Nash dishes out 14 assists as Phoenix Suns blow away New Orleans Hornets 92-75 - NBA Recap
At the US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ, on Sunday night, in a high stake game, Phoenix Suns played host to the New Orleans Hornets. By the time the night ended, the desert city franchise came good in the first of many tests till
the end of the regular season as they thumped the New Orleans Hornets 92-75.
With a playoff spot on the line, the Suns needed to win this game as they look to trouble the Houston Rockets and the Denver Nuggets for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. Suns coach Alvin Gentry went as far as to call
this their first playoff game.
The visiting side which has been struggling lately went into this game ‘undermanned’ with Eric Gordon, Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza still recovering from injuries.
The action started early in the game as both teams looked to make the most of every opportunity that came their way.
In the early stages of the first period, the scores were pretty close with neither side looking to back down. Midway during the first quarter, Suns only had a 2 point advantage. Behind a true veteran point guard in Steve Nash however,
the Suns were able to formulate an 8-0 run as they tried to get ahead.
Despite being short handed for the game, Hornets were not going to give up that easy and as the first quarter came to a close they were able to cut back on the Suns early advantage, closing the period 5 points behind the Suns 21-26.
Nash had 4 points and 6 assists to lead the Suns while Marco Belinelli had 6 points for the Hornets after the first 12 minutes.
Neither side backed down in the second frame as well. Hornets were trying their best to cut the lead down while the Suns were working very hard to hold on to the minor advantage they had.
This close back and forth action had to stop at one point. Suns being the more experience side lasted the test and never looked back from that point onwards. In the closing stages of the half, Suns, behind Shannon Brown`s spectacular
plays, were able to go on a 9 nothing run to get a hold of the game as they ended the half with the score line of 50-41.
In the second half, the Suns went into dominance mode. With the help of Steve Nash`s exquisite artistry in the distribution of the ball, they were able to open up an insurmountable lead against the Hornets. The away side showed
some resistance late in the third quarter as they finished the quarter on a 6-0 nothing run but the home sides lead was still in double digits, 75-58.
Nash had 13 assists to his name while Brown was also doing a good job with 16 points to help the Suns cause. Belinelli was trying very hard from the other end with 14 points for the Hornets, after three quarters.
The last quarter was in routine to the Sun`s performance on the night as they led all the way to the end of the game. Phoenix ended the game with a 17 point advantage.
In a must win situation, everybody from the Suns side played a contributing role. Jared Dudley had 21 points, Brown had 16, and also Nash ended the game with 14 assists. Jason Smith and Marco Belinelli had 14 each for the Hornets.
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