Nov 3, 2009 11:10 pm US/Eastern
Suns Hand Heat First Loss Of Season, 104-96
By Solange Reyner
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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MIAMI - NOVEMBER 1: Dwyane Wade #3 and Quentin Richardson #5 celebrate on November 1, 2009 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.
Issac Baldizon/NBAE/Getty Images
Grant Hill had fun watching teammate Steve Nash dismantle Miami.
The Heat, not so much.
Steve Nash had 17 of his 30-points in the third quarter, Amare Stoudemire added 16 and the Phoenix Suns edged the Miami Heat, 104-96, in a battle of unbeaten teams on Tuesday night.
"He came out in that third quarter and put on a clinic," Hill said.
"He was kind of quiet in the first half. Steve was huge really the whole second half. It was really fun to watch."
Nash was 11-of-15 from the floor with eight assists for the Suns, who overcame an early 13-point deficit.
"I didn't really play great in that first half," Nash said. "I didn't get a lot of opportunities. I wanted to be aggressive and give my teammates a chance to get back in the game."
He did, and the Heat couldn't stop him.
"He just keeps on coming. It just appeared that he was getting stronger as the game went on. It's extremely difficult when they get the lead and the ball is in his hands." Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
"He makes all the right plays."
Dwyane Wade had 23 points, Richardson added 18, Jermaine O'Neal 14 for the Heat, who couldn't keep up with the uptempo Suns in the second half.
Richardson hit a 3-pointer with over seven minutes remaining to tie the game at 84-all in the fourth, and Jared Dudley gave Phoenix the lead for good with his 3-point play on the next series.
Dudley scored on a layup, and made a free throw after getting fouled by O'Neal on the same play to make it 87-84.
Miami opted for an all-defensive lineup to start the fourth, a move that looked questionable considering the Heat were only up by 5, 81-75.
"A lot of it was circumstance," Spoelstra said.
"We were forced to go deeper in the bench. Mike (Beasley) had four fouls. Dwyane needed to come out a little bit earlier because of the pace of the game. That's what we have the depth for. It was a little bit different of a lineup but I really don't think that was the change."
Instead, it was the Suns' performance on defense. They used the zone for the first time this season, causing Miami to flounder on offense.
"I thought the zone was for college, personally. I thought that was the
difference between the NBA and college, but it's in the NBA. They
played zone," Richardson said.
"I think we need to work on
everything. Obviously, we had a little difficulty with that tonight.
Even with that being said, our main problem was on defense."
The story was different in the first. Miami came out on all cylinders, and took a 50-37 lead with 2:47 left in the second quarter after a 9-0 run behind four points from Udonis Haslem, two from Wade and a 3-pointer from Richardson.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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