Sunday, March 23, 2008
20-20!
great game! woof!phoenix faced the houston rockets earlier today (manila time), in a matchup of two of the top contenders in the wild, wild, western conference. for those who've been living under a rock for the past month, t-mac's rockets were only recently the biggest thing to ever happen to the league, given their historic 22-game win streak--which was put to an end by the nasty boston celtics just earlier this week.
but houston hasn't been the only team to get hot lately. the phoenix suns have been stringing up consecutive victories themselves, in their pursuit to stay within the playoff picture. after all, unlike in the eastern conference, a mere three-game losing slump could mean an early summer for a supposed west contender.
good thing the new-look, diesel-powered suns are finally coming together.
this game was convincing proof. the suns took it, 122-113, with the team looking pretty legit--at least, based on the stats that i followed online. here are a few key points from the game that have gotten me pretty excited all over again:
- shaquille o'neal--all 36 years of him--with a 23-point, 13-rebound night. i never really expected numbers like this when he came in, but heck, of course i'll take it!
- amare! monster game again! we've seen him score 38 points easily before, and he does get 13-rebound nights every now and then, but the franchise record-setting 20-for-20 from the stripe certainly merits kudos. oh, and the 4 blocks are very nice, too.
- both shaq and amare nearly fouled out, each getting 5 fouls. but they didn't. if they really can't help but fall into the foul trouble trap, they should at least still manage to stay in the game during the crucial minutes--such as in this game.
- raja bell was sidelined for this game with an injured ankle. thus, leandro barbosa was inserted into the starting lineup. he played pretty nicely, at that, finishing with 21 points with three 3-pointers and an awesome shooting percentage. veeeery nice. (we still need you though, raja, so please come back soon!)
- grant hill didn't score much. he managed just 2 points, actually. he led the team with 10 assists though. that makes for some pretty cool possibilities moving forward...
- i think the gordan giricek pickup is a positive move. the suns can get a good 8-10 points a game from him each night. not bad, i guess.
- after this win, the suns are back in the west's top 4! hooray for homecourt advantage!
go suns! eyes on the prize, baby!
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
