Basketball Daily

The Houston Rockets met up with the Phoenix Suns who are fighting by a thin thread to have a chance at getting in the Playoff birth that starts in a few short weeks.  This was an exciting game that had many runs throughout, but it was the Suns who came away with a victory putting on a nice show in the fourth quarter.  The two big men, Yao and Shaq battled each other all night, and they really showcased both of their abilities.  This time around O’Neal got the better of Ming by playing some tight defense and popping in some alley-oop dunks over the huge 7+ footer.  The final score of the game was 114-109.

The top scorers for the Suns were Steve Nash with 25 points and Grant Hill with 23 points.  All of the Phoenix starters were in double figures distributing the ball quite well to each other.  The high scorer off the bench with 7 points was Jared Dudley who brought energy and tenacity to the team.  Phoenix improves their year long record to 41 wins and 34 losses.

The Phoenix Suns, who were on their last game of a three game road trip, met up with the worst team in the NBA, the Sacramento Kings.  The horrible defense of the Suns just don’t give them a chance to win games and the Kings took advantage of it beating them down without a real threat.  This is only the Kings 16th win in the season and they probably took the hopes out of the Suns from making the Playoffs this year who remain three games behind Dallas for the 8th spot.  The final score ended at 126-118.

Sacramento had 7 players in double figures with Jason Thompson leading the way with 21 points on 8 for 14 field goal shooting.  The center Spencer Hawes had a huge impact on the game scoring 20 points plus 10 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.  Francisco Garcia was high man off the bench with 19 points.  Now that the season is winding down, the Kings have to look forward to picking up a high draft pick and having more cohesion as a team.

The Phoenix Suns needing all the wins they can get, to try and make it to the Playoffs, got totally crushed against the home team Portland Trail Blazers.  It seemed somewhat competitive the first half, but then the Blazers completely dominated the Suns scoring at will and fighting on defense.  The final score ended at 129-109.

The leading scorers for the Blazers were Lamarcus Aldridge with 29 points, Brandon Roy with 26 points, Rudy Fernandez with 23 points and Steve Blake with 14 points.  Portland shot an impressive 60% field goal shooting as a team.  The Trail Blazers are a team that could be deadly in the Playoffs as they have pure talent with high athleticism players.  They improve their season long record to 45 wins and 27 losses.