Steve Nash sparks a second half burst as Phoenix Suns trump Indiana Pacers in a thriller – NBA Recap
On Friday night, Marcin Gortat contributed 23 points and hauled down 8 rebounds while forward Grant Hill pitched in 22 for the Phoenix Suns, but it was the impact of Steve Nash in the second half that took the Suns to a 113-111
win over the gutsy Indiana Pacers.
The desert city swingman scored all of his 12 points and also dished out 10 of his game high 17 assists in the second stanza as the Suns snapped a two game losing streak, leaving the Pacers short despite of a spirited run down
the stretch.
The game started at a fast pace and after some end to end action, it was all tied at 20 with 3:06 to go in the first passage of play. Indiana took the lead on the following possession and stretched it to five points deep, before
Hill beat the buzzer with a mid range jumper to end the quarter at 28-31.
In the second quarter, the shots stopped falling all of a sudden and going into the fifth minute, the Pacers barely held onto a 38-34 advantage. That was when the Suns kick started a 10-2 run to change the momentum, but then gave
up a late 15-5 opening to the Pacers, to trail by 61-54 at the break.
The Suns thundered off to a 12-4 in the third to take a one point lead and after a brief passage of resistance, they scuttled another 10-2 burst to take a 78-74 lead. George Hill knocked down a three to make it a three point game,
but Phoenix capped the frame with an 8-2 push to carry an 86-79 lead into the last 12 minutes.
In the fourth quarter, Indiana tried to slash the deficit quickly and did manage to come within 2, but missed one too many shots to allow the Suns a 101-94 lead with only 4:06 left on the clock. In the next three minutes, the Pacers
responded with a 9-3 burst, making it a one point game 103-104.
That was where Nash took over.
He first handed out two assists to Gortat and Channing Fyre that resulted in five consecutive points and after Granger made a layup, he calmly netted two free throws to keep the Pacers at a distance, 111-105, with just 20.5 seconds
to go.
Granger was however not done yet and in less than 9 second, he connected on a triple and then slipped in a pair from the charity stripe, bringing the scores to 110-111.
Nash was fouled immediately after that and the veteran kept his composure to make a pair from the line. Leandro Barbosa missed a three on the following possession, but a foul from Jared Dudley kept the Pacers in it.
Paul George connected on the first free throw and then intentionally missed the second, giving himself the opportunity of layup. He missed the deuce though and the Suns held on.
Danny Granger finished with a game high 28 points for Indiana, which also got 19 points from Roy Hibbert. The Pacers centre rued the fact that his team allowed Nash to control the game so freely in the clutch;
"We let Steve Nash control the tempo of the game," He said. "We did not do a very good job of controlling them."
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