From Deseret News archives:
Full-strength Suns ready for Spurs
"That'll help," D'Antoni said Thursday.
Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were suspended for Game 5 on Wednesday night for leaving the bench during a minor scuffle late in Game 4. Without the two players, the Suns lost 88-85 and the Spurs grabbed a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
"Every time you go through some tough times, and we have this year, we've snapped back from it," D'Antoni said.
Still, while Stoudemire's return will be key to getting a road win and staying alive Friday night, the Suns didn't wallow in his Game 5 absence.
"Although we were interrupted, that wasn't on our mind after the game. 'If we just had Amare. If we just had Boris,"' Suns star Steve Nash said. "We were thinking, 'If I just made this play. If I made this shot."'
The Spurs went a little easier on the Suns, applauding their undermanned effort.
"We fought the whole way through. We made it a 48-minute game, a la Phoenix in the last game," Tim Duncan said Wednesday. "Credit to them for playing as short-handed as they did."
"We all had to play a lot of minutes, and I'm sure we were all tired last night," Nash said. "But you bounce back, you take care of yourself and you get your rest."
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he's not relying on any fatigue Phoenix might have to help his team close out the series.
"One more game doesn't tire anybody out or not playing a game doesn't make you any more fresh," Popovich said.
The Spurs' Robert Horry will sit out again Friday. His flagrant foul that sent Nash tumbling into the scorer's table on Monday and a forearm to Bell in the subsequent scrum just before the Suns sealed a 104-98 victory resulted in a two-game suspension. Stoudemire and Diaw left the bench, but didn't reach the confrontation.
Helpless to prevent his team's loss, Stoudemire said he's more than ready to travel to San Antonio, where some fans have dubbed him "Stoude-whiner" for comments earlier in the series calling the Spurs a "dirty team" and criticizing Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili in particular.
"We understand what it takes to win in a hostile environment," Stoudemire said. "It's going to be pretty exciting. Their fans are going to be pretty amped, and so will I."
Phoenix is confident it can pick up Friday's road game to force a return to Arizona for Game 7. The Suns won Game 4 in San Antonio, while the Spurs have won twice on the road this series.
Comments
- Obama, Soviet's Afghan endgame 1:04 a.m.
- Victims of Bhopal demand cleanup 12:55 a.m.
- Pakistanis kill 15 militants 12:47 a.m.
- SLCC campus briefs 12:24 a.m.
- Westminster campus briefs 12:22 a.m.
- SUU campus briefs 12:20 a.m.
- Sports on the air 12:12 a.m.
- Editorial: Buy local this Christmas 12:11 a.m.
- Conflicting advice for wise shopping 12:11 a.m.
- Half-baked nonstrategy will not work 12:11 a.m.
- Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?
- Unbeaten BYU takes trip to Logan
- Mitchell said to share LeBaron traits
- Teen girl killed in Kaysville crash
- BCS just keeps dirty laundry on spin
- Utahns growing tired of Bennett
- MWC awaits bowl destinations
- 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
- Woods says he let family down
- Orem pair getting a rep for crime
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
914 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
483 - Hall reprimanded by MWC
405 - Max Hall issues apology
392 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
358 - Utes won't respond to Hall
278 - BYU says Hall incident resolved
244 - Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?
237 - 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
184 - Religion in politics is tiresome
154
Some Ute fans might be wringing their hands over still another loss,...
I arrived at the Spectrum a little more than an hour before tipoff and...
What a fun game to watch!! I love seeing the Aggs step up huge on defense. I...
Take of your Rose-colored glasses and watch the game again. Y'all got beat...
Hey guys... what does BYU and Swag have in common??......... They both get...
Way to go AGGIES!! Can't wait till UNLV comes into Provo and punks them again.
From an example of a law abiding citizen, Rodney King ..."U of U and BYU...
First, you must bleed that parched, ugly, awful royal blue, because that's...
I did not know anyone in the accident, I am not from this area; but the...
Yum...I want some now.
don't get me wrong, i have tons of respect for coach sloan and what he's done...
If we could only figure out a use ( like the presto-logs from sawdust ) for...



You can be the first to comment on this story.