Phoenix Suns bounce back with a win over the Utah Jazz
After dropping their first game without all-star forward Amar’e Stoudemire, the Phoenix Suns bounced back to take their first win of the season when they dominated the struggling Utah Jazz,
110-94, Thursday 28 October in Salt Lake City.
Steve Nash picked off from where he left off in their season-opener, as the two-time Most Valuable Player scored 18 points and five assists for the Suns, who dropped their season-opening
game against the Portland Trail Blazers, 106-92, on Tuesday 26 October.
"Well, it was undoubtedly an important game for us," Nash said. "We played pretty well in Portland and just fell apart at the end. Tonight, I thought we learned a little bit of a lesson from
Portland, we held our composure for longer stretches, and in particular, at the end of the game."
Hakim Warrick, who was signed by the Suns to fill in Stoudemire’s role in the vaunted pick-and-roll offense, provided a huge lift for the Suns as he scored 18 points and grabbed 11 boards,
which earned nothing but praise from their veteran point guard.
"Hakim was great on the glass and hustled," Nash said. "He finished and got to the line. He did a lot of little things that matter. But he also scored, and when he can do that, it makes us
a better team."
Jason Richardson added 16 points, while Hedo Turkoglu chipped in 13 points for Phoenix, who never trailed in the game and led by as much as 18 points, capitalizing on Utah’s poor shooting
and lack of intensity.
The Jazz, who absorbed a humbling 22-point loss on Wednesday 27 October against the Denver Nuggets in their season-opener, shot just 33.3 per cent from the field in the first quarter and
42.9 per cent for the entire game, and converted only three of their 13 attempts from beyond-the-arc.
Al Jefferson, who was acquired by the Jazz after all-star power-forward Carlos Boozer signed with the Chicago Bulls, paced the Jazz with his 20 points and nine rebounds, while Paul Millsap
added 19 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the floor.
"Things are not going our way. We've got to continue to stay with it. I mean we've got to continue to get better," said Millsap, who also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. "We got punched
in the mouth twice in our first two games."
Andrei Kirilenko added 19 points, while all-star point guard Deron Williams finished with 13 points and six assists, but struggled to break the Suns’ defence, which clamped down on him all-game
long.
"We played well, really extremely well defensively in the first half," said Suns head coach Alvin Gentry on their defensive sets tonight. "We kept Deron out of the paint. He always seems
to hurt us with his dribble penetration."
The Suns will gun for their second straight win on Friday 29 October when they go up against a familiar foe, the Los Angeles Lakers, while the Jazz will try to win their first game of the
season on 31 October.
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