A win is a win for the Suns
Box score
By Randy Hill
FOXSportsArizona.com
Jan. 28, 2011
PHOENIX -- In a demonstration of why they can be so frustrating to their loyal witnesses, the Phoenix Suns knocked off the Boston Celtics on Friday night at U.S. Airways Center.
OK, so the Celtics suited up what appeared to be a team full of holograms after working the late shift Thursday night in Portland and arriving at their Phoenix hotel around 4 a.m. It was one of those NBA stinkers for the Cs, who -- as a legit title threat -- also happen to qualify for basketball's seniors tour. So, with dead legs and having Sunday's play date with the Lakers in L.A. as a looming distraction/alibi, we'll give them a relative pass.
But with that disclaimer in the wind, let's not diminish what the 88-71 triumph represents for the Suns (21-24). First, it registers as the end of a three-game losing streak administered by a trio of sub-.500 Eastern Conference teams. Beating up on any team on the second night of a back-to-back predicament generally isn't sufficient for cartwheels, but the Suns have gone the other way often enough for their regular followers to derive satisfaction in taking down Boston (35-14), regardless of any scheduling break.
"To me, it's a win for our team," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "You guys can write about how tired they are."
Even with the Celtics operating on fumes, let's credit the Suns with coming out and going right at 'em. With this Phoenix team, we never can be sure what to expect. Cue the frustration. Anyway, with Thursday morning's emergency revival meeting -- a high-level event that included owner Robert Sarver and president Lon Babby -- as a reminder of how the season had been going sideways, the Suns had a timely uprising.
"I thought we did what we had to to win the game," Gentry said.
Although the Celtics contributed mightily by not moving the ball, the Suns took advantage by rotating at the right places at the right times, crowding passing lanes and bumping cutters. Steve Nash did a reasonable job of staying in front of Rajon Rondo, and when Boston's lackluster effort resulted in contested shots, Phoenix secured the rebounds.
When the Suns were on offense, Boston center Shaquille O'Neal looked like a giant green light just begging for the Suns to run screen-roll with Nash and whoever was playing center. The starter continues to be Robin Lopez, who -- despite missing three of four early free throws and a couple of open shots -- rolled to the hoop for seven first-quarter points (he finished with 11). The aggressive performance by Lopez resulted in two quick fouls for O'Neal and Kendrick Perkins, removing two large basket-area impediments.
In addition to having one of the NBA's worst screen-roll-defending post players (Shaq), Celtics coach Doc Rivers chose not to clog the middle as thoroughly as the Cs usually do, and ordered his defenders to hug the Suns' perimeter guns in a gamble that Lopez and Marcin Gortat would be less productive than wide-open 3-point shooters.
"We felt that they (Celtics) were going to have a big guy over on the weak side," Gentry said, "and using pick-and-roll we could get some shots inside or at least get some movement anyway."
By halftime, Gortat (a career high 19 points and 17 rebounds) and Lopez had combined for 24 points and the Cs were down 49-35. Rivers actually checked out over seven minutes earlier, provoking referee Steve Javie into rewarding him with a pair of technical fouls. Doc was joined in the early exit department by Kevin Garnett, whose interesting method of contesting a Channing Frye 3-point attempt (a shot below the waist) late in the fourth quarter led to a final Boston tally of six technical fouls. Remember, Rasheed Wallace no longer wears the green.
"I don't have any comment on that," Gentry said. "We'll let tough guys be tough guys."
What Gentry's team didn't do was let the Celtics off the mat long enough to muster sufficient energy for a decisive rally. Shooting 34.2 percent for the game, the league's field-goal-percentage leaders did cut their deficit to nine with 5:38 to play, but Garnett's interpretation of junk defense occurred at the 4:07, giving Nash a series of technical free throws, followed by Frye's trip to the line.
"I never felt like we lost control of the game," Gentry, whose team held Boston to its lowest scoring output of the season, said.
With the smokin'-hot New Orleans Hornets hitting town on Sunday, followed by visits from the Milwaukee Bucks (Wednesday) and Oklahoma City Thunder (Friday), beating Boston may help prevent this five-game home stand from turning into sprint toward the lottery.
"It means a lot to us; that's how we have to play every night," said Suns swingman Mickael Pietrus, who hadn't been playing every night, but had more than 24 minutes against the Cs in Gentry's commitment to a more hard-nosed approach. "We fought to get that win tonight and I think everybody came out to play."