Leandrinho outduels Mayo as Rising Suns beat Grizzlies

(AP Photo/Aaron J. Latham) Leandro Barbosa hit a 3-pointer in the closing minute of the game to put the Suns up for good 103-102 as Phoenix beat Memphis 107-102 last night at US Airways Center. Leandrinho led the Suns with 27 points in 22 minutes of play on 10-of-13 shooting. Amaré added 18, Diaw 13 while Steve Nash contributed 12 points and 6 assists to the Suns’ cause. “It was the first time that I was doing (well) and I felt like I could go to the basket and I could shoot” were the happy words of the Suns Brazilian guard.

OJ Mayo led all scorers with 33 points while Rudy Gay added a smooth 20 for Memphis. I am impressed by Gay, he makes things happen with great ease and class.

It was a very entertaining game of basketball, with some talented players on both teams. Phoenix led by large margins during the game and when the third period ended the Suns were up 82-70. 

Coach Porter hailed his players after the game: “I thought we did a good job…our guys hung in there in the end and made some plays. We did a much better job rebounding down the stretch when we needed to”.

The Suns (6-2) seem to be getting better as the young season progress.

Phoenix is now 4th in the latest ESPN.com Power Rankings, up four place and trailing only Boston, L.A. and Cleveland.  

The last couple of season the Suns had a very good overall record but consistently failed to beat the better teams from the Western Conference. They had a below .500 record against the Conference playoffs teams. While it’s still impossible to make such a statement in the new season, the Suns are 1-1 against 2007/08 Western Conference Playoffs teams beating the Spurs and losing to the Hornets. That’s why we’ll be looking with great attention to the next game as the Suns host the Rockets on Wednesday night.

The next six games will give us the first real measure of how good the Suns really are. In a 10-day span Phoenix will play Houston, (Sacramento), Detroit, Utah, the Lakers and Portland.    

Yours truly, Steve Fan 

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