When was the last time that a pure point guard scored near 50 points in a game?

I think ya'll are reading too much into game 4. The game Dallas could have grabbed Phx by the balls was game 3. 1st game without Joe Johnson, at Dallas, chance for Dallas to take the lead in the series.

Now Phx after getting a split in Dallas with an undermanned team, has 2 days off to get ready for game 5, which Dallas has to win. If Dallas does not win, they have to win game 6 just to return for game 7 in Phx, and may have to beat Phx's full team twice in a row.

Dallas caught a huge break with Joe Johnson missing 10 of 16 quarters, and it is 2-2 going back to Phx. Major advantage Phx, stealing a game in Dallas under the circumstances was critical.

Also, worse news for the Mavs. KVH may be back in the rotation. If AJ is a great coach he will never let that guy hit the floor against the Suns, even if he is mostly healthy.

 

They still allowed Phoenix to score 109 points. The story of this game was truly the Suns lack of defense and rebounding. I can't fathom why everyone is overlooking this.

 

I don't think everyone is overlooking this, just it's in Suns' nature, they can't play good defense against any capable offensive team. Any team can score 100+ against them, any good offensive team can score 110+ or even more against them. Their motor is always to score more than you do. If their opponents play some defense, and happens to be a good offensive team, they have trouble. Dallas happens to be a good offensive team. Defense isn't something you can pick up randomly after 82 games.

 

Problem is, I've seen enough Phoenix games to know that they can do much better than they did last night. There simply wasn't enough intensity. They were comfortable after winning one in Dallas and it definitely showed. This was especially evident in their lack of defensive rebounding. How the hell was their offense supposed to get going when they couldn't manufacture easy fast breaks?

 

Dallas did give up 109 points but Avery's strategy was responsible for a couple of other things also. By limiting everyone else's penetration and not leaving Nash, Dallas was always able to maintain good defensive and rebounding position on the rest of the Suns. This was one of the main reasons Dampier was able to stay in the game. In Game 3, the thing that killed the Mavs was not only Nash's points but his assists to three point shooters, and Amare's offensive rebounds when Dampier and other Mavericks left the basket to try to cut off Nash's penetration.

Dallas' strategy kept Amare off the offensive boards, kept the three point shooters in check, and did away with Amare's and 1 opportunities that were killing the Mavs in the first three games.

Dallas is never going to completely stop the Suns but if it takes a 20-28 shooting performance from Nash to reach 109, I think Dallas can live with that.

 

Fine, what about Jason Kidd? He dropped 43 on Stevie a few years back.

 

I think... they had the best record in the league.

Overrated??? Makes a lot of sense...

 

i hav'nt watched too many Suns games...


can someone tell me if Amare got double/triple teamed in the season ????...cause watching the last game against Dallas....Amare looked completely helpless.....the guy looked lost....

 

intetresting...when Amare takes 8 shots he sucks because he can't create a shot.

when yao takes 8 the team sucks because they can't get him the ball.

 

I'm surprised alright. Surprised PHX didn't sweep or be up 3-1 at this point. Dallas got every possible break against the Rockets and the pendulum usually swings back to centerpoint over time.

Joe Johnson's injury plays large to me. It gives the Suns another drive and kick guy with handles on the court with Nash. This makes PHX much tougher to defend in the half-court.

 

I believe Sleepy Floyd dropped over 50 against the Lakers in a playoff game back in 1987 or so.

He averaged 10 assists during the regular season AND 10 assists during the playoff run.

http://www.nba.com/playoffs2005/floyd_050503.html?rss=true

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3577834

 

I remember Jason Kidd had 40 something against us a couple of seasons ago. I dont remember exactly how much he scored but he was lighting us up.

 

Interesting analogy. As it would happen (according to 82games.com) Stoudemire relied on assists for 60% of his FGMs, while Marion made 73% of his FGs off of assists.

Yao made 72% of his shots off of assists, while T-Mac was assisted on just 39% of his baskets. Make what you will of those numbers.

 

I still have to say, this is a lot of analysis over a game that Phoenix lost primarily due to one factor: defensive rebounding. If they defensive rebound, they get more fast breaks, more players get involved, Dallas gets fewer points, and the Suns get more possessions. The score was too close in this particular game for this to be ignored. While's Avery's strategy may have worked in some ways for the Mavs, Nash still essentiallly got twenty-five points and 10-15 assists, depending on how you look at it. I'm interested to see what happens when, or if, Phoenix plays with some real intensity.