Drama In Sac-Town
Stoudemire had a big night, while Richardson had a big shot
Suns-102
Kings-100
Suns Boxscore |
Kings Boxscore
Richardson making the game winning shot over Mobley as time expired
PHOENIX, April 20 (Ticker) -- With a night full of excitement in the NBA, the last game played on the NBA calendar was very dramatic as the Suns vs. Kings game went down to the very end. In the season series, three of the four games have been decided within two points and tonight was one of those nights. Amare Stoudemire caught fire in the first half, scoring 21 points in the half and only missing three shots. He played a total of 46 minutes to finish his final game of the season with 37 points. He wasn’t the only one that had a big night on the Suns as Quentin Richardson shot 4-13 from the field for 12 points. Yes, that is a horrible shooting night, but what Richardson did in the last wining seconds changed things around a little bit.
Late in the 4th quarter, the Kings were making a 6-2 run and were able to gain a 96-94 lead with 2:48 remaining. The Suns only scored 15 points in the final quarter which was one of their lowest quarter spurts of the season. “We fell apart in the last quarter, but it was amazing how everything turned out,” Marion said. After neither team could score in the next minute, the Suns went down to Stoudemire as he worked the post against Brad Miller to make a hook shot over him. He tied the game at 96-96 with 1:45 left. On the Kings next possession, Bibby set up on the right wing and found Stojakovic at the free throw line who shot a short jumper over Jim Jackson to put the Kings up 98-96 with 1:25 left. Phoenix wanted to look for Stoudemire again in the post, but their pass was intercepted by Miller in the post which led to a fastbreak outlet to Mobley who slammed it in with 1:01 left in the game.
The Suns used one of their two timeouts remaining to advance the ball upcourt. “Coach was just telling us that the game wasn’t over yet,” Richardson said. “He knew that we could get up the court in a second and we just had to use some speed to try to make a small comeback.” Jackson inbounded the ball from the side to Nash, who saw Shawn Marion in the post guarded by Kenny Thomas. Marion isolated the slower Thomas and was able to get past him for a reverse layup to close the Suns gap to 100-98 with 49 seconds left. The Suns didn’t want to foul on the next possession, so they played it out. Stojakovic had the ball on the left wing and a quick double came from Marion who left Thomas open in the corner. Peja quickly passed the ball to Thomas who shot a long arch jumper from the corner that went off the back of the rim with 34 seconds as Stoudemire grabbed his 9th rebound of the game. Phoenix used their last timeout of the game to set up another play to try and tie the game up. “I told them that they would be looking for us to go inside so I wanted to give Nash the ball and let him work his magic,” Coach D’Antoni said. Nash setup at the top of the key against Bibby as a pick came from Stoudemire who rolled to the basket, but Nash spinned off Bibby who ran into Stoudemire which led to an open layup for Nash with 27 seconds left in the game. “It was a great play that we have done several times throughout the season, but not during a crunchtime situation like this,” Nash said.
Sacramento had no timeouts remaining so Rick Adelman called the play from the sideline to Bibby. Brad Miller caught a lob pass from Bibby in the post and Miller tried to back Stoudemire down, but couldn’t get good positioning. He passed it back out to Mobley on the wing, but the pass was stolen by Marion who was near Mobley with 14 seconds left. With no timeouts left, the Suns quickly gave the ball to Nash to advance it upcourt and Nash ran the same play with Stoudemire with the pick and roll, but no shot was open from it. He passed it out to Jackson who was guarded tightly as well. Jackson then found Richardson on the wing who was open from Mobley trying to double down on Stoudemire. Mobley quickly closed out on Richardson with 3 seconds left and Richardson launched the long 20 foot jumper as time expired and the ball hit all net with Mobley in his face. “The shot was definitely not planned out at all,” Richardson said. “It was just one of those desperation plays and luckily the ball went in.” The ARCO Arena crowd was stunned by the event and boo’ed the Suns off the court as they cheered. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t want Q taking the shot because of the way he was shooting, but I’m not always right,” Coach D’Antoni laughed. The win gave the Suns a 64-18 record to finish the season and they had their best month in franchise history with a 10-1 record.
Game Photos
Richardson shooting the one hand runner over the defense
Mobley getting the fastbreak dunk in last minute of the game
Jackson was one of many Suns who had a bad night from the field
Miller didn't have the same night he had a couple of games ago
Bibby getting ready to make his move towards the basket
Stoudemire shooting the fadeaway over Miller