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The
Phoenix
Suns
were
sluggish
in
their
first
afternoon
game
of
the
season
-
committing
16
first-half
turnovers
-
but
came
on
late
to
beat
the
Washington
Wizards
on
Sunday.
"We just weren't really fresh today," point guard Steve Nash said after Phoenix downed Washington 102-90. "Maybe it was the first day game of the season. We really didn't have a great bounce to us, we didn't really push the ball, we weren't really aggressive to start. That was the difference.
"We had some chances to be up 15 or 20. We just didn't really have energy to us today, but mentally we were tough and stuck with it at times and got it done."
The Suns settled down, giving the ball away only five times in the second half, and beat the Washington Wizards 102-90 to improve to 6-1, matching the best seven-game start in franchise history.
Except for the 21 turnovers, the final score sheet looked fine. Four of the five starters had double-doubles. The only one who didn't, Jason Richardson, led the scoring with 22 points.
Channing Frye had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Amare Stoudemire added 17 and 12, and Hill had 13 and 13. Nash finished with 11 points and 17 assists, and the Suns had twice as many assists (30-15) as the Wizards.
"We try to make very simple plays, and then we'll take what the defence gives us," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "I thought we started trying to be a little bit too creative, and that's not really who we are."
Elsewhere in the NBA it was: Detroit 88 Philadelphia 81; Oklahoma City 102 Orlando 74; Portland 116 Minnesota 93; Sacramento 120 Golden State 107; and L.A. Lakers 104 New Orleans 88.
At Washington, D.C., the Suns never trailed in the second half as they beat the Wizards for the sixth straight time, including five in a row at the Verizon Center. Phoenix wraps up a five-game trip Monday at Philadelphia.
"The minute we start to say we're a certain calibre team, there's a danger," Nash said. "We just got to keep being humble, keep treating this as a project. It's going to take the whole season."
Turnovers, assists and the early ...[next page]
"We just weren't really fresh today," point guard Steve Nash said after Phoenix downed Washington 102-90. "Maybe it was the first day game of the season. We really didn't have a great bounce to us, we didn't really push the ball, we weren't really aggressive to start. That was the difference.
"We had some chances to be up 15 or 20. We just didn't really have energy to us today, but mentally we were tough and stuck with it at times and got it done."
The Suns settled down, giving the ball away only five times in the second half, and beat the Washington Wizards 102-90 to improve to 6-1, matching the best seven-game start in franchise history.
Except for the 21 turnovers, the final score sheet looked fine. Four of the five starters had double-doubles. The only one who didn't, Jason Richardson, led the scoring with 22 points.
Channing Frye had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Amare Stoudemire added 17 and 12, and Hill had 13 and 13. Nash finished with 11 points and 17 assists, and the Suns had twice as many assists (30-15) as the Wizards.
"We try to make very simple plays, and then we'll take what the defence gives us," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "I thought we started trying to be a little bit too creative, and that's not really who we are."
Elsewhere in the NBA it was: Detroit 88 Philadelphia 81; Oklahoma City 102 Orlando 74; Portland 116 Minnesota 93; Sacramento 120 Golden State 107; and L.A. Lakers 104 New Orleans 88.
At Washington, D.C., the Suns never trailed in the second half as they beat the Wizards for the sixth straight time, including five in a row at the Verizon Center. Phoenix wraps up a five-game trip Monday at Philadelphia.
"The minute we start to say we're a certain calibre team, there's a danger," Nash said. "We just got to keep being humble, keep treating this as a project. It's going to take the whole season."
Turnovers, assists and the early ...[next page]
News from ©The Canadian Press, 2009
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