Feb

9

Szczerbiak Commits Big Blunder, Suns Slip Past SuperSonics 103-99

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under Main 

????????????????????????????????????????? Phoenix Suns forward/center Amare Stoudemire (#32) scores two over Seattle SuperSonics forward Kurt Thomas during the first quarter of their game, played Friday night. Stoudemire scored 33 points, leading Phoenix to the 103-99 win over Seattle.?

For those of you who are fans of NCAA basketball and even more importantly, University of Michigan basketball fans, you probably remember the fateful decision that Chris Webber made some time ago when he called a timeout - when the Wolverines were out of timeouts.? A technical foul was the result, and the Wolverines were eliminated from the NCAA tournament.? Friday’s game between the Seattle SuperSonics and Phoenix Suns proved once again that mistakes such as this can happen at the professional level and more importantly, help your team lose the game.? Ask the Sonics’ Wally Szczerbiak; with 15.1 seconds left in the game, he took the ball out of bounds, found no one open, then called a timeout - and yes, the Sonics were out of timeouts.? That blunder enabled the Suns to escape with a narrow, 103-99 victory.

Neither team did anything special in the first quarter, with the Suns holding a narrow 26-23 lead; Phoenix managed to miss its first seven 3-pointers before Leandro Barbosa drained one to give the Suns a 53-47 edge with 33 seconds clef tin the first half.? Seattle’s Johan Petro?tipped in a missed shot to cut the Suns’ lead to 53-49 at halftime.? Perfect free-throw shooting by the Suns kept them in the game in the first half, going 14-of-14.

The Sonics were within striking distance of the Suns in the third quarter, with the suns holding no more than an 8-point lead; Phoenix’s Raja Bell made a 15-footer, giving the Suns a 78-74 edge going into the fourth quarter.? The?Suns struggled throughout the fourth?period, but seemed to have finally regained control with a 98-90 lead with 2:58 to go in the game; But Seattle scored the next 9 points to go up 99-98 on Chris Wilcox’s basket with 1:04 left.

The Suns’ Boris Diaw missed a drive to the basket, got his own rebound, then Grant Hill’s basket with 28.7 seconds remaining put Phoenix back up again, 100-99.? Seattle did get 2 chances, but Wilcox missed a shot then Petro missed a tip-in; the ball was knocked out of bounds, setting up Szczerbiak’s blunder.? The ill-advised timeout by Szczerbiak turned into a technical foul;?Phoenix’s Steve Nash made the technical free throw, then retained possession by rule.? ?Nash was fouled, then he made a pair of free throws, icing the game for the Suns.

Phoenix was led by Amare Stoudemire with a good game, scoring 33 points, 10 rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot; Hill scored 16 with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and a blocked shot.? Barbosa, from off the bench, added 15 while Raja Bell chipped in with 14 with 5 rebounds and 4 assists.? Nash also contributed with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists and a pair of steals.? Seattle’s leading scorer was Chris Wilcox who recorded a solid double-double with 22 points, 15 rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot; Nick Collison also added a double-double, scoring 11 with a dozen boards and a blocked shot.? Phoenix (35-15) remains home to host the Washington Wizards on Sunday, while Seattle (13-37) returns home for a long rest until Wednesday when they host the Utah Jazz.



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