GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NBA: CLEVELAND (1-1) at PHOENIX (1-1)

NBA: CLEVELAND at PHOENIX

<div class="pre">NBA CLEVELAND 92
PHOENIX 103 FINAL</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at PHOENIX

<div class="pre">NBA FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CLEVELAND 22 23 19 28 92
PHOENIX 21 17 31 34 103 FINAL

HIGH SCORERS: CLE - LEBRON JAMES 27, ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS 22,
DREW GOODEN 22
PHO - STEVE NASH 30, SHAWN MARION 23, BORIS
DIAW 16</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at PHOENIX

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NBA
CLEVELAND 92
PHOENIX 103 FINAL</div>

 

By Jonathan Dalton
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


PHOENIX (Ticker) - The Phoenix Suns needed a full half beforerecovering their shooting touch and giving coach Mike D'Antonihis 200th career.


Steve Nash had 30 points and 10 assists and Shawn Marion 23 and12 rebounds as the Suns rallied to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers,103-92, on Sunday night.


D'Antoni, who began his coaching career with the Denver Nuggetsduring the strike-shortened 1998-99 season, improved to 214-146in five-plus campaigns.


Boris Diaw scored 16 points and Leandro Barbosa chipped in 14off the bench for Phoenix, which has won nine straight in theseries and 14 of the last 17 meetings overall.


Diaw got his start of the season in place of All-Star centerAmare Stoudemire, who sat out to rest his sore right knee onwhich he had surgery in the offseason.


Nash gave the Suns their first lead since the first quarter,57-55, on a driving layup with 4:15 left in the third quarter.Barbosa added a three-point play and Raja Bell sank his second3-pointer of the period with 35 seconds to go to take a 69-64edge into the final quarter.


LeBron James hit a long 3-pointer and drove the lane for anuncontested dunk to pull Cleveland within 71-69 at the 10:45mark. But Barbosa and Brian Skinner combined to score eightstraight points to create a 10-point advantage with 8:23remaining.


Cleveland made one last push and closed within 89-85 on ZydrunasIlgauskas' layup with just over four minutes to go. However,Nash connected on a 3-pointer from the right wing and added a16-footer to regain control.


James collected 27 points and eight boards and Ilgauskas andDrew Gooden poured in 22 each for Cleveland, which dropped thefirst of its six-game Western Conference trip.

 

By Jonathan Dalton
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


PHOENIX (Ticker) - The Phoenix Suns needed a full half beforerecovering their shooting touch and giving coach Mike D'Antonihis 200th win in the desert.


Steve Nash had 30 points and 10 assists and Shawn Marion 23 and12 rebounds as the Suns rallied to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers,103-92, on Sunday night.


D'Antoni, who began his coaching career with the Denver Nuggetsduring the strike-shortened 1998-99 season, improved to 214-146in five-plus campaigns.


Boris Diaw scored 16 points and Leandro Barbosa chipped in 14off the bench for Phoenix, which has won nine straight in theseries and 14 of the last 17 meetings overall.


Diaw got his start of the season in place of All-Star centerAmare Stoudemire, who sat out to rest his sore right knee onwhich he had surgery in the offseason.


Nash gave the Suns their first lead since the first quarter,57-55, on a driving layup with 4:15 left in the third quarter.Barbosa added a three-point play and Raja Bell sank his second3-pointer of the period with 35 seconds to go to take a 69-64edge into the final quarter.


LeBron James hit a long 3-pointer and drove the lane for anuncontested dunk to pull Cleveland within 71-69 at the 10:45mark. But Barbosa and Brian Skinner combined to score eightstraight points to create a 10-point advantage with 8:23remaining.


Cleveland made one last push and closed within 89-85 on ZydrunasIlgauskas' layup with just over four minutes to go. However,Nash connected on a 3-pointer from the right wing and added a16-footer to regain control.


James collected 27 points and eight boards and Ilgauskas andDrew Gooden poured in 22 each for Cleveland, which dropped thefirst of its six-game Western Conference trip.

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at PHOENIX

<div class="pre">CLEVELAND (92) AT PHOENIX (103)

CLEVELAND

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

L JAMES F 43:13 11-26 2-2 1 4 5 8 0 2 3 27
D GOODEN F 38:01 10-16 2-4 1 13 14 0 3 0 4 22
Z ILGAUSKAS C 37:08 9-20 4-4 7 6 13 0 5 0 1 22
L HUGHES G 30:01 3-9 0-0 0 2 2 4 4 1 5 6
D GIBSON G 38:12 2-5 1-2 0 4 4 4 5 1 4 6
DA JONES 23:05 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 2 1 0 1 3
I NEWBLE 12:33 2-4 0-0 3 4 7 0 2 0 1 4
S PAVLOVIC 17:47 1-5 0-0 0 4 4 1 1 0 1 2
DW JONES DNP - COACH'S DECISION
D BROWN DNP - COACH'S DECISION
S BROWN DNP - COACH'S DECISION
C SIMMONS DNP - COACH'S DECISION

TOTALS 240:00 39-88 9-12 12 39 51 19 21 4 20 92
(.443) (.750) TEAM REBS: 7 TOTAL TO: 22 (21 PTS)

PHOENIX

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

G HILL F 40:08 4-12 0-0 3 2 5 2 5 3 0 8
S MARION F 45:42 7-17 7-8 2 10 12 1 2 2 1 23
B DIAW C 37:44 6-12 4-4 0 8 8 3 5 2 3 16
R BELL G 40:29 3-13 0-0 2 3 5 0 2 0 1 8
S NASH G 35:10 12-19 5-5 0 4 4 10 0 1 5 30
L BARBOSA 23:26 6-14 2-6 0 2 2 2 1 1 0 14
B SKINNER 12:34 2-2 0-2 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 4
M BANKS 4:47 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
E PIATKOWSKI DNP - COACH'S DECISION
A TUCKER DNP - COACH'S DECISION
D STRAWBERRY DNP - COACH'S DECISION
S MARKS DNP - COACH'S DECISION

TOTALS 240:00 40-89 18-25 9 31 40 18 16 10 10 103
(.449) (.720) TEAM REBS: 10 TOTAL TO: 11 (9 PTS)

CLEVELAND 22 23 19 28 - 92
PHOENIX 21 17 31 34 - 103

BLOCKED SHOTS: CLEVELAND - L JAMES 4, Z ILGAUSKAS 2. PHOENIX - S MARION 2,
B DIAW 2.
3-PT. FIELD GOALS: CLEVELAND 5-16 (.313), L JAMES 3-5, Z ILGAUSKAS 0-
1, L HUGHES 0-2, D GIBSON 1-2, DA JONES 1-3, I NEWBLE 0-1, S PAVLOVIC 0-
2. PHOENIX 5-21 (.238), G HILL 0-1, S MARION 2-5, R BELL 2-8, S NASH 1-
3, L BARBOSA 0-4.
TECHNICAL FOULS: CLEVELAND - DEFENSIVE THREE.
FLAGRANT FOULS: NONE.
OFFICIALS: DAN CRAWFORD, ELY ROE, RODNEY MOTT.
A - 18,422. T - 2:30.</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at PHOENIX

<div class="pre">CLEVELAND (92)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
L James 43:13 11-26 2-2 1-5 8 0 27
D Gooden 38:01 10-16 2-4 1-14 0 3 22
Z Ilgauskas 37:08 9-20 4-4 7-13 0 5 22
L Hughes 30:01 3-9 0-0 0-2 4 4 6
D Gibson 38:12 2-5 1-2 0-4 4 5 6
Da Jones 23:05 1-3 0-0 0-2 2 1 3
I Newble 12:33 2-4 0-0 3-7 0 2 4
S Pavlovic 17:47 1-5 0-0 0-4 1 1 2
Dw Jones DNP - COACH'S DECISION
D Brown DNP - COACH'S DECISION
S Brown DNP - COACH'S DECISION
C Simmons DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 39-88 9-12 12-51 19 21 92
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.443, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
5-16, .313 (L James 3-5, Z Ilgauskas 0-1, L
Hughes 0-2, D Gibson 1-2, Da Jones 1-3, I
Newble 0-1, S Pavlovic 0-2). Team Rebounds:
7. Blocked Shots:6 (L James 4, Z Ilgauskas
2). Turnovers:20 (L Hughes 5, D Gooden 4, D
Gibson 4, L James 3, Z Ilgauskas, S Pavlovic,
I Newble, Da Jones). Steals: 4 (L James 2, L
Hughes, D Gibson).


PHOENIX (103)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
G Hill 40:08 4-12 0-0 3-5 2 5 8
S Marion 45:42 7-17 7-8 2-12 1 2 23
B Diaw 37:44 6-12 4-4 0-8 3 5 16
R Bell 40:29 3-13 0-0 2-5 0 2 8
S Nash 35:10 12-19 5-5 0-4 10 0 30
L Barbosa 23:26 6-14 2-6 0-2 2 1 14
B Skinner 12:34 2-2 0-2 2-4 0 0 4
M Banks 4:47 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
E Piatkowski DNP - COACH'S DECISION
A Tucker DNP - COACH'S DECISION
D Strawberry DNP - COACH'S DECISION
S Marks DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 40-89 18-25 9-40 18 16 103
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.449, FT-.720. 3-Point Goals:
5-21, .238 (G Hill 0-1, S Marion 2-5, R Bell
2-8, S Nash 1-3, L Barbosa 0-4). Team
Rebounds: 10. Blocked Shots:4 (S Marion 2, B
Diaw 2). Turnovers:10 (S Nash 5, B Diaw 3, S
Marion, R Bell). Steals: 10 (G Hill 3, S
Marion 2, B Diaw 2, S Nash, M Banks, L
Barbosa).

-------------------------------------------
CLEVELAND 22 23 19 28 - 92
PHOENIX 21 17 31 34 - 103
-------------------------------------------

Technical fouls: Cleveland - 1 (Defensive
Three, 8:12 3rd).
Flagrant fouls: None. A: 18,422. T: 2:30.
Officials: Dan Crawford, Ely Roe, Rodney Mott.</div>

 

By Jonathan Dalton
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


PHOENIX (Ticker) - The Phoenix Suns needed a full half beforerecovering their shooting touch and giving coach Mike D'Antonihis 200th win in the desert.


Steve Nash had 30 points and 10 assists and Shawn Marion 23 and12 rebounds as the Suns rallied to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers,103-92, on Sunday night.


D'Antoni, who began his coaching career with the Denver Nuggetsduring the strike-shortened 1998-99 season, improved to 214-146in five-plus campaigns.


At halftime, chairman and former managing partner JerryColangelo was inducted into the Suns' Ring of Honor.

"(Colangelo) told us if we lost he was going to be (mad),"Marion said.


Boris Diaw scored 16 points and Leandro Barbosa chipped in 14off the bench for Phoenix, which has won nine straight in theseries and 14 of the last 17 meetings overall.


Diaw got his first start of the season in place of All-Starcenter Amare Stoudemire, who sat out to rest his sore right kneeon which he had surgery in the offseason.


D'Antoni said Stoudemire's status for Tuesday's game atCharlotte remains unknown.


"We hope (to have him)," D'Antoni said. "It's up to Amare, upto his knee. We'll see how he feels (Monday)."


Nash gave the Suns their first lead since the first quarter,57-55, on a driving layup with 4:15 left in the third quarter.Barbosa added a three-point play and Raja Bell sank his second3-pointer of the period with 35 seconds to go to take a 69-64edge into the final quarter.


"We were a little more aggressive and a little more desperate,"Nash said. "That's the way we should play all the time."

"We still have to figure out a lot of things on our team,"Barbosa said. "We have to pick it up, and it will be okay. Westill don't have our rhythm."


LeBron James hit a long 3-pointer and drove the lane for anuncontested dunk to pull Cleveland within 71-69 at the 10:45mark. But Barbosa and Brian Skinner combined to score eightstraight points to create a 10-point advantage with 8:23remaining.


"That's a great offensive team," James said. "They missed a lotof easy shots in the first half. You can't expect to hold themto 30 points in the second half but, at the same time, wecontested shots and they made shots."


Cleveland made one last push and closed within 89-85 on ZydrunasIlgauskas' layup with just over four minutes to go. However,Nash connected on a 3-pointer from the right wing and added a16-footer to regain control.


James collected 27 points and eight boards and Ilgauskas andDrew Gooden poured in 22 each for Cleveland, which dropped thefirst of its six-game Western Conference trip.


"I just wanted for us to be more aggressive," Cavaliers coachMike Brown said. "If we are going to lose a game because we areaggressive then great. But I don't want to lose a game like wedid (Sunday) being passive. I thought we were passive with thebasketball on the offensive end of the floor."