Suns shake off rust in 2nd half, Beat Sonics in opener

(Photo: Otto Greule Jr/NBAE photos) The Phoenix Suns (1-0) opened the 2007/08 campaign with a 106-99 win in Seattle in a very entertaining game of basketball at the Key Arena. Suns looked a bit rusty in the first half as too many turnovers and missed 3-point shots allowed a young Sonics team to lead by 3 after two quarters. The Sonics played a lot of zone defense, protecting the paint, effectively taking away the inside game from the Suns as Collinson and Wilcox had very solid games against Diaw, Marion and Stoudemire. Amaré had some foul trouble in the first half allowing Brian Skinner (sporting the worst looking beard ever) to get some minutes and scoring a couple of baskets including an open outside jumper. Suns failed to open the Seattle defense with very poor outside shooting even allowing the Sonics to score too many points off the break.

This Seattle team has plenty of talent and being so young and they’re building a very good squad in the Northwest, if everything goes the right way, the Sonics could be a contender very soon. Kevin Durant had one the best looking 11-23 shooting night I can recall. The guy is a natural and a real pleasure to watch. By the way, please, keep the Sonics in Seattle !

The key moment of the game came late in the 3rd quarter when Seattle opened a 9-point lead and then Phoenix came back with a 13-0 run to take the lead for good behind the excellent shooting of Marcus Banks (12 points on 4-5 3-point shooting). Overall in the second half the Suns looked much sharper on the floor, shot better from outside and got some points in the paint as well. Stoudemire scored 23 in the end (10-20 from the field along with 11 rebounds), Marion added a very quiet double double on his own (14 and 11) while Nash, despite the 7 turnovers (5 in the first half alone) had 18 points, 11 assists and 7 defensive rebounds.

Phoenix could have easly lost this game, but never lost composure, tightend defense late in the game (rotating a lot to help on Durant) and made critical shots. The Suns were the best team on the floor, by far, and won despite some difficulties. That’s what great teams are all about.

Looking forward to the home opener tonight (7.30) as the Suns host Kobe’s bunch at the US Airways.

Yours truly, Steve Fan

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