Final
2:51 - Bibby has a career night, Artest is solid, this is why I was nervous about this game. Had a funny feeling about those two. Hard to overcome 37 points + 24 from Artest. More later, but the bottom line on this game is that Sacramento played inspired ball on every leve. Pheonix played very well, I thought they were up for and into the game, but it's hard to over come 9 3-pointers by Bibby.
Links in a bit.
2:22 - Strange start to the 4th quarter. Tie game, and both teams are out of sync, wierd fouls and missed layups. I blame the Apache, but who knows.
2:33 - just looked at 4th quarter stats...5 players in double figures, but Diaw has only 4 points and 5 assists. Phoenix looks good all things considered. The Apache just said Barbosa is a 'Ten' -- oh yeah, his number is '10'. I think I feel better, but I'm not sure. Nash has 7 turnovers.
2:37 - I just saw the worst call all night. Garcia drives into the late right into Stoudemire who gets all ball...call against Stoudemire. Horrible.
2:40 - aside. My 16 year old got a black cat he thought was a boy cat...he named it Lucifer. Turns out, the cat goes into heat, which would imply it's a girl cat. We start calling the cat femine derivitives of the word 'Lucifer'...to which the 16 year old Apache says "if I wanted it to be a gay cat I would have named it Dr. Quinn Medicide Woman". Pretty funny for a commercial break. Crunch time, and I'm not sure...4 point game and Sacramento is playing with confidence. Bibby and Artest combine for 53.
3rd Quarter
1:53 - Steve Nash steals the ball, runs down and hits a 3, turnover and then Raja hits a shot with 20 seconds left on the shot clock -- time out Sacramento. The Apache (my wife) said 'these Suns, they remind me of Sharks, like the way they circle around and kill kill kill' Couldn't have said it better.
2:07 - Phoenix came back hard in the 3rd quarter. What strikes me most, is that Nash has dominated the ball and the play on both ends of the court. Barbosa kept the Suns in the game for awhile (thanks to The Apache's kisses), but he didn't score in the 3rds quarter. It was all Nash all the time. Bibby and Artest both with 20 point games so far, which means Sacramento is playing as well as they can play and yet Phoenix ends the quarter with the lead.
Half Time
1:10 Leandro Barbosa!! My wifes favorite Brazilian is on a tear with 12 points already, and a couple of tough 3's. He just hit his 3rd 3 in a row, and my wife blowing kisses at the TV!! 17 points, 7-9 from the field and 3-5 3 pointers.
1:32 Some interesting notes from the box score:
- Bibby with 17 points on 58% shooting
- Sacramento with 3 people already in double figures (Salmons 10, Artest 14 and Bibby 17)
- Sacramento shoots 58%, Phoenix shoots 47%
- Leandro has 17 points in 13 minutes, thanks largely to my wife blowing kisses, shoots 70%
In general, Sacramento is very 'up' for the game. Bibby hits a 3 pointer and you see 3 other Kings running down court pumping their fists, that type of thing. This is going to be a tough 2nd half for the the Suns. D'Antoni's rotation is very intersting. I don't remember me last time I saw him play 8 people in the first quarter, with Jones Jr, Rose and Barbosa getting significant minutes.
The wife is considering running errands in the second half, which could bode ill for Barbosa. I'll try and keep her on the couch in the Cave.
1St Quarter
12:32: First, a comment on DirecTV. This game is on ABC, which means I'd normally not get the game in HD. However, yesterday, I had a new dish installed (for a large fee), and ow I have all my local channels in HD. Good god, what a difference this makes. The Suns Cave has a 65" LCD TV, and once you've seen a Suns game in HD, you'll never go back again. For all you DirecTV subscribers, get the big 5-Lim dish. Worth every penny!
12:35: Artest is already making a difference...blocked an Amare shot, has a steal, drew a foul on Marion and being generally disruptive.
12:47 Starting to look like a replay of game 1. Amare is killing them with 7 points on 3-5 shooting and a couple of rebounds already. Bibby plays much better at home (7 points on 3-5 shooting), but so far so good. Nash just made one of those incredible passes that only Nash makes...to Marion between 3 or 4 Kings. He finds room for the ball where there just isn't any room for the ball.
12:56: End of Q1. Kings up 4, but it the game is being played a PHX's pace with both teams on pace to score over 100. Phoenix has very balanced scoring, with Amare still high man with 9. Artest has 10 points, so he's making a difference already. It's interesting to see D'Antoni oing so deep into his bench already...Jalen Rose, Leandro and James Jones Jr. got 1st quarter minutes.
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