Suns Beat Streaking Cavs
(Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
Two days after what can only be described as laying an egg against the T-Wolves, the Suns stepped on the court Friday night against a Cleveland team that was rolling. Having won 5 in a row, 9 of their last 10, and owning the best record since Christmas at 11-2, the Cavaliers were finally hitting their stride after a slow start, owing to the fact that Anderson Varejao was back in the mix and rounding into form. Basically, it was a nightmare scenario for the Suns after another dismal showing against the T-Wolves.
Which is exactly how it started out for the Suns. They came out a bit flat, falling behind by as many as 11 in the first quarter before finishing the quarter down 5. They climbed to within one point early in the 2nd quarter, then fell behind big again, losing by as much as 18 points en route to a 13 point halftime deficit. At this point, I was honestly ready to write the Suns off in this game, as they were not playing well, getting killed on the glass (again), and not playing any defense at all. Then the 2nd half started.
The Suns came out inspired, playing much better defense, even hitting the glass a little, and started to hit their shots. They outscored the Cavs by 10 in the third quarter, heading into the 4th down by just 3 points. The quarter was back and forth, with Shawn Marion hitting a short jumper to win the game with 1.1 seconds left.
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Now that the recap is out of the game, let’s get to my impressions. My first? I have no idea how we won this game. None. Watching the game, and looking at the numbers afterwards, I still can’t figure it out. Grant Hill played only four minutes with back spasms. Marion was once again almost transparent, attempting just four shots and making only the bucket at the end to win the game. Barbosa was only 5-15 from the field. We got out-rebounded by 8, which actually is about right. We had 14 turnovers, 5 more than they did. Our one saving grace was our three-point shooting, where we went 17-33, a whopping 51.5%.
While this was a good win for the Suns, i can’t say I was particularly impressed by our showing. This team is nothing if not extremely frustrating this season, losing to the worst teams in the league and beating the hottest. They still have many problems that need to be addressed, including their ineptitude to rebound the ball, and their glaring lack of effort on the defensive side at times. They still appear to be drifting through the regular season, acting as though they will be able to turn it on once the post-season starts. As i wrote about here, I tend to believe they actually can do this, but it would be nice to see some signs of life at times during the regular season.
As for the players, it was another puzzling game from Shawn Marion. After a 3-rebound, 3-shot, 7-point night against the T-Wolves two days prior, Marion attempted only four shots in this game, again finishing with 7 points. He did grab nine boards, but we need more production out of him for the 34 minutes he played. As a matter of fact, his rebounding in the last five games has been down by about three boards a game. Also, he averages more than 12 shots a game this season, yet has only 7 total in the last two games. Watching the games, he has been about as non-descript as possible, practically disappearing during the games. It has been a sharp contrast from his usual self, where you notice him everywhere. I’m not yet ready to proclaim anything wrong with him, as it’s only two games, but I will be watching him closely.
On the flip side of Marion’s slide in production has been Raja Bell. Man it’s nice to have a healthy Raja back again. Since early season back and foot problems got him off to a slow start, Raja has come back in full force the last two weeks. Early in the season it appeared his shot was off, and he was hesitant to shoot just a bit. Looking at him now you can tell he just wasn’t right early on. Now that he is healthy again, his shot has come back and he is looking to shoot more, both great things.
In his last five games, Raja is averaging almost 21 points a game. For a career 10 points per game player, that is a lot of production. All those people shouting about the Suns needing a shooter early in the season, you can relax. He is a career 41% shooter from beyond the arc, and is almost all the way back to that average for the season. The Suns can definitely use the extra 2 three-pointers a game from Raja that were missing early on.
One more note about another player, Leandro Barbosa. Barbosa is a fantastic talent, with speed that has not been seen in the NBA before. He can be a great scorer, able to put up bunches of points in very short bursts, and has a deadly three-pointer when open. I have two issues with him this season however. One, he is in danger of fast-becoming a black hole. Half his job is to play the point, which involves getting other people involved and passing theball. His assists this season are down one assist a game however, to 3, which is entirely too low for him. With his ability to drive the lane and create havoc, he should be putting up 5-6 assists a game at least. This season he has turned into a shooter, looking to score first and pass second. Not a good trait for a point guard.
Second, his shot selection. A career .407 three-point shooter, he is shooting just .366 this season. I don’t believe this is due to a flaw in his shot; rather his shot selection. Barbosa’s best quality last season was his ability to get open looks and easy baskets. His baseline break to the basket from beyond the arc with Nash getting him the ball as he hit the paint was a thing of beauty and virtually unstoppable (see video here). This season it seems as if he has had to work harder to get shots, which results in him taking more contested shots. When open, he is deadly. When guarded, he becomes less reliable. Also, his tendency this season to take floaters and running jumpers, a la Steve Nash, is not helping his shooting percentage. While a good mid-range shot would make him that much better, not everyone can hit shots like Nash.
All that being said, it was a nice win for the Suns last night. While I don’t believe it was a statement game, it was a nice showing after a bad loss to the T-Wolves. The Suns still have more wins than any team in the Western Conference, and second most in the entire League. They are still on pace for 58 wins and a Top 3 seed in the playoffs. And while everything is not perfect, I think they’re doing ok…
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Posted by Todd
Todd writes and admins for the Dennis Green Postgame Press Conference, a new blog about sports in the Valley, as well as around the country.
http://valleysports.blogspot.com/
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I think the Suns got lucky last night in Cleveland. Not to take anything away from a solid second half effort…but they were outplayed by the Cavs and won because they shot over 50% from 3-point and made 17 baskets that way. It’s not going to happen again. A win is a win…anyway, especially on the road against on the best teams in the NBA
I’mnot ready to proclaim last night as a great victory either. But, there is something to be said for getting a win against a good opponent without playing their best…