The Phoenix Suns head into the All-Star break on sour note having lost to the Golden State Warriors at home 106-104 on Wednesday.
More: Ellis, Warriors beat Suns in closing seconds
Might be a good thing the Suns get a few days off from practice and seven days between games for the NBA All-Star break. Perhaps their coach, Alvin Gentry, will be completely cooled off by then.
Gentry, a pretty congenial guy for the most part -- making the following comment uncharacteristic -- scowled and expressed his clear and unfiltered displeasure at the way his team played in a 106-104 loss to the Golden State Warriors at home Wednesday night.
"The way we approached the game sucked. Yeah I said it. Sucked," Gentry told members of the media after the game.
He referred to a listless start by the Suns that saw them trail by 17 points after the first quarter and 14 at halftime. Phoenix (14-20) goes into the All-Star Weekend behind the Warriors (13-17) in the Pacific Division and seemingly a long way from playoff contention.
To their credit, the Suns chipped away at an advantage that grew to 21 points in the second quarter. They even took a lead, 96-94, with Grant Hill's lob to Jared Dudley off an inbounds pass with 3:50 to play.
The game see-sawed back and forth, and Hill tied it at 104 with 11.6 seconds to play after Marcin Gortat stole a bad pass from Dorell Wright.
Monta Ellis, however, buried a tough fadeaway over the strong defense of Hill with one second left. Ellis accidentally bumped into Gentry on the sideline after the shot, the last two of his 26 for the night. The Suns' last shot, a long jumper out of the corner from Channing Frye, clanged off the rim as the final horn sounded.
The Warriors, without star guard Stephen Curry for much of the game after he injured a foot, hadn't won in Phoenix in six years and were 0 for their last 13 in games played in Phoenix. Frye finished with 22 points and Gortat added 21 for the Suns.
Frye's last shot was a good look, with little defense from Golden State's David Lee.
Here's video of Gentry's press conference. That's one angry coach.
The Phoenix Suns (14-19) will wrap up the first half of the NBA season on Wednesday night with a chance to both win their third-straight and avenge a recent loss to the Golden State Warriors (12-17). After this game the Suns will have seven days until their next game and a full four days off until their next practice on Tuesday.
When these teams met last week the Suns built a 12-point lead in the third quarter only to see David Lee fuel a 25-10 run and the Suns shooters fail to keep pace with Nate Robinson and Klay Thompson. This time, the Suns are at home and will hopefully have a better game plan to contain Lee.
Projected Lineups:
TV broadcast info:
The Suns game tips off at 7:00 p.m. Arizona time on Fox Sports Arizona. Arizona Sports 620 radio. Bright Side of the Sun will have the live game thread.
For the latest AZ sports, follow us on Twitter @SBNArizona and "Like" us on Facebook.
Alvin Gentry Postgame Rip Of Team A Necessary Thing, But Timing Is Bad
by Jess Root
If you didn't catch it after the game on Wednesday, Phoenix Suns head coach Alvin Gentry used his postgame press conference to show just how fed up with how the team played to start the game against the Golden State Warriors.
If you didn't, catch it below. It was calculated, it was articulate and it was right on target.
The Suns have been as frustrating a team to watch as there has been. They show flashes of being able to compete and then they forget to play the first ten minutes of the game. Even still, they almost win it in the end, which would almost be rewarding their ineptitude.
It's great to see Gentry so upset. Hopefully the team is embarrassed. They need to be called out.
The problem is that with the All-Star break coming up, the rant may end up being forgotten. They don't play again until next Thursday.
The issue is that Wednesday's game could not be ignored, regardless of the timing. Their play was simply not acceptable to start the game.
Maybe they come out with heart. Maybe they don't. That would be the perfect time for a rant like Gentry's.
For the latest AZ sports, follow us on Twitter @SBNArizona and "Like" us on Facebook.
Feb 23 8:00a