Steve Nash leads Phoenix Suns to 103-89 victory over the Sacramento Kings
“He came, he saw and he conquered.”
Steve Nash’s wife Alejandra gave birth to baby boy on Friday and he followed his big day with a humongous night as he scored a match-high 28 points, 14 assists and complemented that performance with seven rebounds to carry the
Phoenix Suns to their tenth consecutive victory over the Sacramento Kings.
The 36-year-old, two-time league MVP shot in 11 of his first 12 shots as he ran through the defences of the Kings to hand them their fourth loss in a row.
First Half
The match started with the Sacramento Kings slightly outscoring the Phoenix Suns in the initial minutes, but the Suns clawed their way back each time as the score was tied six times within the first six minutes of play.
Steve Nash made a jump shot to hand a single point advantage to the Suns with 5:37 remaining in the first quarter and they did not look back from there on.
With the score at 25-21 in the favour of the Suns, Omri Casspi nailed in a three-pointer to make it a one point game with nearly 90 seconds to go in the first period but Channing Fyre slipped in a 3-pointer and Nash followed it
with a driving reverse layup to take a six-point advantage into the second quarter.
Nash made his intentions clear from the very beginning as he roped in 10 points, six assists and four rebounds in the first twelve minutes.
Although Nash was on the bench for most of the second quarter, the Suns continued their momentum and outscored their opponents 22-19 in that period as the teams headed for locker room with the score at 52-43 and the Suns holding
to a healthy 9-point advantage.
Second Half
The Suns opened the second half at a furious pace and sprinted to 7-2 run within the first two minutes to bust open the lead to 14 points at 59-45. The Kings responded immediately with two three-pointers within a span of 25 seconds
to restore some parity. Sacramento again launched a 9-3 spurt midway but the Suns rounded off the quarter with five consecutive points to take a 77-68 lead to the final quarter.
The Kings started the fourth quarter with a bang and reeled off a 7-0 run to come within striking distance at 77-75 with 8:28 left on the clock. The Suns responded immediately as they outscored their opponents 13-4 in the next
three minutes to quell the King’s comeback.
The Suns kept the resurgent Kings at bay in the final minutes to chalk out a 103-89 victory.
Hakim Warrick also made his mark as he scored 18 points for the Suns off the bench. Jason Richardson scored 14 points and 8 rebounds and Josh Childress netted 10 points as the Suns shot 41-for-79 at an impressive 51.9 percent.
Phoenix came into the match at league worst 17.6 turnovers. They raised their game in that aspect as well, as they committed only 11 for the match.
For the Kings, Tyreke Evan led the charge with 18 points, 9 assists and 7 boards while Carl Landry scored 20 points and 11 rebounds and Beno Udrih chipped in with 17 points.
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