NBA Update: Phoenix Suns victory against Utah Jazz by 110-94
The Suns punched Utah in the face with 3-pointers to start the play and entitled themselves as a winners of the basketball match at Energy Solutions Arena, Salt Lake City. The prediction of Suns’ coach, that his team would be a work in progress this year,
came true when Phoenix Suns defeated Utah Jazz beside the inexistence of Amar'e Stoudemire NBA Rookie of the Year 2003 in the match. The combination of Stoudemire and Stephen John "Steve" Nash has been great for Phoenix Suns in the last few years but the team
remained outstanding even in his absence. Suns played with more intensity during the whole 4 quarters of the match. Phoenix has won two straight games in Utah after losing the previous four.
Suns took full advantage of the absence of Mehmet Okur (2007 NBA All-Star), and utilized Nash and Warrick perfectly. Steve Nash and Hakim Warrick remained the prominent stars of the game and played a leading role in the achievement of Suns.
Nash scored 18 points, had five assists, and played his role in the success of Suns over Jazz by a margin of 16 points. Nash scored 10 of his points in the first half of the game to keep Utah’s under control. He provided his team with an advantage of 58-42
at the break.
The remarkable performance of Suns further consists of 11 rebounds and 18 off the bench points of Hakim Warrick, “Mr. Basketball of Michigan.” He added 16 points to the total score, including a pair of three-pointers.
Shooting Guard, Raja Bell seemed to be struggling very hard against his former team but he scored only seven points for his team.
Jason Anthoney "J-Rich" Richardson of Suns accelerated and caught fire in the second quarter of the game and score 16 points. He scored 11 of his 16 points in a six-minute span. With 29.1 seconds left in the first half, he made a fantastic 3-pointer. He
played very vital role in slowing down the Utah’s defence. He effectively provided a 58-42 lead to Suns at halftime.
The couple of Nash and Richardson combined for 34 points for Suns on 13-for-24 shooting while on the other hand Williams and Bell combined for 20 points for Jazz on 6-for-24 shooting.
The shots by the players of Utah remained unimpressive. Their percentage in the first half was just 35.8%. The starters of the team, Andrei Kirilenko, Jefferson, Bell, and Williams played their role in bringing the percentage down. Kirilenko score only 1
for 6, Jefferson scored 4 for 12, Bell added only 1 for 5 and Williams added null.
Rookie, Gordon Hayward had four points and five rebounds in 13 minutes of the first half, also he provided Utah with a brief spark in the second quarter of the play. His overall performance remained quite well, as he finished with six points and six rebounds
in 25 minutes of the game.
Al Jefferson provided Utah’s with 20 points and Millsap contributed with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
The turning points of the match remained very interesting. The game was taken away by Phoenix late in the third quarter with a 9-2 run. Phoenix‘s center and power forward, Channing Frye started the flow out with a 3-pointer. Standing “6 ft 7 in,” Jared Dudley
cast down two free throws for Suns.
Utah was just 3-for-13 on 3-pointers while in contrast; Phoenix presented themselves very well and made 10 of 26 from behind the arc. Phoenix dominated Utah’s from the start until the end and beat them down by a final score of 110-94 at the end of fourth
and final quarter. However, even in the end the Jazz still had tough time in finding the basket.
There is no rest for the Suns, as they will take on Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, October 29, 2010 at US Airways Center. The Lakers seems to be tough competitors for Suns as they opened with a 112-110 victory over Houston on Tuesday. The eye-catching performance
of Pau Gasol and Bryant is the strength of the team for the upcoming event. Pau Gasol had 29 points and 11 rebounds while Bryant scored 27 points.
The Suns will likely have Warrick, Grant Hill and new entrant; Josh Childress take turns to try to slow down an energetic Bryant. It is yet to be seen that how Nash will fare in the next game without Stoudemire.
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