Shaq took control in the paint and played, as Mike D’Antoni called it, “vintage.” He finished with 17 points, shot 7-10 from the line, grabbed 7 rebounds, and in typical Shaq fashion, ripped the net off on a dunk attempt, causing a nine minute delay. Amare Stoudemire added another page to his MVP resume scoring 33 points on 12-15 shooting and pulling down 15 boards.
The Phoenix win puts the Suns in a first place tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the Pacific Division, LA holds the tie breaker, and just one back from the New Orleans Hornets for the Western Conference lead and that coveted number 1 playoff seed.
The Phoenix Suns set themselves up beautifully to go on this late season charge and finish up with moment to ride going into the playoffs. They had a slight let down as they adjusted to having O’neal in the paint, but things have come together with the Diesel, and over their last 11 games Phoenix has won 9, losing only the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics. And while both were winnable games, 9-2 looks pretty good after facing off against teams like Boston, San Antonio, Detroit, Golden State, Houston, and Philly.
With nine games left in the regular season the Suns still have some work to do if they want to put themselves in good position entering the playoffs. Two games with Denver, and then tough match-ups with Dallas, San Antonio, and Golden State seem to lie between them and a possible top two finish for the fourth straight year. Phoenix needs to win at least 6 of 9 if they want to put themselves into position for one of the top seeds, and a deep run into the playoffs.
The Hornets and Spurs and have a similarly tough match-ups down the stretch, and those same two teams share the Conference lead, with New Orleans mere percentage points ahead. The Lakers and Rockets however, have pretty light schedules. LA plays New Orleans and San Antonio, but the rest are games that they should win, match-ups against teams long since out of the playoff hunt. Houston plays Seatle twice, the Clippers twice, Portland, and Sacramento. With such drastically softer schedules for the Lakers and Rockets, and with Phoenix on the rise it may be difficult for New Orleans and San Antonio to maintain the top two positions.
With the way Phoenix is playing they have a strong chance of making it to the one or two seed, regardless of their schedule. Scary as it is, I don’t think we’re seeing the best of what the Suns have too offer. Shaq is excelling now that he’s found his place in the Phoenix offense, but every game he seems to come out with more and more intensity, and each time he hits the floor he does something to impress me, like hit 7 of 10 free throws tonight against New Jersey. Amare is playing like an MVP candidate and the entire Suns team is playing with more chemistry and fluidity then the 04-05 Suns with Q. Richardson and Joe Johnson, and that year Phoenix ended the season number one in the West. The reason they were ousted from the playoffs after such a great regular season was their inability to make stops on the defensive end, the very thing getting them in the victory column as of late. Still one of the highest scoring teams in the league, the Suns will have rely on their defense this year to put themselves into good position come playoff time.
Keywords: Amare, Amare Stoudemire, Houston, Joe Johnson, Los Angeles, Nash, NBA, New Orleans, playoffs, Richardson, San Antonio, Shaq, Steve Nash, Stoudemire, West, western Conference
