Phoenix Suns escape resilient Golden State Warriors
Suns All-Star Amare Stoudemire welcomed Anthony Tolliver to Phoenix, putting the words on his jersey in his face and then popping the letters to the crowd after a slamming, 3-point fastbreak play that turned momentum the Suns’ way late in a 133-131 victory over Golden State at Oracle Arena.
It didn’t matter how many points the NBA’s two highest scoring teams put up Monday night. They could not get away from each other.
Playing right into each other’s offenses hands, the Warriors and Suns exchanged points without a scoring lull all game. Neither team ever led by more than six points but Golden State proved persistent, retaking the lead six times in the fourth quarter before Stoudemire’s relentless, unstoppable attack on Tolliver ultimately proved too much with Phoenix never trailing after the dunk with 2:33 to go…
AZ Central
Amare Stoudemire and His Post All-Star Break Domination
It’s no secret that Amare Stoudemire has been killing it lately. He has been playing like a man possessed on the offensive end, honing in on his defensive skills, and playing with the heart and passion we’ve been waiting for from him. Announcers and writers across the country have praised him for his inspired play and defensive improvements. Suns announcers Scott Williams, Tom Leander and Gary Bender have all said, in one way or another, that Amare Stoudemire has been the best player since the All-Star break. The best player. Not the second best player, or one of the best players. The best…
Bright Side of the Sun
Stoudemire becomes the man we’ve wanted him to be
I’ve been a harsher critic of Stoudemire than most. Heck, I was on his case in my live game blog for letting Anthony Tolliver (it’s ok if you don’t know who he is) go off on him last night .
But I have to admit I was overwhelmingly impressed with Stoudemire in crunch-time last night. The dunk (see below) started it, but it wasn’t just that. It was his demands for the ball, and the fact that he didn’t need Nash to spoon-feed him in the pick-and-roll.
Nick was equally impressed, and wonders if Amare has officially become the franchise player we’ve wanted him to be for so long. Me? I don’t know about that, but I can say that for one night, at least, Amare fulfilled every expectation I’ve had of him for the last half-decade.
Fanster
