Second Team during his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons.

Suns sign Dwayne Jones

The Phoenix Suns today announced that the club has signed forward/center Dwayne Jones, who was most recently a member of the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League. Jones becomes the league’s 34th Call-Up this season and is playoff-eligible for Phoenix.

The 2009-10 D-League rebounding leader joins the Suns after spending this season in Austin where he averaged 17.6 points (18th) and a league-best 16.0 rebounds in 40.0 minutes in 48 games (48 starts). The 6-11, 250-pound Jones averaged four rebounds more than any other D-Leaguer and led the league with 43 double-doubles, 15 more than the nearest player. His 59.8-percent field goal percentage ranked third-best.

A D-League standout, the St. Joseph’s (PA) product also has NBA experience after spending parts of each of the last four seasons with Charlotte Bobcats (2008-09), Cleveland Cavaliers (2006-07, 2007-08) and Boston Celtics (2005-06). His longest NBA stint came in 2007-08 with the Cavs where he saw action in 56 regular season games, averaging 1.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 8.4 minutes. Jones also earned postseason experience after seeing action in five games with Cleveland in the 2008 NBA Playoffs.

Jones owns career D-League averages of 14.7 points, 13.7 rebounds and 35.4 minutes in 110 games (106 starts) with the Florida Flame (2005-06), Albuquerque Thunderbirds (2006-07), Iowa Energy (2008-09), Idaho Stampede (2008-09) and Austin Toros (2008-09, 2009-10).

Playoff-bound for the 29th time in the club’s 42-year history, the fifth-seeded Suns are one of four Western Conference teams with a 50-27 record and own the same mark as the second-place Dallas Mavericks. The Suns return to action Wed., April 7, hosting the San Antonio Spurs (47-29) at 7 p.m. at US Airways Center. The game can be seen on both ESPN and FOX Sports Arizona and heard on Sports 620 KTAR.

Rumors Talk: Banged-up Bogut

It’s obviously terrible news that Andrew Bogut is injured. Without him, chances are the Milwaukee Bucks will be sent home in the first round of the playoffs. What a nasty injury that was. All the best for Andrew in his recovery.

Channing Frye is right to become a free agent. He’ll make more money after proving himself with the Suns this season. I’m not sure he’ll get the full mid-level exception — if the economy, both in and out of the NBA was better then maybe he would — but he’ll probably get something close.

I’d have loved to see video of Kenyon Martin going nuts after being pranked.

The monster game that David Lee put up was great, but it was also against the Warriors, who I believe are playing 70-or-so-year-old coach Don Nelson at center. And their current backup center is a random hot dog sales guy. So, Lee wasn’t really up against pro-level competition. Still, a terrific game for him.

If Stephen Jackson really does have about 28 different injuries, he should consider just sitting out. But the problem is, the Charlotte Bobcats are currently the no.7 seed in the East and could very easily fall out of the playoffs. They’re just ahead of the Raptors and no.9 seed Bulls. What to do? If S-Jax is totally banged up, he won’t be as effective as a healthy backup and might as well not be there. Keep an eye on that.

I was a big Dennis Johnson fan (rest in peace, DJ), but I understand the Hall of Fame not putting him in right away. Good news that he’s going to make it this time around. But he was sort of a borderline guy to make it and definitely benefitted from a star-studded set of teammates. Anyway, I’m glad he’ll be in there.

Talk to you Monday.

This feature is an editorialized take on the day’s hot NBA rumors stories.

Andrew Bogut breaks hand, injures arm

Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond announced the following information on center Andrew Bogut:

“After falling hard to the floor after a dunk in the second period of the Bucks win over Phoenix, Andrew was examined at the Bradley Center by team orthopaedic physician Dr. Michael Gordon and then taken to Aurora Sinai Medical Center by ambulance for more tests.

“Further testing and imaging at Aurora Sinai showed that Andrew sustained a dislocated right elbow, a sprained right wrist and a broken right hand. He was released from the hospital and no timetable has been determined for his return.”

In 69 games this season, Bogut is averaging career-highs in points (15.9) and blocked shots (2.5), while adding 10.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He ranks 2nd in the NBA in blocked shots, 9th in rebounds and 17th in field goal percentage (.520). Bogut’s 175 blocked shots to date are the most for any Bucks player since Alton Lister had 177 in 1982-83, giving him the sixth highest single-season total in franchise history. Bogut and Dwight Howard are the only players in the NBA averaging at least 15.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.

The AP reports:

With Milwaukee leading late in the second quarter, Bogut took a long outlet pass in for a fast break slam dunk. He hung on the rim afterward, was touched in the back by the Suns’ Amare Stoudemire and crashed to the court. He wrenched his right elbow in ugly fashion trying to brace his fall.

Bogut appeared to be in serious pain, briefly writhing on the floor before being helped to his feet by the team’s medical staff. Hunched over and clutching his arm, he ran down the tunnel toward the locker room.

Video clip of injury and fan discussion is in this forum topic.