Sam's still got it. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=280115012 Clippers, finding wins hard to come by, get best of Suns 01/25 @NOR 8:00pm · Complete Schedule: Phoenix | Los Angeles LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A shooting slump is the last thing that's going to deter Sam Cassell. He's going to keep firing away as long as he's able. Cassell scored 32 points against Phoenix on Tuesday night, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Suns 97-90 to knock them out of first place in the Western Conference. The 38-year-old Cassell, who was 7-for-31 in his previous four games, made 15-of-21 shots to help the Clippers snap a four-game losing streak and win for just the second time in 12 games. "I just made shots today," Cassell said. "I think the guys got me the ball and depended on me to make shots. I think that was the key. "I've been taking shots I'm supposed to take, just missing them. I'm not going to stop. I'm a guy who understands how to score in this league, can score in this league." Cassell did more than just score, getting six rebounds and seven assists as well. "Sam is a phenomenal player," Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire said. "He has the best short game in the league; short game meaning jumpers inside the 3-point line. Once he gets going, it's hard to stop him." Corey Maggette added 21 points, Cuttino Mobley scored 12 and Tim Thomas had 11 for the Clippers (11-23), who had lost 11 of their previous 12 home games. Chris Kaman shot 3-for-14 and scored nine points, but his 18 rebounds led Los Angeles to a 47-36 advantage in that department. The Clippers were coming off their toughest loss of the season, a 95-94 setback to Dallas on Jerry Stackhouse's 3-pointer as time expired. Before that, they lost close games to San Antonio and Orlando, another pair of first-place teams. But they had enough to beat the Suns (26-12), who had rallied from double-figure deficits for victories in three of their previous six games. "The last two games were as good a basketball as we've played all year long," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "I just hope we can continue to play at this level. "Sam was great, obviously he was on a roll shooting the ball." The Clippers shot 52.2 percent from the field against Dallas, the first time this season they finished at 50 percent or better. They followed that up with a 52.5 percent effort against the Suns while holding Phoenix to 40.7 percent. "Our offense let us down and we couldn't stop Sam," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Give them credit, they defended well. Our offense, for whatever reason, just wasn't clicking at all, and we just didn't play well." Stoudemire led Phoenix with 29 points and eight rebounds. Raja Bell scored 15 points, Steve Nash added 14 points and 13 assists, and Shawn Marion had 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Suns, who fell a half-game behind the Los Angeles Lakers (26-11). Those teams meet Thursday night at Staples Center. Nash scored seven points during a 12-4 run that cut the Clippers lead to 80-77 with 5:45 remaining. But that's as close as the Suns would get. Cassell made three jumpers in a little over two minutes, and baskets by Kaman and Mobley made it 92-84 with 1:28 to play. "We did a good job of just moving the ball and getting guys into position where we can take advantage of mismatches," Thomas said. "Sam had a huge game, and that was pretty much the difference." Cassell scored 10 points and Maggette added seven during a 21-8 run that put the Clippers on top 74-63 before Bell made a jumper to end the third period and draw the Suns within nine. A three-point play by Thomas and two jumpers by Mobley gave Los Angeles a 39-31 lead early in the second quarter. The Clippers led 49-48 at halftime thanks mainly to a 55 percent shooting effort. The Suns made their first five shots -- three by Stoudemire and 3-pointers by Bell and Boris Diaw -- for a quick 12-2 lead. Phoenix led 21-12 when Cassell got hot, scoring 10 points during a 16-7 run that gave the Clippers a 28-27 lead entering the second quarter. Game notes The game matched the NBA's highest-scoring team in the Suns (110.3 points per game) and the lowest in the Clippers (92.6 points). ... The Suns had beaten the Clippers by an average of 15 points per game in their first three meetings this season. ... The Suns played their fourth game without F Grant Hill, who underwent an emergency appendectomy last Wednesday. Hill is expected to return to action sometime next week. ... Clippers G Guillermo Diaz made his NBA debut, going scoreless while playing nearly 5½ minutes in the second quarter.
*sighs* even at their old age, our last two remaining players from the championship years still got it.... Rudy T was right, "dont ever underestimate the heart of a champion.."
Yeah, he still got it after sitting out a couple months from a random hamstring pull while just running.
<==exactly, sitting out for couple of months with a "random hamstring pull" and then returning and scoring 32 points and beating the first place suns really isnt easy unless you have heart... at least old man cassell doesnt have to "get in shape" after an injury to deliver his team to a win...
What about McGrady? He has a BACK problem from being a 2 time scoring champ, not a pulled hamstring from non contact. How is having several months of rest having heart? People can still train while injured and I'm sure he was still kept out of games while healthy. The suns are currently 5th placed in the west and 1st-10th are separated by 6 games . Suns are beatable just as much as any of those top 10 teams. I'm not trying to take anything away from Cassell but the Suns don't exactly have the best defense. But I guess any old guy who can score 32 has a heart huh? Too bad McGrady never had any of those type of games. Cassell had one of the best teams for the 90's. McGrady had only Yao. Both play[ed] for Houston but I don't see the Clippers going anywhere in the playoffs either.
-took Rockets to 2 Rings -took Nets to playoffs -took Bucks to ECF -took Wolves to WCF -took Clips to 2nd round of playoffs -all star -1999-2000 season was #2 in league in assists
I dont remember any PG play as well as Sam is at his age. The man is 38 years old and he plays like he's got plenty left in the tank.
Your getting off track here. Anyhow, you just proved he had better teams than McGrady. Oh, and TMac is still an all star, did Cassell get voted in this year? Not that it matters but you brought up the point. Your glorifying his 32 point game. McGrady can still average 32 point a seaon if he wanted to. But I still don't know why you bring up TMac (a SG/SF) and compare him to a PG. It apples to oranges, I don't see Cassell getting full contact to the rim. Don't forget, Clips have most of their starters injured. As JVG said, don't look too much into someone who gets stats on a bad team. I wasn't bashing Cassell like you were bashing TMac anyways. I'm done with this thread, nothing personal against you heh but the topic was "Sam's still got it" which I believed should have been "Sam had it, but a little left."
uh, some haters here criticize old man Sam for being hurt THATS WHY I BROUGHT IT UP. Look at young man Tmac! Sam who's playing with pain til he's 38. Tmac contemplated retirement a year ago. I'm bashing Tmac cause he hasn't done crap for my Rockets. And you are completely wrong. Cassell MADE THOSE TEAMS better. As soon as Cassell left, did the Wolves WITH GARNETT, go anywhere? no they didn't make the playoffs. Sam getting full contact to the rim? do you know his game? He plays the mid range game, he makes people miss, he does fakes and bump offs. YES I AM GLORIFYING HIS 32 POINT 7 ASSISTS 6 REBOUND GAME. HE's 38! Tmac won't make it to 38 in this league.
Why is Cassell wasting away his career with the Clippers anyway. He could come back to houston, play with yao ming and probably add a couple years to his career. Injuries would be an issue, but he still better than what we have.
No need to yell at me tinman, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you. I was just trying to say, was it necessary for you to post a 32/6/7 game of all past rocket players? TMac averaged 30/6/6 for several seasons before his back acted up. I'm pretty sure Cassell didn't make Hawkeem better. We all know how bad management was in Minnesota and Orlando. But of course, the better players you play with, the better your team will do (ie Celtics). I guess Rajon Rondo has more heart than Cassell because he's playing with Garnett and on pace to win 65+ this season. TMac's back got worse because he was busy slamming over guys. Even earlier this season, he was the TMac we all hoped he would be before more injuries. Cassell was running for a looseball with no one around and pulled his hamstring. He may have heart but he got no body. We could talk about their pasts for 10 pages, but I'm talking about the present. You asked me if I knew Cassell's game. Not much since I was just a kid when he played for the rockets. But you just contradicted yourself. You just said Cassell gets full contact to the rim but then you said he plays with a mid range game. BTW, Cassell played with 2 of the top 5 big men of the past 10 years. If you named the 3rd best player on the rockets roster in the past 4 years, people would laugh. Can you even name the 2nd best player on any of TMac's Magic team without heading over to google.com? I didn't think so.
