Dragic Scores 18 Points in Fourth As Suns Pull Away with Win

Written by Joseph Tames Saturday, 23 January 2010 23:02

Phoenix, Ariz.—January 23, 2010. Goran Dragic scored 18 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Phoenix Suns fought back Golden State to defeat the Warriors 112-103 at US Airways Center.

Dragic, who was victimized by a thunderous dunk the night before, came back with a vengeance and led his team to victory. Dragic started the fourth quarter with the second unit, comprised of Jared Dudley, Lou Amundson, Channing Frye and Earl Clark. This unit began the quarter down one point at 80-79 and came back to take the lead at 91-85 with 8:04 left.

The Warriors got with in one point three different times but couldn’t stop Phoenix and the home crowd, which has had their share of disappointments this season. Frye hit a jumper to push the lead to five. Warriors head coach Don Nelson went ballistic on a no-call under the basket, drawing a technical foul with 3:12 left. Nash hit the free throw to give the Suns a six-point lead.

Golden State’s C.J. Watson hit a running 9-footer to pull the Warriors within four, but Nash iced the game with a 15-foot fade away jumper at 1:58, giving the Suns a six-point lead with under two minutes to play. Phoenix went on a 9-6 run to finish the game.

Besides having a career-high in points with 20, Dragic finished with three rebounds, two assists, four steals and a blocked shot. The block came against Watson attempting to dunk on a breakaway. Dragic was the victim on Chicago’s Derrick Rose dunk last night. So impressive was the dunk that it finished the night number six on ESPN’s Top 10 Plays of the night. According to head coach Alvin Gentry, Dragic got the Suns over the hump in this game.

Phoenix had five players in double figures. Steve Nash led all Suns with 23 points; Dragic was second with 20 points. The Robin Lopez starting experience continues to pay dividends; he had 16 points and nine rebounds. Grant Hill and Amar’e Stoudemire each has 15 points. The Suns out-rebounded the Warriors 51-44. Amundson also had nine boards. Hill and Jason Richardson both grabbed eight rebounds.

Golden State’s Corey Maggette led all scores with 27 points. Stephen Curry added 25 points and Anthony Tolliver had 19. Tolliver also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Phoenix had their second straight game of poor shooting. After shooting less than 39% against the Bulls, the Suns only shot 43.5 percent tonight. “We just have to grind it out,” says Gentry. “That’s how it’s going to be until we get our stroke back.”

Phoenix (26-19) travels to Utah to battle the Jazz (25-18) on Sunday, January 25. Tipoff is 7:00 pm MST.

Golden State (13-29) travels to Sacramento to take on the Kings (15-28) on Monday, January 26. Tipoff is 7:00 pm PST.