Suns Run Away From Warriors

The Phoenix Suns outran fellow fast break team, the Golden State Warriors, last night and unmercilessly beat them 128-105. The Warriors wanted a track meet and during the first quarter they were competitive but once Monta Ellis got into foul trouble the Warriors quickly crumbled. In the second quarter the Suns broke away from the Warriors with a combination of hot shooting and solid defense. Yes, defense. The Suns have the eighth best defense in the lig to run aside their league leading offense. Part of the reason for Monta Ellis being sent to the bench is from Suns defenders taking so many offensive fouls.

Shawn Marion's defense lead the way as he had a monster night racking up 24pts 17reb 3ast 3stl 3blk. The rest of the night it was the Suns bench who did most of the damage to the Warriors when they combined for 61 points. The bench was lead by Leandro Barbosa and a breakout game from James Jones, who shed his shooting slump in classy fashion. These two players were killing the Warriors all night. Barbosa continually pushed the tempo and the Warriors coouldn't keep up. Every time they scored Barbosa had an answer. James Jones shot lights out and forced a number of turnovers on the defensive end. These two pulled the legs out from underneath the Warriors. Marcus Banks even came in and contributed in very limited time as he has in the past few games. If he continues to play well he is going to see increased playing time.

This was the third time this year that the Suns handled the Warriors and each time it is getting easier. This is proof that the Suns continue to improve and I still believe they can get a whole lot better. This team seems to not have a ceiling. With the Dallas Mavericks losing to the Lakers last night the Suns can make a push to claim the best record in the league. We have enough firepower to easily contend for these honors which would give us home cour advantage throughout the playoffs. Coach Mike D'Antoni stated that this was the goal in the press conference after the game last night and I was thinking the exact same thing. I feel like the Suns are a better team than the Mavs but it's hard to measure it when we play like complete amateurs against them. I don't know if they get nervous or what but it's embarrasing. They didn't play Suns basketball against the Mavs last time we played them so it's difficult to compare the two teams.

I'm still not digging Amare's arm-pantyhose.