Phoenix Suns fall to Atlanta Hawks, lose third straight game

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Page 1 of 5 Mar 16, 2013 11:38 AM Shopping Jobs Cars Real Estate Rentals Buy & Sell search: All azcentral.

1 Page 1 of 5 Mar 16, :38 AM Shopping Jobs Cars Real Estate Rentals Buy & Sell search: All azcentral.com News Sports Money Things to do Politics Opinion Watchdog Travel Food & Home Health Traffic Weather Ahwatukee Chandler Gilbert Glendale Mesa Peoria Phoenix Pinal Queen Creek Scottsdale Southwest Valley Sports» Suns» Article Phoenix Suns fall to Atlanta Hawks, lose third straight game 1 Comment

2 Page 2 of 5 March 15 - Atlanta Hawks small forward DeShawn Stevenson (92) shoots a three at the buzzer over Suns power forward Marcus Morris (15) in the first half at Philips Arena. PHOTO BY: Daniel Shirey/USA TODAY Sports JUMP TO 1 OF 13 SHARE URL FONT: AAA Recommend 0 0 RELATED INFO» Suns at Hawks game photos» Hawks 107, Suns 94 UP NEXT: Suns at Wizards When: Saturday at 4 p.m. Where: Verizon Center, Washington D.C. TV/radio: FSAZ/KTAR-AM (620). By Paul Coro azcentral sports Fri Mar 15, :17 PM ATLANTA After 66 games, the lockout-shortened NBA season ended a year ago. After 66 games of this season, that might sound good to Suns fans who are watching their team lose at a pace unseen since the franchise s inaugural year. The Suns are struggling through more problems than a math textbook and the numbers overwhelmed them Friday night at Atlanta, where they lost at Philips Arena. The Suns yielded at least 100 points for a fifth consecutive game for the first time this season. They allowed 29 Atlanta fast-break points, one off a season high. They committed 24 turnovers, giving them seven 20-plus turnover games in the past 18 contests. They lost for a third consecutive time, making them 1-5 since they beat these same Atlanta Hawks at home to start the month. It s hard but everybody is professional and we have to play until the last game, Suns point guard Goran Dragic said. We still have to defend our colors, our city and play for the fans as much as possible. Dragic was as competitive and aggressive as ever for 21 points and eight assists with only two turnovers but his team was sloppy. The Suns committed eight turnovers in one four-minute stretch, giving them 23 by the second play of the fourth quarter. By then, the Hawks (36-29) led by 16 and cruised home with all starters in double figures. It s silly turnovers, Dragic said. It s not like we are traveling and can go back and defend. We re passing straight to their hands and they score easy baskets. Atlanta ranks third in the NBA for fast-break points with 17.1 per game but had 29 on Friday night to the Suns five. The only place that Atlanta outscored Phoenix more was at the 3-point line, a typical place of a wide disparity for the Suns this season. The Hawks made 12 of 23 3-pointers while the Suns made just 3 of 19 3-point tries for a 27-point gap. Some of our shots were like turnovers because they were pretty bad, Suns interim coach Lindsey Hunter said. We gambled on some plays tha

Page 3 of 5 really wasn t called for and we gave up easy, easy 3s. When you do things like that, you put yourself at a disadvantage. We ll keep drilling, drilling our rotations until we get it.

3 Page 3 of 5 really wasn t called for and we gave up easy, easy 3s. When you do things like that, you put yourself at a disadvantage. We ll keep drilling, drilling our rotations until we get it. Hunter did not fault the effort Friday night, as he did with Wednesday night s loss at Houston. But the Suns were no more competitive, whether it was Josh Smith passing out of double-teams for a team-high seven assists or wasting free throw chances by missing 10 of 31 attempts A new starting lineup included Jermaine O Neal in his first Suns start at center, where he hit 7 of 9 shots for 18 points. Power forward Markieff Morris stayed in the starting lineup over Luis Scola and posted 15 points and 11 rebounds without a foul or a turnover. My whole thought was on rebounding and the game came to me more like he (Hunter) said, said Morris, who had 14 rebounds in the previous four starts. Report Key player: Atlanta s Josh Smith scored five points in a loss at Phoenix but had 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists Friday night. Key moment: The Suns made six turnovers in the last three minutes of the third quarter and opened the fourth quarter with two more to trail Key number: 5 Season-worst streak of consecutive 100-point games yielded. Why the Suns lost: The Suns gambled too much at both ends, making 24 turnovers on offense and giving up 12 made 3-pointers on defense. Their turnovers and 16 missed 3-pointers fueled Atlanta s fast break. The Hawks scored 29 points in transition even with starting point guard Jeff Teague limited to 23 bench minutes on a gimpy ankle. View from press row: It must be tough for a respected veteran like Luis Scola to do everything requested, work as hard as possible and wind up in his current situation. Scola did not want to be Houston s amnesty waiver. He did not get to choose his next team. The Suns won an auction for him. And because a last-place team needs to develop Markieff Morris, Scola was on the bench Friday and played fewer than 15 minutes for a second consecutive game. JOIN THE DISCUSSION azcentral.com has switched to the Facebook comment system on its blogs. Existing blog comments will display, but new comments will only be accepted via the Facebook comment system. To begin commenting, you must be logged into an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. While we welcome you to join conversations, readers are responsible for their comments and abuse of this privilege will not be tolerated. We reserve the right, without warning or notification, to remove comments and block users judged to violate our Terms of Service and Rules of Engagement. Facebook comments FAQ

4 Page 4 of 5 Comments posted via facebook: 1 Add a comment... Post to Facebook Eric Ray Casselman Fort Wayne, Indiana "We ll keep drilling, drilling our rotations until we get it. Code for going to run laps around the gym, like 600. Then practice for 8 hours afterwords just like the ordinary joe works. Hunter believes the harder you practice brings talent to the table. Should have worked for Mr. Average in Detroit. Reply Like Follow Post 10 hours ago Facebook social plugin MORE FROM AZCENTRAL Phoenix Suns interim coach Lindsey Hunter s lineup changes give players chances Woman accused of exposing breasts at cameras Dad: Bullied boy died after toilet incident Britney Spears bares bottom at sons' soccer game Phoenix Suns Wes Johnson finally realizing potential FROM AROUND THE WEB 56-Year-Old Ex-NBAer Records Historic Dunk (ThePostGame) 50 Most Worthless Players in the NBA (Bleacher Report) Erik Spoelstra reportedly dating former Heat dancer (SI.com) Allen Iverson Returns? Top 11 NBA Players From The 1996 Draft (Vibe) Kyring Irving Signals the End of the "Street Cred" Era (The Shadow League) [?]

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