Suns turn back determined Grizzlies
PHOENIX – The Memphis Grizzlies got rough with the Phoenix Suns in Game 2, and it almost worked.
The Suns erased a five-point deficit with a 14-4 run over the final 4:04 to beat the Grizzlies 108-103 on Wednesday night and take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-7 first-round series. Game 3 is Friday night in Memphis.
Amare Stoudemire, who scored just nine points in the series opener, had 34 points and 10 rebounds, including 18-of-22 shooting at the foul line. The physical Grizzlies sent Phoenix to the line 40 times, and the Suns made 32 of them.
Shawn Marion, playing with a sprained right wrist, added 22 points for Phoenix, including a pair of 15-footers that tied the game, then put Phoenix ahead for good. He also grabbed 13 rebounds and had four of the Suns’ 10 blocked shots.
Quentin Richardson had 15 points, and had a big blocked shot in the final minute.
Joe Johnson scored 20, while Steve Nash had 12 points and 15 assists. His two free throws with 9.1 seconds to play put Phoenix ahead 106-103. After a timeout, Mike Miller missed what would have been the game-tying 3 from the corner, and Richardson finished it off with two free throws.
Pau Gasol overpowered the smaller Suns most of the night for 28 points and 16 rebounds, both career playoff bests. Jason Williams scored 21, also a career playoff high, but was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Brian Cardinal added 13 points and Lorenzen Wright 12.
Down 99-94 with 4:04 to play, the Suns scored nine in a row to go up 103-99 on Stoudemire’s final two free throws with 2:04 to play. Richardson started the run with a 3-pointer, one of only five by the Suns in 17 attempts. After Gasol was called for offensive basket interference, Marion made a 15-footer from the baseline to tie it at 99 with 3:24 to play.
After Earl Watson of Memphis missed a layup in traffic, Nash missed a 3-pointer, but Stoudemire chased down the rebound and was fouled.
James Posey made one of two free throws to cut it to 103-100 1:46 from the end. Richardson blocked Gasol’s 10-footer with 37 seconds remaining, then was fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws with 15.8 seconds to go.
Miller, scoreless up to that point, sank a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 104-103 with 10 seconds left. Nash, an 89 percent free-throw shooter, made both foul shots with 9.1 seconds to go to put the Suns ahead 106-103.
The Suns are the highest-scoring team in a decade, and banging them around has been a tactic that worked on occasion in their 62-win regular season.
Memphis committed 28 fouls to 17 for Phoenix and had the Suns howling at the officials all night.
A flagrant foul against Stoudemire resulted in four Memphis points and gave the Grizzlies a 90-88 lead with 6:36 to play.
Watson stole the ball from Nash, and threw it to Cardinal, who was fouled by Stoudemire going up for the layup. Cardinal made both free throws, and Gasol stuffed his own miss to put Memphis ahead.