| Suns Still Can’t Shoot But Take Game 3 Authored by J.T. Magee - May 13, 2006 - 5:56 am
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Even with Radmanovic lighting it up in the fourth quarter, and Phoenix having one of its worst offensive stretches in their playoff history, they found a way to close out a close game and win 94-91. They found a way to shut down Brand, rebound and play some D. It’s about time.
Marion led the Suns with an amazing game. Even with a bit of a shaky shot selection (how’s that for an alliteration?), he scored 32 points. He grabbed a game and playoff career-high 19 rebounds, collected 4 steals and blocked a shot. It was the type of night everyone thought Marion was capable of having.
Tim Thomas, replacing James Jones in the starting lineup, scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Before fouling out, Raja Bell scored 14 points. Steve Nash only took nine field goal attempts and scored 12 points but added a game-high ten assists. Boris Diaw had an off shooting night, going 4-13 and scoring 11 points. He added six rebounds, seven assists and 4 blocks. Leandro Barbosa struggled and scored just six points.
As poor as Brand played in between the first and fourth quarters, his stats say otherwise. He scored 20 points to lead the Clippers. He also grabbed nine rebounds, dished out eight assists and blocked 5 shots. Radmanovic was the leader of L.A.’s comeback, scoring 18 points, all in the second half. Cuttino Mobley scored 14 points, Chris Kaman 11 points and had 4 blocks, and Quinton Ross added 10 points. Corey Maggette, struggling to score in Games 2 and 3, had just seven points but added a team-high 14 rebounds.
Phoenix, knowing it had to adjust in order to win, did just that. They didn’t quite do it the way they wanted to, shooting a terrible 37% from the floor and a season-low 25% from beyond the arc. They did it by basic basketball: defense and rebounding. The margin wasn’t even close in Game 2 and they made up for it tonight, thanks in part to Head Coach Mike D’Antoni’s lineup change. No disrespect to Jones, but they needed someone who could stretch out the floor and be able to guard Brand. Thomas did just that.
It wasn’t just Thomas though. It was both Marion and him. Combined, they scored 61 points and grabbed 33 rebounds. That’s as many points as the entire starting lineup of the Clippers and seven more rebounds. That’s the production they needed in order to win a close game. Sure, they went a good seven minutes without hitting a field goal. But thanks to Thomas and Marion making up for Nash’s very off night, Phoenix stood a chance in a close game.
What was amazing is how cold they were. Some of their shots in the fourth quarter were bad. They like quick shots, but there’s a difference between the comfortable quick shots they like to take and the forced shots in bad spots of the floor they were taking. There was very little ball movement and they just couldn’t hit their shots. But they knew they needed to play defense and what they did on Brand in the second and third quarters was the difference.
Brand is a great player. Even though he’s just starting to get recognition in the national media, he knew that he was the difference in this game. And so did Phoenix. In the first quarter, Brand was 4-5 and scored 11 points. But Phoenix made the necessary adjustments on him by not showing immediately what they wanted to do to Brand. Granted, a lot of Brand’s shots were off, but the Suns didn’t let them get many second chances. And because Brand’s shots were farther away then they were in Games 1 and 2, the Clippers didn’t have the space around the perimeter they were accustomed to. Phoenix changed parts of their game plan and Brand was the recipient.
The Suns won a crucial game. They don’t want this to go to six games, but it may be inevitable. They found another way to win. It was very ugly and not one many casual fans wanted to see out of their beloved bandwagon team. But even if Phoenix shoots 40% and rebounds like they were doing in Game 3, it won’t matter how much people like it. A win is a win. In Game 4, the Clippers will make their adjustment, but for Phoenix, they only want to make one: their shots going in. |
