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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
PHOENIX (AP) -- Jason Kidd gave the Phoenix fans what they'd come to expect from him on the court, then asked them for forgiveness.
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| Kidd |
In his first home game since his arrest Jan. 18 on a charge of
striking his wife, Kidd had 17 points, 10 assists and seven
rebounds in a 101-92 victory over the Vancouver Grizzlies on
Wednesday night.
Afterward, he asked to appear on the Suns' postgame radio show
on the America West Arena court.
"The biggest thing I want to ask from the fans is your
forgiveness, for you to forgive me," he said to applause from the
remaining fans.
"I promise you one thing," he said. "That will never happen again."
Cheers drowned out scattered boos when Kidd was introduced in the starting lineup before the game.
The cheers got louder when Kidd made a slick pass to Rodney
Rogers for an inside basket that gave Phoenix an 89-87 lead with
4:10 to go. Kidd followed with a layup through traffic, then got
another assist to Shawn Marion, whose 17-footer made it 93-87 with
3:02 remaining.
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The biggest thing I want to ask from the fans is your forgiveness ... I promise you one thing: That will never happen again. ” |
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— Jason Kidd |
After Michael Dickerson's 22-footer cut it to 93-91 with two minutes to go, Kidd got his 10th assist on Cliff Robinson's jumper,
and Phoenix was up 95-91 with 1:50 to go.
Sharif Abdur-Rahim made one of two free throws to make it 95-92
with 1:06 to go, then Marion blocked Abdur-Rahim's inside shot and Mike Bibby missed a layup for Vancouver. Rogers, Robinson and Tony
Delk each sank a pair of free throws to finish off the Grizzlies.
Phoenix outscored Vancouver 14-5 in the final 4:10.
Kidd said it was important for him to speak to the fans.
"I could have done it before the game, but you know we have a
job and that's to win basketball games," he said. "The true fans
stay around, I felt, and I wanted to express how I felt. I wanted
to ask probably for their forgiveness and move on. This is home for
me. The community work doesn't stop and me playing basketball and me having fun doesn't stop. ... We're going to learn from my mistakes."
Suns coach Scott Skiles hardly noticed what kind of reception
Kidd got.
"I wasn't paying a lot of attention," he said. "I'm sure I would have had an impression had it been more negative. I don't know. It just seemed about normal."
Robinson scored 25, Marion had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Delk
scored 18 and rookie Jake Tsakalidis had a season-high 13 points
and eight rebounds for Phoenix, just off a 2-4 trip to the East.
Bibby scored 26 but was scoreless in the fourth quarter as the
Grizzlies lost their 13th consecutive road game and ninth in a row
at America West Arena.
Still, it was one of Vancouver's stronger road showings of the
season.
"If we could bottle this up and play with this kind of
intensity and this kind of passion every night, and play this hard
every night, we'd give ourselves a chance to win a lot more
games," said Abdur-Rahim, who scored 17.
Grant Long added 13 and Isaac Austin 11 for Vancouver.
Kidd missed four games, including the first three of a six-game
road trip. He said he wanted to stay home to begin to work out
problems with his wife.
He rejoined the Suns for the last three games of the road trip,
bringing his wife Joumana and 2-year-old son with him. She and
their child were at the game, and she said she was gratified but
not surprised by the crowd's response.
"It's what I expected," she said. "The reaction I've gotten
from people around Phoenix has been very supportive."
But the Grizzlies outscored Phoenix 21-8 to start the third
quarter and led 68-67 on Abdur-Rahim's layup with 4:01 left in the
period. Kidd's running jumper gave the Suns a 69-68 lead and they
were up 79-76 going into the final quarter.
Delk scored 12 in the second quarter on 5-for-7 shooting.
Game notes
Kidd was 8-for-12 shooting from the field. ... Erick Strickland,
acquired by Vancouver in a trade that sent Othella Harrington to
New York on Tuesday, was not in uniform because he has yet to take
his physical. ... Vancouver is 3-16 on the road and 4-27 against
the Western Conference. ... Vinny Del Negro, acquired by Phoenix last week in a trade with Golden State, made his first shot as a Sun. ... The Suns' Tom Gugliotta, on the injured list with a sore knee while he visited his seriously ill mother, is expected to be activated Thursday.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Vancouver Clubhouse
Phoenix Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 102
Indiana 96
Orlando 100
Washington 96
Atlanta 102
Toronto 97
Detroit 112
New Jersey 103
Milwaukee 116
Denver 111
Minnesota 96
LA Lakers 83
San Antonio 92
LA Clippers 70
Phoenix 101
Vancouver 92
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Mike Bibby Official Site
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