SB Nation Arizona - Suns Can't Break Heat Defensive Pressure, 95-83https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46593/arizona-fave.png2010-12-23T23:18:20-07:00http://arizona.sbnation.com/rss/stream/16578182010-12-23T23:18:20-07:002010-12-23T23:18:20-07:00Miami Heat Snuff Out Non-Offensive Phoenix Suns, 95-83
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<p>The Phoenix Suns got out to an early 11-point lead to start the game with strong play on both ends of the floor. Unfortunately, and somewhat predictably, the Suns bench unit struggled on the offensive end and gave up a 20-8 run to the Heat and gave back the lead that they would never relinquish.</p>
<p>The Heat extended their lead in the third quarter and pulled away to a 95-83 finish.</p>
<p>The Suns cold shooting came from their best players with Grant Hill only hitting 4-of-12 for 8 points and Steve Nash having just one field goal attempt through three quarters. He finished with just four points but had 18 assists. Jared Dudley was the lone bright spot for the Suns offense. JD had his second career-high in as many games with 33 points and 12 rebounds.</p>
<p>"They were trapping me the whole game. Double-teaming pick and rolls and every time I went to the basket they over rotate to me so my teammates were open, we shot 40 percent. Most nights I think we shot 50 (percent) on the looks we got and we win. Tonight we just didn't shoot the ball that well," Nash said after the game, adding that he felt fine physically.</p>
<p>The second unit with Goran Dragic (1pt., 1 ast.) at the helm and newcomers Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus understandably looked confused and disjointed. The only time good things happened was in transition or isolation plays from the wings. The Suns bench is full of talented players but hadn't found any kind of consistency prior to the recent trade and will now have to start that process over. </p>
<p>"The second unit has been very good and then we fluctuate back to struggling. In some kind of way we've got to get to the point where we've got a pretty good handle on what's going to happen when I take Steve (Nash) out of the game...So we have to have Goran (Dragic) and everybody on the second team step up and play well," Suns Coach Alvin Gentry said.</p>
<p>LeBron James took over the offensive load for the Miami Heat who were without Dwyane Wade (knee). James finished with 36 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assist. Chris Bosh added 23 points and 11 rebounds of his own. James was pleased with his performance and leadership.</p>
<p>"It was important for me to come out a little more aggressive and for the rest of the guys to follow the lead," James said.</p>
<p>The new Suns Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus finished with a combined 6 points and 4 rebounds. Both showed their potential impact to the team and should improve with more time to get acclimated. The Suns were out-rebounded 44-39 by the Heat.</p>
<p>Both Pietrus and Gortat were disappointed in the loss but encouraged overall about the long term prospects of their new team.</p>
<p>Gortat had this to say about the night, "It was a pretty tough game for us and I'll tell you one thing, this team has a lot of talent and a lot of potential. There's just a lot of room to improve and right now we just got to work on our defense."</p>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/phoenix-suns/2010/12/23/1894735/miami-heat-snuff-out-non-offensive-phoenix-suns-95-83Seth Pollack2010-12-23T13:07:06-07:002010-12-23T13:07:06-07:00Phoenix Suns New Look Debuts Against Miami Heat, 8:30 P.M. AZT
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<p>The <a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Phoenix Suns</a> take the court tonight against the <a href="https://www.hothothoops.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Miami Heat</a> with two of their three new players. <span>Vince Carter</span> won't play tonight (knee), but his fellow <a href="https://www.orlandopinstripedpost.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Orlando Magic</a> transfers will. Both <span>Mickael Pietrus</span> and <span>Marcin Gortat</span> are excited to get out on the floor with their new team.</p>
<p>Gortat even found a pair of appropriately-colored orange and purple shoes in the Suns closet left over from some guy named Amare Stoudemire. It might be a stretch to say that the "Polish Hammer" will fill Amare's shoes on the court, but he literally will be wearing Amare's shoes on his feet.</p>
<p>Suns Coach <span>Alvin Gentry</span> considers tonight's much-hyped matchup with the Heat "just another game" ... albeit another game against a very good opponent. He is anxious to see how his team looks and especially if they have improved defensively, which is still the key to the Suns' season.</p>
<p>"We just have to get better defensively. I think that's the big key for us. I think our offense has been fine ... as I said to the guys, we've got to take 100 possessions and get four percent better. If we can get four percent better then I think we can have a very interesting year," Gentry said.</p>
<p>With Carter not available, Gentry said he would continue to mix and match his rotation and experiment with who he plays at the shooting guard position. Alvin didn't specifically say, but we can assume that Jared Dudley will get the start. He scored a career-high 27 points in his last start.</p>
<p>For the Miami Heat, this is just another game for them. <span>Mike Miller</span> is working his way back into the lineup and they are still figuring out how to use <span>Erick Dampier</span>. A big challenge for them, based on all the questions from the national media, will be to avoid overlooking the Suns in favor of their Christmas Day battle with the <a href="https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Lakers</a>.</p>
<p>"We have great respect for the Suns, come on. This is a very dangerous team that made a change, but they play great here at home with a lot of energy. They score a lot of points ... they can make your defense look bad if you're not sharp," Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said at shootaround.</p>
<p>The Heat may be without <span>Dwyane Wade</span> for tonight's game. Wade banged his knee in the fourth quarter of their last game, a loss to Dallas, and didn't participate in shootaround. He said he's going to take a nap and see how it feels when he wakes up, but he wants to play.</p>
<p><i>This game tips off at 8:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. ET) and will be broadcast nationally on TNT. Former Suns GM Steve Kerr will be the color analyst. You can follow along with other Suns fans at the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.brigthsideofthesun.com">Bright Side of the Sun</a> live game thread.</i></p>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/2010/12/23/2326887/phoenix-suns-new-look-debuts-against-miami-heat-8-30-p-m-aztSeth Pollack