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Arizona Republic
Suns need break after skid hits 5
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 12, 2004 12:00 AM
OAKLAND - Give the Suns a break before they break down anymore.
Phoenix stumbled into the All-Star break Wednesday, looking worse than the night before. The Suns took a vacation from the game plan against Golden State and got down by 20 points in the first quarter of a 110-99 loss, their fifth straight defeat since Amare Stoudemire's return.
The Suns were supposed to head into the final two months of the season with momentum but have regressed. The streak came at a time when they had hoped to close strong against four losing teams and Toronto, which is at .500.
Instead, Phoenix's 18-37 mark is the franchise's worst record at this point of the season since Kevin Johnson's first game as a Sun in 1988.
Disheartened by Tuesday's effort in losing a 14-point lead to Toronto, coach Mike D'Antoni did not feel any better about the Warriors' 15-0 run in the first quarter.
"We came out flat, no doubt about it," D'Antoni said. "I'm happy with the effort after the start. Sometimes, losing teams hang their heads and hopefully we can get out of this funk."
With Golden State's Brian Cardinal's 23 first-half points coming within one of a career high, Another One Bites the Dust played over The Arena in Oakland's sound system - in the second quarter. Cardinal finished with 32.
D'Antoni gave Jahidi White a rare start Wednesday to match up with Erick Dampier's big body. It worked briefly until Dampier got going with a dunk putback above White's back. Dampier had nine rebounds in the first quarter and a double-double by halftime.
The Suns showed spunk in the third quarter. Stoudemire, who began the night 0 for 6, had 29 of his season-high 33 points in the final three quarters.
"He's getting his rhythm back," D'Antoni said.
The Suns whittled Golden State's lead to 13 at the end of the third quarter and were as close as eight in the fourth with 3:19 to go.
The hole proved too deep, especially on a night of 20 Phoenix turnovers.
"We're going to start out brand new after the break," Shawn Marion said.
The only shine from the Suns came in Zarko Cabarkapa's return after six games out.
He had four points, five rebounds, two assists and four turnovers in 10 minutes.
"He's going to be a guy who puts up numbers. Some of them might be bad and we're going to work on it," D'Antoni said.
Suns need break after skid hits 5
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 12, 2004 12:00 AM
OAKLAND - Give the Suns a break before they break down anymore.
Phoenix stumbled into the All-Star break Wednesday, looking worse than the night before. The Suns took a vacation from the game plan against Golden State and got down by 20 points in the first quarter of a 110-99 loss, their fifth straight defeat since Amare Stoudemire's return.
The Suns were supposed to head into the final two months of the season with momentum but have regressed. The streak came at a time when they had hoped to close strong against four losing teams and Toronto, which is at .500.
Instead, Phoenix's 18-37 mark is the franchise's worst record at this point of the season since Kevin Johnson's first game as a Sun in 1988.
Disheartened by Tuesday's effort in losing a 14-point lead to Toronto, coach Mike D'Antoni did not feel any better about the Warriors' 15-0 run in the first quarter.
"We came out flat, no doubt about it," D'Antoni said. "I'm happy with the effort after the start. Sometimes, losing teams hang their heads and hopefully we can get out of this funk."
With Golden State's Brian Cardinal's 23 first-half points coming within one of a career high, Another One Bites the Dust played over The Arena in Oakland's sound system - in the second quarter. Cardinal finished with 32.
D'Antoni gave Jahidi White a rare start Wednesday to match up with Erick Dampier's big body. It worked briefly until Dampier got going with a dunk putback above White's back. Dampier had nine rebounds in the first quarter and a double-double by halftime.
The Suns showed spunk in the third quarter. Stoudemire, who began the night 0 for 6, had 29 of his season-high 33 points in the final three quarters.
"He's getting his rhythm back," D'Antoni said.
The Suns whittled Golden State's lead to 13 at the end of the third quarter and were as close as eight in the fourth with 3:19 to go.
The hole proved too deep, especially on a night of 20 Phoenix turnovers.
"We're going to start out brand new after the break," Shawn Marion said.
The only shine from the Suns came in Zarko Cabarkapa's return after six games out.
He had four points, five rebounds, two assists and four turnovers in 10 minutes.
"He's going to be a guy who puts up numbers. Some of them might be bad and we're going to work on it," D'Antoni said.
