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Turnovers doom Suns in home opener
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Phoenix guard Steve Nash committed seven of the Suns' 24 turnovers Thursday night in their 108-95 loss to the New Orleans Hornets. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)
A slow start to the first half of Thursday night’s home opener for the Phoenix Suns proved to be too much to overcome in the fourth quarter. They lost their fifth consecutive regular season game to the New Orleans Hornets, dating back to last season, when they lost all four meetings.
Despite pulling within three points of the Hornets in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 16, the Suns could not match the late barrage of three pointers from New Orleans, and received their first loss of the season, 108-95.
The Suns were marred by turnovers all night long, losing the ball 24 times after only 10 turnovers the previous night at San Antonio. Phoenix did shoot 54 percent from the field, but the Hornets (47 percent) took 10 more shots than the Suns because of the turnover discrepancy (New Orleans committed only 10 in the game).
Amare Stoudemire led the way for the Suns in minutes played for a second night in a row, logging just shy of 43 minutes. He also posted his first double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Steve Nash led the way with 24 points and nine assists, but also led the team with seven turnovers on the night. Boris Diaw was the leader off the bench with 10 points, but the reserves only managed 21 points collectively, half of the 42 they contributed the night before in San Antonio.
Although Morris Peterson was the high scoring Hornet with 21 points, it was Chris Paul who navigated the control of the game for New Orleans from the beginning. Paul finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double, posting 20 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds.
This is the first of three back-to-back sets the Suns play in their first seven games of the regular season. Next week they travel east for a four-game trip that includes two more back-to-backs with one day’s rest in between. They play at New Jersey on Tuesday, November 4, and at Indiana on Wednesday. They then finish the trip Friday and Saturday at Chicago and then Milwaukee before returning home.
The Suns (1-1) next game will be playing host to the Portland Trailblazers (0-1) Saturday night at the US Airways Center in Phoenix. Tip-off is 7:00 p.m. and can be seen nationally on NBATV, or locally in high-definition on My45.
For more info: Hornets 108, Suns 95
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