Suns Win Championship!!!
Shawn Marion gets Finals MVP honors
FINAL 1 2 3 4 T
Suns 26 17 34 32 109
Heat 31 20 20 33 104
Suns-109
Heat-104
The Suns finished the season in perfect fashion
MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- It all started at the beginning of the season when the team went 12-2 in their first month. They looked as though they had something special going on in Phoenix and that was the correct answer. Only losing 18 games this season, this Suns team became the best team in their franchise history period. They broke many franchise records and some of them broke their own records. The Suns accomplished the impossible making one of the biggest turnarounds in sports history, going from one of the worse teams in the league to the NBA Champions.
Eddie Jones helped unite a 5-0 Heat rua t the start of the 4th quarter that moved Miami within' 1-point. The Suns were on a 3-1 fastbreak and Wade gave up a foul on Nash instead of letting them go, and he fouled out at the 7:01 mark with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists. Phoenix went back up by 7 points after Barbosa dished the ball to a wide open Marion on the baseline for a jumper. The Suns then increased their lead to 96-86 once Jim Jackson 3-pointer went down. The Heat made a firece run heading into the home stretch when Damon Jones nailed a 3 to make it 100-98 at the 1:49 mark.
Shawn Marion was doubled in the post with the shot clock running down, so he passed it out to an open R ichardson who nailed the 3-dagger that put the Suns up 105-100 with 39 secs left. On the other end, Damon Jones drove inside for a layup to cut the deficit to 3 points with 28 secs left. Shaq ended up fouling Nash with 25.4 secs left ot put him on the line. Nash made both free throws to put Phoenix up 107-102 and miami had no timeouts to use. The Heat hurried down the floor and passed it inside to Shaq, who quickly made a layup, then Miami fouled Nash again off the inbounds with 14.5 seconds remaining. He neded up making both and the Heat inbounded the ball. Damon Jones passed it ot Haslem who missed a wide open jumper, and Marion grabbed the rebound with 7.5 seconds left. Miami didn't foul surprisingly and the Suns finished the season with a championship.
SUNS HEAD COACH MIKE D’ANTONI
"This has to be the best day in the Suns franchise history. It's just so exciting right now and there is no words to explain it. These players came out and showed courage and as an underdog, they knew all along that they had it in them to win this series. They have been through a long season and finished with the best record, and to top it off, we wni the championship. It's a great feeling."
SUNS FORWARD SHAWN MARION (22 PTS, 9 REBS, 6 ASTS):
"It was shocking to me that I won the Finals MVP. I was thinking it would be either Nash or Amare, but it was very surprising. The adreneline was so high that I didn't care that I even won MVP because I was so happy that we won the 'BIG CHIP'. The management did a great job in the off-season just going in and getting some big time free agents and you just can't stop thanking Coach, because he brought us in as a unit and gave us a certain style of basketball."
SUNS GUARD/FORWARD QUENTIN RICHARDSON (20 PTS, 4 REBS):
"OH MAN, I can't believe it. I'm just speechless right now. After being in city for my entire NBA career, I go to another team and in my first year with that team, we win the championship. It's the best feeling in the world and I'm just proud to say that I'm apart of this organization.
SUNS STEVE NASH (18 PTS, 8 ASTS):
"My teammates are some of the greatest teammates a point guard can ever have. All season long, they've knocked down baskets, grabbed rebounds, kept running the break and they never missed a beat. THey followed me as a leader of the team for the first season and it took alot of discipline for them to actual play the style of play we played. It's great to finally win one of these things (trophy) and I'm not even ready for a vacation because I want to start next season right now."
HEAT HEAD COACH STAN VAN GUNDY
"You have to give Phoenix alot of credit. They played great in the series and after that first game, they never missed a step and made sure they did everything in their power to stop us. They arose to the occasion and we didn't. They just outplayed us in the series and even though they were the underdogs, they didn't listen to all the hype and media. They went out and did their thing."
NO OTHER HEAT PLAYERS DIDN'T COMMENT AFTER THE GAME
Heat -
Team-
Suns
46-Rebounds-44
26-Assists-28
6-Steals-8
5-Blocks-4
20-Fouls-19
11-TO's-12
42/89-FG-41/91
5/17-3PFG-7/20
15/23-FT-20/22
13-Off. Reb-11
33-Def. Reb-33
S. O'neal- 15pts, 11rebs, 2blks
U. Haslem- 12pts, 12rebs
E. Jones- 36pts, 6rebs
D. Jones- 19pts, 6rebs, 4asts
K. Dooling- 2pts, 3asts
A. Mourning- 2pts, 1reb
D. Wade- 16pts, 6rebs, 11asts
A. Stoudemire- 17pts, 12rebs, 2asts
S. Marion- 22pts, 9rebs, 6asts, 2stls
Q. Richardson- 20pts, 4rebs, 5asts
J. Johnson- 18pts, 7rebs, 3asts
S. Nash- 18pts, 8asts, 3stls
L. Barbosa- 2pts, 3asts
W. McCarty- 7pts, 4rebs
J. Jackson- 5pts
S. Hunter- 4rebs, 2blks
Game Photos
The Suns' players running off the bench after the horn sound
Wade's double-double wasn't enough to keep Miami alive
Nash dribbling behind the back to shake Wade
Shaq lost two straight times in the Finals
Joe Johnson using two hands like his momma told him
Eddie Jones scored a playoff career-high 36 points
Wade passing the ball after hustling to the floor
Stoudemire igniting the Suns in the 3rd quarter