Phoenix Suns edge out spirited Grizzlies 123-118 in cliff-hanger; Jason Richardson star of the game
The Phoenix Suns weren’t done any favours in their early season schedule, playing their first four games against opponents having a 50-plus win record in the last season. They came into the match having won only one of the four
games, and off to the worst start this season, since losing five of the first six games in 2006. Standing in their way were the Memphis Grizzlies, who themselves haven’t had the best of starts, sitting at 2-3 for the season.
With both teams vying to return to winning ways, the match was expected to be a thriller and it lived up to its expectations. Both the teams went all out at each other taking the match to second overtime, but a Jason Richardson
inspired Phoenix just had enough fire-power to outshine the Memphis Grizzlies down the stretch.
The Memphis Grizzlies completely dominated the first quarter. The Memphis trio of Rudy g*y, Marc Gasol and O.J. Mayo continued their excellent form in the match and really let it rip, continuously outmanoeuvring the Phoenix defence.
Gasol’s fade away jumper shot in the fifth minute gave Grizzlies the lead and a Mayo 3-point shot saw the Grizzlies sprint to a 19-6 run, to bust open the lead to 18 points with 41 seconds to go in the quarter.
For the Suns it was all Jason Richardson in the first quarter; he scored 15 out of the total 18 Phoenix points and provided the impetus to the Suns with a 3-pointer in the dying seconds of the quarter. This proved to be the turning
point, as the Phoenix Suns slowly clawed their way back into the match. The Suns outscored the Grizzlies 25-20 in the second quarter and went to the locker room at 55-45, still trailing by 10.
Phoenix continued to step up their offensive in the third quarter: Steve Nash slipped in a 3-pointer right at the start to set the tone for the second half. Hedo Turkoglu, who has had a disappointing season thus far, finally delivered,
scoring two crucial three-pointers midway through the quarter as the teams geared up for the fourth quarter with the Grizzlies holding on to a rather precarious advantage of 6 points at 76-60.
The fourth quarter started with the Suns maintaining their momentum and Goran Dragic shot a 3-pointer to give Phoenix the lead with 8:48 to go in the match. At that point, both the teams picked up their pace as a 16,470 strong
crowd at the U.S. Airway centre witnessed the game swinging from one end to the other.
Memphis, leading by a point, appeared to have crossed the line when Rudy g*y got two free throws with 4 seconds to go. He missed the first one and clearly intended to miss the other one but it went in, allowing Richardson to net
a layup shot in the last second to level the scores and take the match into overtime.
The first overtime also turned out to be an even affair with each team scoring 10 points. Neither team was willing to let go of the advantage as the match was dragged to second overtime.
Richardson, singlehandedly carrying the Suns throughout the match, could not set a foot in wrong direction. He greeted the Grizzlies with a 3-pointer in the second overtime and Nash followed it with a running bank shot to make
it a 5 point game early in that period.
The Grizzlies rallied hard and a Mayo 3-pointer brought their deficit to two points with 14 seconds remaining, but Nash and Richardson netted in a series of free throws to seal the match for the Suns, en route to their second win
in the season.
Jason Richardson was the star of the show for the Suns. He scored 38 points and 8 rebounds as he propelled the Suns to a nerve-wracking win. Steve Nash also scored 25 points, 13 of those coming in the overtime, and also had 9 assists.
For the Grizzlies, six players got into the double figures. Rudy g*y created a new franchise record for scoring 20 points in the first six games of the season. He scored 26 points along with Marc Gasol. Zack Randolph returned for
this match after missing four matches due to an injury and scored 12 points with 14 boards but could not prevent the Grizzlies from succumbing to their third defeat in a row.
Tags: