Pistons end Suns’ seven game win streak in OT
(AP Photo/Duane Burleson) The Suns’ 7 game win streak came to an end last night as Detroit beat Phoenix 110-105 in OT.
Chauncey Billups scored 33 points and Rasheed Wallace added 23 points and 9 rebounds. The game within the game of Sheed vs STAT was the perfect example of why we love this game.
Stoudemire led the Suns with 33 points (9-of-18 from the field and 15-of-16 from the line) while Shaq added 12 points and 10 boards and Nash scored 23 points to go with 9 assists.
Benches proved to be the difference in the game.
Detroit, playing without its leading scorer (injured Richard Hamilton), had a great game from solid rookies Rodney Stuckey (13 points) and Arron Afflalo (6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists).
Overall the Pistons bench outscored the Suns’ 29 to 17 as Barbosa, Diaw and Giricek combined on 8-of-20 from the field. Not to mention the fact that the Pistons used 7 players off the bench (Afflalo was starting) while the Suns the usual 3. With Raja playing on one ankle (but the usual big heart) maybe a few minutes from Strawberry could have been a useful contribution.
“We played well tonight, but we couldn’t come up with a win” said Hill after the game, while Coach D’Antoni had to agree with Grant’s opinion “it was a good game, that we played hard and they played hard, and it was right down to the wire”.
Watching the game I feel one has to agree with the analysis, it was a good game for Phoenix a solid effort on both sides of the court but unfortunately the Suns just came up short.
The Suns had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter, leading 94-89 within the last three minutes of the contest but five points from Wallace and a couple of free throws by Billups had the game tied.
The Pistons controlled the score in OT to secure the win as once again Chauncey scored 9 points in the period.
I have mixed feelings about the Suns’ performance. The bad news is that at this time, in the context of a tight Western Conference race, it’s a tough loss; while the good news is that the team looked way better compared to the last time the Suns met the Pistons in what was possibly the lowest point of the season the 116-86 loss on Feb. 24th.
On the bad news side of things, the Suns (47-23, now 5th in the West) will now face the Boston Celtics, holders of the best record in the NBA (55-15), on Wednesday Night (4 PM).
Yours truly, Steve Fan
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Posted by Steve Fan
Blogger and Steve Nash enthusiast. Don't get in his way, he'll MVP your ass.
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