RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PHOENIX (AP) -- By reputation, Jason Kidd is no sharpshooter. He
shot down the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.
|  | | Shawn Marion continued his strong season Sunday with 17 points and 13 rebounds as the Suns beat Portland. |
Kidd scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half, including
going 4-of-5 on 3-pointers, as the Phoenix Suns scored the last 10
points of the game and rallied to beat the Blazers 84-79.
"I'm a guy who looks to pass, so they're going to encourage me
to shoot," Kidd said. "Teams feel they've got a better chance of
winning if I shoot."
Just because Kidd's outside shot is suspect doesn't mean he
won't take it when it's offered.
"Confidence is something I've never been short of," he said.
"You've got to have confidence to feel that when you let it go, (it will) go in. Tonight I felt good."
The Suns fell behind 79-74 on Steve Smith's layup with 1:45 to
play.
Cliff Robinson, who had 20 points, nine assists and seven
rebounds, made a 3-pointer to cut Portland's lead to 79-77 with
1:30 to go.
Kidd's final 3-pointer gave Phoenix an 80-79 lead with 50
seconds remaining.
Smith threw up an air ball under tight defense from Kidd, then
Kidd hit a 16-footer with 15 seconds to go to give Phoenix an 82-79
lead.
The Blazers had a chance for a game-tying 3-pointer but Mario
Elie knocked away Scottie Pippen's inbounds pass and the Suns'
Shawn Marion grabbed the ball and was fouled. Marion sealed the
victory with two free throws with 8.8 seconds to go.
"We had no timeouts and everything else pretty much had broken
down," Pippen said. "I've only got five seconds so I went for the
safest pass, hoping the defender would knock it out of bounds, but
he made a great play."
Marion had 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Robinson also did a strong defensive job on the Blazers' Rasheed
Wallace, who had 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting.
"Cliff had a tremendous game," Phoenix coach Scott Skiles.
"He did as good a job on Rasheed as anybody has this season."
Pippen and Dale Davis each had 15 points for the Blazers, who
had won four consecutive games and six of seven overall. Davis also
had 13 rebounds while Damon Stoudamire scored 10 points but was
just 4-of-13 from the field.
"They made all the big plays. They made all the big shots down
the stretch," Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said.
The Blazers led 36-31 after an ugly first half that saw Phoenix
shoot just 31 percent and Portland 38 percent.
Late in the half, Skiles called a timeout and unleashed a
red-faced profanity-filled tirade against his team.
"Scott's always upset," Elie joked afterward. "When you bring
your children to a Suns game, don't sit in the first row."
In the second half, the Suns fell behind 47-38 on Wallace's
20-footer with 7:42 remaining in the third quarter.
Kidd then hit consecutive 3-pointers to ignite a 13-0 run.
Another 3-pointer by Kidd capped the spurt to put Phoenix ahead
51-47.
The Suns scored eight straight points to go up 65-58 with 10
minutes to play. But the Blazers rallied behind Pippen to regain
the lead.
Game notes
The Blazers play five of their next six games at home. ...
Five players started the game wearing headbands. Robinson, who
always wore one in his days with Portland, was among three Suns
starters who wore a headband Sunday. Wallace and Pippen both wore
one for Portland. ... The Suns are 2-0 against the Blazers this
season. ... It was Phoenix's only home game in a stretch of eight.
They begin a four-game trip Thursday at Milwaukee.
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NBA Scoreboard
Portland Clubhouse
Phoenix Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 96
LA Clippers 87
Milwaukee 92
Indiana 80
San Antonio 97
Vancouver 79
Detroit 93
Washington 87
Phoenix 84
Portland 79
Seattle 118
Golden State 102
LA Lakers 99
Dallas 97
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jason Kidd nails a jump shot for two of his 29 points.
avi: 469 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Rasheed Wallace showed some serious defense in the first half.
avi: 415 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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