Saturday, March 24, 2012
Gortat, Nash lead Suns past Pacers, 113-111
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Steve Nash thought the game changed when the Phoenix Suns started controlling rebounds and loose balls.
The Indiana Pacers thought the problem was not controlling Nash.
Marcin Gortat had 23 points and eight rebounds, Nash added 12 points and tied his season high with 17 assists, and the Suns beat the Pacers 113-111 on Friday night.
“We let Steve Nash control the tempo of the game,” Pacers center Roy Hibbert said. “We did not do a very good job of controlling them.”
Nash leads the league with more than 11 assists per game. He’s had 17 assists in three other games this season.
Grant Hill scored 22 points for the Suns, who never gave up the lead in the fourth quarter.
For Nash, it was just a matter of playing better in the second half and doing the little things necessary to pull off the win.
“I think we came up with a lot of loose balls, some hustle plays,” Nash said. “Got stops, rebounds, gave us a chance to get out and get some baskets. I thought we were just tougher in the third quarter than in the first half.”
Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry gave credit to his defense for being able to stay ahead of the Pacers.
“We did a good job defensively in the second half,” Gentry said. “We didn’t come up with a lot of the 50-50 balls in the first half. We came up with defensive stops, but we still end up fumbling the ball or they come up with it. Thought we did a real good job with that in the second half.”
Danny Granger had 28 points and Roy Hibbert finished with 19 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who played their second game in a series of three games in three days.
They beat the Washington Wizards, 85-83, on Thursday and go on the road to face Milwaukee on Saturday.
The Suns are in the middle of a four-game road trip and avoided heading into the last game of the trip in Cleveland on Sunday with three losses.
“It would have been real tough to go 0-for-4 on this trip or go into the Cleveland game 0-and-3 and put all that pressure on ourselves,” Nash said. “We got some good feelings back. Got some confidence back. So we’ve got a big game in Cleveland we’ve got to win.”
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Wednesday, March 14, 2012
rockets voice: Rockets charge back late, beat Thunder 104-103
rockets voice: Rockets charge back late, beat Thunder 104-103: By JEFF LATZKE, AP Sports Writer OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)—With both their starting guards sitting out and no momentum at all after the All-St...
Sunday, February 26, 2012
3-on-3: Steve Nash All-Star edition
When Steve Nash made his first All-Star appearance 10 years ago, not even his mother could have dreamed he would one day become an eight-time All-Star, as he is today. Yet of course Nash has only gotten better with age and tomorrow evening he will become the third-oldest player to ever suit up for an All-Star Game (a 38-year-old Karl Malone was voted in but did not play); only Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were older All-Stars.
In honor of Nash’s most recent All-Star appearance, the ValleyoftheSuns team goes 3-on-3 to discuss Two Time’s present greatness and his future.
What’s impressed you most about Nash’s sublime first half?
Michael Schwartz: Really everything, but if I had to pick one thing it would have to be leading the league in assists by a wide margin with only one teammate among the top 74 players in the league in scoring average (Gortat at 35th). Nash’s 10.9 assists per game puts him the same distance ahead of second-place Rajon Rondo as Rondo leads No. 7 Tony Parker. At this point it almost seems like Nash could lead the league in assists with the Washington Generals.
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In honor of Nash’s most recent All-Star appearance, the ValleyoftheSuns team goes 3-on-3 to discuss Two Time’s present greatness and his future.
What’s impressed you most about Nash’s sublime first half?
Michael Schwartz: Really everything, but if I had to pick one thing it would have to be leading the league in assists by a wide margin with only one teammate among the top 74 players in the league in scoring average (Gortat at 35th). Nash’s 10.9 assists per game puts him the same distance ahead of second-place Rajon Rondo as Rondo leads No. 7 Tony Parker. At this point it almost seems like Nash could lead the league in assists with the Washington Generals.
Read more:
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