The AP reports: Shaquille O’Neal tied a season high with 29 points and had 13 rebounds and six assists Friday night to help the short-handed Phoenix Suns beat the Sacramento Kings 97-95 in overtime Friday night. Amare Stoudemire was the star in overtime for the Suns… Stoudemire, who finished with 12 points, was quiet through much of the game and failed to score in the second half… Grant Hill had 22 points and had nine rebounds for the Suns, while Raj Bell had 14 points and Boris Diaw added nine. Beno Udrih had 21 points and Miller had 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Kings, who fell behind midway through the second quarter and never led again. Salmons scored 21 points and Hawes added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
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Nash, Barnes, Alston suspended for fight
The AP reports: The NBA has suspended Steve Nash and Matt Barnes of Phoenix and Rafer Alston of Houston for their roles in a fight. Alston and Barnes were suspended for two games without pay and Nash for one. The league also fined Shaquille O’Neal $35,000 and Tracy McGrady $25,000 on Friday for their actions during the Rockets’ 94-82 win in Phoenix on Wednesday.
The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: The scuffle broke out in the final seconds of Wednesday’s third quarter, just as Houston opened its biggest lead of 19 on a McGrady 3-pointer. On the shot, Alston set a high screen on Barnes, who lowered his shoulder hard into Alston. After the shot went in, Alston ran up on Barnes, prompting Nash to race from several feet away toward Alston and Barnes. Once he got close, McGrady shoved him to the ground and more players came to the scene with O’Neal shoving McGrady to the ground and pushing Alston and Yao Ming.
The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: “It’s just overblown,” Barnes said. “They went above and beyond the call of duty here. They didn’t call a foul in my situation. We got in a little pushing match and I get suspended for two games? Rafer gets two games and Rafer threw two punches at Steve. Basically, what they’re saying is you might as well throw two punches because you got the same suspension as someone who threw two punches. Steve comes and tries to break it up and gets thrown to the ground and he gets suspended and T-Mac (McGrady) doesn’t get anything. Ridiculous.”
Fans are reacting to the suspensions here in this topic.
Barbosa`s mother dies
The East Valley Tribune (Jerry Brown) reports: The Suns won’t have Leandro Barbosa tonight and likely for up to a week after he left the team Thursday bound for his home in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Early Thursday afternoon, Barbosa received word that his mother Ivete had passed away. The relationship between Barbosa and his mother is a very close one. She visited Arizona every spring for an extended visit and the two talked by phone at least a half-dozen times a day. She survived a bout with cancer a few years ago but had been hospitalized in poor health for months. Barbosa lost his father to cancer in 2005.
Nov 12: Rockets 94, Suns 82
The AP reports: Tracy McGrady scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half, 15 in a brilliant third quarter, as the Rockets pulled away to lead by as many as 19 points… McGrady, 1-for-16 shooting in his previous two games, made 11 of 18 shots, going 9-of-14 in the second half as the Rockets used a tough defense to dominate the Suns and spoil O’Neal’s big night. The Suns center scored 18 points to move past John Havlicek into 10th on the NBA career scoring list. O’Neal also grabbed 13 rebounds… What was mostly a shoving match broke out just after McGrady’s 3-pointer put Houston ahead 74-55 with 27 seconds left in the third quarter. Houston’s Rafer Alston, upset after getting a shoulder from Matt Barnes, shoved the Phoenix player at midcourt… Steve Nash rushed into middle of things and was pushed to the court by McGrady, who in turn was shoved down by O’Neal, who with one arm moved the entire scrum several feet… Yao added 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Rockets, who led by 19 entering the fourth quarter. Aaron Brooks scored 19 and Alston 15 for Houston. The Suns’ Leandro Barbosa scored 18 on 5-for-14 shooting.
Amare ditches his goggles
The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: Amare Stoudemire’s goggles didn’t last a month. He had worn protective eyewear since he returning from a torn iris four weeks ago but ditched the pair for Monday’s game. “A little uncomfortable with the goggles,” he said. “They get a little blurry on me. There’s a lot of adjusting, so I’ll try to go without them.” The goggles seemed fine in a 49-point game last week. “Well, I had 50 without them,” he said of his career high in 2005.
Nov 10: Suns 107, Grizzlies 102
The AP reports: Rookie O.J. Mayo did all he could to rally Memphis in the fourth quarter against the Phoenix Suns. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies had no answer for Leandro Barbosa. Mayo had 19 of his game-high 33 points in the final period, but the victory went to the fifth-year veteran known as the Brazilian Blur and Phoenix as the Suns won 107-102 on Monday night. Barbosa almost went shot-for-shot with the rookie in the fourth, scoring 16 of his team-high 27 points in the period, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 43.8 seconds left… Amare Stoudemire scored 18 points, Boris Diaw added 13 and Nash had 12 points and six assists for the Suns, who have won five of their past six games overall… Rudy Gay scored 20 and Marc Gasol finished with 15 for the Grizzlies, who were 1-3 on their four-game Western road trip.
InsideHoops.com Notes: Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley shot 0-of-6 for no points, 3 steals and almost nothing else in almost 25 minutes. Kyle Lowry struggled off the bench behind Conley, however, shooting 1-of-6 for 2 points.
2009 All-Star balloting to begin Tuesday
An All-Star lineup of players will unveil the official 2009 NBA All-Star Ballot on Tuesday, November 11 during a special event in Phoenix, the host city of NBA All-Star 2009. In the event, multiple well-known NBA players will ceremoniously cast the very first All-Star ballots.
Players who will be there include Shaquille O’Neal, Grant Hill, Raja Bell, former players Detlef Schrempf, Glen Rice, Cedric Ceballos, Dan Majerle, and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.
Cool stats worth knowing
Phoenix’s Shaquille O’Neal needs 20 points to tie John Havlicek for 10th on the all-time scoring list (26,395). O’Neal is averaging 14.8 points over six games. He scored a season-high 29 points Saturday at Milwaukee. The Suns host Memphis tonight and Houston Wednesday.
O’Neal’s teammate, Amare Stoudemire, has attempted 15 or more free throws in a franchise-record tying three-straight games (Connie Hawkins: January, 1970; Stoudemire: April, 2004). The last player to attempt 15 or more free throws in three straight games was Dwight Howard in December, 2007.
Toronto’s Chris Bosh is the second player in team history to pass the 7,000-point mark in career scoring. He has 7,011 points, second behind Vince Carter, who scored 9,420 points between 1998-2004.
Miami’s Mario Chalmers — one of only two rookies starting at point guard (Chicago’s Derrick Rose) — leads rookies in assists (5.7 apg) and steals (2.8 spg). Rose is second in assists (5.1 apg) and tied for fourth in steals (1.1 spg).
Milwaukee guard and former NBA Development League player Ramon Sessions is averaging 17.2 points, 6.2 assists and 3.6 rebounds.
Atlanta, which remained undefeated (5-0) with an 89-85 triumph over host Oklahoma City yesterday, is off to its best start since the 1997-98 season 11-0.
–NBA News
Players of Week: LeBron, Amare
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and the Phoenix Suns’ Amare Stoudemire today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 3 through Sunday, Nov. 9. James’ league-best 34.5 ppg on the week helped Cleveland to a 4-0 mark. James added 9.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks per contest. Stoudemire led the Suns to a 3-1 week. Stoudemire averaged 28.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks on the week.
Nov 8: Suns 104, Bucks 96
The AP reports: Shaquille O’Neal had 29 points and 11 rebounds in his return from a one-game break, leading the Phoenix Suns to a 104-96 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night. O’Neal was 12-of-16 from the field a night after skipping a game in Chicago as part of a strategy to occasionally rest him during the season… Amare Stoudemire, who had 24 points and seven rebounds against Chicago on Friday night and 49 points against Indiana on Wednesday night, added 22 points, making 18 of 20 free throws to help the Suns beat the Bucks for the fifth straight time. Grant Hill had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Steve Nash added 16 points and seven assists for Phoenix… Ramon Sessions scored 23 points for the Bucks. Charlie Bell added 16, and Richard Jefferson and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute each had 14 for Milwaukee, which played without guard Michael Redd (sprained right knee) for the third straight game.