Suns @ Thunder

[Ronin]

The Suns had trouble with the Thunder, Suns are favored by nine in this one.

The Phoenix Suns suffered a gut-wrenching loss in their latest game, watching a buzzer-beating 3-pointer wipe out what would have been an impressive victory.
A trip to Oklahoma City should bring back a more pleasant memory.

The Suns will look to get over their last-second Christmas loss on Monday night when they visit the Thunder, who blew a big fourth-quarter lead in their first meeting with Phoenix.

Phoenix (16-12) had won three of four games and five of seven heading into a matchup with Western Conference nemesis San Antonio on Christmas. After Grant Hill gave the Suns a 90-88 lead, it looked like they'd get a measure of revenge for being ousted by the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs last season, but San Antonio had one more chance.

Following a timeout, Tony Parker drove into the lane and kicked the ball to Roger Mason, who knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to hand Phoenix a 91-90 loss.

"We played good enough to win," said Amare Stoudemire, who had team highs of 25 points and 13 rebounds. "Every time we play the Spurs some type of big shot ends up happening."

Despite the loss, the Suns got another big game from Shaquille O'Neal, who's continuing to show he can still be a force in the paint. O'Neal had 23 points and 12 rebounds against Tim Duncan and San Antonio, and he's averaging 23.8 points and 9.4 rebounds in his last five games.

Phoenix didn't have O'Neal on Nov. 25, when it traveled to Oklahoma City. The aging center is occasionally sitting out when the Suns play games on back-to-back nights, so he skipped the team's first game against the Thunder (3-28).

For the first three quarters, Phoenix definitely seemed to miss O'Neal. It trailed by 12 points with under 10 minutes to play, but that's when Oklahoma City fell apart. The Suns closed the game on a 25-12 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Matt Barnes with 25 seconds left to seal a 99-98 victory.

Steve Nash sparked the comeback in that game, finishing with 20 points -- 12 in the fourth -- along with 15 assists and eight rebounds.

That was the 12th straight loss for the Thunder, who went on to lose twice more before snapping their lengthy skid.

Oklahoma City has lost four in a row and 12 of 13 since a win at Memphis on Nov. 29, but it's been more competitive than earlier in the season. Ten of the Thunder's first 14 losses were by more than 10 points, but just two of their last 14 have been by that much.

They lost by single digits in their latest game, but it was far from an encouraging result. In a matchup of the worst team in the East and the worst team in the West, Washington beat Oklahoma City 104-95 on Saturday.

"It's no fun having three wins, but it's important we stay together and we continue to compete for one another," interim coach Scott Brooks said.

"Not one guy in this locker room is a loser. Unfortunately, we are not getting wins like we feel like we should."

Kevin Durant continued to be the lone bright spot for the Thunder, scoring 25 points for his seventh straight game with at least that many. The No. 2 pick in last year's draft had 29 in the November loss to Phoenix.

The Thunder franchise has lost six in a row against the Suns.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=281229025

 

[btimsah]

I live in Oklahoma City, and while they have gotten better offensively. . . The defense is still a nightmare. However, if the Suns go into an offensive slump they could look up and be down 20 against this young team.

I have a feeling the Thunder will pull this out.

 

[LavaLamp2]

I have a feeling the Thunder will pull this out.

The Thunder almost did at their last meeting. I am hoping the Suns play well and win this by 15 points.

 

[mjb21aztd]

I think the suns pull this out pretty easily, also Richardson and Amare both have huge games.

Suns 113

Thunder 96

Leading scorer Richardson 24 pts

 

[dodie53]

2 game threads?

go suns!

 

[Ronin]

OKC hasn't missed a field goal.

 

[Andrew]

Damn, you would think we would want to pounce on the Thunder, down by 9

 

[Proteus]

Great d...giving up 12 pts on 5/5 field goals in the 1st 3 minutes of the game.

Suns down 6-15 with 8:35 left in the 1st quarter. Thunder have hit 6/6 field goals.

 

[Sovereignz]

Gee, four minutes in and a rookie who shoots about 35% looks like the second coming of Kevin Johnson when he's going up against Steve Nash. Shocking. Just add Westbrook to the scrub list of Brevin Knight, Rafer Alston, Aaron Brooks and others who have torched the hell out of us.

 

[cly2tw]

We need to correct a lot of bad habits on defense. Last 3pt, Nash was too far away trying to pack the pain. Amare was not boxing out on the shot before!

 

[Sovereignz]

This is a joke. Two time MVP getting absolutely abused by a terrible rookie.

 

[slinslin]

Nash's defense is at an all time low..

 

[Andrew]

This was supposed to be a gimme game, damn...

 

[btimsah]

It's youthful exuberance versus veteran intelligence out there. Btw, the Thunder have been shooting the ball very well. THe other night versus the wizard by the first timeout of the game they were shooting 68%.

 

[Proteus]

Suns down 15-23 with 5:22 left in the 1st quarter. Suns shooting 58%, Thunder 75%.

Westbrook scores 13 points a game, shoots 39% from the field and 28% from the 3 yet today he has 15 points already on 6/6 field goals 3/3 3 pointers.

 

[Proteus]

Bench Nash.

 

[slinslin]

I like how Amare's passing game is growing the more we play through him and Shaq in the halfcourt.

We dont need Nash out there so much against this team, they cant guard Shaq and Amare anyway just get some capable defender in there on Westbrook.

 

[Sovereignz]

I like how Amare's passing game is growing the more we play through him and Shaq in the halfcourt.

Yep. For whatever reason he doesn't seem to be the same scorer we saw towards the end of last year, but he's made up for it with his vision.

Somehow we're only down 5 right now.

 

[Ronin]

Nice play by Barbosa

 

[elindholm]

Westbrook has been getting better every week. I'm not watching the game, so I can't comment on Nash's defense, but it's not like he's getting lit up by a total scrub. In fact Westbrook is pretty easily a top-five rookie these days, in my opinion.

 

[btimsah]

Steve tightend up.

 

[carey]

Nash leaving the arena, wonder what's up. Defense is still atrocious. Time to see what we can do without Stevie....

 

[carey]

I hate the OKC announcers. They're trying to hard to get people excited. I know it's hard when you only have 5 or 6 wins, but they celebrate fouls like you just won game 7 of the finals or something... (o.k. not quite that bad...)

 

[Andrew]

Barnes with the 3...I hope Nash is okay

 

[Andrew]

They had to replay 1.2 seconds in the first lol