Phoenix (6-1) at Philadelphia (3-3)

Cloudy Currently: Philadelphia, PA
Temp: 53° F
  • Game info: 7:00 pm EST Mon Nov 9, 2009
  • TV: NBATV, CSP

By DAN PIERINGER, STATS Editor Nov 8, 10:28 pm EST

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After missing the playoffs last spring with their worst record since signing Steve Nash(notes) before the 2004-05 season, the Phoenix Suns have one of the league’s best records two weeks into 2009-10.

The Suns, though, refuse to say they’ve returned to the NBA’s elite just yet.

Trying not to make too much of their early success, the Suns look to cap a strong five-game trip with another win Monday night when they meet the Philadelphia 76ers.

Phoenix finished 10 games above .500 at 46-36 last season, but that was only good enough for ninth place in the Western Conference, keeping the Suns out of the postseason for the first time since 2004.

The Suns (6-1) expect to get back to the playoffs this season, but they’re not taking anything for granted despite their strong start.

“The minute we start to say we’re a certain caliber team, there’s a danger,” Nash said after finishing with 11 points and 17 assists in Phoenix’s 102-90 win over Washington on Sunday. “We just got to keep being humble, keep treating this as a project. It’s going to take the whole season.”

It might be a long-term project, but Nash appears to be in midseason form already. He’s averaging 17.9 points and leading the league with 11.9 assists per game while shooting 51.1 percent from the field.

Despite delivering a double-double against the Wizards to help Phoenix improve to 3-1 on its road trip, Nash wasn’t thrilled with Sunday’s performance. The Suns hadn’t scored fewer points or shot a worse percentage from the field (47.7) in a win this season.

“We just weren’t really fresh today,” Nash said. “Maybe it was (because it was) the first day game of the season. We really didn’t have a great bounce to us, we didn’t really push the ball, we weren’t really aggressive to start. That was the difference.

“We had some chances to be up 15 or 20. We just didn’t really have energy to us today, but mentally we were tough and stuck with it at times and got it done.”

The 76ers (3-3) couldn’t say the same after falling 88-81 at Detroit on Sunday. Andre Iguodala(notes) had 24 points and went 9 for 16 from the field, but the rest of the Philadelphia starters combined to shoot 30.6 percent (11 for 36). The Sixers were outrebounded 51-39, giving up 21 offensive boards to the Pistons.

“I thought we took midrange shots that we will make on a normal basis,” first-year Philadelphia coach Eddie Jordan said. “The story of the game was that we could not rebound the basketball. We shot ourselves in the foot with their offensive rebounds and some plays that we didn’t finish at the basket.”

Thaddeus Young(notes) contributed to Philadelphia’s offensive woes, finishing with 10 points and shooting 4 for 13. The third-year forward is averaging 15.3 points and shooting 51.5 percent in the Sixers’ three wins, but he’s been held to 9.7 points and 28.9 percent shooting in the three losses.

Young appears to have a good chance for a strong performance against the Suns, who are giving up 106.8 points per game - one of the highest marks in the league. Young averaged 24.0 points and made 20 of 31 shots (64.5 percent) as Philadelphia and Phoenix split two meetings last season.

Nash had 24 points and 10 assists in a 126-116 home win over the Sixers on March 18, but was limited to two points on 1-for-8 shooting in a 108-91 loss at the Wachovia Center on Feb. 9.

Updated Nov 8, 10:28 pm EST
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Team Comparison

Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10
Phoenix 12-3 1st Pacific / 1st West 111.4 105.9 Road 6-3 Won 2 8-2
Philadelphia 5-10 3rd Atlantic / 12th East 97.6 101.9 Home 3-4 Lost 4 2-8

Notes

F Grant Hill is the only Suns player to appear in every game this season. ... C Shaquille O'Neal failed to make the playoffs for the first time since his rookie season. ... F Luis Amundson won the Suns' Dan Majerle Hustle Award for outstanding effort.

Apr 16, 1:55 am EDT

G-F Andre Iguodala had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and G Louis Williams scored 18 to help the Sixers beat the Magic for the first time in four tries this season -- and when it mattered most. ... Iguodala made a 22-foot jumper with 2.2 seconds remaining, and the Sixers rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat Orlando 100-98 in Game 1.

Apr 19, 10:31 pm EDT
NBA

68 Comments

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  1. Jazzinefx
    68. Posted by Jazzinefx Tue Nov 10 10:02pm EST

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    The Sixers can't defend the 3-point shot, because they don't shoot many 3-pointers themselves, plus; they don't practice shooting or defending them in there practices!! The Sixer play old-time offense, and it just doesn't work in today's game!!

    Look, I love basketball, Philadelphia has it's place in the history of basketball, and Philadelphia has given the NBA some of it's greatest stars, and teams. We DO NOT HAVE THE TEAM THAT CAN COMPETE ON ANY LEVEL IN THE NBA TODAY!! I've given up on Sixers basketball. It will be a long time before we make some noise in the NBA!! We cannot get rebounds, and we cannot get/make shots in the half-court game!! When the going gets tough, we HAVE NO GO TO GUY!!! When we absolutely NEED a BUCKET, there is no one who can make his own shot. We have no playmaker at point guard, Lou Williams is a shooting guard, and is playing OUT OF POSITION!! Without a point guard, and a center, the Philadelphia 76ers will GO NOWHERE!!!!
  2. ADRIAN
    67. Posted by ADRIAN Tue Nov 10 6:38pm EST

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    Dude, your memory is like your name.... Rusty!

    The Lakers beat the Celtics the last 2 times they met.
    -The first meeting was Christmas day, when the Lakers ended the Celtics' 19 game winning streak.
    -The second was a Laker win in Boston, ending the Celtics' 12 game streak.

    Props to the Suns for beating the Celtics last week, but the Lakers beat them to it.
  3. <i>basketbrawler94</i>
    66. Posted by basketbrawler94 Tue Nov 10 5:50pm EST

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    this is so frustrating.. im a sixers fan and it's pathetic seeing how easily we give up 3s. I guess since we had the series against the Magic we got used to seeing our opponents drill a million 3s. THEY CANT COME BACK IF YOU TRADE 2's! And why do you zoom down for a layup with a 6 point deficit and 25 seconds and then foul Nash who is auto from the line? COME ON ED JORDAN
  4. adam w
    65. Posted by adam w Tue Nov 10 5:46pm EST

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    biggest difference the 76ers is PG play - Lou isn't a "set up the other players" PG. He's a scorer. Miller, as lackadaisical as he sometimes looked, was very good and getting other players the ball. Until he starts playing as a PG and not another SG the 76ers will struggle.
  5. rusty santos
    64. Posted by rusty santos Tue Nov 10 5:28pm EST

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    yea the la faker fans always get threatened when a super power rises.and yes the suns are proving to be a formidable challenge who else can beat the celtics at there own game not the fakers.lol
  6. cali native
    63. Posted by cali native Tue Nov 10 5:21pm EST

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    nash is my kind of player.he lets his skills do the talking. classy guy. go lakers!!!!
  7. ADRIAN
    62. Posted by ADRIAN Tue Nov 10 4:54pm EST

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    Sun Haters.... haha.... that's a new one. Contrary to Clinton P's post, I don't see so much sun-hating as I see the laker-hating in these posts.
  8. pistonsfan88
    61. Posted by pistonsfan88 Tue Nov 10 4:21pm EST

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    It appears that the Suns are back. Kerr is very smart to realize when a plan was miserably failing. He was humbled but also rectified the Shaq trade and instead of completely blowing it up, he's giving Nash a chance to run n' gun. And who knows maybe Stoudemire might be more inclined to stay if the Suns keep winning.
  9. SoCalnative1
    60. Posted by SoCalnative1 Tue Nov 10 3:59pm EST

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    HAHAHAHA......Clinton P.......read your post about Suns fans not complaining then read the sentence where you b!tch about the schedule and elbow throwing crying ass Kobe.....lol......you and Jethro both b!tch about Laker fans complaining and making excuses, yet both of you did the exact same thing.....
  10. Dian
    59. Posted by Dian Tue Nov 10 3:52pm EST

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    good for sun. as for laker dont worry they have master or zheng or whatever they call him. he know how to win the game. go laker.....
  11. clinton p
    58. Posted by clinton p Tue Nov 10 3:36pm EST

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    a bunch of suns haters like always now we have a bench that there isn't much of a drop when steve leaves the game and every year we get stuck with this typeof crap scheaduling not everybody like stupid laker fans seem to think poor lakers but we don't complain like elbow throw crying ass kobe and the overrated lakers you saw what we do to opponents in the 4th on d barely over 20 suck on that lakers and celts
  12. The Real Jethro
    57. Posted by The Real Jethro Tue Nov 10 2:46pm EST

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    OK you Laker fans... I think missing 2 players is ALWAYS worse then missing one. Especially when one of the two is the one the goes against Andrew Bynum. Also if you think that I am expecting the Suns to win you're wrong. But I am going to head off all your normal annoying chest thumping that I will hear when you do win. Win with some class. If the Suns win I promice you that you wont see me in here gloating because to me it's just one game against a team that nobody likes unless you happen to live in LA. OK, maybe there might be a few BANDWAGON, FRONTRUNNER so called fans out there that like them too.
  13. ADRIAN
    55. Posted by ADRIAN Tue Nov 10 2:23pm EST

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    Hey Cotton,
    Nice name. You must be a true Suns fan when you reference your old coach Fitz. Great tribute to the late 80s!

    Your assesment is flawed. You only account for offense. How many points did Nash give up to the guy he was defending? How many assists did he allow to his counterpart? How many of those were on 3 pointers?

    There are always ways to twist the stats in your favor, but please be fair.
  14. KennethY
    54. Posted by KennethY Tue Nov 10 1:34pm EST

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    "Here is a question, that's as serious as cancer..."Where is Elton Brand's "A" game? Can anyone
    answer this????"

    Yes, I can answer this. His A-Game will come when his coach decides to play him more than 21 minutes a game.

    Elton Brand got his 10 points, almost all in the first half. He barely even got to play the second half and didn't play at all in the 4th quarter when the game was close.

    He played well, shot 50% from the field, and didn't turn the ball over and played good Defense.

    It's his coach that needs to WAKE UP and start using his BEST player. Btw, his princeton offence, whatever it is, is lame...it's obviously NOT working because his team has a losing record.
  15. Risk Prof
    53. Posted by Risk Prof Tue Nov 10 1:27pm EST

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    For all the hype about LeBron and Kobe, Mr. Nash is the one having an MVP season so far at this point in time. What a talent!
  16. SoCalnative1
    52. Posted by SoCalnative1 Tue Nov 10 1:24pm EST

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    Come on Jethro.....seems like you're already making excuses and the game hasn't even started.....ALL teams go through grueling scheduling......last year the Lakers had one of the longest road trips ever.....they were gone for something like 14 days and played Boston and Cleveland on back to back games.......Suns must be playing really good.....haven't seen any of their games but am curious to see how they are winning.....
  17. Leo
    51. Posted by Leo Tue Nov 10 1:09pm EST

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    hahah POST 49, are you comparing not having robin lopez to lakers without pau gasol? hahah noob.
  18. Leo
    50. Posted by Leo Tue Nov 10 1:09pm EST

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    hahah POST 49, are you comparing not having robin lopez to lakers without pau gasol? hahah noob.
  19. The Real Jethro
    49. Posted by The Real Jethro Tue Nov 10 12:44pm EST

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    To all my Laker friends out there... You guys sitting there with 3 days off resting are lucky that you catch the Suns on the second night of a back to back. Sometimes I wonder who the idiot is that makes the schedules. How many road games have the Lakers had? The poor Suns got thrown to the wolves early... playing Boston\Miami\Orlando\Wizards\76r's was pretty cruel. Glad we don't have to go back there again this year. If the Suns get lucky and win Thursday I can't wait to hear the Laker fans built in excusses... we didn't have Pau. Well the Suns will not have Lopez and have a one armed Barbosa but if they loose I'm not going to make excusses so I also expect not to get any crap from the Laker fans. If they win it will be a good win... beating the HOTEST team in the league!
  20. <i>adrian_coria787</i>
    48. Posted by adrian_coria787 Tue Nov 10 12:01pm EST

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    like i said before...PHOENIX IS BACK! Lakers arent goin to stroll through the division without a fight
  21. Jose
    47. Posted by Jose Tue Nov 10 11:20am EST

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    7-1!!! DAMN!!! i would have never guessed it. so i guess it's going to be Lakers vs. Suns in the Western Conference Finals.
  22. Celtics - Not this season
    46. Posted by Celtics - Not this season Tue Nov 10 10:57am EST

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    Phoenix,
    Congrats on a good win against the Celtics and 76ers. The Suns are rising, noon will come by when you face the Hornets on Wednesday, but by Thursday, the Suns are going down to the Lakers.
  23. <i>miniminimynimow</i>
    45. Posted by miniminimynimow Tue Nov 10 10:44am EST

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    it's good to see nash playing like this again, but i'm guessing the suns won't even end up with a homecourt advantage when playoff comes. meaning less chance of making it to the 2nd round.
  24. Texas_Hurricane
    44. Posted by Texas_Hurricane Tue Nov 10 10:30am EST

    Report Abuse

    #43-He Left It In L.A In 2006!
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