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Thu Nov 28, 2019 10:37 am
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PHOENIX -- Phoenix first-year coach Jeff Hornacek was one of the NBAs best shooters in his playing days. Yordano Ventura Jersey . His team did him proud Saturday night. Phoenix matched its season-best with 15 3-pointers -- in 30 tries -- to beat the Dallas Mavericks 123-108 in the surprising Suns highest-scoring game of the season Five Phoenix players made at least two from beyond the arc. "Offensively, it was probably our best game," Hornacek said. Eric Bledsoe was 3 of 4 on 3s and scored 25, Gerald Green made 4 of 8 3s en route to 22 points and Channing Frye sank 4 of 6 3s and scored 18 in the Suns seventh win in their last eight games. P.J. Tucker was 2 of 3 from long-range and scored 16. Marcus Morris made 2 of 3 3s. "If you share the ball, then everybody gets a feeling of confidence that is way up," the Suns Goran Dragic said. "We are shooting the ball well. This is so much fun, playing like that. Everybody is on the same page and when we play like that I think its hard to stop us." Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points, and Monta Ellis and Brandan Wright had 19 apiece for the Mavericks, whose only lead of the night was 2-0. The 123 points were the most allowed by Dallas this season. Both teams were playing on consecutive nights. The Suns rallied from 21 down to win at Denver 103-99 on Friday night and Dallas lost 109-108 at home to Toronto in overtime. The Mavericks were 3 of 17 on 3s, getting outscored 45-9 from 3-point range. Dallas lost despite a 62-36 advantage in points in the paint. "Every time we got close they knocked in a 3," Wright said. "They shot the lights out." Bledsoe said that teams are beginning to zero in on him and fellow guard Dragic, and that leaves shooters open. When those shots falling, life is easy in the Suns freewheeling style. "It opens up everything," Bledsoe said. The Suns set the long-range tone from the start. "They came out firing on fire," Ellis said. Phoenix made 7 of 10 3-pointers in a season-high 38-point first quarter, leading 38-25. Green led the way going 3 for 3. But the Mavericks methodically made their way back into the game, using a 6-0 spurt to cut it to 56-54 when Wright blocked Bledsoes layup try, leading to Ellis dunk with 1:30 left. Dragic somehow drove the length of the court in 2 seconds to put the Suns up 63-58 at the half. Miles Plumlees dunk on a fast-break lob from Bledsoe highlighted an 8-0 spurt that put Phoenix up 83-71 on a reverse layup by Markieff Morris with 4:22 left in the third quarter. Again, Dallas clawed back, cutting the lead to 83-78 on DeJuan Blairs inside basket with 2:03 to go in the quarter, but Bledsoe sank a 3, Plumlee dunked and Green made his final 3-pointer of the night to put Phoenix up 91-82 entering the fourth quarter. Marcus Morris opened the fourth quarter with a 3 to put the Suns ahead 94-82, then Dallas 37-year-old Vince Carter made a 3-pointer and drove the lane for a dunk, leading to an immediate timeout by Hornacek. Right after that, Markieff Morris sank a 16-footer and Bledsoe drove for a layup to boost the lead back to 98-87. Dallas cut it to 100-94 when Ellis made one of two free throws with 8:31 left, but Frye sank a 3, Markieff Morris made a 16-footer and the Suns led 105-95 with 7:16 left. The Mavericks got no closer than eight again. The final margin was Phoenixs biggest lead of the night. "I think our biggest challenge right now is to stay disciplined in some defensive situations," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "Weve had too many gambles, too many bad fouls in late shot clock and too many things that lead to chain reactions that weve got to eliminate." NOTES: Suns have made at least seven 3-pointers in 18 consecutive games. ... Phoenix is 8-5 against teams that had a .500 record or better through games played Friday. ... The Suns, expected to be one of the NBAs worst teams, improved to 16-10, sixth-best in the Western Conference. ... Dallas has lost four of six. Whit Merrifield Jersey . Siddikur, who led on all four days and took a four-stroke lead going into the final day, bogeyed four out of six holes starting at the sixth and continued a forgettable last round in which he returned a three-over 75 to finish with a 14-under 274. Cookie Rojas Jersey .Former NBA forward Morris Peterson has been added to TSNs Toronto Raptors broadcast team. https://www.cheaproyals.com/1007a-mike-sweeney-jersey-royals.html . After a tight first half, the Croatians took command in Reykjavik after Skulason was dismissed for a professional foul in the 51st minute, but couldnt find a way past Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson and his packed defence. Eduardo had a weak shot cleared away from near the goalline after barely a minute for Croatia, whose substitute Ivica Olic forced a fine reaction save from Halldorsson in the 55th.WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets are soaring back to the MTS Centre for another crack at the Nashville Predators.Nashville spoiled the Jets home opener last month with a 2-0 shutout, but Winnipeg will have renewed confidence for Tuesdays rematch after returning from a road trip with seven of a possible eight points.It included back-to-back 1-0 shutouts in New York and then Chicago from both their goalies.The Jets (6-5-1) are still not scoring a lot of goals themselves and they got some timely help Sunday night from the goalposts in Chicago, but theyre using their youth, size and strength and finding ways to win.That was kind of the theme of the third period in New York, said coach Paul Maurice after the win in Chicago.Starting to win some of the ugly battles and not expecting the game to be smooth and when we embrace that and just play like a good solid grinding team, eventually our offence will come.But it all starts with goaltending, he said, which is not news to Jets fans.The Jets have given up 26 goals in their first 12 games and scored just 22. That deficit in their goal differential is something that has plagued the team for years and kept them out of the playoffs.Sundays win was a huge confidence booster for Michael Hutchinson, the rookie from Winnipegs farm team, brought in to back up Ondrej Pavelec this season. He got the job after playing three good games for the Jets at the tail end of last season, winning two of them.He was yanked early in his only other start this season, a 4-1 loss in Los Angeles on Oct. 12, and with more back-to-backs coming (two more in November alone) and the need in general to give Pavelec a breather, feeling some confidence in their No. 2 is a must for the Jets.Pavelec has regularly been onee of the hardest working netminders in the NHL based on his ice time and this season is shaping up no different. Frank White Jersey. He sits second only to New Jerseys Cory Schneider right now.The shutout not only boosted Hutchinsons confidence in his abilities but the teams confidence as well.The guys will see Hutch going into the net with the full belief weve got a chance to win the game, Maurice said.Pavelec let in the most goals in the league last season, as he did the season before and the season before that, but Maurice and the Jets have said they need to see better defensive play from the rest of the team before they can fairly judge his performance.Thats starting to happen a lot more regularly.Its huge, Hutchinson said of the way players blocked shots in front of him Sunday night.It really gets you excited as a goalie when you see players laying down in front of shots blocking them for you.He says this road trip was good for helping that new defensive focus take hold.Were really committed to team defence. Its unfortunate we didnt score a large number of goals in the last couple of games but were still able to get points and thats the main thing.Nashville (7-2-2) is coming off a 3-1 win in Vancouver Sunday night.The Predators are very much on the good side of the goal differential line with 29 for and 22 against, thanks to snipers like former Penguin James Neal and the goaltending of Pekka Rinne, who has a goals-against average of 1.88 and save percentage of .931 after 10 games this season.Theyll be playing in Winnipeg without defenceman Anton Volchenkov, serving a four-game suspension for an illegal hit to the head of Calgary Flames forward Michael Ferland during Nashvilles 4-3 loss to the Flames on Friday. ' ' ' |
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