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Sunday, Mar. 26 9:00pm ET
Suns' Penny scores 27 points in first half | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
PHOENIX (AP) -- The Phoenix Suns got a win before they headed East on their final long road trip of the season. That was the only thing good that coach Scott Skiles could say about the stumbling 90-82 victory over the Golden State Warriors Sunday night. "We're happy with the win, but it was not an acceptable performance," Skiles said. The second-half performance anyway. Penny Hardaway, in his most spectacular half of basketball since joining the Suns, scored 27 points in the first half. The entire Phoenix team scored 27 in the second. "Ugly, man, ugly," said the Suns' Cliff Robinson. "I don't know if it was so much that we went to sleep. We just didn't close them out." Hardaway, who scored a season-high 33, made all 10 of his field goal tries in the first half as Phoenix took a 63-40 lead. With Jason Kidd gone with a broken left ankle, Hardaway said he knows he has to be more aggressive offensively. "I really haven't had that kind of mentality on this team because there's so many scorers," Hardaway said. "I've always deferred. Now with Jason out, I can do some more things. "I mean I wish he was here, but it's time for me to step up on the offensive end. I've always had it in me, it's just a matter of doing it." Shawn Marion added 15 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots for Phoenix, in its second game since Kidd was hurt. But Marion was scoreless, going 0-for-5 from the field, in the second half. Donyell Marshall scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Warriors, who lost their fifth in a row and 13th in their last 14 games. Larry Hughes added 16 points but made just four of 15 shots. "We played well in the second half," Marshall said. "But that lead was just too much to overcome." Hardaway's two free throws gave the Suns their biggest first-half lead, 62-37, 24.3 seconds before the break. But Golden State outscored Phoenix 15-4 to start the third quarter to cut the Suns' lead to 67-55 on Marshall's two free throws with 3:35 to go in the period. "We had basically no effort at all out of the locker room," Skiles said. "They did whatever they wanted to." Phoenix, which has won six of seven, re-built a 75-60 lead after three quarters. But the Warriors came back again, outscoring the Suns 13-4 to start the fourth quarter, and cut it to 79-73 when Marion was called for goaltending on Marshall's shot with 7:41 to play. Randy Livingston's two free throws with 5:13 to play gave Phoenix an 84-75 lead, then Hardaway scored on a breakaway layup to make it 86-75 with 3:29 to go. Hughes' 3-pointer sliced the lead to 86-78 with 3:08 to go, but Hardaway sealed the victory by making four consecutive free throws. "We outplayed some people in the second half and took care of a lot of good business," Golden State coach Gary St. Jean said. "But you can't dig a hole like that on the road against a quality team." The Suns were 9-for-34 (26 percent) from the field in the second half after shooting 60 percent (24-for-40) in the first half. Game notesKevin Johnson, coaxed out of retirement the day after Kidd was injured, was on the Phoenix bench in street clothes. He got a standing ovation from the crowd when he was introduced in the third quarter. ... Johnson will accompany the Suns on their four-game road trip and may play at Miami on Tuesday. ... The Suns are 30-6 at home. ... Phoenix has beaten the Warriors 10 consecutive times at America West Arena. ... The Suns were 0-for-12 from 3-point range. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Golden State Clubhouse Phoenix Clubhouse KJ's Suns debut will wait a day ot two
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