A Rising Sun-Phoenix Suns Dynasty

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Top 10 NBA Storylines Before the New Season

10. Trust the Process?
With Hinke out of town there has been a new process in Philly. Veterans like Aminu, Bayless, Henderson, and Ilyasova added the team should be better. The biggest thing for Philly is the debuts of Embiid and Simmons. Both these kids have a chance to be franchise guys and bringing them in together should make it an exciting year in Philly. It won’t be a playoff year in Philly, but watching their progress should be fun.

9. Is the Sun rising?
The Cousins trade brings some intrigue to the Suns. A veteran like Iggy provides stability and leadership for the group. A backcourt of Bledsoe and Booker brings youth and explosiveness. This Suns team could either be very fun, or blow up midseason. Either way it should be a story to watch.

8. Celtic Time?
Boston built off of last season with a big addition in Al Horford. He adds another nice piece to their roster. Seeing if they can take a step forward in the East and challenge the Cavs should be fun. Most likely, they will make the playoffs and win a round or two. However, their assets are not to be forgotten. Armed with a bunch of Net’s picks and some young players, the Celtics have the ability to get a star if one becomes available at the deadline. After falling short on Cousins, Ainge will be ready to strike. Ainge’s wheeling and dealing could create waves in Boston.

7. Do or Die in LA?
Chris Paul has been great as a Clipper, but it hasn’t been enough. It’s been a good run, but they haven’t won yet. Paul’s contract is expiring and you have to wonder if he would leave if LA falls short in the playoffs once again. They are really good, but not good enough to beat the Warriors, the fall out should be interesting.

6. The Harden Show
With the new coach and new roster, James Harden will be a PG this season. He is surrounded by shooting, and a roster built to complement him. The upside for this team on offense is huge and Harden should put up crazy numbers. The thing to watch is if it will be enough for Houston to make a move in the West.

5, No KD, no problem?
With KD gone, the Thunder belong to Westbrook. They made some nice moves to surround him with Oladipo, Gay, and other solid pieces. Everyone expects Russ to play like an animal this year, and the good group of guys around him could make the Thunder, not even miss KD. The Russell Westbrook show is definitely something to watch this year.

4. Old Stars, New Homes
Rose with the Knicks, Wade with the Bulls, Howard with the Hawks. These were guys who carried teams at times in the past. Now they are on teams that could make the playoffs, but aren’t likely to do too much else. Could one of these guys turn back the clock and bring their team to something more?

3. No hope for 30 teams?
Coming into the year, a third straight Cavs-Warriors finals looks inevitable. Can anyone step up and challenge them. Can Pop work Magic on the Spurs? Will the Clippers or Raptors rise their games in the playoffs? Can a Westbrook or Harden, single handedly take down a powerhouse. The likely answer to this question is no, but let it be known, everyone will be gunning for the top two.

2. Victory Lap?
Lebron finally did it. He won a title in Cleveland. You’d think this would lower his motivation some for this year, but with KD going to the Warriors it should only add fuel to his fire. The better competition should bring out a better Lebron, and that is only a good thing for the NBA.

1. Unstoppable?
They are young, fast, and can shoot the hell out of the ball. And now they have KD. Fresh off a heartbreaking loss to the Cavs, the Warriors responded by adding KD and Tyson Chandler to form a super team of sorts. It looks to be an impossible task to beat these guys, but everyone will try. Watching this group together will be fun, but watching them fail would be even sweeter for 31 other fanbases.

Next up: Suns' team Preview

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Suns Previews

Phoenix Suns Depth Chart - 2016
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
PG	Eric Bledsoe	Tyler Ulls	Tony Douglas
SG	Devin Booker	Leandro Barbosa	Ben McLemore
SF	Andre Iguodala	PJ Tucker	Derrick Jones Jr
PF	Jared Dudley	Marquese Chriss	Alan Williams
C	Demarcus Cousins	Joffrey Lauvergne	Ryan Hollins

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5 Questions for the Suns:

1. Chemistry and Egos

With the trade for Cousins, the Suns roster has improved. The starting five is very balanced, it can score, defend, rebound, run, and play the half court. The question is how well will these guys gel together and how fast. Cousins will be the number one option, but there are other weapons and how they play off together will be key to our success.

2. Rebounding
Playing Dudley should help our outside defense and spacing on offense, but rebounding should be an issue. Cousins is the only plus rebounder in the rotation. He will be asked to do a lot there but other people will have to step up and help him out. We will likely lose on the glass most nights, but the key is to minimize that as much as possible.

3. Bench
Our starters are solid, but the bench is a question. Barbosa should provide shooting and scoring. Tucker can play defense and hit a three, but the rest is question marks. The hope is that Ulls and Chriss can contribute as rookies, but who knows? Lauvergne is young, we hope he can score and hold down the center spot, but that is also a question. Coach will have to mix these guys in with the starters so they aren't overwhelmed, but how well they play will determine how good we can be.

4 Distraction?
Cousins has been a distraction on and off the court in his career. Will a new team and better culture resolve this issue? The Suns better hope so or this guy can ruin the future of the franchise. A lot is riding on this guy and his ability to behave. This is a turning point in his career and he has a lot to prove.

5. How do we measure up?
We have a nice roster on paper. Our five is solid, but how do we measure up in a tough west. We likely aren't touching the top 4 spots. Can we compete with teams like Portland, Memphis, and other teams in the middle of the West. It will be big to at least make the playoffs this year to get things moving in the right direction here, but it should be a battle to do so.

Next up: First game of the year.

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New Era, Bad Start for the Suns

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Both teams come out cold in their first game with new pieces. Cousins missed a few FGs and 2 free throws early, but finished the quarter strong scoring 10 out our 17 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. We needed every Cousins bucket as we only shot 33%. Bender lead the balanced Kings with 5. They bounced back from a bad start to finish with 24 points on 45%. Brandon Knight struggled going 1-9 from the field and 0-5. In his first three NBA minutes, Chriss picked up 3 fouls and went 0-2 from the line.
The second quarter the Kings got hot and shot 57% from the field, but we held them to 1 three and 0 free throws to limit the damage to 25 points. We only shot 43% from the field, but stayed within 3 points thanks to going 6-10 from three. Iggy and Booker had some great transition connections and Booker hit three threes in the second quarter. Collison scorched the rookie Ulls off the bench scoring 10 and tying Bender for the team high in the half. Koufos also gave our second unit bigs trouble getting 7 points and 2 blocks.
We bounce back on offense shooting 55% from the field. Bledsoe scored 7, Cousins had 8, and Lauvergne scored 7 straight points toward the end of the quarter to bring us from down 5, to up 2, and we carried that to be tied entering the fourth. The Kings offense kept over 50^ and kept their balance with 7 guys between 9 and 12 points after three quarters.
The fourth quarter was back and forth as both teams shot 46%. The difference was from downtown as we went 2-10, while they went 3-6. Collison(6 points early in the fourth) and Payne(9 big points and several key assists) were the difference makers as they edged us out by 5 down the stretch

Player of the Game; Cameron Payne 19 points 11 assists 4 rebounds 2 steals 8-11 FG 2-4 3PT

Stats:
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Reaction: Cousins had a huge game and played just how we could have hoped especially in his first game. The rest of the team struggled from the field as we struggled to get offense that wasn’t Cousins, that is something to be figured out going forward. Lauvergne provided a nice scoring spark off the bench in the second half and without him we wouldn’t have been close going to the fourth. The rest of the bench provided nothing. The bigger issues were on defense, were Collison and Payne had their way all day. Ulls was overwhelmed on defense in his stints and he might not make it to next game as the backup. Besides Cousins we struggled guarding the paint and on the glass. Our issues showed in this game and they will be worked on. We face a tough test in Westbrook and the Thunder next. On the other hands the new Kings played hard and showed some positive signs for them moving forward.

Next up: @Thunder(1-0)

Around the League:
Cavs lose Tristain Thompson for 2-4 months. Birdman will fill in and Robert Sacre(1 year min) was signed for depth. Deandre Liggins was waived to make roster space.
Blazers lose Noel for a few days
Magic lose Vucevic for 2-4 weeks
Knicks stun the Cavs 105-95 behind 20 from Melo and Rose and 19 and 10 from KP
KD only scores 9 in his Warriors debut, but they beat the Spurs 108-98 behind 43 points from Curry. Tyson Chandler added 13 points and 17 rebounds in his debut
20 from Miles and Teague leads the Pacers over Barnes(29 points) and the Mavs, 116-115
Near triple doubles from Lowry(26 points 13 rebounds and 9 assists) and DeRozan(25 points 7 rebounds 7 assists) lead the Raptors over the Pistons in a blowout
37 points from Jrue Holiday and 8 assists and 21 points 14 rebounds from AD leads the Pelicans over the Nuggets
Westbrook(18 points 9 rebounds 14 assists and 6 steals) stuffed the stat-sheet to overcome the 76ers despite a huge debut from Ben Simmons(23 points 7 rebounds and 7 assists)
In his first game as PG Harden gets a triple double(31 points 13 rebounds 10 assists) in a win over the Lakers

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Huge Quarter for the Rookie Leads Suns to First Win

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We played a great first quarter. The Thunder got 25 points on 48%, but the only reason they got that much is that Westbrook made the jumpers we were giving him. He hit two threes and three stepback deep two’s. Bledsoe prevented him from burning us inside and we will take that. On offense we shot 57%. Cousins lead the way with 11 points and 10 rebounds on 4-4 from the field. After being held scoreless last game Barbosa chipped in 10 off the bench to help us take a 29-25 lead after one.
Both teams played well in the second quarter and as a result the score stayed similar(56-51 us) at half. Booker scored 9 in the quarter for us to join Cousins and Barbosa in double digit scoring. Bledsoe finished the half with 6 points and 7 assists. Westbrook(17) and Gay(9 points 8 rebounds 4 assists 3 blocks) lead the way for OKC in the first half
Our starting five came out red hot and started the half on a 22-13 run to take a 14 point lead halfway through the quarter. Cousins came out hot and got 9 points(9-9 from the field before missing his first shot). Booker added 7 to also spark the run. The Thunder responded with a run to cut it down to five with 2 minutes left in the quarter. We finished on a 8-2 run thanks to the bench because of threes by Tucker and Lauvergne and a buzzer beating jumper by Chriss and we were up 11 going into the fourth
We put the game away quickly shooting 11-19 in the fourth quarter going 4-8 from three and 7-8 from the line. The lineup of Bledsoe-Barbosa-Dudley-Cousins put the game out of reach. Chriss was the beneficiary of the attention drawn by Bledsoe and Cousins. Bledsoe was hitting him on rolls and he was cutting well. He stayed in with the garbage time unit and hit a couple threes as well. He scored 21 in the quarter to finish the game with 27. Westbrook got up to 44 thanks to feasting on Ulls in garbage time, but it didn’t matter as we got the convincing win.

Player of the Game: Demarcus Cousins 25 points 18 rebounds 5 assists 10-12 FG, 3-4 3PT

Stats:

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Recap: Our offense clicked in a way it didn’t last game. Cousins was an animal again and we ran the offense through him with beauty. Our starters clicked well together. We got the spark off the bench we didn’t get last game. We didn’t play Ulls at backup PG as we used Iggy, Booker, and Barbosa to run the offense with Bledsoe out of the game. Chriss showed why he was a top 10 pick and showed that he can be a spark off the bench already. Our defense was good as well, we held everyone but Westbrook in check. Even when Westbrook scored it was mostly jumpers we lived with him making. This was a big improvement from last game and we need this win as we have a brutal back to back with the Warriors and Clippers coming up.

Next up: Vs Warriors(2-0)

Around the League:
Hawks lose Paul Millsap for 6-8 weeks . Mike Scott will move up to starter.
Dwight Howard stepped up in his absence getting 41 points and 14 rebounds on 18-20 FG and 5-5 from the line in a blowout over the Wizards
15 points 9 rebounds 10 assists, and 4 steals from Rondo and 34 points 10 rebounds and 6 assists from Butler lead the Bulls over the Celtics
31 points from Jordan(15-15 from the field!) and 18 points and 20 assists from Paul lead the Clippers to a blowout over the Blazers
34 from Leonard leads the Spurs to a 130-93 blowout over the Kings
Curry gets 36 points and KD puts up 19 points 12 rebounds 8 assists in a win over the Pelicans
Cavs fall to 0-2 as they lose to the Raptors behind 6 guys in double digits
33 from Miles and 30 from PG leads the Pacers to a blowout over the Nets

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Suns Hang With, but Can't Beat Warriors


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The first quarter featured both teams playing good defense. They got 25 points on 43% while we got 21 on 38%. Curry and Durant lead the Warriors with 10 each, but Bledsoe fought hard against Curry holding him to just 4-12 from the field and 2-8 from three. Despite our defense we could get nothing going on offense and were down 21-12 with 3:40 left. We finished on a solid run to cut it to 4 by the end of the quarter thanks to strong play by Cousins(11 points 6 rebounds) and Bledsoe(8 points 3 assists and great defense) who scored all but 2 of our points.
The second quarter was more of the same. The Warriors only shot 30% from the field while we only managed 38%. The story of the second quarter was the shooting guards. Klay got 5 points, but only shot 2-10. Bledsoe got hot going 4-8 from three including three in a row at one point and got 14 points in the quarter. Chriss also contributed again scoring 6. Lauvergne didn’t score, but grabbed a stunning 11 rebounds in 8 minutes. We have only held a 2 point lead at half despite the combined 8-30 shooting from Curry and Thompson.
The Warriors bounced back in the second half as the Warriors shot 48% as we only shot 40% and as a result they took a 4 point lead going into the fourth. Curry(10 points, 4-8 shooting) and Thompson(14 points 5-10 shooting) was most of their offense as they bounced back from bad first halves. Our offense struggled, the only reason we hung around was thanks to Booker(7 points) and Iggy(6 points)
The fourth quarter was a back and forth affair as both teams were answering each other’s blows.The biggest plays was with 1:38 left in a tie game. We play great defense for 22 seconds. Klay has the ball in the corner with no where to go. But KD beat Iggy on a cut and got to the rim for a layup as the shot clock expired. The Warriors got a stop and then Curry made a stunning no look pass to KD for a layup and he was fouled. That put them up 5 with 1:15 left. We responded with a bucket but Curry hit a dagger three thanks to a great screen by Tyson to take Bledsoe out of the play and that was all she wrote.

Player of the Game: KD 28 points 10 rebounds 10-19 FG 5-13 3PT

Stats:
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Recap: We play a very good game. We hung with the Warriors for the whole game but KD and Curry were too much down the stretch. We played great defense as we held the splash bros in check and made KD work for his points. Tucker off the bench was key to the defense, but hurt us by missing open threes(2-10 from three). Green and Chandler made it tough for Cousins to get post position, so he had a good line, but couldn’t dominate the game like he would have liked. He was big on the glass grabbing 15 rebounds and we still ran the offense through him on the elbow resulting in 8 assists. Bledsoe stepped up and got some big buckets in the fourth. Booker continued to show flashes of the great player he will be and why he can be a great complimentary piece right now.

Around the League:
22 points 12 rebounds 5 assists from Embiid and 8 points 7 rebounds and 10 assists from Simmons leads the 76ers over the Hawks
27 from DJ and 21 from Payton leads the Magic over the Cavs who are now a stunning 0-3
31 from Melo and 20 points and 14 assists from Rose leads the Knicks over Memphis
32 points 8 rebounds 4 assists and 7 steals from Butler leads the Bulls over the Pacers
27 from Middleton leads the Bucks to a blowout over the Nets
27 from Lavine and 26 from Wiggins leads the Wolves over the Kings
23, 13 and 4 blocks from Gobert leads the Jazz over the Clippers
24 from Dragic and Johnson and 19 points and 20 rebounds from Whiteside leads the Heat over the Spurs
Rockets(3-0) blowout the Mavs(0-3) behind 28 points 8 rebounds 10 assists from Harden

Next up: Clippers

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The Rookie Strikes Again, Leads Huge Sun Comeback

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The first quarter was ugly for us. They scored 32 points on 50% shooting as we could not stop their bigs. Griffin had 12 and Jordan had 8. We shot 42%, but turned the ball over a stunning 7 times to only get 20 points after one to be down 12.The only person who had it going was Dudley who got us 10 points. Cousins struggled, as he couldn’t score, but he did get 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
We played better defense holding them to 41% shooting, but they played well enough to get 26 points led by 7 a piece from Reddick and Griffin. We did better shooting 50% from the field as we scored 30 points. Chriss(8 points) and Booker(7) led the charge for us. We cut it down to as low at 6 thanks to our play, but Griffin(19 points 7 rebounds in the half) and Jordan(12 points 13 rebounds in the half) held us off from doing more and we went into the half down 8.
Griffin and Jordan blitzed us to start the third as they started on a 9-0 run to take a 17 point lead. It didn’t get any better as we were down 20 half way through the quarter. Coach went with a Iggy-Barbosa-Tucker-Chriss-Alan Williams unit to try and sure up the defense and rebounding. We cut it down to 14 at a couple points, but everyone but Chriss missed open shots that killed us and we were down 17 going into the fourth.
To start the fourth we mixed Booker in with our second unit. Chriss got a dunk and two three pointers early on and we cut it to 14 a few times. That was good enough for the coach to give it a go with the starters mixed with Chriss. We made a push, but they kept answering and we were down 111-97 with 4:03 left. Cousins found Dudley for a three to cut it down to 11. At this point Iggy was running the point with Bledsoe getting a rest and us needing to keep the hot Chriss in the game.. Iggy stripped Paul as he drove toward the paint and Iggy got the dunk to cut it to 9. We got a stop and Iggy drove and created a short jumper off the dribble which he drained to cut it to 7. Griffin got a jumper to get it down to 9 with 2:30 left. We got the ball back and they left Chriss uncovered in the corner(they were doing it all game) and he drained another three to cut it to 6. We got another stop. We got the ball back and Iggy ran a middle pick and roll with Cousins, whose screen took Paul out of the play, as a result Reddick rotated off Booker at the elbow, Iggy got him the ball and he drilled the three and all of a sudden we are down 3 with 1:06 left. We responded with another stop and Iggy ran a pick and roll with Chriss at the top of the key. Iggy made a no look pass and hit Chriss cutting to the rim for a dunk and Griffin got over late and fouled him! Chriss hit the free throw to tie the game. We got another stop and got the ball back. We stuck with the top pick and roll with Iggy and Chriss. Jordan rotated off Cousins to help and Cousins cut toward the basket. Iggy hit him in stride and he flipped in a little hook shot and was fouled! All of a sudden we were up 3 with 28 seconds left. Griffin came back and hit a pretty post fade over Chriss to make it a one point game. Bledsoe was fouled and hit both free throws. Paul rimmed out a open three for the tie, but Blake got a putback to cut it to 1 with 15 seconds left. Bledsoe hit both free throws again. Paul got another good look from three for the tie, but it rimmed out again and we got the rebound. Bledsoe hit one more free throw to seal the game and an improbable comeback win.

Player of the Game: Chriss 37 points 9 rebounds 14-22 FG 5-8 3PT

Stats:

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Recap:
Wow, that was crazy. Coming off yesterday’s game and given the matchup, it was understandable that we might have an off game. We were worried about matching up with Blake and DJ and they were roasting us early. We tried several things and nothing was working. We hung around thanks to good offense, but once our offense went cold in the third and Paul kept hitting Blake and DJ for easy buckets we were in trouble. We were also getting dominated on the glass. The Iggy-Barbosa-Tucker-Chriss-Alan Williams unit settled things down on defense and the glass, but Williams missed a couple easy layups and it had some trouble creating offense and we didn’t make too much of a dent into the fourth. Once we mixed more of the starters in we did well. We got back into it thanks to them not covering Chriss in the corner and him hitting them. Iggy did a good job running the offense, and the defense was better. It still looked like it would be a good effort, but not enough with 4 minutes left. All of a sudden everything went right. We forced turnovers, hit threes, got stops, and the Iggy-Chriss pick and roll was unstoppable. We showed a lot of fight in this game and it was impressive. Iggy showed that he should have a role in running the offense. Chriss has exceeded any expectation we had. He has shown good energy on defense and on the glass. He has rolled well, finished well, and has hit the open jumpers he has been given. Our top 10 pick looks better than we could have thought and that can only help the team moving forward. This is one to build on as we try to get our group to gel here.

Around the League:
Mavs lose Bogut for 6-8 weeks, Dwight Powell is the starter now
27 from Warren and 23 points and 9 assists from Knight leads the Kings over the Hawks
29 from Brook and 20 points and 13 assists from Lin leads the Nets over the Bulls

Next up: Vs Blazers(2-2)

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Suns Overcome Bad Start to Beat Portland

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We came out ice cold and they came out hot and before we knew it they were up 14-0 and 17-5 and Cousins had 2 fouls. We come back to cut it to one as Chriss came off the bench, got a putback dunk, hit a mid range jumper and drilled two threes. Dudley also added 7. Lillard scored 5 straight at the end of the quarter to put them back up 6 at the end of the quarter. Noel played well getting 6 points and 7 rebounds and drawing two fouls on Cousins.
We bounce back with a big second quarter. We hold the Blazers to just 29% from the field while we go for 62%. We go from down 6 to up four by the half. Iggy had his best quarter of the season scoring 10 points. Lauvergne was also a key spark off the bench scoring 8 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in the half in extended minutes due to Cousins’ foul trouble. Noel(11 points 9 rebounds 2 blocks) was the best player for the Blazers in the first half.
We stayed hot in the third shooting 57% while holding them to 44%. The solid play on both sides of the court resulted in a 13 point lead for us at the end of the third. Our two backup bigs led us again, as Chriss scored 8 and Lauvergne added 6. Booker hit two threes during our run that helped create our lead. CJ lead them with 9 in the quarter.
The strong play at both ends continued as we shot 50% and held them to 39%. They hung around enough to key our guys in, but never got close enough where it was even within a dozen. Bledsoe had a big fourth scoring 10 and Iggy and Chriss added 6 each.

Player of the Game: Chriss 25 points 8 rebounds 4 assists 9-11 FG 2-3 3PT

Stats:
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Recap:
We got off to the bad start. It wasn’t necessarily us playing that badly. We missed some shots we usually make and their talented guards hit some big shots and bamn it’s 14-0. Chriss gave us a huge spark off the bench once again. For the rest of the game we played great defense and got contributions up and down the roster on offense. Bledsoe and Iggy were more aggressive attacking the basket and had their best offensive games of the year. Lauvergne and Cousins both scored and rebounded well. Chriss played another great game, hitting threes, crashing the glass, and attacking the basket. This kid is showing major upside and if he can keep up something close to this pace, our future is bright.

Around the League:
Magic lose Jodie Meeks for 4-6 months
Spurs lose Danny Green for 4-6 weeks
31 points 6 rebounds and 7 assists from Kemba leads the Hornets over Philly
29 points and 16 rebounds from Dwight Howard leads the Hawks over the Lakers
28 points and 14 rebounds from AD leads the Pelicans over Memphis
25 from Hood and 17 points, 18 rebounds and 5 blocks from Gobert leads the Jazz(4-1) over the 0-4 Mavs
26 from Westbrook and Oladipo lead the Thunder over the Clippers

Next up: @ Pelicans(3-2)

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Huge Fourth from Bledsoe leads Suns to Win

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Early in the game the story was the two young shooting guards as Hield and Booker both came out hitting jumpers and both finished with 11. AD and Evans scored 7 and 5 and carried them on a run in the middle of the quarter and they took a 13 point lead. Chriss came in and again provided a spark and hit two threes and got a dunk. Iggy then hit his second three of the quarter and we cut it down to 2. AD hit a shot at the horn to give them a 6 point lead after one. The Pelicans shot 62%, but thanks to our 7-14 from three we hung around.
The Second quarter was similar as we could not stop the Pelicans from getting into the paint resulting in 60% shooting. Noone scored more than 5 as the Pelicans were balanced. We hung round thanks to hitting four threes including a dramatic buzzer beater by Booker to cut it to 9 at the half.
We played well on offense in the third and good enough on defense to cut it down to 5 at the end of the third. They kept the lead because they still shot 45% and 3-6 from three. Frazier had a big 9 off the bench to hold us off. AD also added 7. Iggy lead us with 9 points in the quarter and we got 5 each from Bledsoe, Chriss, and Cousins.
Early in the fourth both teams were trading hoops. Then Bledsoe got going, he hit a mid range jumper, Cousins found him cutting for a layup and a foul. He got a transition bucket, and attacked the paint multiple times off of pick and rolls when the defense overcommitted to Cousins and got easy dunks. The Pelicans were getting enough buckets to keep up with Bledsoe. With 3:29 left AD hit a jumper to put them up 6. Bledsoe drew a foul on a drive and hit both. We got a stop and Bledsoe found a open Cousins for a three to cut it to 1 with 2:21 left. Holiday hit a jumper with 1:58 left for the 3 point lead. They locked us down for 22 seconds and Iggy had to throw it back to Bledsoe for a deep three with the shock clock running down and he drained it to tie the game at 111 with 1:34 left. They went to AD in the post, who we doubled, he kicked it to Holiday for a wide open three, but he missed it. We pushed it down quick and Iggy kicked it to Bledsoe in the corner, Holiday was late getting back and Bledsoe drove right by him for a dunk and a lead. Their next time down, they tried to get it to AD before we could double, by running him off a curl from the corner. Iggy stayed in front of him and when AD went to faceup and Iggy stripped him, got the steal and ran down for the dunk and the four point lead. They bounced back by getting AD a open jumper to cut it to 2 with 38 seconds left. Off the following inbounce play we gave it to Cousins up top and Bledsoe cut to the rim uncovered for the dunk to regain our four point lead. Holiday got his revenge with a slick spin move and layup with 32 seconds left. They played great defense to force a shot clock violation. They got the ball and gave it to AD in the post working on the rookie Chriss. He went up for the turn-around jumper, but Chriss used his length to stay in his face, AD passed it Evans out of mid-air who was cutting alone toward the hoop.Chriss regained his footing and turned around toward Evans, and somehow blocked him as he tried to get up a short shot near the rim. Cousins grabbed the rebound with 0.3 seconds left, hit the first free throw, and missed the second on purpose and the clock ran out for another epic win.

Stats:
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Recap: Eric Bledsoe carried us to this win with his 22 point fourth quarter, which was greater than any of his point totals for a game this season. He ran the floor well and attacked the paint on pick and rolls to take advantage of the attention on Cousins and the team’s shooters. We played bad defense all game as they finished at a stunning 55% from the field. We overcame it thanks to Bledsoe’s explosion and going 20-44 from three. That is not a sustainable number and we will have to play better defense to win. It was nice to see Iggy get to 20, by hitting some threes and running the floor hard. Chriss played well once again off the bench. Cousins was only held to 16 points, but showed an all-around game we’ve seen all year with 19 rebounds and 8 assists. He is fitting in better than we could have hoped so far. We aren’t perfect yet, but we are getting good team wins against tough teams and it is good to see.
Around the League:
Warriors lose KD for 1-2 weeks
16 points 11 rebounds 8 assists and 4 steals from Gasol leads memphis over the Clippers
27 from Barnes gets the Mavs their first win in OT vs the Blazers despite 29 and 17 for Harkless
The Jazz beat the Spurs behind 25 and 10 for Hill and 19 and 14 by Gobert
40 points from Russell shocks the KD-less Warriors as the Lakers win 113-111

Next up: @ Lakers(2-4)