Phoenix Suns hand Atlanta Hawks their first season defeat
Atlanta Hawks, the hot favourite team are no longer undefeated as Phoenix Suns smashed them at Philips Arena, Atlanta, by 118 – 114. It’s the second time a in a row the Suns have caused an upset, handing the Eastern conference’s strongest team their first
loss of the season.
Prominent players
The Suns once again played a strong game with the contribution of every player. Jason Richardson is the top scorer for the Hawks with 21 points. The most he has ever scored in a Suns’ uniform. Steve Nash tallied a season high 15 assists while chipping in
19 points and 5 rebounds. Jared Dudley scored 15 points.
Joe Johnson and Al Horford played the match fantastically from the Hawks end. Johnson had 34 points, and Al Horford added 30, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out five assists, blocked two shots, and added a steal with one turnover. Both of the players set season
scoring highs.
Performance of the day
Steve Nash from the Suns, who had 15 assists, made four free throws in the final 7 seconds to protect his team’s lead.
Turning point
The turning point of the game is very interesting as Phoenix caught Atlanta in a switch when Steve Nash fed Channing Frye on the right block while being defended by Atlanta point guard Mike Bibby. Frye’s 11-foot amazing turnaround jumper with 24 seconds
left in the game broke the final tie.
Great come back
Phoenix overcame an 18-point deficit of 35-17 with 55.1 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Game story
The Suns took a 61-50 halftime lead, simply by making 6 of 14 tries in the first two quarters of the game. On the other hand, Atlanta were able to shoot 53.7 percent in that first half of play.
The Hawks missed all eight of their 3-point tries. Atlanta was in the third quarter, and scored 38 points of 14 of the overall 20 shootings and 6 of the 10 from long distance. Even then, Phoenix led 90-88 after three quarters thanks in part to Richardson,
who added 13 points in the mean period.
The Suns kept a full hold on the Hawks from the start of the session until the end. Although, Hawks tried to make a great come back in the game in the third quarter, when they added 38 points against the 29 added points of the Suns. Even that was not enough
to hold back the Suns from encountering an upset by beating Hawks for the very first time in the session.
Quotable
Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said, “Horford, I don't know if there's a guy in the league that works harder than him. It does not matter how you slice it, on the offensive end, the defensive end, rebounding . . . that is a bargain, and whatever they signed
him for. He's a stud".
"I'm glad we had a brutal schedule to start because we've played good in those games. We've shown that we can battle back and keep on fighting and get a victory”, said Richardson.
Up next
After a great victory, the Suns will travel to Memphis for a game against the Grizzlies on Monday, November 8, 2010 at FedEx Forum.
Atlanta Hawks will take on Orlando Magic in its next match on Monday, November 8, 2010 at Amway Center, Orlando.
The Suns with a balance number of wins and losses (3 -3), try their level best to take the lead against the Grizzlies while the Hawks with a great winning record (6 – 1), will try to add another success story.
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