Suns at Pacers Game Thread

[FArting]

The Phoenix Suns began a four-game road trip with a dominating effort on Tuesday night, and they've played well on the road during their solid start.
But the Indiana Pacers have already proved that Conseco Fieldhouse may be a tough place for visitors to win this season.With the Pacers coming off an impressive victory in their home opener, their tough early schedule will continue on Wednesday when they look to snap a six-game losing streak against the Suns.

Phoenix (3-1) opened its season with a 103-98 win at San Antonio last Wednesday, and the Suns cruised to a much easier road win on Tuesday, overwhelming New Jersey 114-86 in the opener of their four-game trip against Eastern Conference opponents.After going 24-6 against East teams last season -- the best mark for any West club -- they picked up where they left off against the Nets, shooting 63 percent as seven different Phoenix players scored in double figures."We're building but I think we have a chance to have great chemistry," point guard Steve Nash said. "But it's important for us to keep working at it."

Nash had 12 points and 11 assists, Raja Bell made all six of his 3-point attempts and Shaquille O'Neal added 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting.Even with former head coach Mike D'Antoni now coaching the New York Knicks, the Suns seem to have remained just as efficient offensively, topping 100 points in three of their first four games under new coach Terry Porter.

"It's a tough call for any team when you have guys who can shoot the ball and fellas like Amare (Stoudemire) and Shaq in the post," Bell said. "You have to pick your poison. Some nights you pick, and what you pick works. Some nights everything is going and you can't do anything about it."If Indiana's home opener is any indication, however, the Suns will be in for a much tougher task on Wednesday. The Pacers (1-1) led early and pulled away for a 95-79 win over Boston, earning a rare lopsided win against a Celtics team that lost only three regular-season games by double digits en route to an NBA title last season.Danny Granger had 20 points and lost his front teeth diving for a loose ball, and newly acquired point guard T.J. Ford added 19 as the Pacers forced Boston into 24 turnovers as the Celtics shot 34.6 percent.

"I certainly think the fans saw a full-out effort for 48 minutes," Indiana coach Jim O'Brien said. "Nobody would say that the Indiana Pacers left anything on the court."The Pacers lost 100-94 at Detroit in their opener, but they've played well considering they're adjusting to a revamped roster after trading away Jermaine O'Neal in the offseason -- and playing without Mike Dunleavy, who remains out with a knee injury.New center Rasho Nesterovic, meanwhile, injured his ankle against the Celtics and is listed as doubtful for Wednesday's game, meaning Jeff Foster will likely draw the start against Phoenix.Having already played both East finalists from last season, the Pacers' schedule won't get any easier quite yet, as they travel to Cleveland Friday after facing Phoenix.

Indiana hasn't beaten the Suns since Jan. 15, 2005, when Reggie Miller was still in the Pacers' starting lineup for a 101-83 win. The Suns have averaged 115.2 points in their six victories against the Pacers since, although both of last season's meetings were close.The Suns used 42 points from Stoudemire to earn a 121-117 win in Indiana on Dec. 4, and they needed overtime to notch a 129-122 home victory on Jan. 9.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=281105011

 

[Ronin]

Suns 98
Pacers 95

 

[AnotherHOMER]

Suns 108
Nets 80

Roll on..

****

 

[LV-Suns]

Shaq sitting out tonight at Indiana
​

by Paul Coro - Nov. 5, 2008 04:20 PM
The Arizona Republic

Suns center Shaquille O'Neal will take a prescribed night off in tonight's game at Indiana.

Rookie center Robin Lopez will start in O'Neal's place as part of the Suns' plan to occasionally give O'Neal breaks when the schedule and/or opponents presents a good opportunity. Phoenix is playing the second game of a road back-to-back set and Indiana does not present a big, low-post presence at center with Jeff Foster starting.

Louis Amundson, Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw could all see time at the center spot in relief of Lopez, particularly if Lopez gets into foul trouble.

O'Neal scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds in 24 minutes Tuesday night at New Jersey. The 36-year-old does not have a health issue.

AZcentral

 

[Lynx280]

anyone got links to this? cant find anything on myp2p.eu

 

[LV-Suns]

anyone got links to this? cant find anything on myp2p.eu

This should on nba broadband free preview. Register with nba.com and watch it there

or

http://www.andromedanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1897&sid=5f15013a5430a34dc1f248aecd4cec1d

There is a little "maybe" message next to it. Check it out anyway when the game starts.

 

[jbeecham]

Matt Barnes left the team for a family emergency and Shaq is going to play now.

 

[LV-Suns]

turn over machines again

 

[Ronin]

turn over machines again

yup

 

[Ronin]

Nice Defensive play by Dragic

 

[S_Nash]

Feed The Beast!!!

 

[Sovereignz]

Amare looks like he could shoot 70% from the field this year. So efficient. And yes I know that's not going to happen . Still.

 

[LV-Suns]

I wish we could play some kind of defense there.

 

[Griffin]

We give up 38 points in the first quarter.

 

[Proteus]

Suns down 27-38 after 1 quarter. The Pacers are shooting 64% with 5/6 3 pointers. Ugh.

The Suns commited 7 turnovers.

Amare scored 21 points on 8/8 field goals and 5/5 free throws.

 

[Sovereignz]

Well if they shoot a normal % it's 32-27, but when a team that chucks a ton of 3 pointers shoots 83%, yeah, they're going to score a lot.

And we were actually one of the better teams against the 3 (% wise) last year if I remember correctly.

 

[Bayless2Budinger]

Diaw was worthless against Murphy and Granger dominated Hill. We could have really used Barnes on Granger.

 

[Ronin]

the pacers on fire.

 

[Sovereignz]

This 3 point shooting from Indiana is beyond ********.

 

[LV-Suns]

They cannot miss.

 

[LV-Suns]

Indy 9-12 from 3.

 

[Ronin]

Murphy is starting to miss his shots and the suns are down only three.(maybe)

 

[LV-Suns]

Indy up by 7.

Halftime

 

[Griffin]

Pretty poor defensive effort so far. A lot of the shots that Pacers made have been uncontested. Amare is having a huge game, but that won't be enough if we keep letting Pacers get anything they want on offense.

 

[Proteus]

Suns down 59-66 at the half. Suns shooting 55% with 3/10 3 pointers, Pacers shooting 61% with 9/14 3 pointers.

The Suns have committed 10 turnovers.

Amare has scored 27 points on 10/12 field goals and 7/7 free throws.