Suns won 104-96 to the Sonics in their 40th Anniversary
The 40th anniversary of the Suns was sealed with a tough victory over the SuperSonics at the US Airways Center.
The Sonics wanted to spoil Phoenix’s celebration but the Suns got back their power and won the game in front of the 18,422 fans that were wearing 60’s garb to honor the important date.
At the end of the first quarter, Seattle was leading 33-13 and coach Mike D'Antoni was ready to give up on his team, but by the second period Amare Stoudemire appeared and led the Suns to their 4th straight victory with a game-high 34 points, 14 in the last period. Steve Nash ended with 17 points and 10 assists, and Shawn Marion with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
By half time, the score was 45-43 and at the end of the third the Suns finally took the lead 72-63; by the 4th quarter, the score was 98-94 but Raja Bell and Stoudemire sealed the final 104-96.
The blame can be attributed to Kevin Durant, who turned the ball twice on two key plays at the end, he knew he did wrong:
"I apologize to my teammates for making bad decisions." he said.
This was the 23rd victory of the season for Phoenix, who is one of the most effective teams in the Western Conference and it meant the 200th win for D’Antoni since he began coaching the Suns at the 2004-05 season, when two time MVP Steve Nash joined the team.
Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo wasn’t satisfied with his team’s lack of consistency
"We cooperated a bit too much, we fouled them too much. We could have won this game. Amare hurt us." he said.
