Amare Stoudemire lived up to his nickname STAT, scoring 25 points on 8-14 shooting and grabbing 12 boards, 4 of which were offensive. However Amare was not around when his team needed him most. After picking up a technical foul earlier in the fourth quarter, Stoudemire complained when he was called for traveling late in the fourth quarter and was tossed from the game.
With Amare out of the game, the New Jersey Nets were able to complete their comeback, led by PG Devin Harris who scored 47 points and was 17-17 from the free-throw line. It was the second straight game that an opposing player has scored 40 or more points against the Suns, as Dwyane Wade dropped 43 on PHX on Friday night.
Vince Carter scored 28 points of his own on 9-19 shooting and helped New Jersey earn their first victory in Phoenix since 1993.
The Suns looked good early, but lost their offensive rhythm in the second half, and were unable to get anything going after STAT was ejected. Steve Nash went off for 26 points while passing out 9 dimes and turning the ball over just 3 times. However, the Suns as a team were once again plagued by turnovers, recording 22 which led to 28 New Jersey points.
Matt Barnes and Raja Bell both had good shooting nights. Barnes was 6-8 from the field for 18 points, while Bell was 5-8 for 13 points. Leandro Barbosa gave the Suns a spark off the bench in the first half but could hardly get off the pine in the second, playing just 14 minutes total.
Sean Singletary was once again chosen over Goran Dragic to back-up Nash. Dragic is now averaging 2.8 points per game and has only played once in Phoenix’s last five games.
The Lopez twins got their second opportunity to dance, with Brook clearly getting the better of Robin. In 30 minutes of play Brook scored 12 points and collected 7 boards while Robin had 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 blocks in his 7 minutes.
The Suns and owner Robert Sarver had a heart to heart chat after practice on Saturday, so it was disappointing to see what started out as a solid performance for Phoenix go by the wayside when Stoudemire put himself before the team.
The Suns will get two days to regroup before heading to New Orleans to face Chris Paul’s Hornets Wednesday night.
In a game that was dubbed the “Survival Bowl,” the Arizona State Sun Devils set a team record for defensive touchdowns in a game with 4 as they kept their bowl hopes while crushing the Bruins chances.
ASU’s offense was limited to just two field goals, however it didn’t matter as the UCLA Bruins Kevin Craft threw three interceptions which led to three Devils defensive touchdowns.
The first came with 6:03 remaining in the first half as the Devils were already leading 7-3 on recovered fumble which was returned 17 yards for a TD. Kevin Craft had his pass intercepted by Travis Goethel who returned the ball 38 yards to put ASU up 14-3.
A Kai Forbath 38 yard field goal would close the ASU lead to 14-6 at halftime.
Thomas Weber hit his first FG of the game early in the third quarter to put the Sun Devils up 17-6, but Forbath and the Bruins countered with another field goal to narrow the lead once again.
In the fourth quarter it was time once again for the Maroon and Gold defense to shine. Just as UCLA was threatening deep in the red zone, Kevin Craft under-threw a pass which was stolen by Troy Nolan who returned the pigskin 100 yards to widen the lead to 24-9.
No sooner did the Bruins get the ball back then they once again would cough it up. This time Mike Nixon intercepted Kevin Craft’s throw, running it back 45 yards for the Devils fourth defensive touchdown of the night, sealing the deal 31-9.
If the nail wasn’t already in the coffin, then Weber gave it an extra tap for good measure, hitting his second field goal of the evening, making the score 34-9.
Interestingly enough, the Bruins recorded 304 total offensive yards to ASU’s measly 121, and possessed the football for nearly 10 minutes longer than the Devils.
Keegan Herring carried the ball 13 times for just 31 yards, while Rudy Carpenter was 13/26 passing for 101 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception.
If the Devils want to become bowl eligible they will have to beat U of A, who is already bowl eligible, next weekend in Tucson.
Steve Nash was unable to go with stiffness just prior to game time, and Dwyane Wade was ready to steal the show, dropping a season high 43 on Phoenix.
The Suns were once again plagued by turnovers with 19 on the night. Planet Orange looked lost most of the game, unable to get anything going offensively, they resorted to one-on-one play and never could grab a lead.
The game was hyped by Shawn Marion’s return to Phoenix, and Shaquille O’Neil’s first game against the team he led to an NBA title. Shaq was 6-8 from the field, scoring 12 points and grabbing 9 boards. The Matrix was just 5-13 from the field for 10 points in 37 minutes of action.
Sean Singletary started in place of Steve Nash, but saw little action after the first quarter, playing just 11 minutes while scoring 6 points, passing out 2 dimes, and grabbing to rebounds. Leandro Barbosa came in off the bench firing at will, attempting more shots than any other player on the floor – except Dwyane Wade who took 24. The Blur was 9-20 from the field, leading Phoenix with his 20 points and 5 assists.
Robin Lopez was the only Phoenix Sun, aside from the injured Steve Nash, not to see game action in the blowout.
Up next the Suns will look to turn it around Sunday evening as they play host to the 7-7 New Jersey Nets.
It was the Arizona Cardinals that that tasted like turkey this Thanksgiving as Donovan McNabb threw for 260 yards and 4 touchdown passes and Brian Westbrook scored 4 times as the Eagles won the battle of the birds on Turkey Day.
Philly got out to an early 21-7 lead as Westbrook scored three of his Eagles single-game record-tying four TDs in the first half and never looked back.
The Cardinals were once again plagued by turnovers, as Kurt Warner threw three interceptions, two of which came in the first quarter. Add in an Anquan Boldin fumble and many non-local fans found themselves unexpectedly thankful to not have the NFL Network to witness this slaughter.
Boldin had a forgettable holiday performance with several dropped passes and two fumbles. With the Cardinals threatening their first score from deep in the red zone in the first half Boldin dropped a would be touchdown-scoring pass. A few plays later he dropped yet another TD pass, however it was ruled that he was held and the Cardinals received an automatic first down, setting up a Larry Fitzgerald 1 yard TD reception to bring the Cards within 14, down 21-7.
The Eagles however were able to answer back in the closing seconds of the first half, adding a field goal that put them up 24-7 at halftime.
With 6:17 remaining in the third quarter, Brian Westbook ran the ball in for his fourth touchdown of the game.
Kurt Warner finally started to get it going, anwering back with a touchdown pass to Steve Breaston less than 3 minutes later. However the Cards missed the two-point conversion and found themselves down 13-31. Philadelphia’s David Akers hit a field goal with 23 seconds remaining in the third put increase Philly’s lead to 34-13 at the end of the quarter.
The Cards had a chance to make it a game again early in the fourth quarter after Larry Fitzgerald’s second TD reception closed the lead to 20-34. The Arizona defense held the Eagles on their next drive and Arizona got the ball back with just under 13 minutes remaining and a chance to cut the lead to one TD with a score. However, on the first play of the drive Warner was hit, but still found Anquan Boldin who caught the ball, but immediately coughed it up as he was hit.
As a result, on the ensuing drive Philly’s DeSean Jackson caught a pass from Donvan McNabb to seal the deal for the Eagles, putting them up 41-28. McNabb, for good measure, threw one more TD pass to Jason Avant before calling it a night and taking a well deserved rest on the Eagle’s bench.
The Cardinals will have over a week to regroup before they host the Rams at University of Phoenix Stadium on December 7th. The Minnesota Vikings will visit the following week before the Cardinals head New England to play the Patriots on December 21st.
The Devils looked impressive as they easily handled the Charlotte 49ers on Thanksgiving, improving to 4-0 on the season. Sun Devil forward Jeff Pendergraph scored 23 points and grabbed 10 boards to lead ASU to victory in their opening game of the three day 76 Classic tournament in Anaheim.
James Harden added 15 points for the Devils, but the star of the evening was the ASU defense which held the 49ers to 34.4 percent shooting. “I thought our defense kind of paved the way,” said Sun Devil head coach Herb Sendek.
Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz praised the Devils defense saying, “their defense was excellent… they’re very aggressive on the ball, play the passing lanes very well, pinch any drives and communicate extremely well.”
After stealing a game Tuesday night in Oklahoma City, Steve Nash led the Suns to an easier victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves with his 20 points and 6 assists. Shaquille O’Neil returned to the lineup after sitting out against the Thunder and was impressive, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 boards in 33 minutes of action.
The Suns took a 59-43 lead into halftime, but Minnesota closed the gap in the third quarter thanks to the Wolves center Al Jefferson. Jefferson had a monster game, scoring 28 points and pulling down 17 rebounds, 12 of which were offensive.
By the end of the third quarter the Wolves had pulled within 8 points, outscoring Phoenix 29-21 in the period.
The Suns starters all scored in double-figures. Matt Barnes had 12 points, but was 0-4 from behind the 3pt line. Amare Stoudemire scored 16 points while attempting just 9 shots, but was 8-9 from the free-throw line to bring his FT percentage to nearly 84 percent on the season. The aforementioned Diesel scored his 18 points on 7 of 13 shooting from the field and 4-9 from the line. Raja Bell was hot going 6-8 from the field including 3-3 from downtown.
Leandro Barbosa scored 9 off the bench in his second game since returning to the team after his mother passed away in Brazil. Goran Dragic recorded another DNP as Terry Porter opted for backup point guard Sean Singletary who played 20 minutes and scored 8 points. Boris Diaw did not attempt a field goal in his 22 minutes of play.
Minnesota received help off the pine from Rashad McCants who dropped 12 points in just 10 minutes.
Phoenix will take Turkey Day off before opening a 2 game weekend homestand Friday as they host former-Sun Shawn Marion and the 7-8 Miami Heat on ESPN. The Suns will play the New Jersey Nets Sunday evening before heading to New Orleans to do battle on Wednesday.
It was an up and down game, but in the end the Suns managed to outscore the Blazers in every quarter but the fourth, in which both teams had 30 points. Shaquille O’Neil had another monster game with 19 points, 17 boards and two blocks.
Raja Bell seemed to break out of his shooting funk late in the game, hitting three big three pointers to seal the deal for Phoenix. Bell finished the game with 14 points.
Steve Nash had a performance more similar to that of recent years as the Suns returned to their run-and-gun style with their captain shooting 6-7 from the field and 2-2 from downtown to finish the game with 16 points and 7 assists.
The win took an all-around team effort, STAT put up 17 points, and Grant Hill and Boris Diaw provided scoring off the bench with 15 and 10 respectively.
Despite the nagging defense of Raja Bell, Brandon Roy was still able to post 26 points, but on only 10-23 from the field. Steve Blake got hot in the second half to help close the Phoenix lead and bring the Portland back into the game. Blake finished with 22 points including 4-8 shooting from beyond the arch.
The Suns will look to win their second straight game as they travel to Oklahoma City to face the woeful 1-13 Thunder on Tuesday.
The Arizona Diamondbacks days in Tucson appear to be numbered. This week it was announced that the Chicago White Sox would be heading north to Glendale beginning this spring to join the Los Angeles Dodgers in the brand new “Camelback Ranch” facility. Arizona shared the Tucson Electric Park facility with Chicago since entering the league in 1998. That leaves Arizona and Colorado as the only two teams remaining in Tucson.
Both the D-Backs and Rockies have told the City of Tucson that they need at least four teams in Tucson in order for them to stay. It appears highly unlikely that Tucson will be able to woo any teams away from The Valley where teams are able to cut down on travel times due to the close proximity of ballparks and number of shared facilities.
It is widely believed that the Diamondbacks could move to the Gila River Indian Reservation. Gila River Casinos is the presenting sponsor of D-Backs baseball and would figure to have significant interest in building the team a new facility.
The Diamondbacks announced on their website Friday that they have made their first free agent offer of the offseason. As expected, they made an offer to free agent second baseman Ramon Vazquez. Vazquez, a lefty, would replace Orlando Hudson who the Snakes would love to keep but is simply out of their price range, just like Randy Johnson and free agents Trevor Hoffman and Kerry Wood.
Vazquez hit .290 last season for the Texas Rangers and had an on-base percentage of .365. It looks as though the Diamondbacks will have some competition for Vazquez’s services however, with his agent, Melvin Roman confirming that Vazquez has received offers from the D-Backs and another team.
Considering tonight’s renewal of the Phoenix vs LA rivalry I thought I’d add some fuel to the fire. Here’s Shaq’s Kobe rap from last June. Shaq claimed then, and again last week that he has no hard feelings for Kobe. Maybe not, but this video remains a classic.
It was revlead today that three weeks ago the Cardinals general manager, Rod Graves received a call from Drew Rosenhaus, Edgerrin James’s agent asking if the Cards would consider releasing James. Graves said the Cardinals “declined it as a consideration.”
Drew Rosenhaus called Graves after James was benched against St. Louis. Since then James has had only three carries for a total of five yards.
Graves went on to say that releasing James “didn’t make sense on several fronts.” Tim Hightoweris Arizona primary running back, with J.J. Arrington also receiving significant carries. James would still be a viable backup option should either of the two get injured.