Suns Struggle Early, Survive Lakers in Home Opener - BullsClips's Dynasty

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Suns Struggle Early, Survive Lakers in Home Opener

Posted on May 29, 2011 at 08:15 PM.

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PHOENIX, Ariz. � The fans at the U.S. Airways Arena were very excited to see the new version of their Suns, but they sputtered out of the gates. The Los Angeles Lakers jumped out to a nine point lead in the first quarter, yet the Suns were able to pull off a 111-109 win and send the fans home happy.

Kevin Durant was the high point man for Phoenix for the third consecutive game, scoring 31 (14-23 shooting) points and pulling down a season-high 12 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki struggled, picking up a quick three fouls and scoring just six first half points. He finished with 22, though it took him 20 shots to do so. It was Marcus Thornton who shouldered the load, scoring 27 points on 12-19 shooting, including 3-4 from three-point land.

�Tonight was my night to step up,� said Thornton in the home locker room after the Suns 111-109. �Every single one of us have the ability to pick up slack when KD (Durant) and Dirk (Nowitzki) might be struggling a bit. Dirk was in some foul trouble, and my number was called. The important thing is the win, and I am happy to have contributed to it.�

After falling behind early, the Suns went on a 10-0 run to close the first quarter and take a 26-25 lead. Monta Ellis led the way for Los Angeles, scoring 30 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists.

�We fought hard out there tonight, but it wasn�t enough,� said a somber Ellis in the Lakers locker room Friday night. �I could care less about the 30 points, I am just disappointed we couldn�t pull it off. We need to fix things to be better in late game situations.�

Durant was key in the first half for Pheonix, scoring 22 of his 31 points when Nowitzki was on the bench. Los Angeles used a 14-2 run late in the second quarter, fueled by Ellis to take a 56-51 lead into halftime.

The fourth quarter was a see-saw affair, that was tied at 103 with 2:01 remaining on a fastbreak dunk by Paul George. Trailing 107-105 with 0:58 on the clock, Thornton hit a pair of three-pointers to put the Suns on top for good, 111-107.

Aaron Brooks, who shot just 3-15 from the field and finished with 10 points and 11 assists missed a fallaway jumper with seconds remaining that would have tied the game at 111.

Los Angeles (0-2) will take on the Golden State Warriors at home on Sunday, Oct. 31, while the Suns will host the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. MT.

Notable Statistics: PHX: K. Durant: 31 pts, 12 rebs; M. Thornton: 27 pts, 7 rebs (12-19 fgs); M. Conley: 10 pts, 14 ast.
LAL: M. Ellis: 30 pts, 6 rebs, 5 ast; T. Murphy 17 pts (7-12 fgs); P. George 17 pts; J. Dudley 10 pts (4-6 fgs); A. Brooks 10 pts, 11 ast (3-15 fgs).

Oct 29, 2010 - LAL at PHX
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Los Angeles Lakers (0-2)	25	31	21	32	109
Phoenix Suns (3-0)	26	25	30	30	111

Los Angeles Lakers
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Aaron Brooks	32	3-15	0-3	4-4	4	11	2	0	3	10
Monta Ellis	32	12-25	0-0	6-8	6	5	2	0	2	30
Paul George	28	8-14	0-4	1-1	4	4	0	0	1	17
Troy Murphy	30	7-12	3-5	0-0	7	3	1	0	0	17
Glen Davis	32	1-3	0-0	2-2	9	0	3	0	0	4
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Jared Dudley	10	4-6	2-3	0-0	4	1	0	0	0	10
Keyon Dooling	9	3-6	0-0	0-0	0	2	1	0	0	6
Matt Janning	6	1-1	0-0	2-4	1	1	0	0	0	4
Mike Harris	2	2-3	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Willie Green	9	1-2	1-2	0-0	0	1	0	0	1	3
Daniel Orton	6	1-1	0-0	0-0	2	1	1	1	0	2
Zaza Pachulia	6	1-1	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	0	0	2
TEAM TOTALS		44-89	6-18	15-19	38	29	10	1	7	109

Phoenix Suns
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Mike Conley	25	5-7	0-2	0-0	1	14	0	0	7	10
Marcus Thornton	28	12-19	3-4	0-1	7	2	3	0	0	27
Kevin Durant	31	14-23	1-3	2-2	12	3	1	0	1	31
Dirk Nowitzki	28	10-20	2-4	0-0	6	4	1	1	2	22
Tyson Chandler	30	2-2	0-0	0-1	5	0	0	2	1	4
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Nick Young	15	1-5	0-1	0-0	1	2	0	2	1	2
Kirk Hinrich	17	2-6	1-2	0-0	3	7	0	1	0	5
Omer Asik	9	1-1	0-0	0-0	1	1	0	0	0	2
Thabo Sefalosha	5	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Brandon Bass	11	3-3	0-0	0-0	2	1	0	0	0	6
James Jones	5	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Daniel Gibson - DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
TEAM TOTALS		51-87	7-16	2-3	39	35	5	6	12	111