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Monday, Mar. 6 8:00pm ET
Suns win 11th straight at home | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PHOENIX (AP) -- The Phoenix Suns promote their big-name guards as Backcourt 2000, and Penny Hardaway and Jason Kidd are starting to live up to their billing. Hardaway matched his high as a Sun with 28 points and Kidd had a season-best 17 assists as Phoenix beat Miami 100-92 Monday night for its 11th consecutive home victory.
"We're starting to understand each other," said Kidd, who also had 10 points and fell one rebound short of a triple-double. "We now have gotten some games under our belt in different situations, up by 20, down by 10. We're starting to hit our peak. We just want to bottle this up and keep it until June." Tom Gugliotta added 15 points and Shawn Marion 13. Seven players scored in double figures for the Suns, who have won 11 of 13. "Jason and Penny had great games," Phoenix coach Scott Skiles said. "I wish they didn't have that many minutes (43 each), but they controlled the tempo. There were a lot of contributions, but our backcourt in particular carried us." Miami erased most of a 26-point first-half deficit but couldn't quite make it all the way back. Alonzo Mourning, guarded by four different Suns, had 25 points and nine rebounds. P.J. Brown added 22 points and Tim Hardaway had 10 points and 11 assists. Afterward, coach Pat Riley blamed himself for his team's slow start in Sunday's loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles and Monday's first half against Phoenix. "I don't know what it is," Riley said. "I'm doing something woefully wrong with this team right now. ... Offensively, what are we running, who we're throwing the ball to, who are the trigger men? It's not right right now." The Heat have lost 10 of 13 on the road, and Mourning seemed perplexed. "I really don't have an answer of why we approach the game, at times, the way we do," he said. "We wait until we get in trouble before we start to play. We have to come together as a team and fix it right now." The Heat used their trademark stifling defense in a 19-0 third-quarter run. P.J. Brown scored seven of his 10 third-quarter points in the surge as the Heat sliced the lead to 66-61 on Mourning's three-point play with 5:51 remaining in the period. Meanwhile, the Suns, who shot 64 percent in the first half, made just one of their first 11 shots before regrouping to hang on to a 76-69 lead going into the final quarter. Miami cut it to 78-75 on Anthony Carter's two free throws with 10:30 to play and 83-79 on Clarence Weatherspoon's inside basket with 8:11 remaining. But Kidd scored on a drive and Hardaway banked in a lob pass from Gugliotta to put Phoenix ahead 87-79 with 7:24 to go. The Heat never got closer than five again. Four nights after they beat Central Division leader Indiana 118-87, the Suns duplicated the dominance in the first half against Atlantic Division-leading Miami. Penny Hardaway scored eight in a 10-0 run that put the Suns up 27-16 in the first quarter. Six Phoenix players scored during a 14-0 outburst that gave the Suns a 59-34 lead on Penny Hardaway's jumper with 1:36 to play in the half. Phoenix led 62-36 before the Heat scored twice in the last 10 seconds to make it 62-40 at the half. Kidd had 13 assists in the first half. Hardaway was 8-for-10 from the field, Gugliotta 6-for-6 and Shawn Marion 4-for-4 in the first two quarters. "That's the best I've ever shot it here," Hardaway said. "I had been struggling a little bit shooting in this arena, but it's coming around. Hopefully this is something to build on the rest of the season." Game notesKidd had eight assists in the first quarter, when the Suns shot 77 percent (17-for-22), their best shooting quarter of the season. ... Gugliotta scored 11 of the Suns' first 13 points. ... Phoenix had 20 fastbreak points in the first half to the Heat's three. ... ... The Suns' 62 points matched the most allowed by Miami in the first half this season. ... Phoenix swept Miami this season and is 20-3 all-time against the Heat. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Miami Clubhouse Phoenix Clubhouse RECAPS Orlando 87 Washington 85
Phoenix 100
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