Thunder Defeat Suns; Phoenix Loses Second Straight Home Game

Written by Joseph Tames Wednesday, 23 December 2009 00:00

Phoenix, Ariz.—December 23, 2009. The Phoenix Suns had a chance to start another winning streak. Unfortunately, the streak they are started is two straight home losses. The Suns lost to Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder 117-113.

Durant hit a nine-footer to tie the game at 108 with 1:47 left and then sank a 21-foot dagger into the heart of the hopeful Suns to go up four with less than 15 seconds left. The Suns were forced to foul Russell Westbrook, who converted both free throws of the 1-and-1. The Suns called a 20-second timeout with 10.6 seconds left but Phoenix came out a bit confused. Channing Frye seemed to lose sight of the clock and missed his three-point shoot with 3.9 seconds left. Jason Richardson scored on a reverse layup at time expired.

Durant led all scorers with 38 points. Westbrook added 19 points and Jeff Green chipped in 17. Former ASU standout James Harden continues to improve; he had 14 points and five rebounds off the bench. Harden, last year’s No.3 overall draft pick, averages 10.0 points per game and 3.3 rebounds per game. Serge Ibaka had 12 points before fouling out.

Amar’e Stoudemire, in the words of Phoenix head coach Alvin Gentry, was amazing. But even Gentry conceded that Amar’e would probably not be please with his 35 point, 14 rebound performance because the Suns lost.

Steve Nash and Channing Frye both had 24 points. Jason Richardson added 13 points, none bigger than a 25-foot three-pointer with 4:11 left to help the Suns take the lead at 106-104. Richardson, who was 5-of-15 from the field before the shot, ran back down court pressing his hands together and looking toward the ceiling. Grant Hill, who spent most the night defending Durant, scored only five points before fouling out with three minutes left.

Last night, the Thunder lost in Los Angeles to the Lakers 111-108. Tonight, in the second game of a back-to-back, Oklahoma City seemed to have more energy against a more rested Suns team. The Thunder took care of the things they need to in order to win: they held the lead for most of the game; out rebounded the Suns 48-38; and had 23 second chance points.

“Difference in the game was they made all the plays down the stretch and we just didn’t make plays,” says Gentry. “We had a couple of opportunities to go get rebounds and we gave up second shots, and you can't do that, especially with Durant on the floor.”

Gentry seemed at a loss to come up with answers for the Suns' woes. “[Suns gave up to Thunder] 16 offensive rebounds for 23 points. They are not a big team; they are not different than we are. But we have to be able to go get the ball and rebound and we did not do that.”

Phoenix (18-11), who up until Monday night was undefeated at home this year, has now lost two straight at US Airways Center. Next up for the Suns is the Blake Griffin-less Los Angeles Clippers (12-16) on Christmas night. Tipoff is 6:00 pm MST.

Oklahoma City (14-14) returns home to play the Chicago Bulls (10-17) on Saturday, December 26 at 7:00 pm CST.