Suns slow to shine in daytime
WASHINGTON - The Phoenix Suns came out in the daytime for the first time this season yesterday afternoon.
And they proceeded to commit 16 first-half turnovers.
But the Suns settled down, giving the ball away only five times the rest of the way to beat the Washington Wizards, 102-90, to improve to 6-1, matching the best seven-game start in the franchise's 42-season history.
"We just weren't really fresh today," point guard Steve Nash said. "Maybe it was the first day game of the season. We really didn't have a great bounce to us. We didn't really push the ball."
Except for the 21 turnovers, the final score sheet looked fine. Four of the five starters had double-doubles. The only one who didn't, Jason Richardson, led the scoring with 22 points.
Channing Frye had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Amare Stoudemire added 17 and 12, and Hill had 13 and 13. Nash finished with 11 points and 17 assists. The Suns had twice as many assists (30-15) as the Wizards.
"We try to make very simple plays, and then we'll take what the defense gives us," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "I thought we started trying to be a little bit too creative, and that's not really who we are."
The Suns never trailed in the second half as they beat the Wizards for the sixth straight time, including five in a row at the Verizon Center.
Phoenix wraps up a five-game trip tonight against the Sixers.
Phoenix 26 30 24 22 – 102
Washington 29 22 20 19 – 90
FG FT Reb
PHOENIX Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Hill 33:01 5-13 3-5 4-13 3 2 13
Stoudemire 40:01 8-13 1-4 4-12 0 4 17
Frye 36:37 7-17 0-1 2-10 1 5 18
Nash 34:49 4-9 2-2 0-3 17 2 11
Richardson 35:44 9-16 0-2 1-4 2 1 22
Barbosa 18:22 4-7 0-0 0-0 4 2 9
