Suns Give Celtics Familiar L

The Suns managed to win on the second night of a back to back after a long recess for all star break and a couple starters having some extended time off due to injury. They managed to put this game away in the fourth 118-108. Leo was on fire in the fourth and held off the Celts as they tried to get back into the game.

Leandro went six of seven from three. I'd venture to say he was on fire. Good timing too because Amare went cold in the fourth despite doing a ton of damage in the first three quarters. I never thought I'd see Amare going for 32 and 12. Honestly, he's probably the best big man in the game right now. They said it right during the gamecast, he's only 24 but he plays way more mature and well-rounded for his age. He is playing like a seasoned veteran. I guess all that time on the bench didn't get pissed away. The man learned a lot.

I know the Association has its "future annointed leaders" in 'Melo, Dwyane and LeBron, but those three are going to have a difficult time keeping up with Amare. During the 04-05 season all the hoopla went to LeBron while Amare was the most dominating figure in the NBA, and he couldn't understand why. Me either.

Anyways, it was a good win. It will help the team get the rust off and prepare them for the final third of the season and playoffs. Although, Charles Barkley still criticizes everything the Suns do, including the players minutes. He doesn't want the Suns to win a championship and his jealous tirades have gone too far.

He openly criticized Coach Mike's coaching on Tuesday's broadcast saying baseless things like all the players get too tired in the playoffs because they log so many minutes in the regular season. Coach Mike has played an eight man rotation for most of the season, sometimes less, often more. In the past two playoff runs we've had significant injuries that kept us from advancing, not fatigue. It is out of Charles' own spite for this team that he rants but Coach Mike strikes back:

After former Suns star and current TNT analyst Charles Barkley criticized D'Antoni's short rotation and challenged him to use his reserves more, D'Antoni said he wasn't sure he should take basketball advice from someone who "choked" away championships and had his own playoff conditioning questioned.

Quite a nice little bitch slap there. I know I wouldn't want some ig'nant, loud-mouthed "analyst" questioning my career moves.